05/10/13

Real Men Pray The Rosary

Last week, amid the noise and gnashing of teeth that is my Facebook page I noticed the news of a truly interesting new apostolate dedicated to promoting the rosary with strong conviction, making a bold claim that ‘Real Men Pray The Rosary‘. What’s more, they are currently running a 33 Day Rosary Challenge to meditate on the human ministry of Christ… one rosary for each of the 33 years that Christ dwelt among us in the flesh.

The mission of this program immediately resonated with me. I have been working on ways to add more prayer to my daily life, ways to focus on the mysteries of Christ, and ways to visibly illustrate my internally held convictions. The problem: it was May 5. They were already five days into their challenge and I had only just found out about it.

I thought about waiting until June 1st and starting, but I might lose focus and forget… so I did what any real man would do. I packed up my daughter and off we went to the park. She’s a two-year-old so she loves to swing and run around the playground, so she swung and went on the slide, and I prayed four rosaries in the middle of the busy park. I ignored the sideways glances from the group of six or seven teenagers that had congregated to yell obscenities and talk about their latest romantic conquests (I’m being charitable in that assessment, by the way) and carried right on with it. Eventually the teens dispersed, probably because of the weird guy praying in public. I’m ok with that.

I picked up the fifth rosary that I needed to catch up later on that night, and have settled into a nice routine of praying the rosary before bed. Twice this week, I had the good fortune of praying the rosary before my Knights of Columbus meetings. It’s a very powerful thing, sitting amongst a group of men all praying the rosary. On Monday I found out that one of my friends, a fellow Sir Knight of Columbus, had entered hospice care so my rosaries this week were dedicated to his strength, the strength of his family, and for God’s Will to be done for him.

This week I have found myself meditating on the mysteries of the rosary a little bit more during the day. I don’t know if this is simply because I’m becoming more familiar with them or because I am thinking about difficult things like the illness of my friend, but I feel that this 33 Day Challenge is already having a positive effect.

I will join my voice with those that run the apostolate… get those rosary beads out of the drawer and pray them this month! Don’t worry about catching up, if it had been any later in the month I probably would have just started on an arbitrary day and counted out my own 33 day interval. I mentioned before that I have a problem remembering the Mysteries, but that doesn’t have to trouble me any longer. I grabbed the Laudate app (available on iTunes and Android) and discovered that it has an interactive rosary that you can pray anytime and it lists the Mystery of the day on there. If you don’t have a smartphone, I am sure that your local Church or Knights of Columbus Council has little cards that list the prayers and the Mysteries. If you’re lucky, they might even have a spare rosary for you too.

Real Men Pray The Rosary and you can too!

05/2/13

Saint Athanasius: A man for today’s Church

Today is the feast day of Saint Athanasius, the 20th bishop of Alexandria who lived from c. 296 – 373. He is best known for his strong convictions and his lead role in the First Council of Nicaea against the Arian heresy in 325.

At the root of the Arian heresy was the holding that Jesus Christ is of a different substance (separate) from God the Father. Athanasius proved himself to be a pillar of strong theology and orthodoxy, holding fast to the truth of the divinity of Christ. Athanasius engaged in this struggle against the Arians for most of his life and this earned him five official exiles from four different Roman emporers, not including six more instances where he was forced from Alexandria for his own personal safety.

I first became acquainted with the virtues of Saint Athanasius through his famous quotation:

If the world goes against Truth, then Athanasius goes against the world.

I believe that his wisdom applies directly to the situation we find ourselves in today as a Church. Today (at least in the United States), we have a legion of under-catechized, lukewarm Catholics that do not know the tenants of their Faith. They allow themselves to be molded not by the Truth, but by a secular culture that wants everyone to “get along to get along” and in doing so distorts the actual teachings of Jesus. This leads people toward the dangerous precipice of a life lived apart from Christ.

The quotation above should be the clarion call of all faithful Catholics. We are called to be witnesses of the absolute Truth of Christ even if that causes us persecution, exile, pain, or death. Saint Athanasius embodied these virtues throughout his life, and I can identify with the necessity of such conviction. It is easy for us to be steamrolled by popular opinion, political tides, or well-intentioned but ignorant friends and family. Our goal, following in the footsteps of this great saint, is to be educated in the Faith, to recognize the Truth, and to accurately and ardently present that Truth to those that would erode or ignore it.

