Happy Holy Days

Summer Reading

Just in case anyone has been wondering why I haven’t posted on this blog in over 18 months, I’ve been focusing on another project – writing a book, actually. I’m working on the final chapter now; then there are just a few small holes to patch and the final editing. The end is in sight. My plan was to finish the book before picking up blogging, but the Spirit has prompted me…

Summer is here, the kids are out of school and people are looking forward to vacations – fun in the sun, and maybe relaxing with a good book. My friend Laura recently mentioned Stephen King’s recommended summer reading list. No doubt, lots of people will be reading and talking about the books on his list, and I’m sure they’re all entertaining reads.

But in addition to all the fun and fantasy, why not include a few choices that will feed our souls? Maybe you’re thinking, “Borrringgg…” Not necessarily. And on that note, I’d like to offer Darrell’s counter-cultural summer reading list (Christian culture as opposed to popular culture): seven interesting selections with substance.

Between Heaven and Hell
Peter Kreeft
One of four fiction titles in this list, this book is based on a very interesting fact: on November 22, 1963, three famous men – C. S. Lewis, John F. Kennedy and Aldous Huxley – all died within a few hours of each other. Kreeft imagines their conversation when the three meet up in Purgatory. Very entertaining and at the same time profound. I loved this book!

MOTHER TERESA: Come Be My Light
Edited and with commentary by Brian Kolodiejchuk
The personal letters of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta provide an intimate look at one of the most widely known disciples of our time. Each of us is a called to respond to the grace of God, but for most of us, He gives us a lot of freedom in deciding how we will serve Him as individuals. But a chosen few are called in a very specific and unmistakable way. The writings of Mother Teresa reveal the private struggles of a little woman from Yugoslavia who became the “Saint of Calcutta.”

Three Philosophies of Life
Peter Kreeft
The only writer to make this list twice, I confess he’s my favorite author. I’ve never had any formal education in philosophy, but having read over a half-dozen of Peter Kreeft’s books is probably better. Dr. Kreeft, a professor of philosophy at Boston College, calls Ecclesiastes, Job, and Song of Songs “the most profound books of philosophy I’ve ever read.” He reveals that in these three books, we have a great epic played out in our hearts and lives, and an “essential summary of the spiritual history of the world.” These books explore the most important questions we can ask: What is life under the sun for? Why must we suffer? And it reveals the final answer. It’s a short book, only 140 pages, but profound, and I highly recommend it.

The previous three selections are books I have read and recommend. These next four titles are the books I myself plan on reading this summer.

The Death of a Pope
Piers Paul Read
This newly released book looks to be a really good political thriller.
“Piers Paul Read has managed to combine sheer storytelling power with great learning and insight about the inner workings of the Church to fashion an entertainment of the highest order. If John le Carre took on Vatican politics, his book of suspense might aspire to be much like this one.”
--Ron Hansen

“If you love the Catholic Church, you will probably love this book whether or not you love a good story. If you love a good story, you will probably love this book whether or not you love the Catholic Church. But if you love both the Church and a good story, you will certainly love this book.”
--Peter Kreeft

MONSIGNOR QUIXOTE
Graham Greene
Based on Cervantes’ classic Don Quixote, two friends tilt at modern-day windmills. I’ve read one other book by Greene, The Power and the Glory, about a hunted priest in Mexico: it was interesting, but, at times, I struggled not to put the book down; however the ending was incredible, inspiring and well worth it. I decided to consider Monsignor Quixote based solely on this recommendation: a Spanish priest and the local Communist “take off on a road trip into idealism (for they are both idealists) and, at the end, find something like revelation.” I read the first two pages of the book on-line and was laughing out loud.


Our Lady of Kibeho
Immaculée Ilibagiza
In 1994, a bloody genocide left more than a million dead in Rwanda, Africa. In Left To Tell, Immaculée shared how she and seven other women survived by hiding together in a cramped bathroom for 91 terrifying days! Thirteen years earlier in 1981, the Blessed Virgin Mary began appearing to a group of children in Kibeho, Rwanda with messages of a looming holocaust, which could be averted if the people of Rwanda would only open their hearts to the love of God. In Our Lady of Kibeho, Immaculee tells the story of Our Lady’s apparitions to the young visionaries – the only Vatican approved apparitions in Africa. My friend Sue recommended this book to me: “I could not put the book down…you’ll love it.”

