Jim Mahoney's Blog - Sacred to Etc.

Lent - Day Eleven - Is your faith always strong?

February 28, 2015

Faith in God can be a struggle. Faith seldom seems to work at the same level in our lives. Sometimes our faith is strong. Sometimes it is weak. Sometimes we are very strong in our beliefs. Sometimes we are shaken by experiences and may turn away from God. Sometimes we realize that God is still there. All of this gets complicated.

It is hardly profound to observe that our faith in God is sometimes affected by the weather, but I think that this is valid. With day after day of unrelenting cold, the customary snowfalls every few days, the ice, the shoveling, the concern about water pipes, the whole thing is altogether too much. I think that people get beaten down by the weather. At such times, this seems to also affect our faith because we are just worn out. The noise of the world, the disruptions caused by weather, the horrors of terrorism, all these things just wear us out.

I used to revel when it was cold and especially when it was snowing. Now, I have repented of those prior thoughts. I cannot wait for spring. I am not totally wild about real hot weather, but I am willing to sacrifice with warmth rather than cold. I do like fall. But winter - frankly, Lord, you can have back the season of winter.

When people say that they are having trouble with their faith, my hunch is that life has beaten them down and they have no reserves or resiliency. How much easier it seems to have faith in God when the sun is shining and we do not feel hassled.

It is hard to focus on faith when things are just coming at us from every direction and you just feel overwhelmed. In my life, I often feel overwhelmed. Too many responsibilities. Too many problems to deal with. Too much. Too much. I do find that when I am so overwhelmed, it is harder to pray - and even hard to remember to pray.

Lent for me is a time to figure some things out, to get a greater sense of peace - and, by doing so, maybe I can be of more help to others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LENTEN RESOLUTION SCOREBOARD - FOR YESTERDAY - WHAT WAS KEPT - WHAT WAS NOT

H - Yes;

B - Yes;

P1 - Yes;

P2 - No;

S - Yes

 

Lent - Day Ten - Time for Reality Check

February 27, 2015

This is now Day Ten in Lent. I must immediately point out that there are many who choose not to count the Sundays in Lent as part of Lent - since Sunday is truly the feast of the Lord's Resurrection. But let's throw caution to the winds and simply call this Day Ten in Lent. Mathematically, we may end up with more than 40 days by the end of Lent, but I suspect that your faith is able to weather this contradiction.

The question now is - are you any better or am I any better since Lent began on Ash Wednesday? (We can at least all agree that Lent starts on Ash Wednesday) I must admit that writing this blog every single day in Lent has forced me to focus far more than usual on what I am doing during these forty or so days. It also have placed a little extra pressure to do this each day, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.

When Lent began, I made five Lenten resolutions. They are noted at the bottom of each blog during Lent with just a Yes or No as to how I kept each resolution that day. I identified each resolution by the first letter of the first word of the resolution. Simply to follow Jesus' injunction to keep our good deeds private and don't brag about them. Well, nothing to brag about in any of my resolutions. But having to tally them each day has become rather annoying. By Day Ten, I'm questioning whether I made too many, especially when I followed all five resolutions only a couple of times thus far. Should I reduce the number? Should I just tough it out? Sigh. Will tough it out. Following all five won't be the worst thing in the world. It might even make me feel good about what I'm trying to do during Lent.

 

 

So - where are you? Do you remember your resolutions? (Does anyone remember even one of their New Year's resolutions?) If you follow your resolutions for the entire season of Lent, will you be a better person? Will you be closer to God? Will the lives of others be improved because of your resolution?

I am intrigued by the psychological research concerning habit formation. Essentially it can take doing something at least 30 days for a person to truly change a particular habit. Bad habits can be broken. Weak habits can become stronger if they are worth doing.

So - (just realized that I use the word "so" too often when writing, will have to watch this) I'm going to keep trying. I do find comfort in the expression that "saints are sinners who keep trying." We are all meant to be saints. So why not let this be the Lent when you and I make huge progress.

 

 

 

LENTEN RESOLUTION SCOREBOARD - FOR YESTERDAY - WHAT WAS KEPT - WHAT WAS NOT

H - Yes;

B - Yes;

P1 - Yes;

P2 - Yes;

S - Yes

 

Lent - Day Nine - Are You Impatient?

