A COMPLIMENT THAT NEEDS TO BE MINED

If your pastor has not thanked you or complimented you on your ministry lately, it is probably a compliment.  

I was thinking about how, when I arrived at St. Sebastian, how wonderful it was with everybody doing their various ministries and jobs.  It was easy to remember to thank everybody for all of the good things they were up to that I was discovering on a daily basis.  Realizing that they had things well in hand, I moved on to other projects, responsibilities, and problems.  It is like cooking a meal, that which is simmering nicely on the stove can be left alone while something that need attention (the potatoes that need peeling or the grease fire that needs extinguished) can be dealt with.  

The problem is that even the simmering pot needs stirred every once in a while.  It’s easy to forget because it is doing what it is supposed to be doing and in better condition than the other tasks that need immediate attention, but left on the burner too long without some kind of recognition, even the best simmering pot can turn into an emergency.

So at my last holy hour it occurred to me to try to treat a day as though it was one of my first days at the parish and to be appreciative of all the wonderful things that people are doing around here - all of the simmering pots - let the potatoes and grease fires take care of themselves for a moment and give the pot one good stir.

But man!  Is it difficult to remember to do!  Grease fires seem steal attention so easily!  (The squeaky wheel syndrome.)  To see everything for the first time!  And remember to say “Thanks for all you do!”  I challenge you to give it a try with your family, work mates, neighbors, friends . . . all the wonderful things they do for you that you have come to rely on.

And so I thank you for reading this blog and giving me this opportunity to share some of the ways it seems to be God is acting.  Sending out a prayer to you today.

YOU ARE NOT A PREPROGRAMMED ROBOT

Every trap requires some cooperation from its victim.

The mouse must want the cheese.

The fish must want the worm.

A person must want a million dollars from the Nigerian Prince.

An individual must agree to answer a difficult situation with anger.

Nobody and no situation can force you in to the trap of reacting angrily.  If this was the case, then everybody would react the same way to a situation.  A person cannot make you angry.  If they push your buttons, it is at least partially you that agrees to make your buttons available.  

If someone can force you to act out angrily (as opposed to passionately,) then there is no such thing as sin.  Sin is a free act of the will.  If someone can force you to be so angry that it they that make you sin, then reality, the sin is there’s, not yours.

But that is not the case. 

When you are cut off in traffic there are a lot of important emotions at play.  “That is dangerous.  Than is rude.  That is unthoughtful.  I am worth something - my desire to get home is important too.  I’m trying to cooperate so that we can all get to where we want on time, why are you so special? . . . “  So forth and so on.  A driver can go deeply down this wormhole of thinking and end up committing an act of road rage.  I have found myself in this situation.

But it doesn’t HAVE to be that way.  One can be challenged to practice humility.  Practice patience.  Practice forgiveness.  Practice praying for one’s “enemies.”  Practice giving thanks that the person who was unthoughtful gave you the opportunity to push you to your spiritual limits so that you might grow stronger in the faith.  

This too is a possibility - not an inevitability.  

It is often difficult and, like a muscle, takes a great deal of exercise (time, practice, increasing difficulty) to make strong.  Nobody can force you to react negatively or positively  It comes down to deciding how closely you want to follow Christ and then determining to begin working on it.

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: GENERALLY SPEAKING

Here is where the “General Instruction of the Roman Missal” gets its “general.”  Surprisingly, after saying that this is the center and highpoint of the liturgy (the source and summit of our lives,) it becomes rather vague and, well, general.  It becomes more descriptive than directive for a spell.  I guess the specific instructions, the rubrics, are simply left for later in the Missal.

That is not to say this is not a long paragraph (79),  It’s longer with lots of sub-sections and even though the subsections are short, we will only be taking one a week.

The main elements of the Eucharistic prayer can be distinguished one from the other in the following ways (A - H)  Today’s subparagraph: A  (Ohhh!  I can sense the excitement!)

A) The first element is that of Thanksgiving.  (Bet you saw that coming.)  This makes incredible sense considering the etymology of the word Eucharist.  According to the Online Etymology Dictionary:

”sacrament of the Lord's Supper, the Communion," mid-14c., from Old French eucariste, from Late Latin eucharistia, from Greek eukharistia "thanksgiving, gratitude," later "the Lord's Supper," from eukharistos "grateful," from eu "well" (see eu-) + stem of kharizesthai "show favor," from kharis "favor, grace," from PIE root *gher- (5) "to like, want" (see hortatory). Eukharisteo is the usual verb for "to thank, to be thankful" in the Septuagint and Greek New Testament.

