Can You Hear It?

Jingle bells.

Silver bells.

Carol of the bells.

Sleigh bells.

Salvation Army workers ringing bells.

The Polar Express bell.

In the movie, It's a Wonderful Life, Zuzu Bailey, the daughter of the main character famously quips upon hearing a bell, "Teacher says, 'Every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings.'" This concept is one that George and Clarence discuss earlier in the movie. The bell signals a celestial promotion.

Maybe, despite the secularization of Christmas, the symbol of the bell during this holy season really does signal a celestial promotion. But, instead of an angel earning wings, perhaps the abundance of bells during this season are meant to serve as reminders of something special, something magical, something divine.

Bells typically serve as alarms. They remind us of the passing of time and help us to keep better tabs on its swiftness. School bells. Alarm clocks. Egg timers. They all function to awaken us to something important - the end of the class period or school day, the end of sleep, the completion of a meal.

As a young child, I vividly remember sitting at mass and getting excited upon hearing the bells during the consecration. As a tactic to both focus my young mind as well as elicit a sense of mystery, my dad would tell me that the bells during mass signaled something special, something magical, something divine. It was the sound of angels reminding us that Jesus was present, my dad would say, and as such it was a moment for me to both anticipate and appreciate. It left such an impression on me and my sense of wonder about my faith that I've employed this tactic with my daughters as well. 

My hope is that it will awaken them to the gift of faith.

My hope is that the bells of the season, as well as those rung during mass, may do the same for you, too. 

Maybe the jingling silver bell that is caroling on a sleigh is meant to ascend our minds, hearts and lives into the divine. Maybe these bells, like those rung at mass to help my daughters recognize the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, are supposed to awaken us to the mystery of the Incarnation - God taking on human flesh and dwelling among us - so that we don't miss the next class, the start of the day, an exquisite meal, or the Way, the Truth or the Life.

Ding dong merrily on high, the celebration's starting!

Christ is born! Alleluia!

This Christmas, may the bells that you hear heighten your thoughts to our Lord Jesus Christ. May the bells of the season awaken you to a new way of life, unfailing mercy and unbounded joy.

The Christmas bell is ringing. Can you hear it?

Merry Christmas!

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Throughout my youth, my mom would always lament society’s urge to celebrate Christmas with no regard for the season of Advent. She would voice frustration over Christmas songs on the radio in November, Christmas trees up before December 1 and down by the 26, endless advertisements, and boundless pressure for the perfect holiday.

The messages of the world bombard us:

Read this quickly so you can catch the Cyber Monday deals!

Only 24 shopping days until Christmas remain!

Extended hours and Black Friday prices!  

Shop! Buy! Spend!

In our efforts to live up to these demands, we are consumed by shopping, parties, wrapping, cleaning, baking, mailing, decorating, and more shopping. We find ourselves filled with more debt, stress, exhaustion and stuff than hope, peace, and joy.

We celebrate Christmas without first celebrating Advent. We heed society’s demands and dismiss the call of Jesus, “Come after me!”

In today’s Gospel, on the feast of St. Andrew, the first apostle, we read Matthew’s account of the first summons:

As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen.
He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

At once they left their nets and followed him. 

He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. 

He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father
and followed him (Matthew 4:18-22).

Like the first apostles, may we have the courage this Advent to leave aside the nets of the world that have caught us in the belief that more stuff leads to more joy. May we boldly jump out of the boats headed toward frustration and emptiness and into the waters that lead to Christ.

This Advent let’s prepare our hearts for the Incarnation instead of our homes for the holidays. Let’s spend more time praying and less money on gifts, more time creating memories with loved ones and less energy on the stress of the season.

He is in the Mass, not at the mall. He is in the Word, not in the worry. He is present in the Eucharist on the altar, not in the presents under the tree.

This Advent let’s fight for the space to hear His call, “Come after me.”

Leave everything behind, jump into the water, and follow Jesus!

The Magic of Why

Recently, I came across the following tweet:

If your why is strong enough you will figure out how! 
–Bill Walsh

I retweeted it and included, "How is powerful. Why is magical." 

I first heard this concept as an Athletic Director at Bishop McLaughlin. In interviewing candidates for our head football coach, one prospect stated that his philosophy was based upon giving student-athletes not just the "power of how but also the magic of why." Why do we block with our hips and not our hands? Why do we run sprints at the end of practice? Why do we taper off throughout the course of each week? Why do we study film? The more that he talked about this approach, the more that it resonated with me. There were countless athletic maneuvers that I could perform and even teach to student-athletes, but I clearly understood the difference between getting players to follow my footsteps and having them understand why those footsteps are the correct ones to follow. 

