Light the Torch and Set it on fire...

"I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing"- Luke 13:49

Have you ever gone to an event that you thought should have been the most exciting time in the world but as it turned out, people were just so-so about it?  It was like that toward the end of the dynasty of the Atlanta Braves.  It was cool for the first 5 or so division titles, and then at 10 it became routine and after that it became very difficult to sell postseason tickets.  When it comes to our faith life we should always look at our life as if we were in the postseason race.  God has given us a "game" to play here on earth and he has even gone so far as to show us how to win.  Through his word and sacraments, he continues to coach us on the path to righteousness.  How he loves us is shown through his determination and dedication to our success in our lives.  We face many trials through life and we can find that we may be stuck in a rut that seems like it will never end.  We may feel as if the day is too hard and we cannot wait for it to end.  But when all things are for the glory of God, we will find joy in the difficulties of every day.  Our hope in the Lord should encourage us to put on the Christ who already lives with us in our hearts and deliver this same God to a world that is desperate to hear his word and receive his healing.  I have always marvelled at the hate filled comments on most news articles that speak to matters of faith and the Church.  They are always the same, God is a myth, religion is a fairy tale and the Church is the most corrupt corporation that ever existed.  And through all these overt challenges to my faith, I have found in Christ a hope that sustains me through it all.  This scripture for this passage speaks to what Christ is looking to do in our hearts and through us in this world.  God calls upon us to live like there is no tomorrow.  We are supposed to run with reckless abandon to our heavenly Father.  Our lives should show that we burn with the fire and hearts should glow with the passion of the Holy Spirit. 

"God our Father, we hold in our hearts the desire to serve you.  We ask you to kindle within our hearts a fire and passion to serve the world through you. Grant us the peace to do what you ask and the strength to deny ourselves.  Be with us as we take up our crosses and guide our steps as we draw closer to you."

Should I command you to get up or put you on your feet...

"Why are you amazed at this, and why do you look so intently at us as if we made him walk by our power or piety?" Acts 3:12

Peter is probably one of my favorite people in the bible.  Not only was he the first pope but he was probably one of the most hard-headed Christians too.  I chose this scripture to reflect upon today because if Peter were around today, he would have been just a little bit older than I am now so I can totally picture him going "Duh, Jesus..." instead of this great statement to the people.  The context of this quote is they were passing a cripple in Jerusalem and Peter looks over at him and picks him up and sets him on his feet and he is immediately able to walk.  The people are all amazed at what he has done and I imagine him today saying "Duh, Jesus..."  This goes back to the heart of the Christian walk.  How many of the poor and lame do we walk by everyday without so much as giving them a second glance or even a prayer.  The need for to reach out to the poor is becoming even more great as the wealth gap in the United States is growing ever more day by day.  The American financial crisis is only a financial crisis to the poor.  The rich won't see any real hiccup in their day-to-day lives.  Christ calls us to live as he did.  The Apostles got it.  The Church gets it.  Do we get it?

"God, our Father, help us today to see your children as you do.  Open our eyes and our hearts to see and love like you do.  Give us the strength, courage and love to do unto others as we would want you do unto us.  Let us be your miracle to the poor and let us be content with your will and obediently follow you wherever you take us.  We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen."

Forgiveness to the 77th Power

"Peter approaching asked him, "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him?  As many as seven times?"  Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times."- Matthew 18:21-22

One of the many afflictions of being a human is that we are often prone to misunderstanding.  At work, I am expected to be the specialist in my field and guide the office management team and their staff in working in accordance with regulation.  Over the past week, I have made two distinct clarifications for the staff and management team but my intention was not received the way I thought it should have been.  Misunderstanding may very well be the root of many arguments and fights in many relationships.  These disagreements often escalate many situations.  Usually at this point feelings are hurt and communication comes to a halt.  When communication stops we lose the Christian identity of our relationships.  To bring that into focus it would be easier to think that when communication stops, communion stops.  When we lose that communion with each other, we take away from the unity and community that we share in the body of Christ, the Church.  The prayer of St Francis offers a quick solution to many of these disagreements as he put that we should no so much seek to be pardoned as to pardon.  We survive in such a disenchanted state that it is sincerely amazing to me that some people live at all.  We are called to live a holy life but sometimes the definition of holiness is misunderstood.  Do we sometimes pray and not hear the voice of God calling to us?  Is there so much going on around us that we are constantly distracted?   Is God working through the people around us?  One of my favorite worship songs has the line "You sing all around but I never hear the sound..."  Lord, today let me hear that sound...

