The Mystery of My Most Embarrassing and Shameful Halloween - 10 years ago.

Today, October 31st of 2015,  I went out to eat after studying for a test at a coffee house. Another seminarian and I went to a small restaurant and I told him I have a controversial shirt on today (I was wearing a black jacket). The shirt says, "Porn Kills Love" - see picture below. It only is the second time I've ever worn it in public since I purchased it on Memorial Day. As we sat at our table our waiter was dressed as a pirate and the other server was dressed up as Peter Pan (a symbol of youthfulness and joy). My brother seminarian and I began to pray day time prayer and then we heard a voice. We looked up and Peter Pan pointed at me and sternly said, "Sir, That is not true." The waiter and I looked at each other for what seemed to be 10 seconds and then he simply walked away.  Slowly, but truly more and more staff that were dressed up for Halloween walked by our table to sneak a peek at what I was wearing.

I wore the Porn Kills Love shirt without shame and without embarrassment. I say this because I just found myself in the chapel - contemplating my past Halloween Costumes - thinking about what I dressed up as in my freshmen year of college 10 years ago at 19 years of age. Even thinking about it recalls feelings of shame and embarrassment and resentment.

What I now love, I once persecuted and made fun of. 10 years ago you could've seen me in Madison on State Street, Langdon, and Mifflin walking around as a nun. Now, maybe you are thinking, "That's not too bad . . . nun's are holy . . . and you are studying to be a priest . . . so yeah, that's not too bad." Well I regretfully say that I was also dressed up with the appearance of being pregnant. Ughhh! I frustratingly write this to you. Some people laughed, but no one even questioned (well at least not to my face) the integrity or lack there of of my costume.  What I now love - Jesus and his brides, I once persecuted and made fun of. Oh how I feel the anguish and pain of my brother St. Paul for persecuting Christians. The Confessions of St. Augustine seem all too relatable to my now converted heart.

Little feelings of resistance were felt in even buying the costume because of living in mortal sin and not yet encountering the living God, Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. The sacrament of confession was simply non-existent. Praying the Rosary as a knight of the Blessed Virgin Mary had not been taught to me. The numbness and emptiness in lacking self-awareness in life was full to the brim. The darkness of sin shined brightly. The relationship with God was "cut off" for this prodigal freshmen through his own pride and hardened heart. The dark side had won a victory that night and the witness of a future priest was invisible - hidden in satan's victorious lie.

What lie? 

The lie that Halloween is a night where one can be a different person - any person - and commit any sin they choose. This lie had caught the attention of my weak and poor soul.  The lie that Halloween is a giant green light to sin, sin, and sin some more without any feeling or thought of regret. Presumably many sons and daughters of God will buy that lie this evening and probably will in the future . . . unless they too encounter the living God. Does that offend you? Sorry to say it, but there really is no other saving solution other than Jesus Christ that will change ones heart or open ones eyes.

What is most perplexing . . .sometimes . . . .is how nobody called me out - with love of course- to stop leading others into the darkness by selling a lie.

How come nobody ever told me about Jesus Christ and his deep abiding love OR lovingly challenged me to think and contemplate of how dressing up a pregnant nun might be perceived as offensive or even worse hypocritical? How come? How come? How come?

If you go out this Halloween and perceive a costume as offensive I encourage you to pray, pray, pray for the soul of that person . . . pray first always . . . and if the Holy Spirit leads you to speak with the person about the choice of costume - love that person - love them with the light of truth and humility of Christ. Please tell them in one way or another that there is another way.

The Way of Love.

The Way of Love can mysteriously change the heart of anyone - even a future priest - a current seminarian who wears a Porn Kills Love shirt . . .  The Way of Love can even move a person enough to walk daily into a chapel in front of the Blessed Sacrament and away from persecuting the brides of Christ by shamefully dressing up as a pregnant nun. Maybe you think that it is impossible on a night such as Halloween. Well I say it is possible - I am living proof of this mystery we call conversion! With Christ as my witness let it be known in one way or another, NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD!


Living in the Mystery,

Zach Weber

The Mystery of Finally Fighting for Truth (Diamonds)

Well fellow Christians . . . enough in our world has changed.

We have seen the definition of marriage change.

We have seen body parts of babies being sold.

Are you feeling the pressure?

