Dear Lord, Let Me “Urn” My Place in Your Service

We all know the story of Our Lord’s first miracle at Cana and how His Mother brought assistance to those in need by instructing the servants to ”Do whatever he tells you”  (John 2:3-5).  We must see ourselves as similar urns, perhaps filled with the tasteless water of  this earth which, while it may soothe our thirst temporarily, is ultimately limited in its ability to serve our needs for all of our purposes moving forward. How full we often fill ourselves of this earth’s offerings, attractive to our thirsty minds as a temporary escape, a “mini-salvation” from the discomforts of the physical world.  Gorged with this world’s offerings, we are too heavy to be lifted toward God and, perhaps, too satisfied to care.

The secret is not to empty ourselves, for there is much that God has given us that deserves to be used in His glory. Rather, the solution seems to be to allow what we do bring to the table to be transformed by Christ’s Presence in our lives into something much greater than would be possible by our own means. Transforming the water of our earthly selves into the wine of our Heavenly mission is the true miracle which should be our ever-present and ultimate goal.

Urns come in all shapes and sizes, and so do our individual talents and gifts. Rather than seeking to contain and serve as much wine as others, we must merely seek to fill our own potential as defined by the size of our urn. This requires patience, humility, obedience, and listening to God’s call.  When we combine our God-given talents with our God-inspired mission in an environment of love, humility, service, and dedication to God, we allow the Almighty to work wonders through us, and what better way to spend our lives on this very temporary planet than to spend that time serving God’s purpose?   So, look to your talents; listen to His call; seek only to serve Him; and, in the words of Francis, be His instrument. Do not measure your worth or your success by the standards of this temporary rock you happen to live on. Rather, only look to spend yourself serving God, to serve as His urn from which He may pour out blessings to others, and you will surely “urn” your place in Heaven.

Copyright, 2012   Gabriel Garnica

Touch The Wood

We fancy ourselves, so close to His call

yet the closer He draws us, the harder we fall

Our pride does allow us, to assert so clear

that there on that Friday, we would have been so near

So simple and easy, to pretend so well

that His Name on our lips, we would gladly tell

All who might wonder, were we of His band

when questioned, crossed the line on the sand

 

Forgive Dear Jesus, this foolish pride

which speaks so much louder, its cowardice to hide

 

We dare to judge Peter, he who did sigh

when told by his Master, three times would deny

Our measure falls on Judas, the one led astray

by a failure to love Jesus, at the end of the day

So certain we motion, our stare left to see

His friends turned impostors, who hastened to flee

Oh Thomas, we utter, so blessed are we

who believe and accept, although we don’t see

 

Forgive, Divine Master, this foolish pride

that counts others’ weakness, though its own faults are wide

 

We want all the glory, and seek all the fame

as if being His follower, was merely a game

His Words and Example, we fail to trace

unlike Veronica, whose love wiped His Face

Words over actions, so convenient a plan

without love our intention, when love makes the man

Like Simon yet worse still, for his was a given task

while we pretend loyalty, while wearing a mask

 

Forgive my Dear Savior, this foolish pride

that sits here in darkness, while for me You died

 

We live in a world, which crucifies Him still

yet do we stand by Him, or do we fulfill

Our own tired agenda, our own selfish schemes

built on facades and pretensions, and feeding on dreams

That we do not need Him, and can push Him aside

to follow a devil, who has consistently lied

that Salvation is out there, just within our grip

without our Dear Jesus, along for the trip

 

Forgive me, my Lord, this foolish pride

steeped in sin and diversions, that I often slide

 

If you want to follow, Our Lord’s gentle plea

then get out of this world’s boat, and walk on the sea

For He will not leave you, and by you remain

to feed and reward you, with Heavenly gain

This world will despise you, as it so often does Him

but this should embrace you, regardless how dim

If you want to feel Him, to live in His Name

then die to this world, for that is one and the same

If you want to follow, His lesson of good

then you must approach His sweet cross, and touch the wood

 

Copyright, 2012   Gabriel Garnica

 

 

I Have Yet To Serve

His Love never ceased

never decreased

and will continue

to reach for me

Yet, I in turn

my chances burn

and will continue

to pull away

His Blessings pile

in single file

and will continue

to teach to me

Yet I discern

with no concern

and will continue

to pull away

His Stare so Pure

as if to cure

and will continue

to feed me

Yet I despair

as if to dare

and will continue

to pull away

He has given me all

beyond His call

and will continue

to serve me

Yet I have yet to serve

with all the nerve

and will continue

to pull away.

