What Did You Come To Teach Me?

 

A woodworking friend shared this true story that he went to visit a “master woodworker” to see this man’s work and gets some tips. He walked into the store and was amazed at the beauty of this master’s creations. He introduced himself and asked him for some wooding pointers. The man’s response appeared to be rather rude: “What did you come to teach me?”

My friend was caught off guard and felt embarrassed since he was nowhere near the skill level of this artist. He grew silent, walked around the store for a few more minutes and was ready to walk out the door when the master called back: “Where are you going?”

My embarrassed friend was perplexed and he said that he had come to learn a few pointers to take home to his shop. This master politely told my friend that he meant no disrespect from his comment: “What did you come to teach me?” Rather, he reassured my friend that in any meeting with a person his philosophy was that if we listen carefully to one another there is always something we can learn from each other. There might be one point of view or phrase that we hang to that will make a difference in our life if we only listen carefully to one another.

It seems that this man was not purposely insulting his visitor but wanted to assure him that we are all have something very important inside of us to share from our unique experiences. So next time you are confronted by a person who appears to be lost or afraid or not quite with it. Instead of rolling our eyes or ignoring their comments give them a chance to share who they are and their life experience and they might teach you something new.

I am learning from my woodworking friend that you can take a round bowl that has dried for six months into a oblong, distorted shape and mold it back into a beautiful round bowl. You have to be careful as you spin the wheel at 1020 rpms. But it is possible to turn that wobbly mess and craft it into a thing of beauty.

So if you think your life is out of shape and you have dried up into a cold, crusty person that no longer fits the mold of Christ. Maybe it's time to come back to the Jesus and listen to his words so that He can give you direction and make a difference in your life.

God invites us to listen to his words and what do you hear? “Give ear, O my people, to my teaching: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.” (Psalm 78:1).

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who feel out of sorts or no longer worthy to come back to church. Let this be an invitation to return to church where you feel welcomed and accepted and learn that Jesus wants you to know that you are His child made in His image to bring glory to his world. What’s your glory and how will you bring it to others today?

You Got To Be Kidding

-->

I walked into the door of the local country post office and I could see from the expression on the clerk’s face that something was terribly wrong. A customer was waiting at her desk, another senior lady was behind him and the clerk informed me that it would be awhile because her computer was “frozen.”

This frustrated postal clerk was on the phone with “tech support.” But from the moaning I overheard it sounded more like “damage control.” “You got to be kidding,” she mumbled talking to customer service. “It has never taken this long before” she shared with the rest of us. Our senior lady piped up with the profound comment  “computers are the ruin of humanity.”  I would not go that far, but the problem appeared that the clerk’s login name and password were not allowing her to complete any transactions.

I learned that the young man at the desk ordered a money order. He had given the clerk his money, but she was unable to print out the money order and worse her moneybox was locked and she could not open it because her computer was “frozen.”

The senior lady I believe was an angel in disguise since she needed eight books of stamps and she had the exact change to pay with cash. She wanted to be helpful and told the clerk that if this were happening to her “she would be in tears.”

Our senior angel gave her cash to the clerk and said she hoped it was enough to return the money back to the young man who was waiting for his money order. What a sweetie!

To be confronted with a frozen computer, or placed “on hold” with tech support sadly is a common experience in our tech savvy world. What is not so savvy is how we choose to respond. How would you handle this annoying situation? Our postal clerk was kicking the boxes, rolling her eyes and mumbling: “you got to be kidding.” When she hung up the phone and discovered that her computer was still inoperable she told me that she could not help at this time. I told her that it was not her fault that she was doing the best she could and I would return another day.

The reality is that you are going to face lots of situations that are not in your control. The next time your computer screen goes blue, you will cry like a baby. Thank you Mr. Gates. But our relief comes in a faith that says yes there is suffering in the world and our faith gives us the patience and perseverance to hang tight. Don’t lose your cool. All computer glitches eventually get fixed but hopefully not at the expense of our health or sanity.