Maybe, just maybe these changes will actually put pressures on you to make you defend the faith and ultimately learn the reasons of faith in the church. Oh my goodness! If we actually learn the why behind the what's of the church . . . watch out world!

How do you make diamonds shine? You put pressure on them.

Well fellow Christians, it is time we fight for what we believe in because the pressure is on.

If you haven't felt it then maybe it is time to get off the moon.

If you have seen it, then it is time to open your eyes.
If you haven't heard it, then it is time to cleanse the ear of your heart.
If you haven't been challenged by it, then it is time to start by getting on your knees and asking the Holy Spirit to guide you to the Truth and protect you from the Evil One.

There is not any more time for casual christianity.

The lines are being drawn. The time for visible spiritual warfare is right in front of us every day.

If people do not know that you have personal relationship with the Church, then I hope you begin to let the truth find you because truth is a person and he is Jesus Christ . . . He desires to live through you and help you understand what it means to be fully alive.

May God Bless You and Strengthen you with the Armor of Christ. If you are not fighting for your faith then I pray that the Holy Spirit shakes you up, wakes you up, takes the blindness in front of you and breaks it up.

St. Augustine, Pray for us! St. Ambrose, Pray for us! St. Thomas Aquinas, Pray for us! St. Jude, Pray for us! St. Rita, Pray for us! St. Benedict, pray for us! Mary, Mystical Rose, Pray for us!

Looking for somewhere to start? Check out this Youtube video. . .The Mystery of God

Living in the Mystery!

Zach

The Mystery of an Unintentional Grace through Ultimate Frisbee And Marian Consecration

This summer I've had the blessing and honor of living at the rectory at All Saints Catholic Church in Lakeville, MN. The priests here have been wonderful and the daily mass community has a strong devotion to the Eucharist. While staying here, I've been able to play ultimate frisbee on Sunday nights with the youth. To be straight up with you, I do not particularly enjoy ultimate frisbee that much. However, the youth do enjoy it, so I try to attend as much as I can.

All Saints Catholic Church - The Frisbee Field is near here.

Recently something changed in my attitude, in the depths of my heart.  I NOW ENJOY ULTIMATE FRISBEE. How can that be you might ask? Well the story here begins with a member of the All Saints Community who was diagnosed with cancer about 6 years ago. He has 2 sons and 1 daughter. He was recently admitted to the hospital where I am a chaplain intern for the summer. As I was walking through the halls last week I saw the parish priest. I said, "Fr. Tom, it's good to see you." Holding the pastoral care of the sick book in his hands he said hello and we made small talk. Then he introduced me to the patients wife. He mentioned their last name in our conversations at the rectory in the past. Immediately I remembered Fr. Tom talking about this family and how he has been ministering to them. I offered words of support and encouragement to the wife. She said, "Thank you so much for playing ultimate frisbee with our son. He really looks up to you." I was shocked and thought to myself, "I am really not that good at it and I don't like it." I told her thank you and told her I would stop by later this afternoon.

Fr. Tom Wilson

Over the next couple of days I would be at the hospital and see her husband. He was really tired and struggling, but would always tell me, "Thank you for playing ultimate frisbee with my son. Please keep doing that." My initial thought was, "This family really enjoys their ultimate frisbee." Well as the week went on I was able to visit with the patient and his wife for about an hour. They had plans to discharge out of the hospital and set up hospice care in the home. I wished them well and told them if they needed anything to contact me through the parish.

Maybe some day Nuns will play more Ultimate Frisbee

Well then Sunday came and I watched a VIDEO that moved my heart on the Blessed Mother and the Rosary. On a side note, I'm doing my 4th Marian Consecration, so this is not a surprise that Mary answered some of my prayers. I probably sent the video to about 50 people and posted it on Facebook because it was so inspirational. Then I went to go play ultimate frisbee with the youth. I even sang the Hail Mary on the way down because I was so fired up about the video and Mary's intercession. The patients son showed up to play and we had a blast. After the longest game ever because of poor throws or missed passed I told my team to pretend that the frisbee was the Eucharist. When my team would have possession, in a child-like way I would yell "EUCHARIST!!!!" One time I even held up the frisbee like it was the Eucharist at Mass. It was great to work hard, yet have fun. When the night was over I was still pretty fired up about Mary and her leading people to Jesus from the video I watched earlier. It would be pretty accurate to say that I only received about an hour of sleep that night because of the amount of "Heart Burn" I had that night.

