Another forgotten post

But for good reasons!

I was:

-working 

-speaking with my fiancée

-eating pasta

-creating something

All four of which are good things that bring me joy! Perhaps the pasta too much so! 

Anyway, that's a brief post explaining why i didn't post before midnight, my apologies!

~OCG 

An interview question

I had an interview earlier today and I'm very hopeful and grateful to God for the opportunity. It would be somewhat of a career change for me and my interviewer asked me first thing off the bat: 

"Given your background, your round about way to this career, how do you know what you're doing? How can I trust you to do this job?"

I answered that my , ahem, scenic route to this position is exactly what makes me qualified. I am not on the same path as everyone else you're interviewing and I'm happy I had the other experiences I did to get me here today. I don't know everything but I can learn what I don't know and bring something unique to the job. 

It hits me tonight that same principle applies to our discipleship. We all are sinners, and each of has had at one point or another a roundabout way back to God. We've all had lapses in judgement and bumps in the trail. No two saints follow the same road or there would be only one path to sanctity. And, truly, a all roads to heaven have only one common factor- Jesus. He is the way, but His Body has many parts and we all blaze a new trail to sainthood in our flawed humanity by God's love and grace. 

What wualifies each of us for sainthood only God knows. We all are called to that vocation in our baptism and Jesus alone is the path to the Father. He ascended so as to send the Holy Spirit to guide us and bring us closer to God. He loves us all individually as we are for we are His children, each unique but possessing traits of our Father, imitating the firstborn to eternal life, Jesus the Christ. 

I'm not sure if I will get the job, but I know that question will remain with me. Why this long and winding road to here? So I may become the person God needs me to be, today, tomorrow, and for all eternity with Him in heaven.

God love you!

~ OCG

Happy Ascension Thursday!

Happy Ascension Thursday! I had a longer post but it got deleted which is probably for the best. 

I'll keep it short since it's late: the Ascension is joyful because it is Christ bringing the fullness of the Trinity in His triumphant ascension to His throne in heaven! 

The Som returns to the Father to allow the Holy Spirit to come down in 10 days. Christ remains with us in the Eucharist giving is strength for our pilgrimage to the Father while  His Ascension signals the Holy Spirit to come down and guide His Church!

That's about as happy as it gets! God loves is and wants us to participate fully in the Trinity and this great feast celebrates that love!

Amen and Allelujah, He is truly Risen!

good night and God bless 

~OneCatholicGuy

40 winks after work

I realized this morning that I missed two posts this week because of late nights and travelling and tonight I fear the same thing may happen so, to prevent that, I am posting early.  You ever get the sleepy midday feeling after a big lunch?  That's kinda what I have right now.  I want to say something profound, perhaps about the importnatce of the Ascension or the Pope's recent visit to the Holy Land but I'm just durn tired right now. 

I've been very blessed this week to have some part time work.  It's the first work I've had in several months and I've found I'm getting pretty exhausted by the end of the day.  That's a good thing, but I'm even more tired today on my day off.  Partially the muggy dawn of summer is to blame but there's something to be said about work and exhaustion. 

Very often, people who have high stress jobs or exceedingly long commutes can go into a zombie like state once they are done working.  They cannot process anything because their mind and body have been moving too fast all day.  That's completely understandable but also a shame.  Their families never get to see them at their peak state that makes them so productive during the workday.  And at the same time unemployment can rob you of your energy and make you feel worth less than you are.  

The key thing is to work to live not live to work.  We should love our jobs and be ambitious and try and make as much progress in our days as we can.  But what is more important is the whole of your life- not just what you do but also who you are, how you love, etc.  

o as I'm tired today, feeling still very lethargically unemployed I pray to God that I remember the truth- that I am a person, created and loved by God the Almighty Father. 

May the Holy Spirit grant us who are tired in mind, spirit and body a refreshing new spring of energy today and help us remember that our true vocation is to love God and one another and our work should be one of many expressions of that work.  

~OCG

C is for Commandments- That's good enough for me!

Yesterday in the Gospel reading Jesus told us, "If you love me you will keep my commandants".  This is an extremely simple truth the Lord lays on us: we cannot sin and love God with our whole heart.  Sin, by its very nature divides us from God.  

I find this sentence really hard to follow, because it is literally asking us to "be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect".  Like the rich young man, it could be discouraging to us, especially when we are young and quite fond of our frequent sins.  We all have one or two or five that we can't seem to shake and continually return to perhaps out of addiction but mostly out of habit.  God is asking us to radically change that, to turn away from sin and return fully to Him.  

And Jesus doesn't leave us hanging with this strict order alone.  Immediately afterwards He tells us that He will ask the Father to send down an Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to strengthen us.  That's awesome!  Jesus also says that the world does not know the Spirit but we will because the Spirit will remain in us.  This passage provides us both strength and comfort: The Lord says He will not leave us orphans.  By following His commandments we will enter into the Trinitarian love of the Father, Son, and Spirit.  This is worth so much more than any temporary pleasure or feeling induced by a favorite sin.  This is complete happiness, this is the joy of true love.  

And this is something I feel I've forgotten lately.  I've struggled with a series of continual sins throughout my young adulthood and now during stressful times they've reemerged.  Frequent confession is a wonderful grace but I worry that a habit is forming that will become harder and harder to break. How can you return to God wholly and not sin?  Because we have to!  Jesus explicitly says that to love Him is to not sin.  I'm a wishy washy lover right now if I say I love Jesus and profess Him God and then disregard what He says to continue to sin.  Not only is that hypocritical but it's hurtful to my relationship with God.  It's also a completely human thing to do.  Perhaps the most human. 

That's no excuse.  We all are human but that is why Jesus sends us the Holy Spirit to remain with us.  This is why we are initiated into the Church with Baptism, the Eucharist, and Confirmation.  Baptism forgives our original sin, the Eucharist gives us strength and is the summit of our love for the person of Christ, and Confirmation keeps us strong in the Holy Spirit.  We are given the tools needed for the battle.  It is not what is naturally within us to win the fight but what is super-naturally within us: The Paraclete, the Advocate, the Holy Spirit of God most high!  

