I'll Be Home For Home For Christmas

So I have sort of been reading this little, blue book. It is titled, "The Little Blue Book: Advent and Christmas Seasons 2010-2011". Creative, huh? This little, blue book was given out to parishioners of my parish at the start of the Advent season (the four weeks leading up to Christmas). It has a reflection for everyday leading up to Christmas as well as the couple weeks that follow December 25th.

The passage from the other day struck a chord with me because of the intent of this blog. As stated above, one of the major goals of this blog is to reach "Christmas and Easter Catholics." So I hope this blog is indeed being read by at least a few "Christmas and Easter Catholics" who might be feeling compelled to grow deeper in their Catholic faith. And if you are one that truly is a Catholic that attends mass on Christmas and Easter, this is the one week that you could say in all honesty that you intend to go to mass. Let me be the first to say, "welcome back!"

The passage in the book from this past Sunday, December 19th, was titled "The House Church." Here is what is said:

On October 4, 1943 in the middle of World War II, Bing Crosby recorded, "I'll Be Home For Christmas," one of his most famous Christmas songs (surpassed only by his "White Christmas" and "Silent Night"). The song became emblematic of the separations caused by the war.

"Wars" in families can cause separations too.

Christmas is six days away. Make plans to to come home to your family, even if it involves some forgiveness.

Come home to your Church, even if that involves some forgiveness- perhaps in both directions.

No home, no Church is perfect. It's simply a place where imperfect people treat each other with a kindness that no one has to earn.

At Christmas time we belong with our family, and with our Church- it's the birthday feast of the Son of God who called everyone his brothers and sisters.

"I'll be home home for Christmas." There's a beautiful ring to those words. May it be our song this Christmas season.

Leave The Light On Inn-side Your Heart

The spokesman for Motel 6, Tom Bodett, is known for saying, "We'll leave the light on for you." I always thought it was a bit hokey but my buddy Jimmy was always fond of the catch phrase. Regardless, Mary and Joseph certainly could have used a Motel 6 that day that they came into Bethlehem.

However, scripture tells us that they didn't have such luck. In the second chapter of Luke's gospel, we read that after Mary gave birth to Jesus, "she wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." (Luke 2: 7)

A few years ago, a priest named Fr. Sal who was assigned to our parish reflected on the scene inside that inn during his homily. Prior to that, I had not given much thought to the inn outside of acknowledging the fact that there was no vacancy.

Fr. Sal, however, pondered who was in there and what were they doing. Were they dining and enjoying good drink? Perhaps the conversation amongst the guests was lively and entertaining. Maybe the guests at the inn played music and sang. It is safe to presume, that those who stayed at the inn that night slept comfortably, safe from the elements.

It sounds like a nice night but they had no idea what they were missing. Circumstance would have it that just beyond the walls of the inn, the most important, most amazing, and most miraculous event in the history of man-kind was happening.

They missed it. They missed the prophecy being fulfilled. They missed the coming of God. They missed the virgin birth of our Lord Jesus. Certainly, they had a wonderful night; but they missed it.

We just started the second week of Advent and I have already attended two "Holiday" parties and I have a couple more scheduled in the upcoming weeks. If I am not careful, I too will miss it. This is a wonderful time of year for many reasons. The sights and sounds. The tastes and smells. Enjoying the company of friends and family. We should enjoy it all.

However, we need to make sure we don't miss it.

Questions for reflection:

1) In this season of giving gifts, reflect on what gifts have you received throughout your life from God.

2) Jesus, the Son of God, was entrusted to his humble, human parents. What have you been entrusted with? Whom have you been entrusted with?

3) The Magi offered gifts to Jesus. How can you give of your talents, treasures, and time to give glory to God?

I pray that you keep your CHRISTmas preparations centered on Christ and make room INN your busy days for Jesus.

John's Black Friday Shoes

Jesus rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Master, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus answered and said to him, "What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later"... ....You call me 'teacher' and 'master,' and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do." (John 13: 4-7, 13-15)

In the gospels of Mathew, Mark, and Luke, we read about how Christ instituted the Eucharist during the Last Supper just hours before he would be handed over to the authorities and crucified. In John's gospel, however, the focus is put on Jesus washing the feet of his apostles. Jesus tells them (and us) "you should also" wash the feet of others. In this teaching, Christ commands us to be humble, to serve, and know that true love does not exist without sacrifice.