Fr. Marcus Milless

Well as the week went on I would hear bits and pieces about the patient's health. He was declining, but did receive the Eucharist 5 hours before passing from the associate pastor here Fr. Marcus. The next day Fr. Marcus told me the patient had passed away. I reflected often on the patient's last words to me, "Thank you for playing ultimate frisbee with my son. Please keep doing that." Then it clicked. Eureka! A moment of unintentional grace! I was humbled by what exactly the father was telling me. You see, here is a man who cannot play ultimate frisbee with his son and who most likely would do anything to play a game with him. However, due to his cancer this was not a possibility. And by the providential grace of God, he asked me to play. He handed on to me something that he would love to do so I could do something he could not do. This saint, asked me to be father figure to his son. What a gift! What an honor!

This could be why following the commandments is so important. The 4th Commandment: Obey your mother and father. This man and woman are not my parents, but they are motherly and fatherly to me. Thus, the commandment takes a new depth in the heart. If the commandments are not seen through the lenses of love, I might still play ultimate frisbee half-heartedly. Thank God for those who pass down their desires to those with whom they trust.

I now have a new zeal to play ultimate frisbee on Sunday's because it is a way for me to honor this man, it is a way to follow the 4th Commandment. I will now think of this man every time I'm asked to play ultimate frisbee. What an honor it is to honor the commandments. What an honor it is to be consecrated to Mary.

Unintentional grace!

Praise God for Unintentional Grace!

Praise God for Marian Consecration!

Praise God for God!

Living in the Mystery,

Zach Weber

The Mystery of Everyone Being a Winner and Throwing Away the Dictionary - Relativism

About five years ago I was watching Barney the Dinosaur on PBS.  I know, you must be impressed at my highly intellectualized style of viewing television. Well to defend myself, if you must know, my Mother runs an at home daycare and I was home visiting this particular day. This particular episode brought everyone on the cast together to have a race. Now mind you, the whole time, I was expecting there to be a winner. The episode unfolded as the characters made their racing mobiles and worked really hard to be competitive. Then the race came. Not everyone preformed as well as they wanted to. There was a winner for about 10 seconds. You guessed it, as soon as someone was upset that they didn't win Barney came up with a brilliant idea: EVERYONE CAN BE A WINNER! EVERYONE GETS A MEDAL. Brilliant, right? Well if you want to be politically correct about everything then yes this was brilliant. Well you might say, "not having a winner . . . that's clearly against the purpose of having a race in the first place. That's clearly changing the objective or the aim or the goal of racing." Exactly! Competition is a natural good because it helps people understand where they have strengths and weaknesses. Our natural strengths and weaknesses distinguish people. Some people have different talents than other people. Some people have to work more on different areas of their lives in order to be successful where they are not as strong. However, if everyone is a winner, then the meaning of the word "racing" has lost its meaning. Not everyone can win a race. Period. It's ok to have a first place winner. To add to that, most people would seem to agree that they learn more about themselves when they are defeated rather than in the outcome of a victory in different areas of life. I can personally remember my parents teaching me how to compose myself after a tough loss in athletics. They would not allow me to cry and pout because of the score or the referees.  Most people learned how to handle defeat by using the intense of emotions from being defeated to work harder for the next competition.

So maybe you are asking yourself, "What are you trying to get at with all of this racing losing its meaning talk?"

I believe that words are simply losing almost all meaning. Where do we find the definition of words? Well we would have to go to the dictionary to find the definition of any word. I wonder if we even need dictionaries anymore today with the meaning of words changing at a rate quicker than the world has ever seen.  It would seem with the rapid rate of redefining of words today, we might as well throw away all of our dictionaries. Does that shock you? Good because if we continue to allow all words to become more and more subjective (opinion orientated) rather than objective (true for all) then we do not need dictionaries. If you want to stand up for objective truth, then I say keep your dictionaries. However, if do not believe in objective truth, then throw them out the window. Just ponder this fact, up until the 1960's the word "gay" used to mean happy. Now in our "ultra enlightened" culture, the word gay has been re-defined as to be attracted to someone of the same sex.  How does the meaning of a word change in just 50 years? Or look at the word tolerance. The word tolerance means to disagree with someone, but to tolerate their stance. Tolerance today doesn't even mean what it signifies. Now if you disagree with someone on moral issues you are a bigot or discriminatory. Could someone explain to me how the word tolerance doesn't even mean what it clearly? And I don't have enough time to write about the words love, justice, etc. Well in a relativistic world where definitions of words are completely subjective it makes complete sense. I would say that one reason would be due to relativism running rampant in our culture. Barney is a classic example of relativism in our world today. What is relativism? Apologist Chris Stefanick defines relativism the best.

