ON NOT BEING SATISFIED WITH MAINTAINING

Two of us were exposed to COVID and were subsequently tested.  My friends tested negative.  It was a cause of great rejoicing for him!  He was not infected nor infectious!  It was like Lazarus risen from the grave.  Perhaps too much so.  After all, Lazarus would still have to face life with all its bumps and scratches and once more struggle with death.  Similarly, because of a negative diagnosis, there was still the mandate to quarantine, and after, there remained the possibility of contracting COVID and facing quarantine again. 

Bearing in mind all analogies limp, then there is my positive report.  I too went into a “tomb” of sorts but I will not walk out like Lazarus back from the dead, but more like the resurrection.  No longer will I have to worry (for 12 weeks supposedly) about contracting illness or passing illness along to others (at least COVID.)  No longer will there be a fear of going back into isolation.  It will be a great freeing.  A new life with a new freedom.

All of this had me thinking about heaven.  If I found the fountain of youth, I don’t think I would want to try it.  I am enjoying this life even with its hardships, but I only want to do it once.  No matter how rich you are, how powerful, how independent you will not escape such things as COVID in this life.  If you could live forever, the government upon which you rely will not remain the same.  The grand buildings that were built may not last.  There will still be forest fires, temptations, sickness and death, bad movies, mean people and tofu burgers.  

With a fountain of youth one has reanimation which is a renewal of one’s body.  Resurrection is a renewal of the whole of creation.  It is new wine in a new wine skin.  Ultimately it is the only fitting container.  It is that for which we were created and toward which Christ came to steer us and in which He desired to form us.  We were created for this and should want nothing less.  We are given an appetite for heaven that mere extending of life will eventually fail to satisfy.

FAMILIARITY BREED CONTEMPT

If you ever wondered if this saying was true, be trapped in a full house during a COVID-19 outbreak.  Everybody is just a little on edge, but it is that “little” that can make all the difference.

Over the past week I’ve taken to (most of the time) applying the old carpenter adage, “Measure twice, cut one,” to intense community living, “Think twice, speak kindly.”  There is a reason that, after visiting the Franciscans I decided that diocesan life was the vocation for me.  I “people out” quickly as my housemates can attest.  

I’ve asked them to let me know if I’m getting snarky.  So far, so good!

I can’t stand fish aquariums.  (Stick with me here a second.)  I find them depressing not the least reason being that they do EVERYTHING in that water and that “everything” is then sucked through their gills over and over again.  Getting snarking in a contained place has much of the same effect.  It might feel good in the moment to snap at someone, but then that negativity has been released into your fishbowl to be recycled through the atmosphere over and over again.

So, my spiritual advice is this:  We have time.  Think twice.  Be creative.  Find the least negative way to bring something to someone’s attention.  Keep the bowl as clean as possible.

DON'T SETTLE FOR SECOND BEST

If you have a creek that flows through your property that you absolutely appreciate and want to clean the water that runs through it, it would be wise to first clean the head waters that are not on your property.  If the water that comes in is clean, that means the water on your property will be cleaner.  If you care for that which is first, second things are cared for better.  

It’s a rough analogy, but that is kind of what Jesus was talking about when He said, very bluntly, “He who loves (mother, father, son, daughter . . . ) more than Me is not worthy of Me.”  (Matthew 10:37).  Very often someone will say that they find it difficult to love God more than a spouse or child as if by loving God first, their loved one is loved less.  This is not the case.  In fact, it is the opposite.

God is not a source of love.  God IS love itself.  He is the river and source of all love that flows into your life.  Although we say that there are different kinds of love, there is not.  There is only one love and it comes from God.  There are different appropriate expressions of it, but there is only one love.  If we love God first, second persons are not loved less but are loved more in keeping with their nature - they are loved better and more fully.

Placing all of one’s hopes of being loved, of being cared for, of being protected and appreciated on a human person is too much for any human to bear.  It is hanging a hat on a hook that cannot support the weight.  That weight is to be borne by God.  Placing it entirely on another human person leaves us extremely vulnerable to disappointment or devastation.  

Building first on the love of God takes an extreme pressure off of a relationship and leaves both far less vulnerable.  It helps give them the security of being loved while not taxing each other for a sense of self worth and dignity.  That all flows from upstream, purifying the waters of love and making it far easier to tend to.  

