Christian Is a Way of Life, Not an Adjective

Integrity and simple mindedness are essential for the faith life.

The Scriptures celebrate God’s fidelity to the Covenant He made with His people. This is what integrity is all about – remaining faithful to our promises and seeing to it that what we proclaim with our lips is confirmed by the way we live.

Saint Benedict endorsed this concept in Chapter 19 of his Rule. “Let us stand to sing the psalms in such a way that our minds are in harmony with our voices” (RB 19.7). Only when our hearts and our lives are in harmony with the words that we pray can we hope to contribute to the building up of God’s Kingdom on earth.

The life of faith demands integration and integrity. If we profess to walk in God’s provident care, then our every action must be consistent with the words we utter during the celebration of the liturgy.

“Christian” in not just an adjective, it is a way of life. This means every action and the end of every path we follow must be consistent with what we are called. Every aspect of our lives must be taken to prayer, and the scrutiny of Scripture must be brought into every moment of our lives because we believe beyond any doubt that the God we seek is actually seeking us.

Integrity is essential to Christian living. Not to live the message we profess is a scandal! Our lack of integrity becomes a stumbling block to those who follow after us.

 Jesus told us that we should never become a stumbling block to the little ones. An important aspect of nurturing the young is to live life with integrity. This is a lesson that cannot be taught. It can only be caught! We confuse young people when we punish them for doing things that they see us doing.

If we wish to be good teachers, we need to repent and live authentic lives. Only then can we pass on our values and beliefs to others.

Jesus tells us that we can learn from the little ones. We have often heard how He set a little child in the midst of the apostles. Then He told them that unless they changed their way of thinking and began to look at life through the eyes of a child, they would never enter the kingdom of the Father.

Young children do not desire authority, nor do they regard outward distinctions. For them, imagination and make-believe frame reality. They cloth themselves in the garments of salvation and live as children of Light. They believe that promises are meant to be kept.

My brothers and sisters, we need to change. We need to be renewed in our minds and hearts so that we may become simple and imaginative as little children whose angels are in God's presence. If you remember the words we used to say as kids, feel free to join me.


Angel of God, my Guardian dear,
To whom His love commits me here,
Ever this day be at my side,
To light and guard,
To rule and guide. Amen

Father Jerome Machar, OSCO

Penances for Busy Moms and Dads

I received a phone call today from a homeschooling mom of five small children. She wanted to do penance for the souls in Purgatory and wondered what she could do. What were good sacrifices to make for the Poor Souls and would the Lord accept them?

Saint Francis de Sales had some good answers for busy parents. Offer up the daily grind as penance and sacrifice, because that is what it is. When we are responsible for little souls and growing and active bodies, we are frequently so busy that we collapse into bed at night. Forget about doing an hour of contemplation as nuns do in convents. A busy house of small children is definitely not a convent. We all have to learn to sanctify our time where we are. "Bloom where you are planted" is definitely an appropriate saying for busy parents.

So what are moms and dads to do? Certainly they can live the CFP Rule and Constitutions! These were written for lay people including parents of small children. But parents should never think that the not eating meat four days a week or the simplifying of their wardrobe or the praying of certain prayers outweighs being patient with reading The Pokey Little Puppy for the 69th time to a toddler. The penances of the CFP Rule and Constitutions are intended to develop the virtues that help us, parents or not, to become more attuned to neighbor and to God, and to see God in our neighbor. That neighbor might be a whiny two year old who insists on eating in the living room when Mom wants her to eat in the kitchen over the linoleum.

Most of us tend to think that our lives are not really holy nor are they avenues to sanctity. The very opposite is true. Our lives can offer the most opportunities for sanctity if we only take advantage of them. This extends from giving your four year old the last cookie when you'd like to have it for yourself to charging out of a warm bed on a cold night because a child is crying over a loud noise heard in the dark. "Offer it up" does not apply only to losing one's job or being rebuffed by an acquaintance. It also extends to having to wash the laundry again because a magic marker was lost in a child's pocket and dyed everything blue.

Parents, don't miss out on the opportunities for holiness right there among the crushed crayons and the corn flakes dumped out into the sink. "Offer it up" along with your CFP penances and do so with as much joy and patience as you can muster. Ask the Holy Spirit to bolster your intentions and your actions. You will find that you are growing in holiness, not only through the penances you seek, but in the ones that come to you. May God sanctify you right where you are!

