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Front And Center

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

I had the privilege of coaching 15-year-olds in basketball for several years. My last year, we had a great team. We had ten players in total, and nine of them were playing on their high-school team. The whole nine had been playing together for years, and some of them went on to the local Catholic high school and came one game away from winning the state championship. We beat everybody pretty easily, and it was so lopsided that I didn’t have to coach. Timeouts would come and I would have nothing to say. We won our league, the local playoffs and then lost a touch game in the state tournament.

Now after all that, you might say, you must have some great memories. You know what? There are really only two moments that I remember clearly. One was a really heads-up timeout that one of our players called near the end of our last game.

The other memory isn’t about winning at all. It’s about what happened with the tenth player. Keith was our tenth player, but, unlike the other superstars we had, Keith had never played basketball before in his life. The dribbling, the shooting, all the rules were new to him – he was starting from scratch. Let’s just say that competitive athletics probably wasn’t his thing, and with his gym shorts pulled up a little too high and the timid look in his eyes, he didn’t quite instill intimidation in our opponents.

But he loved being on the team, and the team loved having him on the team. Keith got a lot of playing time, but he couldn’t score. When he was in the game, the guys would do everything they could to get him the ball and set him up. But he couldn’t quite understand it. Game after game went by, and still he hadn’t scored. In fact, I don’t even remember him ever making a shot in practice either.

One game, he was sitting next to me on the bench, and we were winning by some huge margin. He leaned over to me and said, “Coach, we’re winning by a lot.” We are, Keith. A few minutes later: “Coach, there’s no way they can come back.” Well, we’ll keep on playing, Keith. “We’re gonna win again.” He loved being on the team.

In the next-to-last game of the season, we were winning big again. The final minutes were winding down, and Keith was in the game in a crowded gym. There was another young man covering him who probably shared Keith’s basketball acumen, and he was playing the tightest defense imaginable on the poor kid. It was getting physical, too. Everyone noticed. Our players called out to the referees, but no response.

Then something happened. Keith got the ball far outside, just inside the three-point line. The other kid was all over him, hacking away with arms and body. Keith wielded the ball in frustration, and gave it an awkward heave toward the basket.

Just then, the whistle blew for a foul on the other player … and then what seemed like a long pause passed as the whole gym held its breath …

SWISH! In it went!

Our whole team erupted. All the parents who had been coming to our games erupted. We were all cheering ,and word must have got around that it was his only basket the whole year. The whole gym as abuzz, and Keith’s face was red as a beet.

And, he was going to the line.

“Keith you got fouled – now you get to go to the free throw line. You get one shot Keith.” One of the players showed him where to go, and everyone lined up. The referee tossed him the ball.

Everyone paused. He couldn’t hit the free throw, too, could he? Another awkward heave, and, bang, off the backboard …

And in!

This time, the whole gym erupted, both teams, all the fans, everyone, you name it. A three-point play for Keith? Impossible! I jumped up with a loud, “YES!” The whole place was alive. I don’t think Keith knew what to do, but he kept smiling in his embarrassment. I almost cried, I was so happy for him.

They were the only points he scored all season.

At the end of the season, we had a team picture taken. In that picture, in the front row, in the very center spot, sits Keith – holding the team ball.

He loved to be on the team, and the team loved him to be on the team.

There are many great saints in the Church, a lot of people who have done really remarkable things and lived amazing lives. There are many holy and talented men and women who have been Popes, bishops, priests, sisters and nuns. They have achieved the greatest accomplishments in human history. Even today, there are great achievers of great things for God and men in the Church. When you look at them in action, you come away thinking, there’s no way the enemy can win.

But what if you’re not at that level? What if the Church and discipleship are all new to you, and you find that you don’t know how to pray, you stick your foot in your mouth, you don’t even know the ropes, and you feel out of place?

Just be on the team. Just be in the Church. Love to be in the Church, and know that the Church loves you to be in it.

And don’t be surprised if the greatest moment is about you.

Be on the team, and the Lord will put you in the prized spot.

Front and center.

“So the last will be first, and the first last.” (Mt 20:16) “For my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor 12:9)

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The Little Way Of Confidence

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

Yesterday was the memorial of St. Therese of Lisieux, who is a saint whose understanding of living the Gospel she called her “Little Way”.

