A Prayer for Deployed Soldiers

Heavenly Father,
inspire those who are overseas for the cause of peace.Send your Son, Jesus Christ, as the Prince of Peace.
Bless the men and women of our military
who respond to the needs of peacekeeping.
Keep them safe from harm.
Let them be models of discipline and courage,
and bring them home safely to their loved ones.
We ask this in your name.Amen.

—from God and Country: Reflections for Catholics in the Military

Memorial Day weekend

Memorial Day has gone from a single day holiday to really a weekend holiday.  Special events and activities are spread throughout the long weekend instead of being crammed into the day on Monday. This gives people more time to enjoy more than one event and perhaps have a more relaxing weekend, if that's possible.  There is still a strange juxtaposition of thanking all those servicemen and women who have died to keep this country free and using the holiday weekend to promote the sales of cars and mattresses and other items.  In the last few years I have noticed some retail outlets closing on Memorial Day to let there employees have a day off to be with their friends and family.  I think this is a good thing.  Major league baseball has special uniforms and hats that their players wear to honor those who died while serving in the five branches of military.  While Memorial Day weekend is for many the unofficial beginning of summer, it is important to remember those that did give their life so that we may have the freedom to do the things we do in this great country of ours!

For information on the history of Memorial Day, check out: US Memorial Day

Mother's Day

The fact that there is a Mother's Day holiday is a sad fact of reality for most men, including me.  We too often fail to recognize the women in our lives, especially those who happen to be mothers, that they are appreciated and loved, so we need a special day on the calendar to make sure we do this at least once a year.  Men tend to think that they are doing a good job at this when really they are not, or they think that they can do it later.  When you are married, you have two women to think about on Mother's Day.  There is of course, your own mother, who gave birth to you.  If she is alive, it is important to let her know that she is loved and remembered on this day.  After all, she brought you up the best way she knew how, and helped to make you into the person you have become today.  In most cases, she probably did a lot more than you realized to make your life happy.  There were lots of sacrifices that she made for you over the course of your childhood.  Then there is the mother of your children.  Obviously, you might have a better idea of the things that she does on a daily basis to take care of your children and manage the house, but there are still things that go unnoticed.  She too, probably makes many sacrifices throughout the year, to meet the needs of your family without regards to her own wants and desires.  There is really no way that we can sum all of this up in a card or with a bouquet of flowers and some candy.  Hopefully, a hug and a kiss will go a long way in letting these important women know that they are truly loved and cherished and we would be in big trouble if they were suddenly removed from our lives.  Let's try to recognize the mothers in our lives more than just once a year!

What do you do after Lent?

It seems to me that Lent is often an exercise in futility for many people.  They want to participate in Lent in some meaningful way, so they decide to give up something like chocolate, soda or some other food or drink that makes them feel good.  If they make it through Lent without failing on their goal then it could be described as a victory.  In theory, they should have learned that by giving up on something that they loved, it was a sacrifice that drew them closer to God.  But how did that happen?  Did they take time to pray when they were craving chocolate or a soda?  Did they take time to read the Bible or to go to Adoration?  If they did not, then I might question whether or not it was a victory.  Many churches, priests and apologists are now challenging people not to give something up for Lent but instead to do something different.  Go to daily mass or Eucharistic adoration.  Pray the rosary or read the Bible each day.  Do something positive instead of something negative like giving something up that we like.  But either way, once Lent is over and the Easter decorations are put away, what are you doing differently with your life?  If you just go back to your old habits, then I don't think you have changed.  The exercise of Lent is to develop a positive attribute that you can carry forward.  We must try to become a better version of ourselves.  We must use Lent to draw ourselves closer to God and not just put him back in a box to collect dust until next year.

Easter Sunday

EASTER SUNDAY

JOHN 20:1-9

Friends, our Easter Gospel contains St. John’s magnificent account of the resurrection. It was, says John, early in the morning on the first day of the week. It was still dark—just the way it was at the beginning of time before God said, “Let there be light.” But a light was about to shine, and a new creation was about to appear. The stone had been rolled away. That stone, blocking entrance to the tomb of Jesus, stands for the finality of death. When someone that we love dies, it is as though a great stone is rolled across them, permanently blocking our access to them. And this is why we weep at death—not just in grief but in a kind of existential frustration. But for Jesus, the stone had been rolled away. Undoubtedly, the first disciples must have thought a grave robber had been at work. But the wonderful Johannine irony is that the greatest of grave robbers had indeed been at work. The prophet Ezekiel says this, “I will open your graves and have you rise from them.” What was dreamed about, what endured as a hope against hope, has become a reality. God has opened the grave of his Son, and the bonds of death have been shattered forever. Bishop Robert Barron

Good Friday

Today is Good Friday, a most solemn and sacred day for all Christians.  As I reflected on the day, I came across a wonderful blog post that really summed up how we should feel about a day like today.

Christianity Without the Crucifixion is not Christianity is the title of a blog post written by David Stavarz for the Word on Fire Blog.

David Stavarz is a seminarian at St. Mary Graduate Seminary in Cleveland, Ohio.

