Make Your Hearts Firm

"Make your hearts firm" (James 5:8).

Pope Francis I, in an address to Catholics and Christians across the world in preparation for Lent 2015, cited this passage of scripture as the main purpose of this penitential season:

Make your heart firm.

The traditional practices of Lent - prayer, fasting and giving alms - can help our hearts to grow stronger. These practices, if observed in the right spirit, should temper our spiritual hearts. More than giving up chocolate or soda or swearing or eating crab legs on Fridays, our Lenten exercises should offer us more time for reflection, service and worship. In turn, this orientation will allow us to fast in manner prescribed by the prophet Isaiah:

This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; 

Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; 

Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; 

Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own. 

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; Your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard (Isaiah 58: 6 - 8).

Our Lenten sacrifices and practices should inspire us to do more than "give up" ______________, and instead to "give in" to the will of God. But, this can't happen without time spent with God in either prayer or reflection or some combination of the two. It can't happen without a strong heart.

In our over-connected world, finding time to do this may be difficult. In fact, giving up ______________ may be easier than turning off your phone / iPad / computer / device and disconnecting from social networks, news feeds, emails, texts, messages, pins, posts, tweets, and other distractions! Wouldn't the world just stop entirely if you didn't respond immediately?!

Take Jesus's cue and make time to sit with God every day during Lent (Jesus spent 40 days in a desert to be alone with God!). Start small with just a few moments. Then work up to minutes. Attempt a quarter hour, maybe even a third. There's no set amount of time that equates to the magic amount. God will lead you. Listen. Bring yourself - all of yourself - and just pray where you are. If you're angry, pray about that. If you're overwhelmed and resentful of spending precious time away from electronics and in prayer / reflection, pray about that.

Come as you are - not as you want or hope to be.

Sr. Melannie Svoboda, SND, explains this posture of prayer - meeting God exactly where you are - in the following way:

If I’m worried about something, for example, I begin to talk to God about that. Chances are, it is something or someone I’ve been worried about before. Then I ask God to let me know if I can do anything about this particular worry. If I can’t, then I simply entrust that worry anew to God and I move on. If I’m mad, I reflect on what is causing my anger. Sometimes anger is the Spirit urging us to do something we are reluctant to do. (It’s often easier to stay mad than to take action—especially an action that is hard like forgiving someone, or letting go of something, or having a difficult conversation with someone.) If I feel greatly blessed, I sit with that for a few moments, thanking God for whatever those blessings might be (from her blog, Sunflower Seeds, and a post entitled, "Lent: God's Great Come As You Are Party").

As Catholic educators, think of the power this could wield with students. We constantly ask students to do hard things and we constantly encourage them to believe that they can DO hard things. We push them and pull them and lead them and guide them and tutor them and review with them and remediate them and yet we seem to affect little change overall. Those who struggle seem to continue to do so; those who excel do somewhat independently of us.

The same is true of behavior. We work with those who have a harder time self-regulating and we form those who have made poor choices, but little lasting change takes place. The same students seem to keep making the same mistakes.

With the many demands placed upon us to advance academics - standards, standardized tests, grades, unit plans, course timelines - the things that may actually help students to have a strong enough spirit to do all that we ask of them are the very things that either take a back seat or get pushed aside altogether.

Make our hearts firm. Make our hearts more like Yours - "firm and merciful, attentive and generous, a heart which is not closed, indifferent or prey to the globalization of indifference" (Pope Francis I).

Enter self-reflection. Enter more prayer. Enter service and then time to both pray and think about that service. Enter self-assessment. Enter time etched out in the midst of and in place of academics to chisel out a stronger heart.

Enter awakening.

Enter Lent.

The Catholic Foundation

This past weekend, I was blessed and honored to represent ICS at the annual Catholic Foundation Dinner in support of tuition assistance for Catholic education within the Diocese of St. Petersburg. 

The evening focused heavily on two very important issues:

1. The power of Catholic schools

2. The importance of this power being made available to all

The first focus - the power of Catholic schools - was a topic common to just about all of the speakers. Many answered the question, "How has your life been changed because of Catholic education?" From the essay contest winner - a student from Bishop Larkin who lost his father a few years ago to cancer; to the keynote speaker - Lino Rulli, known as "The Catholic Guy" on Sirius Radio; to the Catholic Education Leadership Award winner - Scott Riley, a prominent business man, graduate of Mary Help of Christians and stout supporter of Step Up for Students; all touched on the fact that the environment created in their respective Catholic schools changed them for good and for the good. 

The student from Bishop Larkin found the strength of community during a confusing, emotional and disheartening time of his life. Lino found the depth of faith after his roommate during his junior year of college died. Scott found the compassion of others during his time at Mary Help of Christians - he was able to go there thanks to a generous donor and it was there that he learned of the importance of helping others.