Copyright, 2012,  Gabriel Garnica

Divine Mercy and Deus Solus

Having just attended the Divine Mercy Sunday gathering at the National Divine Mercy Shrine in Stockbridge, Mass., I am filled with the desire to perpetuate this beautiful Gift from Our Lord.  Through His messages and teachings directed to us through St. Faustina, Christ tells us that He loves us, no matter how great our sins, which are dwarfed by His immense Mercy and Love.  Christ wants us to trust fully in this Divine Mercy, so that we may approach Him in sincere, prayerful, and open contrition for our sins, repenting for hurting Him so and asking Him to pour out His mercy upon us and the whole world. A simple way for remembering this message has been suggested as ABC, which I wish to summarize here in relation to Deus solus

A…….Ask for God’s mercy…God wants to pour His infinite mercy upon us, but He wants us to freely ask Him for it by repenting our sins and approaching Him in contrition and thirst for that most beautiful and loving mercy.  Deus solus tells us that God Alone is what matters, that everything begins and ends with Our Lord, and that serving Him should be our only goal. It stands to reason that, if God is everything for me, then I must approach Him in trusting vulnerability, saying “Dear Lord, make of me, of my life, what You will, guide me to serve and glorify only You.”  If we ask God to use us as His tool for salvation according to His Will, then we must by necessity constantly ask Him to pour His Divine Mercy upon us, for this Gift will surely refresh and renew us as we confirm our mission of focused service. Simply put, if God is my beginning, my end, and my purpose, then I must ask Him for His Divine Mercy so that, relieved of the burden of my own weakness and imperfection, I may serve He Who is Perfection Itself.

B……..Be merciful to others…God wants us to receive His mercy and let it flow through us to others.  He wants us to love and forgive just as He does.  Deus solus tells us that God should be so important in our lives that we become mere instruments of God, tools offered in His service and according to His Will.  Hence, if God is so merciful and loving then, we, as tools and extensions of God, must likewise be merciful and loving.  To the extent that we refuse or are unable to show love and mercy as Our Lord did, we are not serving as instruments of God but rather instruments of our own desires and agenda.

C…….God wants us to completely trust in His love and mercy in order to receive the graces of that mercy. Mistrust of God is at the root of much sin, much distance from Our Lord.  It is the sin of Judas, who did not trust and love Christ enough to believe, much less accept, that Our Lord could and would forgive him if only he asked.  We will not, we cannot, approach God, much less be merciful to others, unless we become like children in the Hands of Our Lord; fully willing, ready, and able to put ourselves fully in His service. Deus solus tells us that God is everything, and that there is simply no other possible path to salvation and ultimate joy than through Him, with Him, serving Him.  Unless I fully trust God, God cannot possibly be Everything for me.  Ultimately, Deus solus can be my life message and the core of my existence precisely because I trust and love Our Lord fully to save me assuming I want to be saved.

Ultimately, without Deus solus I cannot fully embrace and apply God’s mercy in my life. Likewise, without embracing God’s mercy, I cannot pretend to embrace Deus solus.  At the end of the day, Deus solus means Only God Matters because Only God provides the most loving, merciful invitation to our salvation.

Copyright, 2012  Gabriel Garnica

“October Baby” Reminds Us of Hollywood’s Big Abortion Problem

After seeing the pro-life movie October Baby  get bashed by 75% of the film critics and praised by  over 90% of the audience, I saw the film myself last weekend and came out of the theatre with two observations.

Hollywood’s Twisted Portrayal of Abortion

Nowhere is Hollywood’s pathetic and despicable hypocrisy, bias, and cowardice more evident than in its handling of abortion. Films like Cider House Rules and Vera Drake, which both displayed abortion as a noble social good removing the chains of ignorance and oppression from women,  had no problem getting wide distribution and garnering  high praise and awards from all corners of Hollywood.  The made for television movie If These Walls Could Talk, which Cher partly directed and starred in,  depicts two women who choose abortion as thoughtful victims of an ignorant society and a third who decides against abortion as an ignorant and gullible fool with no legitimate clue as to why she has made the choice. That third woman, played by Sizzy Spacek, is portrayed as a woman yearning for an education who drops all hope of happiness as she prepares to deal with an unwanted child while shining her husband’s shoes.  The clear message of all three stories is that men are heartless monsters who victimize women with pregnancy, reflecting the Obama message that pregnancy can be a prison and abortion is the get-out-of-jail card that only ignorant, gullible, and backward women reject.

