Over Stimulation - Treats Everywhere

A) I've sucked it up this Lent
B) Fasting is hard
C) Fasting would not be so hard if we didn't have so much stimulation at our finger tips
D) The Church is genius

Allow me to expand on my thoughts. 

In years past I have chosen some fairly rigorous regimens to pursue during Lent.  This year I signed up for a few daily emails, was given assigned spiritual reading by my spiritual director, and picked a particular penance and attached a specific intention to it (thanks SD - it's been good).  I haven't been able to stay up on the daily emails (one but not all three), have not been consistent in my spiritual reading (but making progress), and occasionally falter on my penance (okay, I gave up going over the speed limit and sometimes I really should not be a traffic hazard - not an excuse, I know). I've attempted to maintain the general sense that it is Lent (I really don't need that vanilla latte from Starbucks anyway), but feel like I could really be doing better (yes, I am my hardest critic). However, Fr. Robert Barron put it well in his email from day 1 of Lent - 

"Lent is a time to get tuned up, to get back to basics,
to remember the fundamentals."

So in some way, not having such a rigorous regimen is allowing me to do just that - get back to the basics, the fundamentals. It's not so much what I'm doing, but how and why I am doing it - with intention, with purpose, with love. I still have lots of room to grow. 

All this being said, I've pondered fasting. I recently read this article via facebook. It is a bit harsh, but sometimes harsh is what we need.  I particularly appreciate the piece about treats and sacrifice. Today we have such ease of access to "treats" that what should be an occasional goody  is almost an everyday norm. I'm not just talking about snacks and desserts either. We have 'treats' in social media and our constant access to it. I wonder what it was like for it to be a 'treat' to hear from a friend via a phone call or see them in person. I am guilty of this, especially at work. I sit in front a computer for about eight hours a day. If I am ever board or in need of a break, I often default to facebook for a breather. It is the same way with our phones. I have a free moment, whether I'm driving or I just checked out at the grocery store, my default mode is to check if someone has reached out to me.  We are simply overstimulated: to make (something) more active : to cause or encourage (something) to happen or develop : to make (a person) excited or interested in something (meriam-webster)  We get treats ALL THE TIME!

I'm not advocating that we get rid of technology or only consume bread and water. I'm suggesting we find a balance. Life would not be so hard if we really understood the value of sacrifice and 'treats'.  I think I have pondered fasting so much this Lent because I'm not really sure what (else) I would really be willing to give up.  How many of my comforts do I feel like I cannot live without? Do I feel entitled to them (another subject for another time)?

The Catholic Church is genius (I might be biased). She gives us the Litugical year with various seasons to draw us into the life of Christ. Christ who came not to judge but to save. He came to show us how to walk with him in suffering, to teach us how to love. Here is one tidbit of the genius of the season of Lent: 

1. Prayer - heals our relationship with him in prayer.
2. Fasting - heals our relationship where we are broken within ourselves with fasting
3. Almsgiving- heals our relationship with others through almsgiving. 

Learn more in this post. 

Peace, Satisfaction and Contentment

Do you lack peace or are you dissatisfied?
Are you content?

These are two questions I was asked this past weekend by the dearest brothers of mine. Both will be ordained in May, God willing. 

These questions have caused me to ponder just a bit more. What are these things?

Peace, according to St. Augustine, is "the tranquility of order". We often think of peace being the absence of war. Fulton Sheen has much to say about war, yet succinct and brief.  "To the extent that we obey God's will , we are happy and at peace; to the extent that we freely disobey it, we hurt ourselves - and this consequence we call judgment." Oh. ("The frustration resulting from our disobedience to God's law is His judgement.")

Let me share more of the archbishop's words from Life is Worth Living. 
"Wars come from egotism and selfishness. Every macrocosmic world war has its origin in microcosmic wars going on inside millions and millions of individuals..... The civil war on the inside is between what man thinks he is and what man actually is, between the way God made him and the way he made himself, between the moral law that ought to govern his life and selfishness that actually determines his actions. When civil wars are waged in the minds of men and women in the world, they produce psychoses, neuroses, fears and anxieties..."  
"Nothing ever happens in the world that does not happen first inside human hearts."

So peace is when we are not at conflict with ourselves. I find if I am at peace, I'm so much more pleasant to be around. My poor roommate had to put up with me last week when I was at war with myself. God Bless her for loving me before, during and still. 

Satisfaction, defined when browsing online, means: fulfillment of one's wishes, expectations, or needs, or the pleasure derived from this. I did not find this word in the index of the Catechism, but we speak much of how we will never be fully satisfied in this world, knowing that God made us for Himself and we are restless until we rest in him.  (Augustine, again.) Here is another statement that highlights our lack of satisfaction on this earth:  "Nothing in this world will answer all your questions, solve all your problems, or satisfy all your desires. These are impossible, immature ambitions, and the spiritual life consists largely in realizing that they are impossible and immature." Aight. I got it, I think. Until I forget it tomorrow.  

