"That they might have life" -John 10:10: November 2012

Nov

15

"The worlds 'poorest president' "

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From an article on BBC News.

It's a common grumble that politicians' lifestyles are far removed from those of their electorate. Not so in Uruguay. Meet the president - who lives on a ramshackle farm and gives away most of his pay.

Laundry is strung outside the house. The water comes from a well in a yard, overgrown with weeds. Only two police officers and Manuela, a three-legged dog, keep watch outside.

This is the residence of the president of Uruguay, Jose Mujica, whose lifestyle clearly differs sharply from that of most other world leaders.

President Mujica has shunned the luxurious house that the Uruguayan state provides for its leaders and opted to stay at his wife's farmhouse, off a dirt road outside the capital, Montevideo.

The president and his wife work the land themselves, growing flowers.

This austere lifestyle - and the fact that Mujica donates about 90% of his monthly salary, equivalent to $12,000 (£7,500), to charity - has led him to be labelled the poorest president in the world.

"No - I am not a poor president. Poor people are those who always want more and more. Those who never have enough of anything, those are the poor, because they are in a never-ending cycle, and they will never have have enough time in their lives. I choose this austere lifestyle... so I have time to live how I want to live."

Posted 15th November 2012 by Anonymous

Labels: Culture and Current Events Energizing Witness Preferential Option for the Poor Social Justice The Modern Man
Nov

14

A Powerful Perspective on Immigration

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We are all poor. Some of us are lonely-poor. Some are materially-poor. Some are financially-poor. Some are disabled-poor. And some of us have been aliens.

A brother seminarian gave a presentation to our class today concerning the effect of immigration on Catholic ministry in Alabama. His initial research aimed at a more holistic understanding of Hispanic-American Catholicism, but his interviews with an Archbishop, priests, lay ministers and Hispanics in the South turned up a more critical and timely topic: immigration laws.

His brief presentation gave enough insight and facts to illustrate how Alabama - like other states - is cracking down on illegal aliens. It only seems right to pursue justice in all forms of "illegal" activity in our country or any other. However, some laws are prohibiting citizens from any forms of activity that will "encourage" illegal persons from remaining in the country. It is illegal to give undocumented persons rides to the doctor, food, clothing, financial assistance, to teach them English, or counsel a mother who has a problem pregnancy.

Alabama's HB 56 is known as "the toughest" of them all, and Christian leaders have joined in raising their voices on behalf of the poor. In this context, the poor are not necessarily materially poor, but poor in influence, in the ability to receive rightful dignity.

Archbishop Thomas Rodi beautifully crafted a message to his flock about a year ago, summoning a serious look at the law's impact on our Christian duty to love our neighbor. He writes,

I did not wish to enter into a legal action against the government of Alabama. It is not my temperament to look for an argument. I prayed fervently about this matter, and my prayer kept bringing me back to the motto I chose ten years ago for my bishop’s coat of arms: "The love of Christ impels us" (2 Cor 5:14) Indeed, the love of Christ impels us to "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit..." (Matthew 28:19). No law is just which prevents the proclamation of the Gospel, the baptizing of believers, or love shown to neighbor in need. I do not wish to stand before God and, when God asks me if I fed him when he was hungry or gave him to drink when he was thirsty, to reply: yes, Lord, as long as you had the proper documents.
When it comes to this delicate, complicated matter, we must all take a serious, prayerful look at our role. We are not promised ease, yet we are commissioned and given the gift of faith of our God with us.

Ellis Island (Image source)

Posted 14th November 2012 by Anonymous

Labels: 2 Corinthians 5 American Catholic History Catholic Social Teaching Culture and Current Events Human Rights Matthew 28 Preferential Option for the Poor Social Justice Today's Church
Nov

13

It Starts with Us

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"We cannot engage culture unless we let Him first engage us; we cannot dialogue with others unless we first dialogue with Him; we cannot challenge unless we first let Him challenge us.

"The Venerable Servant of God, Fulton J. Sheen, once commented, "The first word of Jesus in the Gospel was 'come'; the last word of Jesus was 'go'."

Timothy Cardinal Dolan,
Address for the opening session of the USCCB Plenary in Baltimore
November 12, 2012

Posted 13th November 2012 by Anonymous

Labels: The New Evangelization
Nov

12

Renewed Sense of Life

I Dare You!
By Jones Loflin

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing! -Helen Keller

That quote by Helen Keller is written on a sticky note and is attached to my work desk where I can't miss it. The quote catches my eye each time I sit down to accomplish work and when I rise to leave my work area. Even when I'm taking a quick stretch break, her words remind me that in every moment I have a choice-to fully engage my physical, emotional and spiritual energy to make the most of the present moment-or to let those moments fade away one by one with little to celebrate later.

