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Time Out!

March 27, 2020 / Greg Garda

How God is Calling You To Take A Break

Yesterday we were visiting my mom and our oldest daughter, Marian (4 years old) was loosing her mind.

Marian has a habit of consistently repeating mischievous things, even though she’s aware of the consequences.

For example, while eating at the table she will sit close to the edge of her chair instead of in the middle. Within moments, she falls off her chair. Despite hurting her bum, she will repeat the same mistake several times over the course of a meal.

Another classic mischievous act is chasing our cat around our home. Both of our daughters are guilty of this. Once our cat, Emma, is fed-up, she will take a swipe at them, resulting in small scratches on their hands. While I think Marian has learned her lesson, Katherine still insists on occasionally grabbing Emma’s tail.

As you can imagine both my wife and I get frustrated when our girls repeat the same mischievous acts even though they know the consequences.

Idleness is the Devil’s Workshop

March 24, 2020 / Greg Garda

One of the most tempting things for me is grabbing my phone first thing in the morning and scrolling through the news updates. By the time I’m done scrolling through my news feed, I get a notification to refresh the page in order to read the latest article about fatalities related to the coronavirus. Tap “refresh” and here we go again from the top.

Once my mind goes numb from refreshing my news feed several times, I turn to YouTube, to watch commentary on… you guessed it!… the current pandemic. Admittedly, most of the commentary is spiritual in nature, but I do sneak in a few videos about investing in times of recession (hint: grocery companies).

Photo by dole777 on Unsplash

If at this point, my wife hasn’t yelled at me to help prepare breakfast for the girls, I’ll turn to Twitter, which is an entire rabbit hole on its own.

Admittedly, in the past week, this pattern of social media binging, did not only take place in the morning. When the girls are napping, after supper and before I fall asleep.

Last night I thought to myself, “This is ridiculous. I’m just numbing myself. I gotta do something about it.”

The Dangers of Boredom

I realized that the root of my seemingly uncontrollable urge to numb myself is boredom. Because of the busy and “on the go” nature of our society, boredom for us is what headaches are to alcoholics who go into withdrawal after stopping drinks cold turkey. It’s almost unbearable!

A famous proverb reads, “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.”

For some it can be easier to believe in God than the devil, since I think we have trivialized the devil in kid’s cartoons. Let me set the record straight; the devil is not a red dude in spandex with a pitchfork who likes to party. In the book of Ezekiel the devil is described as a fallen spiritual being (so no physical appearance) who rebelled against God (see. Ezekiel 28:16).

In Hebrew, the name “Satan” mean “deceiver.”

Don’t be Deceived!

The devil is a spiritual being who seeks to deceive us into turning away from God. He of course lives up to his name in Genesis 3, when he deceives Adam and Eve into believing that they can be greater than God.

So what is a deception? One dictionary definition reads, “The act of deliberately making somebody believe something that is not true.”

In my social media binge example, I convinced myself that I am informing myself of the latest news as a responsible citizen. But in reality, I was way passed “informing myself.” I was numbing myself to the point where I was not doing anything productive and life affirming, like spending time with my kids.

In addition, my eyes were burning and I felt emotionally and physically drained before even getting out of bed!

One of the dangers for many of us in the next few months will be boredom. For many, including myself, boredom tempts us to fall into old or new negative habits.

Stay Sharp!

Try to keep yourself sharp. Don’t develop a habit of sleeping in, endless scrolling through social media or binge watching The Office (guilty!). When you keep yourself sharp, you and everyone under your roof will be blessed.

In his book, Ezekiel receives a vision of water flowing out from under the altar in the Jerusalem temple, out of the temple into the Jordan River, to the basin of Arabah (in modern day Syria) and finally into the stagnant sea (see Ezekiel 47:1-12). Along the river Ezekiel sees “all kinds of trees for food.”

Ezekiel writes, “Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”

A little bit of history on this imagery before I conclude. In the ancient Jerusalem temple, a man made stream would flowed from the altar into the city, into a river and eventually into the Dead Sea. When a lamb was sacrificed during the Passover on the altar of the temple, the blood would drain from the altar into the stream and flow out into the city and eventually into various water sources. In antiquity, blood and water were signs of life. Therefore, the water mixed with blood from the lamb sacramentally sanctified (made holy) anything it touched.