God prays for us as we rake our brains over things we can’t control:

“And now, O Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you. (Psalm 39:7).

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who are terrorized by computers that break down and ruin our moods. Help us to refocus our frustrations and be like that senior lady who rose to the occasion and helped as best she could. I bet she was angel and how wonderful to behold!

Angels of Routine and the Ordinary

-->

Each year the church calendar sets aside more than thirty weeks for what it calls "Ordinary Time," a season I like you to think of as meeting the angels of routine, regularity, predictability, and ordinariness.

The term "Ordinary Time" sounds bland to us, even as we unconsciously long for precisely what it is meant to bring. Like the seasons of Christmas and Easter, this season too is meant to bring a special richness into our lives. But it's easy to miss both that season and its intent. But as we grow older it seems that we have precious little "ordinary time" in our lives. As our lives grow more pressured, more tired, and more restless, perhaps more than anything else we long for "ordinary time", quiet, routine, solitude, and space away from the hectic pace of life.

For many of us the very expression, "ordinary time," draws forth a sigh along with the question: What's that? When did I last have “ordinary time” in my life? For many of us "ordinary time" means mostly hurry and pressure, the rat race, the treadmill.

Many things in our lives conspire against "ordinary time"; not just the busyness that robs us of leisure, but also the heartaches, the obsessions, the loss of health, or the other interruptions to the ordinary that make a mockery of normal routine and rhythm and rob us of even the sense of "ordinary time". That's the bane of adulthood.

Many of us, I suspect, remember the opposite as being true for us when we were children. I remember as a child often being bored. I longed almost always for a distraction, for someone to visit our home, for special seasons to celebrate (birthdays, Christmas, New Year's, Easter), for most anything to shake up the normal routine of "ordinary time." But that's because time moves so slowly for a child. When you're seven years old, one year constitutes one-seventh of your life. That's a long time. In mid-life and beyond, one year is a tiny fraction of your life and so time speeds up - so much so in fact that, at a point, you also sometimes begin to long for special occasions to be over with, for visitors to go home, and for distractions to disappear so that you can return to a more ordinary rhythm in your life. Routine might be boring, but we sleep a lot better when our lives are being visited by the angels of routine and the ordinary.

It's extremely difficult to be attentive to the present moment, to be truly inside the present.  It's not easy to live inside "ordinary time."

We are challenged to be attentive to the various seasons of the year: Advent, Lent, Christmas, Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost. This morning, we need to challenge ourselves to be attentive to "ordinary time." Our failure to be attentive here is perhaps our greatest spiritual shortcoming.

Let your heart pray these verses “But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like the weaned child that is with me. (Psalm 131:2).

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that we get comfortable with this season of "Ordinary Time" that leads us closer to our angels of quiet, routine, solitude and space away from our hectic pace of life.

 

Ice Castle

-->

This past week, despite another brutal winter storm, I received two requests to write letters of reference for people to serve as sponsors for a baptism. Not always required, but some priests like reassurance that the baptism sponsor understands their role is to model Christ in their own life. I wonder, who was Jesus’ sponsor when John baptized him in the Jordon?

There is a story that in some of the old castles in Europe, there are found deep wells to supply the castle with water in times of a siege. A water supply that would bring water from an outside source would be at the danger of the enemy. So while people inside were protected from the enemy their necessity of water was provided for in a "safe" manner. This put their minds at ease. Imagine if someone had to go out and get water then they would have to place their own lives in danger.

Sometimes, we are much like the castle, in that if we depend on "outside sources" for help we might find that the enemy has cut our help off. That is why, like the castle, we need an inner supply of strength. In times of trouble, difficulties, events that would make us discouraged, our help must be in the peace that only Jesus can give.

However, we are tempted to "try and do it myself".... like reach out instead of reaching "in" Now, don't get me wrong, it is often important to reach out, but not at the expense of reaching "in". Jesus, according to His own lips, is the water of life, but He is even more. He said, "My peace I give you, not as the world gives, but as I give." (John 14:27) And how we need that when the world is attaching our castle.