Can we be unsatisfied, but at peace? Absolutely. But really, when we sense our lack of satisfaction, it should not cause us to lose peace, faith or hope. 

Content: in a state of peaceful happiness. Hmm. 
When I was asked if I was content on Saturday, I had to answer no. I was not content. Another dear brother of mine once wrote to me on a note during adoration, "Joy is a choice, dear sister." And related-ly, so is happiness. The cliche goes: "Happiness is not having what you want. It is wanting what you have." The cure for this is gratitude. Count your blessings, or at least try. Can you generate a gratitude list of 100 or more items? At the Steubenville Encounter conference a few weeks ago, I attended the breakout session on "Balance our obsession with perfectionism,"  the priest giving the talk gave us a spiritual exercise in which we were to:
a) tell Jesus where we are weak (4)
b) tell Jesus what we are fearful of (4)
c) tell Jesus one thing (or two) that we would like to change about ourselves or our lives
and finally
d) tell Jesus our blessings (10+). 

Gratitude helps us to remain at peace and gives perspective to an otherwise seemingly harsh world. 

So surely, of what matters of the above, peace, satisfaction or contentedness, it really boils down to peace. Don't let the devil steal your peace. He's going to try and he'll be a bully about it. Fight him for it. It's worth it. 

In a cold world, It's a warm place, where you know that you're supposed to be. :)

Happy Advent. I'm waiting, Lord. I'm waiting.

The Purpose of Ceremony

I've asked from time to time, I've questioned the purpose of ceremony. Why does there have to be such hoopla over an event, or a commitment? The answer I have found is to help us remember.

I tend to have conversations with God a couple times a week - I wish it were a couple of times a day. However, a few weeks later I have often forgotten what I said, or how I might have newly committed myself to doing His will. A ceremony, a significant event, would be great as a reminder.

I am bound by the vows I made you. *
Psalm 56:2-7b, 9-14
Trust in God’s word
The LORD knows the plans of man; they are like a fleeting breath.^{i  Psalm 94: 11}


The thoughts of men are fleeting - 

I'm convinced that we have ceremony for important matters (Baptism, Holy Communion, Confirmation, Marriage, Ordinations - Sacraments) for else we would quickly forget what we say or do without creating what will hopefully be a great memory of a important decision, action, or commitment in our lives. 

Attending Sunday Mass

Going to Mass every Sunday keeps us from thinking of ourselves as God.

I typed this line out on Sunday, December 22, trusting I would eventually come back and develop it into a full blog post. I had little desire to put forth the effort the look respectable and walk across the street to attend Mass that day. Recently, having just stumbled across an article from a very respectable person, who admits to not attending Sunday worship very often, I am finally going to finish this post. My heart goes out to this person who seemingly has not experienced what it is to participate in or even co-offer a mass as our Baptism calls us to. I still have no theological education outside of my brief experiences of ministry and participation in worship and a desire to praise the Lord that is itself a gift from God (Eucharistic prayer reference).

So why do we attend Mass every Sunday? I could look up an answer in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, but I could also ponder what I've learned over time about the Mass. I'm am only going to share a glimpse of my understanding of this matter. We have been commanded by our God to participate in worship of him, our Creator. If we did not do this on a regular basis, we would forget who is really in charge and begin to worship ourselves and make our own judgement about what is right and wrong - the beginnings of relativism which is situational for everyone. (Don't get me started on a such a rant. It won't be very logical until I've had time to think it through. Catholicism, by it's name, which means UNIVERSAL is opposed to relativism.  Check out the words from Benedict XVI, in a quote from the article listed below.) Even those who fulfill our weekly obligation for Sunday Mass fall into such temptations. 

In summary, I go to Mass every Sunday (and more often if I can), to keep from my own demise and corruption, which I still battle every day, to keep from worshiping myself and thinking I'm in control. 

Words from a wise friend of mine. [One who doesn't take themselves too seriously] means living with a 

"Christian optimism that recognizes
who is in charge and responds in JOY." 

-----------------

“We are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as for certain and which has as its highest goal one’s own ego and one’s own desires.”

This is a warning that Pope Benedict has not tired of repeating during his pontificate.

Relativism is a poison. It attacks our most human capacity, the capacity to seek and know the truth, including the moral truth. A dictatorship of relativism imposes by real cultural force (and even by political force) a no-standard standard, a command that all must imbibe this poison.

Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/benjamin-wiker/benedict-vs.-the-dictatorship-of-relativism/#ixzz2srYeM0er