Be what you receive!

Faithful bloggers,

Today is Easter Tuesday of the Easter Octave. Apparently, that means difficulties in music selection (at least for me, who happens to be in charge of music for community liturgies this week). The challenges of the new translations for the Mass parts arose quickly when we discovered that everyone in community really only knows one Gloria. Thus, a lot of humility continues to be showing itself since the arrival of the new translation. What a beautiful experience it is to realize how tiny we are in comparison to Mother Church!


But how about this...


How even GREATER it is to be a part of something so HUGE!
Especially in this Easter season, let us not only rejoice and be glad...but do so with all those around us.
We were meant to be in communion. Be what you receive!

Happy Easter to ya!

Who Will Love Me For Me?

You ever have days where it seems you continue to mess up, where it seems that no one understands you?
You ever go a day and wonder, Where was God in all of that?


Well, have I got some news for you!

You aren't alone.

Especially in the journey of our discernment of whatever Vocations the Lord may have planned for us, it is important to recognize that our Vocations are His and not ours. What a blessing that is! So why do we fret? Why do we fear?
...I ask myself the same questions sometimes.

Today, on this Monday of Holy Week, let us claim our discernment for the Lord. Let us press on into Jerusalem with the Lord as we prepare for our passionate love to be revealed and exposed in such vulnerability! Be not afraid!

May this simple but powerful phrase be our battle cry this week:

The Great build up

One of the great benefits we have living in the formation house is being able to experience and worship at daily mass. Though it may be early (630 AM meditation for some, and 7 AM prayers followed by mass), one can feel the fruits, especially during this Lenten season.

When you go to daily mass, you also realize that the Church in her wisdom likes to order the readings to build up to certain points. In the case of Lent, that point is the Triduum, and more specifically Easter.

Looking just at last weeks Gospels, the stories included Jesus saying that it was "The hour for the Son of Man to be glorified" (Sunday), "Where [He] is going [His disciples] could not come" (Tuesday), and "Whoever keeps my word will never see death" (Thursday). Can't you feel the tension building!!!!

On Saturday, we read in the Gospel that the Sanhedrin had gathered together (in their secretlair with candle light and scary music playing) and decided to capture and kill Jesus. Jesus then went near the desert. The end reads "They looked for Jesus and said to one another as they were in the temple area, "What do you think? That he will not come to the feast?"

You can picture it! Right after this statement, there is a cut to Jesus entering Jerusalem, being greeted with cloaks and branches strewn on the road, riding in majestically on a colt, or if you're reading from John...............on a donkey!

Holy week is all about this continued build up. The Gospel for today is literally the day (or scene) after the one noted above, where Jesus is at table with his good old buddy Lazarus (who he raised from the dead), and Martha who anointed Jesus' feet with oil and dried them with her hair. We get our little hint that Judas would betray Jesus when he scolds Martha, and Jesus says to "Let her keep this for the day of my burial"......as if He knew it wasn't that far away.

During this holy week, let's sit on the edge of our seats....spiritually that is. Offer up our Lenten penance even more devoutly than the last 30+ days, to prepare for the great climax of the story of our salvation.

On another note, our Salesian vocation website has been updated recently, including now full bios of most of the guys in formation currently. Check it out at:

http://www.salesiansofdonbosco.org/

(just a warning, the home page includes a video that auto plays, so just turn down your speakers before you check it out)

Get Palm-ified!

I throw my palms up in the air sometimes...

...once a year to be exact.

Lift 'em high, folks! And lift them with passion that we might enter into the Lord's most passionate love as He makes his gruesome journey to the Cross this week.

We call this week: Holy Week--Walk the Talk!

And let this week not be the end of our experience with the Lord. Let us place our palms upon the banasters and pedestals in our homes, over our doorways and upon our countertops, that we might keep that passionate love for our Lord forever in our hearts. O that we would raise our palms up in the air with our lives!

Let us consider that this day. And please stay in touch with the blog as we progress in this solemn journey together with you.  Hosanna in the highest!

Luke, I am your father.

One dresses as a man to save her homeland.
One swims through a aquarium filter to find his father.
One eats mysterious grub in the forest with two sidekicks.

But these characters each make up movies with one central theme:

FATHERHOOD.

It turns out, each of these characters disobeyed their fathers:
Mulan cut here hair, dressed like a man,
and fought in her father's place.
Nemo swam out to touch the "butt"
(also known as "boat") against his father's will.
Simba "deliberately disobeyed" Mufasa by
taking Nala into a bad neighborhood.

But, in each of these, there is an important aspect that one cannot miss:
THE RETURN!

There is always the forgiveness of the father, the welcome home with open arms, the prodigal son.

And perhaps we must admit that Disney doesn't have it all wrong, for this takes us right back to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus says:



"My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt."

Jesus teaches us how to say, "YES!" just as Mary said for Him to enter this world. "THY kingdom come! THY will be done!" He acknowledges that even the Father's most difficult desires for our lives are possible if we would only surrender our wills to Him. May that be our prayer as we prepare for Lent--that there might be more of Him and less of us.

