A House Kept Clean

As I reflect on the state of our nation during this 2016 Presidential Election...

Whether you live in an apartment, condo, or house, you are blessed by God to have shelter, a roof over your head. Sure you worked hard for it and to keep it. But that how we participate in God's gift of life and love, we work hard for it, to keep it.

All that we have, all that God has blessed us with, comes with the responsibility to keep it. To keep it not to my standards, but his. Which means I am supposed to care for what God provides. And that's often difficult.

Take for example, my home. We have a Jack 'n Jill bathroom. A bathroom, which many guests use. God has spoiled us with two sinks in this bathroom. I guess if one fails us, we have another to back it up. Or maybe we have two sinks so as to even the burden of the adjacent bedrooms. Either way, we have this Jack 'n Jill bathroom with two sink. And one day suddenly, one of the sinks got clogged.

Now when we bought this house, brand new, the builder went over various things about routine maintenence.  Now this was very nice, but this wasn't our first brand new house. We knew how to maintain a house. We thought, "Yeah sure, we got this. Oh sure, we know. We'll get to it...when the time is right."

Sure we had good intentions and all, but we wanted to enjoy our new house. You know make it our own. There will be time later to worry about all that routine maintenance stuff.

Well, suddenly it wasn't. One day that sink didn't suddenly get clogged. Nope, it happened over time. Though it happened sooner than we thought, that sink got clogged because we neglected to take care of this beautiful gift of a brand new house. We knew what we should be doing, but we thought we could just deal with it later. Com'on we're trying to work to pay the bills, and enjoy all the reasons why we have all those bills. Plus we rarely used that sink.

This clogged sink was used almost exclusively by others, our guests. And none of them ever said a word to us. If only they would have said or done something, then I'm sure we would have done something sooner.

But there's that nagging reality that God gave us this gift of a house, and we are held responsible to maintain and care for our home.

So what caused this sink to clog up? This sink that was rarely used by others who should have said something? Well this sink is special, one of a kind in our house. This sink has a drain pipe connected from the A/C. And living in Texas, that A/C is definitely used year round by everyone who sleeps, eat, spends time in our home. So that's a lot of cold and hot air blowing! And where's all that condensation going? Down that drain pipe connected to that Jack 'n Jill special sink.

Unfortunately it was too late for the routine maintenance of bleach. No sir, bleaching the problem wasn't going to resolve the issue. The sink was too clogged up with too much filth. Drastic situations call for drastic measures. We needed a plumber.  And so a plumber we got. And that plumber went to town with the roto-rooter. He, not us, cleaned the pipe. It was a dirty job, but that's what happened because of our negligence.

We knew then, we couldn't just wait once a year, or whenever the filth got so bad it cloggs up the sink. We have to keep to a regular routine of maintenence and cleaning, if we are to truly care for our home.

So this election has brought us plenty of filth. I'm not sure if it's the worst ever, and God help us if we play that distracting game of who's got it worse. Regardless we have only ourselves to blame for the filthy clogged drain we have before us.

Now you might say that you rarely used my sink. But did you ever notice the clog? Did you say anything about it? Maybe you did.

Did you tell others that the pipes might be getting dirty? Maybe you did.

Did you rise to the occasion and offer to help clean the pipe? Fix the pipe? Clear the pipe yourself? Offer to replace it?

Better yet have you ever offered to come over to my home on a regular basis and help with the routine maintenance?  Take the trash out? Wash dishes? Vacuum the floors? Scrub toilets? Dust blinds?

Do you see how much cleanliness is necessary in house to routinely maintain a home?  We all desire a clean home, but are we all willing to do what is necessary to keep our home clean?

If we pledge allegiance to this great nation as "Under God," then this home of ours is a gift from God. Our common home needs constant care on a regular basis because that's what is required for living.

Our moral obligation goes beyond election day. We must work hard on a daily basis of routine maintenance to keep this home clean.

Authenticity versus Sincerity

Which is more important?  Authenticity or sincerity?
Today's society seems to give preference, if not greater importance, to one being sincere over and against one being authentic. Perhaps because in our dominant moral relativism we over emphasize intentions and feelings. Yet what purpose is there if someone is sincere without being authentic? How do you know if someone is even sincere, especially when you barely know the person?

Case in point: a politician
I need not even name a particular politician, let alone party affiliation, without many people jumping to the conclusion that such and such politician is a liar, or corrupt, or out for power, greed, or some other vice-related endeavor. Yet the majority of people elect these individuals to public service. Why? Some might say, lesser of two evils. Yet I suspect the majority feels the politician is sincere in enough ways that align with their own sincerity. Political campaigns, like any marketing campaign, rely on this transaction. Polls are done to take the pulse of the people. In other words, we are asked what concerns us, but are given carefully crafted choices to select. The setup is to extract the state of our feelings on specific topics or areas of concerns so as to write the narrative of how a politician or political party can echo sincerity with voters. It's the classic,  "I feel your pain."

So when sincerity is debased from authenticity, We the People are governed not by servants but by swindlers. We are sueded by sincerity instead of aligning ourselves together in authenticity. Our elections tend to be based on personalities instead of principles. Society has become a cult of personality instead of a civilization based on principles. That's what happens when sincerity becomes more important than authenticity.

