Suffering: it sucks. We all experience suffering in some way. Some of us deal with financial difficulties, problems with a terrible boss at work, or maybe you have been searching for that one person in the world that is going to the be the Juliet to your Romeo or vice versa. Whatever the case may be, we all go through some sort of suffering in our lives. And from this, we can go two directions. We can let it rule our lives and make us miserable, or we can tackle it head on...but not in the way that you would think.
Psalm 37 asks the question, "Why do the wicked prosper and the good suffer?" Good question. In our present day society, we see many examples of the wicked prospering while we sit in our suffering. That jerk in accounting just got a raise, while you bust your hump and get nothing. Or the captain of the football team gets another award and praised by the whole school while you get a 4.0 and still nobody knows who you are. These are all "first world" examples of suffering, but let's take a look at what this Psalm tells us about true suffering. God tells us that we have to "wait for him" (Psalm 37:7). I don't want to wait. "The poor will inherit the earth" (37:11). I sure as heck don't want to be poor. "The righteous one is generous and gives" (37:21). I want to keep my stuff. And the good "may stumble" (37:23). Yeah, I want to stand upright on my feet. All these things are going to happen to those who strive for righteousness. It is inevitable. But, it is what we do with this suffering that truly matters.
Picture a timeline. This timeline reaches from the beginning of the world, to the very end. OK got it? Now, try and find your short lifespan on there. You can't. The time we have here on earth is so minute that you would never be able to place it on a timeline. So, as a human being, I should probably make good with the time that I have. There are a ton of good things we can do in our time, but today we continue with the theme of suffering. What can I do with my suffering that will make an impact? This may sound obvious and trivial, but offer it up! And there are so many things for which you can offer your suffering. It could be for drought or the end to abortion or for the wars all over the world. OR...or you could offer it up for that guy who got the raise in accounting. OR...or you could offer it up for that football player that got all the recognition. If it is the wicked that are prospering and receiving all the praise and glory, then they probably could use those prayers and there is nothing more honorable on this earth than to suffer for the kingdom of God and His people...all of His people.
We all suffer. Now, the suffering that we experience in this lifetime is nothing like the hardships that Peter and the rest of the apostles went through. I can walk down the street proclaiming that I am a Christian to anyone and yeah, I might get some strange looks, but my life is never in danger. Some of you reading this may have never had to face any real suffering. I know I sure didn't when I was younger. Things came easy to me. I got good grades and was halfway decent at throwing a baseball and had a good group of friends around me. But in an instant all that can be taken away, and what remains is the opportunity to build a relationship with God. Take that opportunity! If we just let our problems sit on the skin instead of offering them up to the divine healer, they eventually will get infected. And after that, the infection starts to spread and impact other parts of your body. We cannot let that happen to our souls. They are far too precious and important to let anything happen to them. So we need to stop trying to save our own souls and fix our own problems and let Jesus do it. He's better at it anyway.
In Christ,
Josh
Monday, May 20, 2013
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Christ in College
College. It's the most important 4, well maybe ...ok 6 years of your life. You come in at the ripe young age of 18 and hopefully you leave by the time you are 30 with a degree in hand. And hopefully you can actually find a job with said degree. Having these goals are great. As Americans we all strive to live that American dream. We want to have a great job, start a family, and make enough money so that the golf course becomes your second home when you hit the age of 70. But what about your faith? What goals do you have to sustain and build your relationship with Christ and his Church? These questions should be just as important, if not more important than the major you end up choosing. Well today, I am going to give you some tips for making the faith your own when you leave the nest.
The first step is choosing the right school. There are all kinds of schools around; teaching schools, nursing schools, tech schools and all of them have great qualities. But the Christian culture of the school needs to factored in as well. Is there a church on campus? What about a Newman Center? Is there at least a good Catholic community around? If the answers to these questions are yes, then go for it! For me, having these types of things on my campus was huge in my coming back to the faith. Without the Newman Center at the greatest college in the world (the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in case you were wondering) along with the greatest people in the world, I may have never found my way back to the faith. So do yourself a favor and ask yourself those questions before you decide on a school.
OK so you chose to go to a school with all of these things. Great, now what??? USE THEM! Colleges do not have Newman Centers and Catholic churches on campus so they can sit empty. Get your butt over there and pray. "But Josh, you don't understand. I have 3 tests this week and 4 papers and 19 projects. How am I going to find time to get a holy hour in?" I lived the college life. Unless you are triple majoring in Chemistry, Biology, and Physics, you are not that busy. The college schedule always allows for free time. It's up to you as to how you are going to spend that free time. You can party. You can watch TV. You can hang out with friends. But what about building your relationship with Jesus? All he wants is some time with you. Go hang out with Jesus. Do your homework in the chapel. Whatever you have to do to get even 30 minutes with Jesus, do it! Because as St. Josemaria Escriva so famously says, "When you approach the tabernacle, remember that he has been waiting for you for twenty centuries." The least you can do is give him some of your time.
