Holy Week is upon us.  When I was a kid, I knew Holy Week to be the important week where we had to go to church three or four days in a row.  As Catholics we are not just asked to go to church multiple days, we are called to fully participate in the liturgies and reflect on the events leading to Jesus’ death and resurrection.  So much happened in such a short amount of time.  Everything that happened from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday changed the world.  Has it changed your world?  Do we let the passion, death and resurrection of Christ change and transform our lives?

To sum it up and put it simply, Holy Week is about love.  There is absolutely nothing Jesus went through during this time that was not because of His immense love for us.  From His agony in the garden, to his scourging, and everything in between, it was all for you and for me.  How could we look at the cross and not know the depths of his love?  How could we see the nails in his hands and feet, the wounds in his side, and the crown of thorns on his head and not choose to love him in return.  How could we look at the crucified Christ, arms stretched wide open, love poured out and say, “It’s not enough.”  Putting it into words, it sounds crazy.  Yet, how many times have we said this with our thoughts and actions?  How many times have we said, “Jesus, what you did for me isn’t enough”?

We so often search the world, grasping for different things that the world says will satisfy us.  Maybe it’s success, more money, a bigger house, and the list goes on.  We tell ourselves that it is when we get certain things that we will have enough.  In our desire for empty things, it might be easy for us to think that Jesus’ love is nice, but it’s just not enough.  We need something else.  In these moments, look back to the cross.

​During this Holy Week, let Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection transform you.  Reflect on the significance of everything that happened and the impact it has on your daily life.  Walk with Jesus through his journey to the cross.  Keep watch with Him.   Let this week be a reminder of how to pray more deeply, follow the will of the Father more closely, and ultimately, how to love more intensely.  When we experience the love Christ offered to us on the cross, we will be able to share the joy and hope that comes from His resurrection. 

I remember the first time I heard the concept of sharing pronouns.  I was in college when I first heard people discussing this.  It was at this point in time that I realized just how lost and confused our society was.  Now, it is on a regular basis that I see lists of pronouns in people’s email signatures and social media bios.  It is something people do because they want to be seen as tolerant and affirming of this practice.  Our culture is under the impression that people can pick “preferred pronouns.”  As time goes on, the truth continues to be under attack.  When people reject who they are as a male or female, they reject God and the beauty of who He created them to be.

Our world is trying to erase gender and say that it does not matter.  However, it does matter, a lot.  Men and women are different.  We have different traits, abilities, personalities, and strengths.  Both men and women reflect God and His love in different ways.  We each have unique gifts that need to be valued.  Although men and women were created different in many ways, they complement one another.  God’s creation and plans for humanity are perfect and when people attempt to mix things up, it does not go well.  God’s plans go from beautiful to broken.

Masculinity and femininity are beautiful gifts from God.  Many fail to see and understand this.  For quite some time now, there has been a loud and overwhelming movement and voice in our culture that says masculinity is toxic.  This could not be further from the truth.  The issue at hand is actually the lack of authentic masculinity in our society.  Men are called to imitate Jesus Christ, the greatest example of masculinity there is.  He loved others deeply and made sacrifices daily.  He respected all, recognizing their dignity, and protected others, especially women, at all costs.  He was not afraid to be vulnerable, sharing His emotions openly.  When men rise up and strive to live the way God created them to, they offer the rest of the world gifts that are different from women.

The modern feminist movement has become dangerous and destructive.  Those who claim to be for “women’s rights” stand for everything that is contrary to women.  For a movement that claims to support and be for women, they promote the opposite.  They belittle and condemn men while, at the same time, saying they want to be exactly like them, erasing any differences that exist.  With the modern feminist movement, we have seen the value and true gift of femininity being erased with things such as contraception, abortion, vulgarity, and tantrums.  These things are about as anti-women as you can get.  Mary is the perfect model of authentic femininity, who women are called to imitate.  Last summer, I read a book called The Anti-Mary Exposed: Rescuing the Culture from Toxic Femininity by Carrie Gress.  It was a well-written book that really dives into femininity on a deep level.  In it, Gress says, “Mary knew the truth about herself: that everything she had, everything she was, and everything she would ever do was because of the gifts offered to her by her Father, her Creator. She not only knew the truth about herself—which has made her the humblest woman to ever live—but she also knew the truth about God, who he is, especially as Father and Creator.  She surrendered every piece of herself to God the Father as a beloved daughter.”  When women strive to walk in the footsteps of Mary, they offer the world gifts that are different from men.