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"But Jones," you say, "Responding to email or completing the monthly financial report isn't the same as skydiving or searching for buried treasure." I had the same thoughts when I first saw the quote, but then I reflected on the source of the quote-a woman who was deaf and blind. A daring adventure at one point in her life would have been to try and form a word correctly with her mouth or to comprehend what someone was writing in her hand. Because she was willing to take those moment-by-moment adventures she went on to live an amazing life, becoming the first deaf and blind woman ever to earn a bachelor's of arts degree.

With that new perspective in mind, I offer you some simple "daring adventures" you can take daily to insure that your life is lived to its fullest more often.

Do something spontaneous. Yesterday morning I casually sat down at the piano and played a song. I don't play well and have not touched a piano in about two years, but it was so refreshing to do something out of my normal routine. For you it may be trying your hand at an old hobby or doing something you love to do-and haven't done in too long. After you are finished, don't be surprised to find you like the sense of renewal within you.

Go outside and take some long deep breaths. Try to identify as many different scents as possible. High stress causes shallow breathing and the deep breaths act as catalysts to clear your mind. A similar opportunity is to look up at the clouds and imagine what they resemble.

Order something different from the menu. I laugh every time I see someone agonizing over their choices like it's their last meal. Try something unusual or exotic. If you don't like it, guess what... you don't have to order it again in the future. If at the grocery store, purchase a different brand of a product and conduct a taste test with your family.

Ask, "What if?" more often. Especially as it relates to current challenges or sources of disappointment. Allowing your mind to respond to this question sends it on a journey of discovery and new possibilities.

Learn a new word. I get one delivered to my inbox each day and then try to use it in a sentence. A recent favorite was lugubrious. When I told my younger daughter it was time for bed, she developed a quite lugubrious demeanor. My all time favorite so far has been the word, flummoxed.

Travel vicariously though someone else. When asking them about their journeys, I have a few standard questions like, "Tell me about the best meal you ever had while traveling," or "What is the most memorable view you ever had while traveling?" Regardless of whether they have only traveled in your state or around the world, the responses are always thought-provoking.

Do something out of the ordinary for others. Hold the door for them even though they are still several yards away. Buy them their favorite flavor of mints or gum. Visit someone (live or online) unannounced.

Those are just a few. Remember, adventure is loosely defined as an activity involving risk. If your day is consistently filled with activities that have no risk... well, Helen's quote makes the point.

What risks are you taking today to add adventure to your life?

Posted 12th November 2012 by Anonymous

Labels: Adventure Ordinary Blessings Risk
Nov

12

Prophetic Words

For any group who sometimes receives more than they give...

"A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority will always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse over loose fiscal policy.”
- Alexander Tyler, a history teacher from the University of Edinburgh in 1887

Photo taken at Creighton University, summer 2012

Posted 12th November 2012 by Anonymous

Labels: Culture Do Hard Things Prophets in Our Midst Sacrifice The Modern Man
Nov

7

Subsidiarity

I was fortunate enough to spend some time at a number of events with former Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer as a National FFA Officer in 2008. Secretary Schafer is a humble and kind man who - after we interacted at our first few functions together - insisted: "Call me Ed."

US Sec. of Education Spellings and Sec. of Ag. Schafer, 2008, Washington, DC

One evening in DC, as we awaited an appreciation dinner hosted at the US Dept. of Agriculture, Sec. Schafer and I were standing off to the side of the ballroom, talking. He asked about my family's farm and my role in FFA, and I asked him about North Dakota, agriculture, and his role and style of leadership-administration. At the end of what was a somewhat fast-paced conversation, he told me something that resurfaces in my mind every time I encounter conversations about leadership, government or administration.

"My job," he said slowly, putting one hand on his hip and exhaling a little, "is to find out what is working on local levels and hold that up for others to see and model."
He then spoke of how we ought to trust people to work hard and do good in their own communities.

Here's another's thoughts on letting locals help locals:

"In recent years the range of such intervention has vastly expanded, to the point of creating a new type of State, the so-called "Welfare State". This has happened in some countries in order to respond better to many needs and demands, by remedying forms of poverty and deprivation unworthy of the human person. However, excesses and abuses, especially in recent years, have provoked very harsh criticisms of the Welfare State, dubbed the "Social Assistance State". Malfunctions and defects in the Social Assistance State are the result of an inadequate understanding of the tasks proper to the State. Here again the principle of subsidiarity must be respected: a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to coordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good.

