What Must I Do?

Two weeks after the tragedy of the earthquake in Haiti, and people of good will are still wondering “What more can we do for Haiti?”

Many of us realize that there will be no real change in Haiti so long as the gifts sent are merely cash or the construction of a new infrastructure. Haiti needs more. Haiti needs our hearts. Haiti needs communion with the community of the world. Haiti must not again be forsaken. We must see in Haiti’s brokenness an opportunity for togetherness.

We must do for the least of our brothers and sisters as if we were doing for Jesus Himself. For Jesus is truly among us, in the “distressing disguise of the poor.”

For many too, I think, another question is rising out of the smoke and dust of this tragedy; “Where is God in all of this?” I believe the answer is not up in the clouds… God is in Haiti. Again, since Jesus has entered our world, our world is not the same. The Author has entered his own pages. He has bound Himself to the paper and ink of our history through the Incarnation of the Son of God. So where is God in all of this unimaginable suffering? He is at its heart, for He has already suffered unimaginably.

I don’t believe God is simply looking down from Heaven. I believe He is also looking out from the rubble. God is on the Cross where He has been hanging for centuries.

“So where are we in all of this?” I think the first place to start is at the foot of this Cross, looking on Haiti who has been pierced, hands and feet and side… head crowned with thorns, and in seeing let us believe! Let us hold Haiti like the Pieta…

God is in Haiti. And He is calling out to us…

“Come, all you who pass by the way, look and see whether there is any suffering like my suffering…”

– Lamentations 1:12

Where is God? He is in our suffering, He is really in it. And so now none of it should go to waste. Not a drop of it, for it’s mixed with our blood, sweat, and tears. As the priest prays in the Mass, “By the mystery of this water and wine, may we come to share in the Divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.”

May this God of blood, sweat, and tears bless the blood, sweat, and tears of Haiti, and of all the generous men and women who are now lending a hand to a suffering people.

“For we are like olives, only when we are crushed do we yield what is best in us.”

– Talmud

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Inspiration for the New Evangelization
http://www.missionmoment.org

A Heart for Haiti

I was in Haiti in 2002, driving through the rubble of the streets of Cite Soleil with a missionary priest named Fr. Tom Hagan (you can read an update of his experiences here). It looked as if an earthquake had already struck the land, and that was almost 8 years ago.

Why Haiti? Why so much sorrow and pain?

Something I can’t stop thinking about in my pondering of what’s happened is the thought that Haiti is the broken body of Christ. More than a thought, it’s the realization that Haiti is the broken body of Christ.

Haiti is like the youngest of Jacob’s sons, sold into bondage at the hands of jealous, greedy brothers. Haiti is the Suffering Servant in the Prophet Isaiah, whose back has been whipped in its sad history of slavery, and its beard plucked by the grasping hands of countries stripping its once fertile land of resources. Haiti is “making up for the things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ,” in the mysterious words of St. Paul. Haiti is a never-ending Passion Play.

If we believe that God came into our world out of love to take on our sorrows, than we can see God in Haiti. Mother Teresa always said that Jesus is in the distressing disguise of the poor.

God has come into our world, become one of us, become all of us. He doesn’t wear humanity over His Divinity like a robe that He casts off in the end. Jesus has married Divinity to humanity forever, world without end! Jesus is in every suffering, He has already suffered and he suffers still in everyone who suffers. Jesus is in Haiti.

At the Hands Together house in Port au Prince, where I stayed a few days with Fr. Tom, one of the most memorable sights was of the tabernacle in his little chapel. At first it caught me off guard. It looked like an old shoe box, or a pile of garbage. But a lamp burned beside it, and a Real Presence was there, in the midst of the slums of Cite Soleil.

Then Father explained, Jesus dwells with his people, and Jesus has become one of his own. So for the poor who live in cardboard homes, reinforced with sheet metal and tin, Jesus has a home of the same material. The Blessed Eucharist is there, in poverty, just as our brothers and sisters, made in God’s image, are there in the garbage and in the desolation of the poorest country in the western hemisphere.

