OUR EPIDEMIC OF "VICIOUS TONGUE DISEASE"

 

"Social Media" can, yes, be a great source of family news and photo sharing among family members and friends, but it also has a very dark side as well! 

Social Media does not "cause" people to develop vicious tongues, but it can encourage them to do so (as in "monkey see, monkey do") and can give them an easy outlet for doing so! People are able to access more and more information on one hand, while they have not yet developed the ability to discern what is of value or true on the other! 

I have never been tempted to "sign up" for Facebook, for that very reason. I hear from many people who do have accounts on Facebook, even relatives, about how much gossip, viciousness, rumor-mongering, grudge-sharing and cruelty is spread, sometimes anonymously, on social media sites. 

It is not the only outlet for vicious tongues. It is only one of the methods causing our "epidemic of vicious tongues" as it funnels the spread mean, angry, reputation-ruining, jealous and grudge-sharing words. Teenagers are most certainly not the only ones causing this viciousness to spread. This doesn't just happen on the latest TV episode of "Mean Girl Murders," this is now happening in the highest levels of our government! 

The hate-filled, no-boundaries "name calling" coming from Washington D.C, even from so many of our elected officials, is escalating by the day and becoming more and more fierce - even when you think it can't get any worse! TV news, news sites on the computer and newspapers are filled with anger and hate! It seems to me that our politicians are actually teaching us that it is OK, even commendable, to vomit hate for people who disagree with you or think differently from you or look different from you or believe differently from you! Revenge, even wrapped in religious excuses, has now been unleashed on our culture and is becoming normative so quickly that it makes my head spin! This needs to stop NOW!!!!! We should all stop it and we should all offer firm fraternal correction whenever we hear it! 

What can I do to help people choose another way? Fewer and fewer people are listening to "spiritual leaders" like myself, so I am less than hopeful that this blog post will change many minds, but I will keep trying regardless!  

This blog is called "An Encouraging Word." Before this, I had a weekly column in The Record for fifteen years by the same name. My "thing" in both efforts is not to look for sins to condemn, but goodness to affirm, so let me pass on a few suggestions I found on the internet. I incorporate some of them in this blog and try to follow them in my personal relationships. The bottom line in this posting is certainly not to suggest a "if you can't beat them, join them" philosophy, but rather I am happy to offer some alternatives to this super-destructive trend! To address the issue of "an epidemic of vicious tongues," consider these strategies:

1. Promote open dialogue to encourage understanding and reduce      hostility.
2. Foster empathy by sharing personal stories and experiences.
3. Encourage conflict resolution techniques in community discussions.
4. Limit exposure to negative influences, such as toxic media or gossip.
5. Advocate for kindness and respect in all forms of communication.
6. Lead by example; model positive speech and behavior in your interactions.

JESUS DISCERNS THE DIRECTION OF HIS MINISTRY

 

Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

Matthew 4:1-11

We know very little about Jesus’ life up to this point. Let's do a quick review. We know that an angel appeared to a young girl of Nazareth, Mary, a little over 2,000 years ago announcing that God was making a move that he had been promising for centuries – to send a Savior. He chose the young virgin, Mary of Nazareth, to be the mother of the Son of God and she was to give him the name, Jesus.

We know that when the time came for his birth, Mary and her husband Joseph, were in the town of Bethlehem to register for a Roman census. We know that at the time of his birth, there was some kind of celestial event that attracted visitors from the East who believed that it signaled the birth of a new king. It could have been a literal star or a meteor or an unusual alignment of celestial bodies. (It is worth noting that ancient Chinese astronomy records indicate there was a star-like object hovering over the Middle East for several days about the time Jesus was born.)

We know these visitors from the East triggered panic in the mind of Herod, a petty local king installed by the Roman Emperor to govern the Jews. Paranoid about losing power, Herod ordered the deaths of every infant in Bethlehem in hopes of killing the new king that the foreign visitors were looking for!

We know that that Joseph and Mary were tipped off about Herod’s monstrous plans in a dream and escaped to Egypt where they lived until news of Herod’s death. (You all remember that Jesus spent some of his early years in Egypt as a refugee, don’t you?)  After Herod was dead and the coast was clear, Mary, Joseph and Jesus moved back to Israel to spend his growing up years in Nazareth.  

We know that Mary and Joseph took the child Jesus to Jerusalem every year to celebrate the Passover. On one of those trips, when Jesus was twelve years old, they got separated from one another and it was not realized until they were on their way home. Traveling in a caravan, one parent thought he was with the other. When it was obvious that he had been left behind, they went back to Jerusalem and searched frantically through the crowded city until they found him. They found him in the Temple, engaged in a discussion with the religious teachers there. After that, we know that he went home with his parents and lived there till he was about thirty years old.