Out of the Silent Planet
C.S. Lewis
There was a period as a young man when I was very into science fiction; I read hundreds of books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert A. Heinlein, Piers Anthony and others. Now I find out that one of the most influential Christian writers of the twentieth century also wrote science fiction! As a boy, I loved C.S. Lewis’s fantasy series The Narnia Chronicles, and I loved reading them again as an adult: tales of four children transported to a world of fauns, centaurs and talking beasts, laced with insights into truth. Out of the Silent Planet is the first book in Lewis’s The Space Trilogy. Recommended by a friend: “In addition to telling a good story, Lewis finds time to shed light on all sorts of issues about God and morality.” Another wrote, “Lewis also has a gift for making strong points in his novel (about Christianity in particular) without making the reader feel guilty, because he uses such human characters that are filled with normal and relatable flaws.”

Be Prepared

“Be prepared” is the Boy Scout motto, but this past week these words have taken on a whole new meaning for me.

I went on a much needed retreat this past weekend, and it was wonderful, a very powerful experience. There’s a lot of turmoil in the world right now with ongoing armed conflicts in various regions of the world and the ever-present threat of global terrorism. Here in the United States of America, we are fast approaching an election year, and there’s a lot of concern about who will take the reigns of the executive chair and which direction they will attempt to steer our country, and where this will take us. Will we cling tenuously to the ideals of our founding fathers? Or will we go the way of the European Union and reject our Christian heritage?

There seems to be a lot of turmoil and conflict in our personal lives as well. One incident left my heart troubled and wondering how to respond (or even if I should).

So when I met up with my friend Pat last Friday afternoon, I told her, “I really need this retreat.” As we were getting ready to leave, rain started to fall, the first significant rain in many, many months here in the Arizona desert, a real drencher, and it seemed to me that this first major storm of the season was a reflection of a very real spiritual storm in the world. Pat and I left the valley and drove through the rain up the mountain to the Shrine of St. Joseph.

Upon arriving in Yarnel, we were surprised to find that the little barbecue restaurant where it had become tradition for us to have dinner had gone out of business. Another reminder that everything in this earthly life comes to an end…

This retreat was basically a gathering of a core group of friends, old and new, who have worked in a couple of ministries together. We talked and we shared, laughed and cried, and we prayed. Friday night, as the storm raged outside, we each of us shared what was going on in our lives. Some have been struggling with various trials, such as grief or adjusting to being newly single; others were worried about the economy, the real estate market or their jobs; some have been away from ministry for a while working on personal goals, and a couple of individuals shared how they didn’t like their own recent behavior or the people they were becoming. And a few of us related how we were in a really good place at the moment; our lives were hardly perfect—there were still trials, struggles and even turmoil, but that was OK: we had our faith. Even if we were to lose everything tomorrow… So what? God is in His Heaven, and He loves us and forgives us our sins if we truly repent in our hearts. And He prepares a place for us.

When we arose on Saturday morning, the storm had passed; but a dense fog hung in the air, and we could not see the mountain top. Pat told us the Native American tale of Two Wolves:

A Cherokee was talking with his grandson. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One wolf is evil and ugly: he is anger, envy, war, greed, self-pity, sorrow, regret, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, selfishness and arrogance. The other wolf is beautiful and good: he is friendly, joyful, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, justice, fairness, empathy, generosity, true, compassion, gratitude, and faith. This same fight is going on inside you and inside every other person as well."
The grandson paused in deep reflection, and then asked, "Which wolf will win?"
The grandfather replied, "The one you feed."

Pat also read from the transcript of a presentation on the fruits of the Spirit of the Father, given by The Preacher to the Pope, Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa:

The second fruit of this year of the spirit of the Father should be to accept each other as brothers and sisters; to reconcile between us; to accept us as brothers and sisters. There is one thing you should never do with a father or a mother and this is to ask from them to make a choice—to side with one son against the other; this you cannot ask from a father. Do you? It’s a cruel choice. You can’t say I thought you were with me or with my brother. We won’t stay together. This is terrible—terrible. And this is what we very often say maybe implicitly to God the Father to make a choice, to side with somebody—either me or my brothers. We must reconcile, accept each other, especially those we would rather keep away from our life. We could make no better offer than to reconcile with somebody, with whom we have a bad relation. And right now we can decide to reconcile. This reconciliation must take place within the family between husband and wife, parents and children. It must take place in the community…

