Hey guys, so I missed last week due to a short mission trip in the Big Apple, but I am back at it today with a little bit of a rant. As you may or may not know, today is the day that the Same-Sex Marriage cases are going to court. There are a bunch of details that are being discussed and looked over but the basic idea that is being combed over is whether or not same-sex marriages should be legal. (By the way, I won't use the word "gay" in this post because that is a term that I feel defines a person, and nobody should be labeled based on their sexuality).
I woke up today and checked Facebook like most people do, and one of the first things that I, and probably most of you noticed were the insane number of red equal signs plastered all over my news feed is support of same-sex marriage. OK great, you support same-sex marriage. You're wrong and you don't really get it, but if you want to show that you support it, that's fine. But the thing that really bugged me the most was the lack of red crosses and Facebook posts about standing up for what is true and beautiful, and that my friends is traditional marriage. One mom. One dad. The way God intended it to be.
Now, you may be thinking to yourself, what's the big deal? Why get so upset about someone not changing their profile picture to a red cross? And you're right, it's not something to get all worked up about, but it paints a bigger picture of the status of our faith right now. I think the Catholic church and the Christian faith as a whole does a pretty good job of speaking for our beliefs on our behalf and doing really BIG things, but the problem does not lie within the big institutions. The problem lies within each one of us. "But Josh I went to the March for Life. I went to World Youth Day. I did something. I stood up for truth!" Yes, yes you did and thank you for that, but at the same time, at these events you can be protected by the church and have the ability to hide yourself away from the public that wants to tear you down at your inner most core. The real heroes are the ones that expose themselves to the individual people that want to rip them apart.
I think so often individuals are afraid of what other people think of them that when it comes down to issues like same-sex marriage and abortion, we find it so easy to just go with the flow. It is just so easy to just be quiet instead of ruffling some feathers. NEWSFLASH! We are not here to just be nice people. We are not here to be politically correct and just do whatever the mainstream does. We are here to be beacons of light for Christ, and by hiding the truth from someone that has a different opinion than you, truly you are not being that beacon and are doing a disservice to that other person. If you have a friend that thinks 2+2 equals 5 you surely wouldn't let them go on thinking that until they get embarrassed by someone greater telling them otherwise. It's the same thing in this situation. By letting our brothers and sisters walk around with a false idea of what is true, we let them walk around being totally wrong about how the world works. But by telling them the truth, we give them an opportunity to accept or reject it. And if they reject it, well...God have mercy on their souls. But at least you tried, and that is all that matters.
So basically what I am trying to get through is the fact that we have to stop being quiet. We have to stop sitting back while our brothers and sisters continue to spread the wrong message. We cannot wait for the church or some other group to speak up for us, but we have to take ownership and do it ourselves. Jesus didn't call us to be tolerant of our neighbor, but to love our neighbor. And by keeping the truth to yourself, you are certainly not loving your neighbor. Pope Francis can't speak to your friend across the hall but you can. So stop being politically correct and start speaking the truth. (Mic Drop)
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Our Day
Simply put, March 13, 2013 was our day. It was a day in which the eyes of the entire world were fixated upon a tiny balcony in a tiny square in the middle of Rome. It was a day in which media outlets from all over the world had but one thing to talk about...Pope Francis. Talk of the sequester and other economical difficulties were on the back page. I couldn't tell you who won a single basketball game, and when I went into my favorite hipster coffee shop today (which probably hasn't seen a prayer in years) sitting right on the counter was the local paper with our Holy Father's face plastered right on top. March 13th was our day.
It started out like any other Wednesday. We had our team meeting in the morning, which was followed by mass and time on campus. But I remember myself being very distraught and sort of upset. About what, I could not tell you, but there was a feeling of discontent hanging over me. So, like any good missionary, I prayed about and asked Jesus to take it away. Little did I know that he was going to make this a day that will never be forgotten. March 13th was our day.
I was watching the live feed on EWTN and all of the sudden, the smoke starts pouring out of the chimney. Yes, I was watching video of a stationary chimney. But the smoke started turning white and at that moment, this became no ordinary day. We were about to have a new Papa, a new leader of our church. My own mindset and the mindsets of billions were instantly changed because the largest charitable organization in the world was about to have a new face. So, I ran over to the student center to catch the coverage on the television. And joined with about a dozen other people, we watched Pope Francis take his first steps as the new pope. March 13th was our day.
The media coverage of the event was done, in my opinion, very well. As a conservative Catholic, I am always weary of how the media, especially the liberal media, would cover an event such as this. But, I will say that I was impressed. Social media was a different story. Yeah, my news feed was filled with "Habemus Papem" and other quotes from our new pope, but there was a small sliver that wanted nothing more than to put a damper on this day. I was not going to let that happen. I have a friend, let's call him Ben, and Ben is a confirmed atheist and constantly is posting things in regard to equal marriage and "gay rights," whatever that means. And twice yesterday, he posted comments taking shots at the new Vicar of Christ. And each time, there I was commenting right back defending our faith. Most days, I leave those things alone because Facebook is certainly not the place for a theological discussion. But March 13th was not most days. March 13th was our day.