We know that when he was about thirty years old, he left home having been drawn by the preaching of his cousin, John, known as the Baptizer. After hearing John preach, we know that Jesus submitted to John’s baptism. On coming up out of the water after his baptism, we know that Jesus heard a voice from heaven saying “This is my beloved Son whom I love.”

We know that this experience was life-changing for Jesus. Overwhelmed by what those words from heaven might mean, Jesus left there and went on a forty-day retreat to reflect on those words and discern what they might mean for his life. While on retreat, the devil presented several tempting options in contrast to what Jesus came to know as God’s plan for him. Having resisted the devil’s tempting options, Jesus comes out of his retreat, hears that John had been arrested and decides to launch his ministry. This is where we are on the time line in the gospel today. Sadly, the story ends with what Jesus rejected, rather than the conclusion he came to at the end of his discernment period in the desert.

Before we consider what Jesus came to understand as his mission from God, it might be a good idea to understand what he rejected – what the devil proposed to him that it might be when Jesus was discerning God’s will in the desert.  In a nutshell, the devil proposed all the solutions that he is still proposing in the world today. The devil, then and now, proposes external fixes. Jesus, then and now, proposes an internal fix. The devil says the path to happiness is through changing things, while Jesus says that the path to happiness is though people changing. Jesus was not called to change things. He was called to change people. He knew that when people change, things change!

Let me give you some examples. (1) The devil suggested to Jesus that he could get a lot of followers if he would just turn rocks into bread. Jesus said “no” because he knew that there is already enough resources to feed the poor. What is needed is not “magic bread,” but people changing their attitudes toward the poor. (2) The devil suggested to Jesus that he could get lots of followers if he would just suspend the laws of nature and jump from high buildings and land unharmed with the help of angels. Jesus said “no” because he knew if people would just open their eyes, they would see that life as it is already a miracle. We don’t need dramatic stunts and cheap miracles. All we need is for people to look at life differently. (3) The devil suggested that Jesus could get ahead if he would only worship the devil and his power, if he would just start calling evil good and good evil. Jesus said “no” because he knew that that was a trick too many people had already fallen for with disastrous results. He knew that people could see the truth if they would just open their eyes and look at reality squarely, instead of closing them in denial and telling themselves that it was the truth.

My friends, the third temptation that Jesus faced was to call evil, good. In our own day, we are severely tempted, in many clever and seductive ways, to do the same – to trick ourselves into calling obvious evil, good!  We are falling for lies in an alarming rate! We are becoming infamous around the world for falling for this third temptation, for falling for convincing lies!

Sadly, as I said before, the temptation story today ends with the direction Jesus rejected as he was discerning his ministry, not what he chose and the direction of his ministry! In short, he rejected exterior changes (changing things) and chose interior change (changing the way we think and the way we see things). In the Greek text, Jesus says, “Metanoiete!” Open your eyes and change the way you think! Open your eyes and change the way you look at things! If you do, you will see that the kingdom of God is at hand! It is not in some far- off heaven, but right here in front of us. It is indeed “at hand!”  

Change the way you think, change the way you look at things and you will see the answer! Your old way of thinking, your old way of looking at things is what is making you miserable and experience the absence of God!  I believe this with all my heart. I believe it as a teaching handed to us by Christ, certainly, but I also believe it from experience!

When I was a junior in college, I was bashful, backward and scared of life. I always thought that life was something that happened to you and all I could do was to accept whatever happened. I was miserable and I blamed everybody I could. It was only when I changed the way I was thinking and got out of the back seat of my life and got behind the wheel that my life took a dramatic turn for the better. The world did not have to change! I had to change! I had to learn, basically, that “There was no rescue party out looking for me.” Instead of looking out there for a rescue party, I had to start looking within myself for that rescue party!

Our job is not simply to change things around us - to just rearrange the furniture so to speak! Our job is much harder! Our job is to change our minds! That, my friends, is the real solution to many of our social problems – coming to a new way of thinking, a new way of seeing and acting, that results from a converted heart!  The bottom line today is this - if people would only change their thinking and their outlooks, live in truth rather than in lies, they could change our world!”  

 

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

    

CHURCH CHAT #16

 

MY UNDERSTANDING OF THE PHENOMENON OF FAITH HEALING

      

They begged Jesus that they might touch only the tassel on 

his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed.

Mark 6:53-56

It seems to me that I have tried to explain my belief about the faith healings of Jesus multiple times. It started with an old book from years ago. There are a few such old books still on my shelf, but I cannot get rid of this book, no matter what! It was the source of a great breakthrough in my understanding. I am talking about a book by Fr. Louis Evely that has his insight on the faith healing of Jesus.

