God's Presence at Steubenville

Our high school youth group returned from the Steubenville Youth Conference a week ago at Franciscan University. Most who attend a conference, retreat, camp, or mission trip, similar to the way Steubenville puts on their youth conference, have a very profound experience of God while there. The progression of music, to prayer, to teaching, to worship opens our hearts so that we can be more receptive to God's love. Often I hear, from those who've never attended an event like this, that it's all just good feelings, happy music, and shared fellowship. In other words, there's no substance and no constancy to a faith built at Steubenville.

Here's the misunderstanding. Steubenville is meant to be a beginning or restart of our Catholic faith. For a short time, we are taken out of our everyday world and immersed in a friendly, safe, loving, environment where we can learn about God/Christ/Church, we can doubt and question, we also compare and discuss, and really pray (sometimes for the first time in earnest) for the grace to understand and love God/neighbor better. While there is no doubt that God is a tangible presence to us while on retreat, through prayer, in the Eucharist, and during Adoration, God is not any more present at Steubenville than He is anywhere else. We are simply more aware and present to Him.

The work begins when we get home. It's probable that our families, the church, the music, the people, etc. do not have the same friendly, safe, loving feeling to produce a Godly environment like the one at Steubenville, but God is not any less present. It's up to us to change that.

This brings me to our challenge. Here's the analogy. When standing on the beach looking at the waves of the Atlantic Ocean, we might feel the presence of God. By looking at a map of the shoreline and the Atlantic Ocean, we may not feel the same. We've exchanged real ocean waves for something 'less real;' blue colored paper. Coming home to our memorized prayers, the Creed, the Mass, precepts, doctrines, and dogmas; we might think, "I don't want those things, they are not the 'real' thing. They are not God." The map may be a 2D piece of colored paper, but it's based on what hundreds of thousands of people have found out from sailing the real Atlantic. In that way, it has behind it masses of experience just as real as the one we can have on the beach. The difference is that the experience on the beach is a single, isolated glimpse, and the map fits many experiences together. Plus, if you want to go anywhere, the map is absolutely necessary. As long as we are content with walks on the beaches, our glimpses are more fun than a map, but the map is going to be more useful than walks on the beach if we want to get someplace new (like Britain).

The experiences and feelings we have on our own will be very elementary. If we want to get further, we will have to rely on the map. Study about God and consistent practices in prayer may be less fun and less 'real' than an experience of God at Steubenville, but Steubenville leads nowhere on its own. Now that we are back from Steubenville, we have to do the work. If we just watch the waves, we'll never get to Britain. We will not get to heaven by simply feeling God's presence at Steubenville. You can also get nowhere by studying maps and never going to sea. You won't be safe if you go to sea without a map.

So, it's time for us to get to work this summer. This is one idea for you to begin. Begin with the first of the Gospels. Start with 10 minutes a day. Read a section of the Gospel, imagine yourself in that story, read that section again, pray about one word that stands out to you. You can do this! Before you know it, you will feel His presence with you each day and throughout your day.

Thanks for the ideas from C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity Book 4

Why all the suffering?

Hey guys! Ferran here. I'm a senior, working hard to become a Godly man. The St. John Bosco Parish Life Teen Youth Group recently attended a retreat on the campus of Franciscan University in Steubenville Ohio. It was an emotional, passionate, and energetic totally Catholic experience, and I have returned with a refreshed commitment and excitement for the Catholic faith. Of the sessions we attended at the conference, my favorite was the session entitled, "God is in Suffering." It addressed the question, "Why does a loving God allow suffering in the world?" The speaker, Fr. Rick Martignetti,  had such insight and I wanted to share some of the things he said.

Q: Why would a loving God allow suffering in the world?
A: God gave us free will to choose good or evil. Suffering often comes as a direct result of our evil choice.