Saint Athanasius, pray for us!

05/1/13

Eucharistic Adoration

I was blessed to attend the 111th Colorado State Knights of Columbus Convention last week. It was an action-packed four days of prayer, fraternity, and experiencing new ways to exercise the virtues of charity with my Brother Knights. I decided to participate in the three Honor Guards for the weekend, which means that I spent a large portion of those several days dressed in my Fourth Degree regalia (tuxedo, chapeau, baldric, cape and sword).

At the end of the second day of events, I had just participated in the Fourth Degree Grand March and banquet. From the practice session to the end of the banquet was about four hours, so I was really looking forward to getting back to my hotel room for a little relaxation. After getting out of my formalwear, I took a look at the schedule for the next day and noticed that there was one more event listed for today: Eucharistic Adoration from 9 pm to 10 pm.

I glanced at my hotel alarm clock, it was 9:20 pm.

Then came the internal struggle. I was tired. I had just taken off my shoes for the first time in the day and gotten into my sweatpants. I had books that I wanted to read while I was at the convention. I had to be up at 6 am the next morning, but so did many of the other convention attendees. I’m almost the youngest Knight here, so I can’t exactly use the “I’m too tired” excuse. Wait… a lot of the other Knights are a little more advanced in their years and like to turn in early… would any of them stay up to be with the Lord? If there is any chance that He would be alone, I should go.

By 9:30 pm, I found myself in the conference room just off the hotel lobby. Thankfully I was not alone, there was an old couple sitting on the righthand side of the aisle and our State Chaplain deep in prayer kneeling on the bare floor to my left with his eyes closed and a rosary draped in his outstretched hand. I took my place in the empty row in front of the priest, kneeling down and extracting my rosary from the pouch I carry it in each day. The Lord was there too, in repose in a golden monstrance that was found in a pawn shop and reconditioned by the Knights of Columbus.

At this point I was gripped by how silent the room was. I heard the old man to my right turn the page in his prayerbook. The brush of the priests prayer beads as they glanced across the chair back. I could even hear some raucous party going on a few rooms down, but it was very peaceful here. As I looked at Our Lord, present in the Blessed Sacrament I was reminded of the peasant’s answer when Saint John Vianney asked him what he was doing during his time adoring the Lord. The man said “Nothing, I look at Him, and He looks at me.”

After reflecting on that thought for a moment, I decided to at least start a rosary in hopes of finishing it before 10 pm. Unfortunately, my memory is terrible and I had forgotten the little card that I carry to help me remember the Mysteries of the Rosary for each day. I spent a few minutes trying to fitfully remember them, then I decided that I would just pray a personal rosary by contemplating the life of Christ with my own prayer intentions for each decade: first for my wife, second for my daughter Eve, third for the repose of my lost unborn baby Jude, fourth for an increase in Faith for my fallen away friends and family, and last for continued strength in my vocation of service.

I opened my eyes, and after they readjusted to the candlelight I realized that the priest and I were the only ones left in the room. I put my rosary and checked the time, it was 9:59 pm. I bowed before the Lord and quietly exited the room so the priest could retrieve the Blessed Sacrament from the monstrance in peace.

As I got back to my room and got ready for bed the peaceful quiet of that room went with me. I was glad that I had overcome my own weakness and laziness to spend a few minutes with the Lord. I wish I could end every day like this.

04/21/13

Keeping Easter Alive

As we discussed last week, here are some ideas for keeping the celebration of Easter near and dear to your heart.

Continue your Lenten observances.

This year, I aimed to do more spiritual reading during Lent. I was able to succeed in this, however one of my more ambitious goals was to get through Saint Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologica. Let’s just say that I bit off more than I could chew with that tremendous work. I have decided to continue my efforts, and I think it is more reasonable to aim to complete this book by the time next Lent rolls around!