Father Evely makes the case that the phenomenon known as a “healing miracle” is simply an abnormal acceleration of natural healing processes that are triggered by faith. A “miracle” he says, does not occur from the outside in, but from the inside out. Christ did not tell those he cured, “My power has cured you.” Instead, he said, “Your faith has cured you.”  In the previous chapter, we read about the cure of a woman with great faith, but earlier in this chapter, Mark reports that “Jesus could work no miracle there because of people’s lack of faith.”  Today, we read that people were begging to brought to the marketplaces so that they might touch the tassel of Jesus’ cloak, and as many as touched it were healed. It was not, of course, a holy tassel that caused the cures in the gospel today, it was people’s faith that triggered their cures! Their faith triggered an acceleration of natural healing processes.

What about the miracles that have been recorded at places like Lourdes? Well, there have been miracles at every shrine of every religion, and most of these have been miracles of healing. Father Evely notes that the sole characteristic of a miraculous cure is the extraordinary acceleration of the natural healing process. That which cannot be healed by a natural process is not susceptible to a miraculous cure; an amputated leg or arm, he noted for example, has never been re-grown miraculously – not even a finger. So, it seems that such acceleration of the natural processes of healing can be triggered by faith. It’s not the sacred stone, the holy relic, the water from a mysterious water source or even the tassel of a Jesus’ cloak that causes the healing, but the intensity of faith of those who believe that triggers their extraordinarily rapid healing processes.

I believe in the possibility of faith healing us physically. When I was in the Home Missions, I anointed an old German man who had a deep, but simple faith. He had an ulcer on his hand that had not healed for years. He wanted it to be anointed, believing that God could heal it for him. I accommodated him without much hope on my part, but guess what? He came back a few weeks later and, sure enough, his hand ulcer was completely gone!

Even doctors will tell you that people have mysteriously gotten well when they are able to believe that getting well is possible, while they have mysteriously lost patients who gave up on their treatment.

How does healing work? How do these healers effect their cures? In a nutshell, their cures are due to the belief of the sick person that releases the healing power already resident in the subconscious mind. We know this from watching a wound heal itself without effort on our part. The belief of the sick person, encouraged by the “healer,” triggers an abnormal acceleration of a natural, God-given, healing power we all carry within us. The healer elicits belief from the sick person. That belief triggers healing power. Health is the result. This healing power was given to us when God created us. In that sense, God is certainly the source of all healing.

Faith is more powerful than we realize! It can trigger healing of the body, healing of the mind and healing of the spirit! We often say, "I will believe it when I see it!" Actually, it is the other way around. "Believe it and then you will see it! 

 

 

 

THE BEST LENTEN RESOLUTION EVER

FORGET GIVING UP CANDY AND OTHER FOOLISHNESS!

DO THIS INSTEAD! 

POPE LEO I

Served as Pope from September 29, 440 AD - November 10, 461 AD
"Pope Leo the Great"

 

The First Pope Leo Counseled This During Lent. 

“Now let godly minds boldly accustom themselves to forgive faults, to pass over insults, and to forget wrongs. Let all discords and enmities be laid aside, and let no one think to have a share in the Paschal feast (Easter) that has neglected to restore brotherly peace.”

DO YOURSELF A FAVOR!

You Have Forty Days!

Make Your List Now and Get Started Right Away!

THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE AND THE DUTY TO CHOOSE WISELY

 

If you choose you can keep the commandments. Before man are life and death, good and evil, whichever he chooses shall be given him.

Sirach 15:15-20

There are two great “temptation” stories in the Bible – the temptation of Adam in the garden and the temptation of Jesus in the desert. In the first temptation story, man loses and Satan wins. In the second temptation, Jesus wins and Satan loses. All other temptations in history have to do with these two stories of temptation.

What exactly is a “temptation?” It is a personal inner struggle with a choice that has at its base a desire to do something, especially something wrong or unwise. It is such a part of our everyday living that every time we say the Our Father, we pray that we will not be led into temptation.

I am reminded of today’s reading from the Book of Sirach in the Old Testament. “Before you are life and death, good and evil, whichever you choose shall be given you.” That is worth repeating! "Before us is life and death, good and evil, whichever we choose will be given to us!"

A lot is made these days of our "right to choose," but little is said about our responsibility to choose wisely, not to mention our responsibility to accept the consequences of our choices. Some people are like kids who go through life eating the filling out of the Oreos and then throwing the cookies away. They want freedom without the responsibility that goes with it! They want to choose, but they are not necessarily willing to accept the responsibility that goes with their choices.

 

We may have the right to eat French Fries and Chicken Nuggets three times a day, but we also have the responsibility to eat healthily.  If we only exercise our right to eat whatever we want, without accepting our responsibility to eat well, we will sooner or later have to accept the consequences of our choices. College students may have a right to skip class, but they also have a responsibility to go to class. If they only exercise their right to skip, they must be willing to accept the consequences of maybe flunking out of school.  If we only exercise our right to accept a credit card, without accepting our responsibility for paying for what we charge, we will sooner or later have to accept the painful consequences of our choices - ruining our credit for years to come!  Our culture is now filling up with people who keep trying to beat this basic truth!    