Peek inside this ice castle that I took on New Year’s Eve and see if in a quiet moment you can invite Jesus into your heart to help you with something that is making a mess out of your life. Let his words of peace inspire you with his wisdom and reassurance.

Let your heart pray these verses: “He reached down from on high, he took me; he drew me out of mighty waters. (Psalm 18:16).

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that the peace of the Lord be ever so powerful to you. May the grace of faith flow like water and fill your life with gentle peace and love.

Resolutions 2014

 

On New Year’s Day, I am watching the Rural Network presentation of the Rose Bowl Parade when I get interrupted with a phone call from a friend in New Jersey. This unique, special man who has served God faithfully as a priest and in retirement travels the country competing in archery. We share “guy talk” for over an hour but some interesting themes were coming out of our discussion. I’ll put them in the form of resolutions for 2014.

ONE:” Take good care of yourself! This means physically, mentally and spiritually. My friend recently attended a retired priest gathering and was shock to see so many of his colleagues suffering from dementia or physically unfit. Do something that makes you want to move leads to resolution number two.

TWO: Get moving! Enough computer gazing or whatever you feel you can’t live without. Put on the long underwear if you live in Western New York or sneakers if you moved to Florida for the next four months and get moving. This leads to resolution number three.

THREE: Do something that turns you on. Something you really enjoy. For my friend, shooting arrows and hitting the bulls-eye, for me I put on my long underwear in 14-degree cold and slide across the field and over the steams to take this shot that you are looking at on your computer screen. Maybe you need to practice at your piano, or get into the garage and start turning out wooden bowls. This leads to resolution number four.

FOUR: Stop all the whining about what’s wrong with the church and the weather. Make a difference yourself! In our discussion about ministry, we imagine the new pope is leaning to invite women to serve as deacons in the church. Fantastic! We sense an openness to invite married priests back into ministry to serve the needs of many priestess parishes. Why not offer your talents and help teach a religion class, or serve as a greeter or the hospitality group or be a Eucharistic minister and visit someone homebound or in the hospital. This leads to resolution number five.

FIVE: Forgive yourself and forgive those who have hurt you in the past.

We carry lots of baggage that weighs us down that makes us grumpy. We are no longer joyful because we have yet to surrender the hurts from our past. Yes, it takes time to heal, but pray for forgiveness and know that God listens to our cries of injustice and Jesus will come to heal and help us move on. Let’s try one last resolution.

SIX: Quit__________________. You fill in the blank. Promise yourself to get extra help if you have been unable to let go of this nasty habit. I promise to pray for you that you get the help you need to feel better about yourself.

As you reflect on this snowy waterfall, let your heart pray these verses: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Lord, I will continue to pray for all my Sonshine Friends in the New Year that that God will help you find joy and peace in your life.

After the Feasting

People asked me in church today: “How was my Christmas?” I spent time with family and friends and appreciated the time to connect with old friends and new.

Two moments that were memorable for me were being asked to say the grace before the Christmas meal. I’m sitting with the young people trapped behind the picture windows. But the young people are not little kids any longer. They are young adult men and women in the process of dating and finding their lifelong mates. Church is not a priority but I believe this was a moment to introduce them to a God who wants them to find a purpose in life that will make them happy and respected.

So my spontaneous prayer can best be paraphrased: “Thank you Lord for bringing us all around this table to renew our friendships. We are grateful to our hosts for bringing us together for this delicious feast. May your love for us continue to grow in our hearts. May we realize that we are never alone for you listen to all our concerns. May our gift to one another be our hands and hearts willing to help each other in our time of need.”

As one family member pointed out to me after the desserts, in which I ate too many cookies. What our young people need is not pious words but a genuine invitation that says: “when you’re ready” God invites you to join a faith community that lives the true meaning of peace and happiness. That’s my prayer now for all of you as we begin another new year.

My second memorable moment is the image I have posted on this Sonshine. After hundreds of hours of work, clearing trails and cleaning hundreds of years of debris, we took our special friends for a Christmas “gator ride”

through the snowy trails and over the creek into the land of make-believe. 