There were joyous celebrations, tears, and an all around feeling of joy throughout the Catholic world. We received our first Jesuit pope, our first Latin American pope, our first pope with the name Francis, but above all we received a holy man that will guide this church with only one thing in mind...the will of God. For some, Wednesday was just another day. The sun rose and it set. But for 1.2 billion people it was day that will always be remembered. March 13th was our day.
It started out like any other Wednesday. We had our team meeting in the morning, which was followed by mass and time on campus. But I remember myself being very distraught and sort of upset. About what, I could not tell you, but there was a feeling of discontent hanging over me. So, like any good missionary, I prayed about and asked Jesus to take it away. Little did I know that he was going to make this a day that will never be forgotten. March 13th was our day.
I was watching the live feed on EWTN and all of the sudden, the smoke starts pouring out of the chimney. Yes, I was watching video of a stationary chimney. But the smoke started turning white and at that moment, this became no ordinary day. We were about to have a new Papa, a new leader of our church. My own mindset and the mindsets of billions were instantly changed because the largest charitable organization in the world was about to have a new face. So, I ran over to the student center to catch the coverage on the television. And joined with about a dozen other people, we watched Pope Francis take his first steps as the new pope. March 13th was our day.
The media coverage of the event was done, in my opinion, very well. As a conservative Catholic, I am always weary of how the media, especially the liberal media, would cover an event such as this. But, I will say that I was impressed. Social media was a different story. Yeah, my news feed was filled with "Habemus Papem" and other quotes from our new pope, but there was a small sliver that wanted nothing more than to put a damper on this day. I was not going to let that happen. I have a friend, let's call him Ben, and Ben is a confirmed atheist and constantly is posting things in regard to equal marriage and "gay rights," whatever that means. And twice yesterday, he posted comments taking shots at the new Vicar of Christ. And each time, there I was commenting right back defending our faith. Most days, I leave those things alone because Facebook is certainly not the place for a theological discussion. But March 13th was not most days. March 13th was our day.
There were joyous celebrations, tears, and an all around feeling of joy throughout the Catholic world. We received our first Jesuit pope, our first Latin American pope, our first pope with the name Francis, but above all we received a holy man that will guide this church with only one thing in mind...the will of God. For some, Wednesday was just another day. The sun rose and it set. But for 1.2 billion people it was day that will always be remembered. March 13th was our day.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
The Purgatory that is the Confession Line
So a couple things got me thinking about the confessional today, the first of those being my continued reading of St. Augustine's "Confessions." I also had the opportunity to listen to a talk on forgiveness and reconciliation this morning, and I was able to pray with the story of the sinful woman in chapter 7 of Luke's Gospel. Naturally, with all the talk of confession and forgiveness, I had to write about this special gift, and thanks be to God for basically throwing this week's blog in my lap!
The story of the sinful woman is incredible. In essence, Jesus is sitting down with one of the Pharisees for a meal, and this woman, who is "a sinful woman" comes behind Jesus and starts washing his feet. But the awesome thing is not only that she washes his feet but that she is washing them with her tears! "...and standing behind him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume" (Luke 7:38). This is amazing! I can't even imagine how many tears it would take to wash someone's feet and then to wipe them with her own hair? Incredible!
But why is this so incredible? Yeah she is crying a lot and probably didn't have a towel so she used what she had. But it's not that. It's the incredible faith, love, and humility she had for Jesus that should floor you. This woman, again incredibly sinful (although the sins she committed are unclear), heard that Jesus was going to be somewhere so she goes up to him and starts to wash his feet. And not only does she start washing them, this woman is not going to stop until her sins are forgiven. And as the story goes, Jesus releases her from those sins and allows her to go free and now clean.
This should get us thinking. When was the last time you ran to Jesus like that while in the state of mortal sin? When was the last time that you wept over the brokenness of your own failures? I know looking at myself, it certainly has been awhile. But this is the kind of attitude we must have when we come to confession. When we sin, the FIRST thing we should do is run straight to Jesus. He won't be offended. He won't turn you away. I promise. I have talked to many priests and a lot of them tell me that their favorite thing to do is hear confessions, and that they will ALWAYS make time to bring someone back into that state of grace. But yet so many of us wait days, weeks, and sadly, even years to lay it all out there. Suck up your pride and go see Jesus. As St. Josemaria Escriva says, "he has been waiting for you for twenty centuries". Our sin is the disease, and Jesus is the doctor. And when you leave that confessional and Jesus has forgiven you for all of your iniquities, the worst thing you can do is beat yourself up over it. I mean, seriously, who are you to not forgive yourself when Jesus forgives you?