February 26, 2015

True Confession: While it may simply be a sign of aging, lately I have noticed that I am more impatient than I ever used to be. I have always been rather patient with people and exuberantly impatient with things, technology, or other non-animate objects. If someone asks for help, I still am pretty patient. But  impatience is growing. I usually keep it bottled up, but it is there.

I also have a temper which is kept tightly in check nearly all of the time. I have lost my temper three times in the past five  years. (Believe me, I'm not bragging; this simply shows the level of tight control that I feel I must use.) On those three occasions, I truly exploded - not a pretty picture. Felt horrible at losing control. It takes a lot for that to happen to me - so naturally everyone else must be to blame. But it is something that I must watch.

 

 

 

Why am I sharing this with you? I see and hear enough to know that impatience and losing one's temper are at epidemic proportions in many homes and in our society. It is real in many people's lives. Often, the way of handling this is to just say things like "I'm impatient, but there is nothing I can do about it." Ain't valid.

Impatience and losing our temper is not an inevitable action. Consider what we all learned in psychology or biology classes about "stimulus and response." For every stimulus, there is a response. But there is a space between stimulus and response. We do ultimately have a choice whether we choose to accept it or not.

I'm suggesting that, in the space between stimulus and response, rather than galloping merrily on our way to being impatient and even losing our temper, we try to halt the progression. Say something like the Jesus Prayer (easiest prayer we have - just say the name Jesus a few times) and ask God to help you. Very simple. Does not involve therapy or anything else. But it can work. The response of losing our temper when we're impatient is not inevitable.

It's Lent. Why not use this as a time to work on developing an incredibly good habit of being more patience.

LENTEN RESOLUTION SCOREBOARD - FOR YESTERDAY - WHAT WAS KEPT - WHAT WAS NOT

H - Yes;

B - Yes;

P1 - Yes;

P2 - No;

S - No

Lent - Day Eight - Death Stinks

February 25, 2015

The title of this particular blog, Death Stinks, is not just to get your attention. It is what I strongly feel and have to contend with every time that I have to do a funeral. It is very seldom that a funeral is simply routine for me. Most of the time, it is wrenching. Even if I do not know the person at all, if people I know even slightly are the ones who are grieving, it really rips me up. I have never been able to get past this. I know that I'm wiped out by the end of the funeral.

One of the most difficult things of being a priest for me is doing a funeral and then having to shift gears instantly into other experiences and activities. But right beneath the surface, I am still grieving, still connecting with the pain of those who lost a loved one, and still trying to work it through for myself. Sometimes, I have to ultimately wander through a mall (one of my proven relaxation techniques) and just try to get in a better space.

Now, the theory and the practice. I do believe viscerally that death is not the end. I believe that Jesus overcame sin and death - and so will we. I also believe that we will ultimately be united with those we love. But death still stinks. It is wrenching. It is painful. I have also found that there are so many things to help people use palliative care and hospice. It is so sad when people do not use things available to them to ease pain and make people more comfortable in their final time. Palliative care and hospice is not mercy-killing. It is honoring the dignity of the person. It is respecting our moral principles that death is not the end. Death is really a passageway into eternal life.

Over thirty years ago, I had a funeral scheduled and was just irritated. The people were not part of the parish. They had really seemed difficult on the phone. We agreed to do it. We usually do in just about every single case. I was in my office muttering and murmuring to myself about not wanting to do this. (not my finest moments!). Then the hearse drove up with the family following in the next vehicle. I saw them get off their car just sobbing. In that instant, I melted. I realized that while it might be routine to me, it is never ever routine to the family and friends. I think that I have kept up this awareness ever since.

To put it all into perspective, funerals might be hard for me, but I know that they are much much harder for the family and friends. At the parish, the staff tries to literally pull out all the stops to give people the finest funeral possible. Even if I never knew the person, I work very hard on the homily and try to integrate into the homily the ways in which the deceased might have shown us something of God's love in his or her life.

Death stinks. We do not have a choice. But, somehow through pain and tears, most of us get through it. (Jane Brody wrote an article recently in the New York Times on "complicated grief" - a condition of some people who are not in any way able to work through the grieving process. Get the article if you think this applies to you.) The death of a child stinks most of all. You never get over it. Life does go on, but my heart breaks for parents who have lost a child.

