"The Church is full of hypocrites!!!!" That is not true...there's always room for more. Think about it, even the Pope needs to go to Reconciliation. There's this fallacy where people think those who go to church think they have it all together. We don't, that's why we go to church.
All you need to do is look at the Mass...we ask for forgiveness 3 times...3 TIMES!!! The first is right at the beginning, "I confess, to almighty God, and to you my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned. In my thoughts, and in my words. In what I have done, and what I have failed to do. Through my fault...Lord have mercy." Then again during the Our Father "...Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us..." And finally, right before Communion we say "Lord, I am not worthy for you to enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed."
We also pray for those who are not at Mass, "Remember also our brothers and sisters who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection, and all who have died in your mercy: welcome them into the light of your face."
Yes, the Church has a lot of people who are hypocrites in it. But the Catholics who are conscious of the Mass realize how often we mess up and how often the Church helps us seek forgiveness. There is not one person in the Church who hasn't sinned, but we're called to strive to love more. That's the role of the Church, to help us love more each day. If that's not happening, what is?
God lets each of us set our bar for Heaven. And a lot of people seem to be raising it, but not me. I'm trying to lower that bar as much as I can, and I suggest you do the same. So the bar that I'm talking about is the mercy bar. I found it in the Our Father.
In the Our Father, Jesus drops yet another truth bomb. Jesus told us to ask God to, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." Boom, drop the mic #OnFleek #OhNoHeDidn't. In other words, forgive me as much as I forgive others. Every time you pray this, you're telling God to be merciful only as much as you are to others. Think about it...Take a second...
If you don't forgive someone for taking the last Fruit Roll Up, you're telling God to hold you at a really high standard. Lower that bar. Forgive the Fruit Roll Up thief. Someone slaps you, hurts you, lies to you, forgive them over and over and over again. That way, when judgment day comes and you're standing at the pearly gates, St. Peter's going to be like, "Way to forgive. High five. Way to choose God."
***Disclaimers: Jesus isn't telling us to be pushovers. Forgiving a person is kind of like getting rid of the animosity. It doesn't mean you have to be bffs, or even friends. Just that when you see that person, you don't have an urge to hurt them. Nor is this a tit for tat thing. If you forgive someone for slapping you, it doesn't give you a free slap God will automatically forgive you for. This is just a creative way to help forgive the person who's really being a pain in the butt.
Let's walk through this Sunday's Gospel reading:
You're on a boat with about 8 other people. There's a few more boats around you with your friends on them. You set out into the water. As night falls, you can no longer see the shore. Then clouds begin to form. A cool wind rushes over the water and the rain starts. The wind picks up and there are sheets of water coming down. The boat is rocking over 5 foot waves. Crates and other cargo are sliding around the deck.
In all this mayhem you turn to the back of the boat and you see Jesus sleeping. You run over to him and beg him to wake up. You shout "Don't you care that we could die!" Jesus stands up, holds out his hand and the storm stops. The sea turns as smooth as glass, barely a ripple in the water.
You look up at Christ. What's going through your mind? What do you want to tell him right there? What storm are you going through? Tell Christ to calm the storm.
In the passage, the storm died down. In life, that's not always the case. You may continue to be bullied or other unfortunate things may continue to happen. But calling on Christ will calm the storm in your heart. So that even if total chaos is around you, you'll be peaceful and know what to do. In your storm, know that Christ cares so much about you; more than your friends, parents, and yourself combined. Don't just trust that God will be there for you, know that he will. God created you. He has your best interests at heart. He will protect you in the storm and calm your heart. Christ will never fail you. If you think he's not answering, pray louder, this passage says he may be a heavy sleeper ;)
You know that awkward moment before Mass when you enter the pew..."do I genuflect? My parents do it, so should I?" When I was younger, I didn't know why I should genuflect, so I didn't. But now, I know, and it's a doozie...and you're gonna learn today.
First, let's think about the other times someone would be on one knee. Two that come to mind are being knighted and proposing. Both of these represent "something greater." When knighted, you are committing to living a chivalrous and honorable life. When proposing, you are committing your life to help get your bride closer to Christ by sacrificing certain desires. The knee represents strength. When you bend a knee, you are relinquishing your strength.
