Truth and Forgiveness in Politics

Following all the Kavanaugh stuff has been tough and honestly I haven't done a good job of it. It's all politics, which I find stupid and annoying these days.
Honestly, I have no doubt in my mind that he probably did what he is being accused of. I personally know what it is like to be a teenager and I've known lots of teenage guys. What he is accused of is terrible but unfortunately not all that uncommon, especially at high school and college parties.

I would have a lot more respect for the guy if he had just come out and said "yes, I probably did the things I'm being accused of, and I'm very sorry. I am not that young partier anymore though. Please forgive me of my past mistakes."
Admit the mistakes that have been made and work for change. He's not helping women by just flat out denying everything and all this is just splitting the huge divide in our country even wider.

Tell the truth, ask for forgiveness and work for change. Our country needs it.

Peace all

Commencement Speech for 2017

Thank you for the privilege of being your graduation speaker. First of all, I’d like to say congratulations, you did it, you made it. All your work has paid off and now you sit here surrounded by your classmates for most likely the last time.

I’ve never given a graduation speech. What I know about these speeches is they are supposed to be filled with good advice and plenty of encouragement to you, the graduates. So that is what I intend to do. Give you the last bit of advice that I can and offer you some hard truths and joyful encouragement.

At the beginning of the year you might remember that I told all of you I was going to treat you like adults. I would not force you to listen or learn anything beyond what was expected of you because that is the way it will be for you after high school.  No one will hold your hand and guide you along the way once you leave this hill for the last time. As it turned out many of you were not ready for that.  For my part, I’d like to say that I am sorry. I’m sorry for not being a better teacher who truly challenged you day in and day out. I hoped that some of the freedoms I would allow might help you to flourish. Instead, I got subpar work and performance compared to what you were all capable of. You’ve been conditioned and allowed to put in the least amount of effort in order to get the passing grade or the much coveted “A” and that has been a disservice to all of you. When it came to written assignments, do you know how many times I was asked, “How much do I have to write” or “How long does this have to be?” Too many to count. Those questions had nothing to do with learning. They scream to the teacher “what is the least amount of effort I need to put into this to get a good grade?” I did try to break you out of this mindset by never giving anyone a perfect grade on any project. Many of you asked why points were taken away. My answer was always “no one is perfect” and today I add to that... “you could have done more”. Just doing the basics is not going to change the world. To approach excellence you must go above and beyond, and that is not easy.  If you think you’ll be able to wow professors or bosses in the future simply by doing the bare minimum you will be woefully disappointed. So I urge you, do more than you need to. Give all that you can to everything you do. Write more, because you want to prove and share your knowledge. Study harder because you want to deepen and solidify your understanding. In everything you do, put forth all the passion and enthusiasm that you can, because from now on, it’s all on you.

You’ve been told many times just how great of students you all are. Well, I’m not going to be telling you that tonight. Honestly, you’ve barely scratched the surface of what you are capable of.  Many of you have shared with me your dreams for the future. Those dreams are very much achievable but that path will not be easy.  And it certainly won’t be as easy as anything most of you have done in your educational career so far. So yes, be happy for graduating high school, but know full well that it is what you do from here on out that will determine whether your dreams are achievable.

When it comes to your future and your life ahead, there are a few things I hope you’ll remember.

The first is a tough lesson - have a healthy distrust for your emotions.

Today, society tells you that your emotions are so gosh darn important.  Society tells you that your feelings matter so much, that everyone else should care about them. Well guess what, that is ridiculous. Emotions can be good things, but when you start letting them run your life you will be in for a world of hurt. Making critical decisions while in a state of emotional upheaval is one of the worst things you can do, and I’m telling you that from experience. Logic and reason are some of your greatest tools and if you’re making a decision without them, only going by what you “feel,” you will likely regret your decision. You have a brain and a heart, use both of them.