When my mother died a few years ago, I logically assumed that I would not have to go through the grieving process for the simple reason that i knew a lot about it, had helped people many times in the process, and frankly, why should this apply to me?  I was spectacularly wrong. I had grief - big time  - and it still pops up at all the unexpected moments.

We truly never get over the death of a family member or a friend. But ultimately we can go on to live life and celebrate life. Those we love are always with us, their suffering and separation from us remains, but somehow we can still find, at least once in a while, that the sun is shining and things are ok.

Death does stink. But we are not alone. And if there is one thing that Jesus understood, it was suffering and grief. He is with us. His mother is with us. And, one day, we will all be united in the only place other than Wrigley Field where the Cubs are in every single World Series.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LENTEN RESOLUTION SCOREBOARD - FOR YESTERDAY - WHAT WAS KEPT - WHAT WAS NOT

H - Yes;

B - Yes;

P1 - Yes;

P2 - No;

S - Yes

Lent - Day Seven - Tied Up in Knots

February 24, 2015

 

It might be a generational thing, but I tend to avoid religious practices that seem to just be superstitions. If I had a house to sell, I would probably not bury a statue of St. Joseph upside down in the back yard facing the house. However, if the house was not selling, you would find me ordering the statue immediately on amazon.com. Go figure.

With this as preamble, I know that often my life is tied up in knots. There are things I want to do, conquer, correct, and change in myself first and then, of course, in the entire world. If I can change myself, I would really be happy. A few months after Pope Francis was elected pope, I was with a group of parishioners in Ireland, a wonderful time. We made the obligatory visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Knock, had Mass there, lunch, and a required visit to the gift shop. I came across a little booklet about Our Lady, Undoer of Knots.

I was surprised to learn that Pope Francis was the major person behind spreading devotion to Our Lady, Undoer of Knots. When he was exiled from Argentina to Germany in the 1980's (he was really a disaster in his leadership role with the Jesuits in that country - he readily admits this today; every biography explains this), he came across a painting in a Church in Germany of Our Lady, Undoer of Knots. He brought back a copy of this painting and a special prayer to Mary when he returned to Argentina.

For some reason, both the prayer and the painting really connected with me. I have given away hundreds of copies of the prayer to people. Many report that it helped them. It helps me focus. It helps me connect with God and Mary. I don't see it as superstitious. I see it as a really powerful help.

Here is the prayer. Maybe it can help you as well:

O Virgin Mary, faithful Mother who never refuses to come to the aid of your children; Mother whose hands never cease to help, because they are moved by the loving kindness that exists in your Immaculate Heart, cast your eyes of compassion upon me, and see the snarl of knots that exists in my life. You know all the pains and sorrows caused by these tangled knots.

Mary, my Mother, I entrust to your loving hands the entire ribbon of my life. In your hands there is no knot which cannot be undone.

Most holy Mother, pray for Divine assistance to come to my aid. Take this knot (mention your need) into your maternal hands this day; I beg you to undo it for the glory of God, once and for all, in the name of your Divine Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

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RESOLUTION SCOREBOARD - FOR YESTERDAY - WHAT WAS KEPT - WHAT WAS NOT

H - Yes;

B - Yes;

P1 - Yes;

P2 – Yes (finally did it!)

S - Yes

Lent - Day Six - Is Pope Francis Taking Too Long to Make Changes? Will People Be Patient?

February 23, 2015

 From the time that Pope Francis was elected pope, clearly the majority of Catholics had changes that they wanted the Church to consider. There was probably consensus on some areas, i.e., streamlining the process of annulments; cleaning up the scandalous financial practices in the Vatican, etc., but other areas required work and study and prayer.

The pope has been meeting with a group of cardinals a few times a year to determine these changes. One of the concerns I have had about Pope Francis is the simple fact that there were so many expectations placed upon him - it would be impossible for him to meet them. Consequently, could this good man actually cause disillusionment and would people leave the Church in frustration? How can he meet all the expectations placed on him? Also, the expectations of people in the United States might be quite different than other areas of the world, i.e., Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

We need to pray hard for Pope Francis. Pope Benedict did an act of great courage and humility when he resigned. Now Pope Francis is literally trying to rebuilt the Church in the spirit of Francis of Assisi. We need to pray for him. He's not getting younger. Just keeping him alive in a world filled with so much evil is a challenge. Darned if I know how he will pull it off. (He may also not be worried because he has tremendous peace and serenity about what he must do. I hope so.) I know that Pope Francis walks with Jesus. May Jesus give him strength.

