C h r i s’ J o u r n a l                

I like commercials. No seriously, I enjoy a well-made, clever, clear, and effective commercial. I still fast-forward through them on the DVR like everyone else, but I like them. The one that I am enjoying right now is for an Audi A8. In the commercial two dads are talking and a little boy picks up the dog’s ball and asks, “Dad, who is Honus Wagner?” The one dad is like, “I don’t know.” And the other grabs the ball because he knows who Honus Wagner is. The first dad is like, yeah whatever, I just bought this ball at a yard sale because I thought Pickles the dog would like it, and he throws the ball back to the dog.

The catch is that Honus Wagner is one of the most famous baseball players of the early 20^th century. He batted .327 had 3,415 hits and is essentially the sport’s first big superstar. His unsigned rookie card, because it is so rare, sold at auction in 2007 for $2.8 million. Needless to say pickle’s ball is probably worth a great deal of money, and message of the commercial is if you don’t know what you got, you won’t appreciate it like you should.

The commercial is trying to sell a luxury car, but I think the tag line has a lot to do with faith: True greatness should never go unrecognized. 2000 years ago a child was born to a poor Jewish couple in a small town in the Middle East. Nearly the entire world failed to recognize the true greatness of that moment. A small group of shepherds and some wise men were clued in and came to recognize the true greatness of the birth of Christ, but most of the world missed out.

Today, I think most of us fail to recognize the true greatness of God becoming human. We fail to really see, to really understand what is going on. And our behavior reflects that lack of understanding, our lack of vision. It’s not that we are totally ignoring the reality of Jesus’ birth - we put up the tree, decorate the house, buy gifts, and celebrate in a 100 other ways - but if we fully realized and recognize what it means that God has become human, I think our behavior would be different. I think this is true because I know when I am just going through the motions at Mass, and when I really think about what it is I am receiving. We as Catholics get to consume God. Heaven opens up and touches earth, but most of the time at Christmas I spend the night looking at the decorations and adjusting my tie. If I took the time to really recognize the true greatness present, then I think my behavior would be different.

Something that helps me recognize the true greatness of God becoming human is a reading from Philippians 2:5-11. Take a minute this Christmas season to read this passage and recognize what the shepherds and wise men knew, that this child Jesus is the savior of the world. Merry Christmas.

Scandal! I have some very shocking and scandalous news to report. You should probably sit down. No seriously, sit down. You are not going to believe this. This news will probably completely alter your day. Okay, I think you are prepared. Here is the story.

The other day I went into the Eucharistic Adoration chapel at HNOJ. I signed in and then took my place kneeling in an empty row. After a couple of minutes of focused prayer in adoration of Jesus present in the Eucharist, I looked around the chapel. The first minor scandal was that there were a solid number of people in there. Nearly every other seat had someone in it. I don’t think most people would believe how many people pray regularly in the chapel, but that wasn’t the true scandal. The thing that blew my mind and shocked me into writing this article was who was in the chapel. Cool people.

I know, you’re shocked. I was too. I guess I always thought I knew who was in the chapel but I was totally wrong. The chapel was full of normal, young, happy, cool people. These are the people you and I see at Mass and are like, “They are only here because their wife makes them come.” Or “Man that guy/gal looks hip and cool, I wish I could pull off jeans/glasses/shoes/ironic smirk like he/she has on right now.” I don’t want to name names because I don’t want to embarrass or cause further scandal to their families, but it turns out that at least some of the normal, hip, cool adults of HNOJ are praying regularly. Some are going to the Adoration chapel. And maybe, and probably most shocking, these normal people actually believe and live out this God stuff.

The scandal only got deeper because not only were they in Eucharistic Adoration, worshiping God incarnate in the Blessed Sacrament, but some were reading Bibles, and one I swear was working on material for a Bible study. And don’t even get me started on all the Rosaries being prayed, it was unreal. I know it isn’t “normal” for people to pray and read scripture and follow Jesus Christ, but at HNOJ at least some normal, fun, cool adults and maybe more shockingly, some high school teens, are doing exactly that.

Quite frankly, I think the cool/normal community should look into this. What would happen if the word got out that normal and cool adults and teens were practicing their Catholic faith? What would happen if regular people knew the kind of people who go to adoration and actually pray during Mass?

I think the only thing we can do is to keep a close eye on the adults and teens who are cool and also striving for holiness. To do so, we should probably carve out some time in the Eucharistic Adoration chapel weekly. To keep close tabs on them we probably need to give ourselves over to prayer each day (2 minutes at least). We already know they are at Mass every Sunday, so we all have to be there too. And now that I think of it, someone should probably check out the lines for confession on Saturday morning, you never know what kind of cool and normal people you will find waiting for forgiveness for sins and grace to grow closer to God. So keep your eye out for normal and cool adults following Christ, you never know when you will be scandalized.

Sometimes it’s scary being a parent.  July 4th was one of those times for me.  My wife and I decided to divide and conquer the Independence day festivities; she would take our older daughter to fireworks, while I took the 2 year old, Sophia, home for a bath and bedtime.  Sophia had been fighting a fever, but seemed to recover during the day.  On the drive home she fell asleep, and when I got her out of the car, she was on fire (not literally, that would be scary). I have never felt so hot a child. We sat down on the couch, after about 5 minutes, she said, “Daddy,” and started to shake.  Her hands clenched, her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and her breathing was impaired.  I was freaking out.

