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Eucharistic Life

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The feast of Corpus Christi in 1984 was also the date of my First Profession as a Daughter of St. Paul. Though St. Paul usually gets the honors with our usual date for professions being on his feast day at the end of June, that year, for whatever reason, our group had the singular privilege of making our profession on the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. This meaning of this Feast has marked my entire religious life.

The image of the Eucharist, the bread broken in the Master and Savior’s hands for the feeding of his disciples and for the life of the world, has always been powerful for me. I remember in 1999 making a pilgrimage in the footsteps of St. Paul in Rome. We were told to watch for the moment when we felt St Paul’s presence in a meaningful way. I watched. I waited. And as we walked away from the Three Fountains where St Paul was martyred, trodding the very path the first Christians would have walked in sorrow after his beheading, I myself sorrowed. I had felt nothing of St. Paul’s presence.

Slowly we made our way to the Basilica St Paul Outside-the-Walls south of the Aurelian Walls. I knelt in the confessional, above where St Paul was buried and then went quietly to join my sisters in the large Blessed Sacrament Chapel where there is a crucifix that is said to have spoken to St Bridget in 1370. There a priest celebrated Mass for us. Again nothing. Walking back to my pew after receiving Communion, at last, I heard within myself the words of Jesus: “I am already here within you. I, God.” I was moved to tears. I was looking for an experience, a feeling. All the time, Jesus had been with me in his Eucharistic presence.

Our Pauline spirituality is profoundly Eucharistic, and so is our life and mission. We are to be bread broken for the life of many. Recently, this has come to life for me in a new way. I’ve had this sense that every encounter, every task in the apostolate, everything I write is a form of distributing the body of Christ to others. It is in his body and blood that we have communion with each other, yes, but it is also in his body and blood that we find ourselves together in communion with Jesus, lost in him, where his warmth and presence is always increasing in us.

So as you read today’s readings for the Liturgy, you might want to think about how your life is already Eucharistic, and how certain situations and activities can be a form of giving Christ to others, blessing them with his awesome love. What would change if gradually you were more intentionally aware of this desire of Jesus to be life for the world through you? How is Jesus inviting you to be bread broken for the life of the world? In what way do you share in his suffering, and how are you offering life for others?

Kathryn James Hermes, FSP, an author and spiritual mentor, offers personalized and professional guidance for the contemporary Christian’s journey towards spiritual growth and inner healing. She draws from the spiritual tradition and her own lived experience to lead seekers deep within themselves and through their personal history to deepen their intimacy with and trust in God; live with greater joy, peace, and interior freedom; and encounter the Lord in their past and present life experiences to find healing, grace, and newness of life. She is the director of My Sisters, where people can find spiritual accompaniment from the Daughters of St. Paul on their journey. Sr. Kathryn’s forthcoming book Reclaim Regret: How God Heals Life’s Disappointments will be released in September 2018.

Website: touchingthesunrise.com. Open Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/srkathrynhermes/

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Thirsting for God

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Our family recently experienced the loss of a loved one. A joy-filled, faithful woman who gave a great portion of her time to guiding youth, helping people find jobs, aiding refugees and much, much more. So many people were touched by her that social media was spattered with memorial messages and the line to get into the funeral home was out the door. “You would have thought the Pope died!” someone commented, so enormous was the outpouring of love and attention toward the family of the deceased. She was truly an incredible woman and one who will be missed by myriads. But as cancer consumed her body and her time for the last year and a half of her life, the words of today’s Psalm became more and more real to her “My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord, my God.”

Reflecting on her life and her legacy, I recall a refection from a fellow Catholic mom from a couple weeks back. She posed the question, “have you exhausted your lover(s)?” In other words, have you made God come out in search of you time and time again, only to turn around with head bowed in sadness because there has been no reciprocation, no response? Is He exhausted from seeking out your heart and finding it cold and unopened? My family member obviously did not exhaust God, quite the contrary, but do I?

How great is my thirst for my God? Do I long for my eternal home and thus direct my life toward this goal? Or do I allow myself to get bogged down by the trivial trials that each day presents? The baby who won’t sleep through the night, the toddler who sparks an attitude, the preschooler who wants to argue about everything… where does all of this fall on the road to eternity? What significance does it have? If I am truly honest with myself, very little, unless I let it. I can brush it off as life’s drudgery or I can see each of these daily crosses as an opportunity to inch toward sanctification. I pray that with each passing day, I may choose the latter more and more.