"Jesus, my everything, I am so tired and weary.  This road I travel is too steep, too narrow.  Guide me to the way holiness, guide me to the way back to you.  Help me to see that you have always been with me through it all and give me the courage to let you carry me home.  In a special way we pray for the little ones of Norway who have been tragically deprived of their lives.  May you who live and reign forever with with Father and Spirit hold them and keep them with you for all eternity. This we ask in your name. Amen."

Lord Help Your Children

"We strive to create healing sanctuaries that carry on the ministry of Jesus Christ."--www.mercydurango.org

The Catholic teaching that every person has the right to life from conception to natural death is not a slogan nor is it a token statement found in a fortune cookie.  The right to life is God's gift to all people so that we can come to know, love and serve the Lord in the fullness of life.  Because this basic human right is extended to everyone and is a fundamental part of our Christian lives, the Church teaches that our faith communion is dependent on faithful adhering to these beliefs.  Clerics who propose or teach heresy must not be allowed to do so in the name of Church.  This should also be true for employees of affiliated Catholic insitutions.  The Durango Herald and many others sources are pressing allegations of scandal at the Catholic affiliated Mercy Regional Medical Center in Durango, CO.  Dr. Richard Grossman is a practicing OB/GYN physician at Mercy General.  He is also allegedly an abortion provider in the Durango region.  In his own reflection in the Durango Herald, he does not condemn abortion and he overtly recommends contraception.  He makes a comparison between the United States and France when it comes sexuality.  His views and practices are contrary to the teachings of the Church.  This anomalous relationship should not be endorsed by Mercy Regional Medical Center.  This doctor is intentionally leading people into immoral and gravely sin behavior and activities.  The leadership of the hospital should review his situation and judicious consider his future with their hospital. 

A cursory glance at the Planned Parenthood website has some alarming statements posted.  The first statement I glanced at was a factoid that claimed 1 in 3 American women have had an abortion by age 48.  This statistic implies that 50 million unborn children have been killed by abortion.  Another claim that was disturbing is that 'almost all' abortions are successful.  What horror awaits a child born after an unsuccessful abortion attempt?  Especially considering the two major abortion procedures are 'vacuum aspiration' and 'Dilation and Evacuation,' these two procedures are very violent to the child.  The last alarming post on the Planned Parenthood website is instructions for a woman to BYPASS the parental notification statute.  Parental notification is a statute that is in place to help young women make better decisions.  The final post I will reference from the Planned Parenthood website is the claim that "only you can decide what is best for you."  Studies have proven that the brain does not reach full maturity until the age of 24-26 whereas 52% of abortions in America are to women under the age of 25.  Even more shocking is the fact that 22% of those abortions are done to teenagers.  These statistics come from the Alan Guttmacher Institute and I will reference one more stat from their research.  93% of abortions are for social reasons such as unwanted pregnancy or incovenience.  We can reasonably assume that 43 million abortions have taken place in the United States the AGI study estimates that 83% of abortions worldwide occur in developing nations.  We must pray and seek God's intervention to this pandemic.  Abortion is a pandemic.  More children are killed from abortion that people who lost their life during conflicts in the past century.  Lord help us all. 