Chris states that, "Relativism is the philosophy that there is no objective reality, but that truth is relative to what each person thinks. We’ve all encountered relativism in statements like, “Jesus is God for me, while Vishnu is God for someone else,” “You have your truth, and I have mine,” or, in regard to issues like moral debates, “You can’t impose your morality on another person.”  This “agree never to disagree” philosophy is considered necessary to guarantee peace, tolerance and equality in a pluralistic world. Conversely, people who think we can know the truth in moral or religious issues are considered intolerant, bigoted and maybe even downright dangerous. "

Please re-read that paragraph a few times. How can any statement be true if there is no truth? To add to that, do words hold any objective meaning anymore in a world full of relativism? Our culture has been under the influence of altering the meaning of words for such a long time that words do not hold the meaning that they used to. There has been a movement for a long time for a need for everything to be equal so truth no longer holds any weight in the conversation.  It is very apparent to those who stand up for objective truth that our culture today is slowly trying to remove all differences between any one thing.

So how can a person say anything when words have been re-defined by the relativist culture?

Our world is changing the definition of words all of the time and is thus figuratively throwing away all dictionaries. Does that offend you? We are all too blind to the swiftness of the relativism in our culture. We worry more about offending someone rather than standing up for the truth and for words having boundaries and borders. Can I say that again? We worry more about offending someone rather than standing up for the truth and for words having boundaries and borders. For example, if I change or move the borders of the state of Wisconsin or Texas or Arizona, the states are no longer the same. The states are something new. They are something different. Additionally, when it comes to words, our culture has been changing the boundaries and borders of words for so long now that they don't even have the same meaning as they used to. So, how does this effect the word that is being changed by SCOTUS: Marriage.

Dark Path . . . 

This road of redefining words and not believing in objective truth is going to continue to lead us down a dark path. We have a culture that completely changed the meaning of the word marriage and still calls it marriage. We have a culture that wants to change a first principle of marriage being between one man and one woman. How can that be? The borders are different. The definition has changed. It is not marriage. It is something different. It is something new. You don't have to be a Christian or have a Bible or even go to Church to know this truth. In the dictionary, the Holy Bible, and Catholic Catechism, (to name a few sources) just a few weeks ago tall said that marriage is between one man and one woman. Now, since the "law" has changed, the definition has changed? This is a dangerous and slippery path we are going down. Can we even have a conversation with anyone today if words are changing their definition or meaning every time a government makes a new law? I've heard it so many times before when someone says, "It is ok or not  a problem because it is a law" or "It's the law so we must abide by it." Well women couldn't vote at one time in our country and a black person wasn't considered fully human at one point, but it was the law.

So where will this lead us if we don't challenge the relativistic view of life?

Now if we accept and believe in our world today that there is an objective truth that words have meanings that can't changed unless new words are invented, then we are called discriminatory or bigots. How does that make any sense? There is not any logic in that. To call the color black grey and the color white black is a lie. Perception is not reality because our perception can be wrong. We have all been wrong before. It's a part of the human experience.

It is a fact that a person cannot live a joyful life without objective truth. The truth gives mankind our aim. If we aim for nothing will we will hit it every time. If truth is completely subjective then we will continue to see more people fall into depression and loneliness. The number of people falling into depression is going up rapidly every year. The human person was made for truth and our hearts will fall into darkness if we continue to lose any sense of objectivity. Can you imagine a world where the truth changes all of the time? I'm sure you can because we live in it.