Invariably,  Hollywood condemns any pro-life film as blatant propaganda rubbish and any pro-abortion movie as thought-provoking, profound, and insightful. Bella, another beautiful pro-life effort, was criticized this way when it was released a few years ago, and October Baby receives the same treatment from the vast majority of the same critics who nearly slipped on their own drivel in excitement over Cider House Rules and Vera Drake.  These films, and If These Walls Could Talk, practically depict abortion as a sacrament and abortionists as its most noble and saintly priests. In Walls, Cher is the smiling, benevolent, comforting, saintly doctor and abortion is the loving, sanitized, practically bloodless salvation from the suffering of an unwanted pregnancy. In the most absurd and truly ridiculous of ironies, this peaceful abortion is cut short by the crazed violence of a bloodthirsty pro-life zealot. Such is the utterly heinous and vile lie sold by Hollywood and the Left. Namely, that abortion is anything near a salvation from violence and harm to women. In the most ironic and detestable of ironies, Cher is practically depicted as an almost Virgin Mary figure gazing over the girl seeking an abortion and, just as suddenly, as a Christ-like sacrificial lamb giving up her life for her noble cause.

If Hollywood portrays abortion and abortionists as a cross between Mother Teresa and Florence Nightingale, what of its depiction of those who oppose this barbaric procedure? In short, they are depicted as stupid, homophobic, sexist, creepy and downright psychotic. From squealing priests and pro-life protestors short a few chromosomes to superstitious dolts with the IQ and common sense of a doorknob, abortion opponents are branded as pathetically  evil idiots preventing the enlightened pro-abortion crowd from efficiently and fully dragging society to the modern world.

The Left’s Pathetic Scramble to Conceal The Truth is Losing Ground

The Hunger Games has scored box office success while depicting children sadistically enjoying shooting, stabbing, and beating each other to death, . http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/13311265/parents-warned-about-hunger-games-violence/ in becoming the third most successful opening film of all time after netting $ 155 million in its opening weekend.

Although it only opened in 390 theaters, October Baby earned the second-highest-per screen average, bringing in almost $ 2 million in ticket sales.  One of October Baby’s directors, Jon Erwin, described how no studio wanted to touch the film because it was considered “too controversial” such that, ultimately, he and the film’s other director, his brother Andrew, raised the money themselves, delaying the release.  Dr. Ted Baehr, founder of the Christian movie site Movieguide.org, attributes the success of “October Baby”  to a strong Christian and moral world view that touches the hearts of those who saw it.
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/03/27/pro-life-october-baby-rejected-by-major-studios-blitzes-box-office/#ixzz1qdskcdOF

Therein lies the inherent problem with this entire situation.  We live in an increasingly anti-Christian, amoral society where a film depicting random, sadistic violence by children against children is gladly accepted and October Baby, which depicts loving forgiveness and a respect for life is bashed as a “slickly packaged…essentially ugly…soapy melodrama.. which communicates in language of guilt and fear…intended to terrify young women” http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/03/23/movies/october-baby-with-jasmine-guy-and-john-schneider.html?smid=tw-nytimesmovies&seid=auto. The film is alternately described as dull, amateurish, weepy, unrealistic, indecent propaganda, better off as a bumper sticker, a campaign video, or an endless lecture by the myriad of critics regularly paid by someone who cares what they think about film.

Fortunately, the audiences who are flocking to see this wonderful film are ignoring, and rejecting, the biased and distorted reviews of these so-called movie experts whose expertise lies in being paid to view and spew their own biases about what they view. As is the case with many issues today, we see the delusions and distortions being sold by the Leftist news and entertainment industry being brushed aside by average people who long for movies about the kind of themes which October Baby supplies in ample measure.

Try as it might, Hollywood will continue to be blind, deaf, and silent regarding the heinous and despicable evil that is abortion. It will continue to peddle its twisted and absurd version of entertainment and reality, where the murder of young life is whitewashed with flimsy explanations, where the fact that a bunch of teens in October Baby travel cross country without having rampant sex is mocked, and where propaganda from the left is spelled reality and reality from the right is spelled propaganda.