Deception in the Susan G. Komen Foundation

"Let no one deceive you in any way."-2 Thessalonians 2:3

It seems that every day I get a letter, am stopped on the street, or receive a phone call directs me to donate to a charitable organization.  I am to help the poor says the Lord.  I am to help heal the sick; clothe the naked; feed the hungry.  And the most colorful thing I have read this week comes from Archbishop Chaput who said that unless we do all we can for the poor, we will go to hell.  I trust in the words of the Archbishop but this blog entry is not about my tithing and charitable contributions.  It is explicitly about discerning the nature of the people and institutions seeking charity.  Science has taken us to a place where we discover new breakthroughs and treatments every day.  But we must not allow passion and emotion to cloud our faith and reason.  We live in a time where we can no longer accept that we should do ALL that we are able to do for research.  Many debilitating diseases are very unfortunate and deserve the best research we ethically and morally provide.  But we are at a time where science has determined that we can have breakthroughs via murder.  This may sound harsh but the collection of eggs and sperm for the purpose of fertilization and subsequent harvest of stem cells terminating with the destruction of the life created outside of love is an absolute sin in direct violation of that child's inalienable right to life.  It is for this reason that the Church is completely and unequivocally against human embryonic stem cell research.  To move forward, the Church supports and directs all peoples to support the right to life for all.  To this end the Church is heavily against the Institute of Medicine pressing the Department of Health and Human Services in their quest to mandate free contraception, surgical sterilization and post abortion counseling (by free, they are seeking to require insurance companies to make these services available without co-pay).  We echo Cardinal Di Nardo of Houston in his statement that pregnancy is not a disease and fertility is not a pathology.  To do anything to suppress or circumvent the procreative nature of sex is in direct opposition to the will of God.  Contraception is fundamentally wrong.  Abortion is fundamentally wrong.  The bishops of Ohio today have directed the faithful to no longer direct their money to the Susan G. Komen charitable organization for breast cancer research.  This should not be considered an affront to the cause for cancer research but rather research into the inner workings of the Komen organization revealed that the Komen foundation gave $3.3 million from 2004-2009 directly to abortion programs.  Christians cannot in good faith give their money to organizations that will use it in immoral ways.  It is now that I lend my support to this cause in helping to spread the word on this deception.  In our need to help the poor; help heal the sick; feed the hungry; let us not get caught in our emotions and blindly be deceived into supporting institutions that are fundamentally against the true right to life.  We must now do all that we FAITHFULLY are able to do to help heal the sick, feed the hungry, give to the poor.  Faithfully give. 

Do You Hear What I Hear?

"I still live my human life, but it is a life of faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."-Galatians 2:20

St Paul is sending a pastoral letter to his friends in Galatia to encourage them to turn their hearts around and return to living their lives for Christ.  When he says that he still lives his human life, he acknowledges that he still has failures in his everyday life but this quote I think he is making a more passive statement.  I believe he is referencing his human work as a tentmaker.  St Paul was a great evangelizer because he worked in the markets every day.  He conversed with people everyday.  He lived faith everyday. St Paul was not exactly the most tactful person in the world which is probably why I relate to him so well.  Things just sort of fall out.  In his letter to the Galatians, in Scripture, he actually says at one point in time, "O Stupid Galatians..." (Gal 3:1).  For me that is encouragement.  Because I know that often Paul is speaking directly to me.  O Stupid Brandon... don't you know the Son of God loves you... don't you know the Son of God gave himself for you?  Jesus said in the Gospel two weeks ago on Sunday that we cannot truly hear unless God heals us as he referenced the prophet Isaiah. God hears.  God understands.  But most importantly God calls us to turn to him.  Today lets refocus our lives and enjoy a weekend in the Lord. 

"Gracious and loving God.  You saved me.  You have raised me from the dead.  My grave is a testament to your glory.  Show me how to live so that all might know your truth.  In Jesus we pray.  Amen"

Every Person Has the Inalienable Right to Life

"Pregnancy is not a disease, and fertility is not a pathological condition to be suppressed by any means technically possible." - Cardinal Daniel Di Nardo


The Cardinal is addressing the Institute of Medicine's recommendation to the Department of Health and Human Services to mandate that surgical sterilization and all FDA approved birth control be covered by insurance companies.  This recommendation would seriously do more than to undermine the right to life for all persons.  This recommendation is being heralded by groups such as Planned Parenthood as a step in the right direction.  Some commentators are noting that free birth control and surgical sterilization will help taxpayers by reducing unwanted pregnancies and the ensuing welfare children borne out unwanted pregnancies.  At the heart of this is a complete misunderstanding of the source of unwanted pregnancies and pregnancies out of wedlock.  The first misunderstanding is the nature of sex inside the covenant of sacramental marriage.  Marriage is the fulfillment of man's response to God's call to be fruitful and multiply.  When people live faithfully inside sacramental marriage and they lovingly have children, they participate in God's creative nature.  At the heart of this issue in this reflection on the Cardinal's quote is the lack of the Institute of Medicine and the Department of Health and Human Services perspective on this issue.  The recommendation does nothing to address the underlying issue of the pervasive nature of sexuality in today's culture.  It also builds on our culture's desire to shift responsibility away from our own actions.  
Neither God or the Church is looking to stifle sexuality but rather to allow God to teach us what the true meaning of love is and how we ought to properly express it.  Even more so, the Church wants people to be healed of the brokenness and the wounds they carry and express through unsafe behavior.  It is our duty and our salvation to work to advance the gospel message and live faithfully according to God's will.  So we must let Jesus lead us to truth and trust in the Holy Spirit.