How can one live in a culture where they believe they have no choice but to walk on a thin line? Well, if all words lose their meaning and no longer have boundaries, then there is no thin line to walk on. There is only a wide path to make all words subjective and to make up our own meaning for words. I'm not kidding. We need to get serious now about the fact that all words are on the verge of losing their meaning. We need to spread the light of truth where darkness is clouding the vision of people around the world.

We have to wake up and challenge the principles of words. There is no more time for joking and playing around with the truth. Our culture has laws that state that believe killing an innocent child in the womb is not illegal because it is a law. Come on now. Let's not make this simply a religious argument, but look at it philosophically, psychologically, and anthropologically. As Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta said, "If abortion is not wrong, then nothing is wrong." The relativistic movement is all over the place.  Are you starting to see it and smell it?  If relativism continues to spread there will not be any room for disagreements. We will not even be able to speak about first principles and objective truth.  Some people have already experienced this and we will continue to experience it until we fight for the truth. Well, many people will call me discriminatory and a bigot for even writing this simply based on the stance that I do not agree with someone. I'm willing to take a chance on truth. Are you?

In ending, may I make a proposal or suggestion? I propose/suggest that we fight relativism with the light of truth by showing the beauty of authentic, patient, and merciful love. We must teach the truth of words having borders. Dictionaries are not meant to be thrown away every few years because we refuse to come up with new words. We must stand up for marriage being between one man and one woman. To change it and call it the same thing is removing the border or the definition of the word. That would make it a whole new word. Call it a same sex union, but please don't call it marriage. Truth is truth whether we agree with it or not. I began with talking about Barney and the episode about having a race. We run to win the race.  Making everyone a winner changes the definition of the word racing: the object of having a race in the first place.  It's going to be just fine to have someone take first place and someone take last. We must stand up against this Barney way of life and call the truth the truth. Sorry Barney. You are wrong.

Living in the mystery,

Zach Weber

The Mystery of the Lord Providing Christian Hip-Hop Music

When I first started discerning the call to the priesthood I was deeply afraid that the only music I would be able to listen to wouldn't be any good. It may seem shallow, but that's where I was at during my early years of discernment. My mind was blown when I started searching for different Christian music, but more specifically under the genres of Christian Hip-Hop and Christian Rock. (FYI: There is a list of about 30 or 40 songs at the end of this blog). I don't listen to Christian Rock as much as I did in my early discernment, but I still listen to Christian hip-hop especially when I work out. (For those of you who do not know, I used to DJ for weddings, dances, and sporting events. The effect that music has on the human person can be positive, but it can also be detrimental.)

Some, well actually very little of the Christian music on the radio did I enjoy. Often the music would seem too sentimental and overly emotional for what I was going through or struggling to accept. This is not to say that emotions are bad, but rarely could I connect with the Christian songs that were on the radio. The top 100 songs on mainstream radio stations had really good beats, hooks, but the lyrics are so far away from the person that Christ was calling me become. Thank God for artists like Lecrae and Andy Mineo who are changing the music culture with placing Christ at the heart and center of their music.

Andy Mineo

Lecrae

When it comes to music that you might want to listen to and workout to it seems that the selection might get even smaller. That is where I hope this short blog post may help. For those of you who do not know, I really enjoy hip-hop music and now I only listen Christian artists in the genre of hip-hop. I do not demonize other artists, rather I choose to promote hip-hop artists that do not allow me to stray from the path the Lord is calling me to follow. The Lord has provided different artists as I journey closer and closer to priesthood that allow me to remain aware of God's presence more than other songs.  The Lord will provide for the desires of your heart so you can do all things (c.f. 2 Cor 9:8) to the best of your ability to conform and/or graft yourself onto (the person of) Christ.  And Yes, it is ok to have fun while discerning God's will in your life.

And no I do not think all music that is not Christian is bad, but I do think that we have a choice to support up and coming artists that are willing to promote the Gospel message and that are sacrificing to speak out about difficult issues without profanity. It takes tremendous courage to promote the Truth of Jesus' message in music knowing that you may be persecuted and might not make it big. However, there's beauty in not selling your soul and gaining the whole world (c.f Mark 8:36).

