Why should I attend a Runnin Revs game?

When I was in my first year of high school, I remember coming over to Salina for a Bishop George’s Dragons (I think that’s what they were called.) basketball game.  I was at a stage in my life where I was too cool for the world, and the idea of driving to Salina for a “Church thing” was not exactly at the top of my fun activities list.  My teenage experience of religion was weekly CCD and Sunday Mass as the “required religion” events.  Therefore I, like many young Catholics I know, thought that “fun” and “Church” were incompatible.

Let me be clear, this article is not about adding rock n roll bands and coffee shops to every Catholic Church in an attempt to attract young people to Mass by making it “fun.”  Nor is this article about allowing your children to choose whether or not they practice religion and attend CCD.  I believe forced attendance at these events is a given.  Rather, what I do want to say is that I think it is extremely important that young people experience “religious” events that are also fun and enjoyable.  In other words, if Mass on Sunday and a one hour catechism class is the only experience of religion our young people receive, then the most likely their faith roots will not be planted very deep.

This is one reason why I think activities like Prayer and Action, Totus Tuus, and Runnin Revs are so extremely important for our young people.  Putting them in contact with other young people who are excited both about God (religious) and at the same time excited to have some fun and be silly.

When I came over to Salina to play in “Bishop George’s” basketball game it didn’t change my worldview, but it did plant a few seeds.  It made me realize that sports and church are not inherently opposed and that it is possible for priests to run, laugh, and foul.  (Boy, can they foul!)  For a young man, the opportunity to see the human side of the priesthood was significant for me and opened my heart just a little in preparation for what was to come.
The more people that attend our upcoming Runnin Revs games the more profound the experience will be for the young people involved.  Maybe you will even enjoy it yourself.

Of course, I cannot guarantee an impressive display of basketball skills (Maybe some impressive priest fouling).  I cannot guarantee that you will win an amazing door prize (there are some less than amazing door prizes.)  I cannot guarantee delicious fountain drinks and nachos (although there is a pizza social after the game.)  Come support the Revs!

Monday, April 9 - 7:00 p.m. – , Community Building, Colby, KS
Tuesday, April 10 – 7:00 p.m. – Kennedy Junior High Gym, Hays, KS

I was recently informed of a seminary friend having doubts as he approaches ordination and to him and, I guess to all discerning God’s call in their life, I write this letter.

Dear Candidate for Ordination,

My brother in Christ, do not despair.  You have been preparing many long years for this approaching day.  In your discernment each of those days, through much toil and even turmoil you came to the conclusion; I, by God’s grace, will move forward.  Why now, why after the countless daily yeses would you consider it all misdirected.  I will tell you why.

There is nothing more important to the “father of lies” than to destroy your priestly vocation.  Whether before the “hands come down” or after, the prince of darkness has no greater victory than destroying the light of God’s call and convincing men to turn their back on one of His greatest gifts; the priesthood of Jesus Christ.

You ask yourself, “With all my sin, am I worthy?”  Indeed you are not.  The pen was not worthy of Shakespeare, the brush and chisel not worthy of Michelangelo, however they were used, despite their flaws, to create the greatest master pieces the world has ever seen.  Imagine what God has planned for His world through you; His instrument, if you would, but lay yourself before Him.

You ask yourself, “Will I be happy?”  From where does happiness come?  Does it come from Knowledge, Houses, careers, or even loving relationships with a spouse and family?  Happiness, true happiness comes when we are walking in communion with Him down the path He has set before us since the foundation of the world.  Loneliness, on the other hand, does not come from an empty house, but from an empty existence.  This is why loneliness is a universal sentiment, perhaps most profoundly experienced not by the celibate, but more so by those apart from God; married and single. 

You ask yourself, “Have I come this far only because I don’t know what else I might do?”  Brother, in this noisy world, there are no accidental priests.  “Whoops, I mistakenly got ordained.”  You have sought His will daily and the uncertainty of this moment does not come from “sudden clarity” but rather, fear.  He tells us again, and again, and again…”Do not be afraid.”  Is it possible that the reason you cannot think of other options is because you are right where the Lord wants you?

You ask yourself, “But, am I ready?”  Yet again, are we ever really “ready?”  “Say not, I am too young.”  Sound familiar? One thing is for certain, in this age of perpetual adolescence, when adult girls are afraid to be true women and grown up boys have no idea what it is to be a man, there must be those witnesses who would step forward with courage and proclaim to this confused world, we were not made merely for the pleasures we can achieve in this life, we were made for something more.

Is He really calling you elsewhere?  Sure, it’s possible, but would He really wait until now to reveal it to you?  Daily put yourself in exterior and interior silence in His Eucharistic presence and proclaim with sincere faith the words of scripture, “Here I am Lord, I come to do your will.” and He will never lead you astray.
In Christ’s loving service,

Your brother Priest

What’s the big deal about Prayer and Action?

Of all my time spent attending youth ministry events over the past 16 years, including three World Youth Days, a whole host of conventions, and multiple youth rally’s from St. Louis to Washington D.C., why and how could I possibly still describe our own Diocesan “Prayer and Action” as the most powerful and life changing experience for anybody and everybody involved? 