This also got me thinking about that first confession when I came back into the church. It was the fall of 2010 and it was the first time that I had been in that line in 7 years. I'm standing there with two very distinct feelings. One of nervousness, the other of excitement. The nervousness was expected. I hadn't been in the box in nearly a decade and I had a lot of sins to confess. I was about to tell some guy that I do not know about my drinking, my partying, my impurities, and my general lack of love for God, and on top of that, I had no idea how to go about doing it! But remember, I also had a feeling of excitement. And that excitement came from the fact that even though this was going to be a difficult challenge to get through, there was a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. When I left that confessional, every single sin from the past 7 years was wiped away. All the pain, all the self hate, all the feelings of being unloved were gone in an instant. And I swear when I walked out of there it was like everything was pointing in my direction. The lights were brighter. The birds that are nearly non-existant in the late fall of Nebraska were singing, and the people waiting in line behind me were clapping and applauding my efforts. OK the last one isn't true but boy, things finally had turned around.
So, I guess what I'm saying in all of this is to not be afraid of the confessional. Is it scary at times? Yeah. Can it be difficult to confess your deepest, darkest sins to someone that you don't know? Of course. But none of that matters. All that matters is that Jesus wants you to be there. He wants to enter into those dark places so he can shine his light on the places where you hurt the most. He is the ultimate healer and if you let him...he will change your life.
In Christ,
Josh
The story of the sinful woman is incredible. In essence, Jesus is sitting down with one of the Pharisees for a meal, and this woman, who is "a sinful woman" comes behind Jesus and starts washing his feet. But the awesome thing is not only that she washes his feet but that she is washing them with her tears! "...and standing behind him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume" (Luke 7:38). This is amazing! I can't even imagine how many tears it would take to wash someone's feet and then to wipe them with her own hair? Incredible!
But why is this so incredible? Yeah she is crying a lot and probably didn't have a towel so she used what she had. But it's not that. It's the incredible faith, love, and humility she had for Jesus that should floor you. This woman, again incredibly sinful (although the sins she committed are unclear), heard that Jesus was going to be somewhere so she goes up to him and starts to wash his feet. And not only does she start washing them, this woman is not going to stop until her sins are forgiven. And as the story goes, Jesus releases her from those sins and allows her to go free and now clean.
This should get us thinking. When was the last time you ran to Jesus like that while in the state of mortal sin? When was the last time that you wept over the brokenness of your own failures? I know looking at myself, it certainly has been awhile. But this is the kind of attitude we must have when we come to confession. When we sin, the FIRST thing we should do is run straight to Jesus. He won't be offended. He won't turn you away. I promise. I have talked to many priests and a lot of them tell me that their favorite thing to do is hear confessions, and that they will ALWAYS make time to bring someone back into that state of grace. But yet so many of us wait days, weeks, and sadly, even years to lay it all out there. Suck up your pride and go see Jesus. As St. Josemaria Escriva says, "he has been waiting for you for twenty centuries". Our sin is the disease, and Jesus is the doctor. And when you leave that confessional and Jesus has forgiven you for all of your iniquities, the worst thing you can do is beat yourself up over it. I mean, seriously, who are you to not forgive yourself when Jesus forgives you?
This also got me thinking about that first confession when I came back into the church. It was the fall of 2010 and it was the first time that I had been in that line in 7 years. I'm standing there with two very distinct feelings. One of nervousness, the other of excitement. The nervousness was expected. I hadn't been in the box in nearly a decade and I had a lot of sins to confess. I was about to tell some guy that I do not know about my drinking, my partying, my impurities, and my general lack of love for God, and on top of that, I had no idea how to go about doing it! But remember, I also had a feeling of excitement. And that excitement came from the fact that even though this was going to be a difficult challenge to get through, there was a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. When I left that confessional, every single sin from the past 7 years was wiped away. All the pain, all the self hate, all the feelings of being unloved were gone in an instant. And I swear when I walked out of there it was like everything was pointing in my direction. The lights were brighter. The birds that are nearly non-existant in the late fall of Nebraska were singing, and the people waiting in line behind me were clapping and applauding my efforts. OK the last one isn't true but boy, things finally had turned around.
So, I guess what I'm saying in all of this is to not be afraid of the confessional. Is it scary at times? Yeah. Can it be difficult to confess your deepest, darkest sins to someone that you don't know? Of course. But none of that matters. All that matters is that Jesus wants you to be there. He wants to enter into those dark places so he can shine his light on the places where you hurt the most. He is the ultimate healer and if you let him...he will change your life.
In Christ,
Josh
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