What’s this do for you: well, for me it keeps me focused on deepening my faith. In addition, I will continue reading other Catholic works such as Pope Benedict’s Jesus of Nazareth series. It’s a great way to understand Christ’s life, what better way to celebrate the season of Easter!

No Meat on Fridays?

One of my favorite apologists, Matt Fradd, has decided to continue abstaining from meat on Fridays beyond Lent. This started a discussion in our household, because I was already thinking about doing this same thing (since it is still present in Canon Law after all). Interestingly, my wife was also considering a continuance of this beyond Lent so we decided that after Pentecost we are going to keep going with no meat Fridays in our house.

What’s this do for you: it keeps an appropriately penitential spirit throughout the year. I found that during Lent, I would often remember that it was “no-meat Friday” and think about Christ’s Passion and what he gave up for us. Why are we waiting until after Pentecost to start this? Because we figure Easter is a time of celebration and it seems like as good a time as any.

Spiritual Development for your Family

With Easter being a season of celebration, it is no better time to do some course-setting for the upcoming year. Several different sources have suggested some manner of a spiritual development plan for your family: prayers to do, observances to keep (like no-meat Fridays!), Catholic movies or books to consume… even as far as to create a Family Mission Statement that encompasses what your family wants to be about spiritually.

Do you want to help the poor? Then your family mission statement should say so and you should take actions during the year to help the poor. Do you want to deepen your faith? Then you might focus on watching spiritual movies and reading more books this year. This is particularly valuable if you have children that are old enough to participate as well so you can help them develop their understanding of the faith better.

What’s this do for you: this helps you act as the spiritual head of the family. This will help you get “on the same page” as your spouse, lead your children with a proper formation, and provide a great example for other families.

Spiritual Development for your Community

You can apply this same concept to your parish or Church community as well. A great example of this is participating in social programs that are designed to bring people together to discuss their faith and evangelize together. I am positive that your parish probably has more events than you know of going on, so check with your parish priest or activities director to find out what you can do to get involved.

If you happen to be in a rare parish that doesn’t have anything going on, you can increase your spiritual development by simply attending Mass more, or attending your normal Mass and taking one step out of your way to speak to parishoners around you after Mass. You might make a friend and get to know someone better! Some Churches even run evangelization programs, where you can learn how to effectively share your faith with others.

What’s this do for you: These activities help you get out beyond your own perspective and share the Faith with others. You’d be surprised how much you can learn if you just talk to some other members of the parish. They might know people in need, or be involved in an interesting program, or simply want to discuss today’s Gospel with you. It’s all good for you and good for the Church community.

I hope that some of these ideas help you to celebrate Easter and carry on deepening your Faith all throughout the year!

04/13/13

You’ve Lost That Easter Feeling…

It’s nearly impossible not to sing a verse from The Righteous Brothers with that title, isn’t it?

We’re coming up on the third Sunday of Easter and many people don’t seem to realize that it’s still Easter. That’s right, the Easter season (sometimes referred to as Eastertide) starts on Easter Sunday and lasts until Pentecost Sunday. Generally speaking, everyone acknowledges the importance of Easter Sunday but it seems attention and Mass attendance wanes the further away from Lent we get.

Collectively, we all seem to do a pretty good job during the Lenten season… we give something up, stick to it (most of us), and recognize that we’re doing it in memory of Christ’s sacrifice for us. There’s extra observances to pay attention to like fasting on Fridays, extra activities like the Stations of the Cross, and it’s generally just easier to stay focused.

But then, Easter Sunday rolls around and we all celebrate as well we should. Using our household as an example, we quickly return to the habit that we gave up for Lent despite the fact that we intended to keep it up for longer than just Lent. That “boom, it’s over!” mentality is part of what I think takes away from the impression that Easter Sunday should make.

My wife, Tasha, and I were talking about this phenomenon. She commented that it helps her to keep focused on the joy of Easter by remembering the sorrowful part of the end of Lent. She imagines what it must have been like for Mary and the Apostles to see the Lord beaten, crucified, and buried and the sense of desperation and loss that must have gripped them. She noted how much easier it is for us because we had the rest of the story, we know the happy ending and we can take it for granted.