A Thousand Years

After looking at the comments for Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years” on songmeaning.com I came across these two comments.

Smegumless: “I was quite surprised at these comments and the fact that it was in twilight.
Quite frankly I thought it was about God.”

Madisonx22 replies “Wow....loserrrr! It's obviously about how she's in love with someone.”

It’s shocking to see how Madisonx22 replies to a simple comment. In a way it’s true that Christina Perri had a different reason for writing this song, but it the end we are all created by the same God, who’s beauty we can see present in one another and in the world around us.

God is the source of our being. He created us, but more than that, He gives us our life. He is the reason why we are able to wake up in the morning. He loves us soo much!

Therefore, in order for us to simply exist, we really do need Him in our lives. However, what if He stopped thinking about us. What if for even a second He decided to stop caring for us. We would thus cease to exist because He is the source of our life. He must therefore always, at every single moment, be thinking about us. In other words we can say that He loves us into existence. Not only does he love us ever since we were born, more than that He has always thought about us and loved us even before we were born. He loves us soo much!

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You turn men back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, O sons of men.” For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning—though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered.” (Psalm 90: 1-6)

Wow, who would’ve thought how beautifully both this song and this psalm are able to express the same idea. Oh and by the way, when she says, “I have died everyday waiting for you” no person is able to do this, only God. Every single time mass is celebrated Jesus Himself gives Himself to us in the Eucharist, “The Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ.”

WE'RE BACK!

Happy Sunday, everyone! We're back from Spring Break! This means there is lots to tell...also, there is a surprise or two to mention. How long are you willing to wait? It's Lent. Let's wait together. The good stuff is coming soon!

Harden not your heart.

A poem for the day, for this Lenten season:

O drought of love! O font of mercy!
O desert! O wilderness sublime!
Unsatisfied, worn and dried,
Seeking comfort at Your side.
At Your side, I hide; I hide
For identity to be identified.

And what is sand but countless prayers,
Prayers so fair and skin so bare,
Bare to the bone of hunger and thirst?
You take Your throne, I take my hearse.
Your heart of love is about to burst.
Save me, Lord, before I make things worse.

"If today you hear His voice,

harden not your heart."

     The Lenten season may be difficult for some of us. It may be a time when we realize how weak we truly are or how far we are from holiness. But what a humbling moment! What a moment for absolute surrender to our Lord! Let us not be afraid to rise up from the ashes. For the Lord is calling us. Can you hear His voice?

It’s Friday, Friday, gotta go Fast on Friday…

Fridays during Lent are more different than other Fridays during the year. In remembering what the sacrifice Jesus undertook for all of us on Good Friday, we observe Fridays as a day to abstain from meat. However, is that all there is for fasting?? I invite you to watch the video and see if any of your ideas of fasting are the same as those in the video.

Well I hope you’re not thinking that fasting is like that; “Don’t be that guy”. Lent is a time in which we come to know that we are all children of God and that He wants to be a part of our lives. We also come to know that we aren’t perfect and that we need to turn to God. Our Lenten penance should help us become the people we're called to be.

Maybe it's something as easy as offering up some of the time we spend watching TV, on our phones, or on the internet. I know that there are things in our day which we know we can do without. Instead lets take that time to grow in our relationship with God and others. Make it reasonable, but at the same time know that we are all called to reach our full potential which is to become Saints by allowing God to use us as His instruments.

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God.” Ezekiel 36: 26-28

Mourning in the Morning, Mourning in the Evening!

As I watched this video by Boyce Avenue, a tribute to Whitney Houston, I started to think of whether this was a way of mourning her death. And it caused me to question: Jared, are you taking time to mourn? And that, my friends, is my question for you today.

Are you taking time to mourn?

No? Well, have you died yet?

Well, yes, I know you haven't died yet; but have you died to yourself?

As we move forward in this Lenten season, are we remembering to die to ourselves in every moment possible? How are we focusing our prayer and our lives toward that death to self? Are we mourning with joyful expectation?

Behold, the video that caused this reflection:

Ye Old Country Store!

This morning, I was blessed to be able to eat at Cracker Barrel!

     There's something about walking into a place that feels like home that completely lifts one's spirit. And then, it dawns on me, this is exactly how Lent should be!

     We are to surround ourselves with persons and things and habits and virtues that are heavenly that our souls might be lifted! We must prepare for Easter by living out the graces Jesus won for us through His resurrection NOW!

It's all about environment, people!

Surround yourself with holiness, open yourself up, and GET HOLY!

Is there any other option?

Pepto Bismol for the Soul

You know, it's weeks like this week that make us realize how much we really love our brothers in community.

That's right. It's sick week!

To describe it in brief, take a look at these symptoms:

Sorry you had to see that.

But that's been the extent of our week. And doesn't it have a great correlation with Lent?

     What a wonderful reflection on the "sicknesses" of our own lives, the sinfulness and unfaithfulness. May we participate fully in the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist that we all might be cured of our ailments and put on Jesus Christ Who is our Lord, Who is our Healer, Who is our Cure.

