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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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Posted in Joyful, Sports & Recreation | 2 Comments »

The Value Of Bed Bugs

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

Ok, you may be wondering what good can possibly come from bed bugs. This one needs some explaining.

My roommate Tim was telling me about the house we’re living in right now. He owns the house, and he shared with me what happened to make it the 5-guy Catholic men’s house that it is right now.

Apparently, he came back from a lot of work outside the Boston area recently and found that the top 3-bedroom apartment was trashed. The place was left a mess, with even graffiti on the walls, garbage strewn about, and a lot of property missing. He planned that he would clean it up in a few weeks and live in the largest room on the top floor, with another friend of ours living in one of the other rooms.

There was one big problem though.

Bed bugs.

Yes, those little critters had infested a bedroom, and when he brought an exterminator in, he got some news. “All the paneling in the house has to go.” I guess bedbugs can nest in areas behind wall paneling and spread throughout the house. Who knew?

Well, if the paneling comes down, then the walls and the door trims have to be redone and everything has to be painted.

Now, a cleaning job was turning into a whole renovation project.

Tim was telling me, “I’m thinking, why am I doing all this? I know for some reason God wants me to be doing this. I don’t know what it is. I’m out of money and I just want to get started with a job and living a normal life, and I’m stuck fixing this entire house. I don’t have the money for it, and I’m wondering while I’m letting all my frustration out with the sander, what is this all about?”

Well, a short time later, another guy from St. Clement’s Shrine suddenly decided he’d take the third bedroom in the apartment.

And then, suddenly, the tenants in the first-floor unit decided they were leaving in a few weeks. Great, now I need another tenant, he told me. But just then, he heard that I was looking for a place. Tim invited me over, and we began to talk. He started to share some thoughts about maybe connecting the two units together and making one big Catholic men’s house. I liked the sound of it, and after a little time in prayer decided I was in.

A few days later, another guy from the St. Clement’s community called up Tim. One visit and he was in.

So what’s this all about, what’s my point?

When Tim started out, he had the largest bedroom on the top floor of a 3-bedroom apartment. By the end of it all, he has the smallest bedroom on the bottom floor of a 5-bedroom Catholic men’s house called the Sacred Heart House, with four brothers and many more brothers and sisters that visit, two kitchens, a common living room, common dining room for house meals, and a chapel in progress in the basement.

“Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many that are first will be last, and the last first.” (Mk 10:29)

What happened?

Two tiny little things happened:

Bed bugs. And Tim’s yes.

God loves little things. Oh, I tell you, God loves the littlest things. He does all His greatest works with little things, so that we can see His power and love, so we can know Him and be with Him. He humbles pride with the littlest things and raises up the lowly with the littlest things. Little Mary gave Him a little yes, and then He changed the world and all of history with it: “He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly.” (Lk 1:51-52)

If you feel God calling you, remember He only wants something little. He does His greatest works with littleness and He can use anything little to turn lives upside down in a heartbeat.

Even bed bugs.

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Posted in Family & Friends, Joyful | 2 Comments »

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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Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration

Thursday, August 13th, 2009


Adoration Sign 1


Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration is returning to the city of Boston for the first time in 40 years, at St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine in the Back Bay. The website is here:

www.adorationboston.org

This Saturday, August 15, on the Solemnity of the Assumption, Cardinal O’Malley will celebrate the 11am Mass at the Shrine and inaugurate perpetual adoration. A few from the community of cloistered nuns who last held perpetual adoration at the Shrine 40 years ago will attend. (The Shrine changed hands a few times before the Oblates of the Virgin Mary received it in the late 70’s.)

There has been a lot of local and national coverage, including Catholic.org, American Papist, CatholicTV, the front page of the Boston Globe, and on Cardinal O’Malley’s blog. There are also ads on two billboards in Boston (the picture at the top of this page), on a few places in the subway system (the one below), and in many parishes.

Anyone who is local, Catholic or not, please feel free to come by and adore. And if you’re not local, please pray for continued adoration at the Shrine!

Adoration Sign 2
The ad poster on the Green Line

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Francobollo

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

While I was in Italy in June, I spent some time in Assisi. So one day, I went to the post office to mail a bunch of postcards. When I got there, my heart sank. The line was almost to the front door. At the first window a woman was impatiently waiting, and the person behind the glass was busy doing something.

