Hurumphing

Let me begin this post by saying how humbled I am.  When I first started this blog, I thought no body would read it.  I truly believed that I really had nothing profound to say.  But today as I prepare to blog, I see that I have reach a small milestone in the blogging world.  In the 10 post I have added to this blog, I have reached 1000 viewers.  I never dreamed anybody would even read my blog, and now my blog has over 1000 hits.  I am very humbled.  I am thrilled that people are reading it.  I hope you get out of my posts, what I believe I put into my posts.  Please know that I always appreciate your comments.  Thank you all very much.

I know that I have a very unique title for this post, but I believe after you read it, it will all make sense.

Just last Sunday, our youth minister(best one in the world, just so you know), invited the Catholic Rock Band, The Thirsting(www.thethirstingcatholic.com), for a concert.  Now, much like previous post, coming to work on a Sunday is not one of my favorite things to do.  I am especially not thrilled with the idea of listening to a rock band(ohhhh my!!!!  I just sounded like my dad).  So, with much encouragement from the youth minister, and hurumphing the entire 40 minutes drive, I decided to attend the concert.

I am jumping to a side bar, do not worry, I will bring you back.  I attend a weekly Bible study.  The study is about an hour drive from my house, but since I usually leave from work, the drive is about an hour and a half.  To top things off, Bible study takes place on Monday night.  Being a football fan, and not getting home until 10PM from Bible study, my long drive to Bible study usually entails hurumphing for an hour and a half.  I might say things like, "I cannot believe I keep doing this to myself!" or "I don't want to go, I am too tired."  Now I hate using phrases like "all the time," or "everybody agrees," but I am truly confident that no matter how much hurumphing I have done on the way, I ALWAYS leave, glad that I attended.  Gee, I wonder if that is the Holy Spirit tugging on my heart.  Anyway, back to last Sunday.

After much hurumphing, I finally arrived at the concert.  I got to the gym and my attitude hadn't changed, so I decided to stand in the dark corner, and hope nobody would notice.  When I saw the opening act, I must say, I stereotyped(sorry God!!).  The opening act was the guitar player from The Thirsting.  He had an almost mohawk(an almost mohawk is where the middle is tall and spikey, but he could not commit to shaving the sides bald).  My hurumphing continued.  "I cannot believe I am here!!" I said to myself.  But trying to be the supportive friend of the youth minister, I put on my happy face and acted like I was enjoying myself, however, I do not think she bought it.

Well get ready, because what happened next I thought I was going to hurumph myself back in the car and go home.  The Thirsting came on stage and started with a song so loud and upbeat, I could not even understand the words(OHHHHHH MYYYYYYYY!!  I sounded like my dad again!!!).  The band was jumping all over the place.  I thought the drummer was going to hit the ceiling his arms were moving in such a crazy motion.  I am waaaaaaaay to old for this!!(I said to myself, and yes, I reminded myself that my dad said this.)

Yet, being the trooper that I am, I put on my smiley face and continued to gut it out.  Maybe even saying to myself, "God you owe me for this one."  Well in true fashion, God payed the debt I believe He owed me.  About four or five songs into the show, the band left, leaving the lead singer.  He played a few slower songs, and then stopped.  He asked everybody to sit down and told the most amazing story of his life of prayer, especially the Rosary.  I will try my best to explain it, and I wish I had a recording of it, because I am very positive, I will not do it justice. 

In the section below is his story, I am going to write as if it were the lead singer talking, so when you see the word "I" think of him:

I like to spend time in prayer, especially the Rosary.  For example, today is the sorrowful mysteries.  In those mysteries, I try to picture what really happened to Jesus during each decade.   

Decade one: The Agony of Jesus in the Garden.  Jesus knows that He is going to be crucified.  The soliders come for Him, and when the disciples try to put up a fight, Jesus stops them for He knows the will of His Father.  Jesus allows the soliders to take Him, knowing His fate.  Is ten Hail Marys enough?

Decade two: The scourging of Jesus at the Pillar.  Jesus let himself be scourged, because He knew He was taking all our our sins with Him.  He was beaten, and bloodied to the point that his clothing stuck to Him.  And before they nailed Him to the cross, they ripped off those bloody clothes, causing more pain.  Is ten Hail Marys enough?