But, you might be thinking to yourself, this is a reading we typically reflect on during our Holy Thursday celebrations. Why bring it up on "Black Friday?"

I admit I have never participated in the "Black Friday" insanity. I hear it can be a fun time and that there are some great deals out there if you are willing to wake up early and fight the crowds.

However, last year's "Black Friday" will be a day that I'll never forget. I was fortunate enough to help lead a group of teenagers from our parish in assisting with the Labre Project through John Carroll University. St. Benedict Joseph Labre was born in 1748 and is the patron saint of the homeless. In short, the Labre Project is focused on bringing friendship to the homeless of Cleveland. The friendships are more important than the warm meals and clothes that are used to help make the initial connections. They go out every Friday night but sometimes they need help from outside the campus community. On holidays and other parts of the year, many students are home and unable to assist so there are opportunities for other groups to plug-in.

Watching the young people of my parish minister to these homeless men and women was very inspiring. At one point, I saw one of our teenagers take her gloves off and give them to woman who was living under a bridge and had no gloves on despite the freezing temperatures.

During another portion of the evening, we met a man named John who, along with his wife, had just gotten off the streets and were living on the third floor of a house on the west side of Cleveland. John only had one arm and he and his wife had very little outside of the comfort of living indoors for the first time in while. When it was made clear to us that John was in need of some shoes, a group of us walked to the John Carroll van which was parked on the street. Even though it was snowing out, John walked barefoot with us to the street. And while he was probably well into his 50's, John exhibited the joy of a child on Christmas morning in anticipation of getting new shoes.

When some of the JCU students found shoes that would fit him in the van, he immediately sat down in the tree-lawn to put them. However, due to him having only one arm, he struggled in trying to put them on. Upon seeing this, a girl named Kaitlyn that was from our parish knelt down in front of him without hesitation. As Kaitlyn took his shoes and slid them on John's feet, I stood there in complete awe. For I think it was at that exact moment, I felt like I was witnessing what Jesus had done 2,000 years ago in that upper room. While she was not washing his feet, the parallels between what I was seeing and we read about in St. John's gospel left me in a near state of shock where I could barely even move because it was such a beautiful and powerful experiene. Kaitlyn, like Jesus Christ, completely humbled herself to kneel on the side of a busy street to help put shoes on this man whom she had only known for a short period of time. And while I can't speak on behalf of John, I can only assume that gift of the shoes he received pales in comparison to gift of love that was given that night.

So as we start this season of preparation leading up to celebration of Christ's birth, I hope you don't get too caught up in "Black Friday" deals or any of the other noise that comes during this time of year. Once you look beyond the lights, the bells, the trees, the cookies, the parties, and gifts, you will see a very humble God. A God who humbled Himself enough to come into this world as a tiny infant in a manger. He would grow up to be a teacher, a healer, and a redeemer. And just like how His life started, Jesus showed perfect humility in the the final hours of his life.

Kaitlyn, ten other teenagers, three other adults, and myself will partnering with the students who organize the Labre Project once again this evening. I don't know the names of who we will meet this time but I do know that in serving them, we will be serving our Lord. (Matthew 25: 40). Now that is better than any other deal you can find on Black Friday!

The Labre Prayer
Saint Benedict Joseph Labre, you gave up honor, money and home for love of Jesus. Help us to set our hearts on Jesus and not on the things of this world. You lived in obscurity among the poor in the streets. Enable us to see Jesus in our poor brothers and sisters and not judge by appearances. Make us realize that in helping them we are helping Jesus. Show us how to befriend them and not pass them by. Saint Benedict Joseph Labre, you had a great love for prayer. Obtain for us the grace of persevering prayer, especially adoration of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Saint Benedict Joseph Labre, poor in the eyes of men but rich in the eyes of God, pray for us. Amen.

Five Questions with Fr. Joe

Drum roll please....

Here is the first instalment of "Five Questions with Fr. Joe." Thank you to those who have submitted a question and thanks to Fr. Joe Mamich for his responses. The subject matter covered vocations, the Bible, the forgiveness of sins, Saints, and Christ's message to the world. Enjoy!

