Never Again a boy...but as a Man

This past weekend we were all set to celebrate a man who has given of himself for others. The event was cancelled. The man we were all set to celebrate was again giving of himself for others and would not be able to make it.

This man I speak of is my scoutmaster. This past fall he passed a milestone. 50 young men had attained the rank of Eagle Scout under his watch...young MEN. These were his words as each boy crossed from Cub Scouts into his troop, "I promise you, that from this day forward I will never again treat you as a boy, but as a man." This promise he made to each and ever boy that entered.

My scoutmaster cared for his troop. None of his own children had been in scouts but each week this man spent several hours in service to the young men in his charge. He took us camping, taught us skills for the wilderness and our everyday lives, how to live as men. He even reached into his own pocket to ensure that his scouts made it on camping trips, and had a chance at experiences that would help us grow.

I am one of the 50 whom attained scouting's highest honor. I am blessed to have been given the opportunities I was. Wayne Niccum taught me to be a man...and treated me as such from the first day I entered his troop. Today I refer to that award as my "Eagle Scout Degree". Wayne taught us all life lessons to use beyond the confines of the forest. He taught us to be men...and for that, I will be forever grateful!

Ever Grateful, Ever True...All Hail Our Own Purdue

An echo rang out from the bell tower in the middle of campus, as it stuck the eighth hour the crowd fell silent. Thousands gathered in the bitter cold, standing together as one family...a family of Boilermakers.

Yesterday started out as a normal winter day. A few area schools were on two hour delay because of melted snow from the day before that had frozen overnight. A regular day changed quickly as a mass text shot across campus. The community turned to panic, but then to social media. People on campus were posting that they were ok, then the messages started coming in from beyond the confines of our red brick buildings. Prayers came in from friends, family, those we hold close; my Facebook feed was overwhelmed by Boiler Catholic Alum sending prayers to a campus that was still under a "Shelter in Place" warning. Even those who do not done the old gold and black wanted to offer up their thoughts and prayers. Bitter rivalries fell silent, replaced by words of comfort and love.

I feel blessed to work across the street from my Alma Mater, that I am able to participate closely when our Boilermaker family experiences Love, Joy, Tragedy and Loss. I am also ever grateful for the first responders who make this campus a safe and inviting place to form ourselves for our futures.

The combined Glee Club and Purduettes sang these words, and they rang out in comfort during the prayer service, and have been running through my head since:

"Close by the Wabash, In famed Hoosier land
Stands old Purdue, Serene and Grand
Cherished in Memory, By all her sons and daughters true
Fair Alma Mater, All Hail Purdue
Fairest in all the land, Our own Purdue
Fairest in all the land, Our own Purdue"
- Purdue Hymn - The Alma Mater

Though we find ourselves in tragedy, we look to our community to offer support and strength, a shoulder to cry on. We find this in our friends, our parish, and our love of this great university. Please pray for the soul of the student Andrew Bolt, and for strength for his family as they go through this tragedy in their lives.

When times get tough, we are called to take action

This weekend our parish is promoting hard for a contest on ESPN: Infiniti Coaches' Charity Challenge. Purdue's own Coach Painter represents the Smith Family BReaK Thru Fund. The big letters in BREAK stand for: Braden, Riley and Keaton who along with their older sister and parents are resident parishioners at St. Tom's. Braden passed from Niemann-Pick Disease Type C (NPC) in 2006 at the age of 10. His sister Riley passed this morning, at the age of 15.

The plan all along was to promote this weekend as to the winner goes $100,000 to the charity backed by the winning Coach. It just so happens that some of the best research in the world for NPC is happening right across the street from our parish at Purdue. Saturday Vigil brought excitement as Fr. Patrick Baikauskas, O.P. encouraged us to vote often and show support for our parishioners, not just to beat out the Ohio State coach who beat us the last time around. But this morning brought a different atmosphere, while announcing to vote using this image Fr. Patrick encouraged us to come together as a community to show our support even more now than ever for the Smith Family.

I don't know how many will read this, but please, stop and take some time to do this. It takes about 30 seconds to sign up, and about 3 seconds to vote.

Chivalry is NOT dead!

I recently found an article online "Chivalry is out of style" by Matt Walsh...the link is at the bottom...and it struck me, enough to say my peace.

I found a few sections of this article stood out to me:

"Chivalry, on the other hand, had a POINT. And the point was deep and substantive. It was a point that rested on an understanding of human nature, and an earnest desire to battle our basest instincts. The point was never “subjugation of women” or “male dominance.” Quite the opposite, in fact. The point was love, and sacrifice, and service. The point was to make a statement that we are not beasts; we are not mere products of dog-eat-dog evolution. We will not live in a world where just the physically strongest survive. Women can only be slaves in a world like that, as history has proven many times."