A few minutes went by and nothing. Everyone in the place knows each other, everyone’s chatting. Post office in Italy. It’s gonna be a looong wait.

So, I started praying.

Well anyways, a woman came to stand behind me in line, and the man in front of me apparently knew her. So, he leans over my shoulder, with no regard for the concept of personal space, and begins having a friendly chat with the woman behind me. I continued praying. “Italy,” I’m thinking. “So be it.”

So after a nice 5 minute chat over my right shoulder that I wasn’t included in and couldn’t understand at all, he turns back and sees my miraculous medal around my neck. Suddenly, without saying anything, he reaches out and picks it up into his hand. Then he says something in Italian that I don’t understand. He reaches into his wallet fishing around, and now the woman behind me is into it too – she pulls out her wallet. The man couldn’t find what he was looking for, but the woman took out a handful of miraculous medals and said some things I couldn’t understand.

We all admired.

“Italy,” I’m thinking again. “So be it.”

Meanwhile, the line hasn’t moved. The same woman is standing by the window at the front, and the postal worker is still doing something. I thought, maybe I can get stamps somewhere else. Maybe someone can help me find another place.

Out came … the phrasebook.

I thumbed through quickly, looking for “stamp”. There it was:

Francobollo.

I pointed to where the stamp goes on a postcard and asked the woman behind me in my broken Italian where I could get stamps. “Scuzi, dov e francobollo?” She indicated a place up the street. I asked how much they cost. She didn’t know. It looked like I was stuck waiting in the line. So much for francobollo.

Well, just then, the strangest thing happened.

Suddenly, I heard the man in front of me say, “Francobollo.” Next thing, he’s talking to the people in the line, and the whole place. He turns back to me, and motions me to go ahead of him. I start hearing “francobollo” from everywhere. I didn’t understand what was going on. Are they going to have some fun with the American?

Well, this is what happened: the whole line parted in front of me, and everyone motioned me to the very front of the line.

I was thinking, “This is Italy – somebody is not gonna be happy about this.”

But everyone was. And they were smiling!

I couldn’t believe it. Even the woman, the one who had been standing at the window all this time, she stepped aside too.

Now I was all alone at the very front of the line, standing at the window.

I leaned forward and said in my best Italian, “Francobollo?” How many? Six.

I got the six stamps and walked out in complete amazement. The whole way I thanked everyone. Gratzie, gratzie, gratzie. They thought nothing of it. Amazing!

What happened?

Well, francobollo in Italian doesn’t just mean “stamp”.

It also means “miniature”.

What if I wasn’t praying, and what if I got impatient and got a little offended by the man leaning into my space and over my own shoulder. What if I responded with a little reprimand, or moved away. What if, when he took the very medal around my neck into his own hand without asking, what if I got angry with him, pulled back and tried to mutter something in broken Italian? What if I thought myself above that Italian culture?

What if I didn’t have the spirit of “So be it”? What if I wasn’t francobollo?

Do you think he would have gotten the whole line to part for me? Do you think I would have gotten the francobollo treatment? No, I think I might still be waiting in that line.

When the angel Gabriel came to Mary, he was bringing her news that she was going to go from last to first. She was going to go from the very lowest slave of God to Mother of God. There is no lowest place and no highest place in all creation.

Why?

Because she was francobollo. “Let it be done to me according to your word.” (Lk 1:38) So be it.

If you have a difficult situation in your life, if you feel as if you’re last in line with other places to be and it seems like other people are not quite helping the matter, be francobollo with Mary. And God will raise you up with her. “Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 18:4)

In Italy, it’s the francobollo treatment.

So be it!

Francobollo

Posted in Joyful, Serving Others | 8 Comments »

All He Needs Is Your Witness

Saturday, July 25th, 2009

A few months ago I was sitting in a room in my house and I noticed something moving out of the corner of my eye. I looked again, and there was a black ant crawling across the rug. I got him and put him out of the house. Well, a little after I sat back down, I noticed another movement. Another ant. Hmm, I thought, don’t tell me. I stopped and just stared still at the rug, waiting to see how many “movements” my eye would catch. There was another one, and another one. You know what, the whole family was on a little field trip through the dining room and into the kitchen. Well, after I did the 6-step ant stomp, I thought, now I’m with St. Francis in loving the ant the least of all animals. He loved them least because they stored up in the summer in preparation for winter. And now they were doing it in my home!