I have long argued that Catholic Universities like Georgetown and Fordham have become about as pro-life as Planned Parenthood.  Dripping in the social justice drivel which has been used by defiant pro-choice Cafeteria Catholics to defend the woman seeking an abortion over the life of the unborn, these institutions have been far more eager to present rubbish like The Vagina Monologues than beautiful efforts such as October Baby.

Some of October Baby’s harshest critics mocked the fact that the film, release by Goldwyn, did not heed one of Goldwyn’s most famous lines regarding what movies are supposed to do; namely, “Pictures were made to entertain. If you want to send a message, call Western Union.”  Anyone who has ever seen Cider House Rules, Vera Drake, and If These Walls Could Talk might wonder why these blatant pro-abortion propaganda efforts are not criticized in the same way by these critics. Given the success of films like Kill Bill and The Hunger Games, it might well be that, when it comes to everything from depicting the truth to glorifying violence while criticizing the pro-life movement as violent, Hollywood and its warped morality relish hearing the director say “cut”.

Copyright, 2012  Gabriel Garnica

How You Feel When You Have Sinned Says Much About Your Relationship With God

We are all sinners, in one way or another.  As imperfect humans we can slip from time to time; that is a given.  Peter slipped big time, various times, with perhaps the worst coming after he had stumbled previously.   Often, our slips take on a pattern. There are certain “weak spots” we each have.  With little thought, we can identify these danger areas, and try to avoid them.  For some it is not telling the truth; for others it is seeing money as some sort of god.  Still others are weak to the temptations of the flesh, while others seem to be resentful, selfish, or oblivious to the pain of others. Whatever your particular weak areas, it is obvious that one of your tasks is to progressively reduce and hopefully eventually eliminate your slips in those areas.

I do not pretend to compare sin with smoking, but there is some point of comparison there.   I have never smoked, but I know many people who do, and some of these have tried to stop, with varying results. It seems to me that the first step toward quitting anything harmful is to actually find it harmful, to dislike the impact that act has on your life, and on you as a person. If you think smoking is cool, or you find that smoking helps you relax, it seems that it would be much harder to stop smoking.  The eventual negative, terrible as it can be, is outweighed by the immediate positive.

Sin has a devastating eventual negative, and can have an equally harmful immediate negative as well but, if one perceives the immediate “positive” as strong or attractive enough, there will be far less motivation to stop or reduce a sinful pattern.

We all fall; we all need forgiveness, far too often.  We all benefit from having such a loving and merciful Judge. However, loving and merciful does not mean oblivious to our sin.  We must constantly reaffirm the devastating long-term cost of sin ( perdition) and just as constantly cultivate and relish the closeness and comfort of having a good relationship with God. We must love God so much that we come to feel empty after sin, remorseful of the distance that sin creates between God and ourselves.  Despite the obvious eternal devastation of sin, we must feel an immediate pain as well.   It is not enough to avoid, dislike, or fear sin because of that eternal devastation.  We must come to detest, to abhor, to feel the emptiness of sin’s broken promises.  Sin is often the quick fix, the alluring distraction, the convenient aside, which pulls us away from serving God. We must come to see sin as something so detestable, so vile, that we can barely stand it.  The faster the emptiness, the disgust, the discomfort, we feel after sin, the greater the motivation we will have to do what we can, all we can, to reduce and, hopefully, eventually, eliminate the sinful pattern from our lives.

We should detest sin so much that, after falling, we must feel an urgency to confess that sin.  People who sin often without concern or even discomfort are planting the seeds of persistent, increasingly easy sin which, with time, will distort the cost-benefit of sin itself.  Such people will see the superficial allure of sin as a “positive” , and any negative feelings regarding sin will melt away, causing the immediate allure of sin to repeatedly and often overshadow the perceived non-existent immediate and, eventually, long-term harm of sin.

In summary, if our relationship with God matters to us, we will feel great discomfort whenever that relationship is harmed or distorted.  That great discomfort, then should cause us to feel almost immediate distaste for sin.  We all sin, and we will continue to do so, but if we detest sin so much that we cannot stand to be apart from God for even a day or two, we will reduce our sin and, when we fall, we will immediately and as soon as possible rush back to Our Lord again.  If God is what matters the most in your life, then you will feel empty and lost without Him, and you will not tolerate a sinful state for any considerable length of time.  Our so-called progressive society preaches tolerance as a good and intolerance as an evil. Ironically, this society tolerates too much. If being close to God is what matters the most to us, we will always be “intolerant” of sin, and literally hate the feeling we have when we have fallen. In this case, feeling empty after sin means we are full of love for God, which is the first step toward solidifying our relationship with our Master.

