Second Chances

I heard a new motto over the weekend: "live like your donor is watching."

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the opening ceremonies for the Transplant Games of America. Never in my life have I experienced something both wonderfully joyful and full of life, and at the same time with an undertone of loss and sorrow. My brother sums it up pretty succinctly this tweet:

Let your light shine!!

“Know yourselves… He who knows himself knows God… He who knows himself knows all men… He who can love himself, loves all men…” St. Antony

This is a thought that has always spoken to me: Know yourself. It’s nothing new—in fact it’s not even specifically Christian, but it’s a universal truth. Antony, however, makes this claim extend beyond the individual and extends it into the communal. He hits on three points: know self, know God, know others. This is seemingly obvious, but what is less obvious is how all these things can be connect through self-knowledge. I would think that it is simultaneously an interior and exterior knowledge. But how? And what does that mean?

It might be obvious that self-knowledge comes through an interior examination; of course we need to look within ourselves to know ourselves. It requires that we dig deep and acknowledge what we like and confront what we don’t. There’s no skating over our flaws when it comes to knowing ourselves. We love the light, but acknowledge the darkness. This is something that Antony knew well—we are made in the image and likeness of light – of God-  yet because of sin we have traces of darkness—not an opaque darkness, more of a shadow, a dimming. St. Teresa of Avila explains that our soul is an interior castle made out of the purest and finest crystal and at the center of our souls is where God dwells. From this center, from God, beams the brightest light. Yet some people live in a way that light is dimmed, the soul is covered so God’s true light cannot radiate outward from within. And you know when something in your life is amiss. You have a feeling that something is not quite right. This is when self-discovery begins—what in our lives is causing this light to be covered? Are we happy? Is it our hobbies, our actions, our relationship God (lack thereof?), our relationship with others, our relationship with ourselves? By asking these questions and taking a good look at what’s going on interiorly, we can begin to pin down why we act, outwardly, the way we do.

Give Thanks

Yesterday I attended the funeral of an 18 year old young woman. I have to say I was shocked when I heard that she had passed as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident. I was even more confused as to why someone with such a bright future and such a loving family would be taken away from this earth so suddenly. I was confused, but my confusion no doubt could not compare to that of the family. However, the family amazed me. Yes, there was the confusion and sadness that always accompanies the death of a loved one, especially one so young, but what really struck me was the unwavering faith that this family clung to in this time of grief and sadness.

I was not the only who picked up this amazing example of faith. The celebrant of the funeral mass also picked up on it. In his homily he quoted his grandmother and the words she told him at a funeral he attended when he was young. She said, “Jimmy, thank God for your faith. Thank God for your family. Thank God for your friends.”

In those moments of grief or suffering it is sometimes hard to be thankful. This family was an example of genuine gratitude to all their family members, to their friends, and to the community who supported them in prayer and presence. But most of all they stood solid in their faith. In those moments when we think that we may never feel happy again or that the grief is just too much, we have to cling to our faith. It is our rock, our stronghold.

Be thankful for your faith, and the best way to do that is to turn every moment into a moment for prayer and thanksgiving. Even those moments when it’s hard to see exactly what it is to be thankful for. Give thanks for the fact that God never leaves you in those moments of suffering. Or give thanks to God that Jesus knows what it’s like to suffer and know that he feels your pain. Give thanks for the angels and saints who are more than willing to pray for you.

There’s plenty to be thankful for even in the bleakest of situations. Just remember: “Thank God for your faith. Thank God for your family. Thank God for your friends.”

Imago Dei

What is morality? Is it simply what is right and what is wrong or is it something deeper than that? There are those that argue it is simply the Natural Law of things. This natural law is a law that everyone can come to if they simply use their reason. So where does faith come into play? Well, when thinking in terms of right and wrong or morality, your faith is what informs you to make the decision you make.

Many people think that faith should be left out of politics and the political arena. I'm here to say that faith should never be left out of anything. Your faith should be the basis on everything you do, maybe you can leave the Biblical and faith-based language out of the political arena, but not faith. If someone doesn't think the Bible is true, are they going to find your statements correct because you quote the Bible? Probably not, luckily God equipped us with something to combat this disadvantage. Reason. We are made in the image and likeness of God and we have reason because God is reasonable. So reason your way through things!

Who knew saints were so cool?

I have a new preoccupation. However, I think I can get away with this one. I have become fascinated with the lives of the saints. I am trying to figure out how I have gone 24 years being raised Catholic and just now realizing how amazing the saints are. Seriously. I am not sure where this preoccupation came from, but I have an inkling.

I am going to go ahead and blame my comprehensive exams. I was able to work intimately with the works of St. Teresa of Avila (who is awesome) and Julian of Norwich (also awesome). It was from the extensive amount of time that I spent with these two holy women in their writings and in prayer that I came to know the importance of the saints. The lives of the saints are meant to be a beacon of hope for all of us that we might too live holy lives. They tell us that it’s possible. Holiness is possible for all of us if we only believe that God lift us to him.

I recently stumbled upon a quote from Blessed Chiara “Luce” Badano: I'll be a saint, if I am a saint now. At first glance that sounds like a tall order, but then you have to read her biography. Being a saint for her was living her life for the glory of God and allowing Jesus to be her guide. If there was ever a theme in the lives of the saints it is to let Jesus be your friend and guide. St. Teresa of Avila wrote about it, so did Julian of Norwich, Blessed Mother Teresa, and also Blessed Chiara.

I leave you with a prayer to our friend Jesus; may it be a step in the direction of sainthood.

Jesus! You are my true Friend, my only Friend.

You take a part in all my misfortunes;

You take them on Yourself;

You know how to change them into blessings;

You listen to me with the greatest kindness when I relate my troubles to You,

and You have always balm to pour on my wounds.

I find You at all times;

I find You everywhere,

You never go away:

if I have to change my dwelling,

I find You there wherever I go.

You are never weary of listening to me,

You are never tired of doing me good.

I am certain of being beloved by You,

if I love You; my goods are nothing to You,

and by bestowing Yours on me, You never grow poor;

however miserable I may be,

no one nobler or cleverer or even holier can come between You and me,

and deprive me of Your friendship;

and death, which tears us away from all other friends,

will unite me forever to You.

All the humiliations attached to old age,

or to the loss of honor,

will never detach You from me;

on the contrary, I shall never enjoy You more fully,

and You will never be closer to me

than when everything seems to conspire against me

to overwhelm me and to cast me down.

You bear with all my faults with extreme patience,

and even my want of fidelity and my ingratitude

do not wound You to such a degree

as to make You unwilling to receive me when I return to You.

O Jesus, grant that I may die praising You,

that I may die loving You,

that I may die for the love of you.

Amen.

~Saint Claude La Colombière