I realized Sophie was having a seizure.  As much as I was freaking out, there was some small voice in my brain that was whispering, “Sometimes little kids do this when they have a fever…”  I laid her back and opened her airway so she could breath easier. Within about a minute she stopped shaking and was just kind of groggy.  I called my wife and we decided to put her in a cool bath. Sophie was responding to my questions and talking with me, but I was still scared. A minute later Liz called and told me to take her out of the bath as it could cool her down too quickly. I put PJs back on her and held a cold cloth to her head. I asked her if she wanted some juice - “YES DADDA!”  I knew she was feeling better.  I gave her some Ibuprofen, and she watched TV.  After a chat with an on-call nurse, we took her into the ER where they said it was probably a febrile seizure which is caused by a quick and significant temperature shift.  Her temp was responding to the meds and she seemed to be a 100% better.  After a couple days the fever was gone and she was back to getting in trouble and having fun.

Everything turned out okay, but I have to say the feeling (and I am not sure what to call it) that I felt while I watched my child suffer was overwhelming.  The intense concern, pain, anxiety, fear, and shock of those few seconds of seizure are something I will never forget.  The rest of the week I held my children a little closer and thought all those parents whose children face serious or terminal diseases. ?Then I thought about God.  God chose to experience those feelings as he watched His own son die on the cross. No good parent would ever chose such suffering for their own, but in His goodness, because he loves us, God chose to endure that pain because he knew it was the only way to win us back.  Jesus’ suffering was intense, but the pain God the father must have enduring watching His son die is difficult to imagine.  God’s pain must have been so much more amplified because of his great capacity for love. The more we are able to love or feel joy the greater our capacity to suffer as well.  Because no one loves more than God, because no one has ever loved another as much as God loved His Son Jesus, God must really have been hurting watching his only begotten Son pour out his life.

And so, I am grateful.  I am grateful that Sophia is perfectly fine and recovered. I am thankful for whoever once told me this was a common thing. I am grateful for a wife who loved me through my anxiety. I am thankful for a God who would choose to endure not only the suffering of the cross, but also the hardship of watching His Son die.  I am grateful because that same God loves me, and loves me more than I can imagine.

As good Catholics, we can imagine what the perfect Catholic life would be like. Mass would be a mystical, mind blowing experience every time we went. When we serve others, small parts of the world would momentarily turn into the heaven. When we pray we would be so enlightened by the voice of God, we would momentarily levitate over our bedroom floors (the saints did it, why not us?). Unfortunately, all of that isn’t a weekly occurrence for me. Mass usually involves wrestling a 2 year old or apologizing to my wife because she has to wrestle a 2 year old. Helping others seems like a burden that doesn’t fix anything. Weekly prayer is rushed before I fall asleep or before my kids wake up.

I know I can’t fix all of those things in an instant, but I do know that if I want to improve, wishing for it isn’t enough; I have to do something. First I need to identify the problem. So what is it that is making my prayer unfulfilling?

When my prayer life is boring and dry, I think the number one issue is that my prayer life is essentially Recreational. I take great joy in the process of prayer, but that means I take joy in my prayer, not in my God. Consequently I only pray when it is enjoyable, easy, and convenient. I pray about as often as my other leisure activities like taking a walk or reading (but not as much as watching TV or playing Angry Birds). When I pray recreationally, I do it for the way it makes me feel. When my prayer is recreational, then my relationship is recreational also. Thus my faith is only good when everything else stops and I can totally focus on God. That is good, but not a mature faith. I need to make my prayer part of my regular life, not just my recreational life.

How do I make prayer an essential part of my everyday life? How does prayer become as everyday and important as connecting with my wife? Here are 4 behaviors that I have helped me in the past and I think could maybe help you if regular prayer isn’t working for you.

1. Everyday – When my prayer is unfulfilling or has disappeared completely, it usually comes in the middle of a dry period of prayer (few consolations). When I finally figure out that this is occurring, I know I just need to do it. No matter how good or poorly the prayer, pray it. Even if I just race through a rosary or Liturgy of the Hours, I do it, no matter what. Something as good as prayer is worth doing poorly (for a while) to get back into it.

2. Make a place (not in bed) – When I pray in bed (which is most convenient), then prayer is an impediment to sleep or to starting my day. That makes my prayer rushed or interrupted. I know when my prayer life is dead, I need to do it in a designated space. At our house, we have created a little prayer niche with crosses and a comfy chair. I know when I go there, my prayer can be focused and unrushed.

3. Take Note – Praying throughout the course of the day is great, but when I rationalize that I don’t need prayer time because I pray all day, my prayer life can dry out pretty quickly. I have a friend who writes down prayer intentions all day long so when he goes to pray at night, he has a ready made list and it adds to, instead of taking away from his dedicated prayer time in the evening. Further, when I’m having trouble focusing in prayer I will often just jot down when is coming to my mind and then get back to prayer.

4. Listen – When all else fails, I quit trying to pray the right words, and start listening. Scripture is pretty clear, from Zachariah 2:13 “Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling,” to Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth,” and Matthew 17:5 “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well please. Listen to him!” Nothing brings me back into relationship with God and reconnects me to prayer like spending time in prayer listening.

We all know or can imagine what it is like to totally and completely surrender in prayer. The process of returning to or starting that experience of surrender is as much a blessing as the experience itself because God is present throughout. Bishop Robert Herman once said in a homily (and I paraphrase), “Our biggest shortcomings can be our biggest blessings, because they can, more than anything else in our lives, bring us closer to Christ.”