The speaker used an analogy to explain this idea. Say there is someone who doesn't believe that there is gravity. He publicly announces to the world that gravity doesn't exist. He climbs a tree and shouts from the tree tops the message. He walks across a thin branch, the branch breaks, and because of gravity, he falls and hurts himself. According to this analogy, gravity represents God's law. It doesn't matter whether an individual thinks it doesn't exist, refuses to believe it, or publicly announces his skepticism. The law is still there. When the individual chooses to go against the law (i.e. walking on a thin branch), as a natural occurrence, he suffers (i.e. the branch falls). God did not cause the suffering. Suffering naturally happens because evil choices are contrary to truth and perfect happiness.

Q: Why then do innocent people suffer?
A: Innocent people suffer as a result of "social sin." 

Again, God gave us free will to choose good or evil. According to this idea of "social sin," every person's sin affects everyone else. If one person sins, it causes others to suffer. For example, consider the Nazi's and the Jewish Holocaust. As a result of the Nazis' sins, the innocent Jews suffered.

Some Final Thoughts

Suffering happens because we have free will to choose good and evil. In addition, sometimes God chooses to allow suffering because of how it might benefit us. Suffering teaches us empathy and gives us the opportunity to show mercy to others because we understand what they're going through. Also, if you can make suffering meaningful, then you can endure anything. For example, you see how your suffering allows others to care for you, gives you the time to pray, helps you appreciate your life and recognize the blessings you've received. I would like to conclude by sharing another analogy that I thought was particularly amazing.

Suffering is like the a furnace used to refine silver. A smith, in order to perfect silver, will put it in a furnace to burn away impurities. He doesn't burn the silver too long or else the piece will be ruined. How does he know when the piece of silver is perfect? The answer is when he can see his own reflection in it. God is the smith, we are pieces of silver, and through suffering, a process of refinement, we will be perfected in God's image.

Ferran

My Flotilla (My Family)

When I was a teen, somehow I adopted the attitude that God's standards were too high and that, since I could never be that good, it was a waste of time to try. Like many people, and by some process of desensitization, I wasn't sure anymore if there was an absolute moral law. Of course, I rediscovered some time ago, with certainty, that there is a moral conduct that every person on the planet is subject to, but teaching that to the teens in my youth group is tough in this age of full-blown Relativism.

I like C.S. Lewis' Three Parts of Morality in his book Mere Christianity (Book 3, Chap. 1). He says that there are three parts to morality and that most of us only pay attention to the first. They are:
1) There should be fair play and harmony (good social relations) between individuals, groups, nations, etc.
2) Each person should work at disciplining themselves; to continue to strive to become a better individual
3) Human beings were created for a purpose and are meant to be in relationship with the Creator

He gives this analogy: We are a fleet of ships sailing in formation. The voyage is a success only if the ships do not collide with each other, if each ship remains seaworthy and has its engines in good working order, and if the fleet reaches its correct destination. If the ships keep on having collisions they will not remain seaworthy very long. On the other hand, if their steering gears are out of order they will not be able to avoid collisions. Morality, then, seems to be concerned with three things. Firstly, fair play and harmony between individuals. Secondly, with what might be called tidying up the things on the inside of each individual. Thirdly, with what man is made for (his purpose). Modern people are nearly always thinking about the first thing and forgetting the other two. When a man says about something he wants to do, "It can't be wrong because it doesn't do anyone else any harm," he is thinking only about the first thing. Each ship in the convoy is dependent on the other. You can see in the analogy that, first, if ships collide they will not remain seaworthy and, second, if ships themselves are not in good working order, they can not help but collide. What is the good of telling the ships to turn in unison if they are so dilapidated that they can not be steered at all?

Now, comes the third part of Lewis' morality. If the fleet traveled without colliding and each ship was in proper working order, but the flotilla arrived at Calcutta instead of New York, the voyage would still be a failure. Going back to the man who says that a thing cannot be wrong unless it hurts some other human being. He understands that he must not damage the other ships in the convoy, but he honestly thinks that what he does to his own ship is simply his own business. But what if his ship is not his own property? Does it not make a great difference whether I am, so to speak, the landlord of my own mind and body, or only a tenant, responsible to the real landlord? If somebody else made me, for his own purposes, then I shall have a lot of duties which I should not have if I simply belonged to myself. We have to live our lives with the understanding that we will live forever. There are a good many things which would not be worth bothering about if I were going to live only 70 years, but which I had better bother about very seriously if I am going to live for ever. The goal of this life is to love, know, and serve God in this life so that we can be with him forever in heaven.

