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My Yoke Is Easy / Mi Yugo es Suave

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When I was a kid I always thought this verse was talking about egg yolks and it made no sense to me. Maybe Jesus could make a mean omelet? I wasn’t sure. I have seen lots of different ways people interpret this verse, but the most helpful I have heard is looking at the words quite literally. 

The picture I chose today is of a yoke. This was an instrument that would attach two bulls together so they have double the strength to pull something like a cart. This was a really effective way of plowing that saved a lot of time and effort, until one of the bulls didn’t want to play well with the other. 

Think about it, if one of those bulls decided to move differently or get angry or just do a cold hard stop, it would throw off the entire method. Whoever is being the shepherd, so to speak, would have to stop everything and get them both back in step so that they could accomplish the task at hand. The ease and efficiency is entirely dependent on who you are attached to and whether or not they have the same mindset of the task at hand. 

So how does this apply to our spiritual lives? Well, we are all attached to something. We have allowed something into our lives that pushes or pulls us, makes us stop in our tracks or makes us run faster. Whether it’s a job, a vice, an addiction, or just the struggle of everyday life, these things make us exhausted if we let them take the lead. Our yoke becomes heavy. I can look back on areas of my life where I struggled with certain sins and how they affected every part of my life and made me feel burdened. Bottom line, when we attach ourselves to these things and let them lead, we get into trouble. 

Have you ever broken down into an ugly cry and screamed out for rest? I am pretty sure that has happened a few times since I became a dad. All I need is just another twenty minutes of sleep. We all want to rest even though we have convinced ourselves that if we ever stop then we lose our worth or waste time. But deep down we want to be unburdened. Jesus reminds us in the Gospel today that he is the one who comes to unburden us, to let us rest, to set us free. Who doesn’t want that? 

Imagine Jesus taking whatever it is you are attached to, and detaching it so that he can take its place and start to guide and direct your life. I think this is the purpose of him telling us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. This is not to say that problems and struggles won’t ever come up, but we will have the divine navigator who will help us through them and give us peace. Let’s all pray for the grace to let go of the things we let lead us, and allow Jesus to take the wheel. 

From all of us here at Diocesan, God bless!

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Cuando era niño, siempre pensaba que este versículo hablaba de las yemas de huevo y no tenía sentido para mí. Tal vez Jesús podría hacer un omelet increíble. No estaba seguro. He oído muchas formas diferentes de interpretar este versículo, pero la más útil que he escuchado es interpretar las palabras literalmente.

La imagen que escogí es un yugo. Era un instrumento que unía a dos toros para que tuvieran doble fuerza para jalar algo como una carretilla. Era una forma efectiva de arar que ahorraba mucho tiempo y esfuerzo, hasta que uno de los toros no quería trabajar bien con el otro.

Piénselo, si uno de los toros decidiera moverse de manera diferente o enojarse o simplemente pararse en seco, arruinaría todo el método. El pastor or el granjero tendría que detener todo y volver a ponerlos al paso para que pudieran cumplir la tarea en cuestión. La facilidad y la eficiencia dependen completamente de a quién esté vinculado y si tienen o no la misma mentalidad sobre la tarea en cuestión.

Entonces, ¿cómo se aplica esto a nuestra vida espiritual? Bueno, todos estamos vinculados a algo. Hemos permitido que algo entre en nuestras vidas que nos empuja o nos jala, nos hace parar en seco o nos hace correr más rápido. Ya que sea un trabajo, un vicio, una adicción o simplemente la lucha de la vida cotidiana, estas cosas nos agotan si dejamos que tomen la iniciativa. Nuestro yugo se vuelve pesado. Recuerdo ciertas áreas en mi vida donde luchaba con ciertos pecados y cómo afectaron cada parte de mi vida y me hicieron sentir agobiado. En pocas palabras, cuando nos apegamos a estas cosas y dejamos que nos dirijan, nos metemos en problemas.

¿Alguna vez has llorado sin parar  pidiendo a gritos el descanso? Estoy seguro de que me ha sucedido algunas veces ahora que soy padre de familia. Solo necesito dormir veinte minutos más. Todos queremos descansar aunque nos hayamos convencido de que si nos detenemos vamos a perder nuestro valor o perder el tiempo. Pero en el fondo no queremos estar cargados. Jesús nos recuerda en el Evangelio de hoy que él viene a descargarnos, a dejarnos descansar, a liberarnos. ¿Quién no quiere eso?

Imagina a Jesús tomando esa cosa a la cual te apegas y apartándola para que él pueda venir y tomar su lugar y comenzar a guiar y dirigir tu vida. Creo que es por eso que nos dice que su yugo es suave y su carga es ligera. Esto no quiere decir que no vayan a surgir problemas y batallas, pero tendremos al navegante divino que nos ayuda a superarlos y nos da la paz. Oremos todos por la gracia de dejar esas cosas que permitimos guiarnos, para permitir que Jesús tome el volante.