Holy Spirit, I am weak.  I have fallen so many times that I am unsure how I am not but a huge scrapped knee in your eyes.  But You still remain with me, with all Your people.  Spirit of God I pray wholeheartedly to You that I may amend my ways and do as Jesus has taught us and follow all of His commandments.  I desire to love You God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and make our relationship the center of my life.  Help me to do that.  Help me to be recreated once again in Your love.  Amen. 

I want to leave you tonight with a section of Psalm 119 that I found very inspirational in choosing tonight's topic.   Ps119 is really long and is many sectioned, each section beginning with a Hebrew letter.  Much like Sesame Street, this blogpost was sponsored by the letter B: 

BETH
How can the young keep his way without fault?
Only by observing your words.
With all my heart I seek you;
do not let me stray from your commandments.
In my heart I treasure your promise,
that I may not sin against you.
Blessed are you, O LORD;
With my lips I recite
all the judgments you have spoken.
I find joy in the way of your testimonies
more than in all riches.
I will ponder your precepts
and consider your paths.
In your statutes I take delight;
I will never forget your word.

~OCG

Word up! The Joyful Mysteries

So yesterday I was reflecting on the joyful mysteries of the Rosary. These mysteries are especially apt for Easter since were celebrating a season of joy. The joyful mysteries some of my favorite but I must confess sometimes I just can't get that in to them. They're very happy and familiar and especially the third one the nativity of the Lord. I often only think of the cute little baby Jesus in the manger and can't get to a deeper level of understanding. 

 However yesterday it dawned on me that the common thread in these mysteries is not just the person of Jesus but the person of Jesus as the word of God. Each mystery is a different Gospel reading about someone receiving the Gospel, the good word of Jesus the word incarnate. 

The first mystery is the annunciation, where the archangel Gabriel tells Mary God has chosen her to bring Jesus into the world. This is a call to disicplship and vocation that Mary alone is fit for by God's grace in her immaculate conception. Mary hears and freely chooses to accept this mission. She receives the word and responds to it, "Let it be done to me according to your word." 

The second joyful mystery is the Visitation, in which John the Baptist, still in the womb, leaps for joy at hearing Mary speak. Mary contains in her the Word incarnate and because of her being totally free of sin she is able to spread that Gospel in a uniquely unadulterated way. John the Baptist evangelizes his mother in turn after Mary evangelized him.  Elizabeth praises Mary and calls her blessed for believing what God said to her.  Our Blessed Mother then returns that praise to God.  She is a great model for us in discipleship: all praise, honor, and glory belong to God and realizing that is a moment of intense joy. 

The third mystery is the Nativity.  As I said, this one has always been tough for me.  In some ways it stands out the most since it is Jesus' birth and in other ways it's so overly familiar that I forget to even think about it as I pray.  Using this reflection on the Word, I was thinking that Christmas is the time the word comes into the world.  And, just as an angel appeared to Mary at the Annunciation, in the Gospel of Luke chapter 2 the angel announces the birth of Jesus to the Shepherds: 

10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah,the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”  

This is great news that will bring joy for all people!  Even the angels in heaven rejoice and sing God's praises at proclamation of the Word! Why is such important news not first told to the leaders of the world?  Or the teachers and Rabbis?  Or the scribes?  Even the Magi who visit Jesus in Mt2 follow a star but certainly don't mention choirs of angels singing.  So why Shepherds who were most likely illiterate and unknowledgable about the world and definitely smelled like sheep? Because they are the most likely to listen!  They are leaders to their flocks as Christ is leader to us.  They heard the word of God and were humble enough to receive it.  Someone like Herod, the King, we see finds out about Jesus and takes His birth as a threat. Oppositely, Jesus does take over the Shepherds' role and they accept that fully.  He is the Good Shepherd who is a cause of great joy to all people.  The Shepherds are willing to listen and therefore hear the Word.

Next is the Presentation of the Lord.  Here, Joseph and Mary bring Jesus to the temple where an old man named Simeon sees Him.  Simeon was told that he would not die until he saw the Messiah and when he sees Jesus he exclaims, "Now you can dismiss your servant in peace. You have fulfilled your word." Simeon says God has fulfilled His word because Jesus is God's Word!  Seeing Jesus, his journey is complete.  He had to wait until the appointed time, perhaps a longer wait than he wished for. But Simeon says nothing about that, he rejoices in finally seeing the Word made flesh in Christ.

And finally the finding in the temple.  This was always my favorite mystery of the Rosary because it was a favorite bible passage.  I'm fascinated by the young Jesus teaching and, in light of this reflection on the Word, I think the pattern fits that the last group to receive the Word is the learned.  These wise rabbis are literally being school by a twelve year old and are completely astounded by His knowledge and teaching!  They've studied the Mosaic law their entire lives and still a boy of 12 knows more than they do.  That is because He is the Word of God, Jesus is the law!  And what's truly beautiful, is in a young moment of humility, Jesus shows the rabbis He is subject to God's law by going back under the rule of Joseph and Mary.  He does so to show a complete consistency in God's law, that even though He is God He subjects Himself to the guardianship of His Blessed Mother and foster Father.

There's probably a more eleqouant or deeper thought to be said about all this but since I'm posting it a day late let's just leave that for tomorrow!

Good night and God Bless,

~OCG

Exhaustion

Tonight's joy is the exhaustion that comes from a good day's work. My back is right, my feet are sore, and my brain is too tired to write a post. 

good night and God bless 

~OCG

Thank you Service men and women!

Today I wanted to make a short prayer of thanks for veterans. It's fleet week in NYC and as I walked around today, talking to soldiers, sailors, and Vets as part of my new job for the next few days, I was astonished by their service and dedication to our country. 