I appreciate the Easter season because of all of the post-Resurrection appearances of Christ that we get to hear about. I love to reflect on the confusion and joy that is experienced by the Apostles. I love the accounts of Christ appearing on the road to Emmaus and the Sea of Tiberias in such a way where those that knew him on Earth initially don’t recognize him. It makes me stop and think if I would recognize Christ if he were to present himself like this to me. I put myself in the shoes of the Apostles and think about what it must have been like to behold Christ this way.

What was next for these men? It was a life of travels, trials, persecution, and death. All but John were killed for preaching in the name of Christ. This is a testament to their experiences… this wasn’t just some hallucination to them. They didn’t make it up. They believed fervently enough to suffer and die for the Lord because they saw him both suffer and die in an earthly body and then return to them in a glorified body. The Easter season presents an opportunity to learn alongside these men what truly experiencing God is all about.

Over the last few weeks, I have come across many resources that suggest using the Easter season to regroup and reform your spiritual life so that you can live out the year in a more faithful way. In my next article, we’ll look at a few of these ideas in detail. Stay tuned!

03/31/13

Easter Sunday: He is Risen!

Resurrection_(24)

Happy Easter to all! Today, the secular world marks a somewhat confusing holiday that celebrates rebirth and the fertility of Spring characterized by rabbits, flowers, and little marshmallow chicks. If you’re Catholic, however, you mark this day as the triumphant victory of our Lord Jesus Christ over death as he rose from the grave. Many better theologians than I can (and have) filled volumes explaining the significance of this day, but our parish priest summed it up very succinctly today: Christ proved with his Resurrection that he is no longer bound by the physical, material limitations of our world. He exercises His Divinity in this way so that we may know that he is with us always, and he can present himself to us in surprising ways throughout our life. The priest gave examples of the poor man you meet on the street, the troublesome coworker, or your family and friends… all of these can be ways to experience Christ in your life. He’s there with them just like he’s there with us.

I experience a very simple truth in Christ’s Resurrection: He died and rose so that we can learn how to die to self, turn away from sin, and He gave us a foretaste of the glory we can expect from living this life in accordance to the Will of God. The priest’s words struck a chord with me, that it is possible to experience Christ in the mundane comings and goings of life. It reminded me of a quote from Mother Teresa about her work with the extremely poor:

We try to pray through our work by doing it with Jesus, for Jesus, to Jesus. That helps us to put our whole heart and soul into doing it. The dying, the cripple, the mental, the unwanted, the unloved they are Jesus in disguise.

This led me to dwell briefly on the photos that have graced secular media of Pope Francis kissing babies and taking extra time to bless a handicapped man in the crowd. He’s treating these people as if they are Jesus in disguise. I believe that being Christian means that we – in our sinful, fallen state – can work each day to be more and more like Christ and also recognize Christ in others.

How do we do that, exactly? Simple: follow the example that Christ gave us. He lowered himself to be human like us, humbly accepted the Cross and forgave the people that ultimately would crucify Him, and He was obedient to God’s Will even to the point of death. We can lower ourselves by understanding that we live in an imperfect world with imperfect people. We can be obedient by loving our neighbor and recognizing that they too are carrying their own Crosses. We can be like Christ when we forgive those that wrong us, truly understanding that the people we meet are Christ presented in a shockingly human disguise.

So the secular world can have it’s strange amalgamation of rabbit metaphors and marshmallow chicks, I would much rather spend my time reflecting on one of the greatest mysteries ever to reveal itself to humankind.

03/25/13

Finding Palm Sunday in strange places

formation

For those of you that don’t know, I am a proud 4th degree member of the Knights of Columbus. The Knights are a charitable, fraternal organization built around the core principles of charity, unity, fraternity, and patriotism. In addition, they require the men in the organization to be “practical Catholic gentlemen” meaning that we live in accordance to the Church teachings and follow the lead of the Magisterium.

This year, I had the opportunity to participate in Denver’s nationally televised Saint Patrick’s Day parade. The photo included on this post is us arranging our formation in the staging area. We had about nine Knights in regalia (the chapeau, cape, sword, and baldric) leading two floats from Knights of Columbus councils in our area and cars containing dignitaries from our State Council and State Ladies Auxiliary. Suffice it to say we had a very impressive showing.

