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Showing God’s Life in the Flesh

Tuesday, October 7th, 2008

I made a slideshow of some of my mother’s pictures, because a lot of people were requesting it. It’s a great slideshow of pictures that my sister-in-law made around the time of my mother’s funeral. The slideshow puts her life “in the flesh”, so to speak.

I thought I’d make one with the computer, and then post it somewhere, or email it out. So, after fumbling for a good few hours, I learned the other day how to make a slideshow using a thing called flashvideo. Now, I don’t know how it all works, but the bottom line is that this software makes two computer files. Not one – that would be too simple – but two. Both files are needed.

So, what’s the deal with two files? Well, one is huge and contains all the goods. It has all the pictures, the slides, the music, all the information for timing the slides and making them change at the right time, making sure the music matches the slides. It has 10,174 kilobytes. It has everything.

What about the other file?

Well, it’s tiny. It only has a measly 2 kilobytes. And it has only one little job. What is it?

It opens the web browser and lets the other computer file – the one with all the goods – do its thing.

That’s all.

So, if I send the little file alone, of course it can’t do anything worthwhile, because it doesn’t have the goods. 2 measly kilobytes! The big file has all the goods. But that little file is very important! Because if I don’t send that little one along, the big file can’t do anything either. It can never even get into the web browser. And my mother’s life is not made visible.

The Blessed Virgin Mary does not appear in the Bible doing great and remarkable feats. In the Bible, she does not convert anyone with preaching, she does not heal anyone’s sickness, she does not drive out any bad spirits, she does not fight battles, she does not shepherd people to safety, she does not conquer world poverty. In fact, she’s hardly mentioned by name. Mary is tiny. And she has only one little job: it’s to open herself and let God in.

Of course, Mary alone can do nothing worthwhile: “Apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:5) God has all the goods: “No one is good but God alone.” (Mk 10:18)

But Mary is very important! “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” (Lk 1:42) God can do nothing without Mary. Without Mary, God cannot even enter the world.

Because she opened herself up to God completely, God came into the world. Everyone got to see Him in the flesh.

You may not feel that you can do anything worthwhile. You may be convinced that you don’t have the goods. But you are very important! Without you, God can do nothing. Without you, He cannot even enter the world.

Each of us has one little job: to open ourselves up and let God in. Then He can enter the world around us. Then everyone can see Him – in the flesh.

Posted in Family & Friends, Joyful, Luminous, Science & Technology | 1 Comment »

Terra Incognita

Monday, August 18th, 2008

I took my mother last week for her monthly checkup at the doctor’s. I drove her to the hospital and walked with her to the elevators and to the oncology unit. For the first time, she walked the whole way from the entrance to the office with her cane. Praise God!

After some blood tests, she and I got to meet with the nurse practitioner who is handling most of my mother’s care with the doctor. She asked some questions about my mother’s symptoms. Still amazed, she remarked again about my mother’s “miraculous” recovery. She seemed so happy and upbeat.

At one point, my mother asked her a question: “Am I progressing along as I should be? How much activity should I be doing around the house?” I smiled and laughed to myself – I’m thinking, my mother doesn’t quite get it yet. But I let the NP fill her in.

“Well, we don’t have any more idea than you do. We don’t have any data for anyone in your situation. We’ve never had any patient drop as low as you have and recover as well as you have.”

Then she paused and said to my mother: “You are in terra incognita.”

“Did you hear what she said?” my mother asked me with a big smile of amazement, with tears and a hug after the NP stepped out for a minute. “She used the word ‘miraculous’. Wooow.”

When the Lord called the apostles, they left everything. Not just some things, but everything, their families and friends, their work and daily rhythm of life, all that their life was founded on. And they did it suddenly, not over the course of time. They couldn’t listen anymore to the experts, to the scribes, to the educated and wise, to the influential and popular opinions. They listened only to Him. What did they enter?

Terra incognita. “For we walk by faith, and not by sight.” (2 Cor 5:7)

Let me ask you: How did they walk in terra incognita? How were they able to let go? How did they make it without terror and anxiety?

Because they were with the Lord. And they got to witness the greatest things that have ever happened: indescribable conversions of life, healings, people raised from the dead.

When you decide to follow the Lord, you enter into terra incognita – but go, don’t be afraid. You’ll get used to two words: “Miraculous.” “Wow.”

