Incomprehensible Love

Wow, the first reading really spoke to my heart today. Sometimes we have problems knowing the love of God, don’t we? We know rationally that God loves us but we almost justify it as a far away detached love, kind of like the love between family members who have never met. They have a bond but it is not very deep. Since I have been married for over a week now and am pretty much a pro (haha) I can say that the type of love where we share everything, complete vulnerability, is scary. But it is also the most incredible thing that a human person can experience.

All throughout scriptures the analogy of a husband and a wife is used to describe the love between Christ and His Church. God wants to share an intimate, vulnerable, selfless love with us and have us return that love as well. This is what it is to be in a relationship. But sometimes that is really hard and scary to do. Now, are you ready for the most amazing part? God knows it is hard for us and so He helps us through it. He loves us so much that He gives us the grace to love in a complete way, and it’s even impossible without His grace.

In the first reading from today, the author of Ephesians prays that we can comprehend the love of God which surpasses all understanding. That is to say that our human minds and hearts cannot even begin to grasp the depth and beauty of the love of God. The Second Person of the Blessed Trinity steps in and becomes one of us to teach us how we can love.

All throughout the scriptures we hear about covenants between God and His people. These covenants are broken time and again, but never by God. He is always the faithful one, always the one to pick us up, always the one to figure out a way. This is so beautiful. Having been married now for a little while I can say with conviction that this kind of self-giving love exists, and man is it amazing. And the love Nathalie and I share, as amazing as it is, is only a foretaste of the love we will share with God in heaven. How incredible, that God loves us so much that he wants us to experience and understand the depths of His love, a love that is incomprehensible to the human mind, but one we all desire. And he helps us get there. When we are weak He steps in with His grace and gives us the capability for a selfless love.

Let us pray for the strength to accept this free love and grace from God and to not be afraid to return it back so we can truly say we are in a relationship with Him. From all of us here at Diocesan, God Bless!

Tommy Shultz is a Solutions Evangelist for Diocesan. In that role, he is committed to coaching parishes and dioceses on authentic and effective Catholic communication. Tommy has a heart and a flair for inspiring people to live their faith every day. He has worked in various youth ministry, adult ministry, and diocesan roles. He has been a featured speaker at retreats and events across the country. His mission and drive have been especially inspired by St. John Paul II’s teachings. Tommy is blessed to be able to learn from the numerous parishes he visits and pass that experience on in his presentations. Contact him at tshultz@diocesan.com.

October 23, 2018

O Death Where Is Your Sting?

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“Be vigilant at all times and pray that you may have the strength to stand before the Son of Man.”

Death is a strange thing. I can still remember a moment in my childhood when I became aware of the reality of death. I remember asking my parents why everyone had to die. I think one of the most common reactions to death is uncertainty. In a world where so many things have been proven, learned and studied, death is one of those things that we still don’t know much about.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus calls us to be ready for the end. We must gird our loins and light our lamps and await the master’s return. But He does not call us to do this out of fear or uncertainty, but rather so we can be certain that we will spend eternity with Him. He says in the first reading that He is our peace and that He will put death not to us, but to the division we have caused in our hearts.

Once He has put death to enmity, we will then be full members of the household of God. So as strange and unclear that death is, as unnatural as it is to our human condition, the thing that is really being put to death, in the end, is our sinfulness so we can rise victorious because of what Christ did for us on the cross.

You may have heard of the idea of the original sin being a happy fault because it gained for us so great a redeemer. It is kind of the same with death and the end times. These are now necessary parts of the human condition that strip away the brokenness, sin, hurt, and pain of this world so that we may go beyond death into eternal life.

This is what Christ gained for us. So when He says to be watchful and vigilant, He is calling us to have certainty that when the end comes, we will be among those good and faithful servants. He wants to replace our uncertainty with full knowledge of the world, He wants to put death to our old ways and raise us to new life, He wants us to be His people, His community, His household, happy with him forever because of the power of the cross. That is good news. God Bless!

“O Death, where is your sting?”

October 2, 2018

Childlike Faith

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“Unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.” -MT 18

A child is a perfect example of living in the world but not of the world. They often have this perfect balance between awareness of a spiritual reality and yet they have not yet been influenced by the different negative forces in the world.

Many look at this and call it immaturity, they just need to grow up and experience the real world and then they will know. As if experience of the negative things in this life is what we were made for.

I like to think of a time before the original sin when Adam and Eve were in the garden. Think of how childlike they must have been, trusting and relying fully on God, loving in a way that is pure and holy just like that of a child, a humble admittance that they were created and thus not the creator.