After another hectic year of being busy, shopping, decorating and wrapping.

Now might be a moment for you to lean back and let the beauty of God’s landscape take hold of you and revive your drooping spirit.

As you reflect on this image, let your heart pray this psalm over and over again: “Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.” (Psalm 31:5).

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends in this New Year that we learn to lean on you more often. Help us to discover the truth that you simply want us to be at peace and assured of you ongoing love that give us strength and courage.

Sin Carpet

Ask any priest what they want for Christmas and you get the usual humble response: “I don’t need anything but your prayers.” However, Fr. Matt’s weekly chores around the house include vacuuming all the wood floors and carpets. Not a problem except for the “sin carpet.” No, this is not a typo. It’s the “sin carpet”. This oriental carpet has a beautiful weave pattern and a mind of its own. The vacuum fails to pick up the kitty hairs and so I attach the chair attachment, get down on my knees and brush the carpet by hand to get it clean. This method works much better with a few choice words and the reason why I call this my “sin carpet.” It’s a prayer carpet with a certain twist. It’s twisting my body around because the beater brush just doesn’t do the job and pick up kitty hairs.

So what I want for Christmas is a solution to this backbreaking problem. The family says take the carpet and the vacuum to the repair shop and see what they suggest.

On this snowy day, I walk into the shop of an “old fashioned vacuum shop.” I humbly ask, “Is it OK to bring my oriental carpet into the store and show you the problem?”  The kind repairman motions to bring it on. Vacuum plugged in, he immediately says the vacuum has no power. He opens the machine and finds the filter and bag are OK. The attachments are in good order, but then with the wisdom of a guru he says, “this machine will never clean this carpet because it is not a motor driven unit but air powered.”

No one will tell you this at a box store because they don’t know the difference. A motor driven unit is best for carpets and works stronger to pull the dirt out of any carpet. He quickly demonstrates with a floor model and says: “go ahead and clean your carpet.” With a few easy strokes, no genuflecting, no swear words, the carpet was cleaned. Why don’t the salespeople tell you this when you buy a vacuum. I went online in Consumer Reports and found no information about the difference between a motor and an air driven unit.

The kind vacuum man suggested to continue to use my canister on the wood floors. I thought I had Dirt Devil in the basement that has not been used in years. He suggested using the upright to clean the carpet and wait till my canister dies. Then the next time, you need a new vacuum, make sure that it is a motor driven unit.

Sometimes, our sins seem to follow us around and we fail to clean up our life. Even on our knees, we pray to God for help with our temptations, but we still can’t get rid of those threads that make us feel dirty. Maybe, our machine needs a tune-up, a motor driven (spirit driven) unit that will clean up our act. A spiritual director like the vacuum cleaner repairman might help you clean up your life and get rid of those spots.

A motor driven unit not an air driven vacuum is the secret to getting carpets cleaned. I never knew the difference. The sin carpet will become a prayer carpet. When vacuuming, I will remember this kind man’s wisdom and ask God to bless him and all who help us lead a better life free from troubles that break our backs and frustrate our efforts to be holy.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who struggle in prayer with any sin that does not want to go way. Help us to persevere and remember that Advent is the moment a Savior appeared to be with us and save us from all our messes and fears.

Note, I did not find the Dirt Devil in the basement. I forget that I donated it to the Salvation Army this past summer. I wonder if it is still there?

Plug That Hole

-->

Before Mass, a parishioner wanted to share his findings after walking through the school. A retired engineer, I asked this humble man to share his expertise. The school was abandoned for many years and the parish has just installed a new furnace, but it was leaking cold air like a sieve. Needless to say, our engineer was a blessing for he found lots of holes that needed to be plugged.

His suggestions were very practical, like discovering holes on the first floor where the cold air was coming from the basement. Also, a back door had an opening so large that you could see straight to Buffalo!

