Time to get SON-BURNED!

If you could be any season of the year, what would it be?
     Spring?
     Easter?
     Pope John Paul II?


As for me, I would have to say:  SUMMERTIME!

          Why is that, you ask?
           Two reasons:
                 1. It's the time for some sort of relaxation
                     or ease in the hustle and bustle of life.
                 2. It's what season it is now, and we are
                     meant to live in the present!


I think this is an important theme:  LIVE IN THE PRESENT.

        Now, why am I bringing this up?
        Good question.
The theme of this summer is--Fear Not the Fall.
        This means many things as well:
                  1. Don't be afraid of the upcoming Fall or all of those things
                      that come with it--school, hecticity, etc. Live in the moment!
                      Enjoy it!
                  2. Don't be afraid to live out your Christian identity when you're
                      on vacation. We never go on vacation from our faith.

     And guard your heart, for "your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that your fellow believers throughout the world undergo the same sufferings.  The God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you after you have suffered a little" (1 Peter 5:8-10).

     And, God forbid, you should fall...be gentle on yourself.
Our God is a God of mercy and compassion.  I encourage you to go running back to His arms, to the Sacrament of Confession, where all things can be made right again.  And to the Eucharist, where you can be made whole again.

Never forget who you are and Who you were made for, who you were made to be.

You're going to do great things! Hold fast!

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.