My second piece of advice is simply this… be joyful. Smile more, laugh more and be kind to the people you meet and are surrounded by. From the very start of school to the very end, this class has been great at “throwing stones”. I encouraged you at senior retreat to be kinder to one another. Some of you tried, but old habits die hard as they say. Pointing out others faults and antagonizing someone to see what reaction you can get are not ways to make friends or keep them. Complain less, don’t be as critical and please just be kind. Do this and you will have joy in your life.

At this point some of you might be thinking: what kind of theology teacher is this guy? He has yet to mention anything about God. Well, I’m saving the best for last.

Many of you seemed almost traumatized from past experiences when I arrived here at Loyola. This led me to quickly realize that I needed to first and foremost...show you love. More specifically you all needed to see the face of Jesus Christ in me, and that is what I tried to do. Right from the start I told you all that I was here because I love you. I left my home and family because of that love for you. Yet, whatever I was able to do was because of God’s love for you and for me. Wherever you are in your faith you must know that God loves you more than you can imagine, and I hope I’ve been an example that you can remember back to if you should ever doubt or question that.  You are loved and you’ve been loved during your time here at Loyola.

As for Loyola, this school that you are now leaving behind, well, some things need to change if you are to come back someday to the school you remembered. First and foremost, Jesus Christ must be the reason for this school. No longer can Loyola just be because a few really want it to be. The legacy of Loyola as a great school will not carry it much farther the way things are going. Many of your teachers did their very best to show you the face of Christ over the years and they will continue to even after you leave. But Christ’s love needs to be reflected from the very top down here at Loyola. Jesus Christ must be the driving force for this school because as humans our best is not enough. The true teachings of the Catholic faith that Christ established almost 2000 years ago need to be renewed as the focal point for everything that goes on within this community. That means embodying the rich history of Catholicism through caring, compassionate love, while not being afraid to dish out the tough love this world needs. Jesus needs Loyola to wake up and be the shining beacon of faith on the hill that it can and should be.

Class of 2017, you need to do that as well. Place God’s love at the center of your life. When you are struggling, ask God for guidance. When things are going great, stop and say “thank you”. When you need to feel loved, go to Mass. That is one of the greatest things about being Catholic. We are all united in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Heaven and earth become one when we celebrate at the altar of God. Because of that, we don’t have to say “goodbye”, we can simply say “see you at mass”.

Pope Francis says “Every person is a story of love that God writes on this earth.” Go out and continue to write your story of love and change the world with the unending love that God pours out for each and every one of you.

As I finish things up here, I’d like one last time to pray the words that we prayed every day in my class. Words that I hope you will never forget. So together let us begin in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Soul of Christ, sanctify me…

Amen

Thank you Class of 2017. I love you and I’ll see you at mass.

Modern Suffering

I've been helping at a local parish with some youth catechesis. Unfortunately I'm to the point where I dread the every other week two hour stint I'm there. The freshman class that I'm trying to help with is tough. The main teacher is a very sweet lady who is a retired teacher. She does the very best she can and if nothing else is showing them love even when they show her very little. This class has gained a reputation of being a tough group to handle and are continuing to live up to that. They are all public school kids who have been coming to religious education their whole lives but can't really tell you much about the Catholic faith. Most don't attend mass on Sunday but there parents make sure to drop them off at R.E. twice a month on Wednesday nights. Next year when they start Confirmation prep and are required to attend mass it wouldn't surprise me one bit if the parent drop their kids off at mass on Sunday and come back to pick them up.
The lack of parental involvement in the Church is in my opinion what is causing the majority of problems with religious education. I can't blame the kids that they can't take the faith seriously when they don't see their parents taking the faith seriously.
And then there is Kyle. Kyle's parents are in the midst of a divorce. The few classes I've been to I've never heard Kyle say a word. He sits with ear buds in and talks quietly to his friend. He doesn't participate, he doesn't follow any directions and he clearly does not want to be there. Tonight he pulled out his phone and the teacher asked him to put it away. He refused and as she went take it from him he got up and stormed off while uttering a few curses. I went to check on him and ended up sitting next to him on some stairs. With horrible rap music blaring very loudly in his ears he didn't acknowledge me at all, so I just sat there. He finally got up and moved to a different spot away from me, and that was that. There are most likely I believe some other mental or psychological problems there, but maybe not.
What frustrated me the most out of the whole encounter was this...