Copyright, 2012   Gabriel Garnica

If They Have Not Started Criticizing or Mocking You For Christ Yet, You Have Not Yet Started to Serve Him

It should be all too obvious by now that tearing Christians apart is once again a spectator sport, as it was in Ancient Rome.  Just as hypocritical cowards satisfied their deep hatred and utter distaste for Christians back then by watching lions rip innocent men, women, and children apart from the safety of their coliseum seats, so too hypocritical cowards today satisfy their deep revulsion and utter disgust of Christians today by watching the entertainment and news media slice and dice Christians and all that is sacred to them with nary a concern nor  any hesitation. Just the other day Saturday Night Live, that clear reflection of current social norms, decided that it would be funny to insert an item mocking Christ,  the fact that He was conceived while His Blessed Mother remained a Virgin and, indirectly, Christian’s belief in that Virgin conception, all in the course of thirty seconds.  The gratuitous shot at Christians drew the typical laughter from an audience which has been well taught by this society that mocking Christianity and its beliefs is not only acceptable but, more often than not, a sign of being sophisticated and modern.  Worse still, many of those in the front lines of that mockery either called themselves Christians at one time or, incredibly, still do!

Every disrespect, every mockery, of Christianity, is justified by some absurd rationalization or twisted logic.   For Catholics, such offenses have become more and more frequent and common place. Whether it is the image of Our Lady made of dung, a crucifix in urine, or some scandalous play claiming Our Lord was a homosexual, such despicable offenses against our Catholic beliefs are justified as art.  Vulgar statements or images are defended as freedom of expression.  All of this while Catholics increasingly find that our own expressions and right to be heard and respected is minimized and marginalized. The abject  hypocrisy and disrespect of this society toward what we hold sacred and, above all, toward Our Lord and His Mother is rampant, unmitigated, insolent, treacherous, and detestable.

So we live, in many ways, in an environment somewhat like that which Our Lord saw, where evil is right and right is evil, where mindless fools imagine themselves purveyors of morality and fairness, and where those in power scandalize our beliefs by even pretending to demonstrate any of them with any sincerity. Catholics helped elect a leader who is a true opponent of our faith, and so-called Catholic politicians just killed an effort to somewhat soften or mitigate the evil of that leader’s health mandate regarding contraception.  Our faith is betrayed daily by traitors who proclaim themselves devout Catholics but are nothing but heretics who have sold their souls, and that of many followers, to evil in return for earthly gain.

We are followers of Christ and, as such, we must face the mockery, disrespect, suffering, rejection, and utter ignorance which characterizes those who would mock, criticize, or twist our faith pretending to speak and act in our name. Like our Master, we now have the opportunity to reject the subservient accommodation of our beliefs to the twisted notions and norms of this lost society. The cutting edge, the front  lines, of our faith is not to be found in the comfort of a church or the convenience of our own homes. No, it is far from those things.  If you really want to follow Christ, if you truly want to serve Him and know you are serving Him, continue to do  your work in His Name until they begin to criticize and mock you for Christ, for when that occurs you have truly found the front lines of this struggle.

As Christians in general and Catholics in particular, we must realize that the path to salvation is paved with a faith and love etched through imitating Our Lord’s love and service. We must constantly remember that we have not really begun to serve God until our efforts are mocked, ridiculed, as which point we must double our efforts.

Perhaps, one day, Catholics in particular and Christians in general may find themselves physically persecuted. This has happened all over the world, and there is no reason to believe that it will stop anytime soon.  In order to find salvation, we must first push the envelope of this society’s myopic view of the world which often requires us to choose between our beliefs and conscience.

Do not be afraid of suffering, nor too strongly embrace convenience, for these situations often keep you  focused, disciplined, or on a necessary edge each day. Above all, remember that people of faith embrace suffering as the channel to drawing some portion of His sacrifice.  If, on the other hand, you play everything safe and seek to avoid conflict or struggle, then you are evading your ultimate responsibility to your audience and to yourself.