De parte de todos nosotros aquí en Diocesan, ¡Dios los bendiga!

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Tommy Shultz is a Business Development Representative for Diocesan. In this role he is committed to bringing the best software to dioceses and parishes while helping them evangelize on the digital continent. Tommy has worked in various diocese and parish roles since his graduation from Franciscan University with a Theology degree. He hopes to use his skills in evangelization, marketing, and communications, to serve the Church and bring the Good News to all. His favorite quote comes from St. John Paul II, who said, “A person is an entity of a sort to which the only proper and adequate way to relate is love.”

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The Father / Dios Padre

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Throughout scripture, God’s relationship with his people is described as like a bridegroom to a bride. You have probably heard the analogy that just as a husband and wife give up everything for the other, so too, Jesus gives up everything, even his very body, so that we might experience his love. 

We also have the analogy of the Trinity being like the relationship of a family. Now, of course, it is hard to talk about the Trinity without accidentally slipping into heresy and no analogy is perfect, but I think the image of a family is a good way to begin to describe the relationship of the Trinity. The husband loves the wife and the wife loves the husband and their love is so real that ordinarily in nine months you would give it a name. Similarly, God the Father loves God the Son and the Son loves the Father and from their loves proceeds the Holy Spirit.

I love all of the signs and symbols we use to describe God and his relationship with us, but perhaps my most favorite is the example we see in today’s First Reading. This one has hit home even harder for me since I became a dad. A father has to protect, guide, care for, and love his child but he also eventually has to let them make their own mistakes, grow, and learn. This is gut wrenching to even think about because all we want as father’s is for our kids to be ok. 

Now take that gut wrenching feeling that us imperfect humans have and multiply it by a million. We are seeing a fraction of what God feels for his people, knowing full well he is the way, the truth, and the life, but yet they still don’t believe, trust, or hope. The line that really strikes me is, “The more I called them, the farther they went from me, sacrificing to the Baals and burning incense to idols.” God is calling each of us. Rather, he is chasing after us. Sometimes the more he calls the further away we run. Just like the Israelites who were freed from slavery turned to idols, we take up idols in our own lives to replace the relationship we should have with God. 

I think the question that is provoked from the First Reading is, what are your idols? What are mine? When God calls, what is it that allows us to easily turn and run? My encouragement to you today, as well as myself, is to pick one idol in your life that distracts you and for the next week try to break its power over you. One day, one minute, one second at a time. 

From all of us here at Diocesan, God bless!

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Por todas las Escrituras, la relación de Dios con su pueblo muchas veces se describe como la de un novio con su novia. Capaz hayan escuchado la analogía de como un esposo y una esposa dan todo el uno por el otro, Jesús también da todo, incluso su propio cuerpo, para que podamos experimentar su amor.

También tenemos la analogía de la Trinidad como la relación de una familia. Por supuesto es difícil hablar de la Trinidad sin hablar herejías sin querer y ninguna analogía es perfecta, pero creo que la imagen de una familia es una buena manera de comenzar a describir la relación de la Trinidad. Un esposo ama a su esposa y una esposa ama su esposo y su amor es tan real que normalmente en nueve meses le darías nombre. Del mismo modo, Dios Padre ama a Dios Hijo y el Hijo ama al Padre y de sus amores procede el Espíritu Santo.

Me encantan todos los signos y símbolos que utilizamos para describir a Dios y su relación con nosotros, pero quizá mi favorito es el ejemplo que vemos en la Primera Lectura de hoy. Me ha afectado aún más desde ahora que soy papá. Un padre tiene que proteger, guiar, cuidar y amar a su hijo, pero también tiene que dejar que cometa sus propios errores, crezca y aprenda. Es desgarrador incluso pensar en esto porque todo lo que queremos como padre es que nuestros hijos estén bien.

Ahora, toma ese sentimiento desgarrador que tenemos los seres humanos imperfectos y multiplícalo por un millón. Estamos viendo una fracción de lo que Dios siente por su pueblo, sabiendo muy bien que él es el camino, la verdad y la vida, pero todavía no creen, confían ni esperan en él. La línea que realmente me llama la atención es: “Mientras más los llamaba, más se alejaban de mí, ofreciendo sacrificios a los Baales y quemando incienso a los ídolos”. Dios nos está llamando a cada uno de nosotros. Más bien, nos está persiguiendo. A veces, mientras más llama, más lejos corremos. Así como los israelitas que fueron liberados de la esclavitud se convirtieron en ídolos, nosotros tomamos ídolos en nuestras propias vidas para reemplazar la relación que debemos tener con Dios.

