Luke 11:5-13 The Year of Faith

Luke 11:5-13  The Year of Faith

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Jesus said to his disciples: …“If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

One does not solve a problem by making it bigger. 

As I sat around the dinner table last night with a beautiful family, I had to ask this mom and dad of three kids how they came up with their youngest daughter's name.  I never expected to hear what I heard.  I should have known better.

Facts are not opinions.  That’s what we all learned in school.  Well, the facts didn’t look good for this mom of two, or for her unborn child.  The doctor treating her said she ran the very serious risk of bleeding to death if she continued with her pregnancy; and that her unborn child, if it even survived, would have serious defects.  The doctor pleaded with her to use her better judgment.  He reminded her that she was already the mother of two small children.  Why run the risk for one more child?  Why in the world would she leave the other two motherless? The “logical” conclusion was to abort.   

With so much to lose and with so much pressure to come to terms with “reality”, it is a miracle she remained steadfast.  She refused to have an abortion.   

A few months before she gave birth, she had one last sonogram.  The doctor would not allow her to look at the image of her child.  When she pressed for a reason, the doctor told her, “Just in case you decide to change your mind.”   

Her husband, a good Christian man, had his doubts though.  He did not have her faith. 

The moment her child was born, her doctor began to cry.  This mother of two had given birth to a perfectly normal baby girl.  Mom and dad named her “Faith”.    

A few years later, Faith’s dad became a Catholic.

Today, Faith is a very beautiful, highly intelligent (straight A), playful and creative teen.  While her parents shared stories about her at the dinner table, all she did was smile.  And what an amazing smile she has.  

It's obvious to see that family life would be so different if they did not have their little Faith.  At Sunday Mass, mom and dad still look at her every time the priest, after the consecration, says, “Mystery of Faith”.

Why do I mention this story?  Because today, unbeknownst to me, the Holy Father inaugurated “The Year of Faith”.  I couldn’t believe the coincidence.  I should have known better!

Faith is our response to God’s grace.  I can take it or reject it.  And I do so knowingly or woefully.  Faith is an act of the intellect.  It is not an act of the emotions.  It is not “wishful” thinking.  It is
“thankful” thinking.  I am grateful to Him. 

I can honestly say I believe in God more than I believe in man because I have seen what man can do without God, and what God can do regardless of man.

I am a very logical person, but I am also a person of faith.  I can put the two together like faith and reason, truth and forgiveness, love and enemy, science and God, the mystery of our faith and the mystery of Faith. 

I can love when there is no reasonable reason to and have Faith when there is no logical reason to.

Lord, give us Faith to see what no eye could see, ear could hear and love could not reject.

Luke 9:57-62 The Would Be Followers

Luke 9:57-62  The Would Be Followers

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As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go?”  Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”

Amanda Clayton had it all.  Her life had become a rags-to-riches story.  The story of Cinderella had finally come true!  

For years Amanda collected welfare benefits.  But that all changed in September of last year when she won one million dollars in the Michigan state lottery.  But one year later, almost to the date, she was found dead of an apparent drug overdose.  Her former boyfriend told a reporter, “The Amanda I knew was a caring person….She went down the wrong path, she got the money, got the freedom and felt like she could do whatever she wanted.”   Let’s keep her in our prayers.

Poverty kills.  Wealth does too.  But money is not the root of all evil.  Sin is.  Sin separates our heart, our mind, our will, our worth and our dignity from our Creator.  And when that happens, evil happens.  And that evil can lead us to the worst possible separation ever, the worst divorce ever:  hell.

Job was a very special man.  He was found worthy of God’s graces.  Yes!  God’s graces!  Even though his possessions were put through fire, his servants put to the sword, and his children swept away, he never found it in his heart to curse God!    Job was a man of deep faith and not of deep understanding.  Even when his mental faculties were tested and his body afflicted, he refused to try to explain why God would do this to him.  Through it all, Job never lowered his dignity; never forgot his Creator.

I say that Job was a man found worthy of God’s blessings because he was.  When this beautiful story of faith and fidelity was circulating among the Jews, he was the closest imitation to the real, yet unknown, person of Jesus Christ. 

Job is the prototype, the forerunner, of Jesus Christ.  But where Job lost everything, Christ gave everything.  Why?  Because it was worth it. 

Scripture scholars continue to debate whether or not this story is true.  I don't know why!  Give me a break.  Don’t they know people who have gone through “hell”, who have lost everything they had and everyone they loved?  Who cares if Job is a fictitious or anonymous name.  The facts speak for themselves.  The name “Job” may have been created, but we don’t need to be very creative to come up with this narrative.  We have seen it for ourselves!  Maybe we have lived it ourselves!  I know plenty of people who have gone through very dark times.  What makes all the difference in the world is how they respond to it; how it can get much better or far worse! 