What really shocked me is how young so many of the soldiers are! Many are several years younger than me and willing to serve until they're older than me. In face, the man who hired me for this temp job entered the army at 41 to serve his country!  It's a level of dedication and bravery that we all should aspire to. 

As we come upon Memorial Day weekend, I want to pray for all men and women of the military who lay their lives on the line for us: for those who've died in service to their country,  who have been unjustly mistreated back at home after defending our freedom,  who are veterans changed in mind, body, and soul by their service, who are still serving across the world this day on active duty and reserves. And also we must pray for those loved ones, who worry about their spouses, sons and daughters, and parents constantly but at the same time are proud of these heroes. 

May God keep and bless all Servicemen and women, veterans, and military families!

Happy Memorial Day!

~OCG

Collaboration

Tonight's post is a quick prayer of gratitude for collaboration and His gifts through connections we would never think about seeking. 

I was just in a meeting for a collaborative creative project and ran into an old school friend I hadn't seen in many months. He asked if I was working and I said no. This friend was in a position to offer me a small temporary job which, through God's providence, should be able to hold me over for a small period of time. 

God works in mysterious ways and He alone perfectly knows what we most need at any given moment.  I thank God for this opportunity to work and am happy to be working on this new creative endeavor! 

Back to the collaboration part though: I am thinking back to Genesis where God says, " it is not good for man to be alone". Why is that? Because man is made in the image and likeness of God. And God is a Trinity of persons. Man, by his nature, desires to be close to first God and then other people. 

In collaborating, our own creativity is enhanced and made productive by joining in a dynamic relationship with our collaborators. The creative spirit of a project is shaped in a multi-fueled fire and becomes more unified as many voices meld into one new whole project. 

That's not to say there are not often bad collaborations. Some projects falter and fail as personalities and ideas clash. But, at it's core, collaboration is a good that God gives us as a responsibility and a gift. The purpose of our collaboration,Ike a creative endeavors, should be self giving. An apt analogy may be  the love of a husband and wife which is a total gift of self that yields new life. 

If the point if collaboration is selfish it will fail. Much like the Tower of Babel which was man uniting to build themselves up, literally hoping to reach heaven by pride. That prideful effort collapsed as the tower did and the result was a division of men forevermore until they were again untied under one language by the power of the ultimate Creator in the Holy Spirit. 

So I thank God for collaboration and the ability to work! 

Until tomorrow,

good night and God bless 

~OneCatholicGuy

Mustard and Mulberry

I was reading Fr. James Martin's Between Heaven and Mirth which so far is a wonderful read about joy, laughter, and humor in our spirituality.  One short passage from the book mentioned that some of the phrases and parables Jesus said may have been funny to the ancient Jewish audience hearing it at the time.  For example, pointing out the speck in your brother's eye when you have a wooden plank sticking out of yours.  Fr. Martin says that we hear the stories so often we cannot hear them with fresh ears and don't see the obvious humor in some of the Lord's teachings.

With that in mind I went to the Bible and found a passage that always intrigued me but I never deeply reflected on.  This is from Luke 17:5-6:

"And the apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith'.  The Lord replied, 'If you have fiath the size of a mustard seed you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.'"

Now I'm not sure if there's exactly anything funny about a Mulberry tree since I only know Mulberry from Dr. Seuss and Little Italy street signs in NYC.  What spoke to me about this passage was that the mustard seed is ridiculously small.  You may have been passed one at a retreat or confirmation class some time but for reference its only yea big (see below)

That's either a tiny tiny seed or a giant hand. The apostles ask the Lord to increase their faith because He just told them some stuff that is really hard for humans to do: to resist sin, to care for the poor, to preach against divorce.  Some themes we currently still are talking about in the Church.  And the apostles think that they need more faith to be able to accomplish this.

Jesus tells them that if they had even the smallest amount of faith they can do extraordinary things.  The image of the Mulberry tree is pretty cool once I looked up what they are: 

This is a mulberry tree which is pretty big.  Looking through the Catena Aurea many of the Church fathers point out that this tree's fruit begins with a white flower and then turns red.  Some say that tree represents the "Gospel of the cross" and the uprooting it into the sea is the Gospel being brought from just the Jews to the Gentiles.  Others make a point that the tree is a symbol of the devil because it starts out with angelic white flowers as Lucifer did and then the fruit grows red and eventually an irredimable black. 

I don't know what it really means.  The intriguing thing to me is that this metaphor comes on the heels of a series of difficult teachings.  Maybe Jesus is asking the apostles to uproot their own misinterpretations and hang ups about his teachings and cast them away.

The word for uprooted used here seems to be used mostly in the Bible for something being replaced by God or a human force acting for God because it's not according to His plan.  Most are about treacherous people or bad plants being torn up.  See the full list here.  The mulberry plant, possibly representing the devil or man's own sinful nature or hesitation to listen to Christ's Gospel, is uprooted and planted in the sea by the smallest of seeds, the mustard seed. 

The joyful message for today is, as deficient, small, and miniscule as our faith may be, God can do great things with it!  All it takes is the smallest faith in God and mountains will be moved (Mt17:20) and sin cast away from us.  Mustard is small but persistent.  It has a pungent and fervid flavor and once tasted it cannot be untasted.  Get yourself a mustard seed today because God will reward your faith and make it more fruitful than any tree you could imagine.

~OCG

Change the Channel

Just a very quick post tonight: 

The other day I was waiting to watch a new show I wanted to see.  I went to the channel I thought it would be on, the channel I always thought was a certain network was instead a subsidary carrying some kind of movie that hasn't been doing it's ab exercises.  Meaning it was softcore something or other.  

I found the channel I was looking for after looking through the guide but I was reminded  that sometimmes we gotta change the channel.  Something we thought would be good for us, enjoyable, etc, turns up to be something harmful.  And it surprises us. And that shock can yield enough curiousity to stay on that "channel" to see what is happening, maybe it isn't what we think at first.  But yeah, no sometimes that situation is exactly what your gut tells you.  