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LENTEN RESOLUTION SCOREBOARD - FOR YESTERDAY - WHAT WAS KEPT - WHAT WAS NOT

H - Yes;

B - Yes;

P1 - Yes;

P2 - No; (sigh)

S - Yes

 

Lent - Day Five - No Meat on Fridays! Sigh

February 22, 2015

Let's look at the practice of abstaining from meat on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays in Lent. I must confess that, way way back in childhood, I always wondered about the logic of this particular practice. Being an obnoxiously precocious child, I knew that this practice did not come from Jesus. I also knew that there were many people who really enjoyed fish. There were entire countries where people rarely eat meat because it was not available. Therefore, abstaining from meat as a Lenten practice did not seem to make sense. I never liked fish. I liked grilled cheese. That was just as good and even better than meat.

(not permitted on Ash Wednesday or Fridays of Lent!) 

Some approach this rule as a spiritual practice, a disciplined part of their lives. That is fine. It is a disruption to the normal routine - and may help us focus on God. As sometimes happens with Church practices and customs, some rule was developed and over time people sought to find justifications for the rule.

I think that one of the most unenlightened things done by some Church leaders was to get rid of the practice of no meat on Fridays. When that took place in the 1960's, it seemed to set into motion a feeling that everything was in fact arbitrary. I was in high school, but did wonder about this question: What about the Catholics who ate meat on a Friday one week and then were permitted to eat meat on a Friday the next week? Did the person who ate meat on the Friday before it was permitted go to hell while others sacrificed by having lobster? Even further, is it an appropriate penance for people who love fish to have the most delicious fish (to me, that is an oxymoron, but clearly a matter for another blog) and then consider it their Lenten penance. In the words of a four year old I know, "I don't think so."

(officially permitted on all days of the year!)

A few years ago, a Church leader in New Orleans explained to his archdiocese that alligators are not meat, they are to be considered fish - and therefore may be eaten on the Fridays of Lent. I think he was serious. I know he was sincere.

(officially permitted on Ash Wednesday and Fridays of Lent!)

 But are we possibly missing something? What is the point of all this? Is this a situation of Nero fiddling while Rome burned?

My best hunch is that the rule of abstaining from meat on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent is a call for each of us to do penance, to make sacrifices, and focus our lives on the values of the Kingdom of God. Not eating meat on Friday is a disruption from our routine. Maybe we need this. Pope Francis noted the incongruity of those who do not eat meat on Fridays and yet do not help the poor or treat their employees justly.

Perhaps the call to abstain from meat is, at a deeper level, a call to do penance - a call to perform actions in our lives that make a difference in the lives of others, especially the poor. We all can use some jolts from our routines and complacency. We can all use more reminders of the obligation to help those who are in need. In prior eras, the ways in which such practices were explained involved far too much "splitting of hairs" and not enough substance.

Here is the substance: penance is good and part of what followers of Jesus do - precisely because Jesus did penance. We give up things during Lent. That is good. We help the poor. That is good. We forgive. That is good. All of these things take effort - and maybe this is one of the answers to this blog. Being close to God does not really happen by accident. It takes conscious effort, such as an act of penance or sacrifice.

Oops, forgot one important thing. If we abstain from meat and are not merciful to others, we've really missed the point.

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LENTEN RESOLUTION SCOREBOARD - FOR YESTERDAY - WHAT WAS KEPT - WHAT WAS NOT

H - Yes;

B - Yes;

P1 - Yes;

P2 - No; (not doing well on this particular resolution, have to rethink it)

S - Yes

Lent - Day Four - We Are the Catholic Church (actually news to some Catholics!)