1) What is a good, non-threatening way to talk to a young man or woman about their call to holy orders? Did anyone ever approach you when you were younger? How?
This is easy! Just approach the person. When I was younger, people did in fact approach me and say things such as “hey, have you ever thought of being a priest” or “as a teen, you seem to have an active faith life; have you ever thought about being a priest?” It might seem weird at first to approach someone and say something like this, but it’s worth a shot. Most of the priests that I know, mention being asked a question similar to that…and for others, one person’s question began a lifetime of priestly ministry!

2) How do we answer skeptics questions regarding the discrepancies in the Bible? (i.e. If the Bible is without error, why do the gospels at certain points conflict?)
As Catholics, we say that the Bible is true in matters of faith and morals. By the power of the Holy Spirit, the writers were kept free from error in these matters. As Catholics, we do not believe that the Bible is meant to be taken literally, as if it was a social studies book, but seen as a book of truths for faith and morals. As you mentioned, there are incidents within the four Gospels that offer differing accounts of the same event. One of the main reasons for this is because each one of the Evangelists were writing from his own perspective. In much the same way, if four people were to witness an accident; all four would have a different perspective on the same event.

3) In this day of age, it is very difficult to have a serious relationship without being intimate. The fact is morals in society have changed drastically. So can we be forgiven for having premarital sex?
I think we need to define what we mean by “being intimate”. Very commonly, this is used to refer to sexual relations, but “being intimate” really means much more. It’s about sharing one’s life, love, hopes, and dreams with another person. It’s not just about physical intimacy. While it seems to be true that society’s norms have changed, yet what Jesus asks and expects of us as Catholic-Christians has not. We are called to respect the dignity of ourselves and others by seeing physical intimacy as the outflow of the emotional intimacy that married couples are called to possess. In terms of being able to be forgiven for premarital sex; of course, we can. There is only one sin that cannot be forgiven…that is a sin against the Holy Spirit. Premarital sex is not that.

4) In the Apostles Creed we profess our belief in the "The Communion of Saints." What is, or who are, The Communion of Saints and why they such a big deal in the Catholic faith?
As you said the Communion of Saints is a big deal in the Catholic faith. This term refers to the “holy men and women of all places and times” (Opening Prayer from All Saints Day). These are the believers who have been faithful to Christ – both on earth and in heaven – that help to urge us on our own journey through life. As Catholics, we believe that Baptism brings a person into the body of Christ. As such, we join with this group of believers, or as we find in Hebrews, “this great cloud of witnesses”, that try each and every day to live out Christ’s commands to love God and our neighbor as he taught. Therefore, the Communion of Saints is somewhat like a team – in which all of us are teammates – striving towards one goal – unity with God forever in heaven.

5) Lots of people watch the Super Bowl. Not everyone reads the Bible. If Jesus had a commercial during the Super Bowl I bet he would tell us all something really important but he would have to be concise. If Jesus had a 30 second commercial during the Super Bowl, what would he say?

This is a really good question and a very applicable one to our lives. While it’s hard to imagine what Jesus would want to say, I believe it would be something very simple. He would probably invite those watching to “come and see” how he lives, what he does, and how he makes a difference in people’s life. Then, he’d probably encourage us to remember two things – love God above all things and your neighbor as yourself. And finally, end the commercial by saying, what you have seen…go…and do likewise…for this will secure your place in heaven! Something along those lines – simple yet when lived truly – so profound!

If you have questions for Fr. Joe, please send them to me at blog.of.daniel@gmail.com

Would you please pass the gratitude?

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4: 4-7)

"It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praise to your name, Most High. To proclaim your love in the morning, your faithfulness in the night, With a ten-stringed harp, with melody upon the lyre. For you make me jubilant, Lord, by your deeds; at the works of your hands I shout for joy." (Psalm 92: 2-4)

We are coming up on that one day of the year where we get together with friends and family to load ourselves full of turkey while we watch the Detroit Lions typically lose on national television. Thanksgiving!

But Turkey Day, as some call it, is more than just, well, turkey. It is also more than plotting out your Black Friday plan of attack. It is more than watching the Macy's parade and pulling the wishbone. It is, of course, about giving thanks.