More importantly than following our gut is to follow our conscience. God gave us the gifts of intellect and free will as well as a conscience.  There are times that it does nothing but harm us if we do not get out of a bad situation and change the channel.  God will give you the grace to do that but you gotta build the virtue, find the clicker, to actually do it.  

Let's find the remote, it's probably stuck in the cushions somewhere. 

God love you!

~One Catholic Guy 

Lazy Sunday

I wanted to apologize for not posting yesterday.  I believe it is the first time since starting my 50 day project of daily posts that I have neglected to post anything at all.  I did start a draft of a post but failed to complete it and almost failed to complete one today.  I'm very sorry about that.

Today I will briefly talk about something I was excited about, focusing my energy on and failed to come through.  A few days ago I decided to do a stand up comedy open mic.  It's something I've been thinking about for a while and after the disappointment of not getting the job I anticipated early last week I figured I had nothing to lose.  But I didn't dedicate enough time to writing material and tonight I chickened out before even leaving for the club.

So I'm a little disappointed in myself for that and I want to find a positive spin since this is Easter and there is much to be happy about stilL! I think where I find solace tonight was in today's Gospel reading.  The apostles are kind of just not getting what Jesus is talking about (see my last post) and they are talking in a way that is focusing back on them, "How are we supposed to know the way?" "Show us the Father".  It's all about them, and their experiences.  In this case, it is their lack of understanding which is really caused by their lack of Faith.  And that's what I'm experiencing too I guess.

Jesus is the answer to both Thomas and Philip's question as He is to mine.  When I'm disappointed in myself for forgetting to blog or chickening out of standup because I'm too scared or not writing, beating myself up isn't going to help.  Any time we reflect the issue back to ourselves it can indulge our pride and leave us alone, unproductive, thinking only of our inferiority.  And our sucking shouldn't come as a surprise.  We aren't perfect; we're only human.  We'll fail, miss opportunities, hurt those we love.  We err.  But Jesus transforms that err into "Are" because He is one with the Father "I AM".

One line of the Gospel particularly stuck out to me:

Amen, amen, I say to you,whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.” John 14:12

Though I failed in the works I wanted to do today, in Christ I can do great works for God.  Not that my trying to do some comedy will be of any impact on the world but, through Jesus, it may be a part of spreading the Gospel.  The works that Jesus says will be greater than those He showed the apostles I believe are the collective works of the members of the body of Christ, all of us.  While God may have performed many extraordinary miracles through Peter and Paul and many apostles and saints, the daily work of all of God's people is truly a testimony to His love for us.

I believe in God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  I have faith in God and trust that He will provide for me.  And I also believe that He has imbued me, as He has every person, with a certain talents, dispositions, and creative energies.  I pray now that though I failed today, in His grace tomorrow I may make that talent profitable for God.

God love you!

~One Catholic Guy

Do you not understand?

I've found that as the fifty days of Easter continue, I'm finding it harder to post.  Not because the joy of the season is over, or that there isn't any more Gospel to proclaim, but rather I find myself insufficent for the task.  I apologize for the past two weeks of posts which have become less deep, a lot less funny, and not rooted in scripture.  When you go to read a catholic blog, you deserve to see some catholic stuff on it and I feel I haven't done that properly lately.  

So today, instead of another self inspired post, I'm starting with a quote.  It's a long quote.  In fact it is the entire Gospel reading for today, John 14:1-6:

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. 
You have faith in God; have faith also in me. 
In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.
If there were not,
would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come back again and take you to myself,
so that where I am you also may be.
Where I am going you know the way.” 
Thomas said to him, 
“Master, we do not know where you are going;
how can we know the way?” 
Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. 
No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus' message to us today is what He always tells us in the Gospel, "Be not afraid!"  But this is a deeper level than fear, He's talking to us like a father addresses his children.  Don't be troubled in your hearts, don't you know I will care for you?  Don't you see that the Father and I are one? 

Jesus is one God with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  He has promised the disciples He has prepared a place for them. It's really important to note that this Gospel begins directly after Jesus has told Peter that he will deny Jesus three times before the cock crows.  And, also importantly, going back one line more the reason Jesus says Peter will deny Him is in response to Peter saying, "Why cannot I follow thee now?  I will lay down my life for thee." (Jn13:37-38)

By the time we get to the beginniing of this fourteenth chapter of John, Jesus and Peter have already discussed where Jesus is going several times.  And now Jesus tells the disciples He is going ahead to prepare a place for them and "where I am going you know the way".  This causes Thomas to say in either complete confusion or maybe even frustration that how are they to know the way? 

It is at that moment that Jesus tells that "I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."  Where Jesus is going is to the Father.  He is about to die, descend into hell and raise from the dead to ascend to the Father in Heaven.  He is the way to the Father, the truth, the Gospel message incarnate, and the life, the Resurrection.  

And this Gospel shows us how the apostles do not understand.  In fact, just a few lines later, Philip asks Jesus to show him the Father.  Jesus, about to go to His death, is maybe upset that they still don't get it.  They know the Father in knowing Jesus.  But, He knows the solution.  Jesus says He will ask the Father to send down the Holy Spirit to remain with them.  It is then that they may understand, when the Spirit of God dwells within them.  

I too feel like the apostles.  I do not understand.  My mind and heart are not united to Christ in the way I wish they were and I am far from the man I wish I would be.  But God has confirmed His people in the Holy Spirit and we are to know the Father in Christ.  What is lacking in us is completed and perfected in Jesus.  May this night we come to God, quietely listening to hear His voice and love more as He loves.  Pentacost is almost here, the Spirit stirs about the Church, ready to recreate us and make us more unified to God.  Let us love Him greater tonight. 

God love you!

~OCG

Goodnight mom !