February 21, 2015

If you look at the headline of this particular blog, it may seem odd to you if you are Catholic. Yet, my point is simply that the word "Catholic" means "Universal' - and this means that we are a worldwide Church, almost 18% of the world's population. Why make this point? (I have not yet run out of topics for my 40 straight blogs during Lent. I'm sure that will come.) I believe that one of the most important things that Pope Francis has done is to remind the world, especially the world in the United States and Europe, that we are indeed Catholic, universal. When he was elected pope, he announced that he had been selected from among the edges of the earth. That was in fact true - especially if you identified the "real world" with the US and Europe.

The best example of this was the group of bishops that Pope Francis recently made cardinals. The usual places that generally had cardinals were passed over. Instead, he selected the new cardinals from different areas all around the world. The cardinals of the Church, usually called the College of Cardinals, became more representative (at least a little more) of the Catholic (Universal) Church.

To believe in God, to believe in Jesus, means that we go beneath and beyond our different cultures to seek the ways in which God has affected all of our lives. In the Church, we are represented by all cultures whether certain bodies in the Church reflect this. A perfect example is the geographic makeup of the total College of Cardinals.  The largest number is still Italian, second largest is the United States. Pope Francis is clearly intent on making the College of Cardinals represent the whole world proportionately, but it will take time.

Why does this matter? We are in fact a universal Church, now led by a pope who came from the far edges of the earth. We truly reflect every culture, every continent, and just about every language. We are almost 18% of the entire world's population. Almost half of all Catholics live in the Americas, both continents. Almost quarter live in Europe. Then about 16% in Africa, 11% in Asia and slightly less than 1% in Oceania.

The purpose of this particular blog was not to write about the pope, but about being the Catholic Church. However, the pope is the symbol and even the guarantor of the unity of the entire Church. Pope Francis is gently pushing the Church beyond its European and North American attitudes. It will be interesting to see where we end up. My hunch is that it will be with Christ.

LENTEN RESOLUTION SCOREBOARD - FOR YESTERDAY - WHAT WAS KEPT - WHAT WAS NOT

H - Yes;

B - Yes;

P1 - Yes;

P2 - No;

S - Yes

 

 

 

 

Lent - Day Three - Why Does Pope Francis Upset Some People?

February 20, 2015

While the vast majority of people are enthusiastic about Pope Francis, this is not a unanimous position. One of the reasons has to do with the fact that he has deliberately chosen to demystify the papacy and to proclaim in practical words that he, like all of us, is a sinner. When prior popes said anything, in this century and last century, every word in speech or in writings was never truly in conversation, but rather the result of a rigorous vetting process. We were always used to hearing and reading the words of past popes in encyclicals, proclamations, homilies, etc. The idea that the pope would just speak off the top of his head never entered into our minds. He has a conversation with us. (Once in a while, I wish he would not say things - but given the past choices, I'll take this choice!)

Our Church has Pope Francis - who has had the nerve to actually give interviews without screening the questions, talk with regular people, and even say that he is not sure about some things. He also says that he wants people to speak up, share what they think. There is freedom in the conversational life of the Church that just was not possible with past popes of our memory.

A few months after he was elected pope, I was in the company of someone who had worked for the church internationally. He essentially sniffed to me about Pope Francis, "he's not a theologian. He's just a pastor."

I'll take a pastor any day. I'll take any one who is kind and relentlessly preaches the mercy of God. I'll take anyone who reminds us of Jesus. I'll take anyone who washes the feet of those seen by society as outcasts.

 

LENTEN RESOLUTION SCOREBOARD - FOR YESTERDAY - WHAT WAS KEPT - WHAT WAS NOT

H - Not so good, must try harder;

B - Yes;

P1 - Yes;

P2 - Yes

S - Yes

 

Lent - Day Two - Best in Show - A Beagle!!!! - and My Scoreboard

Good grief, a beagle was named Best in Show for the Westminster Kennel Club. Here is the winner - the inelegantly named "Miss P" -

I do not wish to be unkind, but isn't the beagle a rather common breed? Aren't there other breeds more deserving of such a high honor? In 2013, the Best in Show, named Banana Joe, was a Affenpinscher. Now that sounds like a breed worthy of Best in Show. I had a Golden Retriever who won Best of Breed in many shows (before she came to live with me). That was a champion. A beagle - I don't think so. Sorry, beagles. You're cute, but not regal.