​We live in a time when our society says gender is “fluid.”  It is a time when people believe one can choose whether to be male or female based on how they feel, reducing gender to a surgery and a clothing change.  As Christians, we need to recognize the dignity of every single person, including those who are struggling with who they are.  We need to continue to share the love of God and help others know that the way they were created is not a mistake.  “God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27)  It is this simple truth that we must not tire of speaking of with love.

I’ve worked at a dining and banquet hall for the past 10 years.  One thing I’ve seen time and time again is just how impatient some people can be.  Some groups who come in on Sundays for the family style chicken dinner seem to never be satisfied.  As soon as one platter of chicken is set down, they are looking for the next refill, asking for it right away, as if they are the only table in the dining room.  They have an abundance of food yet they want more and they want it immediately.  I feel like this is how it can be in our faith sometimes.  We have an abundance of blessings in our lives yet we are always looking for more and asking God for answers about what is to come.  God is patient with us, why can’t we be patient with Him?

We live in a culture of instant gratification.  People want things and they want them now.  Our desires to experience certain things immediately and without delay are often fulfilled.  In our advanced and fast-paced world, it is easy to get many of the things we desire right away.  When it comes to our faith, it is not quite the same.  God’s timing is different from our timing.  He answers us in His own ways and in His own time.

How much time do we spend being too focused on the future, asking God to tell us what the next month, year, or five years will hold?  We want to know when He is going to give us a new job, a relationship with a certain person, or healing from a sickness.  It is good to have desires, especially if they can be used for God’s glory and praise.  However, we need to trust in His perfect timing more than we believe we are lacking in something.  “If only I had this or was better at that” we tell ourselves.  God does not withhold good things from us.  We have all that we need in each moment we are in.

​Some people are more patient than others.  It is a fruit we can ask for more of.  Wherever we are at, there is always room to grow.  There is always space to trust more in God’s timing and appreciate the blessings we have in this present moment.  When waiting for answers in prayer and waiting for the next big thing in life, may we all remember that just to know that God hears us and loves us is enough.

A few days ago, I was thinking about how people define themselves.  Oftentimes, it seems like we let our jobs and what we do define us.  Other times we think our failures and weaknesses say who we are.  Do we find our identities in our job titles or in God?  Do we allow what we do (or don’t do) to tell us who we are or do we ask God to reveal these truths to us?  

Apart from God, we cannot really know who we are.  He reveals the truth to us and the truth sets us free.  We cannot know ourselves except through God and we cannot know God except through prayer.  Prayer gives us a deeper knowledge of God and therefore, ourselves.  Our truest identity is found in how we are seen by our heavenly Father.  We only really know ourselves in the light of God.  If we learn about ourselves through school, work, our life experiences, and the people around us, that is good.  However, we are missing something if we do not include God.  

The first part of knowing ourselves deals with our sin.  When we acknowledge God, there is no room for lies, excuses, or masks.  God shows us our sin while revealing his forgiveness and mercy.  We can only be healed and live fully as children of God through recognizing our sin and through God’s forgiveness.  God loves us as we are, with a completely unconditional love, and it is this love that gives us our deepest identity.  From there, we can accept his love and come to know who we really are.  Looking past our sin, the love God has for us personally as our creator and father is the most pure part of ourselves.  The whole basis for our identity is the fact that each of us is a child of God. 

​We don’t have to search for who we are or try to pick up a bunch of pieces to form our identities.  It is sitting right in front of us, waiting to be accepted and embraced.  Will you embrace your identity as a child of God and accept who you are?  We have value because we were created in the image and likeness of God.  This alone is the most important truth about ourselves.  As St. John Paul II once said, “We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures; we are the sum of the Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of His Son.”  The love of God is what defines your life and gives you your identity.  My hope is that you would be reminded of who you are and allow God to reveal this truth to you.