A common misconception is that we genuflect to the altar; that's not true. We bow to the altar to recognize the scarce that happens on it, but we do not owe our lives to an altar. But who do we? Christ. And Christ is in the Eucharist which resides in the tabernacle. God gave us life and want's us to live it to the fullest. Not a life of mediocracy, but a life of greatness.
So when we genuflect, it is a physical sign of saying "God, everything I am, is because of you. Everything I have, you gave me. I give you control of my life. Give me the desire to be awesome."
That's why we genuflect. So next time you walk into the church and genuflect, silently say the quote above, and for the love of God (literally) please own it. Don't try to speed through genuflecting...you look like an unconfident goon #SorryNotSorry
Yes, the Bible can be confusing at times. But there is a secret to reading the Bible that will help you understand. But before I share this secret with you (I promise I will), let's start off with the basics.
What is the Bible? It's like a library of books. There are historical, poetic, narrative, letters, and proverbs just to name a few. This library of books is written by the Holy Spirit through many different authors.
What's in the Bible? There are not many details in the books, but if there is a detail, it is because it is important. For example, Luke 16:19 says "A rich man dressed in purple and fine linen." Back in biblical times, purple was the hardest color to dye. So it was a way to show off you were loaded. So if the passage was written today, Jesus might have said "A rich dude with a toilet made of gold."
Why is there a Bible? The Bible is like an owner's manual for your life rather than your car. It teaches us how to act in certain situations, gives us encouraging words when feeling deflated, and gives us the best chance to thrive in the world.
How do I read the Bible? It can be confusing and tough to pick apart...that's because we're not meant to pick apart the Bible, the Bible is supposed to pick us apart. It should pull back the layers of our lives and teach us how to improve on them. What's more likely to need correction, a compilation of books inspired by the Holy Spirit or you and me?
**Disclaimer, if some of the Bible confuses you, talk to a priest or someone who can shed a new light on it. There may be a deeper part of the passage you may be missing.
Love is... A lot of people say that love is a feeling...they are wrong. Love is more than a feeling #Boston #GoodMusic. Love is an action.
The Catholic Church sometimes replaces the word "love" with "charity." The definition of love has been tainted, but charity has not. Charity is giving without expecting anything in return. Love isn't a give and take, it is just give. Love is putting someone else's interests above your own. That means treating your date like a person rather than a scorecard, not seeking revenge, offering to help in any way, and the list goes on.
Why do people think it's a feeling? Two reasons. The first is because the feeling belongs to the receiver of the love. It gives the receiver a sense of belonging and importance. You don't need a feeling to express love towards someone. It is simply putting their needs before your own. The second is that expressing charity towards someone creates a feel good chemical in your brain called endorphins. Kind of like when you eat ice cream or watch your favorite tv show. But unlike tv or ice cream, love doesn't always create endorphins quickly, but they last much longer. The happiest people in the world are the ones who express charity to others...do you want to be happy?
Ways to love...babysit your younger siblings for your parents, do your chores without being told, help someone with their homework, pay for someone's meal, pray with someone,
Life is like a boxing match. Yes, many of us were disappointed in what turned out to be the Mayweather/Pacquiao dance off, but I digress. On a more positive note, in boxing, you need to keep your pace. If you stay with your opponent, it means that you're letting them dictate the bout and you will lose. In life, we allow what goes on around us to dictate how we act. Let's say you failed a test. That's a solid punch in the nose. Do you study more next time, or do you think "I hate my life. This test punched me in the nose." If a boxer did that in the ring, they'd get knocked again and again and again.
Bad things are going to happen to us. We can't change the past, but we can use it to improve the future. If you keep forgetting to do your chores and you get grounded. That's like a boxer letting his defenses slip and get hit with a left cross. Learn to keep that right hand up to block the next left cross of your parents grounding you by doing the chores on time.
"Jason, why'd you use boxing?" Because if you give up you get beaten worse. Life is about rolling with the punches and making adjustments as needed. So next time you get hit with a bad grade, a break up, bad news, or something else, are you going to just complain, or are you going to learn to defend against it the next time?
"The Church is full of hypocrites!!!!" That is not true...there's always room for more. Think about it, even the Pope needs to go to Reconciliation. There's this fallacy where people think those who go to church think they have it all together. We don't, that's why we go to church.