All of this was broken however when they fell. And why did they fall? They wanted to take God’s place. They wanted the full knowledge that God had, the knowledge which Satan promised would make them like God. And it is precisely in receiving this knowledge that they became blind, less childlike, prideful, sinful, broken.

Our hearts were made for innocence, and that innocence was shattered. Thankfully we have a divine physician. If our original state in the garden could be portrayed as a beautiful stained glass window, then at the fall this window was shattered. But Jesus came and picked up those pieces one by one and put them back into place so that the original beauty of God’s plan could shine through. This is the beautiful story of redemption that we can each begin to experience even here and now.

Today is the memorial of the guardian angels. Our guardian angel was specifically appointed by God to help us see that original light and beauty and to live by it. To go back to that childlike trust which we tried to leave behind. I invite you to allow God to pick up your pieces. Let Him breathe light where there is darkness. Let Him in and see what He will do and has done for you. God Bless!

October 1, 2018

True Faith

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“The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away;
blessed be the name of the LORD!”

What is Faith? The dictionary defines it several ways. Some say complete trust in another. Others say a belief that is not based on proof. As Catholics, we know it is one of the Cardinal Virtues, faith, hope, and love. But do we live with complete faith in God or is our faith conditional, and therefore not faith at all?

I think of the things going on in our world and the Church. These are not easy things to deal with nor should they be taken lightly. But as our faith in the Lord and His church is shaken, what is our response? See, faith is easy when it goes untested. A child can look at the Eucharist and say, “Mommy is that Jesus,” and believe wholeheartedly that it is. But then life happens. This child’s parents maybe aren’t trustworthy in every instance. Peers and friend groups try to persuade this or that opinion. And the child naturally starts to question, and it is in this questioning and doubt that faith is strengthened and tested.

My fiance and I are getting married now in less than two weeks, and we are starting the process of buying a house and moving in all before the wedding. These are some big scary moments in every person’s life, and they put our faith to the test. Faith and trust in each other and our love that we will genuinely care for and be there for the other through thick and thin. Faith and trust in God who is moving our lives in all these exciting new directions. And faith that when the storms do come, we will have the foundation that will stand. Thank goodness God has brought me someone that I can put my faith in and He has brought us together with complete faith in Himself.

We all go through testing of faith, and for many of us, it has happened with all the recent and ongoing news in the Catholic Church. But I ask you if you were to lose everything that you owned right now who would you put your faith in? Is your faith strong enough to endure even the most tumultuous sea? I would like to say that mine is, but that’s the thing about faith. It is not based on us; it is based on something outside of ourselves, something more significant. It is a gift from God that we must ask and beg for in times where it is hard to see the good. We need to pray for a faith like Job. Let us pray for that faith. Amen!

And so one day, while his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, a messenger came to Job and said,” The oxen were plowing and the asses grazing beside them, and the Sabeans carried them off in a raid. They put the herdsmen to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

While he was yet speaking, another came and said, “Lightning has fallen from heaven and struck the sheep and their shepherds and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

While he was yet speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three columns, seized the camels, carried them off, and put those tending them to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

While he was yet speaking, another came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, when suddenly a great wind came across the desert
and smote the four corners of the house. It fell upon the young people and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

Then Job began to tear his cloak and cut off his hair. He cast himself prostrate upon the ground, and said,

“Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I go back again. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
blessed be the name of the LORD!” -Job 1:13-22

September 28, 2018

The Truth Of The Incarnation

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“Jesus was praying in solitude.” Luke 9:18

We hear these words in the Gospel, and they can quickly fly by us like a falling leaf during the fall months, without much awareness. But these few words are so rich in there meaning. Christians believe that God is a trinity, three persons in just one God. Jesus prayed to the Father, just as we do. His human nature is such that He prays, He begs for suffering to pass, He weeps when his friend dies, He sweats blood from the pain and weight of all the sins of the world.

This mystery of the Second Person of The Trinity taking on human nature is fundamental to our salvation. St. John Paul II even says, “Through the Fact that the Word of God became flesh, the body entered theology through the main door.”

Think about this for a second. Ok now stop and actually think about it. We have a God who loves us so deeply that he takes on the form of a slave. He becomes one of us in every way except sin. Can you imagine a King who leaves his palace and lives amongst the peasants, not only to experience as they do but to help them and love them. Jesus takes this even further, He literally becomes one of us, to redeem us. That is how important we are to Him.

We can take this so far as to say that whenever we doubt the love of God, whenever we say we are not worth it, whenever we say that our sins are too many or our wounds too deep, that is as if we are standing in front of a crucifix and saying to Jesus that it was not enough. “It may have worked for others, but there is no way it could work for me, God.”