Creo que la pregunta que surge de la Primera Lectura es ¿cuáles son tus ídolos? ¿Cuáles son los míos? Cuando Dios llama, ¿qué es lo que nos permite dar la vuelta y correr fácilmente? Les motivo hoy, y a mí mismo también, elegir un ídolo que tienes en tu vida que te distraiga, y durante la próxima semana intenta romper su poder sobre ti. Un día, un minuto, un segundo a la vez.

De parte de todos nosotros aquí en Diocesan, ¡Dios los bendiga!

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Tommy Shultz is a Business Development Representative for Diocesan. In this role he is committed to bringing the best software to dioceses and parishes while helping them evangelize on the digital continent. Tommy has worked in various diocese and parish roles since his graduation from Franciscan University with a Theology degree. He hopes to use his skills in evangelization, marketing, and communications, to serve the Church and bring the Good News to all. His favorite quote comes from St. John Paul II, who said, “A person is an entity of a sort to which the only proper and adequate way to relate is love.”

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Humble Silence

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When I was at Franciscan there was a common phrase amongst the Theology and Catechetics majors. Whenever asked what they wanted to do with their degree, a majority of the time you would hear, “I want to be a Catholic speaker.” This was back in the golden age of speaking when it seemed much more glamorous than getting stuck at an airport or having to be away from your family for long stints at a time. 

While I think the intention of all of these folks was good, I do wonder how often we all make the spiritual life about ourselves. I know I have fallen into this trap many times where I think to myself if I just say the right thing or have the right argument then people will come back to Christ. It almost becomes this weird quasi-evangelization where we want people to come to know Christ, as long as we know we are the ones who made it happen. 

I don’t know if this has been an experience that resonates with you, but this is what immediately came to mind when I read the First Reading about Elijah. Of course, Elijah is one of the most important prophets that we have in the Old Testament. From his miracles, to the way he was able to communicate with God, his holiness, and everything in between, Elijah was a prophet like no other. And yet, here he is in the First Reading needing a dose of humility. 

“I have been most zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. But the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to the sword. I alone am left, and they seek to take my life.” Is this sometimes our prayer? “I have done all that you ask God, but the world is so far gone, I can’t help them.”  “We are being persecuted because of secularism, not because I have failed to bring Christ to those I meet.” It’s the same prayer, different century. 

God’s response? “Go, take the road back to the desert near Damascus. When you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king of Aram. Then you shall anoint Jehu, son of Nimshi, as king of Israel, and Elisha, son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah, as prophet to succeed you.” Essentially God is saying, “stop throwing a pity party for yourself.” He lets Elijah know that a prophet will continue his work, that it will not be him, and that he will have to anoint this person. Talk about a dose of humble pie. But I think it’s very important to reflect on it. God didn’t do this to intimidate or humiliate his prophet, but rather to show him that God can use anyone to accomplish his will. Even those weak children of Israel are part of God’s family and can be used for building God’s kingdom. 

All of this to say, it’s not about us. Whether we want to go around and speak at conferences, serve at soup kitchens, lead youth ministry, work at a parish, or just have friends over to talk about Jesus, let’s make sure to keep the focus on him. If we rely on ourselves we will surely fall to despair as Elijah did. If we trust in the Lord, all things will be possible. 

From all of us here at Diocesan, God bless!

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Tommy Shultz is a Business Development Representative for Diocesan. In this role he is committed to bringing the best software to dioceses and parishes while helping them evangelize on the digital continent. Tommy has worked in various diocese and parish roles since his graduation from Franciscan University with a Theology degree. He hopes to use his skills in evangelization, marketing, and communications, to serve the Church and bring the Good News to all. His favorite quote comes from St. John Paul II, who said, “A person is an entity of a sort to which the only proper and adequate way to relate is love.”

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Food and Community

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I love how Jesus was always eating. Many of the Gospel stories revolve around Jesus and his disciples sharing a meal together. He ate with tax collectors and sinners. Today’s Gospel starts with the words, “After Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples and eaten breakfast with them.” So even after the resurrection, when food presumably would not be necessary anymore in his resurrected body, he eats breakfast with his friends. 

Why all this emphasis on food? Well, the Old Testament speaks of manna that helped nourish the Israelites in the desert, the Bible ends with the banquet feast of the bride and bridegroom, and right at the center of the Gospel is the living food that comes from heaven. It would seem that food is a huge part of God’s plan for humanity. 

Food brings people together. It strikes the perfect balance between something we enjoy and something we actually require for life. We literally can’t live without food. I think Jesus probably had this in mind when he gave us the Eucharist. He gave us his very life and love through the appearance of bread and wine. He not only comes to us as food, but just like with the tax collectors and sinners, he meets us where we need him and are comfortable to approach. 