We need be not just sincere about living authentically, we must be authentic in our living. The truest way to the authentic life is the virtuous path. Temper our passions, not surpress or excite them, so the deepest desires of hearts will be satisfied. Choose wisely what is true, good, and beautiful and we will endure the trials and temptations that depress and distract us from living well. Seek justice not according to earthly contracts, but heavenly covenants. And realize that the Good Life is not here and now, but awaits us after death. Therefore we must gird our loins and fortify our wills to give all honor and glory to God, for he is the source and The Way to eternal life. Sincerity may be ours, but His is authenticity.

Hearts Burning, Not So Much

In 1999 the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), produced the wonderful pastoral plan, Our Hearts Were Burning within Us, for adult faith formation. Yet their plan lacked actionable steps for clear implementation. Sure their hearts were in the right place, but apparently their hearts weren't burning that much.
What good is a shepherd who calls from a distance his sheep who keep wandering off into the distance? The shepherd can keep using his words, but until he starts taking action toward his sheep, the words fall on deaf ears or eventually his words can no longer reach his sheep because they've gone too far. And for those few sheep still nearby, if the shepherd just keeps calling his sheep and not feed them as well, eventually his sheep leave to look for food elsewhere.
This past Sunday's Gospel (Third Sunday of Easter; Lectionary 48; John 21:1-19) is quite poignant for us. Jesus said to Peter, "Write to my sheep." Oh wait, nope. He said to Peter, "Talk to my sheep." Um, not really. The Lord told Peter to "Feed my sheep" and then he said, "Tend my sheep," and then a second time said, "Feed my sheep." That's one tending and two feedings.
Now my criticism of our bishops might be harsh, but the stakes are too high to be laissez-faire about the salvation of souls and spreading the Gospel. As teachers, our bishops do well on telling us about the doctrines of the Church, whether we understand their explanations and descriptions or not. Yet how to live the truth of the Church's teachings, our shepherds struggle dearly to feed us. There are, of course, exceptions to this norm. But the norm is far too common, and we are called to newly evangelize one another.
So in that spirit of evangelization, I offer this outline of a plan of action:
The heart of adult faith formation must be sacramental preparation, because each of us is a sacrament (small s).
We begin this Sac-Prep with the Sacrament of Matrimony, not because all adults are called to the married life, but because every human being deserves to be brought into this world by a husband and wife. The core of human existence is the family, but the heart of the family is the married couple; not as father and mother, but as husband and wife.
A baptized man and a baptized woman who desire to be married ought to go through nine months of preparation. If they can endure the gestation of their new life together, then they will better prepared for the birth of their new married life. This nine months of preparing for the married life is about healthy and holy abiding love, the love necessary for human relationships,  especially between spouses. So the stages of development during these nine months ought to be as follows:
MIND: 3 months of financial learning (eg Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University)
BODY: 3 months of ballroom dance lessons (any professional dance studio beginner series should do)
SPIRIT: 3 months of nutritional and spiritual discernment (eg Joe Reboot meets Ignatian Exercises)
The engaged couple will need to commit a minimum of 2 hours per week for 9 months to their marriage preparation before taking their vows in the Rite. If they can't commit to 2 hours a week together for 9 months, how can they commit to 24 hours a day for a lifetime? Such an investment in preparing during their engagement is small compared to the wealth building they will be capable of in the marriage. The key ingredient to this action plan at each step of the way is their focus on their relationship in these three key areas. The continued development of their minds, bodies, and spirits in preparing to live as "one flesh" is essential to a healthy and holy family life.
This action plan ought to be the heart (cor) of every parish's adult faith formation. Those adults not preparing for marriage or who are already married, ought to be feed by this same core, eventually.
If today's Peters hear not just Jesus' call but heed his commend to feed and tend his sheep, then I can imagine many sheep returning, and all of our hearts burning within us.

Events Based Catechesis

If We the Church are serious about passing on the Faith, then we will take seriously the reality that such an endeavor requires not an echoing monologue of doctrinal diatribes, but an engaging event of encountering the Blessed Holy Trinity.

The great irony is that our shepherd bishops know this, proclaim it in their echoing monologues, yet rarely implement what they know to be true, good, and beautiful. There are already some living this great new evangelization, but the time is now to infuse this charismatic spirit into our catechesis.

For those of us in the ministry of catechesis, we must shift the paradigm from products of programs to events of encounters. This is more than labeling a textbook, for there is no place for textbooks and classrooms in this new catechetical reformation. Catechists are not to be instructors, and definitely not lecturers. Catechists are not to echo our own words, but the Incarnate Word. Therefore, we must think anew.

We are inviting others to spend time with our Lord. The stage is God's, not ours. Yet we all need to be present together on that stage with God. We are not spectators, but participants in this encounter.

So instead of prepping a lesson, schedule an event. Instead of drafting lecture notes, compile your playlist. Instead of managing a classroom, set the stage for the greatest event ever to be encountered. Engage the sacred space that is when two or more are gathered in his name. Preach the Gospel for sure, but with that Catholic fervor of word AND action.

The beauty of God's Word is truly not found viewing words on a page, but experiencing with all our senses the Event of Salvation History. So let us echo God's Word as if we are encountering God Himself.