--Madeline Pecora Nugent, CFP

Children of God

January 19, 2014

2^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah 49: 3, 5-6

1 Corinthians 1: 1-3

John 1: 29-34

Now that all the partying is over, but while the aroma of the pine trees lingers in the air, let us leisurely ponder the awesome mystery we have been celebrating. Perhaps as we were cleaning up after the holiday, we decided to keep a particular greeting card because it touched us in a special way. We might even start humming a Christmas carol as we go through our daily routine. There is something totally mind boggling and captivating about the birth of the Eternal Word in mortal flesh. Through the eyes of the Babe of Bethlehem we have been allowed to peer into the eyes of God, eyes that have looked upon us in love since the beginning of time. The image of the infant in the manger reminds us that God desires to be sought and loved by us. The image of the Christmas star reminds us that He not only puts a spiritual longing into our hearts but also guides us along the path that leads to the Word of Truth Who gives eternal life.

In a world deafened by chatter and blinded by glitter and glitz, the Beloved Son speaks to the depths of the human heart and enlightens the eyes of faith so that all people might come to know their true identity as the Children of God, who were made in His image and likeness. Through Christ, God the Creator of the Universe shows His compassion and love for all the members of the human race. We just heard these words from the prophet Isaiah: “The Lord formed me as His servant from the womb” (Is. 49:5). God cares for the child in the womb and calls him or her by name. By His design, we have become the Children of God. Moved by compassion and unbounded love, He wants to free us from slavery to sin, heal our sickness and bring us to our heavenly homeland.

The first reading of today’s Mass was taken from the second “Servant Song” attributed to the prophet Isaiah. We are all familiar with it. We quickly nod our heads when we hear the words, “light of the nations” and then immediately apply them to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Today, I would like to suggest that we fight the urge to christen the text. For a moment, let us consider the passage in its literary setting. The unnamed servant knows himself to be called from the moment of his conception. Even before anyone even knew he existed, he was commissioned to bring exiled Israel home. Through the restoration of Jerusalem, all the people in the world would come to know the wondrous power of God. Now, let us apply this reading to ourselves. God has known us from all eternity and called each of us by name. He wants to remake us in the image of His only-begotten Son, cleansing us from sin and freeing us from guilt. Abiding in the light of divine grace, we are to live in the freedom of the Children of God. Our vocation is to lead people, who are trapped in physical, spiritual or psychological prisons, to freedom.

Any time we talk about redemption, it is important that we emphasize the fact that God is the One Who takes the initiative. We have the ability to respond in love to God because God has first loved us. Our response to this love manifests the presence of Christ in the world. The Christmas celebration reminds us that God offers us His love; that He calls us by name and because He respects our dignity and personal freedom, He awaits our response. Moved by the promptings of love, we are drawn into the communion of Love which is the Blessed Trinity. In order for us to enter into this loving relationship, it is important that we embrace and make our own the sacred Word that God addresses to us. It is in that embrace that we are reconciled to the Father and conformed to the Person of the Son. Being conformed to Christ, we are able to live in the image and likeness of God. This newness of life enables us to live in communion with God and with all the members of the human family. Perhaps this is why we enjoy the Christmas season so much – for 12 days out of the year we experience people acting out of their best selves. In Christ, we are called to be ambassadors of liberating joy and ministers of joyful liberation.

Redemption was not a whim on God’s part. It was not a game change brought about by some forbidden fruit. God preordained the incarnation before the world began. Christ came into the world full of grace, wisdom and the Holy Spirit, anointed with the oil of gladness to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom and the nearness of God to His people.  If we listen to the comments of our Holy Father, we would realize that he is calling, encouraging and challenging us to show this love and respect every day of our loves and in every situation we find ourselves. Borrowing from Pope Francis’ Epiphany reflection: “We are to become bearers of new hope, that nothing and nobody may extinguish; the hope of taking the road to salvation, that we are able to forgive and love even those who offend us or harm us.” Through baptism, we have been grafted to Christ and made members of the community of faith. We have been called to proclaim loudly and clearly that Jesus is the Lamb of God Whose death and resurrection is the source of new life for all peoples. Jesus, the Lamb Who was slain and rose from the dead is the cause of our childlike joy.

To round out the notion of childlike joy, I will quote a paragraph written by G. K. Chesterton in his book All Things Considered. “It is not only possible to say a great deal in praise of play; it is really possible to say the highest things in praise of it. It might reasonably be maintained that the true object of all human life is play. Earth is a task garden; heaven is a playground. To be at last in such secure innocence that one can juggle with the universe and the stars, to be so good that one can treat everything as a joke — that may be, perhaps, the real end and final holiday of human souls.”

--Father Jerome Machar, OSCO