As much of a good thing it is that the radio is able to play all different types of music, I find that radio stations pass too quickly on music that can actually match with a persons morals.  To add to that, when it comes to working out, it can be even more difficult in finding music that doesn't make you second guess your decision to choose Christ in all things. It is important to remember that our bodies area temples of the Holy Spirit (c.f. 1 Cor 6:19). Can I say that again? It is important to remember that our bodies area temples of the Holy Spirit (c.f. 1 Cor 6:19). Did you know that your body is holy? Every body on earth is holy and that is why we must be on guard as to what we allow into our bodies, especially when it comes to music. This means that what we allow into our body, mind, and soul effects our personal holiness and more importantly, effects Jesus because he is present in us.  It is our choice to acknowledge his presence in all of our activities and invite him into whatever we are doing, even if it is working out.

So what do you do if you want to exercise and are trying to find some good Christian music? Well read this blog of course. I am not trying to discourage you from listening to some of your favorites, but I am hoping that everyone begins to think more heavenly and less earthly when picking out music (Cor 3:1-4). This does not mean that every song has to be about Jesus in order to be good or worthy. Some of the songs talk about the tug of war that goes on in life and the struggle of living an authentic life in and for Jesus Christ. It seems that in order to live an ordered life there ought to be a moral compass in your music and that the lyrics begin to match our morals. I have compiled a list of different songs for exercising by different Christian artists that allow you to stay motivated, but also allow you to remain longer of the presence of God. You won't feel guilty for listening to these songs. You can listen and choose what you like and what you may not like. I've been on this journey of searching for good Christian music for working out for about seven years and most of the artists that I'll be promoting are not on the radio so if you see a name and have never heard of then I say, "Welcome to the Journey!"

Lastly, this list is pretty subjective. I basically picked the songs based off of if my head would bob to the beat and if it increased the desire in my heart to get off the couch and go workout, but also remain in a prayerful disposition longer. If you do not like a song, that is fine. If you do like a song I recommend adding it to your playlist in the future when you workout.

This is list might be fairly long.

Click the link and take a listen.

Try Working Out to some of the songs.

Happy Scrolling!

Let there be light - Andy Mineo

Messengers - Lecrae feat. King and Country

Walk on Water - Shonlock

Move - Da Truth feat. Jai

Slave to you - PRo

Freedom - Josh Garrels

Fall Back - Lecrae

Right by my side - Derek Minor

The 6th Day - Flame feat. Chris Lee

Hope - Lecrae

Curious - Andy Mineo

Ready or Not Remix - Britt Nicole

I'm Turnt - Lecrae

Can't have my soul - Je'kob

Cocky - Andy Mineo

For My Good - Trip Lee feat. Jai

Battery - V. Rose Feat. Flame

Beyond This World - Shonlock

Victory - Jai

Stronger - Derek Minor feat. Jai

Tell the world - Lecrae feat. Mali

Resistance - Josh Garrels

Surrender - Falme feat. V. Rose

Never Giving Up - Alex Faith

Runners - Lecrae

Hot Air Balloon - Derek Minor

God is Enough - Lecare

Sweet Victory feat. Dimitri McDowell & Leah Smith

I know you will - Andy Mineo

Life 101 - Trip Lee

Get You Open - Ambassador

Holiday Remix- Britt Nicole

Repentance - 116

See more Him - Flame

Don't waste your life - Lecrae

Turn The Music Up - NF

Blow my mind - Pro

Praise On - Preacha Boy

Buttons Remix - Lecrae

Higher - Lecrae feat. Tenth Avenue North

I'm a believer - Tedashii feat. Trip Lee

New Shalom - Lecrae feat. Pro

Transformers - Lecrae and Trip Lee

You Can't Stop Me - Andy Mineo

Falling Down - Lecrae feat. Swoope

Marvelous Light - Mark J

There's more, but that took longer than I'd like.

I'd encourage you to: invite the Lord into an area of your life where your afraid he won't provide.

There's mystery from bringing the light into the darkness.

There's mystery in watching the Lord disprove that fear and not being afraid when He is near.

Living in the Mystery,

Zach Weber

The Mystery of Christ Being Present in Others

For those of you who do not know what I've been up to lately . . . I have been a pastoral intern at Corpus Christi Parish in Sturgeon Bay, WI.  One of the most compelling mysteries to me is the Mystical Body of Christ. When I was in my second year of seminary formation, I had the blessing of spending an hour with Bishop David Ricken. Deep down in the depths of my heart was one simple question for Bishop Ricken. I asked, "How do you pray Bishop?" He took a deep breath and said, "The key to prayer is simplicity. Most often, my prayer is to ask the Lord to reveal himself to me in others and to be Jesus to others."

