Don't be so stingy with those gifts of the Holy Spirit!

Daily Readings: 04/11/2013

"For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God.
He does not ration his gift of the Spirit." Jn. 3:34

The one whom God sent, is obviously, Jesus. I love this line that he does not ration his gift of the spirit. It means that a full measure of God's mercy is available to all of us. So is His love, and His guidance, all of it, to all of us! What a gift!

But to those who much is given, of course, much is expected. If we are followers of Jesus Christ and beneficiaries of all of his blessings and graces, then we are also responsible to share ourselves as fully as we can. We must try to love as selflessly as Jesus, forgive as often as Jesus, and try to teach what he taught.

We must try to be as generous as we can when sharing the gifts the Holy Spirit has given us. We must try to never hold back; enthusiastically taking in and developing these gifts and then sharing them as generously as we can, to benefit others and help lead them to Jesus too.

God bless,

P.D.O.

Daily Readings 04/10/2013; 'SON' Light is the Best Disinfectant

Daily readings: 04/10/2013

"And this is the verdict,
that the light came into the world,
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil." Jn. 3:19

Have you tried recently to speak out about God's teaching on any one of a host of 'hot-button issues'?

I can guess at what you were called. A bigot? An idiot? Uninformed? Or the absolute worst thing you can be called in this non-absolute society......intolerant?!?!

Truly we are in a world where the people in the darkness do not want to be shown the light. They don't want to see the links between moral relativism, the deterioration of the family, the objectifying of women, the sex and violence soaked media, etc. etc. etc.

Strangely enough, when something horrible happens, they act surprised and use it as an opportunity to ask "Where was God?" and snicker that it is proof of His disinterest. Perhaps, if we, as a society, looked to the light more often, or were not afraid to point out these connections, then we could avoid some of the heartache for ourselves or the next generation. Sometimes, however, I fear that it's all too far gone. When you are insulted or belittled for pointing out the true and obvious, it is not easy to be that voice. It is not easy to swim against the stream. But the alternative, as my previous Pastor was fond of saying is that we all "Hold hands and sing Kumbaya all the way to Hell!"

God bless,

P.D.O.

The Annunciation: Tale of a wise and courageous young woman

Daily Reading: 04/08/2013

"Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her." Lk. 1:38


Mary's "Yes!" is a great example to all of us. Even though what the angel told her seemed impossible to her, she granted her consent to make a complete gift of herself and give her all to God's will. She had to know the possible consequences to a young girl, not yet living with her husband, who suddenly and mysteriously became pregnant. In that time, she could have been stoned to death. At the very least, it was almost a certainty that her husband would divorce her and her family would disown her. Her entire life, as far as she knew, was going to be turned upside down, or ended. But she agreed to be the ark of the new covenant despite the uncertain future it would bring.

I am amazed at what an incredibly brave young woman she was. May we all have the wisdom to hear God's will for us, and the courage to carry it out.

God bless,

P.D.O.

Me and St. Thomas the Apostle, or, His mercy endures forever! Which is good, because some of us can occasionally miss a meeting.

Daily Readings: 04/07/2013 (Divine Mercy Sunday)
"Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them.
Jesus came, although the doors were locked,
and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands,
and bring your hand and put it into my side,
and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”
Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jn. 20:26-28


For a period of time, when I was young and thought I knew everything, I was an atheist. Now I could go on about how it was a dark period in my life. Not that there was a terrible amount of strife going on, but meaning I felt the lack of God's presence in my life, not that I would have admitted it at the time. But that's for some other day. What I most regret, and have apologized for over and over, is that at the time, I would argue with my mother about it. Now, arguing with one's mother when you are a know-it-all young snot is pretty standard, but while I was arguing with my mother about God not existing, she was dealing with the loss of her mother. She tells me now that I need not apologize mostly because I was just a smart-mouth kid who thought he had it all figured out and it was not the first time she had been through that. But I still wish that I'd had more compassion at the time and I'm very glad that she forgives me being young and thoughtless.
Anyway, today's readings reminded me that during these 'conversations', she would often say that she had picked the right name for me because I was a doubter. As I listened to the Gospel reading at Mass today, I realized she didn't know at the time, how right she was. Like the apostle, this Thomas too had knowledge of what Jesus had said, done and taught. But even though Jesus was there for the other believers to see, Thomas was off doing something else. And when people told me that Jesus was alive and he was real, I said, "Prove it!" 

I also, eventually, many years later actually, came to recognize Jesus as "My Lord and my God!"