Is there a point to this rambling? Well, a little one, but an important one. Each of us is created literally to win. There are far different criteria used by God than we would use in judging each other. IN truth, most of us are probably deepdown more like mixed breeds than pure breeds. We are each in incredible mosaic of good and bad, at times saints, at times sinners. God's criteria is so simple that it is frustrating, challenging, and yet the most comforting you could imagine: is the world a better place because you passed through it! I truly do not believe that it get more complicated than this.

The difficult thing in religion is that we tend to complicate, rather than simplify. I could go on and on about all the things that have become too complicated in religion, but I don't have all day - and neither do you. Suffice it to say  - that Jesus' message really comes down to the words used in receiving ashes yesterday: Repent and believe in the Gospel.

Is the world a better place because you passed through it? Use this as your mantra. I have probably used this question hundreds of times in a variety of settings. And, in the midst of complicated things, I forget that this is the heart of what it means to believe in God. If I could focus on this and worry less about things that I cannot do anything about, I would be happier and more peaceful. Maybe - this insight can help you as well.

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One way to focus on Lenten resolutions is to keep a scoreboard. So, at the end of each blog between today and the rest of Lent, I'll post a scoreboard concerning my 5 Lenten resolutions. I'll just use the first letter of each resolution (Why don't I tell you my resolutions? Jesus said to keep our good deeds private.) Doing this helps me stay focused.

 

LENTEN RESOLUTION SCOREBOARD - FOR YESTERDAY - WHAT WAS KEPT - WHAT WAS NOT

H - Yes;

B - Yes;

P1 - Yes;

P2 - Yes

S - Yes

 

 

Forty Days Seems Like a Long Time!

Blog # 1 during Lent

 

I don't know about you, but I have always felt that Lent was much too long. In a world of such instant 24/7 communication, 40 days just seems too long. Once in a while, I muse and imagine that Lent could be compressed into just one day. That is enough. Hard to find any support for my insight in the over 2000 year history of the Church. Go figure.

So what can be done with the 40 days of Lent. I'm going to use the words of Pope Francis many times during these 40 days. His words have been a tremendous challenge to me since he was elected pope. In this picture, he is receiving ashes last Ash Wednesday.

Here is what Pope Francis suggests we consider this Lent:

"As individuals, we are tempted by indifference. Flooded with news reports and troubling images of human suffering, we often feel our complete inability to help. What can we do to avoid being caught up in this spiral of distress and powerlessness?

First, we can pray in communion with the Church on earth and in heaven. Let us not underestimate the power of so many voices united in prayer!

Second, we can help by acts of charity, reaching out to both those near and far through the Church’s many charitable organizations. Lent is a favourable time for showing this concern for others by small yet concrete signs of our belonging to the one human family.

Third, the suffering of others is a call to conversion, since their need reminds me of the uncertainty of my own life and my dependence on God and my brothers and sisters. If we humbly implore God’s grace and accept our own limitations, we will trust in the infinite possibilities which God’s love holds out to us. We will also be able to resist the diabolical temptation of thinking that by our own efforts we can save the world and ourselves.

As a way of overcoming indifference and our pretensions to self-sufficiency, I would invite everyone to live this Lent as an opportunity for engaging in a formation of the heart. A merciful heart does not mean a weak heart. Anyone who wishes to be merciful must have a strong and steadfast heart, closed to the tempter but open to God. A heart which lets itself be pierced by the Spirit so as to bring love along the roads that lead to our brothers and sisters. And, ultimately, a poor heart, one which realizes its own poverty and gives itself freely for others.

During this Lent, then, brothers and sisters, let us all ask the Lord: “Make our hearts like yours." In this way we will receive a heart which is firm and merciful, attentive and generous, a heart which is not closed, indifferent or prey to the globalization of indifference."

Maybe Pope Francis is saying to us - take 40 days, you need 40 days, to overcome indifference. At times, rather than indifference, I just feel numb in the face of so much evil, so many awful things taking place in our world. I do feel overwhelmed. Maybe you do as well.

So, now for 40 days - a time to become more aware - perhaps less overwhelmed - and perhaps a time to kindle stronger feelings of hope in a world and life that genuinely needs it.

By the end of 40 days, I will try to be better. Would you join me? My hunch is that this sort of thing is never easy - but it is worth it.