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Category: God and Society (Page 4 of 10)

Why You Will Never Be Happy

November 27, 2020 /

Reflection & Prayer – November 27, 2020

Story of Michael

By his mid 30s Michael became a successful entrepreneur and social activist for his community in Birmingham, Alabama. After a life of hardship, growing up to a single mom, making bad financial decisions that cost him his home, car and first business, Michael felt that he finally “rose from the ashes.” 

By Teddy Osterblom from Unsplash

Mike was on his way to pick up his mat black 2019 Audi A7. It was going to be the first new car he has ever owned. Mike arrives at the dealership, he’s handed the keys, and off he drives. 

 

He pulled out of the dealership in his brand new Audi and rolled to a stop at a red light. While waiting at the lights Mike noticed a trailer pulling into the dealership carrying the 2020 models of the car he just bought. 

 

The adrenaline he felt from driving his new Audi for less than a minute immediately disappeared as his eyes watered over the newest model. He quickly turned around and entered the dealership desperate to buy a 2020 model. 

 

Thankfully for Mike, sanity kicked in when he realised that, not only could he not afford the latest model, but that he would lose 25% on the car he just got minutes ago. 

 

Black Friday and Consumerism

 

As many people in the world flock to get the best deals on this Black Friday and the upcoming Cyber Monday, Michael’s story should remind us of one important lesson: 

 

We have the tendency to confuse gratification with satisfaction.  

 

Gratification is a high that never fulfils itself. 

 

If you’ve ever bought something only to forget about it a short while later, you know things do not satisfy. Things do not satisfy our longing for fulfillment and peace. In fact they do the opposite, they disturb our peace. 

 

It’s ok to like nice and shiny things, but it’s not ok for your desire for these things to control you. 

 

Finally, when you do shop, be conscious of the items you are buying. Recognize that every item you purchase has the fingerprints of another human being on it. The question to ask yourself, do those finger prints belong to someone who received a fair, living wage or to someone who has been unjustly exploited. 

 

Jesus says, ‘What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?“

 

Regarding consumerism… 

 

Carolyn Knapp says “Consumerism thrives on emotional voids.”

 

Former President of the United States, Jimmy Carter said, “Too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and pleasure.”

 

Archbishop Fulton Sheen said, “Advertising tries to stimulate our sensuous desires, converting luxuries into necessities, but it only intensifies man’s inner misery. The business world is bent on creating hungers which its wares never satisfy, and thus it adds to the frustrations and broken minds of our times.”

 

Let us pray,

 

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

 

Lord Jesus, I thank you for all the good possessions in my life. On this Black Friday help me to recognize the human value attached to all my belongings. Help me to recognize that real fulfilment does not come from things, but from a solid friendship with you. I pray for the people around the world who endure unjust working conditions only to make ends meet. Help us as a society to recognize the inherent dignity of every human person, especially exploited workers around the globe who are fighting for their dignity day in and day out. 

 

We make this prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen. 

 

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit

Why You Should Treat Your Body Like God’s Home

November 10, 2020 /

One Sunday in August my family and I decided to go for a walk on Lakeshore Blvd. near the Exhibition grounds and BMO field. 

 

As we were making our way towards Lake Ontario we noticed a gathering of fancy sports cars in front of a building. It appeared to be some kind of fundraiser. Car enthusiasts with classic American muscle cars like 67 Corvettes and Mustangs to modern marvels of engineering such 2020 McClaren P1s, Ferrari La Ferraris and Porche 918 Spiders lined Lakeshore Blvd. 

 

 

They  were all in immaculate condition. Not a scuff. You could be blinded by the sunshine reflecting off their surface. I remember telling my wife how afraid I would be to drive one of those cars. I’d be terrified of getting a small scratch on them or someone hitting it in a parking lot. There was no doubt about it; the owners of these cars treated them like their own children…. Maybe even better. 

 

Body and Soul Unity

 

Similar to a state of the art supercar our God-given bodies have a value that is greater than any material thing in this world. The dignity of our bodies are not defined by dollar signs, but by their source and designer, God. 

 

Not only did God design us, His Holy Spirit also dwells in us. In today’s reading St. Paul writes, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?…For God’s temple is holy, and that temple you are.”

