Need help with a child who is rejecting the faith?

If you have a child who is rejecting the faith it can cause some real tensions in a family.   This usually happens in the teen age years and young adult.   I just read a good blog article that will help, “I Don’t Believe in God Anymore” – When Your Kids Reject the Faith". One great idea from this article is maintaining the relationship with your child one on one by spending some time with them doing something they like to do. Show interest and let them show you how to do something new.   Another thing I would recommend is to pray.   Let me say it again, pray, pray, pray.  Don't forget about the grace of God and the ability for him to change hearts.   Also ask others to pray as well, especially the Communion of Saints.   One saint I would specifically recommend is St. Monica.  She was the mother of Saint Augustine who is a Doctor of the Church.   St. Augustine was a wayward youth and young adult and follower of heretical teachings in his early years.  St. Monica prayed for years and lived to see her sons conversion.      Summer is a good time to do something fun with your child and build the relationship to get over the barriers to the faith issue.   Be a kids again: Go to an amusement park, take them fishing, play a game of paintball with them, learn how to Minecraft (or whatever video game they like).   Spending time with your child can be a prayer.   Offer the time up to God as your prayer.  You'll be glad you did.

Some ideas to help with your Spiritual eyesight

This weekend Father Vince started out the homily asking: how do you know you are getting old?  Some of the answers were similar to the following:

-       What, I can’t hear you?  (Hearing going bad)

-       My arms aren’t long enough to read  (Eyesight failing)

-       Hair that’s folically challenged   (Hair getting a little light on top)

His point is that we are all getting older and our eyesight, hearing, and other physical abilities aren’t want they used to be and we can use a little help.

A Feast in the House of Simon the Pharisee; Peter Paul RUBENS; c. 1618; oil on canvas; the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg

The Gospel this weekend was a good example of someone needing help in seeing others.  This was the story of Jesus dining at the Pharisee’s house and a woman who bathed Jesus’ feet with tears, wiped them with her hair, and anointed his feet with ointment. The Pharisee only saw a woman in the view of what she did in the past, a “sinful woman”.  Jesus saw her human dignity, made in the image of God.  He saw her as a person who was seeking forgiveness.  He saw her great worth as a child of God and with strong faith.  Jesus forgave her sins, so she could start over anew.  The Pharisee did not even want to give the woman a chance.  We can all use help with our spiritual eyesight sometimes in seeing others, and then lens of Jesus will help. 

Father Vince shared three items that the Rector of Mundelein Seminary asks of all new priests to keep in mind:

-       Keep Christ at the center of our lives

-       Recognize we are all sinners

-       Realize your life is not about us.  It’s about serving others. 

Father Vince suggested this was good idea for all of us to keep in mind as well.  This will help our spiritual eyesight so we can see others as Christ did and be ready to serve others.  

Have a good week and may God bless you. 

Deacon Steve's Homily for the Feast of Corpus Christi: The Bread of Life - Heavenly

You may know that I have 6 grandchildren.

They live here in Greenwood and my wife, Mary, and I see them often.

The oldest is 16 while the youngest is 8.

One of their favorite things to do while staying at our house is to cook.

All 6 of them, the 2 boys included, are really good cooks. 

They will find a recipe and ‘lo and behold’ they prepare it and it’s always really good.

When I arrive home from work in the evening, the house is filled with some wonderful aromas.

Cookies, brownies, chili, jambalaya and spaghetti sauce, to name a few.

Without a doubt, though, my favorite is walking into the house and smelling freshly baked rolls or bread.

The wonderful aroma of bread. Can’t you just smell it now?

And then I put butter (not margarine) on the bread and take a bite. Delicious, downright heavenly!

I’m hungry just thinking about it.

The wonderful smell and taste of freshly baked bread is something that we all can appreciate.

Whether it’s at home or at the bakery – I never get tired of the aroma of freshly baked bread.

It’s downright heavenly.

But the real food from heaven is what we celebrate today;

That is the feast of Corpus Christi – aka The Body and Blood of Christ.

This feast and readings are about one of my favorite, and probably your favorite topics – FOOD!

In all three readings we read about bread, a staple for most diets, especially 2000 years ago.

In many cases, bread was all they had to eat.

In our 1^st reading from Genesis, we read that Melchizedek brought out bread and wine for Abram, as a sign of hospitality to celebrate a victory.

And then in our 2^nd reading from Corinthians, we read about the bread and wine at the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist.

Then we heard this marvelous story from Luke’s Gospel about the feeding of the 5000 from 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.

These readings and this feast remind us of God’s generosity and his desire to feed us with heavenly food.

Just as our bodies need food, our souls do as well.

Our souls need to be fed regularly with good and healthy food.

The Eucharist, my friends, is that good and healthy food.  It’s food from heaven.

Its Jesus gift to all of us, because of his great love for us.

Jesus, a human himself, knew that all humans need good, healthy food not only for their bodies but for their souls, too. 

What a gift this is!!

Jesus gave us the Eucharist at the Last Supper just before he died.