I did not know how to show him love.

This young freshman in high school and many others like him are suffering and I have to answer on how to help them.
It's getting to be too overwhelming when I think about kids like Kyle, who through no fault of there own are suffering in a very real way.

Pray, pray and pray some more.

Why Am I Catholic?

Because it's tough, it's a constant challenge and it gives my life meaning.
Life would be boring and mundane if it weren't for my Catholic faith.
I fail constantly and struggle each and every day. In that struggle I feel alive though.
I see what kind of lives people lead who don't have the challenges of living up to something greater. When we set our own expectations and limits we can change them as we feel. Life becomes boring when I can set my own rules and go with whatever "I" think is best.
But with my Catholic faith the objectives are set in stone and on my heart. The rules don't change to my own whims. What I feel or think doesn't matter when the truth is there right inside of me.
Yes, it's a struggle, but I know in my heart the struggle is worth the outcome.

Finding the desire to pray, sit quietly and listen is tough most days though.
A few of my students compare me to Jesus. The only reason they do is because they don't know of anyone else who lives like me or acts like me. Yet I know there are much better people than myself out there.
It's a struggle to not get caught up in material things, like bikes and guns, which are my two hobbies at the moment. If I spent the time talking to God that I do thinking about bikes and guns, well, maybe I'd be able to truly say I do love God.
The more I learn and grow the more I see how I don't love God.
I'm trying, not always hard or hard enough, but I'd at least like to think that I'm trying.
I'm also trying to not compare myself to others. The less of that I do the more humbled I feel.
So I'm Catholic because it's hard. It's not easy living this life when it goes against a great deal of what society preaches and what the world expects from me.
If only I can keep reaching toward heaven and start letting go of this world a little more each day.

Peace all

Today's Youth Are Boring and Headed for Hell

The self-proclaimed atheists do everything they can to try to not fit in with society. They don't look boring with their colored hair, but truly they are. They have no true aspirations in life and only want to "do their own thing" which means follow anything that isn't main stream. Their lives are so boring they spend all day trying to convince themselves they aren't happy even though they have nothing to complain about when it comes to the basics of life. And they'll fight the Catholic faith every chance they get just because it gives them a bit of a rush.
But don't worry, they aren't the only boring ones. The good kids are just as boring these days. Getting so caught up in good grades and getting into the college of their dreams means they live lives so over planned and lacking of any excitement they don't know what actual passion is.
The kids that actually have a passion for something get ostracized for being different and not fitting any one of the acceptable molds.
Parents are so caught up in making money and what society dictates their children should be doing they have no idea what their kids might actually have interests in. It's no wonder the kids have no passions. Parents do all they can to support their kids while failing to teach their kids essentials in life. Families don't spend time together anymore, yet parents complain that their kids schedules are so filled up.  They let their kids pick where they want to go to school and what classes they want to take and at the end of the day their kids have free reign to believe and do whatever they like.

A debate broke out in one of my classes today. A very staunch pro-life student ended up getting hit from all sides by other students who were pro-choice. Everything from "the government has no say in what I do to my body" to "a fetus is not a human" where hurled at her in very nonchalant ways that it was almost unsettling. The grip the culture of death has on a great deal of our youth is scary. Their only passions are self pride and selfishness.

I fear for a lot of souls and don't quite know what I can do.
God help us.

