I'm With Her

    Happy New Year!!! As a Church, January 1st we always celebrate Mary, Mother of God. Mary was the epitome of womanhood. She was holy, strong, confident, humble, and loving just to name a few. God chose her to raise the Savior of the world...and she accepted by saying "I am the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word."
    As God's choice of his mother, I'm guessing Mary knew her scriptures exceptionally well. With that statement she willingly signed up to witness the Hebrew Scripture's (Old Testament) prophecies of her son first hand. These prophesies include, but not limited to, betrayed, spat on, ridiculed, beaten, crucified with criminals, hated without cause, and more. I repeat, Mary said yes knowing this would happen! MOST COURAGEOUS PERSON EVER!!! How many times do you think Mary would be outside watching her son play and think about all these prophecies? It's hard enough losing a parent. I couldn't fathom knowing that my son's days were numbered until he would experience one of the most painful deaths in order to save the souls of those who caused him the pain.
    When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son. Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” John 19:26-27
    Jesus called his mother "woman" two times. Scholars believe that he is referring to Mary as "the New Eve." Eve was looked at as the mother of the human race. John was a disciple of Christ. Scholars believe that what Jesus is conveying in this passage is that we (followers of Christ) are to care and respect Mary and she is to care and protect us.
    Mary isn't God...but she is the Mother of God. I don't know about you, but I listen to my mother. When I don't reply to my accountant, she tells my mom to have me contact her...and I do. So if you get the sense that God isn't listening, tell his mother ;)

Christianity is a Hard Knocked Life

    This week of Advent is calling us to focus on peace. Yes, peace. You may be thinking "How can there be peace!?!? Look at all the wars, violence, hatred, bullying in the world! Our President Elect is Donald Trump! It's impossible for us to be peaceful!" Simply looking at these worldly problems shows no hope, but lucky for us Christianity is a crazy religion.
    What I mean by that is Christianity is a religion that tells us (its followers) to love everyone...not just people you like or agree with. Everyone includes thieves, bullies, drug addicts, diseased, elderly, Democrats, Republicans, men, women, gays, straights, transsexuals, Trump, Hillary, etc. It even means caring for Chicago Blackhawks fans. How does love translate to peace?
   If you're lacking peace in your life, it's safe to ask the question who am I not loving (expressing charity for)? There is nothing in this world that can cause you to lose peace without your consent. Don't believe me? Look at the death of our Savior and the apostles. They did not fear even though they suffered painful deaths. Every painful experience these people would view it as an opportunity to share in Christ's sufferings. Not only the physical sufferings, but the emotional sufferings as well. Times like when Christ was betrayed by one of his best friends (Luke 22), when all of his apostles abandoned him in his darkest hour (Matthew 26:56), or when an entire crowd got up and walked away while he was preaching (John 6:66).
   Peace isn't about changing the things around us to make our lives easier...it's about changing our hearts so that we can love unconditionally.  That means when faced with someone you don't like, you can make decisions with that person's best interest at heart. If for no other reason, because God loves that person and you love God. There will always be unrest in this world, but peace comes from within your heart.

Make Advent Great Again!

    Welcome to Advent...or as most people say "CHRISTMAS SEASON IS HERE!!!" To those people I say, "Simmer down, we've got a month to go. Advent is a time to prepare for Christmas. Preparing for Christmas means buying gifts, decorating inside and outside, visiting Santa in the store, shopping, and preparing for family to come over. These can be extremely stressful times that push us further from God, rather than closer. So how can we flip this?

    Let's think about this philosophically. What adds to the stress? The amount that needs to be done. The amount of gifts, decorations, Pinterest recipes, etc. What if we simplified it? Maybe a few less decorations, making food that is simple to cook, getting creative with your gifts.

    We have made Christmas into a production, and by the 20th we're ready for Christmas to be over before it's even begun. Christmas is a time to celebrate the birth of Christ by caring for one another. You can't care for someone if you're extremely stressed!!!
    The most important thing this Advent is to prepare your heart for Christmas. Be ready to share the love and joy of Christ with friends, family, and strangers. If that means simplifying certain things, DO IT! Your guests will still be satisfied whether you slave over a meal or simply pull out lasagna from the oven with a few store bought pies. Christmas doesn't hinge on the apple pie you made from scratch, it's how you treat others during such a joyous occasion. You are important, not the material things.

When Productivity is Decreasing

Productivity can be a challenge this time of year with entering the last month of school, Spring sports, end of year banquets, your room being messy, etc. In moments like these, I can get very anxious and just want stay in bed. So I've noted a few things that work and figured I'd pass them on to you...

1. Pray. It needs to be something we do throughout our day. It's important because if we don't pause to get on the same page as our Creator, anxiety is going to show up and set up camp.