Bishop David Ricken

Now this heavenly wisdom has remained in my heart every day for a few reasons. One because I fail at allowing the Lord to reveal himself to me in others all of the time. In essence, the prayer is much easier to say than to actually live.  Secondly because of the reality is that it is difficult to see Christ in those we struggle with. At times, it is even more difficult, to see Christ in those we love. I ask for new eyes all of the time. However, the Lord stretches our heart a little more with each prayer request until we are ready to receive the grace needed to accept his will. The deeper truth that this prayer calls me to simplify, simplify, and simplify.

LORD, HELP ME SEE YOU IN OTHERS AND BE YOU TO OTHERS! PLLLEAAASE!

 At Corpus Christi, I have been blessed with the opportunity to teach the K-8 for 20 mins per class every Friday. It refreshes my heart to see how much hunger there is for the truth and for how much wisdom there is in the youth. On the flip side, it frustrates me when I see our culture giving up hope in these future saints. They keep me on fire for the truth. I love it when I see the spark of faith come to life when they ask an amazing question or make a deep statement about this mystery we call life . . .  to see how rich in love and full of mystery our faith is and always will be.

The word that describes the look on the face of someone who is amazed . . .

This past Friday, I was blessed with spending time with the 3rd Grade class.  One of the students raised her hand during our time together and with a curious look on her face and said, "So that means whatever I do to someone else I do it Jesus." In shock, I asked everyone to be quiet so she could repeat it again. With even wider eyes that the first time she said, "So that means whatever I  do to someone else I do it to Jesus"  Some of the class seemed puzzled at the depth in this mysterious statement of faith. Do you believe what she just said? Do you live what she just said? This mysterious truth is what makes being a Christian so difficult because Jesus is present and so often, we fail at acknowledging him in others.

I've been praying every day the prayer that Bishop David Ricken taught me. "Jesus, help me see you in others and be you to others." There's obviously more than one way to say this prayer and I encourage you to make it your own. In the classroom on Friday, I saw the Word of God in John 3:30 ("He must increase, I must decrease") come to life in the soul and heart of a child. The glow in her eyes and the amazement of the truth of Jesus being present in every person will never leave the gift of my imagination.

So how about you? Do you truly believe that Jesus is present in every person? When you are on Facebook or the internet or watching TV or just simply are out and about. . . Do you look with disgust at people who are not attractive to you or are not exactly beautiful in the eyes of the world or do you ask for the grace to see Christ in them? The difficulty is in accepting others . . . as they are . . . being made in the image and likeness of God as his beloved son and daughter. Might I add, if we can accept our faults then and only then can we accept the faults of others as well. We are all sinners and we are all in need of mercy. Additionally, since we are all God's beloved son's and daughters, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ too. So when we judge, we are judging our brother . . . our sister . . . and thus as Mother Theresa said, "If you judge people, you have no time to love them."

What do we do to realize this mystery? We take a deep breath. We pray and ask for help.  May I suggest asking for St. Veronica's intercession? Asking her to show you Jesus as she recognized him on the way to Calvary when he was bruised, beaten, dehydrated, mocked, etc to the point of not be recognizable . . . . looking like a worm (Isaiah 41:14) as a he carried the cross. When it seemed that all of the world could not see Jesus, she came to him as he carried the Cross of sins and wiped his face with a cloth to see him more clearly. The cloth allowed her to see what seemed to be ugly in the eyes of the world to be seen as the most beautiful thing amidst all of the people mocking the God of the universe. She saw with her heart, while the people mocking Jesus saw with the eyes of the world. This cloth must be wiped across our faces and hearts from time to time too. The gift of being able to love comes from accepting that when one can see with the heart, then and only then does one begin to love.

Prayer:

Come Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit.

Jesus, I fail at seeing you in others.

Jesus, I fail at loving my sisters and my brothers.

Jesus, send St. Veronica into my life forever this day,

Jesus, may she teach me how to see, to love, and to  pray.

Jesus, she saw you when no one could.

Jesus, may she help this mystery be understood.

Jesus, she loved you from her heart,

Jesus, the day is yours, right now, in your name, I start.