“My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord, my God.”

May I exhaust you no longer.

Amen.

Tami Urcia is wife and mother to her small army of boys. She works full time at Diocesan and is a freelance translator and blogger (BlessedIsShe.net and catholicMom.com) She loves tackling home projects, keeping tabs on the family finances, and finding unique ways to love. Tami spent early young adulthood as a missionary in Mexico, then worked and traveled extensively before finishing her Bachelor’s Degree. Her favorite things to do are spending time outside with the kiddos, quiet conversation with the hubby, and an occasional break from real life by getting a pedicure or a haircut. You can find out more about her here.

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3 Simple Tips for Stewardship

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Today’s readings are all about stewardship. I know, I know, it’s a big buzzword in the Church. It can mean anything from giving 10% of you money to the Church all the way to serving the poor. But thankfully Jesus teaches us what proper stewardship is.

My fiance and I recently had a meeting with our spiritual director about stewardship. During the conversation I felt a little awkward because I realized that I was not doing enough and that we had not talked about this enough for our future marriage.

But as the conversation went on I was encouraged with some practical examples that I would like to share:

 

Put aside a special fund every month. This is where you will pull your tithing from, but it is also a fund you will use whenever you want to treat friends to a nice dinner, help the homeless man on the corner, or go out of your way to buy a gift for someone. This ensures that stewardship is not just money going to the Church, but to others as well.

 

Realize that the call to give is a God given calling and our hearts are restless until we truly give. Whether it’s money, service, action, or the classic time, talent, treasure, every time we give we are participating intimately in the divinity of God. Gaudium et Spes even goes so far as to say that, “We can never fully find ourselves except through a sincere gift of self.” This is because God himself is an eternal gift, and because we are made in His image, we are not fully alive until we truly give. This is what makes stewardship about more than just finances, but about the whole person.

 

Figure out the amount of gift that stretches you. Part of stewardship is humbling ourselves before God and realizing that all we have is because of Him. Stewardship should make us a little uncomfortable in the sense that it pulls us out of ourselves and makes us rely on God. Think of the bible story of the woman with a few small coins. She gave all she had and trusted in the Lord’s providence. Now, obviously we have to be prudent, but the more we stretch and give, the happier we ultimately become and the more we rely on Our Father.

 

The first reading speaks of love conquering all and of the need to give to others. Then the Gospel tells us what happens when we become selfish and use our means to exploit or take advantage. Let’s take a hint from Jesus today and try to commit to one practical way we will live out stewardship this week. From all of us here at Diocesan, God Bless!

Tommy Shultz is a Solutions Evangelist for Diocesan. In that role, he is committed to coaching parishes and dioceses on authentic and effective Catholic communication. Tommy has a heart and a flair for inspiring people to live their faith every day. He has worked in various youth ministry, adult ministry, and diocesan roles. He has been a featured speaker at retreats and events across the country. His mission and drive have been especially inspired by St. John Paul II’s teachings. Tommy is blessed to be able to learn from the numerous parishes he visits and pass that experience on in his presentations. Contact him at tshultz@diocesan.com.

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Happy Feast of the Visitation

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Today we receive the blueprint for Marian devotion from the Gospel of Luke. Happy Feast of the Visitation from all of us here at Diocesan!

Tommy Shultz is a Solutions Evangelist for Diocesan. In that role, he is committed to coaching parishes and dioceses on authentic and effective Catholic communication. Tommy has a heart and a flair for inspiring people to live their faith every day. He has worked in various youth ministry, adult ministry, and diocesan roles. He has been a featured speaker at retreats and events across the country. His mission and drive have been especially inspired by St. John Paul II’s teachings. Tommy is blessed to be able to learn from the numerous parishes he visits and pass that experience on in his presentations. Contact him at tshultz@diocesan.com.

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God Delights in Me

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Sometimes, the “key” to the Mass readings is found in the Antiphons. Today’s Entrance Antiphon invites us to see and receive our chosenness: “The Lord became my protector. He brought me out to a place of freedom; he saved me because he delighted in me.”