I have only ten minutes to post as to not break the chain so I'll share a little thing my fiancée and I are doing this week. 

To help decide our wedding day we are praying a rosary and asking for Mary's help deciding if this new day we have in mind is fitting for God's will. This new day we're considering is also a Marian feast vigil. 

So far we both are leaning towards that day and I pray that we may dedicate our marriage in a special way to Mary and use the Holy Family as an inspiration for our love. 

That's all for tonight! Reber to tell your Mother in heaven you love her and want to be more like her in an effort to love her Son even more!

good night and God bless!

~ OCG 

Joy in Disappointment

Today started out very sad for me.  After months of waiting to hear back from a company I'd interviewed with several times, and being told the prospects of a job were very good, I was informed that the position went to someone else.  

After months of unemployment, this was the closest I had gotten to a full time job.  This was the job I was hinging my future hopes on: the job I thought I may keep when I was married and the job that may launch my career.  But it did not happen and that may be for the best.  

Unemployment really does take a toll on you.  It makes you feel worthless, empty, scared, and not good enough.  That's how I felt this morning, "I'm not good enough.  They didn't want me".  Of course this extreemly personal statement of rejection is unwarranted and for the employer business is business.  But in the moment you never can phrase it that way to yourself.  And, even more untrue, is saying that you're worthless.  Realizing this is a falsehood is what leads to today's joy. 

The truth is that I am a person of value.  I am a child of God: a human created in the image of the Father, reborn in the baptism of the Son's passion and resurrection, and confirmed in the Holy Spirit.  My life is valuable because God says so.  That's a lot more important than whatever job I may have not gotten today.  God has made all of us because we all are valuable to Him, even the unemployed, the homeless, the undesirable to others.  Especially them in fact.  The Lord hears the cry of the poor and loves them as they give back to Him even out of their want. 

During last Sunday's mass I was mediatating on Christ's wounds and the deep suffering he faced in His Passion.  As the priest consecrated the Host and I saw the Blessed Sacrament raised above the altar, Body seperated from Blood, I reflected (as best as I could) on Christ's death.  We don't neglect this now that we are in Easter.  We don't consecrate all the hosts on Holy Thursday and leave out the sacrifice of the mass through the Easter season.  No, in order to celebrate Easter weekly we still must remember Christ's suffering.  Though He died only once, for His sacrifice is so complete and perfect no other sacrifice is necessary for salvation, we still remember His death every mass.  

And so too does our suffering combine with Christ's in our struggles as members of His Body.  My suffering is miniscule compared to other peoples.  A few months unemployment is typical of many people nowadays and I am happy to be so blessed as to not be struggling even more financially.  I have a home and a family and a fiancee who love and help me.  I am truly grateful for these daily gifts God gives me.  But I also need to thank Him for this suffering, for the burden of unemployment.  For, in my life, this is a way I can share in the wounds of Christ.  I will never be a martyr or a great hero of the Church but I strongly desire to lay down my life for God, and in this small way I can.  All of our little sufferings are opportunities to share in the Passion of Our Lord.  I am glad this day that my unemployment and this disappointment can be offered to Jesus and I hope this suffering finds profit in the salvation of a soul: one in purgatory, one here on earth, maybe even my own. 

God, please bless those who are contintually unemployed this day.  Especially those with families to support, those who are homeless, and those who are sick and in need of healthcare.  May this small, obsolete sadness in my heart be but an atom in the drop of your Precious Blood that will restore them to true life in You.  I offer this discouragment, disappointment, and all the feelings I have towards this current moment to You God that they may be made useful for the healing of a family, the reuniting of a person with the Church, or the salvation of a soul.  

God Love you,

~OneCatholicGuy

Live Life Abundantly

Since yesterday was Mother's Day I didn't get a chance to talk about the wonderful last line of the gospel from yesterday.

"I came that they may have life and have it abundantly"  

What a joyful reason our Lord gives for His coming, and how true!  Jesus comes to forgive our sins, to open the doorway to heaven and defeat death and sin forever.  He is giving us true life in Him as He has life in the Father.  A truly abudndant life is one lived in Christ for He is the way, the truth, and the Life.

More to come later, I'm writing in a hot library and, while I don't feel I'm living super abundantly at the moment, but I want to go have some time to  reflect on this passage and offer the abundant humidity of this day back to God while I find something to write.

Happy Mother's Day!

No time for a thorough post tonight because it was Mother's Day! So in honor of Our Blessed Mother here is a beautiful rendition of Ave Maria I heard as a communion reflection today sung by Sherri Ottoson. 

http://youtu.be/ENp33klGbEM

God Bless! Pray for your mother today :)

~OCG 

Date Night! or Why I Still Like You

I have changed my shirt at least three times.  My wallet, which was full this morning will now be totally empty. I will have gone through more than a tank of gas by the end of the night.  That's right folks, it's date night!

Hey those dogs stole my reservation for the alley table!  

It's  very tempting once you're dating for a long time or are engaged, and even more once you're married I'd think, that "dates" are a trivial thing.  You see your girlfriend or boyfriend all the time.  You're busy with work, school, wedding planning.  The time you have together has to be productive.

I argue that a date is productive.  But only when you are focused on each other.  It's really common now that in my relationship, as we are both busy with jobs and job hunting and wedding planning, that other topics are the main focus of our conversations.  Sometimes days can go by where seemingly we talk of nothing but what happened at work, what venues we like, and the eventual question that arises from each of us, "Do you still like me?"

"I feel like we never talk anymore!" "That's because we have no mouths"  image from funinmarriage

I don't know if other couples are as blunt in asking each other this and perhaps its just a mutual trait of insecurity me and my beloved share but it gets asked fairly often by both of us.  And lately even more often.  And it scares me a little bit.  I started wondering, "Why are we doing this?  What's wrong?  Why are we miscommunicating and not feeling like we are 'liked' by the person we are going to spend our lives with?"