 

Our bodies are not merely outer casings for our souls. God created both our bodies and souls; therefore, there is an inseparable connection between the two. We are not merely our bodies, nor are we merely our souls, in the same way a car shell alone is not a car, nor is an engine alone a car. A car is a sum of all its parts. 

 

This unity of our body and soul is the dwelling place of God’s Holy Spirit. For this reason, you and I have an inherent dignity that is greater than anything else in this world. Do not look down on yourself. Treat yourself with the same dignity and respect you would treat a loved one. God demands it. 

 

Let us pray,

In the name of the Father…

I invite you to make this prayer your own. 

Father God. Thank you for creating me. You envisioned every intricate detail about me before bringing me into existence. I’m sorry for the times I looked down on myself. Help me to see myself as you see me. The perfect temple for your Spirit. I pray this in your holy name. Amen. 

In the name of the Father…

Why Striving for Sainthood is Not Boring Nor Depressing

October 31, 2020 /

Is Holiness Boring?

 

Before becoming Catholic I believed that holiness was being pious and serious. Whenever, I’d enter a Catholic Church I would see stained glass windows and statues of saints praying on their knees with their eyes and arms outstretched toward heaven. Moreover, none of the saints ever smiled. Since then I’ve come to learn that the icons in Catholic (and Orthodox) churches are reminiscent of an artistic style that stretches back nearly 1700 years. I mean, what was I thinking? Should icons of saints resemble TikTok, Instagram, or SnapChat posts? 

Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen
from Unsplash.com

Even so, if holiness is defined by nonstop prayer and seriousness, count me out. Maybe I don’t want to be a saint. Even after becoming Catholic, I’d pray for God to make me “holy…enough,” because I didn’t want to be miserable. 

 

But if you think about it, if holiness is defined by misery then God is not Our Father, but a narcissistic master who imposes duties on us so, in turn, we get what we need. 

 

Holiness = Peace, Confidence & Acceptance

 

What surprised me even more, is that when I came across nuns wearing habits, faithful priests or married couples striving to live an authentic Christian marriage they were the furthest from misery. They were filled with peace, confidence, love and weren’t judgemental. I always wanted to be around them. 

 

Josh & Lisa

 

One example is my friend Josh. Josh and his wife Lisa, and now 8 children, live in Florida. If you met Josh and Lisa you’d get the impression that they live a stress free life. Couldn’t be further from the truth. Josh has struggled with depression and Lisa is a business owner, mom and a cancer survivor. Despite their struggles they are generous with their time, money and marriage. If you’d like to learn more about Josh and Lisa visit Lisa’s YouTube Channel @LisaCanning. There’s a lot more I can say about Josh and Lisa’s  example of holiness, but in brief, their example has led me closer to Jesus and continues to inspire my marriage. 

 

Holiness = Joy + Conquering Tribulation

 

Holiness is simply striving to live communion with Jesus’ teachings. If Jesus is God, and not a conman, then his teachings will naturally lead us to a life of joy, even in the face of tribulation. 

 

So this is holiness: To live a life in union (or friendship) with Jesus while overcoming tribulations on our way to heaven. Once we reach heaven we become saints. 

 

The apostle John’s vision in the book of Revelation is of all the men, women and children who have conquered through the tribulations of life, just as Jesus conquered the Cross. John writes, “”These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” 

 

In my experience, people who strive for holiness are able to be positive and joyful because they don’t allow the tribulations of this world to overwhelm them. Ultimately, they recognize God is in control and that this life is but a comma in light of eternity with Jesus. Ironically, like Josh and Lisa, those who live for eternity, also have the greatest impact on this world. 

 

Let us pray, 

Almighty God,

  as in this morning prayer we offer you our praise,

grant that in your kingdom,

  together with your saints,

  we may praise you with even greater joy.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

  who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

  (one) God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

The Consequences of a Bad Catholic Education

September 2, 2020 /

To be frank, I hated religion class all through elementary and high school. Not because I was closed to God’s existence or even the Catholic Christian faith, but because the curriculum seemed so bland.