"Alright Josh, so I picked a nice Catholic college and I'm praying and going to mass and doing all of those things. What's next?" What's next? Go spread the good news! The Catholic faith is an absolute gift from God and by holding it in for yourself, all you are doing is being selfish and doing a disservice to others. There are literally tens and hundreds of thousands of college students on campuses all over the country that are thirsting for truth. Go give it to them! Now, you can't go beat someone over the head with a Bible or start condemning them for their sins. Just go love them. It's really that simple. Go live your life with someone else and the love of Christ that is radiating through you will rub off on them. I guarantee it. It may be a little scary to go out and evangelize (I know. I know. Catholics hate the E-word). This is why the community of Catholic students that I mentioned earlier is so very important. You are going to meet people in college that are not Catholic. It's inevitable. Your task is to bring them in. They will probably be reluctant to go to mass or a Bible study right off the bat, but bring them to a movie night or a dance, or anything else that is being held. The relationship with that particular person is far more important than the "rules" at the start. Love them like people loved me in college and who knows, maybe they end up becoming a FOCUS missionary...
College is hard. You have homework. You have tests. You may have a job. It is a lot to juggle when you start those 4, 5, or 6 years. But if there is one piece of advice that I can give you, it is that you should truly consider making the faith your own. Find people that are going to help you get the ball rolling. If you still haven't decided on a school, look for ones that are FOCUS campuses. Those schools have teams of four or more people that have the job of helping you find your faith. And when you find the faith, don't hold it in. Share it with others and God will fill you up more abundantly than you ever imagined.
Peace and love,
Josh
The first step is choosing the right school. There are all kinds of schools around; teaching schools, nursing schools, tech schools and all of them have great qualities. But the Christian culture of the school needs to factored in as well. Is there a church on campus? What about a Newman Center? Is there at least a good Catholic community around? If the answers to these questions are yes, then go for it! For me, having these types of things on my campus was huge in my coming back to the faith. Without the Newman Center at the greatest college in the world (the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in case you were wondering) along with the greatest people in the world, I may have never found my way back to the faith. So do yourself a favor and ask yourself those questions before you decide on a school.
OK so you chose to go to a school with all of these things. Great, now what??? USE THEM! Colleges do not have Newman Centers and Catholic churches on campus so they can sit empty. Get your butt over there and pray. "But Josh, you don't understand. I have 3 tests this week and 4 papers and 19 projects. How am I going to find time to get a holy hour in?" I lived the college life. Unless you are triple majoring in Chemistry, Biology, and Physics, you are not that busy. The college schedule always allows for free time. It's up to you as to how you are going to spend that free time. You can party. You can watch TV. You can hang out with friends. But what about building your relationship with Jesus? All he wants is some time with you. Go hang out with Jesus. Do your homework in the chapel. Whatever you have to do to get even 30 minutes with Jesus, do it! Because as St. Josemaria Escriva so famously says, "When you approach the tabernacle, remember that he has been waiting for you for twenty centuries." The least you can do is give him some of your time.
"Alright Josh, so I picked a nice Catholic college and I'm praying and going to mass and doing all of those things. What's next?" What's next? Go spread the good news! The Catholic faith is an absolute gift from God and by holding it in for yourself, all you are doing is being selfish and doing a disservice to others. There are literally tens and hundreds of thousands of college students on campuses all over the country that are thirsting for truth. Go give it to them! Now, you can't go beat someone over the head with a Bible or start condemning them for their sins. Just go love them. It's really that simple. Go live your life with someone else and the love of Christ that is radiating through you will rub off on them. I guarantee it. It may be a little scary to go out and evangelize (I know. I know. Catholics hate the E-word). This is why the community of Catholic students that I mentioned earlier is so very important. You are going to meet people in college that are not Catholic. It's inevitable. Your task is to bring them in. They will probably be reluctant to go to mass or a Bible study right off the bat, but bring them to a movie night or a dance, or anything else that is being held. The relationship with that particular person is far more important than the "rules" at the start. Love them like people loved me in college and who knows, maybe they end up becoming a FOCUS missionary...
College is hard. You have homework. You have tests. You may have a job. It is a lot to juggle when you start those 4, 5, or 6 years. But if there is one piece of advice that I can give you, it is that you should truly consider making the faith your own. Find people that are going to help you get the ball rolling. If you still haven't decided on a school, look for ones that are FOCUS campuses. Those schools have teams of four or more people that have the job of helping you find your faith. And when you find the faith, don't hold it in. Share it with others and God will fill you up more abundantly than you ever imagined.
Peace and love,
Josh
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Relate It!
It is certainly no secret that men do not like to talk about their feelings, especially when those feelings revolve around something that may make them feel embarrassed or vulnerable. Guys would much rather bottle it up and push it down to the inner depths of their core, where for the most part it remains hidden. But what happens then? Does the issue go away? No! It festers as if it were a zit on the chin of a freshly 16 year old kid who is about to ask out the girl of his dreams. It may take hours, days, weeks, or even months but eventually that thing is going to blow.