“And when he entered into the boat, his disciples followed him: And behold a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the boat was covered with waves, but he was asleep. And they came to him, and awoke him, saying: Lord, save us, we perish. And Jesus says to them: Why are you fearful, O you of little faith? Then rising up he commanded the winds, and the sea, and there came a great calm. But the men wondered, saying: What manner of man is this, for the winds and the sea obey him?” (Mt 8:23-27)

Posted in Family & Friends, Science & Technology, Serving Others, _Glorious | 4 Comments »

Gaining Sight

Sunday, June 22nd, 2008

Before I left for Maryland last August to begin with the Franciscans, I had a large image of the Divine Mercy that I wanted to give away.  I had it framed and given to my local parish.  When I came back in February, I looked around the church and didn’t notice it so I asked the pastor.  He said he did not have room for it in the church, and had given it to the school.

I went to the school to find out that the image was locked away in a closet and was not being used, even during Divine Mercy Sunday.  So, I asked for it back, and decided I would give it to another pastor who I knew wanted it and would use it.

I had arranged to have a friend help pick it up and deliver it the Friday before last.  Well that morning, I was talking with my mother, who is struggling with meningeal carcinomatosis from breast cancer (that’s a technical way of saying cancer on her brain).  The family has received so many prayers and support like we’ve never seen before.  Food, visitors, helps of all sorts from different directions.  Reconciliations with old family and friends and neighbors.   And she’s been doing amazingly better than anyone expected – the doctors did not think she would still be alive.

So we were talking about listening to the Lord, when she said regarding the big white wall that faces her bed in her room, “Wouldn’t it be great if there was a huge Divine Mercy image on that big blank wall?”  See, she didn’t know about the image, that I was planning to pick up the image 2 hours later to bring it to the other church.  But now I knew there was a change of plans.  It was coming to her.  I told her a little later, “I’m bringing a surprise.”

When we brought it in, she couldn’t believe it.  It was a very powerful experience.  (A picture is in the post on June 17: The Divine Mercy Image in Mom’s Room.)  And things began to happen right away.

My friend who helped me deliver the image is a friend of Mother Angelica, and so he told her a whole bunch of inspiring stories.  When he was about to leave, a brother from the Oblates of the Virgin Mary arrived with the Lord in Holy Communion.

He said to me afterwards, “I have never seen anything like that, what she said.”

After my mother received the Lord in Holy Communion, and spent time with the brother, her nurse arrived.  And when her nurse was finishing up with her, the local barber stopped by, and my parents’ living room was changed into a barber shop as she gave both my father and mother haircuts to prepare for my brother’s wedding.  We’ve never seen the house like that before!

Last week, we went to the doctor’s for the first time in a month, for a monthly treatment she is receiving for cancer.  The nurse practitioner was amazed at how she has turned around and has been progressing: “This is miraculous.  We have never seen this before.”  She gave her a 6-refill prescription for her treatment meds: “and that six refills should be a indication of our confidence.”  The doctor came in and said, “We thought we lost you.  This never happens.  We are amazed.”  There was excitement and happiness.

We went to visit the staff on the 6th floor of the hospital, where she had stayed for 9 days in April.  They were amazed to see her.  Her case manager said to us, “I’ve heard of these things happening, but I’ve never seen it.  There must have been a  lot of prayer.”

“And he rose, and immediately took up the pallet and went out before them all; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying: ‘We never saw anything like this!’”  (Mk 2:12)

When we trust in God, we live the greatest moments.  We see things we have never seen before.  Praise God!

Posted in Family & Friends, Luminous, Science & Technology, _Glorious | 4 Comments »

Say Yes to Little Things

Monday, June 9th, 2008

Right now, my mother has been at home struggling with cancer.  There have been ups and downs, good and bad, but we are all making it, and the Lord is doing great things in our midst.

One of the problems we face is her eating.  Her appetite hasn’t been good, so we have to be creative with ways to get food past her appetite and taste meters.

Well, one day back when she was in the hospital, a nutritionist stopped by.  My brother and I, being “competent” men, thought, “What’s she going to tell us that we don’t already know?”  But afterwards, I thought, she’s a gift – it’s good to listen to what she has to say.

So I went back to her and listened to her.

We talked about my mother’s situation and what we were doing, and she asked if we had tried smoothies.  “”Smoothies!” I thought, “That’s right – I used to make those a lot – I completely forgot about them.  What a great idea!”  She described some new products that basically compress a whole ton of calories and protein into a little, tiny, tasteless liquid.  “You could put that in the smoothies.”  In fact, she gave me a whole list of different ingredients and proportions to make.  “Wow – thank you – this is great!”