It is the one day where schools and business are closed and the Government is shut down just so we can reflect on the many blessing in our lives and be thankful. This notion of gratitude, however, didn't start with Pilgrims and Indians.

The scriptural passages above are just a few of the many examples in the Bible where we are reminded of the need to give thanks to God. Furthermore, every time we celebrate mass the priest says, "Let us give thanks to the Lord, our God" and then the congregation responds, "It is right to give Him thanks and praise."

However, the sad reality is I think we all have some major room for improvement in this area. We often dwell on what is going wrong in our lives and first take that to prayer. We tend to take all sorts of things, big and small, for granted. We fail to realize that even through the hardships we endure that God is working miracles and bestowing grace upon grace on us.

I once received an email that talked about someone who had died and entered into heaven. This soul was getting the grand tour by one of God's angels. The angel took him to huge room packed full of other angels who answered phones and frantically wrote down notes. It was explained to the man that this is where prayer request come in to. Typically the nature of these prayers ranged from request for improved health, success with a job interview, help with broken relationships, and other desperate pleas for divine intervention. The man was then shown a much smaller room where just two angels sat in silence waiting for the phones to ring. The man asked what this room was all about and the angel explained that this is where the prayers of thanksgiving come to.

When I first became involved with youth ministry, we would have the teenagers write down on a weekly basis things they were thankful for. Sometimes they would write down just one thing while other times they would list two dozen different things. What they were thankful for ranged from the big things (family & friends, their faith, God's forgiveness, their senses, the Sacraments, free will), to the practical things (clean drinking water, a warm home, clothes to wear) to seemingly small things (strawberry ice cream, a new video game, an extension on an English paper). There were no right or wrong answers. The point of the exercise was to just get the teenagers to recognize all the wonderful blessing that have been given to them.

In this week leading up to Thanksgiving Day, I challenge you to do the same. You can make a long list of things or just keep a post-it by your computer and add one thing every day. See how many you can come up. Perhaps you will give start to forget about the things you don't have and will find yourself being grateful for things you never appreciated before. We become happier people when we are mindful of all we have been given. Again, there are no write or wrong answers, just be truly appreciative of it. Furthermore, feel free to post a comment to this blog post with just one thing you are thankful for. Lets see how many things we can come up with.

In closing, I just want to THANK you for reading this and for just being you. I pray that you have a great Thanksgiving Day and many amazing days of giving thanks year round.

A "Divine" Nudge

Some times God whispers to us. I have heard some people talk about experiencing gentle tugs on their heart strings that lead them to new chapter in their life and relationship with Christ. I can relate to that. God truly can be subtle.

Other times, he is not so subtle.

Two weeks ago, I had one of those experiences where I felt like screaming, "Okay God, I get it! I will do it."

It was two weeks ago that I was opening some mail, paying some bills, and just cleaning the top of our desk off when I found something. It was something I had seen before. It was a thin, cardboard CD case. The kind that free CD's or demo a CD for a garage band usually come in. But there was something much more timeless recorded on the CD within this case. This was a CD of The Rosary and The Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

For those of you not familiar with The Rosary or The Chaplet of Divine Mercy, they are what I guess one would consider to be more structured, or organized, prayers that are part of our Catholic faith. And if you knew anything about my prayer life up until two weeks ago, you would have known that it was anything but structured or organized. I am not sure if it was just because I was inexperienced with these beautiful prayers or perhaps intimidated by them, but the end result was I simply did not pray them on a regular basis. It wasn't my thing. I liked to "free-style" in my prayer time.

I thought to myself that maybe I should give it a shot. I had seen this CD around the house before and thought to myself that maybe it keeps popping up for a reason. I had heard wonderful stories about both The Rosary and The Chaplet of Divine Mercy. I should at least try to pray The Chaplet of Divine Mercy. After all, that is the shorter of the two. I can do that during my morning commute. No biggy. Just put the CD in the car and I will pray The Chaplet of Divine Mercy tomorrow morning.

The next day, October 5th, I drove to work and listened to a CD. The one I listened to, however, was a Best of The Counting Crows CD that I also recently found in my house. I figured I'd start that Chaplet of Divine Mercy some other day.