Too much?

The main place that the sense of thanks can be found is in the preface.  The preface is right after the prayer over the gifts.  After a “call and exchange” with the congregation, (The Lord be with you - and with your spirit, etc.) the priest goes on to direct the Father on behalf of the community, expressing our knowledge that it is “truly right and just, our duty and our salvation always and everywhere to give You thanks Lord Holy Father, Almighty and Eternal God.”

It is a theme that picks up now and then depending on the Eucharistic prayer such as, “. . . giving thanks that you have held us worthy to be in your presence and serve you.” from Eucharistic Prayer II.

You know, giving thanks is not something that comes naturally to us human beings.  It is usually instilled in us by thoughtful parents and at times seems like torture.  “Just a minute young man . . . what do you say????”

“Ugh!  Thank you Mrs. McGillicutty.”

It comes to serve us well in life.  Firstly it helps us appreciate who and what we have, knowing that it doesn’t have to be.  Secondly it lets others know that they are appreciated and promotes the best in them.  In the case of Mass, the giving of thanks is wholly for our benefit to make us  better people.  It is “right,” because what we have is purely gift and we are indebted to God.  It is “just” to give what we can to God for His abundant graciousness to us.  It is our “duty” because - well, if you don’t know ask your Mom.  And it is our “salvation.”  Being truly thankful turns our eyes toward the One on Whom we are utterly dependent.  When we realize this, we long to be with Him and conform ourselves every more to Him.

HAVE I TOLD YOU LATELY THAT I APPRECIATE THAT YOU READ THIS BLOG?

When I was younger, almost half a century ago, one of the big events at Christmas happened late at night on the eve at the family home.  With all of the extended family gathered at a specified hour, the phone (big and black and tethered to the wall) would ring.  It was a call from the family in Slovenia similarly gathered.  Aunt “Oh” (Olga) would talk to our cousin Stanko and relay what was being said at the other end of the wires to all as they sat quietly and waiting patiently.

This morning I received a text message from our mission team in El Salvador.  As I sat typing my bulletin column there was a “ting!” and this came up:

“Safe and sound in El Salvador!  Really hot here!”

“I was praying for you guys!  All is well?”

“Yes!  Different from last time, but good.  Cleaning the orphanage today and climbing a mountain.  Erica misses you.”  (Reader: Erica is a young resident of the orphanage that I became close to on the last trip)

“Please tell her hello and that I am praying for her and all of you.”

“Will do!”

And the whole conversation was carried on without much thought.  How easy it is to take things for granted because we are used to them.  Our connectedness, our level of health, electricity, that there will be a more advance iPhone.  All the great things in life you can take for granted.  Family, close friends, neighbors, you just expect them to be there (and shocked when they are there no longer.)  

Even the Eucharist can fall into this category.  We can become so accustomed to the Eucharist that we forget how incredibly special it is.  We forget to be thankful, reverent, careful, and to be promoters of the faith and vocations.

It’s good to be extra observant from time to time, to look around and realize thing need not be the way they are.  It is all gift.  It could all disappear in the twinkling of an eye either from neglect, unthankfulness, or life.  If you want to fully enjoy what you have while you’ve got it, be thankful.  If you want to preserve it while it is yours, be aware of it.  If you want to be happy(er), offer your gratitude.

HAVE I THANKED YOU RECENTLY FOR READING THIS BLOG?

You might have noticed that there was no post yesterday.

 

I was sick as a dog (whatever that little saying means.)

 

I am still under the weather today (whatever that little saying means.)

 

The difference between yesterday and today is that yesterday was also a calendar packed day and when I had five minutes to sew together I sat in my chair and tried to breath and rest my eyes.  I did only that which had to be done.  Sebastian still needed walked.  Sacraments still needed to be celebrated.  The staff meeting still had to take place.  There was a person who wanted a meeting because she wants to be Catholic – these things you don’t put off unless you really have to.

 

A week ago I was walking Sebastian around the property and was just overwhelmed at how fortunate I was, not only to be a priest, but to be a priest of this parish.  So many wonderful things take place here.  I just had to stop and give thanks to God – stop everything – pause – and say thank you.

 

That’s when it hit me: Do I only say thank you when things are going my way?  I do.  Why am I not always thankful?  Ten billion things needed to go right for me to recognized one thing that is not going my way and I can allow that to ruin an otherwise good day.