The quick and easy answer (which conveniently ties into this blog's title) is we haven't had many dates lately.  All of our talking is focused on something: something we have to do or are worried about or a duty or family obligation we haven't fulfilled and are stressed about.  A date is about someone.  Dates are how people who are discerning a relationship come to learn who the other person is and if they're someone they want to be with.  Engaged and married couples already know we want to be with that person.  So dates are a matter of reminding us who our spouse is deep down, the person we fell in love with, and becoming more the person they fell in love with.

And that's not to say that people don't change.  They do and the relationship grows in different ways as our personalities develop more fully as we grow older.  I'm not under the delusion that I'll be the same man at 50 or 70 or even 30 that I am today.  I pray I won't be.

However, the fact remains that a couple is together because they love each other and a date, with no phones, emails, concerns of business or what they're doing tomorrow, can revitalize what was stagnant or remind them why it's worth all the other stressful stuff: because you're doing it for your loved one!  For your husband or wife and your children and family!

Life is stressful but life is good!  God loves us and gave us this helpmate, this woman or man that we are crazy about and completely head over heels for.  The person that drives us nuts and sometimes drives us too far.  But that's why there are 24 hour gas stations, for the same reason we have dates, to refuel and get back on the right road.

So today's joy is my beloved, the woman of my dreams, the girl I'm going to marry. God bless you darling girl, I cannot wait to see you tonight.  I look forward to our date, tonight and all the date nights to come.

...better try on a different shirt again....

~OneCatholicGuy

A Sick Day Post

Today I am recuperating from a little virus and didn't have much brainpower to come up with a post.  Instead I spent all day with my parents watching a few rented movies and some funny tv shows.  And that today made me very happy!

God gives us our families and it's silly but sometimes a sick day can help you remember the joy you get from your family relationships. They are joyful and reflect the familial love of the Trinity and the love we have for God as our Father.

As I am engaged and not sure how many more sick days I will have at home with my parents, and not with my new bride and the family I start, I will have to make this a quick post.  I am happy to have this time with my parents even if it is offered because of two small sufferings: the virus and the ever persistent unemployment.

 My Easter joy for today is my loved ones and I pray you too get to enjoy your loved ones today and especially this weekend for Mother's Day.

God bless you and keep you now and forever!

~OneCatholicGuy

Happy Birthday Bishop Sheen!

I wanted to wish Archbishop Fulton J Sheen a very happy birthday in heaven!  Bishop Sheen has been an inspiration to me since I first found out about him while in college and I invite you all to pray for his canonization and intercession for this man truly is a saint.

Archbishop Sheen was a humorous, humble, holy man who reached millions through the new media of his day and evangelized the world bringing many to Christ.  In addition to his media ministry, he was an exceptionally loyal son of the Church and worked leading the Congregation of the Propagation of Faith for many years.  He attended and spoke at Vatican II and had the admiration of people of all creeds and nations.

Even more importantly, he was a man who deeply loved God and desired to be near him. Every day of his 50 plus year priesthood, Bishop Sheen would make a holy hour before Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Later in his life, he gave many retreats for priests and encouraged them all to make a holy hour.  And for us lay people, if we cannot make a whole hour, give the Lord what time we can.  It was partly in hearing this witness that I began a more passionate seeking of God in Eucharistic Adoration and I hope to make it a more regular practice as I get older.

So today say a prayer for Archbishop Sheen's canonization, if you would like to honor him, here is one from the official website for his cause for canonization:

+Heavenly Father, source of all holiness, You raise up within the Church in every age men and women who serve with heroic love and dedication. You have blessed Your Church through the life and ministry of Your faithful servant, Archbishop Fulton J Sheen. He has written and spoken well of Your Divine Son, Jesus Christ, and was a true instrument of the Holy Spirit in touching the hearts of countless people.

If it be according to Your Will, for the honor and glory of the Most Holy Trinity and for the salvation of souls, we ask You to move the Church to proclaim him a saint. We ask this prayer through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

And please check out some of his videos and talks online.  There is a wonderful app that I have made by Catholic MP3 Vault that has a large collection of talks from Archbishop Sheen for 7.99 on the iPhone.  You can also check out many of his free audio sermons at FultonSheen.com/mp3.  

Ven. Fulton J Sheen, pray for us, especially those who work in television, film, radio, and new media, that we may boldly follow Christ and, by becoming more like Our Lord, lead others to Him and eternal salvation.  

I'll leave you with  a video of Venerable Sheen talking about Our Blessed Mother whom he loved so dearly in life and surely in death.  

God love you!  

~OneCatholicGuy

PS: If you'd like to make a donation to Archbishop Sheen's cause for canonization as a birthday present you can do so here

Go go power rangers!

News just broke that they are going to reboot the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers as a new film series! Though I may now be 25, I would be doing my 5 year old self a disservice if I didn't take a moment to reflect on a childhood favorite.

The Power Rangers were a mainstay for any child of the 90's and for a kid who grew up without cable, it was one of the only cultural touchstones I got to participate in. Aside from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Power Rangers were the most important group of teenage vigilantes in my life.  

Looking back there is a lot of religious symbolism to be found in the Power Rangers.  Here is a list of just a few considerations: 

• The series takes place in Angel Grove
• Zordon acts as a father to all the rangers and benevolently gives them gifts and powers (Zordon being a blurry face in a tube is maybe a burning bush parallel)
• Zordon's assistant is Alpha (missing a few too many screws to be the Omega if you know what I mean)
• A diverse group of "teenagers with attitude" come together in one body to fight the forces of evil and protecting the unknowning citizens of Angel Grove
• Tommy, the Green Ranger is released from the power of evil and becomes good, being clothed in white light to become the White Ranger

 The Power Rangers are bold, powerful, yet very often humiliated in their battles.  And, nearly always, right at the very end when the evil seems closest to being defeated it is suddenly empowered and grows exponentially in size, so large that no one Ranger can defeat it alone.  Then the teens come together in the one body, Megazord, to combat evil together.  The fact that they are teenagers  makes it easier to accept their mistakes: they are growing heroes and will not do everything perfect!  They mess up, fight amongst them selves, and often need to seek forgiveness from Zordon and their friends.  In a silly way, the Power Rangers are just like us, saints in the making. 

