Just What I Needed To Read

1 Peter 5: 5-10

And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for:

“God opposes the proud but bestows favor on the humble.”

So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.

Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.

Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for [someone] to devour.

Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that your fellow believers throughout the world undergo the same sufferings.

The God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory through Christ [Jesus] will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you after you have suffered a little.

Thank you God for all your love, your blessing and especially your mercy.

Peace all

Made Me Smile

Yep, this is why God made dads... to share rockin' moments with their kids!

Peace all!

Busy Busy

Its been a busy week.  Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for that.  Still, with such a busy week I feel extremely lazy when I am not doing something and this is magnified when I go from busy to lazy suddenly.  This is my first night "off", so I felt compelled to write so am I not being totally lazy.
Between a dinner and a banquet I went with my youth group to watch an awesome movie.
October Baby is a great movie.  I am no critic, so I wont try to explain why it is.  It is a clearly pro-life movie that has its funny moments and sad moments.  My favorite quote is a simple one.  The lead character at the end of the movie tells her father "Thank you for wanting me".  That line summed up a lot of the movie for me.
It is depressing to think about how many human being are not wanted in our world today.  That is one of the reasons abortion and all other killings are so prevalent.
Today and tomorrow there are many memorials for different tragedies that have occurred over the years.
I pray 4-20 will be a day of life and healing and not one of death and tragedy.

Peace all 

Divine Mercy Sunday

Check out this awesome article on Divine Mercy Sunday.

I prayed the Novena and I do not intend to quit praying the Divine Mercy chaplet.

Peace all!

Same Job - Different Crop

For different reasons it was easy to role out of bed back then.  Knowing that I had a job to do was good motivation.  I would slip on my boots; sometimes a pair of gloves as well.  If I could see my breath in the morning air I knew I would need gloves.  Sometimes the walk was long, other times it would be short.  There was always a walk; it gave me time to fix my music on my cheap mp3 player that only held a handful of CD's.  The music would kick in.  Songs I had listened to since the summer began.  Consistency made things easier at the time.  I was headed in a new direction in my life after this summer.  Control over the little things was welcomed.  "Not a clue where I am headed but I'm smiling".  That tune always made me smile; it almost summed up what I was going through.

Fresh, damp air met me every morning.  Taking a deep breath and filling my lungs with that air is indescribable.  In a sense, a baptism, a rebirth, every morning as I started off my day.  Moving sprinkler pipes in a hay field is not a job where one can stay dry.  It didn't take long to get used to the cold water though.  On hot afternoons it was a welcome relief.
I took pride in what I was doing. I was good at it.  My lines were straight.  My grandfather had nothing to worry about when I was out in the field.  He did though.  Checking up on me and helping me whenever he could.  Sometimes I enjoyed the help.  Other times I just wanted to do things my way.
The weight of the pipes.  Their feel in my hands as I carried them in daily rotation.  Remembering ever once in a while to do a few "curls for the girls" as I walked along with a pipe.  I knew that field and each of those pipes.  I had the control and the crop grew.

I thought of all this as I was jogging today.  One of the songs from my past came on and my mind went right to that summer after my first year of college before I was to head off to a new college, in a new state, where I knew no one.  Somehow, all that hard work prepared me for what I am doing today.  I had such hope for the future and excitement.
The future is still exciting but not like it was back then.  I am in charge of a new crop today.  Again, I am not the harvester, just a co-worker in the field.  My job is more important now.  Like my grandfather watching over me back then, God is watching over me now as I tend his field.
God is an awesome boss to have!  (Though he is more demanding then my grandfather... we had a lot of snack breaks and long lunch breaks)

Peace all

God = One

I am back in the desert.  Not exiled, but still searching.  The bright sun and hot sands still have some more work to do on me, at least for another month and half.

 
I had the most wonderful drive and subsequent jog today.  The drive was nice because it might have been my first ever constructive drive.  I did something during this drive that I have never done before.
I prayed.
I prayed a lot (well, for my standards).  I even received an answer to a prayer, or at least the answer I was looking for.  Only time and trust will tell if was an answer or just a coincidence.  I also sat in silence for quite a while.  No radio, no music, just the thoughts in my head and sounds of the road.  It was very nice.  Then a chat with a wonderful friend put a wonderful end to my drive.
After arriving at my destination and resting for a while I went for a jog.  I hadn't been running for a little while, so I went easy, listened to some new music I had purchased and tried to enjoy myself through the heavy feet and lungs.  Eventually I was not even listening to the music blaring in my ear as my mind was pondering many things.  I was thinking about my drive and the answer I had received.  Through the grace of God I remembered one thing... One.  It doesn't matter what answer I received because God needs to be #1 in my life.  I have never fully been able to do that in my life.  If want the answer I received to be the right answer I need to keep reminding myself to keep God as top priority in my life.  If I can do that, everything else will be fine and things really will work out for the best.
God = One - #1 in my heart and in my thoughts.
I need to do this now!

Peace all

I Know, I Know, He Is Risen!

Well, I have seen plenty of the cliche Easter posts on blogs and especially on Facebook.  The funny thing is a lot of them are from people who do not come off to myself as religious people... but who am I to judge; God is much better at that.
Saturday night I was blessed to be asked to assist in altar serving for the Easter Vigil mass.  I remember serving  for this mass when I was back in high school.  One moment sticks out in my mind when I think back to that night.  I distinctly remember Father leaning over to the deacon and saying as the Tabernacle Light was lit and the Tabernacle was being closed that "Christ Jesus is once again with us".  I thought that was so cool at the time, even though I understood very little about it.
What will stand out the me from this years Easter Vigil is the joy and utter excitement of the last candidate for baptism.  As Father asked her if she wished to be baptized into the faith she had just professed she let out the most joyful "yes" with a smile and giggle and almost jumped into the font.  The smile never left her face even as she was dunked three times in what I can only assume was lukewarm water at best.