Genesis 1:26 says, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." Men were put on this earth to rule over it...but then God made woman(Eve), that she might stand beside Adam as an equal. Chivalry means that we are called to be more than just woman's equal, that we might protect her and bring her closer to her God and strengthen her faith. How does holding a door strengthen a woman's faith?

In the mean time, as a routine matter, chivalry is still essential. Men should carry bags, and hold doors, and pull out chairs, and offer seats to women, not because women are incapable of standing or opening their own doors, but because of what these acts represent — what they say. And what they say is simple: “I am bigger and stronger than you, but I will use my strength to honor you and protect you. I will not hurt you. I will not take advantage of you. I will humble myself before you and serve you.”

Chivalry is NOT dead...it has been forgotten by many, but it still lives in the hearts of men who wish to live out their vocations as fathers...at least it should. Men...we have a calling. We are not called to be bums who simply earn a paycheck to put food on the table. More is expected then for us to get married and populate the earth. While these are essential parts of our lives, it is not our true calling. We are called to bring our spouse (and for all the single guys, our future spouses...and every woman in general) to meet St. Peter at the pearly gates. For when we bring others to heaven, we reserve our place as well.

God chose a young virgin to bear his son, an infant who would rule over nations, but he did not leave her to fend for herself. He provided a man who would stand by her side when times were tough. St. Joseph showed the world to trust in God and his messengers. Joseph was told that the woman he was about to make his wife was already with child, (a call for stoning in that time). He was also called to a life of chastity that his bride would remain pure. The guts this man had to live out his life for his God!

I have heard "chivalry is dead" since high school. It always made me sad to hear that people, especially girls, felt that way. But it was that feeling that challenged me. I wanted to fight for chivalry, I did not want to live in a generation that saw the death of honor and respect for the opposite sex. I am not saying that I am perfect, or that I have never been unchivalrous, but I have always hoped to live for others. Chivalry to me means being called to something more than the average, to go above and beyond what is expected.

There are a few fighters out there...we were taught by our parents that there is only one way to treat a lady, with respect! If one day we find ourselves blessed with children of our own it is our duty to pass on that lesson, in the way we treat our wives.

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Chivalry is out of style - Matt Walsh

What can YOU do?

A friend sent me an article yesterday that made me stop and think. Here is the section of the article that really got me:

"In Christ's human life there were always a few who made up for the neglect of the crowd.

The shepherds did it, their hurrying to the crib atoned for the people who would flee from Christ.

The wise men did it; their journey across the world made up for those who refused to stir one hand's breadth from the routine of their lives to go to Christ. Even the gifts that the wise men brought have in themselves an obscure recompense and atonement for what would follow later in this Child's life. For they brought gold, the king's emblem, to make up for the crown of thorns that He would wear; they offered incense, the symbol of praise, to make up for the mockery and the spitting; they gave Him myrrh, to heal and soothe, and He was wounded from head to foot and no one bathed his wounds. The women at the foot of the cross did it too, making up for the crowd who stood by and sneered.

We can do it too, exactly as they did. We are not born too late. We do it by seeing Christ and serving Christ in friends and strangers, in everyone we come in contact with. While almost no one is unable to give some hospitality or help to others, those for whom it is really impossible are not debarred from giving room to Christ, because, to take the simplest of examples, in those they live with or work with is Christ disguised. All our life is bound up with other people; for almost all of us happiness and unhappiness are conditioned by our relationship with other people. What a simplification of life it would be if we forced ourselves to see that everywhere we go is Christ, wearing out socks we have to darn, eating the food we have to cook, laughing with us, silent with us, sleeping with us."

The shepherds saw their king...in a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes laying in a manger. The kings saw what this little one would mean to the world. They brought gifts of greatness to atone for the pain and agony to come. Many did what they could in the time of Christ to serve a man that would pay the ultimate sacrifice for us all.

But what does that mean for us, millenia removed from the time of Christ? What can we do for a man far out of our reach? We can extend a hand of kindness and help. Christ is all around us, though we may not recognize Him at first...There is an image that portrays this that I have always loved: "Jesus of the Breadline".