Let us pray that Haiti, like Jesus, will return to the Land of the Living, rise from the darkness of the grave, and that we, brothers and sisters throughout the world, will continue to rise up and be present at this tomb. That we lend hearts and hands to this land of brave men and women, suffering souls who have suffered long and hard.

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To view the faces and places (and some rough video)

of my time in Haiti, click here.

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Inspiration for the New Evangelization
http://www.missionmoment.org

Helping Haiti

How you can help through a reliable and trusted source that is already and for over a decade on the ground, working in Haiti:

From Mike DeWine: “Our dear friends Father Tom Hagan and Doug Campbell run an organization called Hands Together. From scratch, they started a school, clinic, and feeding program in the poorest slum in Port-au-Prince – a place called Cite Soleil. Starting with just five classrooms, the school, named after our late daughter Becky, is now part of an 8 school complex that educates and feeds over 7,000 children each day. We received word that Father Tom and Doug are both alive. The schools have been damaged and Father Tom’s house was destroyed. We thank you for your prayers for them and for all of Haiti. People have been very generous. The immediate need is for monetary contributions. Hands Together’s resources will be quickly depleted as they help those most in need and start the rebuilding process.”

Should you wish to make a donation, please send it to Hands Together at P.O.Box 80985, Springfield, MA 01138. You may also make contributions on their website at www.handstogether.org

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Inspiration for the New Evangelization
http://www.missionmoment.org

Mission El Salvador

I had the chance to upload some images from a mission trip to El Salvador from 2001. I can’t believe it’s been that long. Some of the faces and places I encountered on this trip are still very fresh in my memory. There is nothing like the experience of crossing that bridge, entering into another’s existence, and just being with them. The time I spent was very brief, but I will never forget it! Thanks to Maryknoll missioners Tim and Ellen O’Connell and Marybeth Gallagher for their hospitality and for their passionate witness to mission!

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Inspiration for the New Evangelization
http://www.missionmoment.org

Hooked

I’m sure we’ve all had movie moments that stick with us; scenes that combined character, catharsis, music and meaning into an unstoppable force that broke into our world and suddenly, lifted us up into theirs. Like modern parables, a great Truth was conveyed in a story and it bypassed our security systems. “Hey,” we whisper to ourselves, “that’s about me…”

I’ve been hooked on the above scene from Hook for years now. In the movie, Robin Williams plays a much older, stressed, and well dressed Peter Pan; a Peter Pan who has forgotten who he is and subsequently become a merger and acquisitions lawyer (crazy, I know). He’s married to Wendy’s granddaughter and now his kids have been captured by the infamous Captain Hook.

The scene above is Peter’s great awakening. At first we find him utterly confused, ripped from the “real” world of comfort and security into a fantastic place of dreams and magic. But what does he do? How can he live? All is wild and blazingly bright in this world, so unlike the foggy gray and ease and comfort of the world he came from.

The Lost Boys (those perpetual and unsupervised 5th graders) cannot fathom that this is their fearless leader, trembling as he is with fear before them in his suit pants. What’s a suit?

A line is drawn by the new leader of the Lost Boys, and Peter stands alone on the other side. Then, dramatically, one little boy crosses over the line, into his fear. He takes Peter by the hand, pulls him down to his level, and touches his face. Pushing and pulling at his cheeks, peering into his eyes, the Little Boy is searching for the truly Lost Boy, Peter Pan. Robin Williams in this scene, manipulated like silly putty in the hands of a Child, cannot help but smile. A light breaks through his weary eyes and suddenly the Child before him whispers “Oh there you are Peter!” The music swells, the Boys rush to Peter’s side and all begin the process of rediscovery with him. Eventually, after a long training period, Peter learns again how to fly.

Inspirations, insights… how does this speak to me?