 

Young friends here today, I have something to say to you. One of the benefits of being a young adult is finally being able to enjoy the freedom to make your own choices.  One of the upsides of the freedom to choose is the ability to build your own life the way you want it through a series of personal choices. One of the downsides of the freedom to choose is the freedom to ruin your own life through a series of poorly-thought-out choices. The freedom to choose, combined with the ability to choose wisely, is the ideal. Yet there are many who cannot handle their freedom well and end up losing it. Choosing what feels good at the moment, without the personal discipline to choose what would actually be good over the long haul, is a recipe for disaster.  Hearing about people ruining their lives has actually become a favorite American entertainment. Many think it is funny to watch stupid people on trash TV tell the world how they have ruined their lives and the lives of those who have been associated with them.    

 

Every day people like Judge Judy and Maury Povich make big bucks featuring people who have ruined their lives and the lives of those around them because of the poor choices they have made. They have the "freedom to choose" but choose poorly. They have the "freedom to choose" but they don't have the ability to discern what is of value.  Illegitimate children, ruined marriages, sexually transmitted diseases, financial ruin, family disintegration, squandered opportunities for a good education and loss of reputation are only a few of the consequences of making choices without the ability to choose wisely.

 

To be able to "discern what is of value," we must develop self-mastery. By “self-mastery,” I mean we have to be able to name and then "stand up to" our addictions, our cowardice and our laziness in order to create the life we want to have! We must be able to "handle" ourselves and our cravings - for a higher purpose and for our long-term good. We must be able to continually clarify what we really want out of life, constantly focusing our energies to reach for what we want and consistently dealing in truth rather than self-deception.

 

People with self-mastery approach their lives like artists approaching the task of producing a work of art. People with self-mastery know how to discern what is of value and use what they have discerned to live on purpose!  The spiritual disciplines of both East and West speak often of the practice self-mastery.  I published a book eight years ago on this very subject. It is an autobiography mapping the choices I have made since age six and how those choices made me what I am today – for good or for bad! It is called BETWEEN COURAGE AND COWARDICE: Choosing to Do Hard Things for Your Own Good.

 

One of the sad things about our culture, in which freedom of choice is so highly honored, is the growing tendency to deflect responsibility for our choices after we make them.  If our culture is to survive, the freedom to choose must be combined with personal responsibility. To demand the freedom to make our own choices and then throw the blame on others when those choices backfire is the height of cowardice and irresponsibility - and yet it is so popular in our culture. Freedom without responsibility is wreaking havoc all around us.

 

When enough of us have the ability to discern what is of value and when enough of us have the self-mastery to choose what is of value, our marriages will improve, our families will improve, our neighborhoods will improve, the economy will improve, our churches will improve, nations will improve and the world will improve. These problems can only be fixed one person at a time. In reality, no one can save us from us, but us!  As I like to say, “There is no rescue party out looking for us!”          

 

Discipline is about choosing “delayed gratification” or “good things coming to those who wait” or “the ability to resist the temptation of an immediate reward in favor of a larger prize in the future.” Numerous studies have shown that the ability to delay gratification is one of the biggest indicators of success through life – be it your ability to manage your resources, choose the right spouse, maintain your weight, becoming skilled at a sport or launching a career. Those who can resist temptation in pursuit of long-term goals are blessed with an enormous advantage over the rest of the herd. In other words, too much comfort is a bad thing – long term. Yes, lack of self-mastery has a direct impact on the quality of multiple areas of people’s lives. Those who cannot establish mastery over their appetites and impulses will no doubt see many aspects of their lives quickly unravel. The ability to subordinate a lower impulse to a higher value is the essence of a satisfying life. Leonardo da Vinci was right when he said, “One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself.”

 

The ability to discern what is of value and self-mastery in the face of severe temptation is at the heart of Jesus’ desert experience. To do his Father’s will, not his own, Jesus had to be able to see the difference between what “looked good” and what was “actually good.” Once he was able to discern what the will of his Father was, he needed to have the self-mastery to follow it, no matter how tempting it was to do otherwise!

 

CHURCH CHAT #15

...AND BY THE WAY, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!  

LET'S FINISH GIVING SOME TANZANIAN KIDS A BRIGHT FUTURE

 Now That We Have Most of the New Half-Finished School Building and Complex Itself Funded and a Few School Supplies Secured

LET'S FILL THESE NEW CLASSROOMS WITH DESKS AND SEATS

This is an example of the type of "student desk and seat units" we would like to have built for the five classrooms. Each unit seats two students. Costs presented in US dollars. 

One unit for two students = $200.00

Each classroom needs 23 units for 46 students = $4,600.00

THERE IS A TOTAL OF FIVE CLASSROOMS IN THE WHOLE SCHOOL

If you are interested in helping purchase one or more units, a whole classroom of units or units for the whole school, you can write a check to Father John Judie Ministries, Inc and send the check to Father Knott for deposit in that account (Father Knott's address is listed below).  Put "For Bishop Mhasi's School Desks"  in the blank memo line at the bottom left side of the check. 

