"He Must Increase; I Must Decrease"

Those were the words of John the Baptist when his disciples came to him concerned that Jesus had started to attract larger crowds than John.  It's such an awesome thing to say, "He must increase; I must decrease" (Jn.3:30) - so incredibly noble.  It sounds so spiritually "romantic" ... but then you yourself are called to live it, and all of the air goes out of the tires.  

Each of us is going to experience times, probably many times, in our efforts to serve God when all of our plans come to nought.  As best we can tell, our hearts are in the right place; and we are using our abilities as we believe the Lord wants, but our efforts do not appear to meet with success.  But when we look around at our brothers and sisters we see just the opposite - their efforts to tell others about the Lord Jesus and to be of help to others are flourishing.  We have to beware of the Enemy at moments like that; he would love nothing more than to encourage a spiritual jealousy in our hearts.

St. Paul encouraged the us to keep our heads on straight, guarding our thoughts with "the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Eph.6:17).  And what does the word tells us?

• “My son, when you come to serve the LORD, prepare yourself for trials. Be sincere of heart and steadfast, undisturbed in time of adversity.  Cling to him, forsake him not; thus will your future be great. Accept whatever befalls you, in crushing misfortune be patient; For in fire gold is tested, and worthy men in the crucible of humiliation. Trust God and he will help you; make straight your ways and hope in him.” (Sir.2:1-6) 

• Not to say that any of us find ourselves in this position, but when other Christian preachers were trying to outshine Paul in proclaiming Christ, his attitude was, "What does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice" (Phil.1:18)

• "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mt.20:28)

• "So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty." (Lk.17:10)

It's not our kingdom that we are building.  It is not our names that we wish to magnify.  The trials we face, the setbacks are not truly defeats; they create opportunities for us to persevere in loving the Lord, in expending ourselves for love of Him.  These are the moments when He grows our souls, transforms them to be more like His - poured out on the Cross for love of the Father ... and us.  Trials in our efforts to serve purify us.  They provide opportunity to overcome, to burn away, any residual desire we have to build our kingdoms, to make a name for ourselves, with the Fire of Love - the Holy Spirit who made saints of John the Baptist and Paul.

Come Holy Spirit, 

Love of the Father for the Son,

Love of the Son for the Father,

Soul of the Mystical Body,

Font of Life,

Fire of Love,

Sweet Anointing from Above.

Evangelism - It's FISHING, Not Hunting

Photo by David Falconer

When I was in high school one of the adult leaders at my prayer group, Bob Capstick, shared his philosophy of evangelism with us.  Bob was a holy, exuberantly joyous dude; so whenever he spoke I took it to heart.  Bob reminded us that Jesus called the apostles to be "fishermen."  And a good fisherman puts bait on the hook, his line in the water ... and then he waits for the fish to bite.

When I first became serious about following Jesus a couple of years before, I was reading the works of Billy Graham and Hal Lindsay.  They have very different emphasis, but one thing they both stressed was the "sinner's prayer," the gist of which says, "Lord Jesus Christ, I am a sinner.  I believe that You died and rose from the dead to save me.  I accept you as my Lord and Savior.  Please come into my heart and save me.  From now on I belong to You."  The goal of both men seemed to be bringing people to the point of praying that prayer.  Once it was sincerely prayed a person was "saved" (note the past tense).  The work of evangelization was done.

I naturally wanted to share with others the incredible joy and meaning that was coming to me through the Faith and so, I put the emphasis on trying to bring others to that point of "accepting Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior."  Very early on I also experienced what charismatic Christians refer to as the "baptism," or "release," of the Holy Spirit;" so I adjusted the goal of my evangelistic work to bringing people to the point of accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and giving the Holy Spirit permission to penetrate every area of their lives and release His gifts and charisms.

A couple of things struck me as very inadequate though.  For one, I felt like all of my relationships had an "ulterior motive."  Granted, I wanted to help people arrive at a good place, the "best place;" but my relationships with them felt empty.  There was a feeling in my gut that, like the God I believed in, I should love them right where they were.  I should be an authentic friend.  The second thing that felt inadequate was how I was all about getting people to this spiritual climax of accepting Jesus into their hearts and getting baptized in the Holy Spirit, and then ... what?  What else was there to the Christian life?  Did we reach this spiritual high and then spend the next forty to sixty years just keeping the status quo until we either died or were raptured?  (And "no," I no longer believe in "the rapture;" but that's a different post.) 

Bob Capstick, the gentleman I mentioned at the start of the post, helped show me the beauty of the wider view, a Catholic view of evangelism and the spiritual life.  As embarrasing as it is to now write, I had been looking at evanglism as hunting.  I was out locking my sights on someone, wanting to "pull the trigger" of leading them in the sinner's prayer or laying on hands to pray for the release of the Spirit.  But Bob helped me to understand that it was good to follow my heart's desire of wanting to build friendships and have fun with people; I didn't have to be in a hurry to get them to recite a certain prayer.  God made us to love, to be in genuine relationships with others.  I could just be honest about who I was -someone who loved Jesus immensely - and what I did - enjoyed reading Scripture and theology, talking to groups, etc.   And if/when people wanted to know more  or need someone to pray with them, then they will feel comfortable asking me. And from time to time, I feel inspired to offer a friendly invitation, or even a challenge.  But it's real; it's relational.  (Plus, I have a longer list of people I consider friends.)