Her Little Way has been so recognized by the Church that she is one of only three female “doctors” – or master teachers – of the Church. But not only that, she developed it without much formal training, and at a very young age, dying at 24 years old.

So what is the Little Way?

Yesterday I picked up the local paper and poked through the section on the Red Sox. There was an article on Theo Epstein, who is one of the main guys in the Red Sox who makes the management decisions. “Theo Epstein confident” was the title. He is one of the youngest of these managers in all of baseball, but he is confident because he has a certain process, a little way, of managing that is new to baseball and considered genius. He relies on objective truth as much as possible, and not emotions and gut feelings. He is a big reason for the Red Sox winning two World Series over the past 5 years.

So, the reporters asked him, how about the trades they made to help the team? Trades are 50-50, he replied. Hit or miss. It’s all about the process. “Really we look back at the process. I like our process.”

Then the reporters asked him about his gut feeling for the team, if it was like the other teams that won World Series. “I try not to have too many gut feelings about the roster, because then if you rely solely on your gut, your gut changes,” he said.

He keeps his eye on the only thing that matters for the General Manager: “All that matters is: How good are we and how are we going to play in October? And I think we’re good; I think we’re really good.” The only important moments are right now and the final test.

In Therese’s Little Way, we recognize that our own opinions and decisions turn out 50-50, some good, some bad. It’s the best we can do. It’s all about the process we are in, about relying on Truth Himself: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (Jn 14:6) We don’t rely on our gut feelings, because those change, and so we are free to abandon ourselves to the only two important moments: now and the hour of death.

Therese’s Little Way is the Lord’s Way. When you are in this Way, you’ll like the Process and love to rely on the Process.

Then, you’ll always be confident.

Happy belated memorial of St. Therese!

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Look Up To The Hills

Monday, September 21st, 2009

I played Little League for a few years as a kid, and it was fun for me. I loved playing whiffle ball and baseball in the neighborhood, so playing in an organized league was the next step up.

I paid my lumps and had my share of little successes and failures. So, as I said, it was fun – except for one day.

One day, I had brought my own baseball to the game to play catch with. So, after the game, a few of us were using it, until one of the kids decided that it would be his.

Now, this kid was the class bully – even at 9 years old he had a bad rep. But I wasn’t going to let him have it.

We began to tussle over it, you can picture nine year olds, and I was probably going to get my little noggin knocked around a bit. I am not the toughest guy in fistfights, as you might guess.

But just then, all of a sudden, I heard a shout. Down from the hill next to us came my father.

He stepped in between us, pulled us apart, got the ball for me, and sent the other kid away. I was very thankful and proud of my father that day.

So many times in the Gospels, Jesus was cornered in arguments and debates and people who tried to stop His mission. But, up until the Passion, He was freed from all the predicaments.

How did he escape?

His Father freed Him.

“And he who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.” (Jn 8:29)

If you choose to follow the Lord Jesus, the Father will always be with you. That means that you will have nothing to fear from bullies and their traps in life. If you’re ever drawn into traps of vindictiveness and anger and bossing, only look up to the hills.

He is coming.

I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From whence does my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved,
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is your keeper;
The LORD is your shade
On your right hand.
The sun shall not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all evil;
He will keep your life.
The LORD will keep
Your going out and your coming in
From this time forth and forever.
(Psalm 121)

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Get Behind Him

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

A friend of mine Jim is a runner who runs a lot of road races. He came by recently and talked about the marathons he’s run in Boston. Well, during one marathon he was running along and one of those motorcycles with a TV camera on the back of it slowly pulled up in front of him and began filming him. He waves into the camera a little bit, and after he finishes up with his “Hi Mom!”, he puts his head back down and keeps on running. He’s expecting that that’s enough, that the motorcycle will move on.

But it didn’t, it kept on him.

So Jim gives another wave or two, another “Hi Mom!”, and well, this keeps going on. He was wondering why they were so fixed on him. Well, at some point he happened to look over his shoulder to see how far ahead he was of the next guy.

He found out he was only about 5 feet in front of the next guy. And that next guy was Bill Rodgers, the 22-time marathon champion who is probably the greatest American marathoner ever.

Jim told me, “Here I am thinking the camera is on me, and Bill Rodgers is right behind me the whole time. I’m smiling and waving and all that, taking up all the attention. He’s probably thinking, ‘Get out of the way! Get behind me!’”

