Tolerance...What is it Really?

    Right now there seems to be this crazy belief that tolerance means to agree. #SpoilerAlert, it's not! In order to tolerate something, you have to disagree. You don't tolerate when your team wins, you tolerate when you lose. You don't tolerate a healthy body, you tolerate an injury. Just because someone doesn't agree with you doesn't mean they hate you.

    The definition of tolerate is to allow the existence, occurrence, or practice of. Another way of defining tolerance is being Christ in a given situation. It's knowing what you believe and not being hurt by someone else's beliefs.

    I think so many of us struggle with tolerance because we are lacking confidence. We need the recognition to know we're not wrong. As a result, things become vague such as "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Hanukkah." Things like "Happy Holidays" show's zero diversity and culture. It makes things very bland rather than allowing people to show their true colors. A tolerant person is able to walk down a street and see a menorah on one house and a nativity scene on another house and think "God is awesome!"

    There's no need to get upset for what someone else believes. Be confident in who you are and what you believe. Share your beliefs with others, not to convert them, but to learn more about different points of view in order to sharpen yours...let's face it, no matter how much we think we know it all, we don't. There is always a chance to learn.

The Holy Spirit...Who Dat?

    The Holy Spirit is the least recognized of the Trinity. God the Father is popular in the Old Testament. We learn about God the son through the Gospels. But what about God the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is now. The Holy Spirit is giving gifts of wisdom, patience, courage, hope, prophecy, teaching, tongues, and more. The Holy Spirit is who gave Stephen, the first martyr, the wisdom and courage to shout "Lord, do not hold this sin against them" as he was being stoned to death. The Holy Spirit was the one who gave Maximilian Kolbe the courage to step forward and give up his life for a Jewish father during the Holocaust. The Holy Spirit was the one who lead me to seminary so I could grow much deeper in my faith and understanding of it. This prepared me to enjoy the last Summer of my dad's life as well as having the grace to move forward after his passing in October.
    The Holy Spirit gives us life. Think about it. John 20:22 says "Jesus breathed on them and said receive the Holy Spirit.'" The only other time God breathed on humans was Genesis 2:7 "...And blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." Later, sin came into the world. Sin is death. Romans 6:23 states "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." The  Holy Spirit is the fuel we all need to live. Those who don't have the Holy Spirit within them are not living, but merely surviving.

We Don't Celebrate as We Ought

    Ain't no party like a Catholic party cuz a Catholic party don't stop! Well...that's the idea at least. In the scriptures, they would have wedding receptions that lasted for over a week. One of the weddings Jesus attended needed more wine, so Jesus created 150 gallons of it (John 2). God know's how to throw a party. But today, we're lucky if a party goes for 6 hours. What happened? Who stuck the dagger into celebrations? Maybe it's that we just don't know how to celebrate.
    Easter is a big celebration in the Church. So big that we can't limit it to a day. We actually celebrate Easter for 8 days. It's known as the Easter Octave. These 8 days we are called to feast and celebrate that Christ is with us. The 40 days of Lent was just preparation for these 8 days, in order to be able to enjoy them properly. If you gave up pop, celebrate by having pop. If you worked out all of Lent, use this week as a recovery week. This is not a time to be in pain, but to rejoice.
    The Easter season continues for another 42 days after the Octave (until Pentecost). It's a time to reflect that Jesus rose from the dead and is asking for each of us to do the same. To rise up from bad habits in order to fully live. God knows that we are happier when we celebrate. When we are happier, we share Christ's love for one an other. So don't skip Easter. Don't settle for just one day. The Church is asking, begging you to celebrate the resurrection for all 8 days and share Christ's love with others. Who can say no to that?