In each case, the power wielded by their respective Catholic schools, changed them for good and for the good. 

As is written in The Catholic School:

It is when the Catholic school adds its weight, consciously and overtly, to the liberating power of grace, that it becomes the Christian leaven in the world (#84). 

The second topic, the importance of making this type of transformative education available to all, was nearly just as important. The evening will probably bring in over $500,000 for tuition assistance across our diocese. Additionally, a heavy emphasis was placed on the good being done by Florida's Tax Credit Scholarship - Step Up for Students, and how this good is in jeopardy of being taken away because of a lawsuit being filed by the Florida Teachers Union and the NAACP (#dropthesuit).  The pastoral and missionary aspects of Catholic education were highlighted, celebrated and encouraged. 

We teach our students not because they are Catholic, but because we are Catholic. 

We plant the seeds of faith and justice and peace and wisdom and compassion. 

We change lives.

For good and for the Good. 

Fight for JOY!

As we celebrate Catholic Schools Week 2015, it seems fitting that we cover the final component of this Advent-inspired philosophy: "Be blessed. Be bold. Fight for JOY!"

Be blessed: Pray. Connect. Conserve. Serve.

Be bold: Play. Love.

Fight for JOY!

​Once you start living blessedly and boldly, you can start to experience true joy. Joy surpasses and transcends happiness. It arises when our interior compass points toward Christ, and when our hearts inspire our bodies and minds to follow Him. 

Being filled with joy is a choice. It is not the result of our temporal situation. It does not result from the circumstances of our lives, because - let's face it - life is incredibly difficult. INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT! It is brutal. BRUTAL! It exhausts us. Frustrates us. Angers us. Saddens us. 

But it does not have to defeat us. Remember, Jesus says, 

"I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world" (John 16:33).

Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. St. Paul writes, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22 - 23). 

Finding the Spirit takes discipline. It requires prayer that first and foremost adores our Creator. It requires sacrifice - of things and for others. It necessitates courage. It takes a playful, childlike innocence that doesn't remember that we can't​ do something, but instead believes that life is all about doing that one thing. It forces us to love without cost and with everything that we are and all that we have. 

The world can keep us from pursuing these things. But remember, He has conquered the world. 

He has called you - YOU - into His Royal Family. He has chosen you - YOU - for the most important and daring and necessary work in the world. He loves you - YOU - because you bring Him more JOY than you can even imagine. 

Fight for your JOY today, tomorrow, this week and always.  

You are a conqueror. You are His. 

Be blessed. Be bold. Fight for (and find) JOY!

Be Bold

Be Bold

As an extension of living blessedly, we start to see that God is not asking us to stay on the safety of the shore. When we start to recognize our need for God, opportunities for us to sacrifice for and connect to others, and how incredibly fortunate we are, we follow - unabashedly - His voice.

He is calling us into the deep. 

"Come and see." 

The disciples, upon hearing this call, jump out of their boat and swim toward him. Peter walks on water. Saul converts and fights for Christ instead of against him. 

You chose to teach in a Catholic school. You got married. Had kids. Ended an abusive relationship. Fought for justice and equality. Went away to college. Took care of a sick parent. Forgave. 

Being blessed leads to being bold. In fact, you aren't truly living blessedly by playing it safe. God wants all of us. He wants us to stake it all on Him, to hold nothing back, to put all that we have on the line for the fulfillment of His promises. 

He wants us to make a permanent commitment, like getting an irremovable tattoo that marks us as His own. Making such a leap requires a strong faith life; it also necessitates extreme courage. 

Being bold asks us to be playful. It also nudges us, despite our human frailty, to love. 

Kids are bold. They dance like no one is watching. They love like they've never been hurt. They sing as if no one is listening. They try things that are way beyond themselves and they endure countless bumps, bruises, scrapes and failures before finally accomplishing a task. They ask for what they want. They cry. They laugh. They show unrestrained excitement - to see someone, to watch a movie, to get a treat, anything. 

They are bold. 

Think of the last time you danced a good honest dance. Think of the last time you loved unconditionally and selflessly. When was the last time you sang, even if you didn't know the words? Tried something new or beyond your abilities? When did you last asked for what you wanted...or needed? True tears? True laughter? Can you remember the last time you couldn't contain your joy over seeing someone, receiving something or getting rewarded? 

When was the last time you lived boldly? 

Adopting a playful spirit can help to cultivate these child-like attributes. Embracing moments to do the things that our adult minds tell us not to do can help embolden our spirits to live more boldly and to accept the challenges being presented to us by God to follow His call. The next chance you have to sing, do it with passion. An opportunity to dance? Cut that rug like you did at your wedding. Read in a silly voice. Sit on the floor. Mix your cereals. Have a root beer float. Be playful. Go out into the deep. 