“Delight” is not the word that comes to mind when I consider how others – or God Himself – see me. Do we believe that God “delights” in us? Much of the time, I only see my faults and failings, and I don’t like myself too much. But God still delights in me, or at least in who He created me to be (and I am still in the process of becoming). When we know deeply that God delights in us, that He has saved us, that we have been “born anew” through His Word, we learn to stop grasping for more than we are meant to have. We are content with being loved by Love and we can at last begin to seek ways to love in return.

In today’s Gospel, it is clear that the disciples still do not understand Jesus’ mission of love, even as he takes the Twelve aside to tell them that he will be handed over and condemned to death, mocked, spit upon, scourged, and executed! After this explication of what is about to happen, James and John still come to him to ask for a share in his glory.

What glory? We can assume they were not referring to eternal glory; they still believed, somehow, that Jesus would overthrow the oppression of Israel and establish his rule on earth, and they were close enough to the Master to suggest to him that they should sit right next to him when he took his throne.

Jesus points out to them that they do not know what they are asking. And the other ten apostles become indignant at the request of James and John, concerned that they are being out-maneuvered, left out of the glory, somehow at risk for being given less authority and recognition! As he had done so many times before, Jesus patiently explained that the truth is the exact opposite of what the world values: authority, position, and glory are not found in the power to rule over others but rather in the humble love that serves others like a slave: “Whoever whishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.” And he holds himself up as the model when he points out that he did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom.

This lesson must have sunk in deeply and become indispensable “Gospel Grammar,” as St. Peter writes in today’s first reading about our being ransomed with the precious Blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:18). Christ poured himself out for us completely, holding nothing back, so that we who were prisoners to sin and darkness might be bought back from the futile ways we learn from the world. The disciples learned this lesson as they walked with Christ and watched him hand himself over to death.

Are we still learning this lesson? Are we still acting according to the futile conduct the world insists will bring us happiness? How far are we on the path to becoming full citizens of the Kingdom of God, surrendering to God who surrenders Himself to us? Are we afraid to put ourselves in service to the Kingdom? Christ is the model to which we must conform our lives: we must be willing to become Bread for the world, to be a libation that is poured out completely for the sake of others.

This does not come naturally to any of us. Self-gift is made possible when we let go of the idea that we need to earn God’s love. And we are impelled to pour ourselves out by the presence of the Spirit and Fire of Jesus within us, which we are given at Baptism and Confirmation.

Finally, we are conformed to the image of the Son when we know with certainty that God saves us because He lovingly delights in us, and we live within the horizons of this unearned dignity.

Kathryn is married to Robert, mother of seven, grandmother to two, and a lay Carmelite. She has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE, and also as a writer and voice talent for Holy Family Radio. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and presenter, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Faith Formation, individual parishes, and Catholic ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Learn more at www.kathryntherese.com or on Facebook @summapax

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Grace as Gift

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Amazing! A whole reading on salvation and not a list of things for us to do to attain it. When a young woman enters religious life (which I did 40 years ago this year), she begins to organize her spiritual life, getting ready for the “great ascent” to the Heights of Union with God where the saints have climbed before us.

When she has lived as a religious for 40 years she begins to let all this dissolve into grace. Why?

The answer is in this first reading from St. Peter. And before you think I’m writing for religious, I’m writing for every person in the pews who feels their shot at holiness is pretty small because their life is not “organized” enough to follow through on practices of spiritual growth. It’s a human dynamic to want to take the bull by the horns and get the job done, to mix metaphors.

But lay your ear down on the blessed Word of God and hear what God is saying: Concerning your salvation, the prophets prophesied about the grace that was to be yours…. In other words, the incredible, unmeasurable GIFT that was to be ours through no merit of our own. These are things the angels themselves longed to look into, but they are ours due to the glories that followed the suffering and death of Christ.

It is because of this amazing spirit-drenched reality which we, after our baptism, can call our home, that we then “gird up the loins of our mind, live soberly,” and set our hopes on the grace which Jesus Christ has brought to us. Hope completely in this grace, not just a bit, as an add on, when I can’t do it by myself. No. Completely.