Do we live each day with this goal in mind? I'm a wife. My goal is to not only get myself to heaven, but my husband too. We are to help each other reach heaven. I'm also a parent. My goal is to not only get myself and my husband to heaven, but my children too. What about the teens in my youth group, my neighbors and my friends? That's an important destination! Is my fleet keeping the three parts of Lewis' morality in mind when we go about the business of living each day?

SJB 2014 Graduation Mass Comments

St. John Bosco Parish Graduation Mass (May 25, 2014) Comments:

Graduation Mass 2014

Today we recognize the SJB & SMM Graduates of 2014.  Although, in the past few weeks, these graduates may have attended banquets, awards ceremonies, celebrations and parties in their honor; it is RIGHT that we should take a moment today to focus, not on their accomplishments for their own sake, but on the gifts, talents, graces, and support systems these young people have received from a loving and generous Father in heaven.

Graduates, I know I speak for your family and everyone gathered here when I remind you of these three things:

1.    Remember, “If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world on fire!” These words, spoken by St. Catherine of Siena over 600 years ago, still inspire us to become what is God’s will for us. Don’t cut yourself off from the source of His strength by skipping Mass. You can’t be what you should be without the supernatural grace you receive in the Eucharist.

2.    Remember, freedom is a good thing. Freedom is precious because it is delicate. There is a power in freedom, and you have the ability to take it from others, and the power to give your own away. Freedom doesn’t always mean saying yes. Freedom is sometimes saying, “No.” Ultimately, freedom allows you to choose to accept the love God wishes to share with you; or not. So often in our world, freedom is thought of a free ticket to do anything we want. With freedom, which is meant for good, also comes the ability to make destructive choices. Sin is a disordered use of our freedom. Sin affects our capacity to trust God and blocks our ability to communicate with Him through prayer. If you find yourself on your own and in need of direction but you can’t feel God’s presence or hear His words, you probably need to do go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation; the “car wash for the soul.” Plus, when your car is clean, you're much more careful about where you drive.

3.    Remember, that while Protestants and Christian Evangelicals may have things to teach Catholics about being on fire with religious zeal, we have much to teach them about the fireplace. As Peter Kreeft says, “A fireplace without a fire is cold and gloomy, but a fire without a fireplace is catastrophic.” Learn more about your Catholic faith so that you can engage our brothers and sisters in Christ in dialog about Christ’s one true Church. 

God's Invasion

I often think about what it will be like when Jesus comes again. My hope is that we, those that I love and all people who searched for God in this life, will join those living in heaven for eternity. My grandparents, others I've known and loved on earth who have died, all the saints I've come to know by reading about them, and all the angels will be there together in one place with the Holy Trinity.

C.S. Lewis, in his book Mere Christianity spoke about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ at the end of Book 2. In reference to Jesus being "born behind enemy lines" as a baby and a Church used as a vehicle of the resistance to spread the Gospel, Lewis says, "Why is God landing in this enemy occupied world in disguise and starting a sort of secret society to undermine the devil? Why is He not landing in force, invading it? Is it that He is not strong enough? Well, Christians think he is going to land in force. We do not know when, but we can guess why he is delaying. He wants to give us a chance of joining His side freely.

God will invade, but I wonder whether people who ask God openly to interfere directly in our world quite realize what it will be like when He does? When that happens it is the end of the world. When the author walks onto the stage, the play is over. God is going to invade alright, but what is the good of saying you're on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else, something that never entered your head to conceive, comes crashing in? Something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left.

This time it will be God without disguise. Something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. That will not be the time for choosing. It will be the time we discover which side we truly have chosen whether we realized it before or not. Now, today, this moment is the chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us this chance. It will not last forever. We must take it or leave it."