 

So today, I am achy, I have a headache, I can’t breathe through my nose, my throat is sore, and I am losing my voice.  But you know what, that just points out to me what a wonderful life I do have normally.  99.99% of the time I can breathe, I do feel good, I do have a voice.  This little glitch should remind me of the great gifts that I do have.  So even though I don’t feel on top of the world today, God, I thank you for the many blessing that there really are present seen a little cloudy today through mucus and interrupted by coughs and sneezes.  You remind me to be thankful for these things I take for granted.  What wonders you give.

 

So, if I’ve learned my lesson, may I please breathe again now?

LITANY OF THAT WHICH IS TAKEN FOR GRANTED

You woke up this morning.

            Did you thank God?

You had safe, reliable electricity to run your clock and your lamp.

            Did you thank God?

You planted your feet on the floor and stood up.

            Did you thank God?

You had clean, abundant water with which to brush your teeth.

            Did you thank God?

Water was pumped into your house at your preferred temperature for your shower.

            Did you thank God?

You had to choose which clothes you were going to wear today.

            Did you thank God?

There was something in the cupboard for breakfast.

            Did you thank God?

God gave us coffee!

            Did you thank God?

You live in the most free, richest, most pampered society in the world or history.

            Did you thank God?

You have access to a computer.

            Did you thank God?

You had time to read something like this.

            Did you thank God?

You can see and read.

            Did you thank God?

There may be something really horrible about this day for you.  It absorbs much of your attention, time, and energy.  But an awful lot had to go right today for you to be able to focus on that which was horribly wrong.

            Do you trust God?

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS

I am so fortunate. I get to be pastor of a great parish with fantastic people, beautiful buildings, and wonderful liturgies. Our music is something to boast about, the involvement and dedication to the parish by the people is out of this world, and there is a great appreciation for the Blessed Sacrament.

On a more selfish note, I live in a great house with great people, have a hardworking staff who I like, and it is all in a rather remarkable part of town. I’m lucky and I know it.

Then somebody asked me the other day, “If you only had today what you have thanks for yesterday, what would you have?” Now there’s something about which to think!

The word “Eucharist” itself means thanksgiving so perhaps today we would still celebrate Mass. We are of the custom saying grace so there would be food today. (Yeah!) That’s a great start. I remember feeling thankful for some things but can’t necessarily say that I formed a formal thank you in my thoughts. The cooler weather, that there was gas in my sister’s mower, that I was not stuck in the traffic jam going in the other direction as I was traveling down the highway. But did I actually express my gratitude? These things are boarder line and I believe God in His generosity would let these things count.

What did not even come to mind was my health, that I had a reliable car, drinking water and bathing water, electricity and things that run on electricity, money for luxuries such as dog food, people to wave to as I walk around the neighborhood, that I have freedom, rights, protection, that I can see, hear, smell, taste, and feel, that I have blog and people like you to read them – I take that one back – I offer a prayer for my readers and my parish every day.

Interesting thought – What would you have today if you only had what you gave thanks for yesterday? I ties in nicely with another quote: “No one can be truly sad and truly thankful at the same time.”

THANK YOU FOR READING - YOU ARE AWESOME

In this world nothing seems to make something more beautiful than death. We are motivated to move forward because we are running out of time. If we lived forever on earth would we be in such a big hurry to remodel the bathroom? “We are going to be here for centuries, let’s wait till the next millennium. Please pass the cheesepuffs and the remote.”

It also motivates us to appreciate things. Spring flowers are such an appreciated show because in a couple of weeks they will be gone for another year. So we go for a walk, stop, look, and mark them as special since their beauty is so fleeting.

Food is like that too – or rather was until we discovered ways to have fresh fruits and vegetables year round. How much more luscious was that apple or that tomato when it was only able to be eaten fresh and raw in its season. Now we take for granted that we can have such food stuffs year round.

Youth grab the day with gusto and bleed every moment from a free summer day because to them the day is short and will soon die and it will be time to go to bed. The older one gets the more beautiful life looks because we realize not how short the day is, but how short life is.

Stop today and appreciate something that whizzes past your radar screen because whatever it is just always seems to be there and there will always be time to appreciate it. As we have discovered in our diocese, parishes may not be forever. Our homes, humble as they may be, provide shelter and has housed so many of our life’s events. The person who provides a service for you everyday like the postman could be thanked in a special way. A prayer of appreciation could be offered for your car that started today and every day of the last few years even in cold winter days like today.

The people that you live with everyday and are so easily assumed that they should know that you love them need to be reminded now and then as well as we needing to remember that we love them. There’s the dog that hasn’t been played with in a while, the person that may have not been called during this busy time, the grand oak in the yard, or the piece of art that was purchased that has not been contemplated for a spell.