We have not climbed a mountain, no great accomplishments that merit the reward of our salvation. Instead God has come to us and intimately united us to himself which is our salvation. This makes us want to live and be all that we have received, and even still we set our hopes on the grace of Jesus who willingly gives us his life, becomes our way, and invites us to the truth that never ends.

This morning as I prayed in the early morning hours, the clouds parted a bit to show me the deeper path of the divine Heart of Jesus who sustains me in life and in grace. He looked on me with a mixture of challenge, affection, and mischievous understanding that I would eventually give him everything…eventually…and let go of my own spiritual project.

And so Jesus reminds me, in the last sentence of the first reading, “he who called you is holy…” so be as holy as he, because that is the beauty that will fulfill me. Nothing less. Nothing else.

Then, a sigh. Peace.

Sr. Kathryn James Hermes, FSP, an author and spiritual mentor, offers personalized and professional guidance for the contemporary Christian’s journey towards spiritual growth and inner healing. She draws from the spiritual tradition and her own lived experience to lead seekers deep within themselves and through their personal history to deepen their intimacy with and trust in God; live with greater joy, peace, and interior freedom; and encounter the Lord in their past and present life experiences to find healing, grace, and newness of life. She is the director of My Sisters, where people can find spiritual accompaniment from the Daughters of St. Paul on their journey. Sr. Kathryn’s forthcoming book Reclaim Regret: How God Heals Life’s Disappointments, will be released in September 2018.

Website: touchingthesunrise.com.

Open Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/srkathrynhermes/

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Look of Love

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Today’s Gospel contains what may be the most reassuring words in all of Scripture. A young man has run up to Jesus to ask him a question about the demands of discipleship. After Jesus reminds the young man that following him means following the Commandments, the aspirant responds to the Lord, “Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.”

Then, Mark recounts, “Jesus, looking at him, loved him…” Imagine, just for a moment, how that young man must have felt. To have the Son of God himself gaze upon him with the same loving expression that the Father himself looked upon Jesus, that Mary and Joseph received when they held their infant son in their arms, when Jesus looked down from the cross on his mother and the Beloved Disciple.

That young man received the same loving look from the Lord and was for that moment of all of God’s creation the sole focus of Christ’s attention. Who among us hasn’t longed for that kind of reassurance from the Lord? And, still, it wasn’t enough for the young man.

What reassurance we can find, then, in these words from our first reading: “Although you have not seen him you love him; although you do not see him now yet you rejoice with an indescribable joy.” The young man leaves the company of Jesus and the disciples sad because he cannot give up his many possessions.

What about you and me? What would any of us give up for just one second of that look of love from our Savior?

Father Tim S. Hickey is a priest of the Archdiocese of Hartford currently serving as a mission priest in the Diocese of Dodge City, Kansas. A native Kansan, he was schooled at Benedictine College, Marquette University and Mount St. Mary’s Seminary. Prior to becoming a priest, Father Hickey was editor of Columbia magazine for the Knights of Columbus. He writes occasionally for Magnificat’s seasonal special issues and for Communion and Liberation.

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Hope In Suffering

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Today is Trinity Sunday and the readings today make me recall all that God has brought me through in the past year: my OCD diagnosis, my doubts and fears of life transitions he has brought my way, and ultimately the hope He has instilled in me through all the trials and sufferings.  

Suffering is a huge gift, and we as Catholics believe this. While this is counter cultural in our society, as the world prefers to have things happen with the least amount of suffering possible, it is important that we spread the Good News that is born anew through this suffering. When we suffer, we realize just how small we are, and how great God is. The Lord is the foundation of everything, we can do nothing without Him. Suffering reminds us to redirect our hearts to Him and join our sufferings with the Cross and His most Sacred Heart.

Everyday is a battlefield within me as I am going through OCD.  While I have the loving support of those that care about me I am always my worst enemy. I get in my head and worry what others think about me, I am anxious that bad things will happen to the ones I love, I struggle with scrupulosity, and I always worry about the future. These obsessions come out through my compulsions of checking that everything is off and locked in my home, along with other daily rituals.

Sometimes I feel so trapped within myself as I suffer, and so tired of keeping up the good fight. When I begin to face these struggles I remember the words of my spiritual director, Fr. James Adams. He reminded me during one of our marriage preparation sessions that God has a plan for me that includes the suffering of my OCD by asking the question, “Have you ever considered that your OCD helps you to be more like Christ?” Ever since this question my life has changed, my suffering has become a gift, and God has brought me back to the fundamental truth of how much I need Him.

