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When I was in my late teens, all the way into my early 30s, I loved to verbally fight. I loved the adrenaline rush, the confrontation, the back and forth, the chance to land a verbal blow, and, most of all, I loved the feeling of being victorious, no matter the cost. I honestly didn't know how to engage in healthy debate. Debate is good. It flushes out ideas, weighs insights, and, if it's authentic, its goal should be to find the truth. I didn't understand any of this. All I wanted was an opponent to embarrass and figuratively destroy. I believed the winner would be the loudest, the most crass, the most aggressive, and the most belittling. Thank God, for the grace to not desire that way anymore. That intense, ugly energy has been spent and I think it's because I finally saw myself in other people online. For years now, I've watched loads of people act in the same way I used to act. It now causes me to cringe. I still love a good debate, I'm still a bit sarcastic, I still feel compelled to correct wrong beliefs. Those things haven't gone away. Last Thursday when I was visiting the Cathedral in Santa Fe, I looked up over the door into the church and saw what you see in this picture. The church was founded by Franciscans and what you see are the words that Jesus said to St. Francis of Assisi--"Rebuild my Church." Initially, St. Francis took that very literally and started rebuilding a dilapidated church, but God meant it somewhat differently, a spiritual rebuilding. We will rebuild, or rather reform, nothing with overly aggressive, crass, and ugly language. All you will do is break people's spirits and push them away. "You might win the argument but lose the soul." Venerable Fulton Sheen If we are joyless, rigid, and angry, Catholic Pilgrims, when we speak of the Catholic Church, who on earth do we think we are going to draw in? None, if any. So, be sure to live the faith boldly and travel well this Tuesday.
Continue ReadingI've taken dozens of photos of me in front of church remains over the years. I didn't even know I was going to run into this old Spanish church on a hike in Pecos National Historic Park this past week. But, I was very excited when I saw it along the trail. What a find for a pilgrim! At one point, I'd see these old remains and feel deep grief over what has been lost. To be sure, I'd love it if all the Catholic Churches that now lay in ruins were still with us in good condition. This church would have been amazing. People get sad over this and understandably so. A once great church has gone out of use. It's not something to be thrilled about, that's for sure. But, it doesn't depress me like it once did and I'll tell you why. Catholics fret pretty consistently about the state of things in the Church. "Crisis is everywhere!" they yell. While we should always been working for reform and we shouldn't stick our heads in the sand, I have come to see that the Holy Spirit will not let Christ's Church fall. Since the beginning, the Church has had to deal with one crisis after another. Persecution--Heresies--Scandal--Corruption None of these things are good by any stretch of the imagination and, yet, here we are some two thousand years later. Buildings will come and go within the Church, that's just the way of things. Bad people will come and go, because you can't escape sinners in this life. But, good people and good works will always come in to build up where others have torn down. Saints will be born in each age and rise up to handle things with their gifts, in their way with the help of God's grace. I'm also reminded that material things in this life are temporary, they are not meant for forever. But, the Body of Christ--that invisible, supernatural reality--is forever. So, when I visit these churches that seem lost to time, I thank God for the Catholics that built them, sustained the faith, and passed it on so that I might have it, too. That was their time...and this is my time and your time. The material things we build will fall and crumble someday, but the Faith we pass on will keep the Church alive and that is what matters most. Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Monday.
Continue ReadingWhen your ancestry proves you out to be a European mutt, I think there's generally one part of your ancestry that speaks to you more than the others. For me, it's my Irish blood. I'm at least a quarter Irish, so I guess maybe that counts for something. Or not. I can't hold an Irish accent for more than half a second. Lol. St. Patrick wasn't Irish by birth, he was British. I have that in me, too...obviously. When I got my DNA percentage breakout my sister said, "Girl, you're white." No, kidding. You think so? 😅 Anyway, back to St. Patrick. So, we all know his story: Kidnapped as a teenager, taken over to Ireland, forced into slave labor, finds God, escapes, goes back home, becomes a priest, and decides to go back to Ireland to convert the Irish to Christianity. That takes guts and I admire Bishop Patrick for it. To go back to the people that enslaved you and will their good, well, that's real love. That's the type of love that can only come from Christianity because it was Jesus that taught the radical idea of loving your enemies. There is goodness to be sure in loving those that are entrusted to you care and are easy to love. It is quite another thing to love those who hate you. We all find this difficult to do and people are lying if they say it's easy. It's not. It can only happen by tapping into God's grace, because without that grace, our nature says, "Leave them and let them rot." To be sure, some enemies will reject any love you try to give them and so we must pray for them behind the scenes. We must, as St. Maria Goretti taught me, hope that they find their way to Heaven and that God finds a way to pierce their soul. We all want a better world, one filled with peace and love, yet all of us struggle with wanting to add more love into the equation, especially when it's hard. St. Patrick made Ireland better by giving Christ to the people; he loved them enough to give them the gift of Christ's love. He didn't have to, but he went back and made the place and many of the people better than how he found it. That's a good legacy to leave, Catholic Pilgrims. St. Patrick, pray for us!
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