At which point Jesus looks down at us and says this is for you. If you were the only one who ever hurt me, I would become man and die just for you. I think because we have grown up hearing the story of Christ and his life, death, and resurrection, it becomes commonplace. Just like that leaf falling from the trees during the fall season. It is just something that happened. It is essential to stop, take a breath, and ground ourselves in the truth that the incarnation is a fact, that the crucifixion occurred, that it produces power in our lives, that it redeems our fallen human nature eventually to the level of divinity in heaven.

This is the joy by which we live. Have you shared it recently?

September 22, 2018

Spiritual Superheroes

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“So also is the resurrection of the dead.
It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible.
It is sown dishonorable; it is raised glorious.
It is sown weak; it is raised powerful.
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one.”

I love today’s first reading because it speaks about what happens to us at the second coming of Christ when we experience the resurrection of our bodies. Wait what? Will we have bodies even in heaven? I thought our body decayed and our spirit lived on?

The Catholic Church has always held the teaching of the resurrection of our bodies, in fact, it is mentioned in the creed. But this is not something simply made up by theologians; it is a deeply biblical truth. We see allusions to it here as well several other places in the Bible, the most important probably being the example of Jesus Himself.

After Jesus resurrected He still had His body, but with noticeable differences. He could walk through walls, He was often recognized as a ghost, so his physical appearance was somewhat different, and though there are many accounts of Him cooking and eating with His disciples, He didn’t need food to nourish His body.

This profound reality is known as spiritualization of the body, and it is one of the most exciting, I think, facts about heaven. We know that the human person is a body-soul composite. In heaven after the resurrection of the body, this unity will reach its perfection to the point that we will have the same differences that Christ did after his resurrection.

St. John Paul II talks about this in Theology of the Body. He says, “The truth about man’s destiny cannot be understood as a state of the soul alone, separated from the body, but must be understood as the definitively and perfectly integrated state of man brought about by a perfect union of the soul with the body” (see TOB 66:6).

So in other words, we will become superheroes. Saint John Paul II goes on to say, “Spiritualization means the powers of the spirit will permeate the energies of the body. Because of man’s very nature, perfection cannot resist in a reciprocal opposition of the spirit and the body, but only in a deep harmony between them, in safeguarding the primacy of the spirit” (see TOB 67:1,2).

We will be able to walk through walls, fly, go without eating, gain immortality, keep our perfect figure, never get wrinkles, and much more. But why become like superheroes, or as scripture says, like angels, if we are in heaven and nobody needs saving?

Think about salvation history for a second. In the beginning, Adam and Eve were perfectly happy with God and each other. But even Adam and Eve could not walk through walls or go without eating. They had perfect bodies, but they were not spiritualized. After the fall God sent his only Son to redeem the world and how did he do it? Through a body.

St. John Paul II says, “Through the fact that the Word of God became flesh, the body entered theology through the main door” (see TOB 23:4).

And the Catechism points out, “The flesh is the hinge of salvation. We believe in God who is the creator of the flesh; we believe in the word made flesh in order to redeem the flesh, we believe in the resurrection of the flesh, the fulfillment of both the creation and redemption of the flesh.” CCC 1015

So why will we be like superheroes when nobody needs saving? To always remind us of the incredible sacrifice of the cross and the truth of redemption. God loved us so much after we turned away from Him that instead of restoring us to our original perfect state, He restores us to something even beyond that. His love for us is that powerful, and that gives us true reason to rejoice and a real reason for hope. Let’s take a moment to thank God today for the gift of his life, death, and resurrection, crucial parts of our very own salvation history story. From all of us here at Diocesan, God BLess!

September 8, 2018

A Humble Strength

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I have always had a deep devotion to my confirmation saint, St. Joseph. We know very little about St. Joseph, but in today’s readings, we hear some of the only written accounts of this great saint. It has just been announced that Mary shall bear a son.

“When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.”

Many saints and scholars have commented on the fact that this verse does not necessarily mean that Joseph was going to divorce her because he believed she had been with another man. This is an understanding that some read into this text. But many have written about this idea that Joseph knew that Mary had conceived of the Holy Spirit and he did not feel worthy, after all, he was chosen to be the earthly father of Jesus, no small task.

To distance Mary from any shame and because he did not feel worthy, he decided to divorce her quietly. But God had different plans.

“Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.”

And here we have Joseph’s fiat, his yes to God. Though he must have felt unworthy, he was now betrothed to a sinless virgin who was carrying God in her womb; he trusted that God would provide him with strength.