Our faith is not just about following a bunch of rules, it is about discovering how we thrive best.  As creatures we have certain conditions in which we flourish.  Loving God first is one of those ways in which human relationships grow to their potential.  Cutting God out of that process or making it secondary is placing true love on a back burner in favor of something less worthy and effective.  Unknowing, perhaps, they want less than God.

DON'T STOP NOW!

I like to use sugar cubes in my coffee.  It helps me regulate how much sugar I am dumping into my mug.  I used to love about 6 of them per steaming cup of Joe.  Over the years, with the help of Lent, I have been able to wean myself off of so much sugar that I do not even enjoy the sickening sweet way I once loved so much.  This Lent I am down to one cube (except on Sunday when I have two.)  

In very short order, Lent will be over.  There are some choices to be made.  It does mean that I could up my sugar intake again - OR - it could mean that I keep up the health strides that I have made and keep it low and contemplate maybe dropping sugar all together next year.

If your Lenten practices were successful in making you a better version of yourself - more spiritual, healthier, kinder, more charitable - don’t chuck it on Easter - or at least keep some aspect of it going.  Hopefully your practice assisted you in becoming someone a person for whom you have more respect, someone who exercised more discipline, stepped up to some responsibility, made more of a positive impact on the world.  Why stop - or at least, why stop all together?  

It is like exercise.  NOBODY (and by nobody I guess I mean me) likes it in the doing of it.  But boy, are you glad later that you did.  Celebrate Easter and the Resurrection of Christ by keeping the gains you made over the past (almost) 40 days.  What better way to mark our salvation and keep the hope of becoming saints alive?

MOMENTO MORI

Looking for one more thing to do for Lent that is a one shot deal and doesn’t involve giving up your favorite edibles?  This was suggested on one of the podcasts to which I listen and the more I think about it, the better I like it.  I think I will give it a shot.

Here it is:  Write your obituary.  Wait!  Hold on.  It’s not as morbid as it sounds.  Keep reading.  So, this is the summation of what you hope people will think of you.  What do you hope people will take away from your life?  It is very clarifying because you only get about two paragraphs with very little explanation.

When a family comes in to talk about the funeral of a loved one, more often than is comfortable the only things that they come up with is “she liked to gamble,” or “he loved the Indians.”  Impressions of passions rise to the fore.  It is such a blessing when the family can come in and have something to say about faith or the care that their loved one had for family or the community or something they did that made the world a better place.

So what do you hope your obit says about you?  After you have written it, then contemplate what are you doing, what are you emphasizing in your life in order to earn this obituary - would somebody else write this about you?

ONLY 39 MORE DAYS TO GO! YOU CAN DO IT!

There is not a lot of accountability in lent.  If you did not fast yesterday, chances are there was nobody around who had power to discipline you.  If you ate meat there wouldn't be a cut in your pay. If you are not giving up something for Lent (of doing something extra) you won't get a ticket.  If you are not diving into prayer and almsgiving, you won't receive a warning notice from the city.  Lent is entirely voluntary and you will get out of it exactly as much as you put in to it.

How awesome it is that we are encouraged in our self disciplines rather than under the watchful eye of a Big Brother.  It means that whatever we undertake, it is not a matter of outside forces guiding our actions from which we look forward to escaping the moment the pressure is released.  It is, rather, something that comes from within, forming habits and character, not just compliance.

May your Lenten practices steep you in Truth, bathe you in Goodness and set you aglow in Beauty for the rest of you life.

HOW COULD GOD DO THAT?

The good thing about being mad at God is that it is evidence that there is still a relationship there.    One cannot be mad at someone with whom they are not somehow still connected.  The opposite of love is not hate (or anger) it is indifference.  Indifference is a total lack of concern or care (or even thought!) for the other.  They might as well not exist.  Anger means there is still something to be redeemed and healed.

The first question to ask is, “Is being mad at God legitimate?”  When the wheels fall off in life it is so much easier to have someone (or Someone) to blame.  It happened because of THIS PERSON!  ARG!”  When it is difficult to place it on a person (or we don’t want to face that we might be at fault) and we look around, there is always God Who is a handy target.  “It was the woman that YOU put here with me!” said Adam looking to share the blame.

“How could God let anyone get away with that sin in this world?  If I were God I would (zap that person out existence - make so they couldn’t hurt anyone - make the weak strong enough to beat them up . . . )”  But if God took away man’s ability to sin, He would ipso facto take away our ability to love.  If I put a pie in front of you and your worse enemy, you might have the choice to offer him a piece or smash it in his face.  If God takes away the second option and, acting in your nature, you may only give him a piece, then you really can’t take credit for it.  It isn’t really love.  That is why we can say that a squirrel can act lovingly but they don’t really love you.  So if God did not allow people to sin, then we wouldn’t really be able to love either.

