October 4, 1979: I remember it well, for it was a day like none other. On this particular crisp autumn afternoon, my family and I headed to Chicago to see Pope John Paul II as he made his way from O’Hare Airport to Holy Name Cathedral. And being the first Pope to visit Chicago and the first and only Polish Pope, he was going to be traveling right through our old Polish neighborhood of Jefferson Park. Read More
On the Inside; On the Outside
I thought that I’d share an entry from my personal journal dated September 21, 2007. I hope you find this to be helpful if you struggle with worrying.
Yesterday morning, I experienced one of those “God Moments” on my way to work. The day before, I had been hearing some nasty rumors of major layoffs coming in October at our office location. It sounded like it was going to be one of those bad ones with a large number of people being let go. So naturally, I began worrying. With me being the “new guy” in the group (being a part of this team for only a few short months), I figured that I would surely be the first one to go.
My sleep was restless that night; and from about 4 am on, I was wide awake with worry thinking about potential job loss. After tossing and turning for a while, I finally decided to get up and get on with my day. On my commute to work, I was praying to God about calming my mind. I prayed that I find the strength to trust in the Lord at all times and not worry about things that are out of my control, for God will take care of me and guide me – as He always does!
As I am driving, I passed a church on my route that had a sign out front. It read: “Don’t Worry – It May Not Happen.” It was like getting hit in the head with a brick. God was giving me a sign (literally). A feeling of calm suddenly enveloped me, and I finally felt at ease. (And when October came, I was still employed.)
May I continue to praise God for being the light in my life and for reminding me that all will be fine if I can only trust in Him who gives me life. Worry about nothing – Pray about everything. That’s good advice for all of us!
My wife and I spent this past weekend with 13 teenagers on a Peer Ministry Retreat at a camp in East Troy, Wisconsin. This was our 8th year doing this retreat and we really enjoy watching the teens as they learn important leadership skills and deepen their relationship with God. We always stress to them the importance of making time for prayer in their busy lives, and I always share this story with them.
A few years back while on this same retreat, I decided to do my Sunday morning prayers down by the lake. It was a misty, calm morning as I sat myself down on the little wooden pier. I pulled out my Liturgy of the Hours and began praying out loud. At a certain point, I began freely talking with God about some things that were going on in my life at the time. I verbally placed my intentions before the Lord hoping for some direction and guidance. Suddenly, I noticed movement from deep beneath the murky waters, and slowly emerged a very large turtle. His head peered out of the water and it was looking directly at me. I was completely caught by surprise. It felt like God appeared before me right when I needed him during my prayer. After a brief moment of eye contact between each other, the turtle returned to the depths of the lake.
Our God surprises us so many times during our lives, but we’re often so preoccupied with life that we often miss it. Sometimes we’re asked to put out our boat one more time, to try again, to go outside our comfort zone and take a chance. But how often do we react like Simon Peter and say that we’re not worthy of such blessings, that we’re not worthy of such love? We need to trust in the Lord and not be afraid, for he made us out of love and wants what’s best for us. And if we do, the rewards will be amazing.
May the Lord bless and fill your life with his mercy, his unending love, and with many surprises.
When praying the Liturgy of the Hours recently, I came across a line from the Book of Job that reminded me of something I once heard from my instructor in a communications class that I took during deacon formation. The line read:
“Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall go back again.”
I remember the teacher telling us that when we die, we will stand naked before the Lord – bearing everything about ourselves. We come into this world with nothing, and we leave this world with nothing. It doesn’t matter how much or how little we possessed while on this earth. It is all about what we’ve done with our time here. Everything we do remains a part of us. So when that day comes and we stand before the Lord naked, are we to be ashamed? Will we try to hide those things about ourselves that we find embarrassing?