Copyright, 2012    Gabriel Garnica

Salvation is Ultimately About Love, Service, & Prayer in The Right Priority

Love, Service, and Prayer.  Salvation is ultimately about how well we practice and apply these three concepts to our lives. Christ provided us with the template for a life applying precisely these three critical elements on a regular basis, and it is our mission to follow our Master’s blueprint for salvation, both for ourselves and others.

Initially, then, we must strive to practice these three things in our daily lives.  First, we must work to love as Christ loved, serve as He served, and Pray as He prayed.  While we cannot pretend to be able to do these three things as well as Our Lord did, we can aspire to sincerely do our best on a daily basis.  If we truly love, we will be willing and happy to serve.  If we truly love, we will be better able to pray.  Ultimately, love connects prayer and service, and the three connect us to Christ.

However, it is not enough that we merely try to practice and apply the above three things.  In order to truly enhance our path to salvation, we must practice and apply these three things in the proper order, which is God first, others second, and ourselves third.

In other words, we must love God first, others second, and ourselves third.  We must serve God first, others second, and ourselves third.  Finally, we must pray in thanksgiving to God first, in request/thanks for others second, and in request for ourselves third.

There is nothing wrong with loving and serving ourselves and praying for our own requests, but we must place such things in third order for we know that God will provide us with what we need and deserve. While it is good for us to ask Him for ourselves, we must do so with humility, obedience, respect, and patience, all of which are exemplified when we place our interests third in priority.

It is of much greater value, then, to place the interests of others before our own. Hence,  loving, serving, and praying for others is more conducive to our salvation than doing these very same things merely for ourselves. In fact, doing these things for those who mistreat us is of even greater value and, if we are honest, of much greater difficulty given our human nature. This is why it is more valuable to love, serve, and pray for those who mistreat and dislike us than for those who treat us well.

Of greatest value, however, is loving, serving, and praying in thanks to God Himself.  As the title of this blog implies, loving God is what matters most by far, and what will guide us to do everything else that is right.  If we truly love God above anything else, we will likewise want to serve Him above anyone or anything else.  When we pray, we must remember how much we have to be thankful for, and pray accordingly. How many people pray only in supplication and not thanks, as if denying or ignoring the many blessings they have already received from God Almighty.

The more we pray in thanks, serve in obedience, and love above all else with regard to Our Heavenly Father, the more we will love, serve, and pray for others and, ultimately, the more we will love, serve, and enhance our prayers regarding ourselves.  Christ told us that if we place ourselves last, our status will be elevated and, conversely, if we elevate ourselves first, we will be relegated.  Our Lord gave a beautiful example of love and service when He washed His followers’ feet at The Last Supper.  How can we expect anything less to be demanded of ourselves?

Love, service, and prayer are the three keys to salvation but, more than merely three coins helping us pass through the gates of eternal happiness, they must be applied and practiced in the right measure and order in order to be effective currency for salvation.  If we place ourselves last, others second, and God first in all things, we will truly be making the best and most effective investment in our eternal address.

Copyright, 2012  Gabriel Garnica

 

For This Society, Tomorrow is a Pain in The Ash

   Tomorrow, as all Catholics with a clue know, is Ash Wednesday which, in light of the absurdity raining on our Faith from the present powers that be, takes on an even more significant and profound tone. Ash Wednesday is about a number of key concepts which clash with the society we live in and the leaders that society has enabled.

1. Mortality…….First of all, Ash Wednesday is about reminding us of our own mortality; the fact that, regardless of whether we are a king or a pauper, a president or a plumber, a saint or a sinner, our powers are limited.  Mortality, then, is about more than the certainty that we will each die someday.  Beyond that, it is about the sheer temporary nature of our existence, relevance, significance, and importance in the temporal plane. Not only do our very lives have a limit on this earth but, just as importantly, everything we foolishly grasp onto throughout our journey on this rock has its limits as well. As much as we all would like to fool ourselves, we are not and have never been the masters of our domain because, for one thing, we are neither masters nor is this our domain!

This society preaches a very different view. It deludes us into accepting the fantasy that it is all about us; what we want, how we feel, what makes us comfortable, what is easiest, what feels good, and what fits our “domain”.  Ironically, the core of this view that “we are it” is the notion that “this is it” and that there are no eternal consequences for our actions and beliefs, nothing beyond this life we have. By brazenly declaring themselves qualified to say that there is nothing beyond this existence, Atheists irrationally propose the transcendence of their own limitations.  By sheepishly passing on the discussion altogether, agnostics replace the atheists’ arrogance with cowardice.  Ultimately, while we all must obviously function in the temporal, earthly plane, we must choose whether or not our aspirations will be chained to that plane or aspire to a more eternal, sacred one.  If our aspirations go beyond this earth, then we must necessarily recognize and accept  the limitations of this existence, and the mortality of all that enables that existence. “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return” is not exactly what this society is about.