Then, at 9:04 a.m., my wife emailed me. She sent me a forward of a "Saint of the Day" email that automatically gets sent to her. She does this on occasion if it is saint that I have particular interest in or devotion to. The Saint of the day on that day was St. Faustina.

So who exactly is St. Faustina?

St. Faustina was born in Poland in 1905 and joined the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy 1925. Thirteen years later, on October 5th, 1938, Faustina died of tuberculosis. She was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000. That day was the 72nd anniversary of her death.

But here is the kicker... St. Faustina was the holy servant of God who gave us the Chaplet of Divine Mercy! In the years before her death, she had visions in which God's mercy was revealed. An inner voice taught her to pray The Caplet of Divine Mercy on Rosary beads and Jesus Christ said to her, "Say unceasingly this chaplet that I have taught you. Anyone who says it will receive great Mercy at the hour of death."

Now some people might view the rediscovery of the CD with The Chaplet Divine on eve of the anniversary of St. Faustina's death as a coincidence. But as our Pastor, Fr. Walt, frequently reminds us, there no coincidences.

But, if you still think it was a coincidence, let me tell you about the email I received at 9:42 a.m. Just 38 minutes after that first email about St. Faustina I received one from my friend Amy. The subject line simply said, "Chaplet of Divine Mercy?" Amy had recently found out that a family member had passed away and she was emailing me and several other people to ask us to pray a Chaplet of Divine Mercy for her.

Within the hour, I was in my car and heading to a meeting about 25 minutes away. After finding that CD and receiving those emails all within a twelve hour span, I was pretty darn sure that God wanted me to pray the Chaplet. I put the CD in and prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy by myself for the first time in my life. On the way back from the meeting, I prayed it again. I have since began praying it during my drive in during the morning. The thing is, it only takes me about ten minutes to do so I have learned I have plenty enough time to pray The Rosary as well on my way into work.

I, like any novice, stumble with the words at times. I get distracted. My mind can wonder. But I keep praying. Every day I seem to get more drawn into these prayers. These are prayers that I feel the Holy Spirit grabbed me by the hand and led me to. For two weeks I have been walking into my office with different sense of peace, calmness, and trust in God for what the day might bring.

Maybe you don't know how to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy but you can click on this link and learn how. Maybe you don't have a CD to guide you on praying The Rosary or The Chaplet of Divine Mercy but here is link where you can order one for free. Maybe you did not receive two emails related to this Chaplet but you did read about it in a blog. Maybe all our souls can benefit a great deal if we allow ourselves to get out of our comfort zones as it relates to our prayer life. I think God gave me a good shove two weeks ago... let me give you a nudge.

Questions for reflection:

1) How is your prayer life?

2) Are you willing to get out of your comfort zone?

3) Have you recognized God calling to you to do something new?
4) In what ways have you maybe been deaf to His voice?
5) Are you willing to pray The Rosary or Chaplet of Divine Mercy just once a week?

Pray: For the sake of His sorrowful Passion have mercy on us and on the whole world.

St. Faustina, pray for us.

Five Questions with Fr. Joe

Hello Readers of The Blog of Daniel,

I am excited to share with you that there will be a new component to The Blog of Daniel. Fr. Joe Mamich has agreed to aid in the success of this blog by participating in a monthly question and answer section.

Fr. Joe is the Parochial Vicar at St. Basil the Great. He grew up in Strongsville and graduated from Padua High School in 1997. Fr. Joe was ordained on May 13, 2006.

This new Q&A section is for you! This is your opportunity to asks a priest any question that you want. Whether you are seeking advise, looking for clarification on Church teaching, or anything else, here is your opportunity. I will compile the questions and ask him five questions each month and post his answers.

Furthermore, if you want to ask a question anonymously, we can arrange that. Just email your question to me either from an existing email account or, if you don't want me know who you are and what your question is, you can create a different email account in very little time. Just get me the questions at either DBender45@yahoo.com or blog.of.daniel@gmail.com and I will ask that question to Fr. Joe.

I think you will come to find that Fr. Joe is very approachable and has a lot of insight to share. Don't hesitate to ask any thing you want.

All For Her Son,
Dan