I am lost. I need to be found again. I need the Christ Child to take me by the hand and pull me down to His level, to that place of humility, of smallness. I need Him to touch me and to push aside the worry and the anxiety and the sin and the weakness. I need Him to cross over that line and believe in me. And if I let Him have His way with me, I will hear those words “There you are Billy!”

And by His Grace I will learn again just how to FLY!

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Inspiration for the New Evangelization
http://www.missionmoment.org

What’s Inside You?

One filled with joy preaches without preaching.
– Blessed Mother Teresa

Some people are seemingly always happy. Like the Psalmist says, “They have heard no evil news.” They float, they roll, they fly, they bear it and wear it well in all manner of circumstances. They actually believe Blessed Julian of Norwich’s famous phrase “All shall be well, in all manner of things. All shall be well.”

Please understand, I don’t mean a kind of flaky, out of touch, dilusional happy. I mean content, satisfied, fulfilled; actually possessing a deep peace at their center, regardless of the choppy waves on the surface of things.

I think the better word here is JOY. Happiness is too often the effect of happenstance, stuff happening to you.

“Hey, it’s stopped raining!”
“Ooo, a quarter!”
“I don’t have to pay for my parking?”

Real Joy flows more from convictions than it does from conditions. That’s why when the saints were suffering in such terrible conditions, they could still smile, be at peace, love. They had conviction. Their hearts were not shallow puddles that could tremble at the slightest atmospheric changes, but rather were deep wells of trust in God.

So there it is… a goal to shoot for; to place your pursuit of happiness not in feelings but in the freedom of your will. To begin to construct your conviction that all shall be well. To build the well within, and let God fill that well with His Grace. We’ll discover that even as bad as things may feel, they can never again rob us of His Joy.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? …Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” (Rom. 8:35-37)

It’s been said that if the joy Christians proclaimed with their lips were shining on their faces, there would be no unbelievers. Well, “peace begins with a smile” (Mother Teresa). So let us “rejoice always…. I say it again, rejoice!” (St. Paul) There’s a gloomy world out there that needs some serious silliness and “There’s no such thing as a sad saint.” (St. Theresa of Avila)

Thanks to Cecilia for the video below! The ending just about sums it up!

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Inspiration for the New Evangelization
http://www.missionmoment.org

Bill and Sean’s Excellent Adventure!

What’s This All About?

This weekend (and all of next week), as a gift for his recent Confirmation into the fullness of the Catholic Faith, I’m taking my nephew on a journey of biblical proportions. He doesn’t know where we’re going, but he knows it’s a leap of faith and a walk closer to the Lord (sometimes a hike;)

In order for family and friends to keep abreast of our journeys, I’ve created a blog, aptly named “Bill and Sean’s Excellent Adventure!” This will allow us to post messages and pictures and for everyone else to read about and envy in the good sense of the word some of the deep (and not so deep) thoughts and conversations we’ll be having as we travel into the wild! All are welcome to pop in for a virtual visit! The blog will be the canvas on which we paint our travels!

HERE IT IS AGAIN IN ALL IT’S GLORY: http://billandseansexcellentadventure.blogspot.com/

Please say a prayer for our safe travels and good weather!

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Inspiration for the New Evangelization
http://www.missionmoment.org

Let Freedom Bling?

I was in the city yesterday, waiting to pick up the Mrs. and sitting outside of Independence Hall. Fitting, eh? Today this historically rich city of Philadelphia will be booming and blasting with fireworks and all shimmery with swirling “glow in the dark” necklaces for kids, and cheesy fries. Lots of cheesy fries. It’s gonna be big! Bigger than all of us! It’s America’s Birthday!

We all like BIG. I think in a positive sense it reminds us that we’re small. We discover that we’re part of a BIGGER picture; that the World isn’t just our little brush stroke of a life in one corner of the painting. We play a part in a big Glorious Canvas and are members of one BIG human family. This puts all of our “little” problems into perspective. Or at least it should.