Rev. Ronald Knott

1271 Parkway Gardens

#106

Louisville, KY 40217

LOOKING GOOD

The New Cardinal Polycarp Pengo Primary School (backside) As of Last Week. Building Re-Started Back in January of 2026 After Our Flow of Generous Gifts. The Workers Are Making Great Progress Each Week. 

Front Entrance (other side) as of 2-11-2026

A Worker Digging the Pit For the Outdoor School Latrine. It Will Be Lined With Concrete Blocks and the Latrine Building Itself Will Go Overtop of The Pit. 

While the other construction continues, they drilled a well and hit water to fill their 10,000 liter school water tank.

Bishop Mhasi told me on 2-11-2026 that he had bought some cows so that the kids of the school will have milk and meat to serve at the school. 

In the Name of All of His Waiting School Kids, Bishop Filbert Mhasi Says "Thank You!"

To all who have helped bring this school project back to life, I too say "thank you!" To those who have been thinking about helping a little, but never got around to it, it's not too late. We will still accept gifts either small or large. I invite you to be part of making a difference in the world. In a world where we all sometimes feel "powerless to change anything," it is not an exaggeration to say that this school will change these families and their communities for the better for generations to come!

This school may be on the other side of the world, but let me remind you that as Catholics we all belong to a "one, holy, catholic and apostolic" Church. We are all one faith-family spread around the world and we are all called to be missionaries. They have made great sacrifices to someday have a school, so let us assist them in finishing it so that this school can open soon. We are almost there!

If you want to be part of this effort, write your tax deductible checks, small or large, to Father John Judie Ministries and send them to me at my address listed above for deposit in his account. 

Your gift would make a great St. Valentine's Day present to some kids who really need this new school! 

A WRINKLED PHOTO AND A FADED MEMORY WITHOUT MANY DETAILS

 MY PEN PAL FROM MY HIGH SCHOOL YEARS 1958-1962

 

Me, at St. Thomas High School Seminary, about that time. 

When I was in High School Seminary (1958-1962), I had a South Korean "Pen Pal." I don't remember his name for sure, but something like Dong Reyel Tang keeps coming to mind. We wrote back and forth and exchanged gifts. I forgot what I sent him, but I remember him sending me some nice green woven baskets with lids. In a box of old "keepsakes" I came across his tiny picture that he sent me and I have kept it all these years. He is obviously wearing some kind of uniform. I think it just might be his seminary uniform since I know both of us were in the minor seminary about the same time.  

I have no idea what happened to him, but I do have many questions. Is he still alive? Did he ever become a priest? Did he leave the seminary to become something else? Did he marry and have children? Is he still in South Korea or did he emigrate to another country? If he is still alive, we would both be about 81-82 years old. 

I would love to make contact with him, or any of his family, after all these years, but it sounds almost impossible since I cannot recall any other details about him including why or how I lost his old address. 

However, with the internet, who knows? Maybe this post will be like one of those old "message in a bottle" events from the past when someone puts a paper message in a bottle and throws it into the sea only to have it be picked up by somebody on some beach on the other side of the world and be returned to you! I do believe in "miracles." I believe Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor of TV, nailed it when he said "Impossible things just take a little longer!"

LET YOUR GOOD DEEDS BE SEEN SO THAT GOD WILL BE PRAISED!

 

You are the light of the world. Let your light shine in such

a way that people may see your good works and give God the glory.

Matthew 5:14,16

My fellow Catholic Christians, do you realize who you are? Did you hear those words from today's gospel reminding us of who we are? “You are the light of the world! Let your light shine! Let your good works be seen so God can be glorified!” The Scriptures tell us in other places that “from your mother’s womb, God gave you your name!” “You are God’s servant through whom God’s glory shines!” “From your mother’s womb God formed you for that task, the task of letting God’s glory shine through you!” “You are made glorious in his sight!” “He made you a light to the nations so that his salvation may reach to the ends of the earth!” Jesus tells us in the gospel reading today that “You are the salt of the earth! You are the light of the world! You are a city built on a hill! Your light must shine before others! Your good deeds must be out there to be noticed!” Yes, we are “the light of the world!” However, we are like the moon and God is like the sun. The moon has no light of its own, the moon merely reflects the light of the sun. Just so, when people see our light and observe our good deeds, we must make sure that God, the true source of our light, indeed all light, gets the glory!

My fellow Catholic Christians may we want to be who we are! May we want to be who we are! I am here to remind you who we are and what our mission is in this life! We were sent to shine! We were sent to shine so that God will look good in the eyes of the world and receive its praise! We should never put ourselves down! We should never underestimate our worth! We should never belittle ourselves nor play small! We should never let others put us down! We were sent to shine! To keep our lamps burning, we have to keep putting oil in them! Therefore, we need to take care of ourselves – take care of ourselves enough to do hard things for our own good so that our light will shine as brightly as possible! We should always resist the temptation to give into the biggest human temptation and that is to settle for too little! Our families, indeed the world, need us to be who we are and all that we can be!

