A Crazy Year

If I may, I'd like to take a break from my normal to do a bit of an introspective look back at 2012 (that's the popular thing this time of year, isn't it?) and, perhaps more importantly, a look forward to 2013. Because, let's face it, 2012 was one insane year. In some ways, it was the best. In others, the worst.

So, to start this trip down Memory Lane, let's go to exactly one year ago: December 31, 2011.

Hold Your Breath

If you are reading this, chances are you are breathing. At  least, I should hope so.

It's such an everyday action - constant, even - that we hardly give it any thought.

From a biological standpoint, breathing is the process of inhaling and exhaling air, extracting from it oxygen and expelling the carbon-dioxide waste. But, like with everything, we can go deeper.

A Visible God

Our God is a God beyond words. It almost seems like blasphemy to even call God "merciful" or "loving" because human words confine God to a human understanding. God transcends anything we could ever say about Him, even this. Perhaps especially this.

Our God is beyond words, but that does not make Him abstract.
Our God is beyond our comprehension, but that does not make him unapproachable.
Our God is bigger than creation...but that does not make him invisible.

When the Snow Lay on the Ground

Happy Boxing Day! The day after Christmas is commonly known as a day in which everybody can take a relaxing break from all the strenuous gorging of the holiday. We make impromptu nests out of scraps of leftover paper from the gifts that now sit half-opened around the house.

In the Church, the day after Christmas (Technically "Wednesday of the Octave of Christmas") is the Feast of Stephen (or, the day that good King Wenceslas looked out). When we look at Saint Stephen's story, it may seem odd that we celebrate our first martyr the day after the Nativity.

So with that, here's my favorite depiction of Stephen, by Rembrandt.

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas! It's a great opportunity to just take a step back, relax and let life happen around us.

Merry Christmas!

Adam and (Christmas) Eve

Full disclosure: I was originally going to title this post "Adam and Eve" but I figured nobody would get the reference to Christmas Eve, so....yeah.

For those of you who were unaware, today (specifically tonight) is Christmas Eve. If you actually were unaware of that fact, shame on you. Anyway, I figured today would be my little bit about Christmas considering I'll be busy tomorrow Christmas-ing.

What, first of all, do we know about Christmas, or specifically the Nativity?

War and Peace

Today I happened upon an interesting article from Cracked about "The 6 Most Aggressively Badass Things Done by Pacifists" and, like many things, it got me thinking. Go ahead and read it, it's fantastic. We'll wait.

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Well, either you're a fast reader or a bloomin' liar, but I suppose that's okay for now.

Comfort and Joy

Christmas is just four short days away, but any quick glance at the news certainly doesn't convey that bright Christmas spirit we're accustomed to this time of year. There has been a host of high-profile acts of violence, most notably the massacre at Sandy Hook. Amid these crises, it almost seems wrong to be celebrating. It doesn't seem to be a "joyous" season.

I think that now especially is a good time to take a deeper look at the meaning of joy.

Angels in Disguise - Part One

I think today I'd like to take a break from my "normal" to talk a little bit about something that isn't brought up very often: Angels. It's not that the church doesn't have anything to say about them - the Magisterium on the matter is very clear. It's simply that angels, demons and the accompanying rituals (exorcism, deliverance, etc.) aren't brought up very often. So, in what I hope will become a recurring column here, I present "Angels in Disguise"

I invite you to comment with any questions you would like to see answered! In addition, each time I'll compile a selection of questions I've received since the last installment, or some common concerns.

For today, though, I'll just give a bit of an overview of what I consider one of the most fascinating subjects in the church.

Getting Our Feet Wet

I thought for today's (admittedly late) post, I'd take a closer look at one of my favorite passages from one of my favorite books of the New Testament (John); specifically, the Washing of the Feet. For those of us who have been to a Holy Thursday liturgy, we've seen this part acted out in front of us. Maybe we see it as just another "thing" that happened that night, or a weird bit of the Gospel we don't really question. Like always, though, it's possible to go much deeper. So, in that spirit, duc in altum.

Mary's Yes

Christmas is drawing nearer and nearer - the third candle has been lit, the Christmas Pandora stations are blaring louder and louder, and there's more foliage inside houses than outside. Many people (at least, those not too consumed with the rush of gift-buying and people-avoiding) are using this time to reflect on the "reason for the season" - the birth of Jesus.

