Just how difficult was it for the disciples to cast their nets for a catch? Commercial fishing isn't an easy thing. I've seen the reality shows, watched Forest Gump try shrimping, even tried charter fishing for salmon on Lake Michigan. Its difficult work. Jesus seemed to be on to something by calling these fishermen to do the work of spreading the Good News of God's love. He didn't, for instance, really depend upon affluent folks who had an easy life-style. He knew that those who were going to do the work of the Gospel needed to be workers.
Today there is a lot of talk about the New Evangelization. There's the talk of the launch of the New Evangelization and how important it is for the vitality of the Church. There is really something to be said about how much work this is going to be. No priest really ever wants more of a workload put on them. When I was in seminary and you were asked to help with something, the rector told you to always say, "Yes." There was a reason he told us that. Maybe because he know us guys didn't want to work any harder than necessary. I think that's called the status-quo. In the spiritual life, we call it sloth, acedia, spiritual apathy or in lay terms laziness.
Casting your nets over and over again, day after day has got to be really exhausting. Making the nets, mending the nets, hauling them in with fish over the side of the boat rain or shine every day. Ugggg. Thank God he didn't call me to this vocation....o wait maybe He did...o ya, the priesthood.
Then I got to thinking about the particular apostolate I am working right now. There are innumerable expedition retreats being put on for youth and young adults every year and it too is difficult work. It is so easy to avoid the work, to "delegate" it to others and abrogate my priestly responsibilities. For me, the net seems to be driving our bus and car up and down highway 42/57 4 times a week for a combined 410 miles a week. I suppose the bus is a "net" that is used to gather souls. It allows us to bring countless youth to Christ in the Eucharist. Having my commercial drivers license has been a blessing and a curse. While some can sign different initials after their names, I can by golly sign C.D.L! Hauling souls up to retreat makes it accessible for young people to actually make retreat. The fact that we have 15 high school students on a retreat on the second weekend of a school year is quit remarkable. That is 15 students who want to be on retreat.
So I'll gladly continue to cast this net out, over and over again. It may not be the same type of net the disciples used to bring souls to Christ, but in today's world it may be a modern net. One thing is for certain, the hard work has not changed. We could all benefit doing the work of the New Evangelization and realize that there is no way to diminish the cost it has on us. Instead of the cerebral and theorized babble of the New Evangelization, that is, just talking about it, we learn that doing it is a whole other ball game.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Letter of Love Overrules Letter of Litigious Law
St. Paul and Covairs have something in common and can teach us a lot about the spiritual life.
Last week, I stopped to see my folks and I noticed a "new" car parked in our driveway. My dad had just purchased a 1965 Covair. Last month I finished a book entitled, Engines of Change, which tells the story of a handful of vehicles that impacted American culture in a dramatic way from the Model T to the Toyota Prius. The author made the bold claim that the Covair has had the most influential impact on American culture. Why? Well, the Covair was GM's response to the VW Beetle made by a post WW II German Car company. The Covair, as did the Beetle, contained a rear-mounted engine. Unfortunately, the Covair's problem was instability. Because there was too much weight in the back, the car had the propensity of running off the road very easily, especially around corners. Long story short, Ralph Nader began a consumer crusade to sue the pants off of GM and wrote a book entitled, "Unsafe at Any Speed." Thus the modern litigious movement in the United States. Soon, people were suing McDonald's for making their coffee too hot. Today, you can't talk to someone if there is a potential conflict without contacting a lawyer, or even buy a property without some type of lawyer to draft some type of legal document up for you. Insurance is wed to a litigious society and one wonders just how long we will be able to do youth ministry! Our expedition registration form alone has four pages of litigious verbiage.