We just read in Cornithians:

“the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over,
took bread, and, after he had given thanks,
broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you.
Do this in remembrance of me."
In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying,
"This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

We do this at every mass, don’t we?

During the Eucharistic Prayer, our priest says the same words of Jesus.

These are the words of institution where the bread and the wine actually become the body and blood of Jesus - our heavenly food.

Food that we feed on at each and every Mass.

The Eucharist is food for our souls that sustains us on our journey of life.

But Jesus also says: “Whoever eats my body and drinks my blood will have eternal life.”

What great news that is - eternal life.

My friends, feeding on the Body and Blood of Christ leads us to eternal life.

We can feed on the Body and Blood of Christ each and every day if we want by attending mass.

There is no shortage of God’s food. There’s plenty to go around.

Our gospel reminds us that God is generous and His food is abundant.

Jesus fed the 5000 – from 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish – and there were 12 wicker baskets full of leftovers.

A generous God with abundant food – yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

One of my favorite spiritual writers is Fr. Henri Nouwen who had this to say about God’s generosity:

God is a god of abundance, not a god of scarcity. Jesus reveals to us God's abundance when he offers so much bread to the people that there are twelve large baskets with leftover scraps, and when he makes his disciples catch so many fish that their boat nearly sinks (Luke 5:1-7). God doesn't give us just enough. God gives us more than enough: more bread and fish than we can eat, more love than we dared to ask for. God is a generous giver…

My friends, in just a few short minutes, listen carefully to the Eucharistic prayer and focus on the words of institution:  ‘this is my body - this is my blood.’

Imagine Jesus himself saying these words at mass today.

And when you come forward to receive Holy Communion, know that you are receiving ‘the bread of life’, heavenly food for your soul.

Remember that it is Jesus himself who is fully present in the consecrated bread and wine.

When the priest or Eucharistic minister says the words ‘The Body of Christ” or “The Blood of Christ” don’t respond with a wimpy ‘Amen’.

Respond with a resounding and heartfelt ‘AMEN’.

An ‘AMEN’ that says ‘I believe that this is heavenly food!

‘I believe that this is Jesus who leads me to eternal life!’

‘Thank you Jesus!’

God bless you all!

Need a kick start to help you pray on a daily basis - Try Liturgy of the Hours

A common question that many of us have is how to pray and what to pray about.  We all have needs that we can share with God and we also have things that we should be grateful to God. These are two places to start with in daily prayer.   Another good way to get started is with the Liturgy of the Hours.  I've blogged about this in the past, but I just read a recent article that brought it to mind again.   The point hit home about the Liturgy of Hours is that its not about me, but it's for the Church and all her members.  See American Catholic blog on Bringing the Divine Office down to Earth.    If you have an iPhone or Android phones there are apps that you can download directly to your phone and have the Divine Office with you on your phone and you can access the prayer on the web at Univeralis.   If you are new to the Liturgy of the Hours the monthly subscription of the Magnificat is a great way to get started.  It has an abbreviated version of the Liturgy of the Hours with morning, evening, and night prayers, plus all the daily readings and a reflection.  If you are a subscriber there is an app for the iPhone and you can also access it through web as well. 

I pray daily the Morning & Evening prayer, and most days pray the Office of Hours. I also try to get Daytime prayer in mid-day or afternoon and close with Night Prayer.  Night Prayer is a good time to do a daily examination of conscience.   I hope this gives you a place to add to or start with your daily prayers.  May God bless you.

Fighting for our Religious Liberty and action we can take to help defend it

We are called to live our faith in our daily lives, at work, at play, and in the community, but our federal government is trying to put limitations on practicing our Catholic faith.   The federal HHS mandate is forcing Catholic institutions to pay for services that are against our morals such as contraception and abortion inducing drugs.  Catholics are not the only folks affected in this fight.  There are private businesses such as Hobby Lobby and Wheaton College that are fighting against this infringement on freely practicing religion.   If we are going to change the culture that is anti-life and anti-family we need to be able to freely practice our faith in all areas of life.    If we lose our freedom of religion that has been fought for and won by our founding fathers then we will not be able to defend life at all stages, marriage, immigration, and the impoverished.   To help understand what the issues are and what to do about it I’ve provided a few resources that can help.

The Catholic Café has a good weekly podcast that covered threats to our Religious Liberty on May 24^th: The Fight for ReligiousLiberty.  The Catholic Café is a weekly radio program by Deacon Jeff Drzycimski and co-host Tom Dorian heard on Relevant Radio.   If you are in Indianapolis area you’ll need to listen to the podcast on the web or you can download to your phone.  Every week there is a good topic on the Catholic Faith. Past programs include Catholic Parenting, Dressed for Success, and Examination of Conscience, plus many more.  The topics covered are relevant, entertaining, and truly Catholic.  Try one out!  You’ll enjoy it.

If you’re concerned about the threat to religious liberty you can do something about it.  First of all pray!   You can join in with US Bishops Fortnight for Freedom, June 21 to July 4 for a period of prayer and action.  You can also sign up for texts messages to inform you of issues and provide ways to take action at the federal government level.  