Whatever your cross is to bear in this life, be encouraged. God desires to work miracles through you with the cross He has given you, the suffering that you are enduring. Remember that no matter how dark it may seem at times in life the Lord is a great beacon of light, the Light of the World. Continue to unite your sufferings with the Crucifix, allowing God to make you new and Christ like through your suffering. Know that the Spirit is working within you at this very moment, and will help you to eternal life. As St. Paul says in today’s second reading from Romans 8,

“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.”

Live in the hopeful anticipation of being one with Christ, hope for eternal life, hope for the day when we can finally gaze upon the face of our Lord.

 

“We are an Easter People and Alleluia is our song!”

~St. John Paul II

Nathalie Hanson is a special education teacher and a joyful convert to the Catholic faith with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).  She loves to share her passion for Catholicism with others, including her conversion story and how God continues to work miracles in her life through her OCD.  Nathalie is engaged to her best friend, Diocesan’s Tommy Shultz, and she is beyond excited to become Mrs. Shultz this October. Her favorite saints include St. Peter the Apostle, St. Teresa of Calcutta, and St. John Paul II.  If you have any questions for Nathalie, or just want her to pray for you, you can email her at rodzinkaministry@gmail.com.

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Like Children Before God

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What kind of man is this, who speaks with authority yet is so approachable that the young mothers and children come near to be touched and blessed by him? This is no stern and critical Rabbi, judging and joyless! In this Gospel, we can easily share the view of those who watched him and listened to him speak the Good News: Jesus must surely attract with his joy and sincerity, tenderness and mighty calm, kindness and self-giving love.

These children and their mothers are confident Jesus will receive them, even as the disciples are rebuking them and shooing them away, no doubt trying to protect the Master from those who seem to them no more than a nuisance.  In contrast, Jesus does not rebuke those who swarm him to be touched, but becomes indignant and rebukes the disciples for trying to prevent them, because his heart is moved by their innocent eagerness to draw near. Jesus wants to embrace them and bless them!

Jesus then opens the activity of this moment to teach a profound lesson: “the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” This must have surprised the disciples. The religious leaders they knew were nothing like children! They were rather decidedly not childlike – Jesus himself said they were full of greed and self-indulgence (Mt 23:25-6); they were like “whitewashed tombs…full of dead men’s bones” (Mt 23:27-8); cut from the same cloth as those who murdered the prophets of old (Mt 23:29). This is far from childlike.

What could Jesus have meant by telling the disciples that “whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it”? What does it mean to be childlike in regard to God? We must distinguish between childlikeness and childishness: the childish refuse to grow up; the childlike mature and yet retain – or return to – the attitude of a child before a loving Father: trust, wonder, joy, love.

Childlikeness is the trust that we reach beyond the limit of our self-reliance and self-assertion; it is the ability to wonder that is found beyond our demand for proof and explanation; it is the joy that is experienced when we let go of the questions and fears that hold us captive within the confines of our own skulls; it is the love we give freely beyond conditions and reasonings.

The children are drawn to him. The young mothers trust him with the children they love. And Jesus always touches and embraces and blesses those who are open to his presence in their lives.

“The Kingdom of God belongs to such as these”: those whose hearts are transformed to be like the Son’s own Heart by drawing near to him so that they are full of childlike joy and wonder and trust in the Father’s never-failing love and mercy. It is this loving trust and openness that frees us to accept the Kingdom of God.

Kathryn Mulderink is married to Robert, mother of seven, grandmother to two, and a lay Carmelite. She has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE, and also as a writer and voice talent for Holy Family Radio. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and presenter, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Faith Formation, individual parishes, and Catholic ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Learn more at www.kathryntherese.com or on Facebook @summapax .

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Be Fair, Be Safe, Be Kind

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“Do not complain, brothers and sisters, about one another, that you may not be judged.” (James 5:9)

The first line of today’s first reading hit me like a rock right between the eyes. I consider myself one of the world’s worst offenders in this department. I’m such a groaner! When someone doesn’t think like I do, or act the way I think they should, or dress in a certain way or rubs me the wrong way, I complain to my close-knit circle. But what does complaining have to do with judging? Complaining often turns to criticizing and criticizing to judging. It’s a vicious circle.