We went together to the vigil Mass for the First Sunday of Advent, the season of joyous expectation, a season of preparation. In the Gospel reading, Jesus tells us we must “be prepared”. The priest spoke of death and the “Three Grants”: Grant that we do not die in mortal sin; grant that we are able to fulfill our mission in life; and grant that our death is not too much of a burden on others. This spoke very powerfully to me. Only a few years ago, I was in such grief that I didn’t ever think I would find joy again. But God filled the hole in my heart. He gave to my family a beautiful daughter, and He’s brought so many wonderful people into my life, fellow disciples. I am ready to go to eternity whenever God calls me, but now I have a sense that I have a mission to fulfill. God grant that I am able to fulfill it. We all can know this: if we are still here on this earth, God has work for us to do. We each of us can ask ourselves, “What is my mission in this life? What gifts has He given me? How can I use my gifts to serve God?” God is so good and generous, and He has given me gifts that I love.

I think by the end of the retreat, we all of us agreed that we need to be answering our call to evangelize, to be actively working in ministry. I believe we all realized that if we’re not continuing to pursue our mission in this life, it’s very easy to begin falling away.

On Sunday morning, we arose to clear skies and sunshine. For our final exercise, we each of us went off alone to sit and listen for what God had to say to us individually. I found a rock on top of a hill, and I sat and listened. The air was perfectly still, and I listened to the silence. From over the hill, an eagle or large hawk soared across the sky, and he never once flapped his wings. Then I felt Jesus speak to my heart:

Darrell,
I want you to think of all the gifts I have given you—the graces, the wonders I have shown you, all the fellow apostles I have brought into your life, this great communion of saints you are part of. I want you to reflect on all these things and store them up in your heart. And whenever you may become weary or the road may seem too difficult, you will remember all these things, and you will know that I am with you. You will remember where you have been, and where I have brought you, and you can trust that My grace will be sufficient for you.
Jesus

Thy Kingdom Come

The Church teaches that God gives freedom to every person He creates: the freedom to choose and to act, the freedom to decide how we want to live our lives. When Jesus, the Word Made Flesh walked this Earth, He talked a lot about our choices and the ways of this world and of His Kingdom, and how we should live if we want to follow Him. We see this in today’s Gospel reading:

When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said, “Does not your teacher pay the temple tax?”“Yes,” he said.When he came into the house, before he had time to speak, Jesus asked him,
“What is your opinion, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax? From their subjects or from foreigners?”When he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him,“Then the subjects are exempt. But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax. Give that to them for me and for you.”
--Matthew 17: 24-27

The first thing we read is that the tax collectors come to Peter. And what do they want? Money. This is the nature of this fallen world we live in: it costs to live; as a result of the choice of our first parents, we must work to survive – by our sweat we get bread to eat.

It’s very interesting that Jesus calls the tax collectors “the kings of the earth.” The kingdom of this world is money, material things, wealth, power and fame – things that do not last. Jesus tells us that His Kingdom is not of this world. This Earth is not our home; our home is in eternity. We are “foreigners” here, aliens and visitors – we are not subjects of the “kings of this earth.” Even though the Christian way is not the way of a selfish and materialistic society, we have to live in this world, to work and make our way, and Jesus tells us not to offend. And this is the struggle, the challenge we face: not to accept the ways of this world, but to live in it, following the ways of our King, Christ Jesus.

Also, we see that Jesus Himself provides the way to pay the tax. God provides. Although Jesus could have produced the payment Himself; instead He told Simon Peter to go and catch a fish. Why? Well, Peter was a fisherman; that was the way he made his living. God provides the way; we do the work. Finally, the coin was enough for their payment, nothing more, and I think that’s what we can count on: God will provide for us what we need.

THE KINGDOM OF STUFF
By Andrew Costello
Most of us are citizens of the Kingdom of Stuff.
We’re overloaded: our wires, our clothes, our closets, our stomachs, our lives.
There are so many plugs, so many wires in our outlets, that we always pull out the wrong one when we want to bring the portable TV into the kitchen for supper.
We don’t want to miss anything. We want to have everything.
Our suitcases won’t close, so we go out and buy bigger ones, and then we build bigger airplanes.
We dash around in the Kingdom of Stuff, driving full speed ahead, wasting time, wasting fuel, wasting our lives, looking for the latest gadgets, the latest stuff.
We don’t know how to cut, to reduce the budget, to trim the fat out of our lives.
No wonder we can’t get through the eye of the needle. No wonder we don’t know anything about the Kingdom of God, about the prayer and service. No wonder we don’t believe that there is a vast sky of possibilities on the other side of the needle.
We can’t fix it.
We refuse to sell what we have and give it to the poor. No, we keep speeding down our eight lane highway, playing our stereos, playing our song,
“Happy are the rich, the Kingdom of Stuff is theirs.”
God emptied himself. He gave up everything to come through the eye of the needle, to come into the Kingdom of Stuff.
He walked around telling people to empty their lives, empty their suitcases, in fact get rid of them “no traveling bags,” and began walking the narrow road through the eye of the needle into the Kingdom of God.
--Meditations for Everyone

