...here I am in your midst...

It has been a crazy couple of weeks in the north country. First, as I am sitting at my desk, I feel the earth tremble, and then realize that we are experiencing an earthquake. Then about a week later, the north country is hit with a hurricane! And once again we find our communities flooded and many people in dire need of assistance. For me I have been truly blessed, no downed trees, no flooded basement in my home, no one hurt, no damage, no nothing. But I look around, and so many people have been negatively affected by Mother Nature, it just makes you wonder what is going on in the world.

This weeks readings are jammed packed. And I must admit that before I was committed to writing this blog each week, I was not as acutely aware of just how much were in the readings each week. Unless we really commit to studying and examining the readings we are loosing out. My hope is that this blog will help people peel away the layers of God's Word each week.

Now back to the surrounding disasters... why is all this happening, why must God's people suffer? My son asked me this week, that if God was all powerful, why would all these things happen? Why would people have to suffer? This is an age old question, but coming from my son, in wanting to give him an answer that he could carry in his pocket for the rest of his life, I really had to think about it, more seriously than ever before. Here was some of my answer to him...

God created this beautiful earth for us to enjoy, he gave us the summer for those who enjoy swimming in the local lakes and pools, camping, feeling the grass under our bare feet; he created winter for those who love to zip down the slopes with ski's or snowboards, he gave us snow to make snowmen, to pour maple syrup on to make maple taffy; in spring we get to experience the growth of new life, the smell of wet mud and fresh earth, and an annual happiness to see new flowers in bloom; and in the fall, we can enjoy the harvest, bright orange pumpkins, cool days on hikes with the beauty of changing leaves, the moments of sitting on the porch wrapped in a blanket inhaling fresh crisp air. He gave us all these things, ever changing, ever beautiful and no matter how old you get, you can't help but feel blessed in each season. For these things to happen, and I am no scientist, but I think that the earth has to go through things in order for us to enjoy all this beauty and perhaps that is why the weather gives us problems sometimes, so much is asked of the earth and so much is taken for granted. But I also think that in these times, we are given the opportunity to be the exact human being that God created us to be. To share our food, our blankets, our homes or our money with those that are not so lucky or blessed as we are, or if we are the ones in need, it gives us a knowledge of what it feels like to depend on others and know that what we have here on earth is fleeting. Moments like these, when we are at our best, makes us remember the important things in life and opens us up to see God all around us. Moments like this also tests us in a way, to praise God even when the winds are blowing, and the rain is pouring down. When we are at our best, we praise God in all weather, in all circumstances, whether we are having difficulty or triumph. Without misfortune we would never truly know how wonderful God made us in giving and receiving, we would not have moments to be extra-ordinary.

This week Jesus says to us, "where two or more are gathered in my name I am there in their midst", without sounding too simple, I think as we trudge along in the next few weeks, cleaning up messes and helping others rebuild their lives, it is important for us to look at each other in the eyes, and see Jesus and know that He is in our midst. He calls us to community, and in community we find our strength and the beauty that is the Christian life.

We have the power to heal a broken world.

How can you help your neighbor? Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Ogdensburg has established a fund to assist flood victims in the North Country. Donations may be sent to Catholic Charities, 6866 State Highway 37, Ogdensburg, NY 13669

National Catholic Collegiate Conference: November 17 - 19th 2011

National Catholic
Collegiate Conference

November 17-19, 2011 - Indianapolis, IN

"Called to Glory"

The National Catholic Collegiate Conference (NCCC), held simultaneously with the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC), is a NEW way for young adults (ages 18 to 25) to gather, to celebrate, and to pray.

In a world marked by continuous change, stress, overburdened schedules, and a culture that often discourages the Christian message, this is a time to be defined, inspired, engaged, renewed, and to look forward; to once again hear the voice of God calling us to holiness and glory!

Join other college-age and post-graduate young adults from around the country for three days of inspiring keynotes, engaging workshops, dynamic prayer and worship, exceptional music and entertainment, networking with peers, and hundreds of resource exhibits.