When the Lord gave Peter his new name and designated him the Rock on which He would build His Church, it was when Peter recognized who He was. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Mt 16:16)

Now what happened right after that, not 3 minutes later? Peter takes the Lord aside and starts telling Him what to do. There’s going to be no going to Jerusalem, no suffering, no death, no resurrection.

What’s going on?

Peter thinks the camera is on him. He’s just got the jackpot, the limelight, the attention. He’s the Rock, the foundation of the Church, he has the keys to the Kingdom. He thinks he’s the leader now. But he missed a very important thing that the Lord said: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” (Mt 16:17)

So what was the Lord thinking? “Get out of the way! Get behind me!” “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me; for you do not savor the things of God but the things of men.” (Mt 16:23)

Peter went from Rock to devil in 3 minutes because he forgot God. He put himself in front of Jesus.

Our gift of faith is given from God when we get behind Jesus and follow Him. If you’re ever tempted to go out in front of the Lord, if you ever think the good attention you get for being a person of faith is your own doing, remember Peter. And remember the Lord’s words to him.

Get behind Him.

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Learning A Lesson

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

When I was ten years old, my Little League team was practicing one day on the field, and we were doing some basic base running drills. I was new, it was my first year with the team, and I didn’t know much about all the nuances of running bases. So, one practice we were working on a simple rule:

When you are on first base, and there are two outs, then you run on any fly ball that the batter hits to the outfield. But if there is less than two outs, you go half way down the base line. That way, if you find out the outfielder can’t catch the ball, you’re already half way to second base. And, if the outfielder does catch the ball, you can still get back to first base before the outfielder can throw the ball there.

Very simple, right?

So, here it is, my turn, and the coach hits the fly ball to the outfield. How many outs are there? I don’t know. I run halfway to second. The coach stops everything and yells, “Jerry, what are you doing? With two outs, you run all the way! Do it again!” So I get back to first base. He hits another fly ball to the outfield. This time I run all the way. The coach is now really angry, and stops everything again. “With one out, you run half way!” Apparently he changed the number of outs. I missed that part. “Come here!”

When I got to him, he took off my hat and said, “Run.” That meant I had to start running laps around the field. Now it wasn’t just a baseball diamond. It had three baseball diamonds and a good little greenspace in the middle. Maybe a half a mile all the way around. So I set out running.

One lap went by. Anything? Nope, I kept going. A second, then a third. I glance over at the coach, looking for a sign to stop. No response. A fourth, a fifth … Anything? Nope.

I ran 10 laps straight that day, about 5 miles, I don’t know how. It’s still something we talk about if I ever run into an old teammate. I’m sure everyone that was on that team remembers it to this day.

For the coach, that was a very, very important rule for me to learn. And you know, I tell you, I never made that mistake again. Even in softball leagues when I got older, when I forget everything else, I still remember that one rule. I think I will remember that base running rule for all my life.

When the Israelites were near the promised land, they were very intimidated about entering it. To possess the land, they would have to fight people who were much bigger and stronger. But God told them He would take care of everything, and told them to go all the way in. But they stayed put. They wouldn’t trust Him. Then, when He became mad and told them to stay put, they ran up to go in. Again, they wouldn’t trust Him. What was the punishment?

A loooong 38-year journey around the desert.

Then we turned, and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, as the LORD told me; and for many days we went about Mount Seir. (Deut 2:1)

When they finished that, they held off when God wanted them to, and they entered in when God wanted them to. They lived the impossible, and God blessed them with great gifts. Everything worked out.

They had learned the one rule that to God was very, very important: always trust Me.

Do you feel in life that you are running laps, or circling a mountain in a desert? Then there is a very, very important lesson that God wants you to learn. Seek to know it, because once you get it, everything works out.

Once you get it, you will live the impossible with Him, and you’ll have His great blessings.

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The Lord is Our Life Buddy

Sunday, May 10th, 2009

A few years ago, I had the gift of scuba diving pretty often with my friend Ron. Now, he’s a dive master, which means he can do just about anything under water. That’s good for me, because I’m a beginner. He would help me with the gear in setting up, he would lead me where to go, and he would help me with the lobstering underwater. And, he always gave me the lobsters afterwards!

Well, one day I went out to dive with another friend Keith, who is not a dive master. He brought some of his equipment. “You need a breather?” “Yeah.” “This works pretty well.” Well, sort of. “The compass doesn’t work on this one – you can use this one.” “OK.” So, off we went into the ocean.