A great example of neighbors sacrificing (Image source)

"In fact, it would appear that needs are best understood and satisfied by people who are closest to them and who act as neighbours to those in need. It should be added that certain kinds of demands often call for a response which is not simply material but which is capable of perceiving the deeper human need. One thinks of the condition of refugees, immigrants, the elderly, the sick, and all those in circumstances which call for assistance... all these people can be helped effectively only by those who offer them genuine fraternal support, in addition to the necessary care." Centesimus annus, 48; Bl. Pope John Paul, II; 1991
That's a heavy call for all of us, but one that others need us to follow.

"When you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind..." -Luke 14:13

Posted 7th November 2012 by Anonymous

Labels: Catholic Social Teaching Culture and Current Events Energizing Witness Leadership and Personal Growth Luke 14 Preferential Option for the Poor Principles to Live By Social Justice Subsidiarity
Nov

3

We Are Catholic.

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Posted 3rd November 2012 by Anonymous

Labels: General Inspiration The New Evangelization
Nov

2

Christian Leadership III: Popularity

This book is such a great, short, reflection-inspiring read. Here are some more thoughts from Nouwen's text:

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Jesus "did not come to prove himself. He did not come to walk on hot coals, swallow fire, or put his hand in the lion's mouth to demonstrate that he had something worthwhile to say" (55).
Rather, the silent speak the loudest. Those whose lives proclaim their convictions not only take us by surprise, they shock our minds, letting the observer or persecutor or fool or innocently ignorant come to a knowledge of the truth just by being in the presence of the saint - of the person modeled after Jesus Christ.

So, let us be Christ to others. And to prove that we are not just bachelors or self-absorbed leaders, let us adhere to a community, the Church:

"...whenever we minister together, it is easier for people to recognize that we do not come in our own name, but in the name of the Lord Jesus who sent us" (59).
Finally, we need to let ourselves be known by others, especially those we are attempting to or responsible for leading.

"How can people truly care for their shepherds and keep them faithful to their sacred task when they do not know them and so cannot deeply love them?" (65)

"All of this does not mean that ministers or priests must, explicitly, bring their own sins or failures to the pulpit or into their daily ministries. That would be unhealthy and imprudent and not at all a form of servant leadership. What it means is that ministers and priests are also called to be full members of their communities, are accountable to them and need their affection and support, and are called to minister with their whole being..." (69)

Posted 2nd November 2012 by Anonymous

Labels: Leadership and Personal Growth Servant Leadership Silent Today's Church
Nov

2

Why We Celebrate the Saints

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"The Feast of All Saints asks us to look beyond the long list of canonized saints and to hunt for holiness among our own, “a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue” (Rev 7:9). And when we do find holiness close at hand, we recognize that the Church herself, for all her flaws and sins, is nonetheless a rich harvest for God. Men and women are growing into wholeness within her. That’s worth validating, because a Church without such saints, without a worthy harvest, would serve no purpose, no purpose at all."

For the full article, click here.

Posted 2nd November 2012 by Anonymous

Labels: All Saints Day Be Thou An Example Heaven Holiness Lives of the Saints Revelation 7
Nov

1

All Saints Homily

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Our rector gave an immensely vivid, imaginative homily about our anticipation and participation in eternal life with the saints. Here's a morsel. Take your time. Let your mind wander with it.

And of course we know these saints They are familiar to us We know them for their brown habits, their placid looks presiding over lawns, petting wolves and taming birds We know them as those green, shamrock-clutching bishops eager to drive the snakes of destruction away We know them as nuns wimpled within an inch of breath bearing the world peripherally through impossible headdresses We know them as leper lovers, as destitution, as mystical, as pious, as praying machines, as miracle makers They are old hands in the world of new creation They are new faces in the world of old habits They are native American girls and Italian girls and old French ladies and German fathers They are painted and statued and candled and insenced. They are tapestried and mosaiced They are the famous ones, the tried and true intercessors, good Catholics and good after-lifers And today’s feast takes them in, takes all of them in. All Saints But there is so much more

The homeless lounging in mansions The clean of heart justified The merciful given mercy The peacemakers marching to the martial tunes of quiet The afraid no longer shaking The cowardly fearless The brave braver The poor in spirit rich in grandeur The mourners dry and upright The meek bold All Saints All Saints who from their place in heaven shine with splendor before the throne of God

Posted 1st November 2012 by Anonymous

Labels: All Saints Day Called to Be Great Communion of Saints Lives of the Saints