Dear children! I am your Mother and I invite you to come closer to God through prayer because only He is your peace, your savior. Therefore, little children, do not seek comfort in material things, but rather seek God. I am praying for you and I intercede before God for each individual. I am looking for your prayers that you accept me and accept my messages as in the first days of the apparitions and only then when you open your hearts and pray will miracles happen. Thank you for having responded to my call.
--Our Lady of Medjugorje, September 25, 1993

Gifts

It’s summer in the Arizona desert, and the temperature officially hit 115 yesterday. The sun was setting as I was leaving work, and as I walked out of the air conditioned hospital, the air was burning the skin of my face and my ears. It’s hot.

Took my usual route for my walk this morning and already it was getting hot. About two miles into it, I hit a stretch where the sprinklers were going. A gentle breeze blew across the path, and I stepped into a beautiful cool mist. It felt really wonderful, and I decided to stand there and cool down for a minute; but after only a few seconds, the sprinklers shut off! I had to chuckle to myself.

God is good to have given me that gift of coolness, a little respite from the heat, but I guess He didn’t put us here to be idle. There’s work to be done. I continued on my walk.

Thank you, Lord, for giving me a little relief from the heat. Thank you, that I woke this morning with a song of praise in my heart. Thank you, Lord, for your Creation, for the blue sky and white clouds, for the grass and trees and the little hummingbirds I saw on my walk today. Thank you, also, for the fly that pestered me briefly and the cloud of gnats I walked through, for these things remind us of the nature of this fallen world, lest we forget. Thank you, for the grace to recognize your speaking to me in all these things. Thank you, for the strong legs you have given me that I am even able to walk. Thank you, Lord, for the understanding you give me. Thank you, Lord, for never ceasing to call to me, and thank you, for the grace to seek you and the grace to answer you. Thank you, for my wife and my beautiful children and my friends and everyone you have placed in my path, that we may all walk together, helping each other along. Thank you, my Lord and my God, that you made me to know you, to love you and serve you in this world, and to be happy with you forever in the next. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Struggle

On my walk the other morning, I was going along an irrigation canal at one point and spotted a mother duck with three little ducklings. The mother duck began swimming in the other direction while quacking very loudly – calling for her young to follow. After going about ten feet or so, the mother duck exited the canal on the opposite side, climbed to the top of the bank, turned around and continued to call very loudly and unceasingly to her children. The little ducks followed their mother. The baby ducks looked to be no more than a few days old, and although the canal bank was only three or four feet high, it was very steep. It must have looked like a mountain to those little ducklings, and they struggled to follow their mother. Half-way up, one of them fell and tumbled all the way back down into the water, but the little guy got right back up and started climbing again; and all the while, the mother duck never stopped calling to her young. I stood and watched the little ones in their struggle, and they finally made it to the top. I continued on my walk.

Lord Jesus Christ, for over a quarter of a century, in Medjugorje, You have sent your Mother to the world, and always she greets us, “Dear children!” Unceasingly she calls to us; always she calls us to conversion; always she encourages us to follow Jesus; always she implores us to climb the mountain of prayer and holiness. Lord Jesus, give us the grace to listen to Blessed Mother; give us the grace to always follow the right path; give us the grace to choose to climb.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
Amen.

Our Lady, Queen of Peace, pray for us!

