Definitive

July 14th, 2009 by livingmonstrance

A few months ago, a new friend of mine Clare invited me to her graduating cello recital at the New England Conservatory of Music. I got the invite at the last minute on the day of the recital. That day I had a lot of other things going on, and I was meeting someone earlier that evening. But I decided, “I’m going to accept the invitation. I’m going to go.”

So, I eventually drove my car to the T and took the train to the school. After a few questions along the way, and sifting through a few hallways, I finally found the room. But I was late.

I stopped at the door to the recital room, and I could hear beautiful music. I looked through the door, and I couldn’t believe what I saw. There was a guy playing the piano, and there was Clare, who always seemed quiet and reserved, pouring her whole heart into her cello music. I had never seen her like that before – I was amazed.

So, after the first intermission, I made it in and found a seat near another friend of mine that I saw. We sat there and listened, and I tell you, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and hearing. There were times when she was playing the instrument with the bow, and then with just her fingers, all with such an energetic and fast pace. And the piano player! He was going a mile a minute, too, with his hands all over the place. I was just in awe. To me, what they were doing was impossible.

At the end of the recital, while everyone was giving the fourth curtain call, I turned to my friend and said, “I don’t think I’ll ever see anything like this for the rest of my life.”

So, a lot of people got in line to congratulate her, and one of her classmates and I got to chatting and I asked him, “Is she the best in the school? Or do all you guys play like that?” He looked at me funny. “You don’t know ‘The Clare’? Tonight, you’re seeing ‘The Clare’. Definitive.”

I was seeing one of the best cellists in the world in all her glory, in the event that defines who she is. What a privilege! But when I accepted the invitation, I had no idea what was in store. There was no bragging, no air about her that made me think that she was a world-class artist. That greatness was completely hidden.

Remember when Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James, and John on top of the mountain? There was Moses and Elijah speaking with Him about His coming Passion. Now, Moses represents the Law, and Elijah represents the prophets, so that the apostles would understand that Jesus was in agreement with the law and the prophets. This defines who Jesus is, a fulfillment of the law and prophets. The Passion? That was the event that would also define for the world who Jesus is, the sacrificial Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And, as if that weren’t enough, after the conversation, Moses and Elijah disappeared, and Jesus was left alone as the Father Himself defined who He is in the most clear words: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” (Mt 17:5)

These apostles were getting to see Him in all His glory. That day, they knew Him truly as “The Lord”. Definitive.

See, Jesus kept His glory and greatness hidden. There was no air about Him that He was divine. They got to see His glory because of one reason:

They accepted His invitation.

Jesus’ glory and greatness are completely hidden from us. He wants to reveal them to each of us, because it’s only then that we can truly know Him. He offers us a free invitation, and even if it comes at the last minute, even if you have other things going on, let me offer you a piece of advice:

Accept it. Go.

Then, you’ll know Him as “The Lord.”

Definitive.

Posted in Family & Friends, Luminous, Work & Career | 2 Comments »

Get Behind Him

July 7th, 2009 by livingmonstrance

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

July 1st, 2009 by livingmonstrance

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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Our Names Are Written In Heaven

June 30th, 2009 by livingmonstrance

A month or so ago I went out to a monastery in Massachusetts to spend the day. I’ll often take a day away like that a few times a month. I can get away from all the distractions – no computer, no email, no cell phone. I also put down all the labor I am doing for the Lord, laboring for souls, for the Church. There is no work, no ministries, no church projects, no responsibilities. Just being with the Lord and recollecting. Total silence.

So anyway, when I got there, I entered the lobby and pushed the button to ring the guestmaster, Fr. Richard. When he came, we exchanged greetings and caught up on what was going on with each other. When we were done, he asked, “So, you need a room?” “Yeah, if you have one, just for the day – I’ll leave this evening.” “Yeah, sure, let’s see … I can put you in room 5.” “Great.”

So, I turned away to take something out of my backpack, and when I turned back around, I saw him fishing through a drawer. He pulled out a pile of name cards, you know, the type you can slide into a holder on an office door. He sifted through a little bit and pulled out one with my name on it: “Jerome”

I thought, “They actually have my name written down. They have a place for me.” I was so happy because my name is written in the place I go to be alone with God.

See, with all the activities going on in the Church, the tending to hearts and the projects and the great things that the Lord is doing, I can get caught up in the works, in what is – or isn’t – happening. I can start to think that I have a home in the activity, and forget what is really important. But there’s only one place where my name is written and hidden away.

It’s in the special place where I go to put everything down and be alone with the Lord.

When the Lord sent out seventy disciples to preach and prepare the way for Him, they came back excited about all the things they saw and experienced, and especially that they had authority over evil and were able to do great works. They were so excited. But the Lord recognized that they could get caught up in the excitement and forget the most important thing:

“Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Lk 10:20)

Our joy, our reward is not in the works we can do when we are with God in our vocation. It is that we are His. That we have an intimate and private and unique place with Him away from everything else.

That our names are written in heaven.