They had found a nice little food source in the kitchen and their day out led them from a corner of the house to the kitchen and back. Well, a visit to doyourownpestcontrol.com and a few days later and the buggers haven’t been seen again.

Then a week or so ago, I’m at the kitchen sink, and a little tiny ant comes out from the sponge. Then another on the edge of the sink, then another … yes, now the little guys were having a field trip. They found a nice spot of sticky stuff and the whole clan was out for a taste. Well, I put an end to their picnic. And after another visit to doyourownpestcontrol.com and those guys now are AWOL too.

How do so many ants find the good stuff?

Well, it only takes one. Once an ant finds some good stuff, he feeds on it and goes back to the nest. On his way back, he leaves a trail. When he gets to the nest, he’s full of the good stuff, he shares some with the other ants back at the nest, they get excited, and they want some too. So, they follow the trail back to the motherload. And viola, field trip is in progress.

All it takes is one ant to find the good stuff and bring a taste to others, and all the ants come and get it!

Just one ant!

Now, why am I talking about ants, the animal that Francis loved the least?

Well, one time when the Lord traveled across the Sea of Galilee, He met a man who had a lot junk going on in his life. He had a lot of demons and was out searching. When He encountered Jesus, He healed him, and after that He told the healed man, “Go into your house to your friends, and tell them how great things the Lord has done for you, and has had mercy on you.” (Mk 5:19)

The man went his way, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men wondered. (Mk 5:20)

You know, when Jesus returned a short time later, the whole Decapolis came to meet Him: And when Jesus and His disciples were gone out of the boat, immediately the crowd knew him: And running through that whole country, they began to carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard he was. (Mk 6:54-55)

It was one man, giving witness to what God had done for him, the mercy God had had on him. And the whole countryside came to Jesus.

Now, here’s the point. What draws people to God? What brings people into His house, the Church? It’s not theology. It’s not explanations or presentations of true doctrine. Not apologetics. It’s not sound moral instruction or warnings, not spiritual wisdom or insight. It’s not the book called the Bible. It’s not exciting events. It’s not feel-good social time or catchy music or advertising or good church bulletins. Many people have gone these routes to bring people into their community with little fruits from their labors. What is it, then? What is the thing that doesn’t just bring a few people into the Church, but brings in whole towns?

It’s a person. A person who’s experienced the mercy of God. It’s a person who has found the Motherload of Mercy, has feasted on it and leaves a trail to it, a person who exudes it and gives it out to everyone he meets. “You give them something to eat.” (Mk 6:37)

It’s a witness of Divine Mercy.

All the Lord needs is one person to fill His Church and change a whole town, just one person.

Will it be you?

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Vocation, Vocation, Vocation

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

About 9 years ago, I went out looking for my first new home. I started with some single-family homes at first. But, being a younger guy, I wanted to be closer to the city, at least until I got married. So, I began looking at single-bedroom condos in the Fenway area of Boston. The first one I looked at was spacious and at a decent location – but it was in awful condition. And the window view was a nice scene of bricks. The second and the third – same thing. I was dejected. I went back to the real estate agent’s office, and we were looking at listings on a computer, and I noticed a listing in the Back Bay. A little more expensive, I’m thinking, but still in my price range. Let’s check this out.

It was a studio unit, instead of a one bedroom. It was a little small, too: only 560 square feet. Plus, it was in the basement. And no parking. But I wanted to go look at it. When I saw it, I heard “yes” inside me. Right away, I told my broker, “I want to put an offer down on this.”

Why did I want to put an offer down on a small cubby hole in a basement? Why did I give up a nice single-family home with the yard and the driveway What was I thinking?

Location, Location, Location.

See, the unit is in a brick townhouse in the most exclusive part of Boston. We are talking multi-million dollar historic residences in a multi-million dollar historic neighborhood. It was quiet and tree-lined, even though it’s in the heart of the city. The most beautiful streets are there, Marlborough Street with its brick sidewalks and gas lamps. You’ve got Commonwealth Avenue with its big noble residences. I could get to work by foot, bike, train, bus, and car. The condo was directly across the street from the Charles River, and you know what, when the Fourth of July fireworks display went off in Boston, they were launched directly across the street from my home.