Where my path veers off from its similarity to the apostle Thomas, is that he came to believe through seeing Jesus and feeling Jesus' wounds. I came back through a couple of different steps. First, when I stepped into my current parish (St. Kathryn's) after many years away from Mass, I just felt so much like it was 'home'. That was nice and all, but quite frankly, and not to diminish it, I feel pretty good when I walk into a Dairy Queen too. It's not the same feeling, but it's a pretty good feeling that could quickly have faded away. But then there was the second part. You see, as I grew in knowledge of the faith and the word, I came back heart and soul, not through feeling the wounds on Jesus' body, but by feeling His healing of the wounds inside of mine. And as I continue to grow, I find it easier to lean on His love and mercy and trust in His plan for me.


Now I realize, every day has its wounds and bumps and bruises, but if you can focus on Jesus' healing (which is admittedly, not always easy) you can feel Him working inside your heart. Like Peter, when he tried to walk on the water and began to sink; if we can take our eyes off the maelstrom, put our focus back on Jesus and reach out to Him, He will pull us out of the water and it will feel like a miracle. His mercy is waiting for us, we need only seek the healing.


Happy Divine Mercy Sunday!


God bless,


P.D.O.

St. Peter, St. John, Venerable Solanus Casey, and....YOU!

Daily readings 04/06/2013

"Observing the boldness of Peter and John
and perceiving them to be uneducated, ordinary men,
the leaders, elders, and scribes were amazed,
and they recognized them as the companions of Jesus.
Then when they saw the man who had been cured standing there with them,
they could say nothing in reply." Acts 4:13-14


St. Peter, St.Paul, in fact, most of the apostles are but the tip of the iceberg in a multitude of examples of the old saying that God does not always call the qualified, but He qualifies those that He calls. A poor teenage Jewish girl and her carpenter husband... a group of fishermen, a doctor and a tax collector... a down on his luck shepherd tending sheep for his father-in-law in the desert. These are all examples of people who never expected that they would change the history of the world forever, but when God called them they, sometimes begrudgingly, took their place to fit into His plan for salvation.

Fr. Solanus Casey, a Capuchin priest who served in Detroit was ordained a priest, but because of his poor performance in studies at seminary, was not allowed to hear confessions or preach doctrinal sermons. He was essentially a doorkeeper at the monastery. He is currently awaiting beatification because of his incredible compassion and the results of his pastoral consultations with visitors to the monastery. What seemed like something negative, was just a way for God to put Fr. Casey in place where he was most needed.

This lesson has two sides. First, never be too proud to learn from anyone. When I used to study martial arts, even as a black belt, I would constantly remind myself that there was no student on that floor, even a first day white belt, from whom I could learn something. Always listen to people, there is nobody on this planet who you can't learn from.

The other side of this lesson is that sometimes, you are that person. Sometimes, you are put in the right place, and the right time, because He wants you there. Never underestimate your impact on other people's lives.

God bless,

P.D.O.

Action movie heroes are highly over-rated. Daily readings 04/05/2013

Daily readings, 04/05/2013


"He is the stone rejected by you, the builders,
which has become the cornerstone.
There is no salvation through anyone else,
nor is there any other name under heaven
given to the human race by which we are to be saved." Acts 4:11-12


Peter is being questioned by the power brokers of the time, and 'filled with the Holy Spirit', he boldly proclaims that Jesus is the name by which he performed a miracle, and that Jesus is the gate to salvation. He could have been executed on the spot, I imagine. Look what they had just done to Jesus. So from Peter we learn the lesson that we are to be bold and proclaim God's truth. This is sometimes very heroic and often necessary to convey Christ's message.


His words also show us how counter-cultural Jesus' message is today. In a world where the hero is most often portrayed by a slightly flawed muscle man with a huge arsenal of weapons who wins the day through car chases and spectacular explosions, that is not the kind of hero that truly protects our lives. Salvation doesn't even come to us through Peter, the bold speaker, or through Paul, the former soldier. Our salvation, our share in eternal life comes to us through Jesus. He never carried a weapon, he never blew anything up. He won the ultimate battle through mercy, compassion, humility, service, and self-sacrifice.



God bless,
P.D.O.

When has the Holy Spirit 'called' you? or I Witnessed a Miracle and All I got was These 'Angry Birds' Pajama Bottoms!

When has the Holy Spirit ‘called’ you?

Recently I went up to bed one night, got into my Angry Bird pajama bottoms, turned out the light, climbed in next to my wife (and our two year old daughter, a now-regular fixture by the time I go to bed) and I reached to my bedpost for my rosary beads. As I held onto them and put my fingers on the cross, I started whispering the Apostle’s Creed slowly…

“I believe in God…” something doesn’t feel quite right…

“The Father, The Almighty…” this cross feels thin…

“Creator of Heaven and Earth…” and FLAT, it feels flat…

“And I believe in Jesus Christ…” Jesus! Jesus is missing!!!