Now I’m trying to get ready for Mass and lead the Advent Penance Service. This man is passionate and wants me to find 3 or 4 people after Mass to plug some of the holes or he fears the water pipes will freeze and the furnace will die.

During the Penance service, I shared a statement from Pope Francis. He shared that there is darkness in each of us. For we are all sinners. Hold on, the Pope is not talking about Catholic guilt. He says, “Walking in darkness means being overly pleased with ourselves, believing that we do not need salvation. That is darkness! When we continue on this road of darkness, it is not easy to turn back.” St. John wrote: ‘If we say we are without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us”. Look to your sins, we are all sinners, all of us … this is the starting point.

“When the Lord forgives us, He does justice” – continued the Pope – first to himself, “because He came to save and forgive“, welcoming us with the tenderness of a Father for his children: “The Lord is tender towards those who fear, fear not in the sense of being scolded but mentored to those who humbly come to Him “and with tenderness,” He always understand us”. He wants to gift us the peace that only He gives. ”

But let’s get real and be honest, many of us are too busy to look within ourselves, we are often ashamed to tell the truth: ‘I did this, I thought this’. But “shame” is a true Christian virtue, and even human and to be ashamed is a virtue of the humble.

Pope Francis continued: “ we must have trust, because when we sin we have an advocate with the Father, “Jesus Christ the righteous.” And He “supports us before the Father” and defends us in front of our weaknesses. But you need to stand in front of the Lord with confidence, even with joy, without masquerading… We must never masquerade before God. And shame is a virtue: ‘blessed shame.’ This is the virtue that Jesus asks of us: humility and meekness”.

In other words, there are lots of cold drafts in our lives that need to be plugged. I witnessed humility in our church today as peoples’ cheeks were cradled and I told, “ to let go of their shame and walk in humility.” Yes, we are all sinners, yet we all came to receive the Lord’s mercy to restore the warmth of our hearts that have been made bitter cold by the sin in our lives.

At the end of mass, we made the announcement for volunteers and a dozen people walked over to church to plug some holes and promised to return to repair the many doors and windows that need to be readjusted to keep the cold air out and warm air in.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that “to be ashamed” is a virtue that will bring us out of the cold into the warm embrace of our loving God. Believe and celebrate this blessing.

Wait A Bit

-->

It is Advent now. We hope to quiet down during this time, and ponder our need for a savior. Look around the world and you will see plenty of reason to need one. Looking can be immensely disturbing.

But let me tell a story that might show a different side of “waiting.” Holy Family started a tradition common in many churches today to have coffee social after Mass. On the first and third Sunday of each month, people gather in the back of church to meet and munch.

Every social features some special goodies that our pastry cooks bring to church. Sometimes it’s a juicy cheese cake, or crème puffs, others times, a pastry apple filling, there’s always something with maple and a variety of tasty cookies.

What does this celebration have to do with Advent? Well, the funny thing is that no one in line at the coffee social is in a hurry. They talk, they share stories about their family, they relish being in “the” place. People can cut into line for coffee or another pastry and no one cares. The crowd seems to have turned waiting into a social affair, a time of patient anticipation, together.

The point? Our waiting during Advent does not have to be an agony. Jesus will be born, and in fact we know this for sure, since we have experienced him at Mass. In Advent we join each other not around pastry treats but around the peace and goodness that his birth will bring to our hearts and to our rapport with others. God turns our waiting into a social, prayerful event.

Granted, it is not always easy. Traffic jams, grocery store lines, shopping on Amazon, the usual chaos of the season can be exhausting. Sometimes our minds are spinning with the many things we have left to do. Christmas is coming, after all. Impatience rears its head. But what is the alternative?

Here's an idea. If we use our senses we will not need to buy another gift to make the season joyful. In the present moment, as you read these words, hundreds of real and God-filled objects are all about you. Did you take a walk on the first day after our first snowfall? Despite my frozen fingers, I took the above photo and enjoyed this moment of beauty. How about letting in the colors and lights of your Christmas tree? There are times when we can stay in the present during Advent, instead of in the future or the past. Maybe we will find subtle and quiet beauty all about us. The present tense is still happening.