I was one of the Knights in regalia, so I got to march it on foot. The crowd was incredibly large, estimated at 350,000. As we started on the parade route, it was somewhat surreal to see the number of people hanging out of windows and practically bursting onto the street yelling their support for the Knights. At one point, an ebullient person in the crowd shouted “I love you, Knights of Columbus!”

The road narrowed a little, which brought the crowd very close to our formation. I don’t know if it was the sea of green shirts and waving arms, or the fact that the crowd was very close to us, but I was reminded of the flashback scene in Passion of the Christ where Christ and the Apostles were welcomed into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. I spent much of the rest of the parade thinking about what it must have been like for our Lord to go through the cheering crowd knowing what was in store for him later that week. As I thought about the rest of Holy Week, I was thankful that I would likely only have sore muscles and a stiff back at the end of my walk through a crowd and would not have to endure anything like Christ would.

I am always grateful when I am reminded in small ways like this of the life of Jesus. It helps me to reflect on what He went through for us, to feel closer to Him, and to strive to be more like Him in life. This is one of many different ways that being a member of the Knights of Columbus has helped me draw closer to The Lord. If you are a Catholic man that observes Church teachings and wants to further their faith, I strongly suggest that you find your local Knights of Columbus Council and inquire about becoming a member.

03/22/13

Five pieces of advice for new RCIA graduates

Next Saturday, my cousin-in-law Aaron will complete his long road through the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) process and officially join the Catholic Church. For those unfamiliar, the RCIA program is the process by which adults become full members of the Catholic Church.

It came as somewhat of a surprise when I heard that he had entered catechesis and the RCIA program last year. Since I left Illinois for Colorado, I am often insulated from some family news and this one didn’t reach me until late last year, when I heard this news from my cousin Shanna (Aaron’s wife). I quickly found out that Aaron was taking to the RCIA program with great zeal, and growing deeper into his faith by leaps and bounds.

I must say this came as a relief. I got to sponsor my wife (then girlfriend) through the RCIA program at the local Newmann Center at college, and let’s just say the program lacked the same type of intellectual rigor that Aaron is experiencing. He explained to me the variety of classes, reading assignments, lectures, and rock-solid formation that they are doing in the Pekin, IL and I was tremendously excited to hear all the good work being done for the this class of catechumens.

Having seen two different perspectives on the RCIA program, I thought it might be helpful to provide some advice to those entering the Church this year:

1. Live the Sacramental Life.

This should go without saying, if you had a very in-depth RCIA experience… but live your life within the context of the Sacraments. Ask yourself each week if you are in a state of grace enough to receive the Eucharist. If not, go to Confession and experience God’s Divine Mercy. If you’re married respect your marriage vows, honor your wife and raise your children within the Faith like you promised. Make worship of God through Christ and the sacramental signs he gave us central to your life.

2. Stay strong in your Faith!

You’ve been through a hard road to make it all the way through the coursework, study, readings, and prayer required to approach entry into the Catholic Church. The best advice I can give you is not to rest on your laurels after Easter Vigil and keep growing the gift of Faith that you have received. Buy some books, DVDs, or other resources to augment the lessons taught to you in RCIA. Dig deeper into areas of the Faith that you find interesting. Go to a lecture, conference, prayer retreat, or marriage retreat. It is very easy to backslide if you’re not spending time and attention in cultivating your Faith. (By the way, this step must necessarily include Step #1.)

3. Foster good relationships.

I’m sure throughout the RCIA journey, you have met some pretty incredible people. There’s nothing that says you can’t invite one of them over for dinner, or go out for coffee, or continue the friendship after the Easter Vigil is over. If you’re like my cousin and I, you may even have discovered another “secret” Catholic in your existing family or circle of friends. Lean on that person for support, especially if questions crop up after you have been practicing your Faith for awhile. Use each other to keep accountable for continuing down the important journey that you’ve begun this Lenten season.