Jesus could have left us his body in raw form, bones and blood and all, but he didn’t. Just like how in today’s Gospel he gives Peter three chances to affirm his love, after denying him three times, he meets us where we are at and allows us to consume him through the food we are comfortable with. This is essentially true of all the sacraments; they are visible familiar signs that communicate a real grace in our lives. 

So how can we take some of this and apply it to our lives this week? Well, we are officially in barbecue season. The smell of burning charcoal and a plethora of sauces is in the air. I was thinking the other day how I want to make some barbecue for our neighbors. We have lots of families around us with lots of kids and I think it would be fun to pull the grill up to the street and make some food for everyone. Maybe you could have some friends from Church over or even invite one of your pastors to enjoy a meal. Whatever the case, I am going to try to use food to bring people together in community and bring them closer to Christ. Let’s all think about a way this summer we can use food to evangelize and hopefully bring people closer to the true food that has come from heaven. The worst that can happen is that you enjoy a great meal with new people. Happy Eating!

From all of us here at Diocesan, God bless!

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Tommy Shultz is a Business Development Representative for Diocesan. In this role he is committed to bringing the best software to dioceses and parishes while helping them evangelize on the digital continent. Tommy has worked in various diocese and parish roles since his graduation from Franciscan University with a Theology degree. He hopes to use his skills in evangelization, marketing, and communications, to serve the Church and bring the Good News to all. His favorite quote comes from St. John Paul II, who said, “A person is an entity of a sort to which the only proper and adequate way to relate is love.”

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Our Supra-Reasonable Faith

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Today’s Gospel seems to unfold in a beautiful two-part symphony with the doctrine of the Trinity being the prologue and relationship with the Trinity being the crescendo.

Beginning with the doctrine of the Trinity, one could explicate at length about this great mystery, and many have. The Trinity is the central mystery of the faith, as he is revealed through the Old and New Testament. God the Father is revealed as the first origin of everything and as a loving God to all his children. The New Testament then reveals Jesus, the Son of God, who is consubstantial or one and the same God. The Holy Spirit is then introduced by Jesus as a third person of the Trinity who is to be an advocate for all mankind. These teachings lead to the unveiling of God’s innermost secret, “God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange.” -CCC #221

The Trinity can be explained even further through divine revelation as being one God in three persons. These persons are actually distinct from one another and at the same time each of them is God, whole and entire. The distinction of persons in the Trinity rests in their reciprocal relationship to one another, the Father to the Son, the Son to the Father, and the Holy Spirit to both.

All of this is great if you are writing a dissertation on The Trinity, but as I have struggled with my entire life, at some point we need to move from knowledge to relationship. This is what we call faith, and the link between faith and reason is such that we can come to know God through our intellect, but we love him through faith. This is why the notion that faith is blind acceptance to something we cannot know is just silly. Faith is not only reasonable but it is supra-reasonable. That is to say, it goes beyond what we can possibly know by ourselves.

Think about going on a blind date with someone. You may look up all sorts of things about them before the date. You are gathering knowledge which can be very helpful as a beginning step. But at some point, that person will sit down and reveal themselves to you and it’s at this point you will decide whether or not to put your faith and trust in them or not. It’s the same with God. Through the Catholic Tradition we are not afraid of the intellectual process, just take one peak at Aquinas, but at some point we must go beyond reason and allow God to reveal himself to us. Even Aquinas after seeing the vision of God said all his works were straw in comparison.

I write all this today because I need the constant reminder and I hope it can be a reminder to you. I hope it reminds us all that we should learn as much as we can about God but at the same time we should listen as he reveals who he truly is in the depths of our hearts. Let’s all pray for the grace to go from information to transformation in our walk with the Lord.

“The ultimate end of the whole divine economy is the entry of God’s creatures into the perfect unity of the Blessed Trinity. But even now we are called to be a dwelling for the Most Holy Trinity: ‘If a man loves me’, says the Lord, ‘he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.'” -CCC 260

“O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me forget myself entirely so to establish myself in you, unmovable and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to trouble my peace or make me leave you, O my unchanging God, but may each minute bring me more deeply into your mystery! Grant my soul peace. Make it your heaven, your beloved dwelling and the place of your rest. May I never abandon you there, but may I be there, whole and entire, completely vigilant in my faith, entirely adoring, and wholly given over to your creative action.” -CCC 260

 From all of us here at Diocesan, God bless!