A few days ago I reflected on humility. I think today’s readings keep that discussion going beautifully. I think we often think of humility as something that is weak, we are made small and so we act small. I know I struggle with that sometimes. But here we have Joseph being given the grace to help our Savior through His earliest days. What amazing strength and courage it must have taken Joseph to say yes, a yes that could only come through the grace of God.

So again we see this utter reliance on God, our unworthiness made perfect in God, and from that came pure strength. If we keep in mind that everything begins and ends with God, then we should not be afraid to boast in the Lord. Humility is not hiding the great things God is doing in our lives, but it’s bringing them to light so people can see that it is not just us and our strength, but it is God making us worthy and giving us grace.

Let us ask for the grace of continued humility and the strength to give our important yes to God. Amen!

September 5, 2018September 4, 2018

Worth and Reliance

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I have always struggled with humility. I think it is because I am such a positive person and for a long time I saw humility as putting ourselves down; we are just measly worms who can do nothing right. I have come to realize through reflection, prayer, and the readings of the saints, that true humility is not about our unworthiness as much as it is about our utter dependence. A mathematician can expound on the smartest equations known to man, and he/she is worthy of doing so, but he/she is dependant on the theories that have come before.

In today’s first reading St. Paul’s words hit hard. “I could not talk to you as spiritual people, but as fleshly people, as infants in Christ. I fed you milk, not solid food, because you were unable to take it.” Immediately my mind goes positive about my worth, “Hey, I am not just a child. I can handle the truth. I went to Franciscan for Theology so, I know my stuff.”

Then reality sets in and I realize that I have complete dependence on my Lord and God. Every movement, every breath, every second of study, is due to God keeping me in existence, holding me in His arms, keeping me in His heart. I am dependent on the God who gave me my worth. As human beings, we are made with the utmost dignity and deserve respect, but we also need to realize that in relation to God and the entire cosmos we are just a speck of paint in the beautiful painting that we know as humanity.

God does not need us, but He sure wants us. He has given us dignity, talents, a heart capable of true charity, and an immortal soul all of which need to be exercised as the gifts they are. Our worth is vast, our dependence total.

This point is hit home by Jesus in today’s Gospel as he performs miracles. We need signs as human beings don’t we? We like proof that God is who He says He is.

We should be able to look at how incredibly we have been created and learn of the goodness of God, but often we don’t. We should be able to admit our reliance on God, but often we want to prove our worth by neglecting the one who created it. Our worth and reliance should be apparent, but we need help to see.

Jesus performs these signs to help us, to love us, but they should also show us that He is in control. This is true humility, seeing our infinite worth, and our complete reliance. Let us pray for the gift of humility and thank God for creating us in His image and likeness. Amen!

September 2, 2018

Beyond The Law

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In today’s beautiful readings we see Jesus rebuking the Pharisees for following the letter of the law solely for the sake of the law instead of understanding the more profound point, relationship.

“Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:
This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines human precepts.
You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.”

Now at first, this passage looks pretty condemning, but let’s look a little deeper. Jesus is rebuking the hypocritical attitude, but he is doing so because He knows our destiny is so much more significant.

We were not meant to just be human slaves obeying laws and precepts without any real purpose or goal. In the beingning with Adam and Eve, there was no need for such a focus on laws. They understood at a deep level that a human person has innate dignity and is made in the image and likeness of God. They understood and lived this relationship with God and each other perfectly.

And then the fall happened. We started to lose the capacity to look at others with love, mercy, kindness, and charity. We started to act against our very human nature and commit grievances against our own people. It is for this reason that laws were put in place, to protect the common good.

Laws are essential in a fallen world, but Christ in today’s Gospel is calling us to go beyond the law. Instead of doing actions just for that actions sake, digging deep and remembering where we come from and what we are meant for, eternal happines with God in heaven.

We are meant to look at Adam and Eve’s experience and learn from them and start to allow that experience to become ours. Not one enslaved by sin and evil where laws have to guide us, but freedom where we are guided by unconditional love.

This is what Jesus reminds us of today. That He has created us with a purpose that is beyond our understanding and a destiny that is literally out of this world. The only way we are going to get there is by finding the real person behind the commandents and by allowing His love to penetrate into our lives in such a real way that the commandments are no longer a burden but they just make sense because we know that every human person has dignity and worth.

Let us ask for the grace of God because we need it in order to begin to live by the original standards of charity that God gave us from the beginning. Amen.

August 30, 2018August 29, 2018

Join Me In Prayer And Fasting For Our Church

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Jesus said to his disciples: “Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.”