For more information: http://www.ntlccc.org/

Upcoming Workshop in the Diocese of Ogdensburg

Soon we will have the previledge of reflecting on the Theology of the Body, not from a workshop facilitator but from the real deal, Christopher West himself. I wanted to post a bit of his speaking to perhaps inspire people to sign up and take advantage of this opportunity given to us by the Diocese through the 

Department of Education in collaboration with the Offices of Evangelization and Family Life. What an opportunity! If you plan on being in a relationship...of any kind, this is for you. Sign up through the Diocesan website at http://www.dioogdensburg.org/ . Hope to see you there.

Date Set for CreationFest 2012!

I wanted to post some of the videos that came out of CreationFest 2011 this  year, in hopes that it would inspire Young Adults and their families to consider coming with us to CreationFest 2012. It is an amazing experience to be with so many people of different faiths, all coming together to worship the Creator! Amazing bands, amazing vistas, awesome Christian speakers who inspire. This year at CreationFest Northeast, Justin Fatica, a Catholic speaker and founder of Hard As Nails Ministry was the first, yes the first, Catholic speaker to take the main stage. He was awesome, and inspiring! Check out the videos, and put the date, June 27 to 30th in your calendar for next year. If you have teen kids, they will LOVE it! It is the Christian Woodstock!

We Haven't Been Duped!

I love it when I look to the next Sunday’s reading and find one that I LOVE and that history with me, touching my ears and heart at one point through my life. This Sunday, has to be one of my favorite Old Testament Readings from Jeremiah.  “You duped me, O Lord, and I let myself be duped!”  Wow, can I relate!

First of all it is important to know at least a little about Jeremiah.  He was born into a priestly family and he was called to be a prophet at around the age of 18. Jeremiah’s job was to prophesy about the destruction that was to come. Jeremiah lived in a very tumultuous time, his writing go all the way up to the destruction of the temple. But Jeremiah was not quick to take his calling from God, he didn’t really want to do this job and knew that his words were not going to be well received from those around him. It wasn’t like he was there to paint a pretty picture of Judah’s future. But God gave him some pretty specific instructions on how to get ready for his mission. The character traits and practices Jeremiah was to acquire in order to be ready are specified in Jeremiah 1 and include not being afraid, standing up to speak, speaking as told, and going where sent.  Sound familiar?? As you read the beginning of Jeremiah, God not only tells him how to prepare, but assures him that when ready, God will give him the words to say, and that He (God) would not abandon him. Reminds me of when parents bring children to the doctor for a shot. How many parents say, “Yes this is really going to hurt, gosh, this is going to be hard, well here is the doctor.”? Never, I hope. We know what is best for our children, and while we know something’s in life are hard, we talk to our kids in a way that makes them less afraid, or more confident. Even if it is just the tone of our voice, we often can get our kids to do things that wouldn’t do it on our own. Some people call that, “sugar coating”. I have to wonder in what tone God was speaking to Jeremiah. So, Jeremiah takes the challenge and goes out to prophesy.  In the meantime, he loses everything, even his family turns against him. If that is not enough, God, Himself, reveals to Jeremiah that …oh by the way…a group is plotting to kill you. Can you imagine Jeremiah’s response, “What?” and to console him God says, “Well it is only going to get worse!”. And so what would your response be, if you were Jeremiah?  I can just see Jeremiah, pacing around the room, “this is so not good. I didn’t even want this mission in the first place, I told you I wasn’t the guy for you, and now they are going to kill me? Great!”  Now, the next part is great, have you ever been offered an opportunity, and you just so really wanted to do it that you didn’t look at all the angles, and when you realized it wasn’t going to be as easy as you would have hoped you kind of blame the person who offered it to you in the first place? Perhaps saying that they didn’t really reveal all the information and somehow, your predicament was more their fault than yours, after all you were well intended.

God calls all of us, sometimes the task is easier than others, sometimes we are more inclined to say yes than at other times, but either way God is calling us to make His Kingdom on earth. I especially love when Jeremiah says that he will never again utter the name of God, and yet he finds himself with this burning desire to speak of God, he just can’t help himself.  For many us this is also the case, when we are totally frustrated with our ministry we are tempted to quit, but when it comes right down to it, we can’t help but figure it out, and bring Jesus’ message to the world.  How is your calling going? Are you feeling like Jeremiah, a bit hesitant to take on what God is asking of you? Let that desire move you forward, the rewards will be great, because for all of us who have loved, we just do what we do because we love. And that is all God is asking of us.