 Decade three: The Crowning of Thorns.  They put a crown of thorns on His head.  It caused so much bleeding that it looked like he was crying and sweating blood.  Is ten Hail Marys enough? 

Decade four:  The Carrying of the Cross.  Jesus had to carry His own Cross.  That cross was not only heavy because of its shear size and the wood.  It was heavy for He was carrying all of our sins.  Is ten Hail Marys enough?

Decade five:  The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus.  It is over.  God's only Son has died on the cross.  He has completed God's plan of salvation for us all.  Is ten Hail Marys enough?
 

Suddenly, I find myself inspired and I am not gonna lie, I shed a tear.  The hurumphing went away.  I was so moved by this lead singer in a Catholic Rock Band.  He has taken the rote prayer of the Rosary, and changed my entire thinking.  I am now inspired.  I am now SOOOOOOOOOOO glad I went to the concert, that I am ashamed that I humrumphed, at all, and I started to feel bad for those that missed it.  Just like Bible study, I might not be glad to get there, but I am always glad that I went. 

Thank you Ashley(youth minister), for encouraging me to come to the event. And by encouraging, I mean, not giving up on me or letting me off the hook.

Thank you The Thirsting, for reminding me I am taking the Rosary for granted.  You have taken a beautiful set of prayers and put it in a perspective I could not imagine.  You have inspired me to pray the Rosary again.

But most importantly, thank you God for reminding me, that even though I Hurumph, You will always be there for me.  You will always lead me in the right direction.

 

 

 

 

Pray together

Wednesday, our church had a visiting priest, Fr. Cashen, from St. Paul's Newman Center.  Fr. Cashen took the place of our regular priest, Fr. Tom, for he was on a week long spiritual retreat.  The Gospel of the day was Luke 11:1-4.  In this Gospel, the disciples ask Jesus how to pray, and from this we get the Our Father, a prayer we have been saying for many, many years.

I share this because Fr. Cashen's homliy was absolutely terrific.  He really hit close to home with me, and I will do my best to share it with you. 

At the time, in the Bible, the disciples ask Jesus how to pray.  They wanted this information so they could have a closer relationship with God.    Jesus said:

"When you pray, say, Father, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come.  Give us each our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not be subject to the final test."

I must say, this is a Gospel that we hear of quite often.  We pray this prayer at every Mass, five times if you say a Rosary, my Bible study group prays it at the end of each meeting, and countless other times.  It was probably the easiest of prayers I taught my children.  This is such an important prayer, that most homilies will talk about the orgin of the prayer, but not Fr. Cashen.

Fr. Cashen talked of his life as a child.  In his house, they went to church, but never prayed as a family.  It wasn't until he returned home from high school(I am guessing, in his country of origin, they go away to high school, like many of us go away to college), that all of the sudden his family was praying together.  Fr. Cashen then explained how his family dynamics changed, once they started praying together. 

Before going off to school, his family fought about trivial things.  He said his family was very distant from each other.  Now his mother and father required the family to pray at meals and say a Rosary every evening.  And since that point, he was amazed how the power of prayer joined his normally separated family. 

My favorite part of the homily, though, was the fact that he encouraged the children to go home and ask their family to pray together.  He all but said, "A family that prays together, stays together."  I really liked that he challenged our students to encourage prayer.  He made them the promise that if they invite Jesus into their family, via prayer, then Jesus will guide that family on the path to God's Kingdom, and how can anybody be upset with that path?

Fr. Cashen did something I have never heard of before, instead of discussing the origin of the prayer, he challenged us to use the prayer in our everyday life, especially at home.  One of my favorite things I do with my children each night is say prayers.  I love the fact that my children invite God to every meal we eat, and thank Him for a beautiful day at night. 

I get many compliments about my children's behavior, and before, being the gleaming and gloating dad that I am, I have always beamed with joy, and have been thrilled to hear the compliment.  One thing I never took into consideration is that my children might just be happy becasue they invite God into their lives, every day, in prayer.  I truly see the success of Fr. Cashen's words.  Well never again, will I take the credit for my children and their behavior, I give all the glory to God. 