If people chose the good and we were less secretive, that would take care of most of the tragedies in the world.  If we were more charitable, we could wipe out hunger, much illness and provide education for everybody.  It is to these things that Christ is constantly calling us and at these things the world is constantly and consistently falling short.  I suppose God could make us do the right things but then we would be a world with everything but love, heroes or saints.

If we were not steeped in original (and subsequent) sin, the world would be about 98% better I think.  That still leaves natural disasters though.  That is not as easy to contemplate.  One answer that is not very satisfactory is that before the fall, man and nature got along splendidly.  After the fall we see all kinds of natural disasters.  When things are set right, the balance will return, (The wolf will be guest of the lamb and all that.)  But I don’t find it very satisfying most of the time.

What natural disasters do provide is the opportunity for man to work with God in bringing relief and healing where some tragedy has happened, to bring aid, to bring comfort, to bring healing, to bring presence.  That is one of the things that I love about the Catholic Church.  While everyone else is rushing to have a presence at any given event, you most likely will find that the Catholic Church has already had a presence there for some time, is helping in time of disaster, and will be there long after the cameras and most others have left.  It is situations like these that help us prove our mettle.  

If a typhoon hit St. Sebastian would this be enough to get me through?  It would get me through a lot.  So would having God as a recourse rather than an adversary.  And, even through tears, it would be the idea that ultimately God will take care of me even if everything here was blown to smithereens and me along with it.

WHAT'S A NICE GOD LIKE YOU DOING IN A WORLD LIKE THIS?

Having a relationship with God is much like having a relationship with any person.  God is, after all, a person.  Granted, He is a Divine Person, but He is someone with Whom to be in a relationship just the same.  

All relationships develop.  Even as an infant, to a certain extent, one must learn who Dad is.  This happens by spending time together talking, playing, eating, learning what each likes - the gamut of what it is to be in a close relationship with another person.

How does one apply this to God?  It is no secret.  You spend time together, we are invited into each other’s activities, we learn about Him, talk with Him, do the things that He likes to do, etc.  In other words, don’t treat Him as though He were merely a force, an emergency dispatch Person, some distant being or only an historical figure.  He is alive and active all around you, calling you at every moment, desirous of you, shouting out for you, wanting to walk with you and be consciously with you.

BUT - if you don’t know how to do this - even if you pray every day - how do you get started?  Get started like you would with anybody that you want to get to know but can’t quite figure out how to fit into each other’s lives yet.  Start by holy flirting.  Whenever or wherever you come across Him, smile and send a hello - like a quick text.  If you are in a deadly meeting and God comes to mind, don’t think, “Gee, I’ll have to pray later,” send him a text prayer immediately.  “Hello God.  Me here.  Bored.  Thinking of you.”

Make a surprise visit to His house.  Pop in for just a moment.  “Hey God.  It’s me!  I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d pop in and say hi.”

Open yourself up to a message from Him.  Make yourself available.  “Okay God, what do you want me to learn, understand or do today?  Who do you want me to meet?  Send me someone to do something for today.”

Spy on God.  Read a little of His history (Scripture.)  I bet His mom would just love for you to read about her Son since they didn’t have photo albums back them.  When you start, it doesn’t have to be an hour sloshing through the genealogy.  Take 5 minutes and pick a verse.

Also get to know His friends and find out more about Him through them.  The saints have all kinds and various insights into Him.

All relationships are two way streets.  It won’t be all God.  He respects you too much.  He is like the Good Neighbor Who sends cookies over to your house and sits out on His front porch and calls out, “Hello!” and invites you over dinner.  “Come on over!  I’d love to have you for dinner anytime!  There is always a place at the table for you whenever.”  We just have to stop a frantic life, walk up to the railing of the porch and choose to set the date.  

MAKING SURE OUR ACTIONS MATCH OUR DESIRED OUTCOME

The current Church scandal is something that should inspire those who are appalled (and I hope you are) to become more devoted to the faith than ever.  Rather than taking the supposedly logical and seemingly legitimate route of declaring “the Church” hypocritical and walking away, it makes much more sense to see these horrific events as a sign that each individual person should be more devoted than ever to the Church and the most steadfast adherence to matters of faith than ever and this is why:

What we have seen and witnessed and many suffered through is NOT what happens when the faith is well practiced and Church law is attended to, it is what happens when the faith is NOT practiced and Church law is subverted at a time when far too many people have been content to have the both run on autopilot.  