However, is the era of litigation anything new? Nope. Listen to St. Paul in today's first reading, "Can it be that there is not one among you wise enough to be able to settle a case between brothers? But rather brother goes to court against brother, and that before unbelievers? Now indeed then it is, in any case, a failure on your part that you have lawsuits against one another. Why not rather put up with injustice? Would you not rather let yourselves be cheated?" (I Cor 6)
This is the holy indifference the Lord calls us to! We don't belong to this world. We are in the world but not of the world. I am not making a claim that law has no place in society by any means. Law is important in defending the innocent and protecting our God-given rights in a just society. Unfortunately, the letter of litigious law overrules the letter of God's love so very often in our lives. We see the letter of this worldly law as superior to God's law of love. It would be good for us to remember that perspective puts God's love in the driver's seat and rule of law in the passenger seat. In the meantime, I will thank God for Covairs, St. Paul and God's letter of love, but I won't get in my Dad's Covair.
Last week, I stopped to see my folks and I noticed a "new" car parked in our driveway. My dad had just purchased a 1965 Covair. Last month I finished a book entitled, Engines of Change, which tells the story of a handful of vehicles that impacted American culture in a dramatic way from the Model T to the Toyota Prius. The author made the bold claim that the Covair has had the most influential impact on American culture. Why? Well, the Covair was GM's response to the VW Beetle made by a post WW II German Car company. The Covair, as did the Beetle, contained a rear-mounted engine. Unfortunately, the Covair's problem was instability. Because there was too much weight in the back, the car had the propensity of running off the road very easily, especially around corners. Long story short, Ralph Nader began a consumer crusade to sue the pants off of GM and wrote a book entitled, "Unsafe at Any Speed." Thus the modern litigious movement in the United States. Soon, people were suing McDonald's for making their coffee too hot. Today, you can't talk to someone if there is a potential conflict without contacting a lawyer, or even buy a property without some type of lawyer to draft some type of legal document up for you. Insurance is wed to a litigious society and one wonders just how long we will be able to do youth ministry! Our expedition registration form alone has four pages of litigious verbiage.
However, is the era of litigation anything new? Nope. Listen to St. Paul in today's first reading, "Can it be that there is not one among you wise enough to be able to settle a case between brothers? But rather brother goes to court against brother, and that before unbelievers? Now indeed then it is, in any case, a failure on your part that you have lawsuits against one another. Why not rather put up with injustice? Would you not rather let yourselves be cheated?" (I Cor 6)
This is the holy indifference the Lord calls us to! We don't belong to this world. We are in the world but not of the world. I am not making a claim that law has no place in society by any means. Law is important in defending the innocent and protecting our God-given rights in a just society. Unfortunately, the letter of litigious law overrules the letter of God's love so very often in our lives. We see the letter of this worldly law as superior to God's law of love. It would be good for us to remember that perspective puts God's love in the driver's seat and rule of law in the passenger seat. In the meantime, I will thank God for Covairs, St. Paul and God's letter of love, but I won't get in my Dad's Covair.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Don't Change for the Sake of Changing
Praise
the Lord! We all know that the
only constant in life seems to be change. We tell God our plans and
He laughs at us. The trick is to laugh with
HIM, however, and not try to be laughed at!
Ministry should reflect the changes and flexibility of our own
lives. If not, church becomes nothing but the “gray-pragmatism”
that Benedict XVI warns us against. We do everything for the sake of
doing it and never ask the deeper meaning of why we are doing it!
Its like all those college students running around typing up papers
and reading crazy books that having nothing to do with the movement
of God's love. They shuffle from one class to the next, one
miserable test to another, not knowing why they are even doing it!
Priesthood
can be the same. Unfortunately, many priests find themselves in this
dull and lifeless ministerial situation. One council meeting to
another or dare I say one Mass to another in a row of four for one
Sunday. Returning to the rectory exhausted and alone with no real
community for support. What's up with that! Is that what God calls
His Church to? NO! He calls us to life and life demands change. In
Mission of the Redeemer,
we read that it is not an option for a priest to visit a missionary
country once-in-a-while. Change is a shot in the arm. Different
experiences and encounters are life-giving. Fear holds us to these
miffed-models of mediocrity.