I came across a Bruce Barton quote recently that has been rolling around inside my head for some time now. Others credit Benjamin Franklin. It is not a new idea, but a life script that I adopted a long time ago. It goes like this! “When we are through changing, we are through.” Us old people, when we were young people, might remember Bob Dylan singing another version of this same idea. “He not busy being born is busy dying.” In other words, if you are not growing, you are not standing still, you are dying! If you are “sent to shine,” you absolutely need to keep putting oil into your lamp! You must keep stoking your own fire!

Winston Churchill said, “Nothing gets better by leaving it alone.” In fact, when we “leave things alone” the natural process of entropy sets in – we start coming unglued, we start declining, we begin to rot! Entropy is that spontaneous and unremitting tendency in the universe toward disorder unless there is an opposing force working against it. People, like homes, when they are left alone fall into decay. Even fruits and vegetables, unless something is done to “preserve” them, begin to rot! When we “leave ourselves alone,” we commit what I call “personal and spiritual suicide.” Personal and spiritual suicide is the result of constantly saying “no” to opportunities to grow and change.”

As one who bought into this idea of “self-formation” a long time ago, I have concluded that there are two secret ingredients to becoming all that we can be as ‘the light of the world.” (1) The first ingredient in really loving oneself is a passionate commitment to personal excellence – to loving who we really are – loving ourselves enough to care about becoming our best selves. Really loving oneself does not mean papering oneself. Rather, it means doing hard things for one’s own good. One of the most critical needs here is the need for a capacity for critical and constructive self-awareness. We must be able to know and understand what makes us tick. We must own my own personal histories and heal them if necessary. In short, we must be dedicated to becoming our best as quality human persons first. Let me put that another way. You cannot take a loser and ordain him and expect to have an effective priest! If he is not a quality human being to begin with, all you will end up with is a loser priest who can’t relate to people or inspire them to hunger for holiness. You cannot take two losers and put them through a wedding and expect to end up with a happy marriage and effective parents! If they are not quality human beings to begin with, all you will end up with is a miserable marriage and disastrous parents!

(2) After a passionate commitment to who one is, being the best version of ourselves, the second ingredient in really loving oneself is a passionate commitment to vocational excellence – a passionate commitment to what we do! In other words, if you are parents, commit yourself to being the very best parent you can be! If you are married, commit yourself to being the best husband or wife you can be! If you are a priest, commit yourself to be the best priest you can possibly be! Whatever you are, be good at it! If you strive to be the best at what you do, you will get better at it. If you choose the “good enough to get by” path, you will become known for your mediocrity. As the leadership guru, Tom Peters, put it “The idea of mediocrity scares the hell out of me!” Without a passionate commitment to vocational excellence, you will no doubt end up being a mediocre priest, a mediocre marriage partner, a mediocre parent or a mediocre professional! The world is already overcrowded with mediocrity – people with no passion for personal or vocational excellence! My mother used to call them “people who merely go through the motions,” “people whose hearts are not in it.” God says to us in Revelations 3:15-16, “Would that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth.” May God spare you from such mediocrity! May you become the very best version of yourself! May you become who you are! You are the light of the world! Let your light shine! Yes, let it shine! Let it shine!

Brothers and sisters! One of my biggest fears as a priest is not natural death, but spiritual and emotional death, being here and being not here at the same time – “dead on my feet,” if you will! My biggest fear is gradually turning into a priest whose heart is no longer in it! Chaucer’s Parson described such a priest as “a man annoyed at his own life.”

The word used by fourth century monks for this state was acedia. Acedia is not a disease, it’s a temptation – the temptation to disconnect, the temptation to stop caring, the temptation to stop making an effort. It is a temptation that can grow and harden into a persistent attitude of apathy and cynicism which is deadly to any kind of personal or spiritual growth. I find it fascinating that acedia, in its root, means negligence - a negligence that leads to a state of listlessness, a lack of attention to daily tasks and an overall dissatisfaction with life, of not caring or not being concerned with one’s self-care or position or condition in the world. In other words, unlike clinical depression, it can be resisted. The sooner it is confronted the more success one has in turning it around. As the leadership guru, Tom Peters, put it: "Unless you walk into the unknown, the odds of making a profound difference in your life are pretty low." 

We all know priests and married couples who woke up one day and found themselves in precisely that spot – with feelings of being stuck, with few options and little hope. Maybe we are, or have been, one of them! If we were to be honest with ourselves we would have to admit that we didn’t get there overnight. It happened because of extended neglect. We didn’t take the time to nourish our individual selves. Many marriages and religious vocations do not die of "natural causes." Too often, they simply die of "starvation!" Too many of us do not take the time to nurture our vocations. We just “let things go!”