Tommy Shultz is a Business Development Representative for Diocesan. In this role he is committed to bringing the best software to dioceses and parishes while helping them evangelize on the digital continent. Tommy has worked in various diocese and parish roles since his graduation from Franciscan University with a Theology degree. He hopes to use his skills in evangelization, marketing, and communications, to serve the Church and bring the Good News to all. His favorite quote comes from St. John Paul II, who said, “A person is an entity of a sort to which the only proper and adequate way to relate is love.”

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Child of God

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My wife, Nathalie, and I welcomed our first child, Gabriel Michael Shultz, into the world on April 4th. As I write this we are in the throes of Gabe finding his personality, watching him grow every day, sleep deprivation, and all the highs and lows that come with this absolutely beautiful blessing of new life. 

Of course, as Catholics, one of the milestones in the Christian life is the sacrament of baptism, which we were able to celebrate last weekend. Father Adams, who also was the witness to our wedding, gave a wonderful reflection about what it means to be a child of God. He asked a few simple questions to the congregation that I want to ask you to reflect on today. When you are a child of a dog, what are you? You’re a dog. When you are a child of a giraffe, what are you? You’re a giraffe. When you are a child of a mongoose, what are you? You’re a mongoose. When you are a child of God, what are you?

It’s an interesting question to reflect on isn’t it? Naturally we want to say God but then we feel weird that we might be heretical in speaking about a human person as God. The Catechism, however, doesn’t have a problem with this strong language, in fact, it’s kind of the basis of our faith. What I am talking about is the idea of divinization, where we participate in the divine nature of God. If this all seems strange or foreign to you, the Catechism affirms it in saying, “The Word became flesh to make us ‘partakers of the divine nature’: ‘For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.’ ‘For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.’ ‘The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods.'” -CCC 460

This process of divinization starts here on this earth, specifically through the sacraments, and continues on until we receive the full participation of the divine life in heaven. We got to witness our son on Sunday beginning this process. His smile immediately after the water was poured said it all, that he is a child of God and that his destiny, same as yours and mine, is to participate fully and completely in the divinity of God himself. 

So, of course, we all know that baptism makes us children of God, but what is next? How do we continue in this process of divinization here on this earth? We see the answer in today’s Gospel. Jesus tells us that, “Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.”

The sacraments are the physical signs of God’s love that are so real they literally infuse us with God himself. This should be the teaching we are shouting from the rooftops. If we want more people in the Church, let’s bring them in by sharing the truth that all of this exists in order that we might become partakers in the divine life. We saw it with our own eyes this past weekend. I encourage you to look up the date of your baptism and celebrate this date every year with your family and friends as a sign of what God is doing in your life and how he became man so that you might become God. 

From all of us here at Diocesan, God bless!

Tommy Shultz is a Business Development Representative for Diocesan. In this role he is committed to bringing the best software to dioceses and parishes while helping them evangelize on the digital continent. Tommy has worked in various diocese and parish roles since his graduation from Franciscan University with a Theology degree. He hopes to use his skills in evangelization, marketing, and communications, to serve the Church and bring the Good News to all. His favorite quote comes from St. John Paul II, who said, “A person is an entity of a sort to which the only proper and adequate way to relate is love.”

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A Word on Vocation

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The word vocation comes with a lot of baggage. It tends to bring to my mind old posters of seminarians, half of whom have dropped out by now but the poster remains, or conjures up ideas of job, work, occupation, etc. It’s one of those words similar to stewardship where we have made it mean so many things, that it almost means nothing. It is stretched thin in its general form but at the same time so focused in its particular form that it becomes exclusive to a specific group. 

Today I want to focus on the first reading which perfectly summarizes both stewardship and vocation. 

“Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spreads out the earth with its crops, Who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk on it: I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, To open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.”

What can we take from this? First, God is the creator of all things. Anything we have including the breath in our lungs and our family and friends is all due to God being Gift. Next, we see that we are called. This calling comes from God and fits with the gifts God has given us. What is the calling? To be a light to the nations. 

John Paul II realized this well when he said, “The fundamental vocation of every human person is to love.” Our general vocation is to love, our particular vocation is how God has called us specifically to do it. While I was discerning the priesthood in seminary, one of the most helpful things I was told was that our vocation is the way that God has called us to get to heaven and bring the most people with us. 

Now, most people reading these posts are probably thinking that you are already well into the particular vocation that God has given you. Maybe you don’t need to discern this part, but I think we all could breathe fresh air into our vocations with the general vocation of love. I like to think of this in terms of Jesus going into the desert. As we are in Lent, we contemplate how Jesus knew his particular vocation, but he took time to pray before entering into his public ministry. 

With all the focus we have on self help and care I think it’s important to use these models for our vocation as well. If stewardship is using the gifts God has given us in service, then first we must work on our relationship with God, then take this grace and apply it to our gifts, and finally we will have the power needed in order to be a light to the nations. Lent is the perfect time to try this model out. Let’s pray for the gifts in order to be a gift to others and fully live out our calling to love. 