I think that before we can appreciate the power and drama of the Nativity, we have to recognize the "reason for the reason for the season" - Mary's "Yes".

The Narrow Gate

I've been thinking a lot recently about the parables from the Gospel. Like (far too) many things in church, we get so used to hearing them year after year that they almost become "stale", as though there was nothing new for us. So, in an effort to combat this - because we know every verse of the Bible has infinite meaning for us - I've been going back and looking at some of them from a new angle. Duc in Altum - putting out into the deep.

So, for today, I looked at this very brief (two verses) lesson from Matthew 7:

"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, 

and those who enter it are many. 

How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. 

And those who find it are few."

Light of the World

Light and Dark.

Could there ever be a more basic contrast? Doesn't every story always come down to good versus evil? The whole of morality is made up of questions of good and bad, black and white, yin and yang.

This is a season of darkness. In under a week now, we will experience the shortest day of the year. Shortly thereafter, we will all gather to say "We are halfway through the dark". We look toward the light.

Before Christmas, there was another holiday around the winter solstice - the pagan celebration of Sol Invictus. The Unconquerable Sun. Just as we do today, our ancestors from millennia ago gathered to celebrate the triumph of light over dark.

Advent, too, is a season of darkness. I still remember Monday mornings at Serra gathering on the floor of the darkened gymnasium...gathering around a tiny wreath, and watching a tiny point of light. The flame was no more than an inch tall, yet could be seen from every corner of the dim room. The next week, there were two; then three; then four. The closer we got to Christmas, the brighter it got.

Advent, and with it Christmas is a celebration of the triumph of light over dark.

Child of the Poor

Helpless and hungry,

lowly, afraid.

Wrapped in the chill of midwinter.

Comes now among us, born into poverty's embrace,

New life for the world

Who is this who lives with the lowly,

Sharing their sorrows,

Knowing their hunger?

This is Christ, revealed to the world

in the eyes of a child

Reciprocity

Everybody wants to be loved. I doubt there is a single human being on this planet that doesn't want to be accepted, understood and cared for. Some people may chase after money and things, but in the end, whether they are aware of it or not, they are seeking the love they think possessions will bring.

Yes, everybody wants to be loved...but I say that being loved is not what will make you happy.

It's loving, even when you're not loved in return.

An Immaculate Conception

A few days ago, we celebrated the Immaculate Conception. We recalled Mary being born without sin, making her a perfect vessel for God Himself in Jesus.

This should not have come as a surprise, though - Mary as the "perfect vessel" was prefigured in the Old Testament in a seemingly unlikely place: the Ark of the Covenant.

Rude, Insulting and Rude

So today's kind of a good day! I mean what's not to love about it? I only had one final, I went to the mission store, I had bacon on my sandwich at lunch...yep, it's been real. 

Anything else worth mentioning? Hmmmmm

OH YEAH. MY BEST FRIEND IS HERE.

A Quick Note

If you haven't already, check out my friend Angela's latest post!

http://lifeconquered.blogspot.com/2012/12/angels-among-us.html

The Song Unsung

"This song is ending, but the story never ends"

Today in our (last) Honors Seminar, we read a short essay called "The Song Unsung". It was based around this quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes, "Most people go to their graves with their music still inside them."

Of course, the Whovian in me instantly thought of the end of series four (David Tennant's last), the Ood promise to "sing you to sleep" and then, right before he regenerates, "This song is ending, but the story never ends"

Let's Play Risk!

Life involves risk. It's not just "rebellious teenagers" that take risks, it's everyone. And it's in the Bible...so that's cool.

Really, though. Taking chances is ALL through the Bible, Old and New Testaments.

Sometimes we get so jaded with the stories we forget that the people involved didn't know the ending. Abraham didn't know God was going to spare Isaac. Noah didn't know the flood would end. The disciples didn't know this Jesus would turn into something - for all they knew he was a weird guy with funny words.

Risk always involves the possibility of loss. There is the potential for something so great, but at what cost? If it fails, you could lose something amazing. It is at these moments we need to figure out what is important to us.

Take the example of my friend. Like myself (and, technically, everyone) he is discerning his place in the world. He also happens to like a girl. This is an unfortunate situation. Not only does he have the "does she like me" stress typical of any teenager, but the added bonus of "am I supposed to be a priest?"