Please read and share this piece with others as the Holy Spirit leads and directs you.

The trouble with Eli

Eli is our firstborn son.  The trouble was, we weren't supposed to have a son.  Our doctor told us that we would be having a daughter.  We were going to name her Madeleine.  We painted the nursery pink and had lots of girl clothes ready for the big day.  The trouble was, we had a boy instead.  What a shock!  Luckily we had boy names picked out too, and we named him Eli.  Well from that moment on, our lives were changed.  Everything revolved around Eli.  As the firstborn, everything he did was a first.  We took lots of pictures and videos of special moments in his life as he grew up and got older.  He loved sports, especially baseball and basketball.  We got him involved on church teams.  He moved into select teams in different leagues and venues.  We logged many hours taking him to practice and watching games and tournaments.  The trouble was, we had to help out with concession stand duty and make adjustments to our work and social schedules when conflicts arose for game times.  Eli also got involved with Boy Scouts and church activities.  He was very popular and had lots of friends.  The trouble was, he got invited to lots of birthday parties.  You can't go to a birthday party without a gift.  But we became friends with the parents of his friends and got to know many new people that Eli brought into our life.  Besides sports and extracurricular activities, Eli was also smart in school.  He got good grades and test scores and moved into honor classes over time.  He was also funny and liked to have a good time.  He had parties at our house, went to sleepovers at his friends houses and was always on the go.  The trouble was, he needed a ride.  So the family taxi service became a reality as drop offs and pick ups became more common and frequent.  He continued to play basketball and there were still lots of games and tournaments to go to.  But we loved to watch him and his team play ball and win games.  Once Eli moved into high school, he found out that things were more competitive and he didn't get as much playing time.  The trouble was, he got cut from the JV basketball team his sophomore year, so his basketball career was over.  He tried tennis and seemed to do well with that, but it's not the same as team sports.  Eli was still popular and good looking.  He met a girl that he liked in Spanish class and they quickly hit it off.  Maddie was her name.  She was pretty and had a big smile.  They seemed to be made for each other.  Most kids in high school go through many different relationships, but not Eli and Maddie.  They have dated for over two years now and are both juniors.  Once Eli was old enough to drive, he wanted to get his license.  The trouble was, we had to teach him to drive and endure some scary moments of feeling uneasy with a new driver behind the wheel.  Once he got his license, he wanted to have access to the family car.  The trouble was, he wanted my Ford Mustang and my only other option was to help him buy a used car or come up with a different solution for myself.  I decided to sell my motorcycle and get a new, used car for myself.  That way, he could have the Mustang, which we knew the service and maintenance history was good.  Like all parents, we waited at home nervously while Eli went on dates with his girlfriend, Maddie.  Eli got a part time job to help pay for his new car expenses and insurance.  He was really acting mature for his age.  The trouble was, he was still only 16.  Eli got his first speeding ticket and was involved in a minor car accident.  Luckily, the accident was not his fault, but it was still nerve wracking when we got that text from him saying that he was in an accident.  The trouble was, some time prior to that incident, we got some other news from Eli that parents do not want to hear.  My wife noticed that he had not been eating and was acting strange.  He called her into his room the next day and with tears streaming down his face, he told his mother that he had gotten his girlfriend pregnant.  The trouble was, he was still only 16 and she was only 17.  Teenagers, who were now faced with decisions that they were not prepared to make.  We met with both of them and let them know that their lives were going to be changed forever.  Coming from Christian families with an upbringing in church and a strong faith background, they knew they had made a huge mistake, but they were ready and willing to take responsibility for their actions.  Abortion and giving up the baby for adoption were not an option.  They both wanted to have the baby and make the sacrifices they needed to make to take care of the baby when it arrived.  High school schedules had to be adjusted, college plans had to be reevaluated.  We met with Maddie's parents and were all in agreement that we would support our kids and the new baby the best we could.  We watched as Maddie went through her pregnancy and noticed that she and Eli were true to their word.  They both went to their doctor appointments together, made the necessary adjustments to their work and school schedules and were frankly acting very mature for two teenagers in their position.  The trouble was, they still had to deal with other kids at school who were not so nice about their situation.  So they found out who their true friends were and they prepared to have a baby.  Well the big day came.  The baby boy arrived, a few days early.  After a long day and night of testing and labor, a little baby boy was born at 4:25 in the afternoon.  They named him Luke Joseph, and he was as cute as could be.  Eli and Maddie were proud parents and they smiled broadly as they let their brothers and sisters, parents and grandparents hold the new baby for the first time.  He was going to have lots of aunts and uncles and support from his extended family.  For all the things that have happened in Eli's life, both good and bad, for all the adjustments and sacrifices we made to take care of him and do what we thought was best for him, we realized that he had turned out alright.  He was a good kid, who made a few mistakes along the way, but he was a good kid.  The real trouble with Eli is, we love him very much, and we would do anything for him because we are his parents and we love him unconditionally.  So even though this is not how we envisioned life for Eli to be, we will be there for him and Maddie and now his, son Luke.  We will continue to love them because that's what parents do!