Fat Tuesday

John 2:1-10 - On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.  When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine."  Jesus said to her, "Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come."  His mother said to the servers, "Do whatever he tells you."  Now there were six stone jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons.  Jesus told them, "Fill the jars with water."  So they filled them to the brim.  Then told them, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter."  So they took it.  And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, "Everyone serves good wine first,  and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now."

Thoughts:  This seems an appropriate passage for "Fat Tuesday". I think as we head into Lent we should stop for a moment to reflect on God's abundant goodness. Mary did not exactly ask Jesus to make wine for the wedding.  She just told him, we have a problem.  He was correct in saying basically, why should this concern me?  It is always that way, though.  God does not have to concern himself with our problems. Yet, he does. All we need to do is follow the example of Mary and present our petitions to the Lord and then let him love us. 

Sometimes we are so quick to want to go to Jesus with a solution request. We should not handcuff God my limiting his grace and mercy. Mary, could have said, "Jesus make them a couple bottles of wine."  This would have completely sold short God's awesomeness.  Jesus wants to bless us abundantly.  He made about 150 gallons of wine. He wants to give to us abundantly.  At the wedding feast, Jesus asked some people to step out in faith.  The waiters were asked to fill jars with water, a lot of water.  Then draw some out for the headwaiter.  They simply followed the instructions of Jesus and he blessed them abundantly in both quantity and quality.

In my life, I have attempted to give generously, submitting to God's will for my family. But God, will not be outdone in His kindness and he always gives us more than we could ever have hoped for.  My wife is contemplating leaving her job for a while to stay home with the kids.  This will cut our income by about 30%.  It is a little scary but I know that God will not leave us forsaken in this. We keep thinking we are going to make this big sacrifice for God and he turns around and give us so much more in return.

So, as we head into Lent let us be mindful of the overflowing gifts God bestows on us and enter Lent with a grateful heart.  Maybe this Lent will be one where we still give up our sweets but where we also imitate Jesus in his generosity. 

Grow Where You're Planted

Mark 6:4 - Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house."

Thoughts: First, let me start with a disclaimer, I do not think I am Jesus and I am not declaring myself a prophet. But I do believe that we are all called to be disciples and to evangelize. As I mention in my bio, I am currently applying to the diaconate. One of the stipulations of becoming a deacon is that I will serve where the Bishop assigns me. This is generally not your home parish.

You see, I am a convert to Catholicism. I joined the church at Easter in 1989. I have only known one parish my whole christian life. So, the thought of leaving my church family made me pause to think. Then I read the words in the Gospel of Mark and it made me truly contemplate what it means to be a disciple. I pray that I will develop into the disciple that God wants me to be. Hopefully, that will be as a deacon of the church. I also realize that He must plant me where I will bear much fruit even if that means leaving the only parish I have ever known.

Will there be some sadness if I have to leave my parish family? Of course. But on the flip side I will have the opportunity to meet people and minister to their needs where ever I am planted. God is amazing and can bring miracles wherever He wants to. 

Thank you Jesus for the opportunity to make disciples of all nations!

Watch Where You're Going!

Hebrews 12:1-2 - Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God.

Thoughts: "Watch where you're going!", I screamed to my daughter. I just love teaching my children to drive. I am currently on daughter number four. Funny how reading the bible makes you think of times in your own life. I believe that is a gift from God. I remember being very frustrated with my oldest as we started the driving portion of learning to drive. It was time to put our book knowledge into practice.

We would start moving down the road and we would zig-zag back and forth trying to stay on the road. I would keep telling her to watch her lane position and she would concentrate harder and it would just get worse. After a couple of frustrating road lessons, I thought what am I doing wrong. What am I not telling her. Then it hit me. She was looking at the road immediately in front of the car trying to keep the car between the lines. She had no vision of where she was going.

Realizing where I was missing the boat, I told her to look out in front of herself and to find herself a focal point near the horizon. What a change! Once she had the proper focus she was able to keep straight her way. As we read in Hebrews this morning, it is the same way with our faith life. If we keep the focus on Jesus, we will be able to keep on the straight path toward a deeper and life giving faith. 

Just like with driving, we must keep ourselves free of distractions if we want to make it safely to our goal. As we make the changes in our lives to rid ourselves of sin and all that is not of God we will be able to clearly see our way to Jesus.

May we, today, keep our eyes on the road that leads to Jesus and find our peace with him.

Whose Team Are You On?

Philippians 2:2-4 - Make my joy complete by your unanimity, possessing the one love, united in spirit and ideals. Never act out of rivalry or conceit; rather, let all parties think humbly of others' interests rather than his own.

Thoughts: Well, this is not another Superbowl story. The verses from Philippians was part of the readings of Morning Prayer (Liturgy of the Hours) this morning. God's timing is always so good. I pretty much got slapped in the face on this issue Thursday night.

I was asked to chaperon a high school retreat on Thursday night. All I had to do was be there. Easy enough. All of the speakers were lined up everything was in motion. You know when you strive to serve others especially in the church you will struggle, you will be attacked by the evil one. You would think, if I am trying to serve the church, all of the pettiness and jealousy wouldn't be a problem. I mean we are all of the same team for the same purpose, right?

Well, not so easy, we are still human after all. What, hopefully, makes us different is how we react to these emotions. OK, now for the self confession part.

I was listening to a very Holy man giving a talk about the Eucharist before adoration. As I listened to him, I was thinking about how I could give a way better talk. I was a harsh critic. This is an ongoing issue I have been having as I travel on my journey of faith and discipleship.

After a couple minutes of my critiquing, I thought, this is not right and I should not be thinking this way. We are all of the same team. I immediately started praying for the speaker and thanking God for his ministry.

You know we are taught today to be harsh critics. Even on Sesame Street we are taught to figure out which of these things is not like the others. We are taught that being critical is desirable and good. I am starting to think maybe not. We really need to put away rivalry and conceit and truly work for the same team.