The Faith of the Peanut Butter

I was going to title this post “The Faith of the Almond Butter” but I figured I’m probably the only one who eats the stuff and so the analogy would be lost to you all…so even though I don’t eat peanut butter, well use it anyways.

Faith is really quite easy to compare to different brands of peanut butter. Let’s take two different brands, for example, Peter Pan Peanut Butter, and Crazy Richard’s peanut butter. There are some big differences between these two brands of peanut butter. The ingredients in Peter Pan include peanuts, salt, vegetable oil, rapeseed oil, and sugar. It contains many…artificial things. In many ways Peter Pan Peanut butter is not as simple as it seems on the outside. Crazy Richard’s on the other hand has one ingredient listed: Peanuts. No salt, no oil, no preservatives, just peanuts.

These two peanut butters can represent our faith. When it comes to our faith in Christ, and coming before him, it is easy to try to “dress ourselves up” for him. We might try and do something that will make us look holier, or will make other people think we have a very special relationship with Christ. We may try to wear crosses and saint medals that everyone will see so they know just how much we love Jesus.

When our focus is on pleasing others and making them see “how much we love Jesus” we are like the Peter Pan Peanut butter. We are fake. We are not real peanut butter. People may think we are real peanut butter, but we just have a lot of fluff to make us seem like it.

What we should do is simply be ourselves. If we love Jesus and want to wear saint medals to remind us to pray often, then wear saint medals! If we love Jesus and we want to pray, then pray! If we do these things of faith out of love of Jesus, rather than out of desire to attract the attention of others, then we are like Crazy Richard’s peanut butter. We are real, true to what we claim to be. There is nothing fake or insincere about us, and ironically that is exactly what is going to attract people to us, just like Crazy Richards peanut butter, people will come running to us because they will know we are the real thing.

So aim to be crazy richards and not peter Pan.

Stop Eatting Olives

I do not like olives. I know this very well. The extreme salt flavor almost to the point of bitterness. The tangy flavor that hits you after that….I just can’t do it. Yet all through out my life I have done this weird thing where every now and then someone will bust out a jar of olives and go at them. Then they will look at me (Nate) and say “would you like an olive?” Then for some unknown reason, my mouth will open up and say “hmm, I should check and see if I still don’t like them…so sure!” In that moment there is then when I rediscover that I still really don’t like olives. Yet I will do this same process again and again and again over the years of my life under the premise of “I need to check and see if I still don’t like them”.

I think many times we can find ourselves in a similar pattern with sin and confession. We commit a certain sin, and we feel horrible about it afterwards so we go to confession. Awesome. But then for some reason soon after going to confession, we will go and commit that same sin yet again, its almost like we want to make sure that we still feel bad about committing, or maybe we just want to check and make sure that its still a sin. I don’t know, but regardless, we end up doing it again, and going to confession again, and doing the same sin again!

So my words for today are: Stop tasting olives! Stop doing that sin. Start today to train yourself to understand when that temptation comes to not do it because its still bad, its still a sin, and we all want to do better than that for God and for ourselves.

If we devote ourselves to prayer, we will eventually overcome any temptation we face, however the first step before prayer can work is for us to decide that we don’t want to sin anymore.

Shout Out’s

Hey all, the wonderful Steph O’Grady did a pretty cool post the other day about dying to our selves.  What we mean by this is putting aside ourselves completely.  You  might have heard this used in reference to marriage or in reference to Christ with the Church.  Its the idea of being so focused on what the other person wants, needs, and desires, that you in many ways forget about yourself completely.  This is what Christ does for the church, and its what we are called to do in our lives.  The link is below.  Enjoy!

Link to “To Much Me”

Things I Hated About Parties Growing Up

Remember those days when you would get the mail and find a card with your name on it. The excitement of somebody sending something to you in the mail, and the joy of knowing whatever was inside was going to be all about you…more or less.

Its a very exciting time, and as a youngster, most of the time when I opened those cards they were invitations to parties. Birthday parties, graduation parties, achievement parties, any variety of parties. Ironically this was not always a source of joy for me. Sometimes, but not always and here are the reasons why:

1. Buying a gift. Now if I was invited to the party of my best friend, it wasn’t so bad. The problem came when I got invited to the party of someone I knew, maybe said hi to, but didn’t really hang out with all that much. This caused a problem in the gift buying area because I never knew what would actually be a decent gift to give the person. After all, how much do you really know about the guy you say hi to in the hall between 3rd and 4th period each day except that…well…he’s a guy and happens to be in the same hall as you between 3rd and 4th period!