So my challenge to you, is that of Fr. Cashen's, pray at home, with your family.  Use time in prayer to join closer together, albeit, closer to children, closer to parents, closer to siblings, whatever!!!  Use this time to invite God into your everyday things.  Invite God to be part of everything you do.  Pray together and join together, in Him.  You might just be suprised how God will touch your life and heart.



Today I am sad

As posted before, I attended a program called Christ Renews His Parish(CRHP).  This is a short weekend retreat for men, put on by men, that renews one's spirit and faith.  It is because of this program, I am back in my faith, deeper than ever before. 

Whenever one attends a retreat, like this, one often leaves feeling renewed and rejuvenated, and strong for the faith.  However, it is commonly known, that after about a week or two, we are back to the habits of old.  Well, me personally, I did not want to become that part of the statistic.  I did not want to be the person that goes back to my old ways of life.  I want this renewal feeling to last for ever.

To keep this feeling, I decided to become more active in my church.  I was already part of the Men's club, but I needed to be involved more.  I became part of the new CRHP formation team(the team that meets with the directors of each group to make sure every thing is going smoothly).  I became a Eucharist Minister.  I even decided, with the help of some of my CRHP brothers, that we would start a Bible Study.  I am trying to think, but I believe we have been studying for going on 12 years.  Twelve Years!!!!!  I have to admit, up until now, I have never done anything for 12 years.  Believe it or not, I have only been married for ten.

Over the 12 years, there have been men that have come and gone to this Bible Study.  Some have come after their CRHP weekend, some have come because they were looking for more.  Some have left Bible Study because they have moved out of state, and some have left for reasons not known to us.  And this is what I believe to be typical of any group.  Over time, change in their life brought the men to our group, and over time, change in their life led them away.  But, today, I want to talk about someone special.

I never met Ted before his participation in Bible Study.  As a matter of fact, I have changed parishes since attending CRHP, but still keep meeting for Bible Study, and one day, Ted was invited and showed up.  Ted was this big guy, driving a big truck.  He was always dressed like he just came out of the forest.  It was easy to imagine Ted hunting the big game, having a deer drapped over his shoulders getting ready to clean it for the evening meal.  Ted also liked boating and some day dreamed of building his own boat.

Ted was a wonderful father.  His son has Downs Syndrome and Ted started a program called DADS, Dads Against Downs Syndrome.  In this program, and on their website, dads would meet and discuss the trials, tribulations, joys, fears of having a child with Downs.  Ted was the leader of this volunteer organization, that started in Indiana.  As many good ideas do, this organization spread across the United States like wild fire and it is now an international organization.  All because of Ted.

Ted came to our Bible study looking, searching, maybe feeling empty.  I must say he was an inspiration to those of us that had been in this study for years.  He rejuvinated us, challenged us and basically fit right in to the group.

Ted, although looking for God, decided to take his own life, last summer.  He came to Bible Study on Monday, looking for God, and then decided to take his life on Tuesday.  This drastic measure was unbeknownst to any of us Bible Study brothers.  We never saw the signs of fear or end.  He was just gone. 

I tell you about Ted, because two years ago, he brought to our group the Bible Study titled, Experiencing God.  We started this study in the fall of 2010 and ended it last night.  This was, by far, one of the best studies our group has ever done.  This study took us about a year longer than it should have because the discussions were deep and interesting, that we always ran out of time.  And it was all because Ted had the courage to share with us his needs and desires when it comes to faith.

Ted was a wonderful man, and I wish I had known him for a lifetime, not just a few short years.  I am sad that I never got a chance to tell Ted how much he meant to me and our group.  I am sad that I never got the opportunity to tell Ted how much he inspired me to be a better dad, even though my children do not have Downs Syndrome.  I am sad that I do not get to see my rugged dressed friend walking into the house, like he just got out of the woods.  I am sad and afraid that now that the Bible Study that he brought to us is over, that I might soon forget him.  He might fade away from my thoughts just like some do at the end of the renewal weekend. 

I am sad today, because the Bible Study that Ted has brought us is over.  I miss my friend, and I thank him for leading me further down the path to God's Kingdom.  Without God placing Ted in my life, I am not sure where I would be on my faith journey, but I am absolutely sure that I am further because of him. 

Eternal rest grant upon him oh Lord...