Christian Civil War

It's time to stop ignoring this issue. In a society that thrives off of judging, criticizing, comparing, and competing, it should come as no surprise that all of that seeps into our Christian communities. I was recently thinking of an old Relient K song called "Down in Flames". You can look up the rest of the lyrics for yourself or just listen to the song, but here are the verses that struck me...


"Christians-- we're all afraid of fire.
We prefer to suck on pacifiers.
Baby pacifists, we're throwing fits.
We don't shake hands, we shake our fists.


We're cannibals.
We watch our brothers fall.
We eat our own, the bones and all.


Christians-- we mourn, the thorn is stuck
in the side of the body watch it self-destruct.
The enemy is much ignored
when we fight this Christian civil war."

Basically this song reminds us that a lot of the time we're treating our very own brothers and sisters in Christ like enemies. The Christian community is not a place to be competitive about who is the holiest or who is closer to God. Sometimes we focus so much on finding what's wrong with our fellow Christians that we forget that we're all on the same team. Look at what Matthew says in 7:3 ""Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" Christianity is not about lifting your hands higher in praise then the person next to you or using church to show off your newest clothes. We should be above that. We are not to be like the Pharisees who bragged about their holiness, or how much they were fasting, and how much they were giving. We are called to be like the old widow in the bible who quietly gave all she had to her Lord...

Not only does this judgment lead to destruction within our own communities but destruction within ourselves. We miss the "beam" that is in our own eye. Ignoring the beam in our eye leads to judgment of everyone around us, not just our fellow Christians, but those we are called to love by our words and deeds.

A Christian civil war is not the battle we need to be fighting. We live in a world where so many go to bed hungry, not all babies live to see the light of day, and children in third world countries will die of diseases simple vaccines could have prevented. What are we as Christians doing to fight the battles that plague our world? The Eucharist, source and summit of the Catholic faith, should fill us with the strength that we need to go out and act just as Christ acted. Community should lift us up and fill us with fervor to make a difference, not rip us apart...

One of the last few stanza's in that Relient K song is perhaps the most important. As I write this just know that these words are present in my mind.

"Let me pause to clarify
('cause I'm sure you're asking, "Why?").
I stand before you and proudly claim
to belong to what this song complains.


I'm part of the problem,
I confess,
But I gotta get this off my chest.


Let's extinguish the anguish
for which we're to blame,
and save the world 
from going down in flames."

Let's stop tearing each other down. Being holy is not a competition. It's time to put our energy to better use. Don't just speak the words. Live the words.

Need I say more?

This is the first reading at mass today. I feel like any commentary I give will be completely overshadowed by the incredible message this reading has to offer. So I'll say this... Girls this is what you want in a man because it is exactly how Christ loves each one of us. The Bridegroom loves his Bride.

2I loved her and sought her from my youth, and I desired to take her for my bride, and I became enamored of her beauty.



3She glorifies her noble birth by living with God, and the Lord of all loves her.



4For she is an initiate in the knowledge of God, and an associate in his works.



5If riches are a desirable possession in life, what is richer than wisdom who effects all things?



6And if understanding is effective, who more than she is fashioner of what exists?



7And if any one loves righteousness, her labors are virtues; for she teaches self-control and prudence, justice and courage; nothing in life is more profitable for men than these.



16When I enter my house, I shall find rest with her, for companionship with her has no bitterness, and life with her has no pain, but gladness and joy.



17When I considered these things inwardly, and thought upon them in my mind, that in kinship with wisdom there is immortality,



1and in friendship with her, pure delight, and in the labors of her hands, unfailing wealth, and in the experience of her company, understanding, and renown in sharing her words, I went about seeking how to get her for myself.

Wisdom 8:2-7, 16-18

*Photo by Marisa Clare Photography.Like her page on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marisa-Clare-Photography/203422583003531?ref=ts

It's been a while...

My poor little blog hasn't gotten any love lately. But I realized that it's time to change that. I mean, since everything else in my life is changing I figured why not?

So... I'm married! Just a little over two weeks and it is very blissful to say the least. My swimming career is over but my new job (swim instructor) is all about helping little kids realize their own swimming dreams.

