This past week contained many many many things to be thankful for. Much was said about it all, I'm sure. The social media sphere was teeming with pictures of dinners eaten with family and friends amid joy, love, and doubtless arguments which came up over dinner.
For my family, there was even more to be thankful for. Not only did we have the pleasure of enjoying this great American feast together, but then we gathered back together days later to pray and celebrate at a family wedding.
For me, there was even more to be thankful for, as the week contained reunions with multiple people whom I haven't seen in far too long.
For everyone in my generation, these last couple days have brought something else to be thankful for, as it was officially announced that Girl Meets World would be happening (while much less serious, this story absolutely needed to be mentioned here).
All of this and so much more got me to thinking-what does it mean to be thankful? Why are we truly grateful? Much has been said on this by many people smarter than me, but I thought I'd write out a couple of thoughts anyway.
It seems in many ways in today's society that Thanksgiving is a one-day thing which is purely there to eat too much food in order to have the energy to spend a lot of money we don't have the next day. Don't get me wrong, I don't just want to bash on modern culture. Sales are good, there is no problem with Black Friday shopping as is. What is a problem, though, is a mentality that we don't need to give thanks every day.
And so, for me, it means this: every single day when I wake up I need to take time to realize that the God who breathed the stars into existence (Psalm 33:6) and holds all life in place (Colossians 1:17) has decided that for one more day I should wake up and enjoy His marvelous creation. This is one more day that I have been given to love, to serve, to follow. This is one more day where I have a chance to truly live, to truly be thankful because without the love of God I would: a. truly not exist but even if I did somehow exist b. my life would be pointless. Don't misunderstand that-there are a lot of good things in this world, and life itself is a wonderful gift, but this gift comes THE gift-giver. The One who gives life to all things in the universe is the same one who came down and died for me, and every day I have the chance to behold His creation, and not only that but I also have the most amazing privilege of coming into relationship with Him and even receiving His very flesh and blood in the Eucharist.
So yeah, there are some things I am thankful for. I simply pray for the grace to remember every day how truly grateful I need to be.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Moving Forward
The days since the election have been filled with one person reflecting on our nation and where we go from here after another, and since I claim to be no expert on politics and government I will not try to do that. Along with that, one person after another has spoken of the difficulties facing the Church in the future, specifically as regards religious freedom, the fight to defend human life, and the fight to defend the sanctity of marriage, so I will not speak on those as I am also no expert in any of those topics.
In fact, I am no expert on any topic; but that won't stop me from giving a quick little reflection on what is on my mind. Four years ago when our President Obama was elected a dear friend of mine Fr. Conrad Harkins, OFM spent about 1/2 hour in every single homily for the next 2 months (and this is not an exaggeration, if you know him you'll understand) reflecting on the state of the Church and the nation. His reflections were simple: "convert the hearts of the people, and they will smash their own idols." This was the idea with which Franciscan missionaries had managed to enter new worlds which were hostile to outsiders and not only manage to avoid martyrdom, but also manage to convert a vast majority of the people and allow the Good News of Jesus Christ to take hold. Why, he would ask, do we think that electing a public official or changing a policy will work in the long run? Yes, these things are important, but the only way to actually change the world in which we live is to change hearts. The only way we can affect anything is to love, and to do so by helping those we encounter to come to know the Truth of Jesus Christ.
The world we are in doesn't need politicians. It doesn't need political activists. Don't get me wrong, some people are called to work in those fields, and are very important to the political landscape. The political sphere, however, is not going to change in our nation if we are not actively working to change hearts, and the only way that we can actively work to change hearts is by becoming saints. Saint Francis set out to re-build the Church physically, and learned that he had to continue to give himself over in radical poverty to an all-loving God and help others to do the same, and in re-building the Church this way he would have great success.
Pope Benedict XVI has repeatedly called situation in our world a move towards a "dictatorship of relativism" wherein we see the hearts and minds of the people in our world controlled by a 'do whatever feels good' fallacy that leaves us broken and wanting. Simply attacking that lifestyle, however, will not bring change; it will bring a harsh reaction that pulls more people away from Christ than leads them to Him. Our response must be one of swift action: pray. Not just pray for our nation and pray for laws. In fact, those need to take a backseat. Pray that our hearts might be changed. That our hearts might be set ablaze. That our hearts might long for a radical communion with a God who spends each moment seeking us and desiring us to invite Him into the sort of intimate communion for which we were created. Pray that we would come to know God and to let His message permeate our lives, and then live as if He actually has changed us, and watch the world around us begin to change.
In fact, I am no expert on any topic; but that won't stop me from giving a quick little reflection on what is on my mind. Four years ago when our President Obama was elected a dear friend of mine Fr. Conrad Harkins, OFM spent about 1/2 hour in every single homily for the next 2 months (and this is not an exaggeration, if you know him you'll understand) reflecting on the state of the Church and the nation. His reflections were simple: "convert the hearts of the people, and they will smash their own idols." This was the idea with which Franciscan missionaries had managed to enter new worlds which were hostile to outsiders and not only manage to avoid martyrdom, but also manage to convert a vast majority of the people and allow the Good News of Jesus Christ to take hold. Why, he would ask, do we think that electing a public official or changing a policy will work in the long run? Yes, these things are important, but the only way to actually change the world in which we live is to change hearts. The only way we can affect anything is to love, and to do so by helping those we encounter to come to know the Truth of Jesus Christ.
The world we are in doesn't need politicians. It doesn't need political activists. Don't get me wrong, some people are called to work in those fields, and are very important to the political landscape. The political sphere, however, is not going to change in our nation if we are not actively working to change hearts, and the only way that we can actively work to change hearts is by becoming saints. Saint Francis set out to re-build the Church physically, and learned that he had to continue to give himself over in radical poverty to an all-loving God and help others to do the same, and in re-building the Church this way he would have great success.
Pope Benedict XVI has repeatedly called situation in our world a move towards a "dictatorship of relativism" wherein we see the hearts and minds of the people in our world controlled by a 'do whatever feels good' fallacy that leaves us broken and wanting. Simply attacking that lifestyle, however, will not bring change; it will bring a harsh reaction that pulls more people away from Christ than leads them to Him. Our response must be one of swift action: pray. Not just pray for our nation and pray for laws. In fact, those need to take a backseat. Pray that our hearts might be changed. That our hearts might be set ablaze. That our hearts might long for a radical communion with a God who spends each moment seeking us and desiring us to invite Him into the sort of intimate communion for which we were created. Pray that we would come to know God and to let His message permeate our lives, and then live as if He actually has changed us, and watch the world around us begin to change.
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