2. Activities during the party. Again if it was someone I knew well, then I was pretty sure of what was going to go on in said party be it water gun battles, tag, or whatever. But if it was someone I did not know to well, then the issues began because I might show up and they might have a dance off…and I hate being in a dance off!

3. Feeling included. Even going to the best friends party was always a little weird because there were bound to be people I didn’t really know there. A lot of people I didn’t really know, and sometimes as a result it was easy to just be another face in the crowd and feel like you did not really belong as this party.

The point of this all is that in a few weeks we will hopefully be having a group of 5th graders (now 6th graders) joining our youth group. They are coming in with the understanding that youth group is like a party. Lets try to make sure that none of the stress factors I listed above affect them as they join our ranks. Go out of your way to make them feel welcome, maybe even get to know them a little better than you do. As a youth group our relationships with each other should not be on the same level as the guy we say hi to in the hallway each week. So when June comes around and the 6th graders come in, lets make them feel like they are at the best party in the entire world.

Choosing a church

Many people complain about the church. Your church. They say that the church doesn’t entertain them, or that they just don’t feel relaxed. Sometimes they even say they just don’t like the priest and so are looking for a different church. Other times its the music played at the church, or the particular prayers used.

But here is the reality of what we should look for in a church. Does that church call us to holiness? Does that church seek God in all cases, and encourage its members to seek him as well? Does the priest have a respect for the mass, and treat it with holiness, or is he out to finish it as quick as he can? Will praying in this church get me closer to heaven, or farther away from it…or said in a more important way. Does this church guide me towards the truth, or does it just teach a particular truth.

If you are truly asking these questions of your church and looking at them with an open mind, as a Catholic you should be able to find God in just about any Catholic Church you go to regardless of how bad the sermon might be, how boring the music, or whatever else you may not like about it. And once you find God in a church, you should see that you never really want to leave.

Where the Oil Meets The Forehead

Today is confirmation for the 8th Graders at Mary Mother of the Church. Its truly an epic day. If you are already confirmed you probably remember your confirmation quite well. Lining up all pretty like, marching down the isle, getting the oil rubbed on your forehead….maybe even praying that the Bishop won’t actually call on you to answer a question. Good times.

For those of you who are not yet ready to be confirmed, get ready. Its one of the biggest sacraments you get to receive before your vocational sacrament (matrimony, holy orders, etc). Its the time where you make your full commitment to the Holy Spirit and state your openness to his will in your life.

Those people getting confirmed tonite are probably going to feel the exact same way after the event that they did before. But inside they will be different, they will have a new life bubbling inside them ready to come out and guide them in the truth of God. Pray for them, and pray for others that we may ALL continually be open to the graces our confirmation gives us.

Stopping an explosion

sometimes when we get mad about stuff we look like this…

Enough stuff just happens to us in the course of a few days and we explode. Guys will tend to yell and scream, girls will tend to cry, but the result is the same. It just becomes to much. Unfortunately most of the time, the stuff that becomes to much is a result of what other people do, or don’t do to us. So here is some hints about how as Catholics we should handle this type of stress before it becomes… the big bang

1. forgiveness: Every stressor you have in life that is caused by another person, it is important to be able to sit down in prayer and forgive them. Even if they didn’t apologize first. Forgiving them, genuinely forgiving them allows you to let go of it and to move on. It doesn’t make things better, and it doesn’t undo what is done, but it can help you to feel better.

2. Prayer: Once you forgive people for whatever they have done to you, it is important to take the stuff that stresses you out, and is not caused by people to God in prayer. For while we may not have control over the temperature, if it rains, or our sports schedule, God does. Even though God already knows we would like help with these problems in life, its still important to talk to him about it and ask for the help, and don’t be afraid to be bold. As a child growing up I was always told to ask for what I wanted from a person and not settle for only what I thought I could get.

3. Talking: After these two steps it always helps to go talk to someone you trust about it. An even better thing to do is go talk to your priest about it in confession, that way any sins that came up in the process can be forgiven right then and there. But even if its not in confession, go find someone to talk to about everything going on in life.

4. Trust: Remind yourself that God is in control and he will handle everything in time, and has both your and my best interests in mind.

So hopefully this will help douse our flames when our fuse is lit so that we can avoid big mushroom cloud explosions that in the end won’t help anyone…including ourselves.