In a similar vein, I am always amazed at how people think that just because their car is parked in a church parking lot that they can leave their car unlocked and their purse full of money on the front seat and that it should be Okay because it is on Church property.  I have not heard of a parish yet that has not experienced theft.  Church attracts sinners - some working at overcoming sin (that is hopefully most of us) and those who are looking for cover.  So if we want our parishes to be safe, we have to be vigilant and not leave the collection sitting in a pew, the candle boxes left unlocked, the payroll just sitting out on a desk.

The practice of the faith is just the same and from time to time, like an audit pointing out financial practices that have slipped, the practice of the faith needs constant renewal.  And when renewal has happened historically, it has always occurred when individual men and women have decided to take their faith seriously and live it actively and publicly.  

IF YOU DO NOT LIKE THE EVIL THAT SOME HAVE DONE IN THE CHURCH then do not give up on the right practice of faith for it is vehemently opposed to such things.  If you want such evil actions to spread and become more common, then abandon the faith which is one of the few organized and powerful voices in the world still standing against such things.  

But it needs you to live it.  The Kingdom of God exists in this world as “already/not-yet.”  It is already breaking into the world since Jesus Christ, but it will not be fully established until He comes again.  Until then, it exists where men and women of good faith live it.

IF GOD WOULD ONLY PLAINLY TELL ME WHAT HE WANTS ME TO DO WITH MY LIFE.

“What does God want me to do with my life?”

Often I come across people, usually young adults, who feel stuck in concerning their life’s path.  “If only God would tell me His plan for me,” is what they want to know.

You may not want that.

Suppose you did know.  Then you could never do anything else or you would be acting against God’s plan.  What a terrible pressure to carry on with what you are doing even if you are bad at it or extremely unhappy.

Still, for some people there is a definite life path.  Through discernment and openness to all of the clues around them, and with the assistance of some sort of spiritual advisor, it is pretty clear.  “Ah!  This is to what I am called!”  That sort of happened to me.  That’s a longer story maybe I’ll share some other time. 

But for some people, it isn’t clear in that way.  This is because what God might need from you is not for you to take “this job” or “this vocation,” it may be that His life plan for you is to live whatever you choose to do in a special way.  It isn’t WHAT you do (within reason) but HOW you do it.  For some people then, they may be asking the wrong question.

There was once a young lady who came to see me with what I thought was good news.  She was accepted into a religious order about which she was very excited.  But when she came to my office, she was in inconsolable tears.  After a little while she was able to explain that a young man with whom she was hanging out, upon discovering that she may actually be going into the convent, proposed to her.  This was good news.  It wasn’t as though she needed to choose between life in prison and the death penalty.  These were to good vocations.  They are both pathways to holiness.  They are both ministries to the world lived correctly.  God was not sitting on a cloud saying, “Pick the right one that I want for you or I get to punish you!”  More likely He was looking lovingly upon His daughter and saying, “I have given you two wonderful presents from which to choose, but you may only have one.  Pick one and live it with relish, power and grace and help Me transform the world.”

If you are stuck in a “what is God’s plan for me” mode, be open to signs, be open to what people of faith people may be saying to you, be open to spiritual direction and be patient - but not TOO patient.  Don’t let the process be that time takes away all choices and you get what is left.  In the mean time, also be open to the idea of not WHAT but HOW and start living it with gusto!  Live life as though you ARE the son or daughter of the Heavenly Father that you are, that you are among the kings and queens in the heavenly court, that you are a disciple, that you are the person of prayer, sacrament and grace, that you are fully what God is calling you to be.

I'M NO SAINT

“Well, I’m no saint . . .”

Here’s the bad news/good news about that saying:

You are NOT getting into heaven UNLESS you are a saint.

Purgatory is not a second chance for Catholics.  At death you are hopefully going to heaven because the alternative is just hell.  But for most on the path to heaven, there will be a cleansing of our un-heavenly desires.  WHATEVER THIS IS (and it is not exactly clear) that is what purgatory is.