Well, when we got home, we started making these smoothies.  We ordered the little, tiny tasteless fluid on the internet.  We started blending anything that we had – strawberries, bananas, blueberries, cantaloupe, Ensure, milk, ice-cream, yogurt, you name it, mixing and matching depending on what we had.  Before, we couldn’t feed her anything – now it seemed like we could feed her half the fridge.

Then the final taste test came:

“This is delicious!  What do you call it?”  “It’s a Concoction.”

It has a name: Concoction.

Now, every day, we take whatever we’ve got, along with the little, tiny tasteless liquid, and make a Concoction.  When she gets on the phone, she tells everyone about the Concoction.  Even the rest of the family drinks the Concoction.

Now, here’s the point.  What if I stayed with my self-righteous, know-it-all attitude?  What if I never listened to what the nutritionist had to say?  What if I never accepted this hidden, little gift, and said a little yes?  What if I never went back to her?  I think I know:

No Concoction.

How important that nutritionist was!  How important was my little yes!

“[The Kingdom of God] is as a grain of mustard seed: which when it is sown in the earth is less than all the seeds that are in the earth: and when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs and shoots out great branches, so that the birds of the air may dwell under the shadow thereof.” (Mk 4:31-32)

Do you have an open heart?  Are you willing to say yes to little things?  It’s then that the Lord can do great things with you.

Posted in Family & Friends, Luminous, Science & Technology, Serving Others | 2 Comments »

Be A Zero With the Lord

Sunday, June 8th, 2008

Isn’t it true that everyone wants to be someone, but no one wants to be a no one?  We sort of think that way, that we must be a “one” and not a “zero”, not a nothing.  We are supposed to be all that we can be, a fulfilled, satisfied “someone”.

Aren’t we?

I think that when we look around, we see people striving to be a “one” in life.  I think everyone is afraid of being a zero, because zeroes are considered, well, zeroes.  Good for nothing.  But the headlines in our society call our attentions to the great “ones”, the awful “ones”, the beautiful “ones”, the ugly “ones”.  Everyone must be some one.  Anything but a zero.  Zeroes get rubbed out by every “one”.

But you know what, after it’s all said and done, the best we can be is a “one”.

Not so with the Lord.

See, the Lord does things that are impossible for men.  He is the only One who does not rub out a zero.  He is the only One Who joins Himself to a zero – and makes a 10.

Get it?

You know what I think Matthew was thinking at the customs post?  “My career isn’t what I thought it would be.  My life hasn’t been what I thought it would be.  I’ve been pursuing a lot of different things to enjoy and fill my life, and they haven’t given me the satisfaction I thought they would. 

I feel empty.”

And I think the Lord saw him and said, “He will make a 10 with Me.”: “Follow me.” (Mt 9:9)

The Lord is not looking for ones.  He’s not looking for successes and heroes.  He’s looking for failures and zeroes: “I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” (Mt 9:13)

Why?  Because He is making tens.

The Lord needs zeroes.  Don’t be afraid to be a zero before the Lord.  When you come to Him as a zero, it’s then that you can make a ten with Him.  It’s then you’ll do the impossible.

Posted in Luminous, Science & Technology, Society & Politics | 2 Comments »

He Will Give You the Keys

Wednesday, April 9th, 2008

For over 10 years I tutored high school students in my local town in math and physics.  It is a privilege to help out young people who are struggling with their studies.  I would go to their home and help them with their latest homework.  I met some wonderful families, and some were friends already.

One time, a family friend asked me if I could help her son Byron in physics.  He was going to Boston Latin, a very competitive high school, and although he was a B student, he was really struggling with this class.  It was an introductory class, and science wasn’t his thing.  “Sure,” I said, “I’d be glad to, free of charge.”

So after that I began coming by once a week to help.  Now winter time is the time that science students have to start thinking about the science fair.  For a kid who doesn’t particularly care about science, this is a time of confusion and frustration.  “Science fair?”  Usually, they want someone to just tell them what to do, so they can get it over with – fast.

Now Byron likes sports, and it occurred to me that there are some simple physics ideas in sports.

“How about this one: sports equipment like baseball bats and tennis racquets have a sweet spot.  There’s some simple physics behind it that I think you could understand.  And it’s related to what you’ve studied so far.”  “OK,” he said.  He always trusted me.