Yesterday I was flipping through radio stations in my car when I came across the popular song “Imagine” by John Lennon.  Can we all just agree that it is easily one of the worst songs ever written?  Last year, there was a video of a group of celebrities taking turns singing lines of the song that went viral.  For some reason, it seems to be a type of anthem that groups of people unite around when life is hard.  Aside from the dull, depressing melody that drags on and the whiny singing, the lyrics are quite unpleasant.  “Imagine there’s no heaven, it’s easy if you try. No hell below us, above us only sky.  Imagine all the people living for today.”  I am not sure why anybody would want to imagine this, as if this would make life better or solve all the world’s problems.  Hearing this song, I noticed the obvious theme that says life would be better without faith and without God.  This could not be further from the truth.  I started thinking about faith and how vital it is to my life.  To put it simply, without God, what are we living for?

​Do you ever stop and think about what life without faith would be like?  In the eyes of the world, it’s just about growing up, getting through school, and then getting a job so you can work the rest of your life.  Then you die.  Oh and don’t forget to be a “good person.”  The world says we don’t need God.  Our society tells us that there isn’t much of a real purpose to life but to focus on power, pleasure, greed, and doing whatever “makes you happy” without consequences.  What is the purpose in all of this?  What is the end goal in this?  

I sometimes think about how I would respond to certain situations or get through difficult times without faith.  I often think back to a conversation with my uncle at my grandma’s funeral.  “How do people without faith deal with the loss of someone?”  Without faith, there’s no hope, no peace, and no purpose in the suffering, trials, and challenges.  Having faith means knowing that we do not walk alone.

On the flip side, it seems like, without faith, it would be harder to appreciate the blessings in my life and recognize everything good in my life as a gift.  Sure, without faith, we would still experience good times and the love of people around us, but who would we thank?

To sum it up, in the words of St. John Paul II, “The most beautiful and stirring adventure that can happen to you is the personal meeting with Jesus, who is the only one who gives real meaning to our lives.”  Each day of our lives, we have the opportunity to encounter Jesus and come to know and love Him more.  It is through our meeting with Him that we can love and serve others.  Of course, this does not mean that people who don’t have faith do not have a purpose.  Every single life is a gift and has purpose and meaning, whether one knows God or not.  Instead of imagining a world without faith, imagine a world where every person comes to realize that life has purpose and that we are here for a reason bigger than ourselves.  And that reason is Jesus Christ.  Some may want to imagine a world without heaven.  I’ll take a world with faith where we can hope in the promises Christ offers.  What about you?

Lent is now upon us.  As a season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, there is a lot we often try to do in order to make the most of these 40 days.  Ultimately, Lent is about going into the desert.  Just as Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit.  He is calling us to the desert too.

During Lent, we are invited to a barren, desolate place.  While we may think of the desert landscapes of the world, we don’t have to leave the current environments we are in to follow Jesus into the desert.  We are invited to the spiritual desert of our lives.  This is a place away from the business of our lives that allows us to become closer to Jesus.  The desert we are led into during Lent allows us to experience greater silence, deeper prayer, and a stronger yearning for Christ.  It is a place where we are asked to remove the distractions in our lives, detach ourselves from material items, worldly desires, sinful habits, and all that keeps us away from God.

When we empty ourselves of everything that is not Jesus, we will find ourselves searching and hungry.  In this hunger and emptiness, we will be reminded that it is only Jesus who can satisfy us.  There are many ways we can allow Jesus to fill us.  We can spend more time in prayer and silence, attend eucharistic adoration, add in daily mass, go to confession, deny ourselves of certain comforts through fasting, serve others, give to a charitable organization, just to name a few things.