Put aside your inhibitions in safe ways and you'll start to have the courage to put aside the boo birds that start to swoop in any time you try to tackle something new. 

Be playful.

Love boldly. Be more patient than is fair. Be more forgiving than others deserve. Show compassion. Be empathetic. As you move from being blessed to being bold, you start to recognize that our efforts at loving others fall so pathetically short of what others need and of what we are capable. Before meeting Emily, I didn't think I was capable of loving someone else more than myself. I also didn't think my love for her could increase. It increases every day and I do all that I can to put her needs and wants above my own. Then, I never thought before having kids that I could love someone else the same amount that I love Emily - but I've doubled that amount of love twice and I feel the infinitude of that love I possess. It doesn't mean I always love with this type of immense love, but I recognize my potential for loving boldly. 

Being blessed leads us to start living more boldly. Living more boldly allows us to love in the way we were created to do so - completely. 

Be blessed: Pray. Serve. Connect. Conserve.  

Be bold: Play. Love. 

Fight for JOY!

Be Blessed

At some point during this past Advent season, I adopted the following tagline:

"Be blessed. Be bold. Fight for JOY!"

The first two components I lifted from the signature line on my brother's emails / message (thanks and sorry, Joe). The final piece was added from the inspiration of one of my favorite musical groups, Rend Collective Experiment. 

As I reflected and prayed throughout the course of Advent and during Christmas break, I started to form a list of steps that could be taken to live out the three components, and I realized that doing the first two (being blessed and bold) can lead to the third (fighting for - and finding! - joy). 

How can we live blessed? It seems somewhat self-righteous, doesn't it, to live in recognition of the many blessings God has bestowed upon us? It somehow feels too prideful, too greedy, too self-promoting. "Look at my blessings. Look at how wonderful my life is because of how much God loves me." While this humility helps to keep our human pride in check, In some ways that same humbleness can work against us accepting God's blessings as we should. 

Being blessed starts with prayer. We can't come to love what we don't know and we can't come to know God without a life of prayer. If you're feeling a lack of blessings in your life, it may stem from a lack of prayer. It may stem from a lack of the right kind of prayer. It may stem from the wrong kind of prayer. Jesus gives us the words we are to say when we pray, "Our Father..." Similarly, at the institution of the Mass at the Last Supper, Jesus passes on the highest form of prayer and the opportunities to participate in it. Prayer, done "correctly" (as any conversation and openness you have to God is "right"), consists of four components:

1. Adoration
2. Contrition
3. Thanksgiving
4. Supplication

Taking Jesus as our model, we also have insights into how often we are to pray. Throughout the Gospel stories Jesus frequently goes off by himself to pray:

Mark 1:35 - Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.

Matthew 14:23 - After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone.

Luke 6:12 - In those days he departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer^* to God (scripture from usccb.org)

Fr. Kevin Grove, C.S.C., wrote this about the importance that Blessed Basil Moreau, founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross (who's feast we celebrate today), placed upon prayer:

Blessed Moreau knew and understood that for busy and apostolic religious who worked hard, there could be the temptation to sacrifice time in prayer. And so he says that a minister who does not pray is like a canal without water or a tree that is withered. Tiredness or weariness should not take them away from prayer, but be all the more reason to give themselves over to the Lord (FaithND). 

Take the time each day to pray. It will start to reorient your life toward a spiritual destination and will give you the eyes to see God's Hand working in your life. You will start to see that you are blessed. 

Being blessed continues with sacrifice. Once we start feasting on God's abundant goodness we start to live in that same abundance. Instead of sitting on it, we give it away. Through service to others we can come into a deeper understanding of the One who gave everything for us and from Whom every good thing comes. The more we give of ourselves, the more we become the people God created us to be. If you're feeling a bit lost and unsure of what God's asking of you, it may stem from a lack of self-less, sacrificial service to others.

Being blessed also involves connecting with others. The best days of your life most likely center around a connectedness to others. The best days of our lives have nothing to do with things and everything to do with people. Unplug. Stop posting, tweeting, hash tagging, instagramming, pinning, messaging, liking and commenting and start connecting (or blogging!). Eat meals with others. Spend time with others, especially time with others engaged in prayer. Accept invitations and opportunities to connect with others. Talk on the phone (instead of texting!). Write a letter (instead of emailing!). Turn off the TV and turn on the conversation with those around you. If you're feeling a bit disconnected, it may be that you are more connected to electronics than you are to people. 

Finally, being blessed entails conserving. We live in abundance. We have too much food, too many clothes, too many distractions (see above), and too little appreciation for the things (blessings) that we do have. Abundance leads to wastefulness. Wastefulness leads to greed. Greed leads to unrest. Unrest makes it nearly impossible to be blessed. Embrace a spirit of thanksgiving and gratitude, through prayer, giving of yourself, and  connecting with others instead of accumulating things. 