Unfortunately and appropriately, this candidate took an internship with the NFL instead of the head coaching position at a brand new Catholic high school. But fortunately, I was left with this message. 

10 years later, Bill Walsh's statement reimagines this interplay between how and why for me and extends and refines my understanding of the relationship between these two important educational forces. Bill Walsh seems to start with why and argues that the how flows from this genesis. Furthermore, he iterates that the strength of the why has a direct correlation to the effectiveness of the how. Conviction matters. Faith is paramount. Hope is essential.

So, here's my why: to serve God and others. I'm trying to reorient my how and ensure that it flows from my starting point. For me it means a return to participating in the Celebration of the Eucharist on Friday mornings. It means putting my role as husband and father on higher footing than my ministry as a principal. It means staying up late on Saturday night so that I can uphold the Sabbath. It means stretching my pockets financially and inching closer to true tithing. 

I know that it won't mean working less but instead working more purposefully.

As a ad-minister of Catholic education, I see how easily I can fall into the trap of idolizing my ministry. Discovering the root belief behind my profession, though, definitely helps me to put what I do into proper perspective. I am not a slave to my role as principal. Instead, I am a slave to Jesus Christ and I serve others - my school, my teachers, my students, and most importantly my wife and kids - because I serve Him.

There is power in this conviction. There is magic in what the Spirit can do through us when we do it in service of the Gospel. 

May you discover why you do what you do and may you experience the power of a how that grows from this root belief. 

Unleash His power. 

Unlock His magic. 

Balance

I had the amazing opportunity the week before last to travel to Rome for the diaconate ordination of a former student of mine, Alex Padilla. My time at the Vatican offered me ample opportunity to pray, reflect and explore. Being in the home of our Church, seeing the head of our Church, and being in the Church for the Celebration of the Eucharist and an Ordination fed me in many ways. I went to Mass three times in four days. I received the Sacrament of Reconciliation in the Cathedral of St. John Lateran. 

At the same time, I ate too much and I slept too little. I worked too often and I missed my girls. 

Furthermore, I desired more time in Vatican City and Rome but longed to be back home almost immediately after the conclusion of the events of Thursday. I felt incredibly blessed to go while simultaneously feeling guilty about leaving work and my family. 

During our beginning of the year retreat, we focused on the concept of margin – the difference between our load and our limit. While I have definitely longed for more margin in my life and recognized the importance of fighting for it, I have also come to realize that the ideal space between these two concepts – or any two – must be met with a healthy tension. 

Like a rubber band, if it is too loose, it doesn’t hold. Too tight and it breaks. 

But, with an appropriate amount of tension it has purpose and strength. It holds together while still being able to adapt and adjust.

I once confided in a mentor my struggles with feeling like I'm always being pulled between home and work, between my family and my ministry. He advised that perhaps this tension was a good sign that I was keeping these two sides of my life in proper perspective and that maybe it indicated to me the importance of both. Lose that tension, he said, and it may mean either your marriage is in trouble or you need to find something else to do with your career. 

Too much margin and we may lose our way; too little and we snap. But, with an appropriate amount of tension between our load and our limit we can find strength and purpose. It is the space that allows us to engage in healthy risks that push us just beyond our capabilities. It is the balance between entitlement and despair that drive us to accomplish and help. It is the interplay between heaven and earth. It is the fight between who we are and who we are created to be. 

The homily from the Ordination, given by his Eminence Timothy Cardinal Donal, focused on the mystery of the contradictions of our lives of faith – the balance, tension, and margin between submission and freedom, fullness and being emptied, life and death, humility and salvation. St. Therese was a cloistered nun and yet she is now known throughout the world. St. Peter was a cowardly fisherman who was given the keys to the Kingdom of God. 

We, too, can find Christ in this balance, in these interplays and paradoxes. He turns water into wine. He turns sinners into saints. He brings life from even death. 

It is in these contradictions that He can transform us, too. There is grace in living in the balance, the tension, the margin.

Let Him turn your "life upside down, with your head on the ground and your feet aimed heavenward" (Cardinal Donal). Give and you will receive. Knock and the door will open. Fight for balance. Embrace tension. Seek margin. 

Leave everything behind and give Him every part of you. 

It is the safest risky move and the riskiest safe move you’ll ever make. 

