Regnum Christi

I’ve always been amazed by the description of Solomon’s Temple: the dimensions, the gold, the cedar, the massive cherubim statues (1 Kings 6). It’s grandiose! The Israelites fostered a breathtaking awe for the presence of God in their midst. No ordinary person could enter the Holy of Holies. Only the high priest could enter once a year on the Day of Atonement. God’s presence among us is awesome in the true sense of the word, and the Hebrews lived it. God is awesome, and yet, God is close. Continue reading →

Christ deserves our trust. In the reading from the book of wisdom the people want to put someone to the test to see if he is worthy of being trusted. This person in Christ. In the gospel He tells his disciples how far He his willing to go to show his love for us. Recently in a friend of mine told me that the cross is more than just the suffering of Christ, but it is his love. When He told his disciples that He was to die, He wanted to tell them that He loved them and how great that love was. He was willing to die and then to rise to come back to them. This is what Christ is willing to do for us. This is what we are invited to do to be his disciples. We are invited to show love our love for God in every circumstance. To really love Him beyond the feelings and to be faithful till death in our love for Him as He was for us. God is faithful and we trust Him for that. He trusts us, we must live up to this trust by taking care of what He has given us.

Thank you, good and faithful servant.

Nearly four years ago I received (reluctantly) an iPhone, a model 4s.  It was my first venture into the world of smart phones, a world I had long resisted.

Well, there is nothing worse than a convert (to the smart phone – converts to Catholicism are just fine; I’m also one of those).  So it wasn’t long before I was checking email, sending messages, checking the weather, making flight plans, downloading podcasts and listening to music on the iPhone.

I became phone dependent, a frightening condition I had to come to grips this week when my smart phone went stupid.

What I mean by stupid is that it stopped being able to send or receive data.  In other words, no email, no functioning apps – all that was left was, well, a telephone.

I called our technical guru and he did a few tests and checked my account and determined that the problem wasn’t on his end.  I called the cellular provider and they did a couple tests and determined that it wasn’t on their end.  I took my iPhone 4s to the Apple Store and the clerk smirked at me for having such an old phone.

(An aside:  I was the only person in the store not wearing jeans, a t-shirt, grandpa’s Converse basketball shoes and earrings – and I’m talking about the guys.)

Anyone, the overbearing Apple associate poked around at the phone and said it was a hardware problem, my ancient phone wasn’t worth repairing and I should get a new one.

Thus, I’m awaiting the arrival of an iPhone 6, which is larger than my dying phone and likely will do many new things I don’t need but which will become necessities in a few weeks.

I’m not sure this is progress.

     “The spirit of humility is sweeter than honey, and those who nourish themselves with this honey produce sweet fruit.” — St. Anthony

Having spent 10 years of my youth carrying golf bags, there were certain members that were a pleasure to caddy for and others that were a little difficult.  The key virtue was humility…it was not just about them, but they asked questions about your life, cracked a joke to make you laugh, told you not to worry if you misread their putt, made sure you had a hot dog or hamburger at the half-way shack, all simple things but it sure made those 4 hours in the sun more enjoyable…

I’m going to break a couple of my own rules for writing in this space today.  First, I’m going to be really critical of a specific organization:  CNN.  Second, I’m going to mention partisan politics, although neither for nor against anyone in particular.

What generates this rant is last night GOP presidential candidates debate on CNN.  I’m a political junkie, so I normally consume such things, but last night there were conflicts, so I missed parts.  (OK…I had to go to my ballroom dancing lesson in preparation for my daughter’s upcoming wedding.) Continue reading →

     “Christians must lean on the Cross of Christ just as travelers lean on a staff when they begin a long journey. They must have the Passion of Christ deeply embedded in their minds and hearts, because only from it can they derive peace, grace, and truth.” – St. Anthony of Padua

I went in for a routine doctor’s visit the other day and noticed a cross hanging from the doctor’s neck.  I asked if he was Christian and he said with a big smile, “I am Catholic and I love my Faith!”  This man had a very pleasant and kind disposition and this quote from St. Anthony made me think about him.  The cross can be a tremendous source of strength and inspiration for your daily grind.

It is essential to carry our cross if we are to be a follower of Christ, as He tells us in the gospel. He tells us this to show us that we can’t turn away when it gets hard. Everything doesn’t have to be a cross but because Christ suffered He shows us that in our own lies a secret that we alone can share with Him. So it isn’t about praising the cross for the sake of suffering, but rather as an instrument. In the Gospel today Christ confirms the disciples’ faith, then reveals to them that even He as the Son of God will have to suffer, and promises the cross for his followers.  It is through the cross that we can show Him that we believe in Him and love Him. Christ didn’t come to free us from suffering but to show us the great value of it. What is most important is to keep our eyes fixed on Him. That is why Christ first confirms his disciples in their faith. He wants to remind them that He is the one they are following. It can be hard and there can be joys, but we can never abandon Him. He is who gives reason to the crosses we have to face.  The cross is the best instrument to confirm our love for Him.

This past month Pope Francis spoke at the 5^th General Chapter of the Schoenstatt Fathers. He said, “You know that a charism is not a museum piece, which remains intact in a showcase, to be contemplated and nothing more. Fidelity, to keep the charism pure, in no way means to shut it in a sealed bottle, as if it were distilled water, so that it is not contaminated by the outside. No, the charism is not preserved by keeping it put away. It must be opened and allowed to go out, so that it enters into contact with reality, with people, with their anxieties and problems. In this fertile encounter with reality, the charism grows, is renewed and reality is also transformed; transfigured by the spiritual force that the charism holds.” Continue reading →

My picture of the Pope — captured without use of a selfie stick.

Ah, Rome.  The eternal city.  Center of my faith, where St. Paul stood – and died – in the face of the massive pagan empire.

What better place to find inspiration?  What a perfect place to make a commitment for one’s entire life.

And thus was my fate two days past when I stood in St Peter’s Square, one of tens of thousands in Pope Francis’ Wednesday audience.  My moment of truth came as I looked across the expanse of humanity…and I vowed: Continue reading →

“Pray without ceasing on behalf of other men…For cannot he that falls rise again?” — St. Ignatius of Antioch

St. Monica prayed ceaselessly for her reckless and arrogant son, St. Augustine, and without doubt, these graces eventually kicked in and turned him from sinner to saint and one of the greatest theologians of our Church.  Never doubt that Christ does listen to your prayers for your loved ones…stick with it and trust in the power of God’s grace!