During our time in the desert, we need to refocus on what really matters: Jesus’ suffering and ultimate sacrifice for us.  In the desert we don’t have to be weighed down by the expectations the world has for us.  Instead of hearing what the world is telling us, we can better listen to what God wants for us.  Spending time in the desert gives us the opportunity to learn how to surrender ourselves completely to God and His will for us.  Wandering through the desert will bring us closer to Jesus and help us to experience his love more deeply.

Just as Jesus was tempted, we too will be challenged, stretched, and asked to confront our own weaknesses on our journey through the desert.  When tempted by Satan, Jesus placed his trust in God the Father.  Jesus knew the Father would provide for Him.  May we all follow in the footsteps of Jesus through the desert this Lent, trusting that He will always walk with us.

The contents of a small backpack sprawled across the floor.  A few items of clothing, a notebook, a thin blanket, and some other miscellaneous items lay before me.   This is a typical scene at the organization I work at.  Men coming in for the intake process are asked to empty any bags they have when coming in so that a bag check can be completed.  As these men’s few belongings are dumped out and then picked back up, I am hit with the realization that these are their lives, all packed up in small bags.  Many of them are struggling with drug/alcohol addictions, many of them have come out of prison with nowhere to go, and the list goes on.  These are their lives as men experiencing homelessness.  Each day, I have the opportunity to love them where they are at and encounter Christ among them.

As much as it hurts to say, my attitude towards people experiencing homelessness was not always one of compassion.  It was easy for me to judge and think to myself that it was a person’s fault for ending up homeless and therefore, their own problem to deal with.  They just needed to get a job or work harder.  My mindset was along the lines of, “If they would not have done ‘this’ or would have done ‘that’, then they wouldn’t be in this situation.”  My heart was cold and hardened toward this group of people.  Over time, God began to work within this area of my heart.  The turning point came during my junior year of college.  I was on a spring break retreat/mission trip in New Mexico.  We went to visit Catholic Charities in Albuquerque.  Something that one of the staff members said stuck with me since that day;  “A lot of the people we encounter may have made poor decisions.  However, It’s not our job to question why they are in the situations they are in.  It is our job to help them.”  It’s such a simple statement but it is exactly what we are called to do as Christians.  Since then, God has broken open my heart and filled it with love and mercy for those who are homeless.  It has become easier for me to realize that homelessness is a lot more complex than it appears and there are many different stories.

A lot of times, we might feel uncomfortable when we first take time to acknowledge some of the most vulnerable, poor, and weak, especially when they are in our own backyard.  I think one of the reasons I had no compassion for this population was because it made me uncomfortable to acknowledge that it was a major problem right here in Green Bay and the surrounding areas.  I didn’t want to believe it.  However, we can pray for God to open our eyes and our hearts.  We can pray for courage to step out of our comfort zones.  We can pray to have eyes that see Christ in others.

Maybe there are people that you are struggling to love.  Whether it is the homeless, or another group, ask God to soften your heart.  Pray to be filled with greater compassion and mercy.  When we love others, we love Jesus.  May we all learn to better love the least of these. 

Matthew 25:40

Watching the Super Bowl and the halftime show, I was thinking about how big of a stage it is.  Imagine being the halftime performer.  There are millions watching and listening to the artist during that chunk of time.  While we don’t have quite as big of an audience, there are still people watching and listening to us.  The people in our lives and those we encounter see what we do and hear what we say.  What, or rather, who, are we presenting to the people around us?

​As Christians, we are called to be like Christ.  When people interact with us, they should know that we are Christians.  This means that our lives should look different than those who do not share our faith.  What kind of posts are we sharing and liking on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram?  How are we interacting with others on social media, especially those whom we disagree with?  What kind of music, movies, and TV shows are we consuming?  What kind of language are we using and how are we speaking about others?  How are we treating that stranger at the grocery store, the person driving in front of us, and every single person God places in our paths each day?  The list goes on and on.  What we do, what we say, and the way we live our lives matters.

We are human which means that we will mess up.  We are all sinners.  We will all do things and say things that are not Christlike.  When this happens, we need to get back up and keep going.  Becoming like Jesus is a life-long process that we need to work at continually.  We will never reach the height of perfection on this side of earth.  But we cannot let this prevent us from presenting Him to those around us, even when we might fall.