Whether we are priests, marriage partners, parents, professionals, widows or widowers, we are all called to resist the temptation toward acedia, the neglect of our personal and spiritual growth. We are the light of the world and there is responsibility that goes with reflecting that light! As Mother Theresa put it. “To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.” Again, Bob Dylan put it this way. “If we are not busy being born, we are busy dying.”

CHURCH CHAT #14

 

THE PURE AND SIMPLE TRUTH

THE GOD I KNOW - THE GOD I BELIEVE IN - THE GOD I PREACH

God loves you! No "ands," "ifs" or "buts" about it! 

 

PRESENTATION OF JESUS IN THE TEMPLE

 

Mary, Joseph, Anna, Simeon and Jesus

The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him.

Luke 2:22-40

In the gospel on Monday, February 2, Jesus is brought to the Temple, by Mary and Joseph, to be consecrated to the Lord. While they were there, they ran into two old people, Simeon and Anna, who made predictions about Jesus.

Predictions, those made about us, and those we make about ourselves, are very powerful. In Egypt, a new ruler was given five names, each of which described a virtue expected of him. In the Isaiah reading at Christmas, we see that the future king of God’s people would bear four names: Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-forever, Prince of Peace.  

We tend to believe what is said about us, and said to us! We tend to rise to meet the high expectations or sink to meet the low expectations voiced about us! If people say we are smart, we tend to act as if are smart! If people say we are losers, we tend to act like losers.

Growing up, I was not aware of what the therapeutic community knows today - how damaging or helpful comments from others can be to our self-worth. Children tend to believe negative and positive assessments of themselves from teachers and parents, developing a compromised self-concept when criticized on a regular basis or an enhanced self-concept when praised on a regular basis. I was barraged, growing up, with powerful negative messages and predictions – things like “You will never amount to a hill of beans!” Even when I left for the seminary, most of the adults around me told me I would never make it!

It wasn't till I got older that I understood that I had joined them in criticizing myself.  I can remember making the decision to stop my own self-defeating self-talk and start replacing it with positive and encouraging self-talk. It has been a long hard road because they say positive-to-negative comments need to be at least five to one for success in overcoming the damage. 

I still have a long way to go. I still say things to myself like "I am not good at figuring out electronics," but if I stop, take my time and tell myself that "I can," I usually can!  Negative self-talk increases my stress and it stops me from searching for solutions.        

I have fought negative talk throughout my priesthood - both in myself and others. In almost every assignment I have had, some priest has told me how impossible the situation was going to be! I found that the parishioners in almost every one of those assignments believed it themselves. My job. from the pulpit, was to get them to change the way they thought about themselves and magic happened in every situation. I have spent years practicing and teaching the power of positive self-talk!

My friends! What others say to you and about you is powerful, but you need not be a victim if it is negative. You can choose what to believe about yourself and you can override negative messages by positive self-talk!    As W. C. Fields said, “It ain’t what they call you, it’s what you answer to!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHOICE BETWEEN "GOOD ENOUGH TO GET BY" OR "EXCELLENCE"

 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Matthew 5:6

One of the things Bellarmine University is famous for is its Merton Library - the official papers of Kentucky's most famous Trappist monk, Thomas Merton, whose religious name was Father Louis.  There is a statue of him in front of Bellarmine's science building. I ought to know! I was the longest serving campus minister in its history at 16 years. The Merton statue was installed during my early years there and moved to its present location right before I left. 

One of my favorite stories about Thomas Merton involves an exchange between him and his friend Robert Lax. Lax asked Merton what he wanted to be. Merton answered, "I don't know; I guess what I want to be is a good Catholic." Robert Lax shot back, "What do you mean you want to be a good Catholic? What you should say is that you want to be a saint!" In defense, Thomas Merton responded, "How do you expect me to become a saint?"  "By wanting to," was Lax's response.

With that, Thomas Merton realized how often people say they cannot do the things they must do, cannot reach the level that they must reach, the cowardice that says: "I am satisfied to do enough to get by, but I do not want to give up my sins and my attachments." 

How many of us really want to be saints, "to be in that number when the saints go marching in?"  Most of us are like St. Augustine when he prayed, "Lord make me pure, but not yet!" Most of us wouldn't mind being a saint, if we didn't have to change anything, especially if we didn't have to let go of our sins and destructive attachments

A "saint" is not a "perfect person." A "saint" is a person who hungers and thirsts for righteousness, a person with a drive for improvement - both in who they are and what they do - a fierce commitment to their own lifelong formation, an unflinching quest for personal excellence. This does not mean we earn our way to sainthood through personal growth and good deeds. It means that we realize to the depths of our being that we are so loved by God that we want to respond to that love by trying to become all that we can be.