Just as the flowing water from the temple brought about life for the Jewish people, so do we bring “life” into our household when we practice life-giving habits instead of remaining stagnant like stale water.

Here are six habits I’m going to try to be intentional with in the coming months: 1) Wake up before my family 2) Exercise for at least 30 minutes 3) write on my blog (with a large cup of coffee) 4) play with my kids 5) read books I always wanted to but never had the time for 6) tutor online for Hungarian and French. I know this will keep me feeling good. When I feel good, my family feels good.

What can you do to avoid idleness and stay sharp?

Prayer

Father God, we thank you for the gifts you have given us. We pray for the motivation and patience to conquer through these uncertain times. Most importantly, we pray for the souls of those who recently have passed from this world into the peace of your presence and for frontline workers who continue to serve our needs. We make this prayer through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

Daily Reflection and Prayer – March 23, 2020

March 24, 2020 / Greg Garda

When my grandfather was a young man in the 1950s he was in peek athletic shape, but it’s something he took for granted.

When he turned 18 he joined the Romanian Soviet military, like many men during that time. During his time his time in the military he picked up smoking cigarettes. He didn’t think much of it; it’s something he just did since all his buddies were doing it.

During the time my grandfather was in the military, he met my grandmother. After about a year of dating, they got married and shortly after had my mother.

As my mom was growing my grandfather dedicated countless hours to teaching her how to skate, swim and do gymnastics. He also enjoyed hiking in the dense forests just outside of their town.

Throughout all this, my grandfather continued to smoke without giving it any thought. After all, smoking was just the norm. Every man did it. Until one day, he was swimming with my mom in a pool and realised he could no longer swim its length. He was completely out of breath before even reaching the halfway point of the pool.

Concerned, he went to the doctor and had his chest x-rayed. The x-ray revealed black soot covering the inside of his lungs.

This image was a wake up call for my grandfather. There was nothing he valued more than his health and time with my mom. My grandfather realised that if he didn’t stop smoking he will loose the things he values most. Since that day in the doctor’s office, he has never touched another cigarette.

My grandfather is now 85, still rides his bike, goes for longs walks and is able to care for my grandmother.

It took an alarming “wakeup call” to shock my grandfather out of his complacency.

An Opportunity for Renewal

I’m of the belief that God can permit some evil (natural or moral) to shake us out of complacency. More importantly, I believe, that He can permit evil so that his power can become more evident.

One example of this is Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection from the grave.

As C.S. Lewis reflects on the early death his wife in his book “A Grief Observed”, he arrives at the following realization: “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

Keep in mind this is a written by a man, who not only lost his wife, but also lived through WWI and WWII.

A common theme in today’s mass readings is renewal in the midst of suffering.

Amidst this current crisis, what is Jesus trying to renew in your life? I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this pandemic has forced us into retreat during Lent.

The purpose of Lent is to deprive ourselves of worldly comforts so that we can come to recognize our dependence on God.

I don’t know about you, but I have certainly been deprived of a lot of things I take for granted. For one, financial certainty. To be frank, when I looked at my families investments in the past week I dropped more than an F-bomb. Another things I have often took for granted is going to a store whenever I want and the shelved being so full that I have trouble deciding between which brand of canned black beans to get for making burritos. Recently I didn’t have the choice of buying and brand of black beans; I had to settle for green beans, which I despise.

Of course this is trivial in the greater scheme of things, but it goes to show how comfortable life I have been living.

Takeaways

So to conclude, I’d like to share with you some things I have been forced to realize in the last week.

First, is the importance of family. Luckily, we are staying with our family in St. Catharines for the time being. I feel the temptation to binge on YouTube Videos, Amazon Prime Shows, or scroll through endless social media updates regarding the pandemic. With two little girls, that’s not an option.

So with our family’s schedule being completely blank, I have been playing with my girls in the backyard as they jump and roll around in muddy puddles (they’re Peppa Pig fans).

I also have been practicing being still, reflecting on daily mass readings and praying the rosary. In the face of so much uncertainty, I have no option, but to lean on Jesus, if I don’t want to be overburdened by anxiety.

These two things I am grateful for.