We swam out about a hundred yards and were poking around for lobsters. Nothing was really happening. Finally, my air was running low, so I let Keith know it was time to go back. He says no – see he had only one lobster and needed another one for his wife for dinner. So he kept going. I stuck with him, and gave him some more time.

A little later, again I told him it was time to go back, I was running low. But he still needed that lobster. Finally, I made as much noise as I could underwater, and got him to surface.

Here we were, about 150 yards off shore, with the sun soon setting, and no one on the beach. By this time, I was just about out of air. Now, let me explain a few things to help understand. With scuba, it’s easier to travel at the bottom of the ocean than to swim on the surface. But now, I had to swim on top because my air was almost out. And I am not a good swimmer.

So, I aimed toward the shore, put in my breather, plunked my head into the water, and began to kick, trying to keep my eyes on the bottom of the ocean as a guide. Kicking, kicking, kicking … am I making any progress, I’m wondering. I picked my head up to see if I was any closer to the shore.

There was no shore! I had turned completely around and was heading out to sea!

Now, I tell you, I began to get nervous. I’m thinking, this is how people die out here, heading out like dummies, with equipment that doesn’t work, without a plan, staying down too long to get lobsters. This is how divers become fish food.

So, then I decided I would not be fish food. I would go in by brute force. I aimed to the shore, put my back into the water and kicked and kicked and kicked like I’d never kicked before. We both made it back safe. And afterwards, I had the biggest fried clam dinner I ever had in my life. I never dove with Keith again.

What happened?

I went out without my dive master, my dive buddy. I put my trust in someone else.

Jesus is the only One we can trust our life with. If we abide in Him and His words in us (Jn 15:7), then He sets us up with the right gear in life, leads us in the good paths, and leads us in our life mission. But if we put our trust in someone else, we end up lost and in some predicament. “Apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:5)

The Lord is our Life Master.

He is our Life Buddy.

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Scoring “In The Paint”

Friday, March 27th, 2009

My basketball coach in high school used to like to recruit football players to play the bigger positions on the team. Now the bigger players play closer to the basket. They spend a lot of time in the big rectangular box on the court underneath the basket. In that box, called “the paint”, he used to say, “it’s football on the basketball court.” It’s very physical. Little guys like me have trouble “in the paint”.

Now one of the things that he coached too was that when you are “in the paint”, when you are playing football on the basketball court, you can’t aim for the basket when you take your shot. You have to aim instead for the backboard attached to the hoop. Why? Because you need a very gentle touch to get the ball into the hoop when you are that close. And there’s nothing gentle about football on the basketball court.

But, thankfully, the backboard is always there, always attached to the basket. It somehow gives you the gentle touch when you’re in the paint. The backboard softens every shot, and even makes up for bad aim.

If we want to be close to Jesus our Goal, then we are going to be “in the paint”. It is not a gentle place. To be close to Him, disciples must endure the cold and poverty of the cave. Or the life in exile in Egypt. Or life in a poor, destitute nowhere town. Or throngs of loud and pushy people. Or unrelenting demands from social outcasts, the needy, sick, and broken. Or antagonizing and angry personalities. Or human torture. Or violent soldiers. Or criminals. And of course, death.

How can we reach our goal? How can we get the gentle touch?

We have a backboard: “Behold, your mother!” (Jn 19:28)

Wherever Jesus is, Mary is always there, always attached to her Son. She gives us the gentle touch to meet her Son when we’re in the football area of our basketball court. She softens all our reaches for Him and makes up for our bad aim.

Mary gives us the ability to score “in the paint”.

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The Heart of God

Sunday, December 21st, 2008

When I was a boy, I loved basketball.  Starting from about the age of 11, it became all-consuming to me.  I played so much that by the time I was 15, I needed right-elbow surgery.

Now the most important thing to a person who loves basketball is the basketball itself.  There’s a certain relationship between a basketball fanatic and his basketball.  The feel of it, how it bounces, the width of the grooves, the material, how much it’s inflated, the color, the label – yes, even the smell, … everything is an object of interest.

One Christmas, I had a certain basketball that I picked out that I wanted more than anything else.  A Spaulding NBA Game Ball: real leather – none of that synthetic leather or rubber stuff.  The Lexus of basketballs.  It was so special, it could only be used indoors.  As Christmas approached, I could see the box under the tree.  Now, a basketball – even in its box - is tough to hide with wrapping paper.  You can just pick it up and feel around a bit and, well, you know…  I wondered: what’s it going to look like?  What will it feel like?  What will it be like when it is in my hands and I can use it?