Increase Our Faith and Lessen Our Emotions

Being a teacher is no easy task these days in America. Having taught for three years I thought I would never teach in a classroom again, but here I am, doing just that. My thoughts on the education system in America do not matter much. Teaching religion gives me plenty of freedom to teach how I so desire. Still it is difficult to break myself out of the routine that our national education system has taught us and even more difficult to get students out. But I'm trying, in small ways.
I know I have many struggles ahead. Already I know that many in my classes have a bad taste in their mouths when it comes to the Catholic faith. Whether it is simply what our society has been "teaching" them about the faith or bad experiences with previous religion teachers or priests, I'm faced with an uphill battle. Many of my students want to discuss the hot button issues. I feel woefully unprepared at the moment but through planning and my own learning I will get to the point where those issues will be discussed.
At mass this evening Father talked about faith and emotions. As Catholics, our faith is based on reason, not emotions. Logic dictates what we believe and emotions, though for the most part good, cannot be the sole foundation for our faith.
To me, this all makes great sense. I heard from another to have a healthy distrust of emotions and the longer I live the more I see how that is true. Emotions are clearly evident in everything my students do. They are being taught by our society that it is only our own emotions that matter. Good or bad, our individual emotions are what should guide our lives. This thing makes me feel good, therefore I should do that. This thing makes me sad or angry, therefore I should hate it and fight against it.

My battle when it comes to discussing the hot button issues with my students will be to remove their emotions from the equation. As of yet I do not know how to do that.
My students seek logic and rationality at the heart of all things, but overwhelmingly emotions and feelings are what grab them and sway them. Is it any wonder why things are the way they are?
In my times of doubt and feelings of being overwhelmed, I ask God to increase my faith and lesson the effect my emotions have on me. I pray that for my students as well.

An Uphill Battle

In my first 3 weeks of being back in the classroom as a teacher I've been reminded many times just how horrible Catholic faith education has been in the last 50 years. I'm honestly surprised I made it through okay. It's truly by the grace of God that He pulled me through things and found ways to teach me the truths of the Catholic faith.  So I know the truths, the goodness and the beauty of the Catholic faith and now it's my job to teach those to a bunch of kids who have not been taught those things very well at all. The few of my students that do have at least a basic understanding of the goodness of the Catholic faith are ones who have parents who have taught them those.
Overall, my students like me, but many don't like the Catholic faith at all. They have many questions but unfortunately many of those questions have never been answered or were answered in ways they didn't like so they stopped caring. Societies grip on many them is very evident and any truth bomb I might drop on them will just turn them father away.
I'm beginning to understand that 70% of my teaching this year has to be about the beauty of the Catholic faith, 20% needs to be the goodness and the last 10% will be the truths. When they are hungry for the truth I'll give it to them and pray it doesn't turn them off.

Here's to a challenging year.
Peace all

My Hometown

Pretty neat promo video for my hometown. Enjoy!

Church High Not Needed

I love hearing conversion stories. This might not be the proper way to say it, but I feel a sense of pride in my Church when I hear how people have joined the flock.
The greatest and most common piece that brings people in, from what I have experienced, is the Eucharist. How awesome is that!
Over the last weekend I got to hear another conversion story. This gentleman and his wife were both Protestant ministers. They went through all the training and each had their own congregations that they were in charge of. Somewhere along the line they were encouraged to read up on the Church Fathers. This lead to a deeper understanding of the celebration of communion. In there denomination they were only permitted to celebrate the breaking of the bread 21 times a year... but they wanted more.  A deep desire to celebrate the breaking of the bread lead to diving in deeper into its theology and eventually lead them to the Catholic Church.
That was great to hear, but the rounding out of the story is what got me.  With the understanding that the bread and wine become the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, this gentleman shared that attending mass became easy. Easy in a sense that there was no stress involved, no worries about the celebration, and no wondering whether God would be present or a spiritual high attained.
Having been a Protestant minister his job every weekend was to give the people a church high. He had to provide a sense of the divine for his congregation. All the wait of that was on him and the words that he chose.  But in the Catholic celebration of the mass, there is no need for a church high. There is no need to give the congregation just the right words to make them feel good. God is present at every Catholic mass and that is the most important thing that needs to be understood. No matter what a person feels and thinks, God is there, and the priest does not have to provide proof with his words and agonize over what he will say to give the people what they need.
We all need God, and at the celebration of the mass God is always present.
Many Catholics fail to understand this and that frustrates me. If Catholics fully understand the miracle that happens at the mass, it does not matter what priest is the celebrant.
God is present. His full body, blood, soul and divinity are there and that is all we need.

