Open Wide the Doors for Christ!

Sorry for the lack of blogging over the past week or two, I have found it harder than I expected to find stuff to write about now that I am home.  

On Friday, I attended the home school group monthly get-together.  We've been members of it ever since I can remember (I was home schooled from first to twelfth grade), and I can remember many fun times growing up and going to it.  Anyway, we played some Frisbee, I watched all the kids give their presentation (the activity for this month) - some were pretty cool: valence electrons, organic polymers, piano recitals, and other, various, cool presentations.  We stuck around as the mom talked throughout the afternoon, played some soccer in the parking lot (not quite as fun as "real" soccer), and got home around 6.

On Saturday, we participated in the Bridge the Gap.  It is a running race that we have done before, which is pretty cool because it goes across one of the Quincy bridges and back on the other.  It's a fun little 5K, but I always underestimate ho hard it will be.  The first mile is easy: you start going up this steep hill, but it's only about 2 blocks and the rest of the mile is mostly downhill as you cross over the first bridge.  Thus, I finished the first mile in a blistering 6:30 or so.  The second mile, though, entails crossing back over the second bridge.  And, it is all uphill.  Literally, the entire mile is a pretty good uphill climb.  Anyway, I finally finished the second mile (at which point I was right at a 7:00 min/mile pace) and went down the hill after the 2nd bridge and onto the (relatively) flat last mile.  Unfortunately, I was "recovering" from the 2nd mile and didn't ever bump up the pace like I wanted to.  Either way, I made sure to stay up with this other guy who appeared to be near my age and managed to spring the last tenth of a mile or so and pass him.  I got 2nd in my age group and 8th place overall (surprised myself with that one!).  I finished in 21:52 (something like that), which is a 7:04 min/mile, and which also is about as fast as I've ever run a 5k.  I think I may have gone a bit faster in some of the training runs for the half-marathon, but those were probably a good bit more flat.  Ah well, I think I could have gone a bit faster, but in hind site I always think I could have done better, so there you go...  

On Sunday, we did Mass at St. Rose, where I was recruited to serve - no biggie...  That afternoon we started packing for vacation.  As a family, we try to go on a vacation (almost) every year.  This year, which is "bigger" than normal, we are going to Yosemite.  So, we decided to start the fun a week early and begin to pack what we would be bringing.  Of course, seeing it as a challenge, my goal is to pack everything in a bag that can be carried on the airplane (they have a specific size that you can't go over).  Anyway, this gets a bit more difficult when you try to fit a back-pack, hiking shoes, a laptop, and the clothes in the carry on bag...  Have no fear, I'll get it in there, but I sure hope I don't have to open it until we get there.  I can zip it up right now, but still need to fit in another pair of shoes, the computer, and a shirt.  

On Monday, I started my summer job over at Titan Wheel.  It isn't that there is less going on...  The job begins at 7:30 AM, so I go to Mass at 6:30 AM every morning.  So far the job has been pretty good - just getting back into the swing of things from last summer - we'll see how it develops.  I get done at 4:00PM and then we usually have something going on that takes up the rest of the evening.  If we don't have something going on, I typically manage to waste the evening hours before hitting the sack around 10 PM so that I can get several hours of shut-eye before the alarm goes off.  

So there you have it, the last few days have been non-stop stuff to do.  (did I mention I had to sign up for Spanish on Thursday, or the packet pick-up for the race on Friday, or the after-Mass group we went out for lunch with on Sunday, or the mowing I helped out with on Monday...)  Don't think that I am complaining - but I am busy...

OK, all that writing leads me to what I actually wanted to get to.  Today, mid-day prayer, which I prayed during my lunch break, had this as its concluding prayer:

God of mercy,this midday moment of restis your welcome gift.
Bless the work we have begun,
make good its defects
and let us finish it in a way that pleases you.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.
– Amen.