2. Write a check list. If you write down 5 things to accomplish the following day (and stick to it), you have purpose and drive for tomorrow.

3. Work hard, play hard. Don't mix the two. Playing is a chance to relax and get all the energy out of your system. School is a time to focus and absorb everything the teachers are trying to pass to you. That way, when you're doing your homework, you will understand it more if you were able to focus in class.

4. Get 'er done. Don't put off the homework until the night before or morning it's due. Do the homework as soon as you're able to so that the subject is decently fresh in your mind. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to recall the information. Something that takes you 30 minutes to do the night before may take you only 10-20 minutes if done right away.

5. Leave the house. Fresh air is great medicine.

6. Unplug. Set either a couple hours a day or perhaps one day a week where you only use your phone for an emergency such as you need a ride home; not Jack and Diane broke up. They will soon realize that life goes on ;)

7. Pray. Some people say they don't have time to pray. The reality is that we don't have time not to pray. Prayer is a time to realize what is important. It weeds out the wasted time and allows us to be more productive. You could pray a rosary and clean part of your room once a week (or day).

Why I Don't Want To Be Like Jesus

    Dear God, I often pray that I want to be more like Christ, but today I realize that's not true. I don't want to be like you. Over the weekend I felt used by a friend. Today he didn't show any type of remorse and continued to pass the blame and responsibilities to others (including myself).

    As I sit here in adoration, this weekend's events consume me, and to focus I said "I want to be more like you Christ." Right after I said that I realized that I don't want to be like you. You are used more than you are loved. We (mankind) try to justify our sins rather than accepting responsibility and asking for forgiveness. When we sin we hide from you rather than running back to you to restore our relationship.

    I now know that I don't want to be like you. I don't want to get used like you. I don't want to get punished for sins I didn't commit. I don't want to pray for the people who cause me so much pain. I don't want to be used or walked on like people do to you...like I do to you.

    God, I am so sorry that I use you and take you for granted. I now see what amazing love you have for me even though I use you...especially when I use you.

    By now we both know I don't want to be like you...but I need to be. Lord, give me the grace to be like you. I pray that I am able to love when I feel abused, that when I am punished for sins I didn't commit, that I accept it with humility through your grace. Let me see your grace rushing through me as a motivation to be more like you.

Is Christ Your Cellphone App?

    I have a lot of great apps on my phone that I'm always using. Messenger, Sports Alerts, ESPN, Music, Mail, Maps, and FitBit are my heavily used apps. But I also  have some that go unused such as Tips, Wordpress, Stocks, Compass, and more. It got me thinking...if Christ was an app, how much would I click on him? How long would I stay in the app?
    Sometimes it seems that if Christ was an app, I would use him throughout the day. I'd open him before every meal, before bed, and when I felt scared. But someone told me that Christ wants more. So I'd pray more, and try to have the Christ app run in the background. It seemed like I had a low battery in my life with always dragging Jesus around. I prayed and asked God "how can I live like this? I don't want to be dragging you around like this?" Christ's response was "Don't, let me run your life."
    Christ can't just be an app on your phone; you need him to be the operating system. It is the only way to have Christ at the center of your life. You may be thinking "But if I have God as the center of my life, I'll have to change." If following God doesn't force you to change your life, then you're making yourself God. Without your operating system, you couldn't function. Without Christ, we don't function very well. A lot of people think that more success and money will mean more happiness, but it doesn't. Letting Christ take control of your life brings us the ultimate form of happiness. How much control have you given Christ in your life? How can you give it all to him?

Freedom of Choice

    We all have the ability to choose God or not. It's called "free-will." When we don't choose God, it is called "sin." Is living a sinful life freedom? Sin is a freedom killer. Let me explain...
    When we sin, we choose our desires over God's desires. Have you ever watched a TV show on DVD? When one episode ends, the next one begins. 8 episodes in, you realize that you've wasted half the day, but you just want that one more episode. You get a text to go play volleyball, but you can't muster up the strength to get off the couch. That TV show owns and controls you. You are a slave to a DVD. It could be sleeping in, going on the internet, swearing, falling to lust, etc. that has it's chains on us that guide us further away from God.
    The Devil uses these sins to beat us down with fear and shame. We think, "How can someone love me when I've failed this much?" And we will try to hide from God. We sweep our imperfections under the rug thinking that will fix us. It's like ignoring a flat tire. If you ignore it, the tire doesn't magically get filled with air. In order to not cause greater damage, the tire has to get fixed before the car is used again. God knows we get flat tires in our lives, so he gave us the sacrament of Reconciliation to "fix our spiritual flat tires." There are only two things holding us back from Confession, fear and shame; both we know are from the Devil. He will use shame and fear all the time because it works on us. BREAK THE CHAINS!!!! Live free again by not letting the Devil control you with fear and shame and get to Confession as needed. Christ is waiting there with open arms.