Prayer

Almighty and powerful God. Help us to lean on you and trust that from this pandemic a renewed world will emerge. We pray for the ill and frontline healthcare workers, including my mom (who’s a nurse), that they received the wisdom, strength and peace to overcome this virus. We pray all this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Even God Runs Out of Patience

March 18, 2020 / Greg Garda

One of the benefits of being Catholic is that suffering is not without meaning nor is it accidental. The meaning that I derive from suffering helps me persevere, even in the face of the greatest uncertainty.

Moreover, as a Catholic I find peace in the history of the Church, including the history of the Israelites found in the Old Testament.

Photo by Bill Oxford on Unsplash

The worldwide challenges we are experiencing today in the face of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) should not shock the well informed and devout Catholic Christian.

Today’s first mass reading from the prophet Daniel presents a situation that is very similar to ours.

The Israelites are in exile from their homeland and are being persecuted. The first line of the reading (Daniel 3:25) places a person (Azariah) in the middle of an execution being burnt alive.

As Azariah is being burnt alive he pleads for God’s mercy on behalf of his people. In the Old Testament, it is clear the Israelites consistently turn away from God and adopt the ways of the pagan cultures that surround them. One prominent example that stands out is found in 1 Maccabees 1:10-15 when the Jews took on the liturgical practices of their Greek occupiers; going so far as to turn their Jewish places of worship into Greek gymnasiums. You’re only a google search and a few clicks away from discovering what took place in ancient Greek gymnasiums. Let me put it this way: Many “shepherds” whom recently been persecuted for decades of exploitation of young men would have felt right at home.

As Azariah pleads for God’s mercy he lists the consequences for Israel’s sins. They look eerily similar to what the Church has been facing in recent times. Let’s list them:

“For we, O Lord, have become fewer than any other nation, and are brought low this day in all the world because of our sins.” It you look around the world, the church is bleeding faithful Catholics. Recent studies have shown that Catholics leave a rate of 6 to 1, while mass attendance hovers around the 10% mark in the West.
In our day we have no ruler, or prophet, or leader, no burnt offering or sacrifice, or oblation, or incense, no place to make an offering before you and to find mercy.” While I will refrain from commenting on Church leadership, at the moment Catholics are facing situation where they are being deprived of the Eucharist, or the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Let’s be clear, while God’s patience and mercy are infinite, we are finite. We only have so long to respond to His mercy. For us, God’s patience does run out and sometimes He needs to send a massive wakeup call. How we respond to this wakeup call will d

December 2, 2018 / Greg Garda

Some Bishops Forgot To Read the Bible

November 29, 2018 / Greg Garda

November 11, 2018 / Greg Garda

Loving God All Our Heart When We Can’t See Him…?

November 3, 2018 / Greg Garda

Looking to outsmart Jesus a scribe asks, “Which is the first of all commandments?” Jesus responds: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.” Jesus continues: “The second is this: You shall your neighbour as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Isn’t it strange that the scribe asked Jesus for one commandment, yet Jesus answers with two commandments? Did Jesus not hear correctly? Did Mark make a grammatical mistake? I don’t think so.

Keep in mind that the gospel writers did not have Microsoft Word where they can start writing without much thought and not have to worry about using up paper. Papyrus went for a premium in the ancient Near East, so those who were able to afford it used it with intention. So why did Jesus respond with two commandments instead of one?

#LoveIsLove….?

I think the answer is quite clear; you can’t have one without the other. Skeptics or atheists may respond by saying that they don’t believe in God, much less love him, yet they are capable of loving their neighbour. I agree, you don’t need to love God to love your neighbour. As a Catholic Christian I believe that every human person is created in the image of God. Since God is love (see 1 John) he can only create out of love; therefore, it follows that humans are created from love to love (though sin distorts authentic love).

Yet when I was an atheist I found it difficult to find an objective source for what we call love. Is love merely a feeling associated with survival that is the result of an evolutionary process. Do we love in order to survive. We know that’s not always true. Many people throughout history loved to the point of suffering and even death.

In our relativistic society some believe that love is subjective, evidenced by popular phrases as #LoveIsLove. This is an incoherent phrase because if anyone can define love to be whatever they wish. Love is…euthanizing one’s neighbour; Love is…aborting one’s neighbour; Love is…a cozy feeling towards my cat. Love can quickly be twisted into something unrecognizable if the source of love is not affirmed in our lives.