Lord, I will follow you wherever you go!  How immature!  What nonsense.  Someone came up to the Lord and said, “I will follow you wherever you go?”  Sure, the first day, the days of excitement, are the best and easiest days.  But when days become years…  This poor guy didn’t know what he was talking about.  Job lost all that he had because the Lord stripped it from him.  This would-be-disciple thought he could bring it all.  Little did he know the Lord would ask him to strip down (physically and pride-fully) to nothing!  Poverty, chastity and obedience have a way of doing that to people.  My oh my!!!  But don’t feel too sorry for priests.  All commitments, even marriage vows, have a way of doing that to people! 

Love is all about giving and receiving…and in that order, and not always receiving on time.

It is immature to think the Lord will do what we tell him to do if we pray to him.  It is highly irrational to think that God’s protection means I will not experience dark days.  It is pure fantasy to think with God on my side, I will be rich and healthy.  Sorry folks, I just don’t see that anywhere in Scripture.

God is not very much interested in helping us settle down on earth.  He is very much interested in uprooting us and making His home our dwelling place.  This isn’t a “pie-in-the-sky” faith.  This is mission impossible - Delta force and Navy SEALS - work on earth!  Why would anyone risk their lives like these people do?  Because they consider it worth it.  They have been called to serve. 

We've been called too.

Job reacted in a way that none of the “would-be-followers” of Christ did.  When he experienced the loss of family and friends, Job did not look back:  The Lord gives and the Lord takes, blessed be the Lord now and forever!  What a declaration of faith!

Our faith and prayer life are very important for our survival and holiness.  We may lose our treasure on earth, but we can never lose the treasure of our faith.  The glitter and confetti of life’s pleasures will eventually fall…fall flat on the ground, but our hearts and minds must remain firmly planted on that which never changes.  When autumn approaches, let us prepare for winter.  When our enthusiasm for God evaporates faster than our possessions, do not grind your teeth and cast the Lord aside. Instead, hold firm to the faith of our Fathers.

Lk 6:12-19 People and Things

Lk 6:12-19  People and Things

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Jesus departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God.  When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles.

Right now I can’t think of a single list I ever made when I was in school.  I know I made honor roll a few times.  I made the soccer team too, but that’s only because there were so few kids that signed up for it.

It seems as though success is measured by having your name added on some kind of list.  And we’ve got plenty of lists.  Top ten artists, Fortune 500, etc… There are lists for all sorts of people.  There’s even a death row list available on the Internet.

Yesterday, I read in the newspaper that for the first time in almost fifteen years - and the third time ever- a Christian artist, TobyMac, made it to the top of the mainstream music list.  Wow!  What took so long?  Maybe the question should really be, “Why aren’t inspirational songs the “mainstream”, the norm?  Why isn’t the Good News more appealing than all the depressing bad news? 

TobyMac’s success really rests in his unrelenting determination to be the best Christian witness he can be.  He attributes his success more to his prayer life and faith in God, rather than in the sudden acceptance of the Good News or good taste.

The reason why Christian music is not as popular as it should be lies more in the lyrics than in the music, and in our general and childish attitude towards people and things. 

Little girls used to tell their father’s that they wanted to marry them.  Little boys used to tell their mom’s that they wanted to marry them.  Now, we have little boys and little girls telling their parents that they want to marry their dog.  Thus the beginning of the fall of the next taboo!  [Just kidding…I hope!].      

We honestly think we should have people like we have things:  as our possession and at our disposal. 

There’s a song that I really enjoyed listening to called Pay Phone.  I liked it for the same reason so many young people like it:  for the rhythm.  But then I read the lyrics.  They’re as explicit as they’re desperate, the typical symptoms of childish hysteria.  You see, when we think we can have people like we have things and can’t have people like we have our things, we become explicit towards them as well as desperate; Oh how we become desperate for their attention!  We write countless e-mails, send countless texts, leave gifts and notes all the time; we look for them, we wait for them, etc…

The group (Maroon) must have recorded two separate versions of it:  one for the radio and one for the iPod.  But both versions transmit a sense of despair in the lack luster response of people.

Now, what is even more interesting than theory is actual human behavior.  I’m sure that in their oversold concerts they do not resort to the toned down version of their song, but rather use the explicit one.  I am also sure that when the song approaches the explicit part, the young crowd bursts in, louder than at any other moment of the song. 