In his book, The Pursuit of Excellence, Tom Peters says about himself, "The idea of mediocrity scares the hell out of me!" "The fear of mediocrity" may be the secret ingredient in becoming a saint. Thomas Merton famously said that the "biggest human temptation is to settle for too little."  

We are in truth "saved by grace."  We are called to sainthood and we are given the help we need to respond. We do not come to that help, that help comes to us. We cannot make that help come to us, but we can open ourselves to its miraculous arrival. We can certainly cooperate with God in the process of becoming saints "by wanting to," by "hungering and thirsting for righteousness.”

I started this homily by quoting from one of the most beautiful passages in the Gospels. We call these words “the beatitudes.” What they are, really, are descriptions of a truly “holy person,” a person who truly loves God. In reality, they are a set of talking points on Christian holiness, a checklist of the qualities a person possesses who seriously loves God.

Unlike the Ten Commandments, which stress the things that one who loves God should not do, this is a list of things that a person who loves God does do. It is important to remember here that Jesus is not saying “do these things and God will love you,” but rather “if you love God, these are the things you will do!” We do not do these things to earn God’s love, rather if we love God, we will do these things. So, what then does a serious lover of God look like? How many of them describe you as a “saint in the making?”

(1) He or she is first of all “poor in spirit.”  What Jesus is talking about here is not merely economic poverty. Even the dirt poor can be greedy in their hearts. What it means, really, is the deep-down knowledge that when it comes right down to it, we own nothing and everything can be taken away from us in an instant. Every material possession, every blessing we have ever had, is a gift from God that was given to us, not to hoard, but to share. The more we have been given, the greater the responsibility we have to share.” “Poverty of spirit” is a basic knowledge that we are all poor, when it comes right down to it. No matter how rich we are, we are a heartbeat away from total poverty. We can’t take anything with us, when this is all over! As they say, “There are no pockets in shrouds!” A person who loves God, a person who is poor in spirit, never forgets that fact!

(2) A serious lover of God is able to mourn. One who loves God seriously knows that we are interconnected human beings and therefore never loses his or her ability to feel the suffering of others. A cold-hearted, self-centered, disinterested person is not a friend of God. A friend of God shares the compassion of Christ who was moved deeply by the horrible suffering of simple human beings and is never far from “the gift of tears,” as the saints called it.

(3) A serious lover of God is meek. A “meek” person is not a person who lets people walk over him or her. A “meek” person lives with the knowledge that he is never “a god,” but nonetheless always a “child of God.” In other words, he neither inflates his own worth on one hand, nor does he allow others to deflate his value on the other hand.  Being meek means to know who we are in God’s eyes- nothing more, but nothing less!

(4) A serious lover of God hungers and thirsts for righteousness. A serious lover of God does not dabble in religion, placing religion somewhere outside the realm of his daily living and daily choices.  Rather, he or she is a serious spiritual seeker, always trying to align his everyday life with Christian principles.  He or she strives always to close the gap between being a Christian in name and being a Christian in fact, while being totally free of religious fanaticism and doing spiritual violence to others in the name of orthodoxy.

(5) A serious lover of God is merciful. Being merciful means letting God be the judge of other people. It means giving people the benefit of the doubt, giving them a break, wishing them well on their path, knowing that with God, it isn’t over till it’s over, and with God there is always another chance. Yes, it also means living the maxim, “There but for the grace of God, go I!” Thomas Merton said, "The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all livings things, which are part of one another, and all involved in one another."

(6) A serious lover of God is clean of heart. A serious lover of God doesn’t just do good things, he or she does them for the right reason and with the purest of motives.  I tried to remind the seminarians at Saint Meinrad that it is a good thing to want to be a priest, but one must go into it for good reasons – to serve people, not for what priesthood can do for them. It is a good thing to give to the poor, but one can give to the poor, not because they love the poor, but because they will get their name in the paper or will have a building named after them. A serious lover of God always does good things, but he also does them for the right reason.

(7) A serious lover of God is a peacemaker. War is getting more and more irrelevant. We need to become as good at peacemaking as we have been at building sophisticated weapons. There will always be misunderstanding between people. One who truly loves God has the ability and the credibility to prevent disagreements from becoming a reason for violence. We need not think globally only. Families, marriages, neighborhoods, siblings and churches desperately need these peacemakers. When enough of us really love God, we will have enough peacemakers to move us closer to universal peace.  If you love God, you love his people! If you love his people, you will do what you can to bring them together.

(8) A serious lover of God will be persecuted, insulted and lied about. The brighter the light the fiercer the attack! Evil does not like goodness. Evil cannot tolerate the presence of goodness and so it attacks. One who seriously loves God is more than willing to take persecution, insults and lies, knowing that personal integrity is more important than comfort or approval.

So, the bottom line is this – you will know that you are on the path to sainthood if these "beatitudes" describe you! If these eight characteristics don't describe you, make a u-turn while you can, because you're headed in the wrong direction!