Are you a cheerleader or football player?

Did you know that guys and girls are different? I know…its a shocker, some things we just never see coming. But its true, guys and girls are different, and that can create some tensions between them at times starting at a very young age (why do you think guys think girls have cooties) So today we are going to discuss the way girls see some things, and the way guys see some things…and maybe if we do it right, the world won’t explode afterwards!

Girls:

Girls are on one extreme end of the spectrum…generally. They can be quite dependent on each other and sometimes operate like a flock! After all, we all know that if one girl starts crying, all her friends will come and form the “girl wall” around her, and once that girl wall is formed, nothing in the world can get through it, that wall is like a box of Steven King novels at a video game convention…nobody’s opening that box! Now one of my favorite examples of girls bonding together is when they first become interested in guys. They will sit in the hall together, and the one girl will tell the others “hey when Sam walks by, push me into him!” and they all will giggle and its kinda cute in a team work sort of way. I jest a little here but in general girls rely on each other a lot! They expect each other to be able to listen to the hopes, fears and dreams of each other, and to be a source of constant support for each other! This is why girls do cheer leading, because its not always a competitive sport, its just a team sport, and nobody HAS to lose, rather everyone can win cause their a team!!!!!!!

Guys tend to be a little bit… … different…

guys:
guys are the opposite end of the spectrum from the girls, guys tend to be very independent! They have a “I can do it myself” attitude towards things, and many times will see it as a sign of weakness to need the help of others. Think of this, guys will bond together to play games….but its usually games where there is a distinct winner, and a distinct loser, because the guy wants to show us he is better than the next guy. Guys are so independent sometimes that they do stupid things like one unnamed quarter back last season who decided he would continue to play the rest of the football game even though he had broken ribs! Silly Vic (oops!) But this is the kind of stuff guys do, because they are super independent. But this is why guys play football, because there is a definitive winner and loser, and it gives guys a chance to show off their awesome strength!

So the point being, in the end, while we need both guys and girls, football players, and cheer leaders, what we need to to is aim to be a little of both. Yes we need to be football playing cheer leaders. Aim to be independent enough that we can function with out someone there every step of the way, but also dependent enough that we realize when we need to ask someone for help. Best of luck working on it….I think that might be the answer to the question why man kind lives to be about 80 years old….so he has lots of time to figure this stuff out!

Will You Go Where I Go?

Sometimes we get in a bind. We get very very focused on what we want out of life, or what we think we should be doing in life, or even what we think God should be giving us right now in life. These are all things we get stuck on. Ironically when we get stuck on something that WE think we should be doing, or that WE think God should be doing for us, it usually has us looking a little silly…not much different than the cats below:

Those cats look crazy chasing a little red dot over and over again. What’s worse is as long as that dot is there they will continue to chase it non-stop regardless of how futile it may be to do so.

So for us what this means is let God run your life the way he wants to, and not the way you want to. That way everything God wants for you can happen, and you won’t end up like a cat chasing a little red Dot.

Why I Play Video Games.

I have been playing video games since I was about 4 years old. Granted the types of games I played, and the system I played them on changed over the years, but in general I have played video through out most of my life.

See that’s me…I was a cartoon when I was younger…most people don’t know that, but when they hear that they say a lot of things about me suddenly make sense!

Anywho…video games have been with me most of my life and as a result they are in some way a part of me, video games are something I have come to know, and be comfortable with. They are enough of a part of me that when I am stressed I can actually unwind by playing video games, and they can help me calm down because video games are something I know, they are a sign that life is normal, and everything is under control.

In today’s gospel, we see something similar happening. Jesus was killed and laid in the tomb but a few days ago and has since been reported to have raised from the dead. If that is not an overwhelming series of events, I don’t know what is! So in the gospel amongst all the stress of life and uncertainty we see the apostles fall back on what they know…fishing. The apostles were overwhelmed with all the reports and so uncertain about what they should be doing that they needed something to fall back on, something they knew, that was comfortable, and that told them everything was normal and under control. For the apostles, that was fishing.

So what about you? What do you fall back on when life becomes to much? What is the one activity that each time you do it you know everything is ok? Or here is a bigger question: what can you do make sure your faith in Christ, and that Christ himself is what you fall back on when life is to much? How can you change things so that when the world is overwhelming, you go to the maker of the world, rather than something found in the world? Think about it, and happy Friday!