These are all gifts and there are many more of them waiting to be reopened in this advent season once again.

A PLATE FULL OF GRATEFUL

Here is a great and timely Doonsebury comic.

Giving thanks does not come naturally to humans. It is something that is learned. It is a social grace. This morning I was sitting in my room thinking of some of the things that happened the last couple of days and thinking how many times I forgot to say thank you. Now I have time to think how much I or the parish have benefited by somebody’s generosity or the well executed accomplishment of their job and so I am at least able to offer a prayer for them.

This time of year it is important to remember to be thankful for that which we often take for granted. A gentleman going in for surgery called this morning and said that his daughter actually beat him into the operating room with her own unexpected problem. So today I call to mind how grateful I am for what health I have. Every time I get a cold I think about how appreciative I am going to be when I can breathe properly again. What an absolute blessing that is. Yet after I wake up and think, “Wow, I can breathe again!” I go back to taking it as just the state of things.

Not too long ago I had some house guests. We were having dinner. Due to health problems some of the menu had to be modified. Even at that, one of the guests still needed to be excused for a few moments to attend to some personal health concerns. Again, what a gift it is (and it is ALL gift) not to have to worry too much about such things. But even if I did, we were able to enjoy a great meal together and had the means for each to eat as their body demands.

I often wish in the midst of such a meal that everyone in the world could experience such an evening at least once. That is a form of thankfulness I suppose. And it is thankfulness that truly adds to the specialness of the experience: to be aware that it is all gift, to be cognizant of the fact that it need not be this way save for the grace of God, to know how rare, considering the rest of the world and history of man, our gathering at meals actually is. It is mind blowing.

That is not to say we should be dower in enjoying our opportunities to feast as we do at Thanksgiving. In fact, I think after remembering how thankful we should be we should make effort to pay attention and truly enjoy ever moment, taste, smell, sight, every contact with our brothers and sisters so as to not waste a moment of this overwhelming grace. Don’t squander a morsel of it! “Remember the poor starving children in (insert whatever you may have been told here” is a good saying. Not in order to force you to shove down your throat more food than you could care to eat, but to remember that this meal and the safety and warmth of the place in which you eat it is a rare bird in deed and to enjoy the experience down to the very marrow of it so as to express your understanding that you are so very blessed.

A SHOWER OF BLESSINGS

DANGER: I am in an outrageously good mood today.

Did you take a shower this morning? I did. Remember, no matter how badly today is going, you took a shower this morning.

Think about it. You stepped into a shower most likely in the place where you live, maybe even in a place you own. You walked in on your own. That means you are pretty healthy, at least for the most part. First thing you did when you went in was switch on the light. Isn’t that amazing? If you were to touch electricity, it would kill you. But we mastered it, harnessed it, and every day almost without fail you touch a little switch and this energy, this incredible force produced further away from your home than you will probably travel today shoots through wires strung up along miles of road, comes into your building and lights a lamp so that you can see in your bathroom. All that you had to do was lift a finger.

The percentage is in the single digits of the number of people in the world who had water collected, purified, (probably had fluoride added) pumped underground with sufficient power to reach your home where it is heated to your exact specifications and then shot out of your showerhead.

How many soaps do you have in your shower? Bar soap, shampoo? Conditioner? I have only one: a great big giant bottle of vanilla smelling goodness. You lose interest in the other things when you lose your hair.

When you stepped out you had a towel. Most likely it was clean. And if it wasn’t it was only because you hadn’t gotten around to it yet. Then there were are all kinds of toiletries to use from deodorant to aftershave. And when you were all done, all the wastewater was magically whisked away along with all of the filth, taken miles away again quietly and efficiently where it will be cleaned and returned to nature.

The biggest risk faced during the whole process was probably slipping. There were no threats of air raids or genocide. In fact, nothing much went wrong for these precious few moments. As a matter of fact, chances are that if you took stock of most of the events that happened thus far today, the number of things that went right will out number that which went poorly probably in the millions to one.

Things did, or will go wrong today. Something maybe even serious. It will need your attention and may even make you feel legitimately blue. But remember to be thankful for everything that went well too. Remember that you had a shower this morning. You cannot be sad and thankful at the same time. And when something does go wrong, you will be able to handle it a little better knowing that mostly things go right and this too shall pass.
And still, even if they don’t, God loves you. And with that, even if they chop your head off, all will be well.