Even in the most juvenile media, we can find kernels of truth.  That's why drama, literature, music, and films and television give us so much joy.  They are reflections of the truth of our lives. The point of this exercise is not to map the truth of the Church onto the art because it is a very weak comparison.  Rather, it's cool to see how some themes of our faith are reflected in entertainment and how we are joyful to find the symbolism and allegory hidden beneath the surface.  I find this especially pleasurable with Power Rangers because they are some of the first heroes I could relate to as a child, for they were not much more than children themselves.  They were also a community, not just one hero but a whole group, each who must rely on the other to succeed in warding off evil.  

Those are just a few reasons why I think it's worth thinking a little deeper about those childhood favorites in the light of the Catholic Church.  

Also, it's got a pretty badass theme song. 

God bless! 

~Onecatholicguy

Quarter Life

Today I turn 25 and most people phrase it as, "Today you turn a quarter of a century old!"  As silly as that seems, it kinda resonates with you.  The phrase at once makes you feel 1) really old and 2) really young.

It provides a context for this milestone: you've still got miles to go before you sleep.  Century gives it a feeling of history too, your life is lived out in the history of the world and we often remember the dead as, "the generation that lived through....they saw this happen...they fought this war..."  Our lives are bigger than just our small sphere we see daily.

I had to resist the urge to make a list of what I want to do in my 25th year.  I wish I could say it was because a list would limit me too much but the real reason is I was too lazy to find a sharpened pencil (for a list like that you really need to be able to erase!) and I was scared.  Marking it down on paper makes it semi-permanent, resolutions that will lead to disappointment.  Or joy.  Depending on the list and what you make of it.

So as I take stock of my life I've noticed a few things going into 25:

• We are called to sainthood.  As I get older and notice I'm struggling with the same sins and temptations as I was when I was 15, I am aware of the continual struggle placed on us in this world and the need to embrace that suffering and offer it to God.  This is what makes saints, a total and whole love for God and a willingness to passionately endure all for Him.  I am no where near that point.  And as much as I pray that I may be a saint for the sake of God's kingdom, my flawed humanity speckles that petition abundantly with pride.  And that's okay, because we all have to continually pray to God to take our pride and give us the gift of humility, and our sin of pride can be an invitation to do that.
  
• Authentic manhood comes with age and getting closer to Christ. I often hypothesized as a kid what I would be like when I grow up to be a man.  Now that I am an adult, I'm no closer to knowing.  But as I get older, and have seen more, I see the lines filling out a little more.  I get the context of my humanity in the larger scope of society, the Church, and, most importantly, the person of Christ.  All people are called to imitate Christ but each gender in a particular way.  As a man, I feel called to empty myself as Christ did on the cross, giving for those I love everything.  But it's not a substantial gift: while Christ gives us Easter, Christmas, and every Sunday to celebrate His Sacrificial love, our sacrifice as men often is the equivalent of 5 minutes of card shopping on Valentines Day or a President's Day poem that makes the reader suffer more than the author (apologizes to my fiancee!).  But with age, the sacrifices get bigger.  Husbands will give more of themselves than a bachelor, and fathers in a way unique to them.  At all times that sacrifice must be rooted in Christ: Christ as a young man teaching in the temple turns into Christ as a bridegroom consummating his marriage to the Church with his passion and death on the cross.                                                                                                
• Work is important but not your identity.  As I previously wrote, I am recently unemployed.  But I've learned through my brief last job, a few freelance gigs here and there, and my unemployment the value and proper place of work.  Being productive and working is a good that helps round us out as people, it adds to our sense of self worth and helps us realize our potential as individuals and as a community.  But it is not everything.  I was laid off and a little over a month later my grandfather passed away.  A month after that, my other grandfather lay in the hospital for two weeks.  I've gotten to spend much more time with my family and I've seen that work is a small part of the equation but a very necessary one.  I've seen friends and loved ones become overworked, stressed beyond belief, and isolated by the drudgery  of their daily lives.  And, honestly, in my unemployment I've even been a little jealous at times of their situations just out of a desire to make a living.  But it's no living if you exist only to work.  Work is a good thing, it yields productivity, money, and self esteem.  But it is just one part of life.  Family, love, joy, charity, these are all a higher priority than work.  And at the very top of the list is God.  We do not have worth to God because we are workers for God loves all His children, even those who cannot physically or mentally be employed.
  
  Our value comes not from how much we produce but by how much we are loved by God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So many saints have done little in the eyes of the world, neither on the top of Forbes lists or even the Church hierarchy.  I think of Saint Therese of Liseux, who died at 24, one year younger than I am today.  She did nothing in the eyes of the world, tucked away in her cloister, but she loved so completely that she's been called one of the greatest saints of modern times.  Do not become so encapsulated wholly by work that you forget you're not just a worker.  We are not made for work but for loving God and honoring Him in all we do.  Work is a necessary part of that but not superior to our leisure, family and prayer. I resolve to make time for all these areas of my life and I want to do a better job of trusting God at 25 that he will provide me with the work He calls me to.
  
• I am not ready to be a father but I look forward to learning how. Being a dad is the second most important job in the world, behind being a mom. I have no idea how to be a father at all.  I have good role models in my own father and other adult men but actaully being a dad scares the crap out of me.  But I am an engaged man and as I look forward to when I turn 26 and get married I am so excited to finally be a husband and a father.  I feel like all men are called to some sort of fatherhood whether its spiritual or physical.  With our beloved mother companions we raise the next generation and bring them into the faith.  As a new godfather to a baby just born yesterday I don't know how to guide her or help her in her faith, much less how to hold her or change a diaper.  But God will show me, good Father that He is, how to care for His child and my own, when the time comes.  