If you keep on reading in Jeremiah, God gives him such awesome words of reassurance, in Chapter 29 God says to Jeremiah..."For I know the plans I have for you, ... plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." God isn't trying to trick us, He sees the big picture, and in that we have to trust.

The Greatest Question Ever Asked...

Lately I have been reflecting on just what it means to be Catholic. It’s not an easy religious choice when you really think about it. Everything about being Catholic, when done fully and with conviction touches every part of your life. Being Catholic calls us not only in relationship with this Jesus that we profess, but it calls us into a relationship with the world that is very often against the teachings of Christ. This week, Jesus asks his disciples and each one of us, “Who do you say that I am?”. We know that our actions speak louder than words, and when you really come down to it, it is so easy to say what we know is right, and yet another to actually move our actions to align with our speech. When we read about the Saints and holy people, this is one common factor that they all possess, they were actually able to live their lives according to their beliefs and live what they preached, even in persecution and for many death.

As I reflect on this passage, it becomes clear to me that when Jesus asks me, “Who, Lorraine, do you say that I am? He is in part asking me what Jesus am I reflecting to the world. What Jesus am I bringing to the people in whom I meet each day? This then becomes much more a personal question to me than it ever had before. Do I proclaim my love for God without reservation? Do I work for justice without fear? Do I love my neighbor as myself?  When people meet me do they instantly know that I proclaim Jesus as my Lord? Unfortunately, and probably commonly, I have to admit that it is not 100%. Being Catholic calls me to proclaim not only Jesus message in speech, but it calls me to do so in action. All the world’s problems become my problems … daunting! I am my brother’s keeper.  

As I work to implement a Religious Education program in my parish, or begin my ministry for the Young Adults of the Diocese, I am reminded that all the people I will encounter need love and understanding. As much as I just want people to get in line and follow the program, it rarely happens that way. Each person we encounter has their own issues going on, and when you ask someone to go to church, or become involved, I have to realize that this asks much more from them than to be present. At least if it all works right. When someone walks into church, and participates in Communion with the Lord, they are asked to change. And that change is often HARD! Recently I had a conversation with coworkers about kid’s sports and what parents give up or compromise on so that their children will be part of the “team”. When someone takes the message of Jesus and the Church, we realize that the first “team” that we and our children belong to is God’s team, and being on that team asks you to go against so much of what the world holds true and important. We all have a need to belong, and in so many ways, being part of things like sports teams, is a tangible, quick fix to that need. Often, those of us in the Church do not portray our “team” to be one worth joining, as we say one thing and do another. But with the decline of people realizing that we are on God’s team, our families weaken, our churches weaken and shortly thereafter our society as a whole weakens; isn’t it evident?

Who are we saying Jesus is in our everyday life? Do we share the amazing things that He does in our lives with those around us? Can people look at us and see a person of faith and integrity? Do we allow Jesus to go before us in all we do, with amazing fearless faith in which he has given us? (Remember the reading a couple weeks ago in which Jesus tells us that if we believe we can actually walk on water?) Jesus asked Peter this question, and Peter replied, "You are the Christ!" And with that answer, Jesus builds His church on him. First and foremost we must proclaim Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, calling us to deeper, more holy lives.

Today Jesus is asking…”Who do YOU say that I am?” What is your answer?

Oh Lord, Its Hard to Be Humble!

What strange words we hear in the upcoming readings for Sunday. As I reflect on them this week, I notice that the last few weeks were pretty straightforward in comparison to this Sunday's readings, especially at first glance. A woman comes to Jesus to plead him to help her daughter, who is tormented by demons. Ok, so we can all relate to this. We all are plagued by demons, sometimes I struggle so much with trying to do what I know is right, and feeling an unbelievable pull to do the exact opposite. There are moments that I know that the Devil is around me, wanting to win my soul for the destruction of God's kingdom. I often ask myself, if I really believed the Word of God, wouldn't I have more of an urgency to save my own soul for Heaven. I know that I struggle with demons everyday, one of which is closely related to last weeks readings, that I often doubt, especially myself and the words that I hear God speaking to me. Thinking that I really don't have what it takes to do what I know He has asked me to do. I hope, like this mother, people who love me, will ask Jesus to heal me from these demons.