We need to live our lives in a way that God desires, not to walk around thinking that we’re better than others, or more deserving or entitled to certain circumstances or behaviors. We need to always be aware of how our words and actions could make or break someone’s day. We need to be on constant watch for the temptations of the evil one who longs to point us in the wrong direction. We need to open ourselves up, to become fully exposed before our Lord and not be ashamed of who we are or what we’ve done. Let us strive to live a life of worthiness: loving everyone as God loves us and making a difference in our world.
Have you been watching the Olympics? I love the history, the pageantry, the competitions and just seeing how all of the countries’ athletes get along with each other. And I love watching how emotional and dedicated they are to doing whatever it takes to achieve their Olympic dream. But I think what I love the most about the Olympic games is watching the sense of joy these athletes have in wearing their various team apparel while representing their country.
I read that the women’s gymnastics outfits cost $1,200 each. (My entire wardrobe does not even come close to that!) Regardless of the cost, there is a sense of pride and honor in what they wear and everything it represents.
In today’s Gospel (Matthew 22:1-14), Jesus tells a parable about the kingdom of heaven. And in this story, joy should have been the apparel of every guest at the wedding. And it should be the same for us.
Every day we have a chance to represent our Lord: to use the gifts and talents that we have been given and to go out and do great things in God’s name. What a joy and honor that should be for us.
But so often we walk around with, what Pope Francis calls, “sour faces.” We forget to smile, be happy, and realize that every day that we are on this earth is a gift. It is a gift to be acknowledged, cherished, and used.
Our call to the kingdom of heaven comes to us each and every day, and it calls us right where we are. But it shouldn’t leave us where we are either. The Prophet Ezekiel tells us that the Lord “will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you.” Each of us was clothed with Christ at our baptism, and we were transformed to love and serve one another. Each of us was made for greatness, in the image and likeness of God. How blessed we are indeed!
Let us praise and thank the Lord for he has clothed us with joy. And you know what? It sure looks good on us! Let us not be afraid to show it.
A sloth is a strange looking animal, isn’t it? Whenever I look at a sloth, I say to myself, “I am sure glad that I am not a sloth!”
Who am I to say that a sloth isn’t thinking the same thing about me? A sloth might be glad that it’s not a human being. I guess what you think of others depends on who or what you are. But since I am a human and not a sloth, I think sloths are kind of weird looking.
A sloth has almost no tail and no ears, a short snout, and only has two or three toes, depending on the species. And sloths are slow moving animals that live in trees. But by far the strangest thing about the sloth is that it is an upside-down animal. If you want to look at a sloth straight in the eye, you have to turn your head upside down. Sloths live upside down. They eat upside down, and they spend their whole lives living upside down in trees.
I don’t know about you, but I would certainly not want to live that way. I would never want to walk upside down, eat upside down or even sleep upside down. It just sounds uncomfortable.
Yet, strangely enough, this is what many people do. They live upside down. Not really, of course. They don’t walk on their hands or eat hanging upside down from the kitchen ceiling. But they live upside down in another way. They don’t live the way that Jesus wants them to live.
Jesus says that we must seek God first. He says that we must make God number one in our life and ourselves number two. He says that when we do that, we’re living right side up. But many of us do the opposite. We make ourselves number one and God number two. That’s turning Jesus’ words on their head. That’s living like a sloth.
How can we make sure that we are living right side up? The best way is to live every day, with Christ’s help, in the way he has shown us: by loving our neighbor, helping one another, and spreading the Gospel by the way we live our lives. If we can do that on a day to day basis, the future will take care of itself and there will be no need to worry.
We are now several months into the Year of Mercy, and I believe that it’s a good time for us to check-in and see how we are doing. Read More
A few years ago, Stephanie and I were on vacation when it took an unexpected turn, leaving behind a memory that neither one of us expected. We headed off to Maine to do some wilderness hiking for a few days, and then headed up into Canada to spend some time in Quebec. Read More
Have you ever encountered a once in a lifetime opportunity you knew you couldn’t pass up? You just knew it was something so incredible that you just had to act on it immediately. Such a moment came for a blind and destitute man, named Bartimaeus. Read More