I thought that the entire prayer was such a beautiful thing to say in the middle of a busy, tiring, sometimes annoying and frustrating day.  Yesterday, I was going around to the lock-boxes around the plant and checking to see if all the locks were present and working.  Anyway, this one box was inside an office of sorts and while I was checking out the locks, a few guys came in off the paint line, where they had been working, and the one guy said to me "you have a pretty tough job there don't you" - briefly the thought of how greasy the locks were, or how many different boxes there were to audit, or how long it would take me to type up the results popped into my head - and they I looked over at him sitting there peeling off the plastic suit that he had been wrapped in (it was probably 80 out) while spraying paint, and it hit me that just maybe his job was more tough than mine.  You know, how I got to take the golf cart around to the different boxes, or how I could sit in an air-conditioned office for most of the day, rather than just my lunch break...  You know, how my job was plush compared to his, and I had no reason at all to complain about it...

I thought this prayer was such a beautiful way to remind ourselves of the gift that every day truly is.  How each and every moment, those of rest, those of work, those of fun, those of sorrow, can be seen as an opportunity to grow closer to God.  To thank Him for the good, to ask His help through the laborious, to see His love in the joyful, and find the path to Him through the sorrowful.  "and let us finish it in a way that please you." - It is incredible when you actually pay attention to the prayers that we say each day.  Seriously, I say the prayers of the Mass every day, I (try to) say the prayers of the rosary every day, I say the Divine Office every day, and yet these beautiful reminders of God's love, mercy, aid, generosity, and everything else are so easy to miss.  You know, it's going to be easy to see that when on vacation - when everything is fun, and there aren't any worries - but what happens when I get back?  When Monday comes around and I have to go back to work.  That is when it is more important than ever to see God's presence, and love around us, and use our everyday lives to grow closer to Him.  I think it was in the Gospel today when Jesus says that whoever isn't against me is for me.  I think that that can also be said of everyday live - it doesn't have to lead us to Christ, but it sure can if we let it...  Just a thought.  My hope is that by trying to find Christ everywhere, I can find more to blog about as the summer goes by - we'll see what happens when Spanish gets started in a few weeks...

"Grant this through Christ Our Lord - Amen"

Last Sunday, for the first time, I went with a few other guys and prayed outside the planned parenthood in Indianapolis.  It was an experience that I have wanted to do for a while (just about every other week or so a group of guys head over there), but I hadn't managed to do it until a last week.  Anyway, I was expecting it to be a disheartening afternoon, but it actually turned out to be a very positive experience.  We got there about 1 in the afternoon, it was about 30 degrees and sunny.  There were two ladies already there when we showed up; they showed us how to sign into the log-sheet and where we could get materials (prayer cards, rosaries, etc.).  I guess I didn't think that the pro-lifers would be this organized; very cool!  Actually, they have people signed up to be there 8-5 Monday through Saturday and 12-5 on Sundays; again, very cool! 

 

Anyway, after we got signed in, we took up a position a bit down the road and started by praying the rosary.  Since it was a Sunday in Lent I believe that we prayed the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary.  I found it really moving to be meditating on the suffering that Jesus went through for all of us.  I have always thought of abortion as this heinous sin and this evil that we need to end.  Definitely, abortion is a terrible crime against both God's law (thou shalt not kill) and human rights/laws (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness), and I don't want to lessen that aspect of it.  Nevertheless, rather than dwelling on the negative, hellish, aspects of this industry, I instead found myself meditating on the mercy and love of God.  Just about everything we prayed reminded me of God's love for the world, His willingness to be the sacrifice that expiated our sins, His infinite mercy that He gives to all of us. 

 

During the rosary, as we meditated on the agony in the garden, the scourging at the pillar, the crowning with thorns, the carrying of the cross, and the crucifixion, I saw Jesus enduring this torture and death so that our sins, all of them, could be forgiven.  As we prayed the divine mercy chaplet, I again was struck by the presence of God's love and forgiveness everywhere, even where innocent children are aborted every day. 

 

Then we prayed mid-day prayer, and once again God's love really struck me in every line.  We sang "Lord of all Hopefulness" for the hymn, I started it too high, but we squeaked through the high notes.  Here we are in front of an abortion mill, singing "Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy, whose trust, ever childlike, no cares could destroy..."  It's one of those things, where typically I wouldn't have been thinking about God as Lord of all hopefulness, but there it was right in front of my face.  Of course, this pattern continued; the antiphon of the day was "As I life, says the Lord, I do not wish the sinner to die but to turn back to me and live".  Again, the psalm of the day (psalm 118) hit me right between the eyes (here's some good excerpts): "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his love endures for ever...The Lord is at my side; I do not fear.  What can man do against me?...The Lord's right hand has triumphed; his right hand raised me..." 