That is the kind of faith and joy we all need.  Each time we walk into a church and dip our fingers into the holy water and cross ourselves to remind us of our baptism we should show this joy!  When the priests and deacons sprinkle us with holy water we should be smiling with all the joy in the world as we are either get  barely hit by a drop or drenched with a fresh dip in the bowl!
A new challenge for myself.

Peace all!

Memories, Feet and a Boat

Holy Thursday mass yesterday was a remarkable celebration.  From a father altar serving with his son, to the washing of feet, it was a time when the goodness of people was beautifully evident and compassion flowed out.  It was also a day, as Father reminded us, of a dangerous memory. 
I have plenty of memories that I would like to forget, but I can't.  Being trapped in the human condition, many of my memories are no longer full or complete.  In efforts for control I change my memories, mold them to fit so they do not shed full light on my own failures or failures of others.  Recent memories, very distant ones; I do it to all of them.  I search for meaning from memories and twist them to get the meaning that I want. 

At the end of the day though, the actual events are stronger then my own memories.  This cannot and is not so on Holy Thursday.
Holy Thursday is when we remember what Christ told all of us to do... “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.” (Luke 22: 19)  It is a simple and yet a very dangerous event to recollect, one that society and so many want us to forget or distort or water-down or say never actually happened.  Why? Because this memory is all about compassion and love; two things our world knows little about.  If we continue to celebrate this memory and truly live it out, we would all be able to follow Jesus' commandment to "love one another.  As I have loved you so you should also love one another." (John 13: 34).  So many of  our worlds problems would come to a screeching halt if we simply loved one another.
We need to, again as Father said "rock the secular boat!" We as Catholics need to celebrate and live out what Christ called us to.
I can't wait to start rocking the boat, because I know it will be a struggle, but in many ways it will be joyful.  Love is a struggle, but love brings the most joy.


Peace all!

Faith Like A Child

"Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it"

Mark 10:15

A follow up to yesterdays post.  As I was reading through other blogs (all of which are tons better then mine) and I was struck by an article reminding me of this verse and bit of truth given to us by Jesus.

To have the faith of a child is what we are all called to have.  That is one of the reasons I have no desire to "grow up". 

Think about it.  Children wake up each day with an excitement for life.  They go through the day seeking joy and laughter.  They worry about very little, if nothing at all.  They  do not pretend or act like they know anything, like so many grown ups do.  They simply live life for the joy of it.

That is how we should all live.  That is how I want to live.  I do not want to live anymore like I know what God's plan is for me.  I want to drop all of my knowledge and aspirations for the future and simply live each day for God.  I want to live like a child, with childlike faith and trust in God.  We should all want to wake up each new day with childlike excitement wanting to experience God in a new way.

I want to quit pretending like I know what is best for me.  I have lived long enough to know that I really do not and have not.

That should keep me young :)

Peace all!

Grow Up or Grow Old?

I unfortunately did not make it to mass today.  Instead, I sat at the American Legion post with a group of men eating breakfast and drinking coffee.  All these gentlemen were veterans and all were at least 40 years older then myself; one being almost 70 years older.  It was a wonderful experience to say the least.  Listening to old men make fun of each other, tell stories, goof around and just laugh like a group of high school boys; it truly was a blessing.
I don't know where I heard it today, but somewhere I heard a quote going something like this - "We all have to grow up, but we don't have to grow old".
I have always been considered more mature then my age would let on; especially by adults.  I am all for growing up, but growing old?  I think I will pass on that.  Working with youth will no doubt help to keep me young.  I can be grown up without being old... seems I have acted grown up for a great deal of my life.  Still, I have acted my age and used it as an excuse too often.
I am finally understanding that I need to grow up in Christ and not in the was society or anything else thinks or says I should.
Growing up in Christ... that will bring me lifelong joy.  I pray more of us can figure this out.

Peace all!

Big Sky Inspirations

Yep, I changed the name again.  Partially out of writers block but mostly because I wanted a more simple name; and what could be more simply then my home? MT = Montana!
Anyways, as usual when I am home and head to mass I get recruited to help out with something.  Today I was an usher.  No big deal.  It was fun actually.  Standing in the back and watching all the latecomers and people who refuse to move upfront to open seats.  I was quite surprised by the amount of young couples with children.  Pleasantly surprised really, especially when my dad told me the numbers today were down.

Father had a pretty good homily today.  The message of we all have our crosses to bare is one I need to hear every now and again.
What I am thinking about is the crosses that we put on ourselves.  Can they really be considered crosses if they are burdens that we put on ourselves either by our stupidity, lack of faith or thinking that we know better?  I have plenty of those.  I really do not consider them to be the same "crosses" that Father was talking about today.    These "crosses" can be easily shrugged and let go of, if only we can place some trust in God and let go of them.
When I get to the point in my life when I quit putting "crosses" on myself, I think I will be doing pretty good.  The only way I can see to be able to do that is to truly put God first in my life.  When I can do that these "crosses" I am forcing myself to bare will be easily dropped and the true crosses I need to bare for Christ will become the focus of my life.

Peace