Amen.

The Hardest part of all of this is to accept that Jesus is present in me too.

In the Mystery,

Zach Weber

The Mystery of Spiritual Hibernation and Johnny Cash

Well I have been listening to a lot of Johnny Cash lately. Did you know that Johnny Cash has Christian Music and that I have not been listening to a lot of Christmas Music?  This may strike you as odd as Christmas approaches that I'd be listening to Johnny Cash because most people have been listening to Christmas songs. I guess I am looking at this Christmas from a different point of view. There is a human element to Johnny Cash's music that seems to have been lost in a large amount of our music today. I pulled his music out of hibernation from my memory bank and I believe we need to pull the souls that we do not see very often out of spiritual hibernation from Jesus one prayer at a time this Christmas, but we need to be willing to journey with them one step at a time. Johnny Cash speaks to the heart of the struggles of life from many different perspectives in the world and I think there are a few songs of his that need to be pulled out of the cave of hibernation and that need to be revisited.

A few songs by Johnny Cash I'd recommend listening to are: "The Gospel Road" - "What On Earth" - "Have a drink of Water" - "Paradise" - "Do Lord" - "I am a Pilgrim" - "I was there when it happened" - "The Way Worn Traveler" - "Wildwood in the Pines" 

All too often we look for what is next or what is new, but do we really need new things?

What if what we already have needs be re-awakened or revisited or reviewed or renewed?

What if we re-visit the places (physically or mentally or spiritually) we have visited only one time, but changed our lives forever?

Have you heard of any of the songs listed above? If not, you must ponder the lyrics. The reality of the struggle that Johnny Cash went through of living a life of holiness and struggling with the attractiveness of sin is a place for common ground for most. Johnny Cash was not perfect, but he tried to live a life of holiness. He spoke to many hearts in many different walks of life. But you know what? Jesus speaks to all hearts in any way he can to teach us how to receive his love and mercy and how to be human on this journey we call life.  Our hearts speak a language and we need to listen to what moves our hearts. For example, when you listen to music, pay attention to what moves your heart and press the pause button and talk to the Lord about it. By the way, talking to Jesus about what moves our heart goes for everything in life. He is trying to tell you something about yourself or himself through the movements of your heart. We must learn to press pause in our lives. It's ok. You can do it. Relax.

Check out some of Johnny Cash's more famous songs and listen to reality of what some people go through that need the message of Jesus: "Folsom Prison Blues" - "Rock Island Line" - "Country Boy" - "Doin' my time" - "One Piece at a time" 

Maybe you are thinking, "What are you trying to get at?" Well one thing I am trying to point us to realize is that every year we have hundreds of people that come to Church only on Christmas. They come out of their habit of hibernating from Jesus and the incarnation, but never come back until the next Christmas.  They come in possibly not knowing why they are there in the first place, but every year they are not invited or even acknowledged as a someone who possesses the same dignity as everyone else. However, how often do YOU reach out to one of those weary travelers who are unaware of the love and mercy of Christ?

Here is my challenge for you this Christmas: 

• Reach out to one person you see at Church on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day and talk to them about their story. Ask them questions about their family life. Ask them how they came to be who they are today.
• The goal is to let one person feel that they are the most important person in the world for those few grace filled seconds.
• This is not impossible. There may be one soul that just wants to be noticed or even feel loved.
• Maybe buy a gift and bring it to Church with you and ask the Lord to reveal to you one person who may need a gift. Be Creative!
• Ask yourself: Do I truly care for the salvation of anyone's soul besides my own? If you do, then go out there and take some chances. 
• Christmas is about surprises. 
• Surprise: God became human because he wants to save you and love you! Will you surprise someone with the gift of charity and/or community this Christmas?

Now is the time to be "doin' your time" with Jesus as you travel "The Gospel Road" because "I am a pilgrim" and you are a pilgrim. We need to "have a drink of water" with those hibernating souls and share the living water (Jn 4 ) with those who do not know the gift of God.

You can do it! I believe in you! Now is the time to have some fun and share the good news of the Incarnation of God in the Divine Person of Jesus Christ!

This is the mystery of life: To allow our relationship with Jesus to become incarnate.

Merry Christmas! 

Living in the Mystery,

Zach Weber