When I gave up the nice home with the yard and driveway, and bought the small basement cubby hole with no parking and no bedroom, I got the best neighborhood in the city. I made a big sacrifice to live in a neighborhood I really wanted to live in more than anything else.

Location, location, location.

Peter and the apostles had a lot of good stuff going on in their lives before they chose to follow the Lord. When the Lord called these men to leave everything to follow Him, they had to make a big sacrifice. They were invited to leave their own lives, their own families, their own homes, their work.

Why did they do it? Why did they take the arduous trekking around, the homelessness, the gossip of neighbors, the humiliating looks from the crowds, the demanding attitudes of the poor and suffering, the continual thankless giving, the anger and the plotting of the religious self-righteous? Why did they take such a low, poor, and radical condition?

They did it because there was something they wanted more than anything else: they were getting to live with Him, in His Kingdom. They were getting the best of all neighborhoods. And they had to give up their own kingdoms to receive it.

Vocation, vocation, vocation.

Here’s the question: do we love Him? Do we want to live with Him more than anyone else? Do we want to live in His Kingdom rather than in our own kingdom?

If we can say “yes” to these questions, then we know we can give up everything to live with Him.

Vocation, vocation, vocation.

Peter began to say to him, “Lo, we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. (Mk 10:28-30)

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Being On The A-Team

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

Two nights ago, I had the privilege of singing at a Mass in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, on the feast of St. Louis de Montfort. St. Louis is the man who enlightened the rest of the Church with a special means of giving themselves to Jesus through Mary His Mother. This consecration has been an important part of my coming back to Christ, and it’s the foundation for a group at the Shrine where I am a member. And, to boot, the Missionary Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was there as well. So it’s a great privilege for me to be able to sing at the Mass.

Now, I am an OK singer, but certainly not the type you’d put leading the singing in church. I got to sing because the usual musician is out of town and the music director could not make it. I was the last-minute substitute: Choice C.

But as it turned out, I was not alone. There was a nineteen-year-old woman singing with me, Sandy. She was so very kind and humble, she had the most beautiful voice, played the guitar, and, well, she even looked a lot like Our Lady of Guadalupe. (Not to mention that Our Lady was a teenager when she was pregnant with her Son, as she is as Our Lady of Guadalupe.)

Now, my singing voice alone is boring, but not only that, I have gasps, places where I forget to breathe. My timing is off, I sing way too low most of the time, and my volume is all over the place. I sing like a choice C singer. Hack.

I told her, “You have a great voice. You should be doing all the singing, you can do the solos.” She said, “No, we are a team. We’ll sing together.” So, we sang together for the Mass.

And the most amazing thing happened. She sang and played the guitar with me, and by doing that, everything changed. She smoothed out all the rough edges, adapted for the volume, and her higher voice balanced my drone. And even more, she could harmonize at the drop of a hat. Her harmonizing turned every ordinary song into an extraordinary song.

With her guitar playing and singing, we sounded like Choice A. People were even weeping! She got all the accolades of course, and what did I get? I got to sing with her. I would have been a disaster alone, but instead, with her, I got to be a part of the A team.

In his writings revealing the special means of consecration to Jesus through Mary, St. Louis de Montfort wrote that we need this means because, from God’s standard, everything we do is like Choice C: it’s hack. He wrote that we should live life always with Mary so that “she may purify it, sanctify it, embellish it, and thus render it worthy of God.” (The Secret of Mary, No. 37)

Mary gives us the Sacred Humanity of Jesus. When we live life with Jesus’ Humanity, when we live life with Mary, she smoothes out all the rough edges. She adjusts for our faults and weaknesses and fills them in. And not only that, she embellishes our life with a harmonizing that makes every ordinary thing extraordinary. It becomes worthy of God Himself. It becomes the Life of her Son.

We get to live with her, and our life goes from Choice C to Choice A.

We get to be a part of the A team.

Posted in Family & Friends, Joyful, Serving Others | 3 Comments »

Receiving Is The Only Way

Saturday, April 11th, 2009

On the Annunciation last month, I was on my way through a mall to get to the church for Mass, when I saw a little kiosk stand selling matryoshka dolls. These are the Russian dolls that come in sets of five, where smaller ones nest inside bigger ones, until they all fit inside the largest one. Well, I noticed a very small set, the littlest one, that had images of the Madonna and Child. The biggest one is only about an inch tall. I ended up buying it, I’m thinking, “This is a good example of how grace is mediated. This will come in handy for teaching some day.”