From all of us here at Diocesan, God bless!

Tommy Shultz is a Business Development Representative for Diocesan. In this role he is committed to bringing the best software to dioceses and parishes while helping them evangelize on the digital continent. Tommy has worked in various diocese and parish roles since his graduation from Franciscan University with a Theology degree. He hopes to use his skills in evangelization, marketing, and communications, to serve the Church and bring the Good News to all. His favorite quote comes from St. John Paul II, who said, “A person is an entity of a sort to which the only proper and adequate way to relate is love.”

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Your Salvation History

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When you look at the Old Testament as a whole, it’s a beautiful piece of literature that weaves between several different genres and styles, all culminating in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus in the New Testament. It is the beginning of salvation history with all its ebbs and flows, valleys and mountains. It doesn’t take a scripture scholar to see the levels of human depravity intermixed with moments of spiritual growth, which makes it easy to wonder, “Why were the people in the Old Testament so messed up?”

Judging other cultures against ourselves and making the conclusion that we are not so bad is something human beings do best. But instead of reading the Old Testament with a detached view of an ancient people, I propose we read it in light of our lives today. We all have a “salvation history.” Points of encounter with God that help us along the sometimes confusing and overwhelming terrain of life that we often try to navigate alone until we cry out for the navigator. 

Imagine for a second the story of Exodus. The Israelites are finally freed from slavery and on the journey to the promised land. They have God by their side to protect and guide them through this magnificent pillar of fire. Moses is speaking directly with God on their behalf and leading them closer to the fulfillment of God’s covenant with Abraham. Yet, even with God being so completely present and merciful, they turn away and worship the golden calf. Their fallen humanity rears its ugly head and causes them to turn to something else instead of God. Contrast that with the story today, where Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (which are by far the funnest names to pronounce in scripture) would rather face a horrific death than even begin to think about worshipping the golden calf. Look at how far the human race has come between these two small stories. 

So the question I think we all should be asking, especially during this time of Lent, is where am I in my salvation history timeline? Where are you? Sometimes we will feel the mountain top experience where we feel like we are growing in faith and getting closer and closer to God. Other times we may feel like we are struggling in the spiritual life and need some sort of a spiritual epipen. And finally, sometimes we know we have turned away like the Israelites did with the golden calf. Although our own personal salvation timeline may have ups and downs, one thing remains consistent. The source of our salvation is constantly there. 

Take a second right now and take a deep breath. Relax. Allowing yourself just a minute to push out the noise and distraction of the world. Close your eyes and count 30 breaths. Slowly breathing in and out. With each breath just simply say something like “come Holy Spirit” or “Jesus I trust in you.” 

We do not stop enough throughout the day and remember the reality that God is with us and he is helping us on this journey, at least I know I don’t. This form of prayer has greatly helped me in moments where I need to remember that God is with me, just like he was with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walking amidst the flames. Be encouraged by his presence today and may it guide you through the ebbs and flows. 

From all of us here at Diocesan, God bless!

Tommy Shultz is a Business Development Representative for Diocesan. In this role he is committed to bringing the best software to dioceses and parishes while helping them evangelize on the digital continent. Tommy has worked in various diocese and parish roles since his graduation from Franciscan University with a Theology degree. He hopes to use his skills in evangelization, marketing, and communications, to serve the Church and bring the Good News to all. His favorite quote comes from St. John Paul II, who said, “A person is an entity of a sort to which the only proper and adequate way to relate is love.”

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I Am Who Am

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I am who am! These simple yet profound words echoed through a cave thousands of years ago and have kept even the greatest theologians questioning.

Thomas Aquinas himself, one of the most influential doctors of the Church, wrote extensively on this subject and only began to scratch the surface of its meaning. What do these profound words spoken from God to Moses mean? Well, what we do know is that they mean that God is existence itself. He is the uncreated creator, that which makes things be, existence itself. Explaining God in relation to other created things does not do justice to Him, and yet this is the way we know to explain.

The Catholic Church calls this a mystery. Not a mystery in the sense that it is hidden or that we can’t know anything, for God has revealed certain things, but a mystery in the sense that it is not fully knowable to us until heaven.

What is fully knowable to us though is that every breath, every life, every gift, everything, even our very existence is due to God. He holds us into being. This should give us a little perspective during this Lenten season. I think we often approach Lent in a negative sense, in the sense that we should give something up or sacrifice something.

While it truly is a time for these things, it is also a time to realize that because we were made and are held into existence by a complete gift, that the only proper response to that gift is to give. We do not get to heaven in a box. Our beautiful faith teaches us that we gain salvation through the relationship with Christ and His sacrifice on the cross. And this salvific relationship is meant to be shared with the world. It is not enough to receive love and have it turn inward, love must turn outward and multiply.