Advent is a time to focus a bit and realize that emptiness is a healthy and normal part of our lives. We will only be filled if we let emptiness have a home in us first. Strange to say, the waiting for fulfillment is also itself a fulfillment. It lets us be what we are—not God but human.

God waits for us as we reflect: "Happy is the one who listen to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting besides my doors." (Proverbs 8:34).

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that they stay awake and find your presence in their daily lives waiting to bring them peace and comfort.

A Thnaksgiving Prayer

-->

Thank you letter to people of Holy Family Catholic Parish…

Dear People of the good earth in North Java and surrounding neighbors:

On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, I like to acknowledge the contribution of so many gifted people who have worked generosity to keep Holy Family open these past two years. Sadly in 2013, they have prayed over and returned to heaven seven family members. Over 3,000 family, friends and neighbors from surrounding towns returned to this closed church to pray and to lay to rest a baby, a sister, a wife, an aunt, a husband and daughter. All who came back to this “refreshed” church walked away from the service praising the warmth and beauty of this Catholic community. 

What I have seen in my brief ministry is a dynamic commitment to God and neighbor. So on this Sunday, I praised the choir and their organist who sing God’s praises. Then there’s the “church ladies” who put on the luncheons after the funeral. Their desserts are made in heaven.  Must not forget the “Sunshine” lady who writes letters to the sick in our hospitals and homebound. Then there are the “dessert chefs” who bake homemade treats for our church socials after Mass. Someone said their priest in the past would row over in his grave if he saw people eating in the pews. I simply would tell father that his people like to eat and visit after Mass.

Don’t forget our children learning about Jesus during Mass. We are grateful for their special teacher. We have a “basket lady” who made over 60 gift baskets for our Spaghetti Dinner raffle and more cooks to feed the hundreds of neighbors who came to support the  Annual Spaghetti Dinner. Also, the Summer Java Garage Sale had our volunteers cooking sausages and selling treats. Must not forget our altar servers who wait on this priest with special care. And all our young people who lector, sing and welcome people at our front door.

Then we are grateful to the committee who pays the bills, audits the books, records our words and make recommendations for the future of the parish. The building team found the best roofer, refreshing the rectory for a new tenant and getting heat back in the school to begin its new mission. Must not forget our “Liturgical Art Design Engineers” who  decorate the altar for the Fall with pumpkins and are planning poinsettias and trees for Christmas. I hear plans are afoot to bring St. Nicholas back to have breakfast with all the children for Advent.

Many good people prefer not to be known, but donate clothes to keep other families warm, make the extra sacrifice to pay for the church roof, or will donate toys and cloths to make Christmas special for a poor family.

I’m just grateful that people enjoy listening to the stories about Jesus. I appreciate their openness to change and welcoming all people without hesitation to join them in prayer and service.

My church calendar for 2014 focused on the activities of the parish such as our children blowing horns on Christmas eve like the angels, or a birthday cake for Jesus and baptizing a newborn on Father's Day. These are signs of growth that I hope will inspire others who are searching for God to come and join this loving community of faith.

With Gratitude,

Your Shepherd,

Fr. Matt

My gift for his Thanksgiving for each family is a holy card that I designed that features a picture of the parish steeple taken from behind the church with the fall braches enveloping the cross. The prayer is a Thanksgiving Blessing Prayer that you may say over your turkey with your family. It is brief and studies have shown that saying prayers of gratitude as a family over the turkey makes it taste better.

A Thanksgiving Prayer

O Gracious God, we give you thanks for your overflowing generosity to us. Thank you for the blessings of the food we eat and especially for this feast today. Thank you for our home, our parish, our family and friends, especially for the presence of those gathered here. Thank you for our health, our work our play and the loving hands who prepared this meal. Please send help to those who are hungry, alone, sick and suffering war and violence. Open our hearts to your love. We ask your blessing through Christ your Son. Amen.