It shows the poor and in need, whom we often cast off as dirty and unwanted, but amongst them...denoted by a simple ring of light...is the person of Christ. Matthew 25:40 - "The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'

So what can we do? What are we being called to do? We are called to see Christ in everyone: in friends, in the new person sitting in the pews, the person that cuts you off at the supermarket, the man who sits along the sidewalk asking for a quarter. Christ ascended from earth but did not leave us behind. He asked that we be His hands and feet offering love and respect to those we meet.

We are only a few days into the new year, and many of our resolutions may already be broken. Resolve to make change, to be the face of Christ...to see Him in your world, in everyone you meet.

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Quote taken from: Day, Dorothy. "Room For Christ". The Catholic Worker, December 1945, 2. The Catholic Worker Movement. http://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/Reprint2.cfm?TextID=416.

Happy New Year!

So I got up bright and early today to sacristan for the 9am Mary, Mother of God Mass. Most of you who know me know that I am not a morning person until I have had my cup of coffee. It was a glorious Mass even with the few in attendance. I decided to continue a tradition started last year and went to IHOP for breakfast after Mass. I got my cup of coffee...and started thinking about Resolutions. I don't really like to think about these in the year that is about to end, so over breakfast on the first of the year seemed the perfect time to do so. Here are some that I came up with over breakfast and why.

Resolutions:
-To post at least once a week on one of my blogs
    So here is my first resolution...and part of the reason I am typing all of my resolutions into a blog. I found last year that my blog is a great place to vent, especially when I need to get something off my chest that I am sure others are sick of hearing from me or really don't care to hear. It also makes for a sort of online diary to look back on and see what I have done in the past year, and how I have dealt with things that have come up in my life. So here is to 2014...a year of blogging!
-Daily Mass twice a week
    Yes, I work for a church...and it seems silly that I can't make it ~100 feet from my office to the church at least once a day to spend time in Mass. But I don't always have time to make it to Mass. Often something will come up 20 mins before Mass and I will forget...or finish 5 mins past the start of Mass. Well that has been an excuse up till now. Mass is important! I need to make time for it in my day. I am being realistic, things will come up, but I can make daily Mass more often than I do. And I strive to do so in 2014.
-To spend more time with our Lord, at least once a month
    Along with Mass it is important to spend time with the boss. Am I doing His will? Is he happy with what I am getting done for His church? Time spent asking these questions and listening for the answers is time well spent!
-To strengthen my prayer life
    I pray. Do I have a strong conversational relationship with God...not as much as I would like. I find myself praying at times when it makes sense to pray: Mass, before meals, before staff meetings. But I need to be praying at times when it is out of the ordinary: in the shower, in the car, walking down the hall, while I am working on the bulletin. And I need to work on how the prayer forms...lately it has been a lot of "I want...". I would like to have more "What do you need from me?"
-To brew more beer in 2014 than 2013
    In 2013 I brewed 51 gallons of beer...and helped with another 17.5 gallons. I have found a hobby that I enjoy doing and that I enjoy sharing with others. My goal for 2014 is to try a few more interesting combos and to up my brew/yr to 60 gallons (5 gallon batch every month). I'll need help drinking all of that. ;-) And feel free to ask about the brewing process or how to start brewing your own, I love to talk about beer!
-1,000 miles on my bike
    Two years ago I rode just over 1,000 miles, so for 2013 i set a goal of 1,500...I only ended up riding 645 miles. But on a positive note I did do a 76 mile ride in one spurt...even on a flat tire patched with a $5 bill. I want to get out more on my bike this year...I enjoy the open road and the peace that comes with it. It gives me a chance to think about life and would be a great place to spend more time in prayer.

Now the thing about resolutions is...they don't have to be at New Years. We can begin anew whenever we decide to. New Year's Day seems to be a great kickoff point, but if we falter, we can begin anew whenever...to continue our resolutions!

Merry Christmas...

I don't know what it is...but as hard as I try...I cannot get into the Christmas Spirit. There is something of a loneliness around this time of year when others gather together with family and friends. I will be heading home for a few days this year to spend time with my family, but it is the rest of the month that is hard. Most of the music turns to mentions of loved ones and holiday feel goods.

I guess some of it has to do with my ongoing struggle for vocation. I get gung-ho about the single life and then I get hard with the feelings of what it would be like to have a significant other. Then I will find blessings in my life that I could not accomplish if I was attached to a family...and then I will find feelings of loneliness again...an ever turning wheel of emotion.

I want to come to a point where I have it all figured out...probably won't ever come...but I would like a little peace in this situation. Please...give me some kind of sign. Is it single life, married life...will I find out at the end of the year...5 years from now...10? I can't take this much longer...it hurts...