Here’s the good news: Despite what most people think and what our statues might depict, saints are not perfect people.  They are human beings.  From Peter, to Jerome, to John Paul II, saints are people who erred in many aspects of their lives, were in ample need of the sacrament of confession and like Saint Paul said, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.  And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.  As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.  For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.  Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”  Romans 7:15-20.

The difference between saints and non-saints?  Saints are faithful.  Do you want to begin to understand what it is to be faithful?  Think of the most faithful friend you ever had - or what you would like in a most faithful friend.  Then start by being that to God and you are well on your way to sainthood.

WHEN CATHOLICS GO BAD

When I was a kid and somebody did something wrong enough to be reported on in the newspaper, it was not unusual for the reporter to mention that the man was once an altar boy - as if that had anything to do with the price of cheese.  People raised a big stink about making this connection and such mentionings stopped cold.  But it was an interesting back handed compliment - as if a former altar boy should know better - that a Catholic should BE better.

The thing is - there is some truth to that, but not as much as would be preferable (hence confession lines - and sometimes lack of them.)  Every once in a while someone will lob the (accusation?  back handed compliment?) that a Catholic or a Catholic organization should know better, be better, act better, lead better . . .   And that is true.  That is why we are here.  To make humanity . . . well . . . better.  Good.  Redeemed.  Saved.  Living in truth.

And the Church is holy - that is her teachings, her way of life, what she promotes and what she eschews is holy.  She makes saints.  But she is made up of a bunch of sinners striving to be saints (hopefully).  AA helps people not drink, but many of her people do though they know better and want to be sober.  Hospitals are about making people healthy but all of her residents are sick.  Libraries are supposed to help a person grow in knowledge and truth but some of her books are full of misguided advice, knowledge or insights.

So when someone says, “this Catholic (person/institution) should be morally better at (whatever), they are right.  But if it is perfection for which they are looking, look at the teachings of the Church, not her people.  The people are patients in the hospital.  1.2 billion people.  Priests are somebody’s baby brother - nuns are someone’s daughter, an altar server is a teen like any teen, the person in the pew is person like any other striving to be that better Christian.

What makes them different is being soaked in the teachings of One Who knows how human beings can thrive.  They absorb grace through the practice of the sacraments and prayer.  They are encouraged regularly to good works and self improvement.  They are given a vision of a better world.  And yes we should know better.  And I am glad people think that Catholics should be held to a higher standard.  And we should hold ourselves to a higher standard.  But that even John Paul II is a saint does not mean he did everything well.  It means he strove well and still made mistakes and still needed the sacrament of confession.

This is not an excuse.  It’s a reality check.  Catholics are sojourners in desperate need of Christ.  Every day we get better, but we are definitely on the journey.  We have not arrived.  

YOU ARE WHAT YOU PRACTICE

You are walking down the street with your dog.  It doesn’t seem like there is another person on the face of the earth.  But three of you, all with dogs, show up at the same corner at the same time and jockey around to see who will pass and how.

You are driving down a lonely stretch of road.  You haven’t passed another care in the last 5 minutes.  You get to an intersection and there are three cars and a struggle to decide who gets to go first.  Then you don’t pass another car for 10 minutes.

You are in a practically empty store.  The one thing at which you want to look has someone standing right in front of it.  For a long time.  And you grow weary of pretending to take interest in toothbrushes while you await your turn. 

There are (basically) two ways to handle this.  One is to get frustrated and angry.  (I preferred this method for a long time and to which I still sometimes revert when not at my best game.)  “You’ve got to be kidding me!  God, is this a test?  Oh come on!  This is ridiculous!  What are the chances?  People are so annoying!”

The others is to take as a test.  “Well, this is very odd yet again.  Okay God, I posit from this that you are paying attention to me because of the weird circumstances and that you want me to learn something from this.  What is it?”  And then (to the best of your ability) enjoy the moment by discerning what it might be.  (Hint:  If you are still frustrated or annoyed, there is still something to learn.)

The second option may seem a bit much to expect but the alternative is to be angry and frustrated.  And it really is up to you.  So choose.

15 SUGGESTIONS FOR REVITALIZING THE SACRAMENT OF CONFESSION LOCALLY

We often hear that the sacrament of confession is dead.  I don’t buy it.  I think it is like a local restaurant that I like that has inconvenient hours and even when I make it a point of going to their horrible hours it is closed on that particular day or the owners are on vacation and have a sign tacked to the door.  I show up with friends only to be turned away.  After a while it falls off of my radar screen and I don’t even think to go until some bazar thing happens like finding myself in front of the store just when I happen to be hungry.  Thank goodness the wait staff is good and they don’t run out of my choice (too often.)  How they stay open I don’t know.  Likewise it is amazing that the sacrament of confession is still in use for these same reasons!  There must be something about it that it still survives at all!  We’ve done just about everything we can do to kill yet it remains more resilient than Godzilla.  