More importantly my love is changing. Everyday of my new life I realize that the way I love my husband and the way I love others is very different then it was before. I've discovered the depths of love that I have to give to others around me, especially my family and friends. Marriage is a life time commitment and to fully embrace that commitment, one must realize that love isn't just a feeling. Love is a choice. You choose to sacrifice for those around you, especially your loved ones, and the people you care the most about. It reminds me of the reading we had just this past Sunday (July 10).

On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore. And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear." The disciples approached him and said, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" He said to them in reply, "Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted. To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because 'they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.' Isaiah's prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says: 'You shall indeed hear but not understand you shall indeed look but never see. Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and be converted, and I heal them.' "But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it. "Hear then the parable of the sower. The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away.

The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold." Matthew 13:1-23

This gospel reading made me think that perhaps the seeds are like our sacrificial love given to others. Sometimes it dies or is choked because of the barren soil or rocky ground we've bestowed it upon. But that does not mean that we should ever stop giving this love away. Sometimes our acts of kindness, love, and charity are not reciprocated or appreciated. We sometimes feel like we move heaven and earth for our friends and loved ones and yet receive nothing in return... But that's ok! If we are loving just for our own potential benefits then we are truly not loving at all. Christ did not die because there was "something in it" for Him. Oh no, he did it out of pure love. He suffered so intensely just for us. Sadly, sometimes we are the rocky ground or the vines that choke out this love. Sometimes we are not the fertile ground that we need to be in order that we may truly accept the Fathers love and forgiveness. God never withholds love from us. But too often we are too barren to absorb it....

So what does this mean when it comes to building up the Culture of Love? We need to show the love of Christ to all people even when we know it will not be returned. Also, we must cultivate our spiritual lives into fertile ground so that we may better absorb the Fathers love for us.

Let the little children come to me.

Tonight I watched the film St. Therese, directed by Leonardo Defillippis. This movie did a magnificent job in capturing the mysticism, suffering and love that made up the life of Therese. I watched the film with my family and I had my youngest sister (four years old) on my lap for the entire movie. She became completely mesmerized by the film and its portrayal of the saint she loves so dearly. The movie ends with a powerful yet beautiful scene of Therese's last moments on earth. After the movie my little sister was stunned. We asked her what she thought of the movie and her only response was to curl up in my lap and begin to cry softly...

As I carried this sweet child to bed I noticed the tear stains on my shirt and suddenly had to fight the tears myself. How beautiful is the innocence of a child! How amazing it is that a four year old could be so moved. This is the childlike faith that we all must return to. St. Therese often spoke of being like a little child so that she might run into the arms of Christ. We need that. So often we get caught up in our "grown up world" with all of our "grown up problems". Why is it so hard to surrender to the love of the Father? Why is it so difficult to reach out our arms so that we may be swept up into the arms of the Lord? It doesn't need to be difficult. So often I think that I can do everything on my own. I don't need help from anyone but yet I find myself overwhelmed by life and I need someone to rescue me. Just like a child who sometimes needs a little help after they have fallen, so do I need help. I need the loving hand of the Father to reach down and pull me to his light which warms my heart and gives me new strength...

I realized tonight that I must be more like my younger sister... More like St. Therese.  When I am feeling lost and hurt, it is the arms of Christ I must run to, even if it is to curl up in a ball and cry. We all must live in this little way and do "small things with great love" (Therese).

Feast of St. Therese the little flower

I thought it would be appropriate to create my first post on the feast day of a saint who lived her life with love. St. Therese showed us that even the small things in life need to be done with great amounts of love. It is in that idea that we shall find eternal life in heaven with our Loving Creator. You may say that it's easy to do things with love when you live apart from the world in a monastery like St. Therese did. On the contrary, she would probably tell us it is easier to do things with love because we have a greater amount of opportunities to do so! St. Therese changed the world by living a life of love from the inside the walls of a monastery. Just imagine how we could change lives around us by doing simple things with love everyday. To love is to be like Christ, for His love is the greatest of loves. St. Therese knew this, and by the life she lived, shared this love with all she encountered.

So on this her feast day remember to love! Tell your family and friends how much they are loved. Let everything you do today be for love of God.

"The only thing I wish for... is to love until I die of love." -St. Therese
"I will spend my heaven doing good on earth." -St. Therese