Photo by Mathew T. Rader from Unsplash.com

Learning the same thing every year: the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Fruits of the Holy Spirit and stories of Jesus helping the less fortunate. By grade 11 I became numb to religion class and I couldn’t wait to learn to about anything, but Christianity. This was the beginning of my journey away from Christianity and towards embracing secular philosophies, specifically founded on Marxism and various post-modern thought.

 

Is Jesus all about Social Justice?

To be clear, the Ten Commandment, the Beatitudes and other items I listed above are important and lay at the heart of Christianity, but teaching without the greater context of history, the Church and foundational philosophy gives the impression that Christianity is just about being a nice person following the example of Jesus.

Or as contemporary culture would say, Jesus was a “social justice warrior.”

The greatest logical consequence about the above assumption is that if Jesus is just another wise and just teacher then there is nothing to separate him from other great religious, or even, political leaders. Most prominent religious leaders of the past and today believe in a variation of the Golden Rule: Treat others as you’d like to be treated.

 

Jesus was SENT for THIS PURPOSE

But here’s the major point that Catholic Education by in large fails to focus on: Jesus Christ is God. He proved it by dying and resurrecting from the dead.

In addition, while Jesus healed many, including St. Peter’s mother-in-law (see Luke 4), his primary vocation was to teach the Good News (the Gospel) that he is God among his people.

After healing Peter’s mother-in-law along with several inflicted people that came to her home, Jesus was preparing to leave.

But people kept coming to Jesus, preventing him from leaving. Jesus responded: “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose” (Luke 4:43).

“I was sent for this purpose.” Christ’s purpose was not be a nice person, but to show us that he is God in the flesh amongst his people. Jesus wanted to show us that God loves us and understands our suffering so much that he is willing to endure humiliation and death and then conquer it. This gives us hope that suffering, evil and death DO NOT get the final word.

This message ought to be the foundation and starting point of Catholic Education.

Why is Jesus So Mean?

August 11, 2020 /

I remember as a child playing on my great grandparent’s farm in Romania. The family would often gather on the farm to look after the crops. 

Courtesy of Egor Vihkrev from Unsplash.com

One of the most laborious jobs was cutting off dead branches from fruit trees. Like weeds that choke out plants in gardens so do dead branches “choke” trees and inhibit their ability to produce many good fruits. 

 

The dead branches were thrown into a pile and eventually burned. They didn’t fulfil the purpose for which they were created and were thrown aside.

 

For Jesus we are analogous to the branches on fruit trees. In John 15:5 Jesus says,

 

I  am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing (verse 6). 

 

If our lives are not rooted in Jesus we can achieve “nothing” in the same way a branch apart from a tree withers and dies. 

 

By “nothing” I don’t mean sitting around and relaxing. Unfortunately, we are very good at being busy and doing things, but that doesn’t mean being “useful” in the spiritual sense. 

 

Blind business is not holiness. 

 

By patiently asking the Holy Spirit to guide you in your day you will achieve more meaningful and fulfilling things then if you just were busy for the sake of being busy. 

 

My devotion to Jesus gives me focus and context. 

 

Avoiding the Flames

 

Jesus continues to say,

 

If a man [or woman] does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. 

 

This sounds harsh. Is Jesus saying if our lives are not rooted in a friendship with him we will end up in hell? ….Yes. 

 

If you and I know that we have the choice to root our lives in a friendship with Jesus, yet we intentionally strive to live apart from his love, hell is a logical consequence in the same way death is a logical consequence of a branch that is cut off from its host tree. Except in our case we cut ourselves off from our source of life. 

 

Conversely, if we continuously strive to be rooted in Jesus we will experience life to the fullest and bear fruit beyond our greatest imagination. 

 

In Christ. 

God’s Not Limited by Your Expectations

April 3, 2020 /

Have you ever sold yourself short?

One of the fears I had growing up was failure. As a teenager I was hesitant to set myself ambitious goals because I believed I could never reach them. Instead, I settled for goals that I knew were safe.

The people that surround us don’t always help, though they may have perfectly good intentions. For example, my parents were less than encouraging when I didn’t do well on a test (I think this was just a product of the culture they grew up in). When people say negative things about us enough times, we can start believing them, even though they’re untrue.  

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