This Lent, I encourage you to sit down for a few minutes and reflect on the words, I am who am. Reflect on what that means in your life and the gifts you have been given. Now, reflect on how you can turn and give. It might be as simple as telling a friend they are loved, or it might be as difficult as standing up for your faith when it is uncomfortable. Either way, don’t let this just be more words you read on a page. Let’s all think of one concrete way we can be a gift this week. Nothing is scarier to Satan than Christians uniting through relationship with Christ, and then sharing that relationship with the world. From all of us here at Diocesan, God Bless!

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Tommy Shultz is a Business Development Representative for Diocesan. In this role he is committed to bringing the best software to dioceses and parishes while helping them evangelize on the digital continent. Tommy has worked in various diocese and parish roles since his graduation from Franciscan University with a Theology degree. He hopes to use his skills in evangelization, marketing, and communications, to serve the Church and bring the Good News to all. His favorite quote comes from St. John Paul II, who said, “A person is an entity of a sort to which the only proper and adequate way to relate is love.”

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I Have No Help But You

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“God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, blessed are you. Help me, who am alone and have no help but you.” These words still feel as tangible and heartfelt as they must have seemed to anyone who could hear them echo through the halls of the palace where Esther was made queen. Here was a woman of such profound strength because she knew God would grant her what she needed when she needed it. It would have been easy for her to take full credit for her ability to come to the defense of those she loved, but instead she gave full credit to God and relied on him for everything. 

Today, I think one of the major heresies that we struggle with in our modern day is Pelagianism. Named for its author, Pelagius, this is essentially the idea that original sin does not exist and that we can actually live as good Christian people apart from the grace of God. The proverbial, “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps” mentality plagues our culture today as we become more technologically and scientifically advanced. The more money, power, and prestige that we possess, the easier it is to believe that we do not need our creator. And we have been warned what happens when we don’t believe we need a creator anymore. The book of Romans makes it clear that, “they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever!” 

How many people do you know in your life who rely more on material possessions and their own ingenuity first and then if there is any room left maybe they throw up a quick prayer or ask for positive vibes? This is one of the reasons that Lent and specifically fasting and almsgiving are so important. When we start to deny ourselves certain things and give up our possessions we start to realize that nothing belongs to us. All is gift. All things have been given to us by God and we are called to be good stewards of the things we have and realize that without God we are nothing. This isn’t to put ourselves down or make it seem like we are no good, on the contrary, when we realize how we were created and who we are loved by, we are very good indeed. But this goodness is due to God, not ourselves. WE STILL NEED HIM. 

During these times of uncertainty, discussions of war have been on everyone’s mind. I don’t think it’s an accident that today’s readings and the state of the world come to us during Lent. It has led me to ask a very important daily question which I encourage all of you to ask during this season. If I were to wake up tomorrow and lose everything except the things I have actively thanked God for, what would be left? 

Are we thanking God for his constant gifts? Are we aware of how he is working in our lives or are we shutting him out with all the noise? Lent is the time to deny ourselves so that we can see our reliance on God and our call to give to others. Let’s try to live by Esther’s example of crying out, “Help me, who am alone and have no help but you.” From all of us here at Diocesan. God bless!

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Tommy Shultz is a Business Development Representative for Diocesan. In this role he is committed to bringing the best software to dioceses and parishes while helping them evangelize on the digital continent. Tommy has worked in various diocese and parish roles since his graduation from Franciscan University with a Theology degree. He hopes to use his skills in evangelization, marketing, and communications, to serve the Church and bring the Good News to all. His favorite quote comes from St. John Paul II, who said, “A person is an entity of a sort to which the only proper and adequate way to relate is love.”

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Creation in Chaos

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We are living in a strange time where the order of creation seems to have reversed itself and those things which we once held dear have somehow become less in our hearts, while the things that are less we tend to hold more dear. If we go all the way back to Genesis we can see the progression that God intended, nature first, then animals, and human beings as the crown of creation. All throughout Genesis we hear that God created all things as good and then finally we hear that man is created as very good. 

But look around you today and how often do we treat our pets better than our fellow man? The order seems to have been plunged into chaos. As I ponder over this, I think perhaps the main reason is that animals don’t grapple with sin. When you watch an animal do something monumentally stupid, you aren’t as harsh with them because you know a lot of it was just instinctual. But when a human being does something stupid we tend to be much more judgmental because we can see the freedom and will that was involved in that action. They chose to do wrong on one level or another. 