We are called to love radically, live abundantly, and give without counting the cost.  We are called to show mercy, kindness, and grace.  Do people know we are Christians?  Do people see Jesus in us?  Do our words, actions, and lifestyles reflect Him to the people in our lives?  You never know when someone might be inspired by seeing how you live.  You may never know the impact you have when you allow Jesus to be reflected in your life.  May we all commit ourselves daily to becoming more like Christ.

On Saturday night my brother and I were looking for our quesadilla maker.  For some reason it was not in its normal spot.  We searched everywhere.  We checked every possible spot it could be.  We checked every cupboard and pantry and the most unlikely of places.  After a good chunk of time searching, we finally found it.  Of course, it had been right in front of us the whole time, in a place we had checked multiple times.  It is a bit like this in our lives and with our faith.  

How many times do we ask where God is?  We’ve all heard it before or maybe we’ve asked the question ourselves.  We experience the loss of a family member or friend, the loss of a job, or the loss of something that is good in our lives.  Our country seems like it has been set on fire.  We experience challenges and trials.  Out of the hurt and suffering often comes the question, “God, where are you in all of this?”  We can go through some days wondering where God is.  And while our human minds might wonder and question and search, He is right in front of us.

​It’s easy to see God in the good.  We have no problems seeing God in our family and friends, in big celebrations, and in the experiences that make us happy.  We expect Him to be in these places.  What about in the places that might be a bit darker or in the places we find ourselves distracted and searching?  God is in those places too.  Some days we might have to dig a little deeper to see God, but He is there, always waiting for us to seek Him out.

Maybe you’re struggling with something right now.  Maybe you’re having a hard time seeing God.  He wants you to choose Him and make Him your number one desire.  Keep your eyes and hearts open throughout each day and look for him in your encounters with others and in the ordinary moments.  When you seek Him and reflect on His presence in your life, it is then that you will find Him, in all of the places you look.  My prayer for you today is that you would follow God’s invitation to seek Him each day and be consumed by His unending love that is right in front of you.

Yesterday, I saw a tweet that said “are any Catholics going to give up hating women for Lent this year instead of chocolate?”  Seeing this brought to mind a quote from Fulton Sheen.  He says, “There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be.”  Opening up social media, consuming other types of media, and having conversations in-person regularly reveal the countless misconceptions that people have about Catholics and the Church.  Sometimes, it is former Catholics who partake in sharing contempt for Catholics and misinformation about the beliefs and practices.  As Catholics we cannot just sit back and watch.  

The teachings of the Catholic Church are good and true.  Our beliefs about the Eucharist, the right to life and dignity of every person, marriage/family are just a few areas that identify us as Catholics.  It is our job to work to present our faith and beliefs whenever the opportunity arises, especially as the culture works to twist the Church’s beliefs and set forth false ideas.

If we remain silent about our beliefs for fear of offending someone, then our beliefs are really not that important to us.  This can sometimes be a hard pill to swallow.  However, when it comes down to what really matters, we need to ask ourselves an important question.  Do we value the truth of Christ or the opinions of others?  Being human, we naturally want other people to like us.  We want their validation and don’t want to offend anyone.  Putting Jesus and the truth of our faith above what other people think is something we need to work on every day.  It does not automatically happen all at once.

We usually cannot change people’s minds and opinions.  What we can, and need, to do when Catholic beliefs are attacked is present the truths of what we believe boldly, and most importantly, with love.  We can ask others why they believe what they do and try to understand where they have gotten their information from.

​Our beliefs and teachings are central to the faith.  They are what we stand for and they help us know God by showing us His truth.  However, there will always be people who fail to understand what we believe.  There will always be people who tell us we are wrong.  There will always be people who have different beliefs.  All of this is okay.  People may always wrongly perceive what we believe as Catholics.  May they never wrongly perceive who we are as Catholics; a community of people who love like Christ.  When people interact with me, do they experience the love of Christ?  Reflect on this question today and every day.