2. Accepting Responsibility and Confessing Faults

Pointing fingers has become a national pastime.  Nobody accepts responsibility, their participation, in anything wrong, unsuccessful, or foolish. We have a leadership which is driving our national bus off a cliff while pointing at everyone but the driver.  Everybody spews lists of reasons why x and y cannot  lead us while ignoring the catalogs of reasons why O should not lead us any more. We have an emperor with no clothes dictating our moral fashion. A society which ignores its faults, supported by its enabling media, is the first to mock, criticize, dictate, and marginalize others. How can we confess our sins when we do not even accept fault, much less sin, much less responsibility for anything we do? We have turned our backs on what is true, critical, and central in our struggle to render meaning to our lives, content to admire ourselves in the mirror of our own self-obsession rather than humbly and contritely conceding our own limitations and need for healing ourselves and others. We can all use a little more modesty and self-reflection.  If we bother to look at ourselves with more critical sincerity before we point at others, we might be able to more often turn that pointed hand into a helping one.

3. Wearing our Faith on Our Sleeve

We have witnessed what this society thinks of open displays of faith.  Tim Tebow’s courageous demonstrations of faith were met with anger, resentment, mockery, ignorance, and outright rage by diverse people and sources. From those whose lives embody anything but love, modesty, humility, unselfishness, kindness, compassion, sincerity, or respect, such displays of objection against a young man living his faith are deplorable. A society which finds no objection in vulgar, sacrilegious, superficial, hypocritical, and false displays dares to dictate, mock, and judge the displays of people of faith. A society which embodies “out of sight, out of mind”  now equally represents “out of its mind,  out of its sight’.

If you are Catholic, wear your ashes proudly tomorrow.  Know that you are witnessing Christ and His ultimate sacrifice.  Understand that you are preaching His message of humility, contrition, unselfish love, forgiveness, redemption, and salvation.  Every time someone mocks or is amused by that cross on your forehead, offer those arrows to God. Whenever someone stares at you with a puzzled look, return that look with a smile.  If someone asks you to explain, do so with pride and passion and, if someone should inform you that you have some dirt on your forehead, answer “It is there because my Lord is always there, for I put God first and let everything else fall into place.”

Copyright, 2011  Gabriel Garnica

You have found your cross!

Love…endures through every circumstance.’ 1 Corinthians 13:7

Imagine a world without divorce.

Imagine families without separation.

Imagine no children or hearts torn apart.

 

People of one place in this world do not have to imagine.

In the town of Siroki-Brijeg in Herzegovina not one of the 13,000 inhabitants can recall a single divorce or broken family.

What is their secret?

One look at their marriage rite says it all.

When the bride and bridegroom go to the church to be married they carry a crucifix with them.

The priest blesses the crucifix and exclaims, “You have found your cross!

It is a cross to love, to carry with you, a cross that is not thrown off but rather treasured.”

When they interchange the marital vows,

the bride puts her right hand on this crucifix and the groom puts his right hand over hers.

Both are united to the cross.

The priest covers their hands with his stole while they pronounce their promises to love each other in good times and in bad.
Then they both first kiss the cross, not each other !

If one abandons the other, they abandon Christ on the cross.

Afterwards, the newly-weds cross the threshold of their home to enthrone that same crucifix in a place of honor.

 

It becomes the reference point of their lives and the place of family prayer.

In times of difficulty and misunderstandings, as all human relationships experience,

they do not turn immediately to the lawyer or psychologist,

they turn to the cross.

 

They kneel, cry and open up their hearts …

begging for the strength to pardon and implore the Lord’s help.

The children are taught to reverently kiss the crucifix daily

and to thank him for the day before going to bed.

These children dream of enthroning one day a crucifix of their own.
The family is indissolubly united to the cross of Christ.

Is this simply a morbid outlook on marital and family life?

 

Or is it a piece of wisdom that few in our modern world can understand.

Until our world does, it will continue to imagine and long for the unbroken hearth.

(Marian Observer Feb. 2002).