One Lent, instead of giving up sweets or coffee, I decided to give up complaining. Let me tell you, I spent a lot of time in silence! It was one of my most challenging Lents. I never would have fathomed how often I would have to bite my tongue. It helped me to realize how I was called to follow the example of our Lord to be “kind and merciful.” (Psalm Response)

This is the first year my husband and I have had a child attend school and it has been a whole new venture for us. We have learned so much, but one of my favorite things has been the school motto: “Be Fair, Be Safe, Be Kind”. Not only have I been able to use it as a teaching tool with my preschooler, but I have repeated it to myself over and over again as well. So often I have to remind myself to be kind. And kindness doesn’t only mean biting my tongue or not criticizing, it also means stepping out of the bounds of my complacency and giving that compliment or flashing that smile or voicing that exuberant “thank you”.

It takes a significant effort to forgo complaining and be kind, but no one ever said it would be easy to follow Christ on the straight and narrow path. We make that choice because we love Him and because we long to spend all eternity with Him. So upward and onward, my friends!

“Merciful and gracious is the Lord,

Slow to anger and abounding in kindness…

As the heavens are high above the earth,

So surpassing is his kindness…

Tami Urcia is wife and mother to her small army of boys. She works full time at Diocesan and is a freelance translator and blogger (BlessedIsShe.net and CatholicMom.com) She loves tackling home projects, keeping tabs on the family finances, and finding unique ways to love. Tami spent early young adulthood as a missionary in Mexico, then worked and traveled extensively before finishing her Bachelor’s Degree. Her favorite things to do are spending time outside with the kiddos, quiet conversation with the hubby, and an occasional break from real life by getting a pedicure or a haircut. You can find out more about her here.

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Causing Scandal

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On the internet there are a lot of jokes, tweets and memes that touch on the topic of cutting toxic people off. These social media commentaries are all about cutting bad friends, ex-boyfriends, etc., out of your life without ever looking back. So then, this begs the question: Is today’s reading giving us permission to cut people out of our lives? Is he giving us the magical solution and telling us how to say, “bye, Felicia” to mean people? Is this the bible-given answer on how to do this?

I thought so at first. Then as I read closer I realized…hmm…strange…today’s Gospel doesn’t seem to mention personal vendettas against people. Nor does it talk about banishing evil people from your presence.  Also, it’s definitely not about cutting your coworker out of your life because they stole your parking spot three weeks ago. In fact, the Gospel reading isn’t about others at all. It’s about cutting our own evil out of our lives.

Jesus begins by saying that anyone who does good will be rewarded, most likely with the best gift of all. The gift of everlasting life…entering those pearly gates…joining Jesus and the saints in heaven…meeting our Heavenly Father. But Jesus quickly moves on to say that anyone who causes others to sin should be weighted with rocks and thrown into the ocean to die. In fact, he literally says that if we lead others to sin, we may “go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire.” Yes, that’s right. Jesus just told sin-spreaders to go to hell.

Now, as someone who has only lived for 24 years, I may not know much, but I do know that going to hell is the complete opposite of my entire life’s goal. Now that I know this reading is not about cutting others out of my life, but my own personal bad habits, I feel a little scared. As most people, I don’t deeply reflect on how my bad habits affect others. I mean I know if I tell my brother to skip Mass, I am the cause of his sin, but I never considered the effect of my own decision not to go.

For example, I know that if I tell my brother to skip Mass and stay at home to binge watch a show, I am the cause of his sin. What I do not consider is if it was my own choice to skip Mass, and he did too, although I did not ask him to, that I would be the cause of his sin. Although not verbal or physically causing others to sin, the example of our lives may.  

Thinking harder, I wonder how many times I started a conversation with the intention of picking a fight, or how many times I caused others to gossip or curse just because I was. All these times, I was doing exactly what Jesus warned me of.

So the next time you’re about to tell your friend some juicy gossip, remind yourself that you would rather not be the kind of person who Jesus tells to go to hell. Instead, cut yourself off mid-sentence and be an example of Christ. Be the person who glorifies God and receives the gift of everlasting life.