Here is a basic description of the Prayer and Action experience for those who would like to know what 400 youth from our area will be doing this summer 2010.

Sunday evening, as the young people are getting settled in to their common sleeping rooms, the parish adult sponsors gather with the directors of the program and learn their detailed responsibilities for the week. They are told that they will need to divide their youth on separate teams so that parish youth are intermixed with other parish youth so that friends are on separate teams.  (Strike One!)  Then the sponsors are told they are responsible for taking away all cell phones, ipods, and electronic devices.  (Strike Two!)  Soon after, sponsors tell their youth that they will be sleeping on the floor, lights out at midnight, and wakeup call comes around 6:00 a.m. in order that they be in church in time for a 6:30 rosary followed by mass each morning. (Strike Three!)  The youth then learn of another 20 minutes of silent prayer time after mass every morning, followed by time to a eat cold cereal breakfast and pack your own cold meat sandwich lunch.  (Strike Four!)  Finally, comes the news of what a majority of the time together will be spent doing.  You will visit various work sites scraping, painting, mowing, weed pulling, and shoveling compost in addition to other odd jobs for about 6 hours in the summer heat and then came back to a community shower facility to get cleaned up.  This process will repeat itself Monday through Thursday.  (Strike Five!)  Sound like a dream vacation?  With all the strikes against it, why do the kids (and sponsors) keep coming back?

If I were to describe the program to someone from the outside in such terms I can only imagine that they would laugh and insist that their youth will hate the experience and want to go home after a day.  However, “hatred” is never mentioned in youth and sponsor evaluations each year.  Rather, by the end of the week young people are sharing, “This was the most powerful experience of my life,” and “Had I known what the mission trip was going to be like, I would have signed up for two, three, or even five weeks in a row.” 

What makes Prayer and Action such a profound experience?  Part of it is spending a week in “life simplified” and being electronically disconnected from the “rush” of the rest of the world.  Part of it is the talent and passion of the young adult leaders who give up their summers to direct the program.  Part of it is the evening activities, consisting of music, sharing, and listening, which provided an opportunity to break down the natural human defenses with which we often protect ourselves from emotional and spiritual change.  Finally, I suppose the largest part of it is the profound presence of the Holy Spirit when people come together to pray and to serve their brothers and sisters in Christ.  And two fruits of that Spirit are Joy and Peace.  And I guarantee there will be plenty to go around this summer in Concordia and Norton when Prayer and Action comes to town. 

Please pray for the program this summer and for a life and heart changing experience for all involved.

How should I respond to a high school student who asked me, “Why should I follow the rules and moral teachings of priests and bishops when they are being found to disobey these very teachings themselves?”

This is an extremely important and valid question.  Why would we follow a faith that has “sinners” as its leaders?  Well, let’s look at how Jesus dealt with this question?  “The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.  Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example.  For they preach but they do not practice.” (Matt 23:2-3) 

It’s quite interesting that Jesus comes right out and calls the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites in their practice yet he still commands the crowds to “do and observe whatsoever they tell you.”  How could this be?  Follow and observe what the hypocrites tell you to do?  There must be some strong validity to the authority that comes from the “chair” upon which the scribes and Pharisees are seated.  Could it be that Jesus is not only speaking to the Jews, but that he is also speaking about the future of His Church?  Perhaps this passage is to warn us that leaders within His Church would also sin, but that sin of the messenger does not change the truth of the message.

If we are “holding out” in order to find a church that has a perfect human being as its leader then I am afraid to tell you that there is no such church.  However, it is interesting that this is the excuse that many lazy Christians and Catholics use to justify their own spiritual sloth.  “I’m not going to church, it is full of hypocrites!”

Let’s look at this statement.  First, we must not equate sinner with hypocrite.  A hypocrite is one who justifies their sin while a sinner can be a person who knows that they struggle and is therefore looking for forgiveness and healing.  With this definition who could be considered more of a hypocrite, the one who justifies their sloth and excuses themselves from attending church by pointing fingers at other, or the one who tries to do something about their sinful state by seeking God’s forgiveness and healing at church?

Thankfully, God did not make the transmission of His forgiveness and truth dependent upon the worthiness of His instruments.  In other words, God still communicates his teachings to us through unworthy and even sometimes broken priests and bishops.  This is the reason why the validity of a Catholic sacrament does not depend upon the purity of the priest performing the sacrament in order to be affective.  God, from the beginning of time has dispensed His Spirit and grace through unworthy and sometimes extremely sinful people. 

This is all the more reason that we should be praying non-stop for our priests, bishops, and anyone who stands up to lead in the Church.  As we know hypocrisy amongst Christians is scandalous and extremely more so is the hypocrisy of a priest or bishop.  There is perhaps no greater victory for Satan than to lead a priest astray.
Let us never allow the unfaithfulness of a priest or bishop to cause us to doubt the beauty and truth of the message of Jesus Christ and of His Church.