Everyone appears to have a sense of love, yet no one can point to one love that is perfect – a love that is not lacking. Yet, we all have a sense of perfect love – the sense that things can always be better. The source of this perfect love, I believe, is God, whose very essence is love.

Tapping into the Right Source

So if we acknowledge God as perfect love and ground ourselves in Him we tap into the source of authentic love and we can learn to see our neighbours a little bit more like God sees them.
We all know the saying, “You are what you eat.” I believe we also are what worship. Does this mean if we worship God we can become gods ourselves? Of course not. We can no more become a god anymore than we can become the salad we had for dinner. Like food that can effect our physical health, our object of worship affects our spiritual health, which in turn affects how we treat others around us.

The process of learning to see things as God sees them is called “theosis.” When we love God with all our heart, mind and soul it becomes impossible to not see the inherent dignity of other people, independent of their social status, personal struggles or utility.

Getting to Know Perfect Love

So if we want to love our neighbour to our fullest potential then we must tap into perfect love first. Tap into God.

Luckily, we as Christians believe that God became human in the person of Jesus Christ, so knowing God and loving him becomes a little easier. St. Paul writes that Jesus has become “the visible image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). God is no longer an abstract concept or entity, but a person, so it can become a little easier to love him.

I can only speak for myself, but there is a major difference in how I see the people closest to me and even those who I may not like that much since becoming a Christian. Knowing Jesus allows me to know others as Jesus knows them. That changes everything.

Perception Is Not Always Reality: Reflecting on the Eucharist

August 20, 2018 / Greg Garda

By Insight Not by Sight

Perception is not always reality. In other words, our eyes can sometimes deceive us.

In his second letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul famously writes, “For we live by faith and not by sight” (5:7). Is Paul telling us that we should just put on blind folds and blindly walk through life hoping that everything will turn out fine? Not at all! At the time of Paul’s writing Corinth was a wealthy metropolitan port with several “shiny” distractions that were not too different from major metropolitan hubs today, like my own Toronto.

Photo by Yeshi Kangrang on Unsplash

Emerging from the subway steps onto Dundas Square in the heart of downtown Toronto we are immediately bombarded with shiny colourful advertisements, loud music, and several restaurants, cafes, and outlet stores swarming with people. All these distractions can easily lead us to miss a reality that exists under the surface.

Homeless men and women begging for food and money, drug addicts, the garbage in alleyways, police attentively scanning the area for any possible crime and those things that are even hidden from all our of our senses, like the inner brokenness or happiness of the people who fall into our sight. These are all things that lie under the surface of regular sight.

The Closing of the Canadian Mind: Selective Open Mindedness and Learning to Take Offence

August 15, 2018 / Greg Garda

There have been a few people on mind lately for various reasons. An Amazon delivery man who recently delivered a package to us. This gentleman patiently waited at our front door until I was able to open it. Most amazon delivery persons drop the package and book it. He kindly greeted me as “sir” (even though he was at least twice my age) and with a warming personality wished me good night. Two of my admittedly favourite people to speak are two of my wife’s friends from her days in university. Warm hearted, compassionate, and loving are the first three ways I can describe them. One my good friends, who has a great sense of humour, is classy, and just a joy to hang out with. My sister is hard working, always puts her whole being into tasks and is a loving aunt of whom my daughters can’t get enough of. Finally, last year, at an interfaith event I spoke at I had a brief discussion with a young woman who had two toddlers who were about the same ages as my daughters. We shared a few laughs about the similarities of our experiences.

Besides being exceptional human beings they all share something else in common. They all have different belief systems then myself. The Amazon delivery gentlemen, one of my wife’s friends, and the young woman with toddlers are Muslim. My wife’s other friend is Hindu. My close friend and sister are agnostic, based on previous conversations we’ve had about religion. Oh by the way, I respectfully disagree with their belief system and I love asking them critical questions.

Wait a minute…. So I am delighted to be around these human beings, I respect and even love some of them, but I am critical of what they believe? For some, the idea of caring for individuals, disagreeing with them and potentially offending them is oxymoronic, even if the criticisms are regarding matters of facts. It is in this “oxymoronic” mode of thought that I witnessed the closing of the Canadian mind this past weekend.

Clearly Catholic