Some might look at this freedom and see a flaw within the human race, but I prefer to look at it and see it as THE component that allows for us to love. God has created us apart from the rest of the world. We have the ability to choose and though it is that ability that can sometimes get us into trouble, it is also the ability that frees us to make choices of love. To me it makes sense then that this is what Satan wants to attack. One of the very things that sets us apart from the rest of creation and allows us to share in the life of God is terrifying to Satan, so he gets us to believe things like “all human beings are awful since the fall” or that “there is no hope that a free person could be a good person.” 

It’s this mentality that forces us to retreat into the idea that our pets are more safe or more trustworthy or more good, but remember back to Genesis when it was the human being who was declared as very good, apart from the rest of creation. And then we hear this beautiful line from today’s readings, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, says the Lord, but rather in his conversion, that he may live.” God gives us freedom not to laugh at us when we fall and fail, but he gives us freedom so we can choose him and live with him forever. He wants our good. During this time of Lent let’s try to reflect on the fact that God has made us all as set apart and that our actions should reflect who we are, good children of God who are loved. From all of us here at Diocesan, God bless!

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Tommy Shultz is a Business Development Representative for Diocesan. In this role he is committed to bringing the best software to dioceses and parishes while helping them evangelize on the digital continent. Tommy has worked in various diocese and parish roles since his graduation from Franciscan University with a Theology degree. He hopes to use his skills in evangelization, marketing, and communications, to serve the Church and bring the Good News to all. His favorite quote comes from St. John Paul II, who said, “A person is an entity of a sort to which the only proper and adequate way to relate is love.”

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Living Witnesses

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The Catholic world has been rocked in recent years by many scandals committed by those ordained to serve their flock. Creating a sort of no-win scenario, conversations tend to balance between outright disgust for our priests or holding them up on a pedestal and believing they can do no wrong. Within this mess of at times unfair judgement and at other times outright clericalism, one will find those humble priests who still live out the whole reason they were ordained, to serve.

In today’s First Reading, there are really two major themes that Peter is communicating to his fellow presbyters, which are still quite applicable today. The first is this notion that priests share in a special way in the glory that has been revealed. The second, is that priests should tend to their flock.

Why do we hold priests in such high esteem? In short, it’s because Jesus has called these men to be witnesses. One of the reasons priests practice celibacy is because they are not just a holy witness of life here on earth, but they live in a way that foreshadows what our life will be like in heaven. They are living, in a sense, the redemption we will all experience at the end of time. I like to describe this fact by using the analogy of eating food. When we eat a meal we immediately taste the goodness of the food, but we don’t receive the fullness of it until we digest it and use it for energy. It’s the same with redemption. We have a taste of redemption now, we long for the fullness of redemption in heaven. Priests then, are an example to us of living the line between both, heaven and earth.

So then the question may be asked, well what if a priest isn’t a good example for us? And here is where the second part of the First Reading comes in. Priests are called to serve. The very way that they are an example to us of the divine is by imitating Christ, the King who came not to be served but to serve. This is not an easy task nor one that should be taken lightly. It becomes even more difficult by the simple fact that we live in a fallen world. I remember when I was discerning the priesthood it became very clear to me how broken men can be who receive the call. It’s not as if you put on that collar and all of a sudden you can do no wrong. So where is all of this going?

The point here is that God has ordained men on this earth to be examples of life in heaven. They ultimately fulfill this reality when they are in service to their flock, just like Jesus was and is. But we also have to be aware of the reality that we live in a fallen world and priests, bishops, and popes are not always going to be perfect. So what is the answer? To me it seems simple, we must believe in the power of prayer and pray ardently for our priests. Instead of towing the line between disgust and worship, let’s pray that our priests will take up the call they have been given and become shining examples here on earth of what it will be like in heaven. A good place to start is the prayer below. From all of us here at Diocesan, God bless!

Gracious and loving God, we thank you for the gift of our priests. Through them, we experience your presence in the sacraments. Help our priests to be strong in their vocation. Set their souls on fire with love for your people. Grant them the wisdom, understanding, and strength they need to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Inspire them with the vision of your Kingdom. Give them the words they need to spread the Gospel. Allow them to experience joy in their ministry. Help them to become instruments of your divine grace. We ask this through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns as our Eternal Priest. Amen.

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Tommy Shultz is a Business Development Representative for Diocesan. In this role he is committed to bringing the best software to dioceses and parishes while helping them evangelize on the digital continent. Tommy has worked in various diocese and parish roles since his graduation from Franciscan University with a Theology degree. He hopes to use his skills in evangelization, marketing, and communications, to serve the Church and bring the Good News to all. His favorite quote comes from St. John Paul II, who said, “A person is an entity of a sort to which the only proper and adequate way to relate is love.”

Feature Image Credit: Nazim Coskun, https://unsplash.com/photos/Wk6zOCfpe4A