As
such, it is important to HEAR God. It is important to let HIS name
roll off our lips and realize the immutable God is the ultimate
master of flex-time. He moves! The Missionary Internship isn't
moving, but it is changing this year. We will have only one segment
of the Apostolate up and running. It will be the four men and
myself. However, our primary apostolate will not be talks talks and
more talks. We will be moving. Moving up north five days a week to
work on Saint Joseph Formation Center on a GRAND remodel project. In
the meantime, we will be heading up weekend expeditions. So if you
are having difficulty reaching us it is because we've changed a bit
in order to respond to the imperative of the Holy Spirit. WE gotta
listen to HIM!
The
women's side of things looks much different. They are entering their
own community life that is separate and distinct from the Missionary
Internship. Although they will help with expeditions at times, they
are very engaged in a strict daily routine that has ramped up their
formation in a profound way to create a separate identity and support
to Catholic Youth Expeditions. We wish them our prayers and
support. Please pray for them.
So
change enlivens us and in the end, it's purpose is to fulfill the
mission and respond to the mission of Jesus Christ in a more
effective way as to win souls for HIM. This leadership, I pray will
turn our focus ever-new on the epidemic of the young person's plight
within the culture of death. Let us bring a culture of life into the
world by the WORD who's voice changes hearts. The most important
heart to be changed is our own so let us be open. Now &
Forever!
Monday, September 3, 2012
Don't Shove Jesus Away
Jesus stood in the Synogogue and said, "Today this reading has been fulfilled in your hearing." I've always tried to imagine what it would have been like to be in Church that day when Jesus made this statement. He was making claim to His divinity. He was saying that God was in their midst.
How many times do we relocate Christ and shove him to the brow of the hill? They did then and we do now. We tell Him that He has no place in our midst. Yet, there He is still making the audacious claim that He is who He said He was--the Son of God.
Today, Andrew shared with me an article by Dr. Peter Kreeft, a philosophy professor at Boston College. You may want to check this link out:
http://www.
They shoved Jesus away then, we shove him away now. This evening, I had the blessing to get together with Kurt, some of you may know Kurt. He is currently working on a new movie release. We began talking about the upcoming year and the hopes and dreams of CYE. We were both excited about the possibilities (generally when we get together, we get excited about the talk of a New Evangelization!). After finishing dinner, we came to the conclusion that we must find these new and innovative ways to bring Christ to the forefront of conversation. He must come back once again to be in our midst, and we must take notice of HIS WORD.
Kurt's movie project, our impending launch of Bathtub Grotto (recording studio), our desire to create a Catholic satire publication, new religious community and our continued expeditions seem like promising ways to sustain ourselves in strong faith while still holding the line. We can present the person of Christ through these mediums and stand with Him and continue the fulfillment of His promise today. What an amazing enterprise! How is it that we are so blessed to be part of this?
How many times do we relocate Christ and shove him to the brow of the hill? They did then and we do now. We tell Him that He has no place in our midst. Yet, there He is still making the audacious claim that He is who He said He was--the Son of God.
Today, Andrew shared with me an article by Dr. Peter Kreeft, a philosophy professor at Boston College. You may want to check this link out:
http://www.
They shoved Jesus away then, we shove him away now. This evening, I had the blessing to get together with Kurt, some of you may know Kurt. He is currently working on a new movie release. We began talking about the upcoming year and the hopes and dreams of CYE. We were both excited about the possibilities (generally when we get together, we get excited about the talk of a New Evangelization!). After finishing dinner, we came to the conclusion that we must find these new and innovative ways to bring Christ to the forefront of conversation. He must come back once again to be in our midst, and we must take notice of HIS WORD.
Kurt's movie project, our impending launch of Bathtub Grotto (recording studio), our desire to create a Catholic satire publication, new religious community and our continued expeditions seem like promising ways to sustain ourselves in strong faith while still holding the line. We can present the person of Christ through these mediums and stand with Him and continue the fulfillment of His promise today. What an amazing enterprise! How is it that we are so blessed to be part of this?
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