The Ascension of the Lord

He answered them, "It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, "Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven."
--Acts 1: 7-11

In my mind, I can picture the Apostles there on the summit of Mount Olivet, standing looking intently at the sky. They had been with Jesus from the beginning, a ragtag collection --a tax collector, farmers and fisherman; they had left everything to follow Jesus, and He told them He would make them fishers of men. They had heard Jesus’ words of truth, seen Him feed the multitudes, cast out demons, cure the sick, and raise the dead! Even then, they did not fully understand, but in their hearts they knew that Jesus was the Way, the Truth and the Life. They had been Blessed to understand that Jesus was the Christ; but Jesus told them that He had come as a suffering servant to be condemned and executed. At the last supper, He washed their feet; then He instituted the Eucharist, giving Himself to us – spiritual food in material form – and He promised the coming of the Holy Spirit as our helper and guide. And then Jesus was arrested and tortured and condemned and crucified – imagine the confusion and horrible grief they felt. Then, on the third day, they found the empty tomb – Jesus had risen! And for forty days He again appeared to them; He walked and ate with them; He taught and He prayed with them. And they followed Jesus up the mountain, and He ascended into the clouds…

Last week, Dusty and Isabella came home from the corner smoothie shop with a couple of helium balloons. They let the balloons get away, and we watched them ascend into the sky. We were able to see them for quite a few minutes as we watched them go higher and higher and get smaller and smaller. Eventually, there came a point when we could no longer see the balloons. We stood there a few moments more, searching the sky to see if we could find the balloons, but they were gone.

I can picture Jesus followers standing on Mount Olivet, looking intently at the sky, looking for Jesus. I can imagine the uncertainty they felt, perhaps wondering to themselves, “What will we do now? How are we to go on without Jesus?” I can just picture them standing there in silence, maybe glancing at one another, not knowing what to say or do, and looking back at the sky. I’ll bet they didn’t want to come down off that mountain…

And then two men dressed in white garments – Angels – appeared beside them and asked them, "Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?” At that point, they still lacked understanding because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon them. But Jesus had given them a mission – “be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth.” And the men in white garments reminded them of this and told them that, "This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”

There’s a lot going on in the world right now that causes many people a lot of fear and anxiety. I think there are a lot of people just waiting for God to do something, a lot like Jesus’ followers standing on the mountain of Olivet – but Jesus gave them a mission, just as He has given us His modern day disciples a mission. Just a few days ago in Aparecida, Brazil, Pope Benedict XVI echoed the words of Jesus – “be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth” -- in giving His Apostles and Disciples their mission: “I remind the lay faithful that they too are the Church, the assembly called together by Christ so as to bring His witness to the whole world.”

The Holy Father also said, “Christians are called to announce the Resurrection with force.” We are not supposed to stand around looking to the heavens waiting for God to act; we are to proclaim the good news boldly! How do we do this? My own personal opinion is that we do this in two ways: first, we profess our faith and we wear it on our sleeves; we let people know who we are and what it is we stand for. We wear the cross of Jesus and we display it prominently in our homes. When others are putting up secular holiday decorations, we decorate with religious Holy Day displays. We look for those who are seeking or troubled, and we ask if they would like to know Jesus. We don’t push ourselves on anyone, but neither do we hide our faith. How will anyone believe in Jesus if they don’t see that we believe in Him?

The second way in which we profess our faith is we believe in that we live it; we not only talk the talk, we walk the walk. We put God in the first place in our lives by believing in family and praying together as a family and making going to church on Sunday the highlight of our week, not something we squeeze into our busy schedules. We do our best to live by God’s Commandments, and when we stumble, when we sin, we acknowledge that it is by our own weaknesses and shortcomings; we do not deny the standard of Truth. When we fall, we seek reconciliation with our God. We seek to follow Jesus, to give as He gave, to forgive as He forgives, and to love as He is Love. This is what it means to believe; this is what it means to live as a Christian. If we truly believe, our works will show it.

If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well," but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
--James 2: 15-17

On May 2, 2007, the Blessed Virgin Mary in Medjugorje gave this message for the world:
"Dear children! Today I come to you with a motherly desire for you to give me your hearts. My children, do this with complete trust and without fear. In your hearts, I will put my Son and His mercy. Then, my children, you will look at the world around you with different eyes. You will see your neighbor. You will feel his pain and suffering. You will not turn your head away from those who suffer, because my Son turns His head away from those who do so. Children, do not hesitate."

Our Lady’s words echo the words of Sacred Scripture.

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
--James 1: 27

Our Lord Jesus, the suffering servant who washed the Apostles feet, Himself said,
“Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do…”
--John 14: 12

THE CORPORAL WORKS OF MERCY
Feed the hungry.

Give drink to the thirsty.

Give clothing to the naked.

Shelter the homeless.

Care for the sick.

Visit the imprisoned.

Bury the dead.