If that doesn't make you reflect, correct, and choose rightly, I don't know what does!

The Ascension of Our Lord - Confirmation Day Comments to the Sponsors

I give credit to Father Robert Barron for his insight into the Ascension of Our Lord readings:

Confirmation Day Comments to Sponsors

It’s finally here, Confirmation Day, the day we have been preparing for all year!  I’d like to introduce the Confirmation teachers to you: Don Holloway, Kathy Houle, & Johnna Makuch. We work as a team for the benefit of our students with the Oneight Confirmation program and the EDGE middle school youth ministry.  Father Mathew Illikattil is our pastor at SJB and Deacon Louis Zemlick is our deacon. (Candidates introduce themselves and then their sponsors.)

Thank you, sponsors, for taking on this very important role in the lives of these young people.  It is our responsibility to bring our children to Jesus.  Don’t minimize the role that God has given you as a sponsor.  God has significantly put you in the life of this teen.  He’s called you into relationship with them.  Continue to pray in a special way for your candidate, look for ways to give gifts and encouragements that brings them back to their faith.  If it’s possible, you can help them get to Mass on weekends or to Reconciliation at least 2x a year.  Your witness, the life you lead, will help them to be more faith-filled. 

This afternoon’s Mass is called “Ascension Sunday.” Today we celebrate the Ascension of Jesus. We profess in the Apostle’s Creed that we believe, “He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.” So, what does this have to do with us? Heaven for Jews is the realm of God and angels which touches earth, each influences the other. We say in the Our Father “...thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” This means, “May the ways of heaven invade the ways of earth and that God may reign here as thoroughly as he does in heaven. The Ascension is the beginning of heaven and earth coming together.

In the first reading, in the Acts of the Apostles we hear Jesus talking about bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth. This Christian revolution is meant to flood the whole world and the Church that Jesus established is the vehicle.  Jesus tells the apostles to go to Jerusalem and wait for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. With the spirit of Jesus in them they will continue the process to bring heaven to earth and earth to heaven. They will become agents of this reconciliation of heaven and earth. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The apostles go all over the known world with the Gospel message. When Jesus disappears, something of earth has been taken into the dimension of heaven. The coming of Earth and heaven has commenced.

Next week, in the feast of Pentecost, in the decent of the Holy Spirit; heaven comes to earth. The ascent of Jesus’ body into heaven and the decent of the Holy Spirit from heaven are related. They both speak of the reconciliation that Jesus won for us. All of the architecture in our churches is meant to elevate us to heaven and bring heaven to us. At the end of the first reading, two angels ask the apostles, “Why are you standing there looking at the sky?” Basically, they are saying, “Stop standing around and get to work!” This Feast of the Ascension is the beginning of our commission as Christians to reconcile heaven and earth. We are to get to work! It’s the perfect Mass to celebrate a Confirmation, don’t you think?

This Confirmation is the beginning, not the end, of your Catholic education. If you stop here, you will have about a second grade education in Theology. How are you going to continue to live your Catholic faith?

These things you MUST do once you’re Confirmed:

1)    The most important thing that you absolutely must do now that you will be Confirmed is to go to weekly Mass.  That’s where you receive the sanctifying grace you will need to be a witness.  And, there’s so much about the liturgy of the Mass that you don’t yet know. 

2)   The second most important thing you must do now that you will be Confirmed is to go to Reconciliation... often (once a month, at least once a quarter).  Sin acts like a barrier that cuts you off from your source of strength: the Holy Spirit.  Those of you who wear glasses, have you ever taken your glasses off after wearing them all day and thought, “I can’t believe I could really see anything.  My glasses are filthy!”  That’s what sin does to us in our lives.  It slowly cuts us off.  We don’t even realize it’s happening.  All we know is that we don’t feel close to God.  He seems so distant and you feel so alone.  Pretty soon you forget to pray at all unless there’s an emergency or a crisis.  Go to Reconciliation.