Veronica Alvarado is a born and raised Texan currently living in Michigan. Since graduating from Texas A&M University, Veronica has published various articles in the Catholic Diocese of Austin’s official newspaper, the Catholic Spirit, and other local publications. She now works as the Content Specialist in Diocesan’s Web Department.

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Words Matter

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I have decided to start a campaign to reclaim the meaning of words.

Adorable does not mean cute (I’ll get to that word later) and scandal does not mean worthy of a newspaper headline.

The Catechism defines scandal as:

“Anyone who uses the power at his disposal in such a way that it leads others to do wrong becomes guilty of scandal and responsible for the evil that he has directly or indirectly encouraged.”

Ouch! I don’t need to be a big public figure to cause a scandal. Anytime anyone who knows I am Catholic sees or hears me do something unworthy of Jesus Christ, I am causing a scandal by my poor example.

Today’s readings reminded me of how often I am guilty of doing just that and the Catechism reminds me of just how serious it is.

I was raised in a culture of back-handed compliments. “She is so pretty, if only she’d do something with that hair.” “He is so smart, if only he would channel it properly.” The habit around these comments is to agree with something like, “She is so, so pretty. Just think how pretty she’d be if she wore her hair down once and awhile.” “He is smart as a whip. It’s too bad all he does is play video games.”

Couched in these seemingly innocuous comments are some pretty treacherous undercurrents. After all, I said she was pretty. I acknowledged he was smart. I see their gifts therefore, I tell myself, I am a positive uplifting person.

But, I am not seeing people as God sees them. I want to make them over in my image rather than seeing His image already in them.

That sounds pretty ridiculous when laid out in black and white, doesn’t it?

Yet, how often do we do just that? “He is so dedicated and puts in so much time on the finance council, but if he really wanted more people to come to Church, he’d make sure they just….” “Our DRE is such as sweet lady and works so hard, but if she really cared about kids, she’d make them memorize the …” “I just love our pastor, but if he really wanted families to come to Mass, he’d make his homilies more…”

Today’s readings speak right to this very human tendency. In James we hear, “You are a puff of smoke that appears briefly and then disappears.” Ouch again. My ego doesn’t like that one. “But now you are boasting in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, it is a sin.”

In the Gospel, John is so bold to approach Jesus and tell him about how someone else was working in Jesus’s name, (and I am paraphrasing here) “but don’t worry, we took care of it. We told him to knock it off, because he is not one of us.” But rather than Jesus saying, “Thanks, Dude, we gotta make sure we keep this in house.” Jesus tells him, “Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us.”

“Whoever is not against us is for us.”

I think we forget that, especially as leaders in our faith. Sometimes we feel like we are in competition. We have to compete for room in the budget, for numbers of volunteers, for having our ministry talked about, for meeting the unlimited needs which pull on our limited resources. It becomes easy to forget that those who are not against us are for us. In other words, we are on the same team. And every time we use the word “but” when talking about others, we are tearing down, not building up.

At a leadership conference recently, we were reminded that ‘What we tolerate, we endorse.” When we listen to others talk this way, we are causing a scandal by indirectly encouraging the tearing down of our brothers and sisters in Christ, no matter how nicely it is couched. When we, out of tiredness or frustration or whatever, make these kinds of comments ourselves, we are directly guilty of scandal by encouraging those around us, by our example, to commit the same sin.

How do I know this? I have had to take my own tendency to give back handed compliments to confession time and again. Today’s readings have challenged me once again to examine my own behavior.

As a matter of fact, I wonder what Father is doing this afternoon. It might be time to confess and start again. I am so grateful that both Father in the confessional and Our Father in Heaven are so patient with me.

While wearing many hats, Sheryl O’Connor is the wife and study buddy of Thomas O’Connor. Not having received the gift of having their own children, their home is filled with 2 large dogs and their hearts with the teens and youth with whom they work in their parish collaborative. Sheryl is the Director of Strong Families Programs for Holy Family Healthcare which means her job is doing whatever needs to be done to help parents build strong Catholic families. Inspired by the works of mercy, Holy Family Healthcare is a primary healthcare practice in West Michigan which seeks to honor the dignity of every individual as we would Christ. Find out more at https://www.holyfamilyhealthcare.org/