So I wrote up some stuff to help him out, a short description of the key physics concepts with a couple of simple key equations.  I met with him and explained these keys to him.

After that, he just ran with it.  He decided he would look at different types of baseball bats.  He would try to determine whether sweet spots matched with different types of bats.  He made ideas for testing, setting up a plan, finding and buying equipment, carrying out the tests, and taking measurements.

He has a good gift for presentation, and so he presented his project with his engaging personality at the classroom science fair.

He won the classroom science fair.  Everyone was surprised.  His family could hardly believe it.

Now it was on to the school fair.

Now, he was in the introductory Physics class – you know, the class for the kids that have to take a science class.  He was going up against the entire school now – that includes all the AP physics and chemistry and biology students.  All the students headed for Harvard and MIT and all the other Ivy League schools that Boston Latin sends so many of its students to.

But he won that too.  He won the science fair for the whole Boston Latin School.

Impossible.  His family couldn’t believe it.  His friends in school couldn’t believe it.  The school couldn’t believe it.  He couldn’t believe it.  No one could believe it.

How did this happen?  How did he do the impossible?

Because he believed in his tutor.  And his tutor gave him the keys.

The Lord promised Peter that He would give him the keys to do the impossible because he believed in Him: “And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.  And whatever you shall bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.”  (Mt 16:19)

If you listen to the Lord, He will give you the keys.  Why?

So that you can do the impossible.

Posted in Family & Friends, Science & Technology, Serving Others, Sports & Recreation, _Glorious | No Comments »

Keep It Simple

Saturday, March 29th, 2008

Did you ever notice that Mary has a long list of different titles in the Church?  There’s Queen of Apostles, Star of the Sea, Our Lady of Victories, Mother of Mercy, and the list seems to go on forever.  And did you notice that she seems to change in appearance, too?  Her shrines depict her differently depending on the culture.  Sometimes she’s a European woman, sometimes Indian – I’ve seen her shown as an Eskimo.

Why?  Why not just the same, standard “Mary” all the time?

A little story … I’ve always loved mathematics and physics.  Math and physics are complicated, and there’s something inside of me that likes complicated.  So, when I went to college, I decided to become an engineer, something complicated.

Now along the way, I’ve had the privilege to accomplish some works.  Those expensive degrees paid off.

I was able to look the other day and find my US patent on the internet.  Yes, I am officially an inventor.  I emailed the title to my brother: “Passive Phase-Change Stator Winding End-Turn Cooled Electric Machine”.  He wrote back, “I can barely pronounce the words, never mind understand them.”

So then, getting a laugh, I thought, I also have a published professional paper with another complicated name. I found this on the internet, too, and emailed that to him: “Extended-Range Linear Magnetostrictive Motor with Double-Sided Three-Phase Stators”.  He wrote back, “Make it stop!”  I spared him the master’s thesis …

Unless you are an engineer, can you relate to any of those titles?  I hope not.  Those titles are very complicated.  I have never heard them discussed at weddings or sung about on the radio.  I hope I never will.

Mary is very simple.  In the Gospel, she’s chosen a simple title: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word.” (Lk 1:38 )  What is a handmaid of the Lord?  It is someone who belongs entirely to God and keeps His Word.  That’s it.  Simple.

But because of this, she is free to relate to everyone.  She adapts herself and reaches out to each person where he is at, in love.  “I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” (1 Cor 9:22)  She can introduce her Son to everyone, no matter what their condition, and contribute to God’s plan of bringing everyone home to Him.

Mary has received all these titles and faces because, underneath it all, she knows who she is.  She is always simply the handmaid of the Lord, keeping His Word.

When we keep it simple, it’s then that we are free.  It’s then that we can do the greatest things with God.

Posted in Luminous, Science & Technology, Serving Others, Work & Career | 2 Comments »

Free To Go

Monday, March 24th, 2008

I recently picked up my brother from the airport, and as we drove home to my parents’ house, he suggested that he take out the new GPS that he had used on his trip to Washington, DC, for me to play with.  “You can put in anything, like a list of restaurants, and it will guide you to the nearest one.”  I said,  “We’re going to Dunkin Donuts – we’ll overload and confuse it.”

So anyway, he began to tell me how useful it was for him driving in DC.  “We could go anywhere.  Just punch in the destination, and go.  No worries, no confusion.  It was awesome.”  I said, “So, you were free?”  He said, “Yeah.”