4. Lead your home to God.

In addition to fostering good relationships within your Church community, it is important that you also lead your household toward God. Saint Augustine of Hippo called on us to become like bishops of our household, by taking up his Episcopal office (of bishop) in your own home. In other words, to lead your family like a bishop would:

Take my place in your families. Everyone who is head of a house must exercise the Episcopal office and see to the faith of his people … Take care with all watchfulness for the salvation of the members of the household entrusted to you. — Saint Augustine

With any luck, your family has gotten to see a transformation in you as you’ve completed your journey through RCIA and now would be an opportune time to help them further their Faith. Have family dinners together. Pray together. Read religious books or watch religious movies and discuss them together. Instead of carrying on through our busy lives, try to make home a peaceful place that affords at least a little opportunity for prayer and reflection. Heed Saint Augustine’s words and lead your family to God.

5. Lead others to God too.

I have found that new converts to Catholicism bring special gifts to the Church. Share the story of your conversion with others. Utilize the good gifts that you received from your past religious affiliations to bring new perspectives into the Church. Some may have come from a more Bible-oriented form of Christianity, if you did you might be able to lead the best Bible study that a cradle Catholic has ever seen. Some might have been from a more charismatic background, these folks are cut out to help lead parish ministries or assist the poor. Others may have come from a completely different worldview, such as atheism or agnosticism. These people bear a truly valuable story for our society: the story of how they came to have faith.If you feel like you don’t have any special skills, the best way to lead others to God is through your actions.

Don’t become a pew-sitter, get out there and help unload boxes into the food bank for the poor, or participate in a ministry to learn more. Get up and talk about your experiences with your priest, or ask him if he has any other ways that you can live your faith. It isn’t enough to simply have Faith, because in living our Faith we truly open up the opportunity to help those in need and lead others to God.

Don’t be afraid to talk to others about your conversion. Perhaps the only conversation anyone will ever have about Catholicism is the one that you initiate. If you had a good RCIA program that contained some apologetics, you might even be able to answer some of their common objections. If you are interested in learning more about apologetics so you can effectively talk to others about the faith (and are prepared with some of the more common objections), check out Catholic Answers.

On a personal note

I have to take this opportunity to say how proud I am of my cousin, Aaron. I am impressed with the zeal that he shows for the Catholic Church, and I know that he is going to provide a sterling example of how to live a strong, vibrant Catholic life. Even though I can’t be there when he comes into the Church, I will definitely be there in spirit and in prayer.I am excited for the next chance I have to sit down and talk with him about his experience in joining the Church, I know it is going to be a compelling story.

03/13/13

Pope Francis!

Today, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio became our new pope, taking the name Pope Francis!

This is another situation where the Holy Spirit throws us a curveball, in the same vein as the election of Pope John Paul II in 1978. Francis is the first non-European pope since Pope Saint Gregory III in 731, who was born in Syria. He is the first Argentinean and the first Jesuit pope.

Pope Francis greeted the crowd at Saint Peter’s with some remarks:

“As you know, the duty of the conclave was to appoint a bishop of Rome. It seems to me that my brother cardinals have chosen one who is from far away, but here I am.

“I would like to thank you for your embrace, also to … the bishops, thank you very much.

“First and foremost, I would like to pray for our emeritus pope, Benedict XVI. Let us pray all of us together … so that he’s blessed by the lord and guarded.”

After these statements, he paused and said “before the Bishop of Rome blesses you, I ask that in silence you pray to God for me.” This moment was truly beautiful… to watch all of Saint Peter’s Square fall silent and the new pope to bow his head humbly in prayer. I prayed too, and I must admit that I got a little misty-eyed at the poignant moment. I can’t imagine what the road from the Sistine Chapel to the Room of Tears must be like, the enormity of the moment and then to walk out on the balcony and see the throng of people elated to greet you… it must be tremendous. In that moment, to in turn ask those people to pray to God on your behalf… what a wonderful first statement by Pope Francis.

I am encouraged by the little information that I have read so far about Pope Francis… that he is a follower of the most conservative Church teachings and was a strong advocate of pro-life, pro-marriage causes within Argentina. He was a vocal advocate against secular movements in his country and is considered to be a straight shooter.

It seems that the Holy Spirit has answered our prayers for the right sort of man to lead the Church! Viva il Papa!