I don’t claim to have all of the answers, but here are 15 suggestions on how (in the long term) to take the sacrament from being Wall Flower at the dance (there but not very popular) to at least being the punch bowl attendant (still not overly popular, but most will at least stop by when they are thirsty.)

1)  If you are in an area with parishes in relatively easy driving distance, don’t have confessions at the exact same time as everybody else.  If someone can’t make it to one, they can’t make it to any of them.

1. Have more than one scheduled opportunity to go to confession and at different times of the day.  Once again, if someone can’t make your Tuesday night confessions because of work, they will never have the opportunity.  Or if they work nights and you only have night time confessions . . . 
2. Don’t rely on “confessions by appointment.”  I didn’t even go to see my doctor when I thought I was having a stroke because it seemed like such a bother.  (I know, I know.)  And this is much more important.  “By appointment” is largely for trauma cases, the super comfortable person, and 5th steps.
3. When starting a new confessions time, it takes months of getting the word out for people to really start taking advantage of it.  It has to enter their consciousness.  That takes a while.  Commit for at least half of a year (part of it in a penitential season) before deciding if it is a poor time to have the sacrament.
4. Do NOT cancel confessions.  Think of the poor soul hanging on the faith by their fingernails that FINALLY worked up the nerve to go to confession only to show up and find out that there are no confessions that day for some mysterious reason.  But if there are times that you must cancel, make sure that it is well announced and advertised and that there is a sign on the door explaining the extraordinary circumstances.
5. Nothing will work if you don’t preach it.  There are great events that I want to attend in my own area of West Akron - BIG ONES - and I miss them because they don’t cross my mind.  I get on with life and the next thing I know I’ve missed them for another year.  You don’t have to beat people over the head with sin - but we do need reminding.
6. Advertise.  Make sure that the bulletin, the parish signs and the web site all list confession times clearly and that the information is accurate.
7. Pray for those who would benefit from going to confession.  Ask their guardian angels to get them there.
8. Even if you are a lion in the pulpit, be encouraging and merciful in the confessional.  Your reputation will proceed you.
9. The biggest and most common complaints that I hear in the confessional are:  The priest talks too much, the priest didn’t let me finish, the priest told me I don’t need confession for one reason or another (my sins weren’t big enough).  I’m sure there are grave deficiencies in my methods that this or that person does not appreciate.  That’s why it’s good to have other priests available when possible.  
10. Find ways to stop someone who is at confession more for counseling than confession.  Can you imagine showing up early for confessions that only lasts for a half an hour and the person two people in front of you being in there for 20 minutes?  Sometimes I will say to such a person, “This sounds like it needs attention outside of the sacrament.  Let’s continue this conversation later in the rectory.”
    
11. Do what you can to make confession obvious and welcoming. Make the church look open.  (Have the lights on.)  Have confessions in an obvious place (not a side room that people should just know to go to.)  Make it as private (sound proof) as possible.  
12. Let people know that if they have not been to confession in a long time and are afraid that they forget how to go or don’t remember prayers that you will talk them through it.  It will be just fine.  In this case getting to confession is more important than remembering how to do it exactly correctly.
13. Let people know where they can find an examination of conscience.  (There are oodles of them on line for various persons and vocations.)
14. Advertise the times of surrounding parishes (if there are any close) for people to go to if they are ashamed/embarrassed/uncomfortable/just-plain-not-of-a-mind to go to their parish priests.
15. When handling large groups of confessions such as for a school, do not rely all the time on the rite for group confessions.  From the start, people need to learn how to and be comfortable with going to confession on their own.  
    

Yes it’s a pain.  Yes, it’s time consuming.  Yes, there are more and more things required of priests.  Yes, it can be trying sitting in the box on a day that is slow on confessions.  But really there are few things more important than for the father of a congregation to be with his people when they need healing.  