Thus began the few glorious days in which I thought a miracle had occurred in my bedroom. You see, the corpus was missing from the cross. He was Risen! I leaped from bed and turned on the light. I started searching on the floor near a spot where I had remembered it hitting the bed frame a couple of nights before. It wasn't there. I searched all over the bedroom floor and could not find the body of Christ on the light colored carpet. Eventually I resigned myself to the fact that he had been resurrected and I went to bed.

A few days later (three days? I don't remember, should have counted.) I found it behind the bed, and realized then that no, a miracle did not occur in my bedroom. But in that few days it forced me to think of something.

Why not me?

I mean, let's face it, I did not really believe that a tiny resurrection had happened to the crucifix on my rosary. After all, who am I that a miracle (even a tiny one) would happen to me?

I am no great, holy man. I am certainly not a saint, nor even a great theological thinker. What made me think that I was so special that this tiny sign was brought on to me? These thoughts accentuated something I've been thinking about during Lent. I guess it was kind of my Lenten fast, although I must admit I haven't been as successful as I would like. I have been trying to believe in myself as a worthy creation of God.

You see, I have a good friend who has been helping me to look at some things lately and one of the recurring themes is that for some reason, I don't find myself very deserving. Not deserving of respect, not deserving of success, not deserving of much at all; let alone miracles.

When I first realized it, I tried to trace back to when I started to feel that way and for the life of me, I have no idea. There was no great trauma, no tribulation or disappointment or rejection that led to it. It just happened. One day I woke up and I just didn't feel like I was worth much. Now, before this comes off as some sort of pity-party (if it isn't too late already), I realize that I have had accomplishments in my life. I have a loving family, an amazing and patient wife and two of the most beautiful daughters ever, and no, I am NOT biased.

Well, as Lent began this year, I figured I was going to kick that attitude right out the door. To paraphrase Stuart Smalley of Saturday Night Live fame, “No more stinkin' thinkin'!”. No more self-deprecating humor. No more being down on myself or thinking there is anything I can't do! “I can do anything!”, I thought. I am made in the image and likeness of God. He knitted me together in my mother's womb. He has plans for me; plans to prosper me and not to harm me; plans for hope and a future.

And as I built myself up with these thoughts, I started to think of times when the Holy Spirit HAD called me. Like when I met my wife and swore that it was going to be my last match.com date for a while. I was right! There were so many signs calling me back. Some small things, some really big.

I had an inexplicable desire to bring my kids up in the faith, even at a time when I had lost my faith, and before I even had any kids. Around that same time, I had friends who wanted to see the 'Passion of the Christ'. It was the night before my first black belt test and even though I had neglected my relationship with Jesus, I teared up at the movie. That night, I came close to realizing the power of what He had done for me.

This past fall, I went on a men's retreat. We were talking about our 'brushes' with the Holy Spirit and I recalled one of the most powerful calls I had; a call which, again, went nearly unnoticed at the time.

A long time ago, I went to a short seminar on hypnotic past life regression. I'm not sure that was exactly how it was worded, but you get the idea. The leader guided us through this meditation, taking us from a peaceful place on Earth, up into space, and then coming back to our home planet. The first thing we 'saw' was supposedly a glimpse of our past life. I remember, in my mind's eye, I saw my feet wearing sandals on a dirt road and thought I was going to be a Samurai. I was pretty stoked! But then, on the road just above me, there was a crowd and they were taunting a man who I could just 'sense' (this kinda stuff has a lot of 'sensing') was innocent. They were dragging him off to be punished. As the leader gently coaxed us out of our trance, I thought, “Wow, maybe I was at the crucifixion. Maybe I was an apostle.”

Well, I'm not really into the past life, new age, hypnotic stuff now. But as I sat at the retreat house that weekend, I realized that God could very well have planted that vision as one of many subtle calls to bring me back to Him.

There have been other, much less subtle calls. I hesitate to mention them here lest I be carried off in a jacket with the sleeves in the back, but He is there. And for some reason, He really wanted me back. So it's kind of silly to think myself not worthy of miracles. It's a miracle that I was here to turn forty last year. It's a miracle that I have been able to accomplish some of the things I've done. My marriage, my daughters, all miracles. And it's a miracle that I went through such a dark period of separating myself from God only to have him come calling me back.

So what Lent has taught me so far this year (and don't you, dear reader, think for a minute that I think this applies only to me) is that, if God thinks we are important enough to knit us together in our mothers' wombs, breathe life into us through the Holy Spirit, make us in His image and come down to walk among us, suffering and dying for our sins, then we have no right to insult His creation by putting ourselves down and considering ourselves unworthy of any good thing!

Yes, even tiny, little miracles.