Peace all

Remember that You are Dust and to Dust You Shall Return

I got to distribute ashes for my parish yesterday. When Father asked me I immediately rattled off my favorite phrase to say when applying the ashes... "remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return". The shocked look I received forced me to ask what the other phrase was that could be used. Clearly, Father did not wish me to use my favorite phrase, so I didn't. "Repent and believe in the Gospel"... won't be forgetting that anytime soon after the number of times I said it yesterday.
The morbidity of my favorite phrase is really what makes it my favorite. Too often in this day in age death is an afterthought, something normal people don't talk about or think about, until they really have to.
I say screw that! Death is going to happen for all of us and we need to remember that. One big reason why churches are empty nowadays is for this very reason. We don't think about death and by the time it catches up to us, well, sorry, it's too late. If more people thought about their death and then in turn the afterlife churches and masses would be in much higher demand. Is that why most of the people at daily mass are 30 to 40 years older then myself? Is the reality of death and the need for forgiveness something that the majority only realize after they are "over the hill"? It shouldn't be that way, but seems like it is.
Maybe I did a disservice by not using my favorite phrase...

I've had the conversation with people in my new community about what to do if death is looming. Hearing from a couple people that should they ever be seriously injured or in distress to call a priest before an ambulance has caused some self reflection for myself. These people understand that death is it and ya, it's going to happen, so make sure the good old fashioned, but not used anymore term of extreme unction is there before a paramedic is even on the road.  
The severity of having an unforgiven mortal sin on your soul at the time of death registers with very few.
Since the application of ashes is meant to signify our realization of our own sinfulness and mortality, we should all look more like this on Ash Wednesday anyways...

Peace all

We Have Room for Everyone on this Boat

One of the perks of getting a new car is now having satellite radio. Programmed #1 is Catholic Radio, for many reasons, hopefully some of them obvious. One of the many things I enjoy about Catholic Radio is even the commercials between shows teach something.
I believe it was Mark Hart who gave a very brief explanation of how the ark... aka a big boat, was an early symbol of Christianity. He explained how all are welcome on the boat, just as Noah brought all kinds onto the boat.

I think this is a perfect way to look at the Church today. We have Tradition and the Bible, the building blocks of our faith. They make up the structure of the ark of the Catholic Church.
Trying to steer the boat through a sea of death and destruction is the Magisterium.
On the boat, diligently working for all those aboard are the faithful priests, with a great deal of support from the faithful nuns and brothers.
As passengers are all the faithful laity. We are on the ship, with the support of the religious, floating on the one stable boat in an ocean of death and misery.
Clinging to lifelines are many women religious and priests. They want to be on the ship but for some reason can't quite pull themselves up onto the safety of the deck where they could stand and stretch. Instead the chose to keep floating out in the sea, clinging to rope but letting it slip through their hands day by day.
There are other boats out there, floating ever so slightly above the water, yet gradually filling with water.
Many loan souls are adrift, gasping for air. Some are looking for help while others are content to keep drowning for fear of what might be required should they find the ark and be pulled on.
As a youth minister I feel like a lonely deck hand who is trying very hard to throw out lifesavers to youth and families who are adrift on the sea. Many have in their arms the life saving flotation devices, and I am trying to pull them in, but the currents of the sea of death keep pulling against me.
The story of Noah's ark doesn't say much of the sea it was adrift in. My mind wonders what it looked like though. It had to have been riddled with death. Dead bodies of animals, humans, plants and debris. Very similar the how I see the world is today, a culture of death.
I will continue to pull on those lifelines and throw many more out to those in need. My greatest fear though is ever saying or doing anything that might cause someone to just ship.
Lord, please don't ever allow me to cause anyone to jump from your life giving ark.

Peace all

Need Prayers and Guidance from the Holy Spirit

My middle school youth group was going pretty well. I shared the story of the most recent eucharistic miracle and a decent discussion followed. For a group of middle schoolers this group I have wears me out every week. I wasn't prepared for what happened at the end of our discussion though.
A hand shoots up, with only 5 minutes left until I had to start greeting high schoolers as they were supposed to be coming in. For the next 8 minutes I felt like I was taking body shots and blows to the head.