Why?  Because we are the most spoiled children E-V-E-R!  We live in a nation where we have so much and yet, we have the audacity to think that life rots!  Only a child who thought they could have it all, without working hard at all, would believe "that fairytales are full of sh*t".  Only a child who thought they could buy it all, consume it all, inhale it all, would get "f’ing sick by another love song!"  [N.B.  These are not my words].    

These pitiful and superficial sentiments of anger and disgust with people and the world are simply the resurgence of a childish act of a spontaneous outburst from a spoiled rotten childhood whose delusional dream of having it all, including a world that revolved around them, led to a feeling of nausea. Just like what happens when a merry-go-round goes a bit too fast.

Most love songs and fairy-tales are as honest as life.  That Cinderella has a deadline is no different than many of us who live by deadlines! Fairy-tales remind us that there are limits in life and with people; but if we do things well, from the very beginning, we might just finish well at the very end.  But we have to do things right, which is almost never my way of doing things.

Judas was living a fairy-tale-come-true.  Judas was immersed in love.  But if love doesn’t change you and a fairy tale doesn’t inspire you, then boy are you going to be in trouble!  And when we find ourselves in trouble, in a broken relationship, we can become very explicit and desperate.

Fairy tales and loves songs are not full of it.  We are.

Mt 6:24-29 No One Can Serve Two Masters

Mt 6:24-29  The Sun and The Son

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Jesus said to his disciples:  “No one can serve two masters.  He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon.”

A few days ago I went walking in the Galleria here in Dallas.  I’m not about to go outside to do some exercise and I’m not about to register at L.A. Fitness or 24 Hour Fitness.  I’m too cheap for that.  The Galleria is just fine for me. 

While I was walking on the first floor, I noticed a shirt that looked just like the one someone had bought for me.  It was on display.  I must admit, out of curiosity I walked inside the store to see how much it was and I was shocked.  Wow!  I thought to myself, I should have written this family a beautiful thank you letter and hand delivered it to them.  I can honestly say the shirt is beautiful, but the price is not right!

Do not worry about your body, what you will wear.  I often tell the kids, “Boy, that shirt really looks horrible!”  Or, “I’m so glad you wear that ugly uniform!”   They don’t like it.  But I say it to teach a lesson that must be learned:  what matters most is not what you have but who you are.  Someone could be wearing the most elegant outfit, the most beautiful dress, and they could still be the ugliest person in the room.  The Grim fairy tale “Cinderella” has been warped and twisted beyond recognition.  Modern versions of this fairy tale have illustrations of two physically ugly stepsisters wearing beautiful clothing and Cinderella as physically beautiful but wearing ugly rags.  In this boring scenario, it’s just a matter of time and patience before someone notices Cinderella. 

But if it was up to me, I would have Cinderella’s stepsisters with the most perfect figures imaginable and Cinderella as a beautifully simple, yet elegant, holy, virtuous and sophisticated young lady.  This is a story that is worth telling because this is a story that is worth believing!  In fact, this is the story that truly comes true, for these are the young ladies that find a man, a prince, while the others find an animal, a barbarian.

When I worked at Kodak, I would often go out on Saturday to play golf with a young lady that worked in the office with me.  Back at work, I would often get razzed by my guy friends who would ask me, “What do you see in her?  She’s as ugly as they get!”  I told them, “She’s just a friend.  That’s all.”  But as time went by, I began to enjoy her company.  She was hilarious!  And she was beginning to grow on me.  In fact, one day, I defended her before my friends and said, “Look at her.  Do you see how she has changed?”  They looked long and hard at her .  They looked long and hard at each other .  They looked long and hard at me .  And they shook their heads and said, “No!” 

They were right.  She had not changed.  I had changed.

And that’s the point of the story.  The prince, who could have anybody he wanted, was sick and tired of the loose, flimsy, jealous, superficial and plastic young ladies surrounding his court.  He had changed and he knew he had to look elsewhere.  He did, and he found her. 

It’s time we stop looking for Cinderella or Prince Charming in the bars, at the singles-mingles hangouts, the beaches and resorts, the workout centers, the spas, the salons, the ads.  It’s time we stop worrying so much about what we wear, how we look, what we feel like.  It’s time we stop serving the lord of the body, the lord of plastic, the lord of impressions. 

In my years as a priest, I have noticed a direct correlation between knowing God and loving oneself.  Yes, the more a child knows God, the more they will love themselves.  The less a child knows God, the less they will love themselves.  Of course there are other factors, but like always, God comes first.  He is the big One!


It's time we search, first and foremost, for God.  And then the beauty that is within will radiate like the sun and Son.  This is the best way we can learn to love who we are and not be wrong.