The Right Battles

In light of all of the news about Syrian refugees over the past few weeks, I have been humbled by the fact that I consider my daily crosses to be difficult. My family is healthy. We have enough food to eat, a nice house, two cars, and many other blessings. While I may worry about a reckless driver or unstable person every now and again, I do not live in fear that I may lose my life.  

This video: http://viewpure.com/JSR_H3cyahU speaks about the need for teachers to be strategic in the battles that they fight. Not everything is worthy of a battle. Maybe getting a student to follow directions is a great first step; worry about them putting in their best effort later. Maybe getting a parent in for a meeting is more important than getting them to stop sending candy for snack. 

We also need to recognize the truth behind the battles that we should be fighting. Perhaps one of the greatest tactics used by our enemy is for us to get so wrapped up in the things that don't really matter that we lose sight of the bigger picture. The enemy traps us into thinking and feeling that the battle is with a colleague, student, parent, administrator, wife, child instead of with him. The enemy preys upon us so that we argue and hold grudges and fill with resentment so that kids who are hurting inside don't get the love they need, so that cycles of poverty can continue, so that ignorance's roots grow deeper and so that the ranks of those in God's Kingdom do not increase. 

Like the deaf man from the Gospel a few weeks ago, we often cannot hear the cries that matter. Furthermore, we often remain mute to telling others the story of hope in Jesus Christ. May Jesus open our ears so that we can hear the voices in need of our help. May He open our lips so that we can speak the words of His Hope. May the Spirit move within ourselves and our school in such a stirring way that we cannot help but tell others about this Good News! 

We are Hope Spreaders.

We are Love Givers.

We are Truth Tellers.

We are World Changers.

We are Catholic educators.

We are Teachers.

We are Incarnational. 

We are ICS.

http://viewpure.com/dcKNI93JBpI 

And Continue to Walk Humbly With Your God!

As the father of two young daughters, we listen to a lot of Disney songs at the Zelenka house. We also sing along to many of these songs as well. One of my favorite is "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast. One of the lines in particular resonates with me deeply:

    Life is so unnerving
    For a servant who's not serving
    He's not whole without a soul to wait upon
    Ah, those good old days when we were useful...

I believe that we must approach all that we are doing within Catholic education from the standpoint of service. In this way, we no longer become disgruntled about things like returning phone calls, posting homework, staffing lunch duty, attending the school fundraiser, or completing commitment hours. We recognize that we have a desire to serve the school as ministers of the Catholic education provided here. There is no ulterior motive. There is no desire for reward or status or social clout. We serve ICS and our students because that is what we feel called to do. We serve ICS and our students because we believe in the mission of the school and we want to be faithful to that purpose. We serve because we are thankful. We serve filled with joy. We serve because like Lumiere it makes us more like who we are supposed to be. 

With this spirit of service in mind, we must inspire others with our energy. Passion is contagious and it doesn't matter if that passion is positive or negative - it inspires similar feelings in others. The wolf who wins, is the one we feed - positively or negatively. Show your enthusiasm for what you do! I want us to inspire a group that truly enjoys being in community with one another and is more than willing to do the work required to make the educational and ministerial opportunities at our school possible. We can do this by serving others joyfully and passionately. Be authentic. Be specific. Similar to the disciples who can't help but tell about Jesus (when told to tell His disciples to be quiet, Jesus says,“I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!” -Luke 19:40), share your joy about ICS in the same way people post pictures of a good cup of coffee or a decadent dessert or tell others about an outstanding new restaurant or movie. Go and proclaim the story of ICS!

Furthermore, we must push past settling for a conventional approach to education. We must strive for innovation and creativity in designing an educational model that sustains both rigor and fun. We must be open to the Holy Spirit who will lead us and guide us into making our school into something even more incredible than that we can currently imagine ("Now to him who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine, by the power at work within us,to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen." -Ephesians 3:20-21). Pray for His direction. Pray for His patience. Pray for His wisdom. Trust that He will make the work we are currently undertaking into something special...because He will.

Finally, we must orient ourselves toward two areas of focus: our faith and our children. 

This past school year, I set out to lay down my life in complete submission to what God wanted me to do with ICS. I reoriented my areas of focus to faith and academics. I put trust in God that He had called me to be faithful to the mission of the school, not necessarily successful from societal standards. 

This year, He has refined this spirit of service even further. I must serve Him and remain faithful to Him. The way in which I see him asking me to do this is through my ministry at ICS. I'm not serving ICS. I am serving Him at ICS. 

I would ask the same out of all components of our adult school community. Put God first and remove all that would keep you from following Him. Jesus tells us to do just this. What keeps you from Jesus? Even things that seem good? Cut them out of your life and follow Him!