     May, this week especially, we learn to love our brothers and sisters as they are and help bring them the aid the Lord has given us at our Baptism. Let us cure a world sick with sin with none other than the Body and Blood of Christ! Get Ready!

Sing to God with your life!

     As a small gift from the Lord, our apostolates at Our Lady of the Valley were cancelled last Sunday because of the federal holiday on Monday. So the Lord chose to bless me in other facets:

#1 - Mass at Blessed Sacrament / St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church with Post-novice Brother Jared Anderson.

     Coming from a very lively city of New Orleans, I was so pumped to throw myself into the Catholic liturgy of the large African American community there. The choir, the participation of the congregation, the holiness with which the priest proclaimed the Word of God...all of it was incredibly beautiful. It had moved us so much so that by the end of the Mass when the visitors were asked to stand, we remained sitting. We turned toward each other and said: "When's the next holiday? We are definitely coming back here."

      Though I was very emotionally moved through this experience, a part of me couldn't help but wonder why every Sunday shouldn't be this way? What if all communities celebrated the Holy Sacrifice with such fervor?! So, my message is this: Sing your hearts out. Sing from your soul. Sing with your life. And God will never allow you to lose your voice.

#2 - Nets Basketball Game field trip with 20 young persons from the Don Bosco Youth Center.

     Of the amazing generosity of a recently graduated Don Bosco Prep student, we were able to accompany 20 students of our Friday Night Youth Center to the Nets Game. It was so awesome to see the excitement of the kids to be out and having fun together away from the youth center. They were truly able to enjoy themselves. It just so happened that two of the guys in formation attend the same gym as most of the entertainers at the game. So, the maskot paid a special visit to the kids towards the end of the game. It was a wonderful end to a wonderful evening. Thank you, Jay-Z, for your monetary investments in the Nets.

Today, on this first Friday of the Lenten season, my challenge to you remains the same as mentioned above: Sing your hearts out. Sing from your soul. Sing with your life. And God will never allow you to lose your voice.
For we need not wait until Easter to proclaim His Greatness. We know He is resurrected. Let us live accordingly!

From Rome:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today the Church celebrates Ash Wednesday, the beginning of her Lenten journey towards Easter. The entire Christian community is invited to live this period of forty days as a pilgrimage of repentance, conversion and renewal. In the Bible, the number forty is rich in symbolism. It recalls Israel’s journey in the desert, a time of expectation, purification and closeness to the Lord, but also a time of temptation and testing. It also evokes Jesus’ own sojourn in the desert at the beginning of his public ministry, a time of profound closeness to the Father in prayer, but also of confrontation with the mystery of evil. The Church’s Lenten discipline is meant to help deepen our life of faith and our imitation of Christ in his paschal mystery. In these forty days may we draw nearer to the Lord by meditating on his word and example, and conquer the desert of our spiritual aridity, selfishness and materialism. For the whole Church may this Lent be a time of grace in which God leads us, in union with the crucified and risen Lord, through the experience of the desert to the joy and hope brought by Easter.

Pope Benedict XVI,
Ash Wednesday Audience,

February 22, 2012

Anticipation & Baseball

As a Mets fan, I can't help but mention that tomorrow is an extremely joyful day for us fans. It is the official reporting day for pitchers and catchers!! All Mets pitchers and catchers must be at training camp in Port St. Lucie, Florida by tomorrow to begin preparing for the 162 game season ahead. It also means that BASEBALL IS OFFICIALLY HERE!!!!!!!

As a fan, I can say from experience that we have been anticipating baseball's return since October. Football has been the main focus of Sportscenters and sports pages everywhere, but now, baseball takes up it's rightful place as America's past-time once again.Let the trades, training, steals, strikeouts, and web gems.........BEGIN!!!!

Even though spring training is not actual baseball, per say, it does make us anticipate the regular season even more. During spring training, these players will dedicate their time to getting back into shape for the season, and getting into a good rhythm.

Tomorrow is also an important day for us a Catholic Christians: it is "fat tuesday", or otherwise said, the last day of ordinary time before Lent begins. Lent itself is just like the church's spring training. We look forward to the very exciting and even more anticipated "regular season" (Easter), by training hard (penance/fasting), and putting in the hard work everyday to prepare ourselves. Maybe we've been slacking off recently in our spiritual life, not really dedicating too much effort to "staying in shape". Lent is our chance to get back into shape, and get back into a good rhythm of life to get the wins we need to make it to the "postseason" (yep, you guessed right.......heaven).

Let's make this Lent fruitful for our spiritual life, and no matter what fasts, penances, or sacrifices we are taking on this season, offer them up as a prayer for the salvation of souls, especially our own and those in most need.

O Lord,
The house of my soul is narrow;
enlarge it that you may enter in.
It is ruinous, O repair it!
It displeases Your sight.
I confess it, I know.
But who shall cleanse it,
to whom shall I cry but to you?
Cleanse me from my secret faults, O Lord,
and spare Your servant from strange sins.
St. Augustine of Hippo