Scripture Alive

I was reading Psalm 78 today, and the first two verses grabbed me.  It's Jesus again!  Did He not teach ancient wisdom, using parables?

Ashes

After I go to the Ash Wednesday service, I always wonder what to do with the Cross that I have on my head.  Do I leave it on?  Do I remove it?  It's an internal debate.  I have usually left it on.  I've heard that you leave it on until sun down.  I have, in the past, gone out in public to stores and restaurants with it on, wholly aware of the attention it draws.  I have also removed it after Church.  Two scriptures come to mind.  The first, says that if you deny Jesus now, he will deny you before the Father on Judgement Day.  The second, is from the Gospel of Matthew, where it says that you are not to parade around making a show of your faith.  Pray in private.  Fast without telling anybody.  This reading from Matthew was the Ash Wednesday reading.  So, I removed the Cross when I got home.  That, I have not done in the last few years.  I went out for lunch, "naked and ashamed".  Another scripture comes to mind, one I know well and read this morning, the parable of the three servants who are given money.  The third servant buries his money.  This has always been a story to teach us to spread our faith, to me.  I have been given faith, I should invest it in other people, spread the faith.  I used to say grace for my food at work.  I thought about this a lot.  I thought that I would be denying Christ if I didn't, and it was a conversation starter; I could perhaps use it to evangelize.  I have long since stopped.  I started no conversations.  I came to the conclusion that people probably thought I was showboating.  I say a private thanks to God at work for my food.  So, what's right?  I don't know.  It's still an internal struggle.  My advice?  Pray about it, look into your heart, act in the moment, and may the Spirit guide you.

Pope Resigns

"Pope Resigns," reads the headlines.  Then, the online Catholic Church/Pope/Christian bashing begins.  One online meme, posted on Facebook, had a split picture of the Pope and Jesus.  On one side the Pope was saying that he resigned.  On the other, Jesus said, "We can quit?"  I said to my friend who pointed it out, "it's blasphamas, but it reminds me of an old movie that dealt with the issue.  Ever heard of The Last Temptation of Christ?"  The point I want to make here is the Jesus went to the Cross by choice.  He didn't have to do it.  Love is the reason He did, not fear.  It wasn't done because He didn't have a choice.  He went freely to the Cross and death. 

SSM

So, you don't think gay people should be able to get married.  Fine; but, who told you that you could throw stones?

Snap

I've bit my tongue for so long to be polite, to not impede God's work through me, to get along with people.  Sure, there's my blog here; but, nobody reads it.  Well, with the school shooting in the USA before Christmas, society got so polarized that I just couldn't take it anymore.  I broke out on Facebook, telling it how I feel.  Now, maybe I can't minister as effectively; God make it not so.  I just couldn't take it any more.  The problem with liberals is that they preach tolerance, so long as liberal ideas are espoused.  I lost probably up to 15 FB friends after my posts started in response to the polarizing diatribe online.  But, maybe, now that it's out on Facebook, God may return to my God Wall.

Dufuss

I'm a dufuss.  I had a third post to write today, but I procrastinated and forgot it.  This happens to me all the friggen time.  So, I usually look at it like this:  If God wants it here, I'll remember; if I don't remember, it was never meant to be here.

Custom

Luke 4:16 says that Jesus went to the synagogue as was the custom.  Fr. Ted was speaking about this in his homily this week.  I was thinking about how my evangelical friends are so anti tradition/ritual/custom/rite/orthodox/structure etc....  I thought about Jesus in God's house.  He was in the synagogue as was the custom.  Now, my friends will be quick to point out that when the veil was rent in two, it was symbolic of how everything changed in the relationship between the individual and God.  True, and I'm not arguing that fact.  However, consider this:  Jesus never sinned.  Therefore, being in the synagogue because it was the custom was not idolatry.  He was not making Church or ritual an idol.  There is nothing wrong with the customs of the Church.  Jesus was sinless.

Just Like College

I was thinking about liberals in the Church again, and about college.  When I was in public school, I was beaten up almost every day for years.  This stopped when I got to New Carlisle High School, kind of like junior high.  My older and bigger cousin was in that school, and he put a stop to the beatings.  But, I sure wasn't one of the in crowd.  In '89, we moved to Ontario.  It was a new school and I knew nobody.  I had a heavy Gaspe accent, and was so not in the in crowd.  I made friends, some of whom turned on me.  I was no angel either in high school.  Everything changed when I got to college.  I was accepted for who I was by a group for the first time.  It didn't matter that I wasn't in the in crowd before.  They didn't even know that I wasn't, or acted the part.  I, in turn, befriended a new roommate in my second year, a straight out of high school momma's boy.  I introduced him to college and showed him the ropes.  I knew what he was, but it didn't matter.  I had the feeling that he'd never drank--let alone been to a party--in his life.  It didn't matter.  He went with us.  College was great.  I wish life was just like college.