Pray. Go to Mass. Recommit to your faith. Read scripture. Explore the catechism. Join a Bible study. Make Christ a priority in your life and in the life of your family. Just start by making the sign of the Cross. Be claimed as His.

From there, continue to focus on our children at ICS. They are the reason for our ministry of Catholic education.  Be inspired by the awesome young people we have at ICS. Recognize that there is no nobler cause or purpose to perform the service God is calling you to at our great school - our children. Look for those areas of our lives that keep us from being the Catholic educators - teachers or parents - that both He and our children need us to be. 

Jesus submitted completely to His Father's Will in service to you and me and everyone. Follow His lead - serve Him, your family, each other and our school. 

Be faithful. 

Be joyful. 

Be Incarnational. 

Hope Will Rise.   

And to Walk Humbly With Your God

"This is what Yahweh asks of you: only this, to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with your God."

-Micah 6:8

I recently came across the story of Ivan Fernandez Anaya, a middle-distance runner from Spain, and his act of sportsmanship. It occurred during an international event in late 2012. The short form of the act is this:

Ivan was in 2nd place heading into the end of the race. The 1st place runner, only a short distance away from the finish line but unaware of its actual location, slowed down thinking that he had already crossed it. Ivan, aware of the whereabouts of the finish line, signaled to the 1st place runner that the race's endpoint was still ahead. The 1st place runner sped back up and won the race. Ivan could have easily blown past the runner, capturing the victory in the final moments as a result of this logistical error. When asked about why he did this, Ivan responded,

He was the rightful winner, He created a gap that I couldn't have closed if he hadn't made a mistake. As soon as I saw he was stopping, I knew I wasn't going to pass him.

Anaya continued, "But even if they had told me that winning would have earned me a place in the Spanish team for the European championships, I wouldn’t have done it either. I also think that I have earned more of a name having done what I did than if I had won. And that is very important, because today, with the way things are in all circles, in soccer, in society, in politics, where it seems anything goes, a gesture of honesty goes down well."

It is unfortunate that more hasn't been said of the gesture. Maybe there is still hope that this act of humility can reach a broader audience. And, even though Ivan claims that he feels he has earned more of a name for himself having done this, I am sure that his desire for fame was not the motivating factor behind this act.

Run humbly with your God.

At our ICS graduation ceremony for the Class of 2015, another astounding act of humility occurred. Ian Stahley, in his Salutatorian speech to the rest of his class, acknowledged, congratulated and praised the Valedictorian, Max Hernandez. I was astounded. Ian is an incredible young man, and I was not surprised that he would be capable of such a strong act, but this was his moment to shine, his speech, his award. And, instead of basking in the glory, he paid authentic tribute to another. 

Speak humbly with your God. 

I had the great honor in early May to attend the wedding of Patrick Graff (former ICS ACE teacher) to Laura Miller at the University of Notre Dame. As most weddings are, this was a day filled with joy, happiness and blessings. The ceremony was beautiful, the reception lively. Even the weather, forecasted as a day of rain, cooperated with only a few sprinkles. It was a day filled with grace.

But, perhaps the most AMAZING moment of grace (outside of the transformative Sacrament of Marriage, of course!) took place at the reception. 

Unbeknownst to his bride and all but a few of his close friends who had helped orchestrate the necessary materials, Patrick ambushed the garter moment by taking the microphone and telling Laura and the entire group assembled that he had a gift he wanted to give her. He cited her family’s Holy Thursday tradition of washing each others’ feet  as he proceeded to procure a pitcher of water and basin and invited Laura to the middle of the dance floor to sit and allow him to wash her feet. She humbly agreed and what ensued was one of the most beautiful moments between any two people I have ever witnessed or even heard of. The room fell silent. People cried. Those who didn’t sat awestruck. Grace was abundantly present.

Laura followed Patrick’s lead and washed his feet. It was an AMAZING sign of their service and submission to God and to each other.


Serve humbly with our God. 

Imagine how different our world could be if these events replaced the common ones – where service supplants being served, where doing the right thing is commonplace and where love reigns supreme.

Imagine a world filled with people courageous enough to kneel down – humbly, lovingly, powerfully – and serve. 

Love one another, Jesus tells us, as I have loved you. Love one another, I tell you, as Patrick and Laura love, as Ian loves, as Ivan loves.

The Incarnation came through humble beginnings. The Incarnation lived humbly. The Incarnation ended in humility - in service, with love. 

May we, too, act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly - in service and with great love.

Amen.