So, the Mass was a special celebration of the Annunciation, where about fifteen more men and women consecrated themselves to Jesus through Mary. It was a great evening, and afterwards, on the way out, I showed some friends the little matryoshka dolls. So while we’re looking at them, little Therese comes out. Now, Therese is the littlest child, the littlest one, at the whole Mass.

“Oh, she’ll love this. OK, Lord, now I know why I got these. Now I get it.”

So I sat down, and a big crowd gathered around. First, she saw the biggest doll, which is already pretty tiny. I popped that open, and out came the smaller doll. Therese was so surprised and excited. Then the next one, the next one. Finally, we got down to the next to last one. Now, this little guy is small – only a quarter of an inch at best. It has a little, tiny emblem of the Madonna and Child, and Therese thought it must be the last one. It’s impossible that there could be a smaller one. I struggled and struggled to open it (this thing is tiny). Finally, it popped open, and the smallest little matryoshka doll you could imagine popped out.

Therese leaped and screamed with joy.

And I got a little kiss from the littlest one.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is the littlest one. In the Annunciation, we celebrated the great moment when she received God and His Kingdom with her whole being. In thanks for her gift, she declared her Magnificat, her exclamation of praise for God.

There is only one way to enter the Kingdom of God. We can’t enter by studying theology and religion. Helping the poor won’t get us in either. Living a good and virtuous life won’t get us in. Doing great projects in the Church doesn’t do it. We cannot enter by fighting for political and social justice. And there is no special prayer we can say.

There is only one way:

We receive it like the littlest one.

Like Mary.

Like little Therese.

“Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” (Mk 10:14-15)

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Let Him Make You New

Sunday, February 22nd, 2009

When I worked as a research engineer, I was given the gift of working on new technologies, especially using new “smart” materials that had been developed by some very smart people. This was exciting for me, because it gave me a chance to exercise all the creative juices in my noodle and to use all the things I worked hard on learning in college. I wanted to invent something brand new that had never been done before.

Well, we had one project where we were working with the US Navy to help them with their torpedo shells. If the torpedo makes too much noise, it can be detected and then intercepted. So, the Navy asked us to help them with this problem.

Great. Something that had never been done before.

So, I did some very advanced analysis on the vibration of the torpedo shell, and helped the Navy to understand it. Then, I noticed something very peculiar about how the torpedo vibrated. Then a great idea came to my mind. I thought, “this would a great opportunity to use the new high-tech ’smart’ material. It is a perfect application. This is revolutionary!”

Excited, I presented it to my boss, who was also excited. It was a great breakthrough for using the material. It had all the qualities of an ingenious and simple design. All my awards in college, in grad school, all my growth in the field, my budding reputation were coming to fruition, I thought.

So I went patent searching.

Guess what? After five minutes on the internet, I found that someone had already done the exact same thing, and patented it.

What a blow. It seemed every other time I thought of a “great” idea, a great invention, someone had already done it. And this, I thought, finally was it. I thought, “This is the best I can do.” I thought, “Everything that I do has already been done.”

What has been done, that will be; what has been done, that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun. Even the thing of which we say “See, this is new!” has already existed in the ages that preceded us. (Ecc 1:9-10)

In the world, in our neighborhoods, in our families and our own lives, we live under the sun. Under the sun, we have problems, and there is always the temptation to do something new, something that has never been done before. But there is nothing new that we can do. Under the sun.

But the Lord comes from above the sun. And He leaves His abode and comes to join us under the sun. Why? Why, if He is Creator and can do everything, would He limit Himself and enter somewhere where nothing new can be done?

Because under the sun, He is not making new things. He is making things new. And he who sat upon the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” (Rev 21:5)

You are precious to God. In your mistakes, failures, and sins under the sun, He is not looking to make a new and improved person to replace you. He is not interested in coming up with a clone, or a genetically modified version of you, or an upgraded version of you. He is not looking to replace you with someone without your outdated weaknesses and your track record. He is not interested in making a new you.

He wants to make you new.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. (Jn 3:16-17)

Posted in Joyful, Luminous, Science & Technology, Work & Career | 1 Comment »

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