Regardless of what he, or any of us, choose, risk will be involved. He can tell her, and risk losing her friendship to awkwardness, or he can not take the chance and risk missing out on something amazing.

/rant end

In short, being a teenager is often hard. Discernment is hard. Let us pray.

Can You Spare Some Change?

"Change is inevitable...growth is intentional"

We are in the midst of a season of change. The cool breeze of autumn is fast becoming the brisk chill of winter - not that anybody in Loretto today would be any the wiser - and bringing other changes with it. This has got me thinking about the nature of change, growth and taking risks. 

No Greater Love

As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.

Remain in my love.

If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, 

just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love.

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this: To lay down ones life for a friend.
I no longer call you slaves...I call you friends.
John 15:9-15

The Familiar Road

I'll walk down this familiar road,

the same one as before

But so much has changed since last time,

it's changed me at the core

Understanding and Love

Understanding and Love. One, a gift of the Holy Spirit. The other, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the one from which all others flow. In this light, they seem so interconnected as to be inseparable. In normal context, though, they seem too diverse to be related. I insist that the first is true - that love and understand are so tightly-bound that they cannot exist without the other. Nobody can love without understanding and, more importantly, no one can understand without loving.

In God's Hands

I'd like to start off with a special recognition: Tori is my best friend and words can't describe how much she means to me and how glad I am that she's in my life! And I could write so much more, but it'd never do her justice. 

Adoring and Remembering

Today is Monday. For the rest of you up here at SFU, that means simple adoration is going on for a good 8 1/2 hours. Like the good Catholic I am, I recently stopped in for my personal time with Jesus. There's something about simple adoration that sets it apart from a normal holy hour. Is it the freedom? The knowledge that I can stay as long or as little as I please? Maybe it's the intimacy - for the majority of my time in the chapel, I was alone with Jesus. Perhaps, today at least, that's a good thing.

The Battlefield

We are all called to be warriors.

We are all called to fight in something greater than any human conflict. We are soldiers in the fight - the quintessential fight between good and evil, light and dark, life and death.

Don't think that because the terms are so vast, this "war" is a metaphor. It is not an abstract concept of "doing good" but a very real fight. It is a fight raging around us all the time, in every place and every time throughout the whole of history. 

The best part is...we've already won.

Coming Home Twice in One Week

Last Tuesday, I went back to good ol' Pittsburgh for the first (real) time all year. I went home. Today, I went home again, to Loretto.

The Nature of the Beast

Temptation...it's something we all have, whether we are the worst of sinners or the holiest of saints. Sometimes we are tempted to "little" things (though no sin is really "little"), sometimes...not so much.

And, like it or not, we all fall sometimes. Quite often, for the vast majority of us. Proverbs 24:16 says that even the just man falls seven times (seven, in Hebrew connotation, meaning "a LOT").

It's not even as though we will one day hit a point where we won't have to deal with the effects of original sin - there is no plateau of "permanent holiness" where we can freeze with our eyes to heaven and our hands folded like a saint statue. Even Saint Francis, widely considered the holiest mortal to live besides Mary, struggled constantly with temptation. We all have demons to wrestle.

Can I get yo num-bah?

Alright, so I've been thinking a lot about people lately. I think there are some things I need to say to some of them. I won't call them by name, because I'm cool like that...but hopefully (but probably not) they will read this and know it's them.

Trombones on Ice

I can't remember what I normally do on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I feel like there's usually something though...Thursday dinner, Friday Christmas tree, Saturday...??? Either way, I can guarantee that whatever it is, it's not what I did today.

The Christmas Tree

So I know it's weird to have two posts in like ten minutes, but they're about different things so shush.

Today we carried out our Black Friday tradition of putting up and decorating the Christmas tree, and that really got me thinking. It doesn't seem that long ago I did this the last time, a year ago. Isn't it funny how when we're little a month is an unspeakably long time, let alone a year...and now here I am hanging the same ornament on the tree 12 months later and hardly feeling it.

Things were so much different 12 months ago.

Amor Vincit Omnia

Amor vincit omnia. Latin for "Love conquers all"

Honestly, the hardest part about making this was choosing a name. It was like naming a child, only much more difficult. I knew I wanted it to be based on something a saint said, or something saint-like. Why? Not really sure. Finally, Tori said if she had a blog, it would be called Love Conquers All. So, I stole that one. Our #samepersonsyndrome means I'm allowed to do that.