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Vocation, Vocation, Vocation

June 21st, 2009 by livingmonstrance

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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Away

June 8th, 2009 by livingmonstrance

Since I will be away until June 17, there won’t be any posts until after then. But by the end of June the blog should be up and going again. God bless you,
Jerome

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The Visitation

June 1st, 2009 by livingmonstrance

There haven’t been any new posts recently on the main page because I’ve been trying by the Lord’s grace to finish a description of the recent visitation of the missionary image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. But now it’s done, so if you’d like to see and read about some of the visits, you can click on the page at the left called The Missionary Image Of Our Lady Of Guadalupe Boston 2009. I hope it’s helpful for you in your spiritual life.

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

Our Real Name

May 18th, 2009 by livingmonstrance

At my brother’s wedding rehearsal last June, we all met in the church parking lot beforehand, talking. I had the chance to meet a lot of new people who were friends of my sister in law, so we were all making some new introductions.

In the midst of it, I went up to one woman and said, “Hi I’m Jerome, I’m the groom’s brother.” She gave me one of those looks, you know, where she can tell I had no idea who she was. She pointed over to her left and said, “I belong to him.” Standing there with a big smile was her husband, who I had just met.

So, anyway, they seemed like best of friends and a great couple. We all enjoyed the wedding. But you know, to this very day, I still don’t know her name. But I do remember what she called herself. I thought, that’s her real name.

In writing his Gospel, John never uses his own name. Instead, He calls himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved” a total of five times in his Gospel. What is he doing? He is telling us that he belongs to Him. He is telling us his real name.

Jesus comes to us as a bridegroom to a bride. “Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” (Mt 25:6) He seeks to enter into a personal covenant of the deepest union of love with each of us, a covenant that is like marriage, but even deeper. Just like in marriage, He wants to give each of us a new name: and you shall be called by a new name which the mouth of the LORD will give. (Is 62:2)

He wants to give us our real name:

“I belong to Him.”

Posted in Family & Friends, Luminous | 5 Comments »

The Purpose Of The Pits

May 11th, 2009 by livingmonstrance

Over the last month or so, some friends and I had the privilege of bringing a missionary image of Our Lady of Guadalupe around the Archdiocese of Boston. One of the stops I had the privilege of being at was a county prison. The prisoners at Mass each had a chance to approach the image and express their devotion to the Blessed Mother.

Afterwards, I was talking with one of the prisoners. You could tell he was one of the leaders, and he thanked us for being there and for what we had done. I said, “Oh, it’s a privilege. I hope it gives you guys some hope and inspiration.” He said, “Yeah, some inspiration to get out of here and never come back.”

Prison is the pits. It’s one of those few places that God sends us to so that we’ll want to get out and never come back. It’s a place where many people cry out to God. And it’s also a place of second chances.

Jonah ran away from the Lord and ended up swallowed by a giant fish – maybe you remember the story? But God gave him a second chance after that, and by Jonah’s preaching, the whole city of Nineveh was saved, more than 120,000 people.

What did Jonah do in the belly of the fish?

I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me for ever; yet you did bring up my life from the Pit, O LORD my God. When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD; and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. (Jonah 2:6-7)

If God has put you in the Pit, don’t despair, it’s not over. It’s so that you’ll want to get out and never go back again, so you can fulfill the great plan He has for you. Remember Him and cry out in prayer to Him.

He will give you the inspiration to get out and never go back.

Posted in Serving Others, Sorrowful, Work & Career | 1 Comment »

The Way Out Of The Way

May 10th, 2009 by livingmonstrance

A friend of the family, Jake, came by a few months ago to watch a movie with my father, and we all got to talking about my father’s trip back down to Virginia. Jake loves to travel, and he especially loves to drive – he used to be a truck driver. So, he offered to drive my father down to Virginia when the time came. What a gift of a friend he is!

Well, when we started talking about the trip down, we talked about route 95, and how it’s pretty much a direct trip from Boston to DC. Jake started describing the routes he takes. “I don’t take 95, even though it pretty much goes direct all the way down. I’ll take the Mass pike to 84, all the way through New York and into Pennsylvania. Then I’ll take 81 to 83 into Maryland.”

Wow, I’m thinking, that’s way out of the way. I have done lot of traveling from Boston to Pennsylvania, to New Jersey, even some to Maryland and Virgina. I’ve gone 95, 84, 684, 287, 80, Garden State Parkway, New Jersey Turnpike, and other ones. But I never would have thought of taking the route he described.

I said, “No Tappan Zee bridge?” “I don’t even take the Tappan Zee – they’re always doing construction on that.”

He said, “Even though it adds 90 more miles onto 450, it takes an hour less time. It’s because, except for Hartford, you skip all the traffic in Connecticut, and then you skip New York and Philadelphia completely.

I would never take 95 the whole way.”

Jesus has come to us, and He desires each of us to come to Him. But reaching Him is a journey that takes effort. If we look to reach Him directly, we’ll meet many obstacles in the road – traffic, construction, accidents on the side of the road, backups, delays.

But there is an indirect way we can take, and His mother knows it. She knows it because she is it. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. (1 Cor 11:1) This way looks like it’s way out of the way. It looks like a longer way, and it may not even make sense to us at first. But we get there faster and easier.

We skip all the commotion, the back-ups, and delays.

And after taking this way, you’ll never take the direct route again.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Posted in Family & Friends, Luminous, Serving Others | No Comments »

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