Be blessed: Pray. Serve. Connect. Conserve.  

Be bold.

Fight for JOY!

It's Not Too Late

Only 7 more shopping days left until Christmas! 

It's your last chance to qualify for free shipping / 50% off all double-priced items  / complimentary gift wrapping / an extra tote bag (for all of our stuff!) / $10 in-store credit so that you'll buy more stuff!

It's not too late! 

Truly, it isn't. 

It's not too late to push aside the message of our world that Santa's presents bring happiness and instead embrace the reality that God's presence ensures JOY!

It's not too late to reject the hectic pace - cards, cookies, decorations, parties, gifts, cleaning, wrapping - and instead reveal in the expectant JOY of Christ's coming into our world, into our hearts, and again at the end of all time. 

It's not too late to prepare for Christmas.

http://www.adventconspiracy.org

Truly, it isn't. 

I hope and pray that you have taken time to pray throughout Advent with more fervor and frequency. I hope and pray that in the midst of all of the snowmen and reindeer and jingle bells that you have found space in your homes for Advent wreaths and manger scenes. If you haven't, it's not too late - Consider attending a weekday Mass, or on the weekend if that isn't already a part of your Ordinary Time routine. Attend one of the many Reconciliation services planned throughout the diocese. Pray. Ask God for the strength, patience, guidance, wisdom to receive JOY that can only come from Him. 

It's not too late - pray.

I hope and pray that you have realized that more stuff doesn't lead to more happiness and that it is our extreme excess that deceives us into wanting more. In a world filled with choices, nothing satisfies. Consider embracing "Waste Not, Want Not" as a mantra during these last few days of Advent  - especially as it pertains to your consumption of food. Try it for a day. Try it for a meal. Vow to see even the most mundane of choices as the blessing that it truly is. Make a point to not waste food, or water, or time and watch how God blesses these efforts by making you feel more satisfied. 

It's not too late - waste not, want not. 

I hope and pray that you have sought out others to serve this holiday season. Perhaps it takes the form of direct service. Maybe it's more fully engaging your wife or husband or kids. Maybe it's cleaning out your closet. Maybe it's adopting a family who will go without this Christmas and making sure that they go with something. Out of your abundance, offer up just one gift to give to those in need. Offer up just one day of service to the less fortunate. Out of many, give one. Again, God will bless these efforts and you will have more space for Him, with less space being consumed by stuff.

It's not too late - serve.

I hope and pray that you can come to recognize that the best days of your lives had nothing to do with things and everything to do with people. Reflect on what the best days of your life have been. I hope that this simple reflection, which will most likely be incredibly easy, demonstrates to you the importance of relationships in your lives. I hope that during this season you may choose to give yourself to those whom you love, realizing that the memories of being together sustain much longer than the things purchased out of obligation. It's not too late, if you haven't already brainstormed ways to more fully connect with others, extend an invitation to a friend, co-worker or family member to GO do something together and be open to accepting that invitation to connect to someone else. God will bless this participation in the mystery of the Trinity - He is three persons in one! He is, by nature, relational!

It's not too late - engage. 

Finally, I hope and pray that you will, through these efforts, feel the true Spirit of Christmas. 

Be blessed. Be bold. Fight for JOY!

It's not too late...truly, it isn't. 

The Art of Celebration

The Art of Celebration

The night is always darkest before the dawn. When you think of epic adventure stories like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings or even fairy tales like Cinderella and Frozen, there is a sense that evil is not only gaining ground and getting the upper hand but also that its victory seems imminent. 

Image courtesy of Creative Commons.

It is precisely at this moment that light pierces the darkness - Luke withstands the temptation of Darth Vader, Aragorn takes on the role of leader, Cinderella is given a dress and ticket to the ball, and Anna is willing to give the ultimate gift.

Hope breaks through the despair. There is a sense that perhaps good can win. 

We realize that even the darkest dark is no match for the light.  

As our days get shorter and the nights grow longer, as we survive the hustle and bustle of this season and move toward Christmas, let us recognize that Christ entered the world - became Incarnate! - and that this event has present day significance and consequence. 

Good can win. There is reason for hope. 

Trust him with your sorrows. Cast aside your shadows. Fight for your joy.

This Advent, (re)discover the art of celebration! Maranatha - the Lord is coming! 

An Advent Prayer

This Christmas, may we have abundant Joy in Christ and may our Joy be complete.

He is the Song of our hearts.

He is the Joy of our lives.

He is the light of our souls.

Let us cast aside our shadows.

Let us trade in our sorrows.

Let us choose celebration.

Awaken our hearts to His Love – He is our Song!

Enliven our spirits to help others – He is our Joy!

Move in us and through us – He is our light!

This Christmas, may we have abundant Joy in Christ and may our Joy be complete.

Amen.

-inspired by Rend Collective Experiment