But Jesus' reply is odd to me. I imagine this woman, coming up to Him in a panic, desperate, and He doesn't say anything! His disciples, advise Him to send her away, it seems that she has been bugging them for a while. Jesus, to my surprise, looks at her and says, (paraphrase) What I have is for the lost sheep, those already belonging to the shepherd, in order to get them back, and really it shouldn't be wasted on ....  a dog?! It seems so harsh. I guess for most people they would have left it at that. Wouldn't you? But she shows her faith so much, that she will put herself with the dogs, and take the scraps that is left. Her admission of this, moves Jesus to know her faith and helps her daughter.

This brings many things to mind for me in today's church. I am always amazed at how some people come to Church for what the Church can do for them. The current members of society seem to have such a sense of entitlement, and this doesn't seem to change with their relationship with God or the Church. If someone is in need, and they try prayer, and they don't get the answer they want, they simply say that it didn't work for them. Many times you hear of peoples "feeling" about the church, and can't seem to also understand the reason of faith and the Church and so walk away. I have a hard time believing that many people these days, would be ok with comparing themselves with a dog. (A sidenote: a "dog" in Jesus' day had a much different life than the "dogs" of today, who actually in some circumstances are better treated than children and the elderly.) Anyway, back to my thought, for many, people come to the Church demanding that the Church do something for them. For example, the way people come to the Church to receive the Sacraments. Strangers to the church, stop by the rectory and tell Father they want to Baptize their baby, or have their child receive First Communion with no sense that it can't just be "given". If Fr. asks something of them, they walk away, never to be seen of again, perhaps they find another church in which the priest will not ask anything of them. We always have to remind people, that this membership into this Catholic Church, is a relationship with Jesus that comes alive in community. Perhaps being more like Jesus was in this reading isn't such a bad thing, to allow people to ask for what they want, and to prove their faith a little bit. Perhaps when we pray, and we don't quickly hear God's reply, we can reflect on how we are asking for it. Our brothers and sisters in the Saints often teach us of humility, and the fact that we need God so much more than He needs us, but He loves us so much that He makes Himself available to us each minute of everyday.

Ah and so it is humility in which I think is one of the points Jesus is trying to teach us in the Gospel. The fact that one should never give up asking for Christ in our life, and praying for the faith to understand that no matter our position in life, He will hear our prayers and will give us exactly what we need.

And he whispered..."I Love You"

Have you ever thought about the crazy amount of faith that God has in us? Despite our history, God continues to have faith that we will live out our commandments and reach out to a right relationship with Him. Our natural inclination in our own lives is really to say Goodbye to those who consistently let us down. I remember a few years back that the buzz word for those "friends" who didn't treat us right was "toxic friendships"; is that what we have been to God? Continually failing in those places in which he has incredible faith in us?

This week’s readings are all about trusting. At first glance it is easy to relate these readings to our failure to truly trust in God, but I think that it is also a call to see, that for our real work to get done in this world, we have to also trust in ourselves.

In the first reading, Elijah looks for God, thinking that God would be in those things that seem most powerful, he looked in the heavy winds, earthquake and fire. And then Elijah finds God, in this small whisper that enters the cave. In this small voice, Elijah does not have to even take time to know who the voice belongs to, he covers his head, and goes to the opening of the cave. How many times have we heard a small voice, a teeny voice for us to do something different with our lives, perhaps it is s feeling of turning your life more to God, taking into consideration God's teaching in our day to day decision making; perhaps it is a feeling when we have treated someone less than we should; perhaps it is those moments when we can't hide from our truth because it is staring us in the face.

I recently heard this story, of two young lovers. He leans to her and says, I love you. She in reply, tells him that for her to really believe it that he would have to shout it to the whole world. He then smiles to her, and once again, leans into her ear, and whispers I Love You. But disatisfied, she says to him, but I told you, you must shout it to the whole world, and he replied to her: "I did tell the whole world, because you have become my whole world."

We are blessed, when God whispers to us, it is the most intimate knowledge that you can have, to know that each one of us is the "world" to God. Each one of us is called uniquely to a relationship with Him. And when we hear that voice, we must, as Elijah did, move to a place in which we are most likely to get an even clearer message.