This is exactly the sort of situation that Jesus wants us to avoid, and not just every once in awhile but all the time! We all battle certain issues and have our very own crosses to carry everyday. And you know what, sometimes those crosses feel nearly impossible to carry and we feel as if the whole world is going to crash down on top of us. But Jesus tells us that he wants to help. He wants to help us carry that cross just as Simon of Cyrene did for him nearly 2,000 years ago. "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:30). God wants to be there for every single time you feel sad, hurt, angry, scared, embarrassed, or any other emotion that comes to mind. He wants to enter into those dark places and shine light on them so that he can heal them.
OK so what happens to us when we don't relate those things to Christ; when we do not let him enter into the dark places of our very soul? Remember, Jesus is the PERFECT gentleman and will not go there unless you open the door. Here is what happens. At first, you may feel fine. Those feelings of anger or sadness may go away for a short while. Great. However, when this happens over time those dark places get filled up. It is very much like a landfill that eventually reaches capacity with all the garbage that we place down there. And what happens over time, is that there must be some sort of release and this happens in a variety of ways. It could be expressed through external noise such as music or TV or sports, which are good things, but can be a giant mask for the problem that is lying underneath. And even then the problem is not yet resolved, which can lead to more self-destructing habits such as drugs and alcohol. And when it comes to this, you are not only harming yourself but putting those around you in dangerous and uncomfortable situations, all while your original problem is not yet resolved.
So what does Jesus want us to do when something is off, when something is just not quite right? He wants us to tell him! Jesus loves us in our brokenness and wants to heal those places at the very root! Think of your best friend or your significant other. You know them so well that you can instantly tell when something is not right, when something is just a little bit off. And how does that make you feel? You want to help them! You want them to come to you because you want to resolve whatever issue is going on inside. Jesus is the same way except so many times more! Jesus wants to hear your problem and better yet, being the divine physician that he is, he can heal that wound. He can dig around in there, fix the break, and close up the wound leaving no scars. But it is up to us to give him that opportunity.
Tell Jesus your problems. Relate everything to him. And do not hold anything back. I mean, really, he knows you better than you do. Jesus knows everything that is going on inside that mess of a head that we all have and wants nothing more than to figure everything out. So let him. The consequences are far too serious if we don't. You harm yourself. You break bonds with people that truly care about you, and you put yourself in a very scary place. As my boss always tells me...be clear, simple, and easy with Jesus. After that, the rest is well...clear, simple, and easy.
This is exactly the sort of situation that Jesus wants us to avoid, and not just every once in awhile but all the time! We all battle certain issues and have our very own crosses to carry everyday. And you know what, sometimes those crosses feel nearly impossible to carry and we feel as if the whole world is going to crash down on top of us. But Jesus tells us that he wants to help. He wants to help us carry that cross just as Simon of Cyrene did for him nearly 2,000 years ago. "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:30). God wants to be there for every single time you feel sad, hurt, angry, scared, embarrassed, or any other emotion that comes to mind. He wants to enter into those dark places and shine light on them so that he can heal them.
OK so what happens to us when we don't relate those things to Christ; when we do not let him enter into the dark places of our very soul? Remember, Jesus is the PERFECT gentleman and will not go there unless you open the door. Here is what happens. At first, you may feel fine. Those feelings of anger or sadness may go away for a short while. Great. However, when this happens over time those dark places get filled up. It is very much like a landfill that eventually reaches capacity with all the garbage that we place down there. And what happens over time, is that there must be some sort of release and this happens in a variety of ways. It could be expressed through external noise such as music or TV or sports, which are good things, but can be a giant mask for the problem that is lying underneath. And even then the problem is not yet resolved, which can lead to more self-destructing habits such as drugs and alcohol. And when it comes to this, you are not only harming yourself but putting those around you in dangerous and uncomfortable situations, all while your original problem is not yet resolved.
So what does Jesus want us to do when something is off, when something is just not quite right? He wants us to tell him! Jesus loves us in our brokenness and wants to heal those places at the very root! Think of your best friend or your significant other. You know them so well that you can instantly tell when something is not right, when something is just a little bit off. And how does that make you feel? You want to help them! You want them to come to you because you want to resolve whatever issue is going on inside. Jesus is the same way except so many times more! Jesus wants to hear your problem and better yet, being the divine physician that he is, he can heal that wound. He can dig around in there, fix the break, and close up the wound leaving no scars. But it is up to us to give him that opportunity.
Tell Jesus your problems. Relate everything to him. And do not hold anything back. I mean, really, he knows you better than you do. Jesus knows everything that is going on inside that mess of a head that we all have and wants nothing more than to figure everything out. So let him. The consequences are far too serious if we don't. You harm yourself. You break bonds with people that truly care about you, and you put yourself in a very scary place. As my boss always tells me...be clear, simple, and easy with Jesus. After that, the rest is well...clear, simple, and easy.
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