GUEST BLOGGER: I CON SEE YOU

Today's guest blogger is 13 year old David Beatty of St. Sebastian who gave this presentation when we unveiled the new icon of St. Sebastian written by Sr. Iliana of Christ the Bridegroom Monastery, in Burton, OH, to help us celebrate our 90th anniversary:

The Creation and Spirituality of Icons

The Panel

The panel is traditionally of wood. Plywood or MDF (medium density fibre board) is often used as cheaper options, especially for large panels, but the longevity of these as a support is unknown. We know that icons on wood have survived many centuries but MDF and plywood are inventions of the twentieth century so only time will tell. The board is sized with an animal based glue and allowed to dry.

The Ground

This is made of gesso, which is the Italian word for gypsum, or calcium sulphate. The gesso is made by mixing the gypsum, or whiting powder, in an animal based glue such as rabbit skin glue or gelatin. Several coats of gesso are then applied with a brush and allowed to dry between coats. Usually at least 8 coats of gesso are needed to make a good ground.
The ground is then smoothed with an abrasive paper or scraper. The resulting surface is white and smooth and is the only suitable surface for painting in egg tempera.

The Drawing

A line drawing is made of the icon to be painted and this is transferred to the gessoed panel by coating the back of the drawing with a powder pigment and tracing with a suitable instrument. The drawing is then brushed over with ink to make it more stable for painting.

The Gilding

Usually the haloes and (if required) the background are then gilded. This may be oil gilded (using transfer gold) or water gilded using layers of bole (a type of red clay) and gold leaf. In either case real gold is used. Water gilding allows tooling (embossing) of the gold and finishing with olipha. If oil gilding is used then the icon may be finished with shellac or a proprietary varnish.

The Painting

The icon is painted with pure powdered pigments, mainly earth colours, which are mixed (tempered) with egg yolk. The dark colours are painted first and then the lighter colours are added. Any very small gold details are then added. Finally the face and hands are painted – this brings the whole icon to life.

Finishing

The icon is then allowed to dry for a few weeks and is then be coated with a varnish for protection. The varnish is usually olipha, which is a mixture of refined linseed oil and stand oil.

An icon can be viewed as just a piece of art or it can be viewed as a spiritual work of grace created for the glory of God. The simple creation of an icon is not complete without constant prayer during the creation and finishing of an icon. It’s not just art and it should be viewed as such; a symbol of love for our lord.

Icons have had a place in Christian worship as early as we can establish. In the broader sense, icons may be found in basic wall paintings, graffiti of crosses and symbols on ancient tombs, to magnificent frescos, icons and stained glass windows in churches and cathedrals.

“In the beginning was the Word,” wrote St John. “He is the image [ikon in Greek] of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation,” wrote St. Paul. We meet him still in both word and image. Icons may be beautiful, but they do not exist just to add a little color or a special atmosphere to the rooms they happen to be in. They’re there to help us pray. An icon that isn’t being used in prayer is like a musical instrument not being played or a cookbook that never gives birth to a meal.

Praying before an Icon is just the same as praying before anything else like a crucifix or an altar. Although with the icon the preferred position of prayer is known as the Orant. This is to expose your body in heart mind and soul to the spirituality of the icon.

No icon is ever prayed the same way. As the icon is created different prayers are used specific to what the icon is an image of. The wood base is used to symbolize the cross and crucifixion of our Lord, the simple earthly colors display the pain and plainness during the time he was dead, and the gold symbolizes his glorious resurrection.

No less than the written

word, an icon is an instrument for the transmission of Christian tradition and faith. Through sacred imagery, the Holy Spirit speaks to the believer, revealing truths that may not be evident to those using only the tools of reason. And this is one of the most important aspects of the spirituality of icons, that they teach us that dogma, which is the revealed knowledge of God, is first and foremost beautiful. The icon gives us the sight of the saints, and reveals Christian dogma, such as the Trinity and the Incarnation, as being extremely beautiful.

The ecumenical council of 787 AD stated that the Icon was equal with Scripture, since it instructs with shape and colour in the same way as Scripture with words. Thus, icons do not simply attempt to instruct us about the life of Christ or the saints depicted, but they instruct us in the Theology of the Church. And the eyes, posture, colour and gesture come together to point to Theological truths.

The spirituality of icons also results from the fact that the icon is silent. No mouths are open, nor are there any other physical details which suggest sound. But the silence is not empty. St Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, made the comment: “He who possesses in truth the word of Jesus, can hear even its silence.”

The above was prepared for St. Sebastian Parish by Mr. David Beatty, age 13, for the dedication of the 90th anniversary St. Sebastian icon.