What first comes to mind when you read that quote from today’s readings? Fear, shame at the state of our world, hurt coming from those leading the Church? And what should our response be? We are in the midst of corruption and moral depravity and yet it is not nearly enough to just sift through news article after news article or this or that blog post, reading with little action or even thought. How do we stay awake? How do we prepare? Whether the end of the world is coming soon or not, we need to strengthen our relationship with the Lord.

We won’t do that by sitting in anger and fear. We won’t do that by speculating on whether or not this scandal does in fact go all the way up to the top. We won’t do that by giving up on the Church all together. I am reminded of when Jesus says in the Gospels that, “This kind can only be driven out by prayer and fasting.”

I don’t want to sit in anger anymore, I want to do something for my Church. I am committing to a 40 day fast which started on the feast of St. Augustine and ends on October 7th which is the Feast of Our Lady of Victory/the Rosary.

I ask that you join me in prayer and fasting for our Church. I am praying a rosary daily and giving up snacking between meals for these 40 days. What will you decide to do? Please join me in solidarity as we lift up our Church. We may not be responsible for any of this, but we are responsible for what happens next. God Bless!

August 27, 2018

Woe To You Hypocrites

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Yesterday I wrote about the importance of true love and relationship that we saw in the beautiful readings. Today we see a sort of switch in language, Jesus is not happy.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You traverse sea and land to make one convert, and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna twice as much as yourselves.”

These words are pretty potent, but I think they display such a profound truth. Jesus spoke yesterday about the importance of relationship, true love, self gift, and the reality of the Eucharist and today He opposes those who fake a relationship.

To say that you have a relationship with God, but you are only in it for yourselves or salvation or status seems to be a grave sin to Jesus. He does not like fakers. This should show us two things.

One, it shows us that clearly Jesus meant what He said about being true food and true drink. We just heard that passage and now here Jesus is saying how much He detests people who say one thing and live another. This should give us such great faith in the Eucharist as being truly the full presence of God.

Second, it shows us that even if we struggle, even if the faith is difficult, even if we have suffering and pain, even if sometimes we cant feel God, that it is better to struggle through with hope and faith than to just give up and give an appearance of relationship. He is with us and wants a relationship with us and all we have to do is be honest and try.

A spiritual director of mine once said that the two most important aspects of prayer are honesty and consistency. We have to be honest with God about what is going on in our lives and we have to be consistent in turning to Him and giving him everything. This is no different from any relationship that we have in our lives. Marriages would not be very healthy without honesty and consistency.

We have recently seen what can happen when relationship with Christ is faked, when status and power trump love and compassion, when those who should be showing Christ to the world show the exact opposite.

We have also seen the very good priests in this world who truly act in persona Christi. We should learn from their example and direction to counteract the lies and deceit of the hypocrites who Jesus condemns.

Let us pray for our priests and for ourselves that we may never fake relationship but instead day after day grow even deeper and closer to our God. Amen.

August 26, 2018August 26, 2018

Be Subordinate To One Another

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I was not originally scheduled to write a post for today, but I am glad it worked out the way it did. I went to Mass last night and heard the most amazing homily unpacking two of the readings from today and I wanted to share my thoughts with you.

Our pastor, Father Adams, began the homily by saying it is one of the more controversial readings from Ephesians and he asked the congregation what the first line from it was. We heard many voices saying, “Wives be subordinate to your husbands.” Father Adams then corrected the congregation and said that the first line is actually, “Be subordinate to each other.”

This showed a common misunderstanding of this reading where people think it is sexist or unfair. Then we hear the Gospel where Jesus talks about his flesh being real food and some of the disciples leave. They misunderstand the gift that Jesus wants to give them in the Eucharist.

Here we have two readings that are difficult to understand and perhaps are controversial, but they are both about relationship. Father Adams pointed out that both of these readings teach us how to truly love, by giving all of ourselves to our beloved.

This is essentially the gift we have in the Eucharist. I know I have been thinking about this a lot as I am getting married in less than two months. Sharing our wedding night together and then experiencing holy communion together as a married couple will truly show God’s plan for love and total self gift.

Sometimes the Catholic life is hard, sometimes it is not easy to understand, sometimes we have to take things on faith, but the Catholic life is always about a relationship with Jesus who gave a complete and total gift of Himself. He subordinated Himself so much that He comes to us in the form of bread, to give us all of Him.

This is a truth that is so profound, but yet easy to forget. I pray for the grace to let the Eucharist be the model for Nathalie and I in our marriage, and I pray that all of us take a second after Mass today to say thank you to Jesus for giving all of Himself to us so that we might have life to the full. God Bless and Happy Sunday!

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