Thoughts (Some, Goofy) from the Sick Bed

I have felt worse this past week than I have in years.  On Sunday, I thought I was a little worn down; so I spent the day on the couch.  By that night the croup-like cough kicked in and then by Monday afternoon it was full-blown fever, chills, body aches - the whole shebang.  It's Thursday now, and I am finally fever free; I still sound like I am going to cough up a lung, but I am fever free!  And in the spirit of pushing off (for at least another 10 minutes) the arduous process of wiping down the house with bleach and Lysol, here are some of the thoughts/realizations I've had this week:

1. As appealing as becoming a hermit may sometimes seem, I need human contact way too much to make a go of that.
2. The ring of the telephone is not always a bad thing.
3. St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote about redemptive suffering and the Communion of Saints way back in 110 A.D.
4. My pain tolerance is pitiful.
5. If it's a choice between watching Dr. Phil, Ellen, or Wendy ... just turn off the television.
6. When you're awake at 3 a.m., anxious over all of the tasks piling up at work and home, the Rosary might not put you back to sleep; but it will give you peace.
7. I am not nearly grateful enough on the 350-some days of the year when I feel "middle of the road" - those days are tremendous gifts.
8. It is possible to miss working out. 
9. Sickness isn't a waste if we tell Jesus that we want to join our discomfort to His on the Cross; it turns the sickness into a prayer.
10. Did I mention how hard it is to watch daytime television?
11. It's good to ask God for help, and it's good to pray for one another.
12. When you feel bad, it helps to stop and intentionally place yourself in God's Hands.  Get a clear picture of it in your mind.  When we're sick for a length of time our perspective becomes skewed, and we need to remind ourselves of reality.  
13. There are countless brothers and sisters dealing with so much more than me - "God, please help them."  

  


 

Stopping Violence - What Is the Answer?

How do we put an end to the violent acts that seem to be increasing in frequency?  Even if we collected and melted down every firearm in the nation, it would not solve our problem.  (On the same day 20 children lost their lives to gunfire in Newtown, CT, an intruder at a  Chinese school used a knife to slash 22 children.) The violence we are seeing will not be stopped by greater gun control, humanistic counseling, a government program, nor sophisticated ad campaigns.  Its cause goes way too deep.

What we're dealing with is the evil that can reside in the human heart.  We're dealing with a global, cultural devaluation of human beings - from the sacred nature of the sexual act that produces them, to the dignity and importance of having a mother and a father in every home, to the legal killing of unborn children and the sick aged.  The problem is within the human heart, it is sin, and in and of ourselves we human beings are powerless to fix it. 

We fool ourselves by thinking that if we treat the symptoms, then we will solve the problem.  Better gun control, better mental health programs, a better-educated public, etc., etc.  Take away all the guns, throw all the money and services we can at the problem - and at the end of the day we're still left with mis-functioning human hearts.  As obviously needful as it is to keep guns from falling into the wrong hands and to teach people acceptable ways to deal with their anger and pain, at its deepest level, humanity's problem is spiritual:  "from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man” (Mk.7:21-23).

What is the answer?  "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life" (Jn.14:6).  The answer is Jesus - we counter the culture of death, with Life Himself.  He is the only One with the power to reach into the human heart and regenerate it from within!

Some readers, fellow Christians, rolled their eyes as they read that.  "Simpleton," they think.  But honestly, if you do not believe that Jesus is the answer to this question - to every question - I do not know why you bother to identify yourself with Him.  

I am putting a challenge out there:  What would happen if each of us truly lived the Faith we claim to possess?  What would happen if we truly positioned ourselves so as to encounter Jesus Christ in His word and sacraments?  (It's not hard!) What would be the effect on our nation if every Christian, or even just every person who identifies him or herself as Catholic ...

• Made the non-miss event of their family's weekends not the kids' sporting events, but receiving Jesus in the Eucharist?  (And maybe even going to Confession beforehand?)

• Read and re-read the four Gospels the way we do popular novels?    (Honestly, if you have read the Fifty Shades trilogy, at over 1600 pages, but not the four Gospels, a mere 200 pages, then it is time to remedy that - consider it a Christmas present to yourself!)  

• Memorized the Ten Commandments the way we do sports statistics?

• Made time to for the Rosary, the way we do for a workout - or prayed the Rosary while we got a work out?

• Instead of bemoaning how "backward" our Church is, actually challenged ourselves to study what Jesus said and why our Church teaches what it does on sexuality, marriage, and family?  (The Catechism, right here, is such an easy place to start.)

• Talked to God with our children before they left for school, when they arrived home, and again at bedtime?

• Talked about our belief in God even a quarter as much as we talk about what we saw on t.v. last night? 

If we lived the Faith, if we made Jesus present in our own lives and invited others to do the same, then our nation and world would be transformed!  It happened to ancient Rome - a culture that practiced infanticide and watched gladiators fight to the death for entertainment!  But it took Christians who loved Christ Jesus more than life itself to bring about its conversion.  What about us, do we love Him that much?  Do we really believe that He is the answer to every question? 

We need to examine ourselves as we listen to these words of the Risen Christ: "I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot.  Would that you were cold or hot!  So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth ... Those whom I love, I reprove and chasten; so be zealous and repent.  Behold I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me" (Rev. 3:16, 19-20).