A fork came up in the road.  “I think it said to go right,” he said.  I couldn’t tell by looking at the screen.  We went right.  All of a sudden, the machine said, in its pleasant voice, “Re-calculating.”  “I think we took the wrong turn,” I said.

But that didn’t matter.  The GPS could still direct us to our destination from exactly where we were.  He said, “Yeah, a few times we went the wrong way in DC, and it re-calculates from your new position.  You can never be lost.” 

You are never lost and confused and worried with that GPS.  You are relieved of that burden, because it never quits guiding you, wherever you are or wherever you go.  You are free to go.

The Lord is the Good Shepherd always guiding us home.  “My sheep hear my voice.  And I know them, and they follow me.” (Jn 10:27)  He is always there, calling out directions to us.  Why?  Because He wants us not to be lost and confused and worried.  He wants us to be relieved of that burden, and so He never quits on us, even after we take wrong turns, or even if we’ve stopped listening – wherever we are and wherever we go.  He is always “Re-calculating.”

When you listen to Him, you are free to go.

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Still Standing

Saturday, March 22nd, 2008

I had the great privilege to go to Rome a few years ago and visit a friend in school there.  Rome is a mysterious city.  It has a mixture of pagan, medieval, and modern architecture and artifacts.  It also has a lot of smog because of those Euro-scooters that so many people over there drive.  But the churches that are there are unbelievable in beauty and size.  It’s amazing that on every street corner there’s an incredible structure still standing devoted to God.

There’s one building though that stood out to me: the Pantheon.  Facing a large public square, it’s a large round building with massive columns.  It used to be a place of pagan worship, filled with statues of pagan gods.

But you know what?  1400 years ago it became a Catholic church.  And it still is today.  When I looked around, I noticed that there were no other ancient buildings still standing in the vicinity.  Yet here was the Pantheon, still being visited, and still a place of prayer and worship to God.  I came to find out that it was the only building constructed in the Roman Empire that is still standing.  And then it struck me why:

Because Jesus lives there.

When the Lord was brought into the Pantheon, the good in the Pantheon was not destroyed.  The Pantheon was transformed.  The false gods were driven out, and Jesus took His place.  And while all the other pagan buildings are long gone and forgotten, the Pantheon still stands.

This happens in the human heart.  Jesus wants to live inside us.  He’s the only One that can promise us eternal life and deliver on that promise because He lives forever.  If we let Jesus in, He is not going to destroy us.  He’s not going to throw out all the good in us and send us to a miserable death.  He took that for Himself.  He’ll remove the false gods that keep you back from living life, and He’ll make His home in you.  “I am come that they may have life and may have it more abundantly.”  (Jn 10:10)

And 1400 years from now, you too will still be standing.

Posted in Science & Technology, Society & Politics, _Glorious | No Comments »

What Do You Keep in Your Heart?

Wednesday, March 12th, 2008

At my first job as a young engineer, I had the privilege to work with some very smart and talented engineers from MIT at a company in Cambridge, Mass.  I got to work on very advanced technical projects that I couldn’t explain to my family and friends.  It was literally rocket science.

When I got an office of my own, I was located next to an older British man who had more years of technical experience than I had been alive.  One day I stopped by and pointed out a photograph on his wall.  “There it is,” I said.  The photo was a 5-year-old snapshot of 5 engineers and a program manager standing around this brand-new, just completed prototype thing-a-ma-jig.  “Ah, yes, the turboalternator,” he replied.  It was shiny in some places, round in others, and pretty large.  It was an invention that had never been done before, that had more patents to it than people working on it.  It was going to go into a brand-new all-electric racecar made by one of the Big-3 American automotive manufacturers.  It was the center of attention of the whole company at the time.  And the project had made national attention.

But right when the project was close to completion, the Big-3 company suddenly canceled it.  As I spoke with my friend, the invention was sitting on a shelf in the basement, collecting dust.  It was never used again.

The team worked so hard on that project: nights, weekends, you name it.  They put their whole heart into it.  And for what?  It came to nothing.

Gazing at the picture, my British friend sighed and said, as I’ll never forget, “It all seemed so important back then.”

What do you put your whole heart into?  What do you put into your heart?  What is important?

Mary put her whole Heart into God’s Word and she kept His Word in her Heart.  Why?  She understood what was really important.  She knew that “heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” (Mt 24:35)

What do you keep in your heart?

Posted in Luminous, Science & Technology, Work & Career | No Comments »

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