It is indeed an exciting challenge to live life.  Taking a life lesson from the first movie I ever saw in theaters, that I still love to this day, Hook: 

May we all have a joyful and blessed year, whatever our age. 

God love you!  

~OneCatholicGuy

Pizza and My Soul

"When your eye hits the sky like a big pizza pie that's amore"...

Nothing more Catholic than starting this post off with two confessions:

1) While I did technically meet my requirement and post this on 5/4 (may the fourth be with you), I had no content up except the quote above.  I posted it as a place holder, hoping that something might come to me on a long drive home that would take me past midnight.

2) My fiancee wrote this title and quote as a prompt because we were buying a pizza at the time.

I have no idea in what way my soul is like a pizza except in that I'm largely Italian, and my largeness may be caused primarily by too much pizza.

But anyway, let's see how a pizza is like our soul.

I always tried to convince my parents and school authority figures that pizza is in fact a vegetable.  It does have tomatoes (fruit *cough* its a fruit *cough*) and cheese, which if it isn't a vegetable, should be!  Pizza is something universally loved because it is simple: bread, sauce, cheese.  You can add many things on top of it but at the base level it is simple, beautiful and good.

Our souls are kinda like this.  They are made inherently good.  They are created by a master pizza chef and carefully tossed and stretched, almost seemingly to the breaking point, but in the end are the perfect amount of substance.  God is a good chef and He knows what to do.  We are made in love from our parents and God and this act of creation, the making of the pizza, is an act of love.  That's the pizza is so desirous and our souls so satisfying to God and others who experience God through us.

But the simplicity can be layered later by our choices: the toppings.  God made us a plain cheese pie and allows us to put whatever we want on top of our souls.  With guidance and God's grace we may add many virtues to our souls, and strong bold flavors to our pizza: Pepperoni of Patience, Toppings of Temperance, Chastity Mushrooms (also the name of my upcoming album! Not really, at all).

But we can also create a garbage pie.  We can add sins, corruptions, cabbage on our pizza and dirty socks can line our crust.  It's our choice. In choosing to reject or accept the will of the chef, God, we can make a beautiful pizza or a horrid one.

So, as our bellies are now full of the yumness of pizza, let's strategize on how to make a good pie:

1. Keep it simple- restrict to what you know is good, and keep all the bad stuff out of the kitchen!  You can't put moldy pears on your pizza if you throw them out with the rest of the garbage. 
2. Be attentive-  Don't let your pie burn in the oven, keep a watch over it and make sure it doesn't end up in the fire forever
3. Add toppings from Papa's picks - no, not Papa John, but Big Papa, the Father!  God has given us virtures to be achieved in the person of Christ and with the Holy Spirit's gifts, choose from these known winners and build as many as you can
4. Share- as good as a pizza is by yourself, it's much better to share it with others.  Your soul is a beautiful pizza and is meant to be shared with your loved ones and with God.  Give Him glory in the witness of your pizza-ness. 

So, that's a little more fleshed out, I'd write more but I'm about to pass out.  Hope this made *some* kind of sense and if not, oh well, at least you may have the idea to order a pizza.  

Enjoy your pie! 

Good night and God bless you all! 

~Onecatholicguy

A PUPPY

As I struggled to come to a joyful topic today (having started and abandonned several posts already) I decided that a Puppy is pretty happy and fills me with joy! 

Here's to the little things!  God bless you and your puppies today! 

~OneCatholicGuy

Tech fast tonight!

Hi everyone, just a quick post to say they'll be no post tonight bc I'm doing an internet fast to make up for the meat I ate by accident this morning (oops). 

I will try and pray and reflect hard to have a good post for tomorrow! 

good night and God bless!

OCG

St. Joseph the Worker

Appropriately, we kick of the month honoring Mary the Blessed Mother of Jesus with the feast of St. Joseph the Worker!  Also fitting is that I had several job related things today: an interview, two phone calls with old employers and a email request for my resume! God is good and St. Joseph definitely intercedes hardcore (Thanks God!  And thanks for the prayers St. Joe!).  

I unfortunately don't know a lot about St. Joseph the Worker as a feast day but I did find this cool reflection from American Catholic:

In a constantly necessary effort to keep Jesus from being removed from ordinary human life, the Church has from the beginning proudly emphasized that Jesus was a carpenter, obviously trained by Joseph in both the satisfactions and the drudgery of that vocation. Humanity is like God not only in thinking and loving, but also in creating. Whether we make a table or a cathedral, we are called to bear fruit with our hands and mind, ultimately for the building up of the Body of Christ.

Pretty cool to think about: one of the highest honors of humanity that show we are made in the image of God is our ability to create.  Not only to have babies (whoa now!) but to  play, write, act, draw, manufacture, imagine, and dream!

SIDEBAR: Isn't it strange that though Joseph was a master carpenter and taught the Lord his trade, the only thing we ever see him and Jesus holding is a big chunky unshaped block of wood? Seems unfittingly for the foster father of our Lord to be misrepresented as only a carpenter who makes smaller wooden beams from bigger wooden logs.

"This is a big block of wood"

"This is smaller wood"

"Hey Joe, how about we do something with this one instead of leaving it as a beam?"

All forms of creativity are our share in God's creation of the world  from those first 7 days way back in Genesis 1! So next time you do whatever creative thing you do, keep in mind you could use that as an opportunity to build the Body of Christ and show God you love Him and say "I'm going to be like you Dad/ you know I'm going to be like you". *sniffle* everytime it makes me cry, everytime!

BTW just realized Harry Chapin's kinda making a cool parallel to Jesus' command "Be perfect as your Father is perfect" but showing the humanity of our earthly fathers.  BOOM! Grab the kleenex and listen:

Call your pops and say you love him! 

God love you! ~onecatholicguy