The Catholic viewpoint also helped me to see that the sinner's prayer, and gifts and charisms of the Spirit, and even the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, were just the beginning of the spiritual life (Heb.6:1-2).  God is in it with us for the long haul, with the end of the journey being when we become living manifestations of Jesus.  And that can happen in this world!  There was this whole branch of theology, mystical theology, that I never knew existed until years after I became serious about living as a Catholic Christian.  The Christian life isn't about peaking early; it's meant to be, and it can be, a constant ascent.  It grows through the years, as we pass through different periods - going out into the world, learning to lay down our lives for the ones we love, uniting our struggles to Jesus' own , experiencing new breakthroughs, falling and getting back up.  Salvation is not a one-time, over-and-done experience.  It's ongoing.  It can be lost and regained through the Sacrament of Reconciliation; and it can be progressively deepened.  Through all of its stages Jesus is there to feed and strengthen us with His very Self in the Eucharist.

That's the Catholic life - a beautiful, sometime grueling, full, genuine life.  It is the abundant life that Jesus came to give (Jn.10:10).

Grandma's Spaghetti - It's How I Share the Faith

It is a snowy New Year's Eve Day, so the kids and I are staying home and enjoying Grandma Virginia's spaghetti as we watch the flakes fall.  I have loved her spaghetti since I was a little guy, and have never found its equal.  She passed on the recipe a few months before her death.  

Photo by Alessio Sbarbaro

My dad and I both make it now.  And, I don't mean to brag, but my mom and siblings say that mine is best.  (To be fair, it is the only that I do better than my dad.  He's da man.)  So what is my secret?  Why does mine consistently turn out better than his?  Because  I  FOLLOW  THE  RECIPE.  My dad always tries to "jazz it up" by adding this or that.  But it doesn't need it; it's already perfect.  His changes inevitably change the flavor, and we're disappointed because we all came to the table expecting Grandma's culinary masterpiece.

I was thinking about all of this yesterday as I ran to the store to grab a forgotten ingredient.  I was tempted to substitute with something else I had at home, but decided it wasn't worth taking the chance.  And then it struck me that I am a "Catholic cook."  What I share with others about Jesus and his teachings - I really strive to pass it along in its purity.  The Lord Jesus is the Word of the Father, and the body of Truth that He entrusted to the Apostles contains everything that God wants to say to humanity.  I know that I cannot improve upon it.  If I try to add to it or subtract from it, I am doing those with whom I share a monumental disservice.  I share the Faith in the same manner I prepare Grandma's spaghetti - I follow the recipe.  It's not that I'm a slave to it; I want to enjoy, and I want others to enjoy, the delicious feast that results from following the recipe!

In the presidential debates this past October, one of the participants chided the other that the United States cannot return to the "social policies of the 1950's."  If you consult that participant's website to see which social policies he was referring to in the debate, he spells it out:  any move to stop abortion on demand, prevent employers from being forced to pay for contraception and abortifacients, or to stop American tax dollars from going to Planned Parenthood (which aborts over 300,000 of our children a year.)  This same gentleman expressed his belief that our culture should change its definition of marriage.  And you will meet many people who identify themselves as "Christian" who agree with him.  The problem is, when they do so they are presenting a truncated version of the Faith.  I hear statements such as, "I'm Catholic," or "I'm a Christian, but I don't believe ..."  They're messing with the recipe, leaving out ingredients ... and the end result is moral heresy.

In the face of this kind of cultural shift the Catholic Church, and Catholic individuals such as myself, can do nothing but stand up and continue to articulate as clearly as we can what Jesus and His Church have always said.  It's not my Truth, or the Church's Truth; it is Jesus'.  So many elements are being presented as if they shackle and restrict our freedoms.  But my nearly three decades as a committed Christian confirm the observation made by G.K. Chesterton, "The more I considered Christianity, the more I found that while it had established a rule and order, the chief aim of that order was to give room for good things to run wild" (Orthodoxy, 1908).  The "rules," the ingredients, that many people seem intent on discarding from the Faith aren't so much a fence meant to keep the kids from branching out and enjoying themselves as it is a fence meant to keep dangers from intruding into the children's play area.  (Although a fence that keeps the kids' play from spilling over from the yard onto a busy highway is a wonderful tool as well!)

None of this is to say that I am against sharing the Faith in new and exciting ways.  (People tell me that I get pretty animated when I share; and you are, after all, reading this on a blog with links to websites, videos, etc.)  But the methods or terminology we use in sharing the Faith do not modify the content, the ingredients.  They are like an interesting serving bowl or a super effective spoon for getting the spaghetti out of the bowl and onto people's plates faster.

Spaghetti and the delicious, filling New Evangelization.  "Taste and see the goodness of the Lord" (Psalm 34:8).  Happy New Year everyone!