That Christmas I was ecstatic when I got that basketball.  I took it everywhere.  I played at the Y with it each day.  I held it while I was hanging out around my house, and I even slept with it.  I loved the sport and I loved the ball.  It was everything to me, and I held it close.

At Christmas, Mary is about 15 years old and is going to get the one gift that she desires: her Son.  He is everything to her.  He is her only God and her only Son, and the only Savior of all mankind.  She has nothing else, and she loves nothing else outside of Him.  And as her pregnancy progresses through Advent, she wonders what He will look like, what it will be like when she can hold God in her arms.

But unlike me in my boyhood, Mary has the Heart of God.  When she gets her Gift of gifts, her everything, she is not going to hold onto Him for herself. “Freely have you received, freely give.” (Mt 10:8)

She’s going to give Him away.

To you.

Merry Christmas.

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The Lord Is A Perfect Fit

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

Recently, I went for a short hike to take in some of the fall outdoors. It was a beautiful day, and I went to a little park that’s outside the city. There’s solitude and a few ponds and several trails. And there’s a 400-foot-high hill you can climb, with a big ol’ craggly rock on top. So I climbed the hill to the top and spend some quiet time there.

So there I was, beautiful day. Bright and warm sun. Gentle breeze. Silence. I thought, I feel like laying down and doing nothing and just resting. I thought, that is not something I have the opportunity to do very often. Then I thought, I’m going to do it.

But there was one problem. I was on top of a big craggly rock. Ugh.

Now when you lay on a rock, the first thing you want to get comfortable is your head. Of course, there’s a big difference between a down-feathered pillow and a limestone. So I put my noggin back, and after only a little movement, I found a perfect spot for it. I checked my back – it seemed a great fit. Then, there was the feet and legs. They have to hang just right or they’ll fall asleep and you won’t. So I did a little shuffling and, bingo, I had a perfect spot for them. I felt like I was in bed:

It was a perfect fit.

I laid there for about an hour. Slept, relaxed, rested. On the big craggly rock.

Now if someone walked up to me the day before and said to me, “Jerome, I see you are tired. You know, I think I have just the thing for you. I know of a mountain you can climb where there’s a big craggly rock. You can lie on it and get all the rest you need. What do you say?”, I would probably be thinking, you know, he’s got some problems.

From a distance, life with God does not look comfortable. We see a big craggly rock. We know it’s firm and sound, but we see hardness and shapes that are not the norm we’re used to. How can that be comfortable? How can I find my rest and security there? We look at Christian discipleship, or we look at the priesthood, or at consecrated religious life as a brother and sister. We see the hardness and we see the shapes that are not the norm we are used to. And we can say, “It’s a hard life”, and want to get away from it.

We can miss the whole gift: it’s a perfect fit.

“On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.” (Ps 62:7)

Don’t be afraid of life with God, of entrusting all that you are and all that you have to Him. Don’t be afraid of how it looks from the outside. Yes, there’s hardness and things that are not the norm of the world. But try it, I promise you’ll be surprised.

You’ll find it’s a perfect fit.

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The View Is Yours

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

A priest friend of mine invited me the other day to go kayaking on the Charles River in Boston. “Sure,” I said. Even though I pretty much have lived in Boston all my life, I have never kayaked down the Charles. It was a new trip through familiar territory. So, we met up at his rectory, and drove together to the site.

We picked out a single kayak, a two-seater, and the staff held the kayak out for us to get in. My priest friend said, “Oh, go in front – you will have the view.” So, we hopped in and headed out.

Along the way, he would point out the views on either side, while I picked with the oar to keep the kayak from pulling u-turns. In all my years in the city, I had never seen it from that perspective. It was a whole different view. It was a unique view that I could never have had unless I got into the boat with my friend. We kayaked a total of 12 miles, almost to the ocean and back. I’d like to do it again.

“But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. For, amen, I say to you, many prophets and just men have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them, and to hear the things that you hear and have not heard them.” (Mt 13:16-17)

When the Lord calls us to follow Him, it is to see familiar territory from a whole different view. He will put us in the boat with Him, and He will put us in the front seat. Why?

Because the view is ours.

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