A Much Needed Change

I want to step back from my normal talk of theology and religion and just speak as a person for a little while. Here we go.

The internet is a fascinating place. I mean, the world is a fascinating place, but the internet is even more fascinating as a somewhat blown-up image of all of the craziness you might encounter not on the internet. It is on the internet that you can find an argument for any point of view--literally, any of them. It is on the internet that you can see memes, read articles, and listen to youtube videos stating completely opposite opinions as if they are fact, all in a matter of seconds.

On the internet, it is really easy to post an opinion and not have any responsibility for what you said. A blog is a scary thing (I know it's ironic for me to say that in a blog, but I'm going to anyways). On a blog, someone can post an opinion, touting themselves as an expert in just about anything. Most of the time, this is a really bad thing, and I try to avoid these articles because I leave frustrated with people's inability to think (maybe that's harsh? Oh well).

Then, on a blogging and sports supersite that I really enjoy called Grantland, I found an article with an opinion I thought was good. The article is called Man Up [NOTE: the language is really bad. Let me explain why I like it, first, before you go there, and you can decide if you want to read it].

I like the article because, although it's vulgar, it's on point; if you're familiar with this bullying/abuse case in the NFL right now, you'll find it interesting. If you're not familiar, it is a blown up case about one grown man treating another grown man like garbage and people accepting it because they're football players who should be able to handle it. If this amount of foul language is ever acceptable (note I said if), this has to be the case: he's really really mad, and pretty justifiably so. Read if you feel so inclined, but know he's intense.

And now to my point. I read that Grantland article above, and I loved it. I loved it because I thought it got to the heart of this whole issue--this is a person who needs to be treated as such. I read this article and thought: wow, that was a good point. I really liked that. I wish he didn't use the F word so much and I could share that article with everyone I know. Then I read the comments; seeing that there were so many, I figured I would read a couple of people who disagreed (this is the internet, after all), and a whole bunch of people saying how wonderful the article was. To my utter surprise, what I read most of all were people saying he was wrong, saying that this was a grown man playing a professional sport and he needed to figure out his things on his own, that he was hurt too easily and he needed to get over it.

And now to my real point: I think there is a problem when we think of people as problems we need to solve rather than individuals who need to be encountered and loved. The commenters on this article saw Jonathan Martin not as a man, but as a football who makes lots of money and needs to be tough and deal with his issues, regardless of what they are. In my line of work, I see the same thing; people see ministry, often, as something which should be done in a specific category and a specific way because that is the way that is effective and that is what people in our world need.

On blogs, you see this sort of thing all the time (and I may be guilty of myself): here is a problem, and here is how we need to solve it. Sure, the problem is on the other side of the world. Sure, I don't really know anyone affected by this. Sure, I haven't ever spoken with someone in this situation. All of that aside, us bloggers often say, here is the solution. Implement my plans. They work. I promise.

Maybe this will come off as doing exactly what I just said we shouldn't, but here is what I think: we, as human persons, need to start seeing others as people, not as problems to be solved (note, when I say we, I really mean I). Encounter people. Love people. Listen to people. Professional athletes, teachers, famous musicians, plumbers, waitresses, actors, and everyone in between--they're all just people.

No, actually, I take the "we" back all together. Here is my solution: I will stop seeing people as a category and a problem, and start encountering them all as people who deserve love, attention, and respect. No more categories. Just more love.

Basically, I want to start being like this guy: The Embrace that Went Viral.

[Book Review]; The Mass-It's What We Do

The Mass:

The Glory, the Mystery, the Tradition

Cardinal Donald Wuerl and Mike Aquilina

Image Books 2011

Mike Aquilina and Cardinal Donald Wuerl are two names that should be familiar to most Catholics in America. Cardinal Wuerl was the Bishop of Pittsburgh for 18 years before moving in 2006 to Washington D.C. where currently resides as the Archbishop of Washington. Aquilina is the Executive Vice President for the Saint Paul Center for Biblical Studies, and is a well-known author and speaker and a frequent guest on EWTN. 

Okay, so I pretty much took those descriptions from inside the book. What I know is this: Cardinal Wuerl is well-known and well-loved by many for his leadership of the Church in Pittsburgh and Washington, and for his ability to teach the faith. Aquilina is well-known because his books are very easy to read and informative, while not lacking in scholarship and depth of information. 

What this book sets out to do is to walk the reader through Holy Mass in a way that is understandable and informative, drawing from the tradition of the Church as well as the experience of two devout Catholics, one a lay man and another a priest and bishop of the Church. They're purpose for writing, they explain, is that "The Mass is what Catholics do," and yet they "find the experience more rewarding...when [they] understand the Mass as [they] pray it" (pages 21, 23). As Cardinal Francis George, OMI, Archbishop of Chicago, says in the Preface, "active participation in the Mass is the very soul of participation in the life of the Church"; Cardinal Wuerl and Aquilina use the pages of this book to try and help each person find that active participation in his or her own life. 

What I really liked about this book is that it simply and briefly takes the reader through every part of the Mass, not dwelling too long on any small detail but explaining the Church's reasoning for every single part. Whether you are a person who has never studied the Mass or even really paid much attention at Mass, or you are a person who has studied the Mass extensively, this book is a good resource. For those faithful Mass-goers and well-studied Catholics, this book will probably not change your life; but it will certainly help you enter more fully into the Mass the next time you attend. 

In my own life, I have already seen this book pay off. Since starting the book, every Mass I have attended has called to mind certain aspects of what the authors explained. Whether it was the reminder to come early and reflect before Mass, the chapter explaining the importance of the readings, or the beautiful reflection on the Holy, Holy, Holy, this book has already helped me get more out of Mass. This book didn't change my perspective on the Mass, but it certainly helped increase my desire to go to Mass, to receive Him, and to adore Him. 

To know Jesus is to love him. To gaze upon him is to be overwhelmed by that love. Knowing what we know--about his memorial, about his real presence--how can we help but adore him? (p.169)

If you want to learn more about this book or to find the book through Image Books' website, you can visit it here: The Mass. If you want to learn more about the Authors, visit the bio page: Cardinal Wuerl Bio and Mike Aquilina Bio

"I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review as a part of their blogging for books program; you can learn more about this by visiting the program's website here Blogging for Books."