Good Sermon

At seven in the morning on The Feast of All Saints at Holy Mass--
I heard a good sermon.
From an older established pastor who I knew from years back.

He didn't have to prepare--come on it's seven in the morning.  People are shuffling in and mixing with the usual morning Mass crowd (maybe even taking their pew).
He didn't have to prepare--but he did and I knew it.

He spoke of the Church Militant and the Church Triumphant--descriptors that were never taught to my generation.
He spoke about how we need to be 'militant' in pursuit of our faith--how we need to do the work and be aware that satan is always thwarting God's love and God's way.
He spoke about how we are connected to those who were once the 'militant' and are now 'triumphant'

It was a good All Saints homily.
No agenda except inspiring people to go a little harder in their pursuit of holiness--you know--like a saint!

Staying Honest

For about two weeks the battery in our bathroom scale was dead.
I knew we had a replacement--but just couldn't seem to remember to put it in.

Maybe.

I kind of liked not having a scale.
It sat dead in the corner.  Yeh.

I ate more ice cream.
and cookies
and a burger here and there
and a beer
..maybe two.

Each day the scale sat there---dead.
Ha.

Then I bent over to tie my shoes and felt my gut pushing back.
Crap.

We need scales in the spiritual life.
We need to stay honest.
We can't delude ourselves into thinking everything is okay while we fill our senses and souls with crap.

I can do what I want--cause Jesus died for me and I'm already saved.
Yeh, right. Bank on your soul making it to purgatory (which is pretty good...) while your free will satiates itself.  Really?
No scale.

Last evening at a youth ministry meeting I went out on a limb and shared with the few members present--"You're not praying enough."  I continued "I'm not lining up missions and retreats and overnights if you guys don't start taking prayer more serious."
At first I had a couple looks like I was being judgmental--until someone said "How'd you know?"

Spiritual scales help keep us honest in our quest.
It is so easy to get spiritually sidetracked--in fact satan is banking on sloth and laziness and gluttony and lust and anger and greed and all those things that take our focus away.
Stay away from the spiritual scale and you can grow fat on paganized sugar.

During the month of October we have the tradition in our family of erecting and decorating The Saint Tree.  
Everyone in the family takes a day and makes an ornament depicting some aspect or picture of the Saint of the Day--using old and new calendars.
Saints are not only our intercessors but our spiritual scales--they give us their lives to measure ourselves with.  Of course I'm no saint (please don't crash the site with comments on that statement)--but I can try and try again to unite myself with Christ--after all isn't that what they did?

So don't be afraid to get spiritually weighed today--examine your conscience--be honest--ask a saint to help.

Saint-making in America is Bankrupt

A couple of years ago I travelled with my father and son to a parish 3 hours away from our home in order to attend Mass and listen to a priest from Medugorje.  His name was Fr. Jozo.  Now I have a bit of a history with this guy--but that is for another post or story or maybe a book.
Following Mass, he stood in front of the altar and addressed the people.  At one point he looked out at the congregation and said;  "You don't have enough saints from this country."


I have to say that I got a little torqued.
"Come on man--don't get down on us--our culture is different--we aren't oppressed and last I checked there are no crusades so the saint making opportunities are few."
He's right though...we do need more saints.


Saint-making in America is bankrupt.
It certainly seems bankrupt in the Church.
How many diocesan priests have been canonized?  (one--St. Jean-Marie Baptiste Vianney)
Now, I have to be careful here because I have been accused of being dis-respectful towards the clergy on this blog--so the following may upset some people.
My experience has been that the old clergy tend to eat the young.  If a man comes out of seminary with particular devotions he is branded as out of touch with the world of parish ministry. He must adapt and then eventually he becomes what he once despised.
Imagine if a young priest was stationed with the Cure' de Ars--what would he have seen?
A priest hearing confessions, a priest doing the battle against satan, a priest preaching without compromise.
Yeh--saint-making at its' finest.

Saint-making in America is bankrupt in the home
Granted some saints are made in an instant, at the stake and through martyrdom, but other saints are simply raised, nurtured and encouraged.
I've had conversations in the past with parents that went something like this:
 "Johnny never received the Sacrament of Reconciliation and I was wondering when he could get it."
"Okay, how about you teach him?  Let's do it this way,  you take him with you to confession this week and talk with him about why you go."
silence
I continue, "Then call me and let me know how it went.."
They never called back.

Okay, so maybe I'm not the guy who should be on the front line of your parish's faith formation or for that matter even talking to clergy.

None-the-less saint-making in America is bankrupt, not because of the lack of opportunity, but because of the lack of will.