 

We probably prayed for an hour or so before heading back to Brute.  It was a really interesting, enlightening, wonderful afternoon.  I was floored by how, in prayer, I was constantly reminded of God's love for all of us.  I don't mean to underestimate, or lessen the evil of, abortion, but I think it is important to remain positive, joyful, hopeful, and optimistic while confronting it.  The grace given through Jesus Christ's death and Resurrection is infinite; it can overcome, forgive, and destroy any amount of sin.  Of course our role is to live and pass on that grace, that love, that good news of the resurrection, to our world which seems to be forgetting or ignoring it.  The point is that if we want to pass it on effectively, if we want to spread the gospel of life, we must be full of the same joy and hope that the Apostles had.  Think about it, they were confronting a culture that was more pagan than ours, they were outnumbered on a massive, unthinkable, scale, and they actually went out and preached the gospel.  We seem to have lost their childlike trust in God; He will provide, He will win, He will strengthen, protect, and guide us.  I will conclude with a line from the closing prayer from that day: "when we are discouraged by our weakness, give us confidence in your love."  In other words: Be not afraid!

"I will be with you always"

 

Well, it's been a pretty slow day here at Brute.  We had Mass (as usual) at 9:30, which I served for, a cleaning session afterwords, and then lunch, which was prepared by one of the guy's family (thank! - it was Delicious!).  If you haven't picked up, we always look forward to times when families come in and make us a meal - it's always 10x better than what we normally eat, and there's the added bonus of leftovers (I have never looked forward to leftovers until I came here...).  After lunch until like 5 I didn't do much at which point I went out with a group of guys to longhorn steakhouse.  I could probably count on 1 finger how many times I've had a steak at a restaurant, so it was pretty tasty.  Anyway, during that "empty" period between 1 and 5 I prayed midday prayer, and that is what this short post will dive into:

 

During lent, almost everyday it seems that the antiphon for midday prayer is: "As I live, says the Lord, I do not wish the sinner to die but to turn back to me and live."  Since it keeps re-appearing I thought that it just might be important... (it is).  John 3:16 - "For God so loved the wold, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."  Folks, God loved you and me so much that he was willing to die for us.  God created us in love, to love, and for love, yet when we sin and don't direct that love back to God, when we are selfish with something that God gave us freely, he still love us.  God loves us when we don't love Him.  When Jesus is hanging on the cross in unthinkable anguish because we nailed Him there, what does he say? Luke 23:34 - "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."  When we sin, when we're angry, hateful, lazy, selfish, proud, etc. we are choosing to love ourselves more than God and more than others.  God created us "in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (Genesis 1:27)  What does it mean to be made in the image and likeness of God?  1 John 4:7-10 "love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.  In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.  In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."  

 

I know I'm throwing a lot of scripture around here, but here's the point:  God is love, God created us in love, God created us to love, and when we screwed up and didn't love God back, He loved us more - He died out of love for us.  Guess what, we still screw up, we still don't always love, and guess what, God still loves us.  Now, that doesn't mean we just stop trying to not sin, after all, the point is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and you neighbor as yourself." (Luke 10:27)  OK, so back to the quote that started off this whole thing: God want us to love Him, he wants us to turn to Him, he wants us to live with Him.  Yeah, we're sinners, that comes with being human, but that doesn't mean we can't turn to God and live.  As Americans we want to be independent, rugged, etc. but we must not become independent of God.  His love is where we came from and that's where we need to get back to.  Don't trust yourself to the point of not trusting God...  Love doesn't take some amount of freedom away from us.  The more we love God the more we are living how we are supposed to - in His image and likeness, and the more we do that the happier we'll be.  Want joy? Want peace? Want to be awesome (ie: live how you were created to)?  Start loving God like He loved you.