"Why does the church hate gay people?" was the question I got. It wasn't asked in a nice way... there was a good deal of attitude and general middle school snarkyness in the question.

I didn't have a good feeling about what was about to happen but I tried to do my best. What followed was a glimpse into the understanding of our modern day middle school kids. It was clear right away that the current societal view of "do whatever makes you happy and feels good" dominates their understanding. Politics came up, gay marriage and dating... it wouldn't end. The questions eventually stopped and blatant statements beginning with "I don't think the Church..." started flowing and all I could do was... I don't know.

It came down to "well, this is something we can talk about next week" and we left it at that.

So what do I do now? I have a week to come up with a way to try to help my youth understand one of the most misunderstood teachings of the Catholic Church.

I need a lot of prayers.

Crappy Super Bowl, Blah Ads and Downhill Skiing

The game sucked and the only funny commercial's were the ketchup and the dorito's ads.

Okay, onto something more important. 

I haven't written anything in a while. Been busy, what can I say. There were a few times in the past few weeks when an idea popped into my head to write about, but I didn't follow through. Again, this blog is for me because I think maybe only 1 or 2 other people actually read it. All the other hits I get are from random google searches I believe.

Anyway... I have discovered a new sport.

Okay, it's not a new sport, but it is to me. 

Downhill skiing.

Fun? Oh yes!

Expensive? Oh yes!

Worth it? I think so...

It's great getting up on mountain, breathing the cold air, and even face-planting into the snow a few times isn't that bad.

Downhill skiing is kinda like my life. I would say God is like my skis. There are moments of complete fun when I let go and let the skis take me. Working with them, never forcing turns... that's when things are great. When I don't trust them and try to control them I face plant. 

When I make it down the hill, all I can do is get on the lift and take the slow ride back up to the top, anticipating the next run down the mountain. 

Ups and downs, falls and fails, exhilaration and excitement, fast moments and painfully slow moments. That's life and also downhill skiing.

Until I write again...

Peace all

Turns Out I'm An Ambivert

Sometimes I can obsess over things... but really, who doesn't every once in a while?
Anyway, I came to the conclusion recently that I am an introvert.  I'm quiet, I avoid people sometimes and I like being alone.
Great... I just put myself in a box with a bunch of other people seem like loners.
I like people and do enjoy interacting with them, just not in certain situations. Also, interacting with people doesn't make me feel tired all the time, and in certain situations it gives me energy.
So where does that put me? Well, I found the answer.
I'm an ambivert.
I'm right in the middle of the introvert/extrovert chart. And it turns out most people are.
Sometimes I feel like being more introverted, so I will be. Sometimes I feel more extroverted, so I will be.
Walking around NCYC was fascinating. If I was a true introvert it would have been draining. It was exciting for me to have strange people come up to me and start talking. Yet at the end of the day, sitting on my bed in the hotel room watching SportsCenter was a great and welcome relief from the busy day.

So I can't claim to be an introvert youth minister anymore. I'm normal, just a little shy sometimes. And honestly, when I was in the stadium with 23,000 other people, one of my reoccurring thoughts was how awesome it would be up on that stage talking to all the youth in the building.

I'm an ambivert and I also want to be a keynote speaker at the next NCYC.

Peace all

I'm Almost Mainstream!

Well, not really, but last week and the week before my blog was blowing up with viewers... I mean like 20-30 a day for a little bit.  I know, very shocking to say the least.
My post about Purgatory and the Dentists Office got a lot of views, so many so that I actually had a couple advertisements for dentist offices posted in the comments box.  I deleted them but I should have just kept them for the laugh factor... oh well.
So ya, I'm not main stream, no where near it really and I'm okay with that.  Using my blog comment box as an advertising tool did make me feel a little special.  No fear though, views have dropped significantly... thank you God for uplifting, and humbling, moments.

Peace all