 

You can also keep up to date on issues at the state level as well through the Indiana Catholic Conference.  This site provides email alerts through the Legislative Action Center for issues that are important at both the state and federal government levels and links to a site that makes it very easy to contact your representatives with a pre-formatted email that gives you the ability to add your own verbiage if desired. 

Pray that our elected officials will fight for our Religious Liberty. May God bless you!

Homily for the Feast of Corpus Christi - Regain your sense of wonder and awe of Christ's Real Presence in the Eucharist - June 2, 2013

Today is the Feast of Corpus Christi or the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.   A core belief of our Catholic faith is the real presence of Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.  I heard a story from Matthew Kelly really that brings home how strong a belief there is in Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist.  We may take Christ’s presence for granted having the Eucharist so readily available, but I hope this story enkindles a desire in your heart to be in His presence.

            There was a priest who formerly was a lay missionary in China decades ago. He had made a return trip to a village he served in.  There were still many priests and bishops in China who are imprisoned for not ceding control of their churches to the communist government, so he went incognito to help prevent any trouble among the people he visited.   No one knew he was a priest since he had been away so long.  On the second night of his stay he was awakened by a commotion in the house.  He got up to find out what was going on and was told, “We are going to the wall”.  He asked an old woman there what “the wall” was.   She smiled as said, “come and see for yourself”.

            The priest dressed quickly and left with about a dozen people.  As they walked to a remote wooded area deep in the surrounding hills several others joined them along the way.  By the time they arrived there were about 120 men, woman, and children.   The priest noticed there were men up in trees around the perimeter that appeared to be on the lookout.   In the clearing there were remains of an old decaying building.  The old women who invited him to come smiled and seemed excited, as were the other people, but the priest very was scared.  As they approached the wall everyone knelt down.  An old man got up, went to the wall, pulled out a brick and reached inside withdrawing a small monstrance, an special chamber made of precious metal used to display the Eucharist.  All 120 people knelt for an hour in prayer in silent wonder and awe.  An hour later the old man returned the Eucharist and all went back quietly to their homes. 

            What would cause these 120 people to leave their homes in the middle of the night risk their lives: their belief in Jesus as their Lord and Savior and His real presence in the Eucharist.  This feast of Corpus Christi is a time to reflect on this gift that God has given us and to regain a sense of the same wonder and awe expressed by these Chinese villagers.

            When we come to Mass we participate in Christ’s sacrifice. This element of the sacrifice is often overlooked. St. Paul tells us that each time we receive the Eucharist we “proclaim the death of the Lord”. This is symbolized when Father Vince/Anto elevates the host and chalice of wine separately as Christ’s body and blood as an offering to God at the prayers of consecration.   When we fully participate in the Mass we should show great reverence and respect for our Lord’s sacrifice, such as we do for a cherished loved one who has died.   In the Mass we are called to solemnly remember Christ’s sacrifice for us.  

            We also experience Christ’s presence in the Eucharistic under the appearance of bread and wine offered at the Last Supper. St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians was the earliest of the apostle’s writings in regards to the celebration of the Eucharistic. We can clearly hear by Christ’s words, “This is my body” and “this cup is the new covenant in my blood”, that Jesus meant what he said:  It is His body and His blood.  When Fr. Vince/Anto says these words at the consecration the bread and wine transforms into Christ’s body and blood, a mystery of faith we as Catholics accept and believe.  At this point of Mass we can recall the words of Thomas recognizing Jesus and say silently to ourselves, “my Lord and My God”.  Just prior to receiving communion Father Vince/Anto breaks off a small piece of the host and drops it in the wine.  This represents the restoration of the body and blood in the resurrected Christ. When we receive communion we are nourished with Christ’s body, blood, soul, and divinity to reconcile us with God which helps us to love God & our neighbor. Christ also commands us to, “do this in memory of me”, which is a call to continually celebrate the Eucharist, keeping His presence always among us. 

            We as well anticipate with joyful hope that Christ will return in glory.  St. Paul tells us that every time we “eat this bread and drink the cup we proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes again”. From the very beginning the disciples firmly held the belief of Christ’s return.  In the early Church the belief of Jewish Christians was that Christ would return during Passover.  They would celebrate their Passover traditions until 3:00 a.m., waiting for Christ’s return.   If He did not return they would continue to celebrate the Eucharist so Christ would still be present in the sacrament.  We as well continue to celebrate the Eucharist with our hope of Christ’s return so we can be with him in glory.

            Now, returning to the opening story the priest revealed the next day to his guests who he was.   The villagers told him there had not been a Mass in their village in over 10 years.   They shared that over that time they would go to the wall each week in the middle of night risking their lives so they could spend an hour with Jesus.   Later that day the priest celebrated a Mass for them at the wall and replaced the host with a fresh one.  In his later years the priest said this experience was the highlight of his priesthood.

            I pray that each and one of you experience the wonder and awe of being in Christ’s presence as each of the villagers did. It’s especially helpful when you’re having a rough day and share your troubles with Jesus & need to feel a sense of peace.  You can be with the Lord during Mass every day or you can stop in the chapel at any time to be with the Lord. You’ll always be glad you did.  May God bless you.