But when BIG becomes quantifiable in the amount of stuff we gather, rather than qualifiable in the measure of love we receive or give, then we’ve got problems. This is a BIG deal. The freedom we celebrate today is the freedom to choose one of these paths. A life, family, country, or world will rise and fall, thrive or thwart their destiny if it chooses poorly.

Ah Freedom…. it’s the unique and inviolable gift that makes humans human. We can choose. We can move. We can be heroic or demonic – selfless, or selfish. We can be super-human by cooperation and abandonment to the Divine Grace that flows from Jesus, or we can reject Him and hence slip into being sub-human, never “awakening” to our divine potential, our promise of sharing in the divine nature. The mystery of mysteries is that God took this tremendous risk in creating us this way! He knew we could fall. But so that we might RISE… God Himself took the risk of creating us free.

The question on a day like today is, in the words of William Wallace, “What will you do with your freedom?” Amass a bunch of stuff, build a bigger nest? Use our freedom for “bling” or let that freedom ring?

Freedom is not our license to have it all. Freedom is the calling to give it all.

And thank God our ancestors did just that.

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Inspiration for the New Evangelization
http://www.missionmoment.org

What’s Wrong With You?

There is a moving scene (among many) in the film The Fellowship of the Ring where the character of Aragorn, known as Strider, struggles with his own mortal weakness. In the quiet of Rivendell, in a dimly lit chamber where ancient memories are held sacred, he gazes on a painting of his ancestor, Isildur. It was he who in ages long past cut the Ring from the Dark Lord’s finger and saved Middle-Earth from defeat. But it was by that same Ring that Isildur himself fell into weakness and death. The memory of that fatal flaw has haunted Aragorn his entire life.

As he turns to the shadows in this fog of fear and shame. He sees his love, Arwen approach and she speaks a word of confidence to him. “Why do you fear the past? You are Isildur’s heir, not Isildur himself. You are not bound to his fate.”

The future King replies “The same blood flows in my veins. The same weakness…”

What is it that “leads us into temptation”? Why do we so often do the evil that we hate, and not do the good we know we should do? The answers to questions about sin, suffering, death, neuroses and psychoses are all bound up and tightly packed in the simple phrase “Original Sin.” The sheer density of this reality is like the weight of galaxies. It’s like our collapsed star, a black hole in the human universe.

Original Sin is the sin at our origins. And it’s real. Painfully real. Other dogmas and doctrines in the Church sometimes need more expounding, more unfolding for us to see them more clearly. For the doctrine of Original Sin, we only need to look in the mirror, or to read a newspaper. Before we are tempted to dismiss it as something irrelevant to our everyday lives, another doctrine of the Church that’s all “spiritual and stuff,” let’s pause…. if we miss this, it will be impossible for us to ever truly know ourselves, others, or this beautiful but broken creation that has been dying and rising with us all our lives.

In the beginning, with the sin of Adam and Eve, there was a terrible break, a mortal wound that caused four major fractures in our relationships as human persons. These four Original Wounds are still experienced by every son or daughter of Adam and Eve. They are breaks in our relationships with God, within ourselves, with each other, and with creation. We all feel them, we all experience them in some fashion every day. They are our ancestral heritage. They are in the blood (which is why we need the blood of Jesus to be poured out for us in a Divine transfusion – that’s the Mass).

Think of your life. It’s a good examination of conscience every day to look at these four areas and to ask the question, “Have I been healed?” The good news is, we have the cure today. The blood of Jesus is with us. His Sacred Heart is here! The organ is ready to be transplanted within the hollow of our chest. New life, a strong heart, and reconciliation…. finally!

In Jesus ALONE is this reconciliation made… In Jesus ALONE is real union and communion. Has this truth really sunk in for us? Peace and reconciliation will NOT come from politics, the Republicans, the Democrats… economics, a new haircut, or a new job… a new car, a new relationship… It’s Jesus. It really is.

How strong a reaction are you having to this statement right now? Is it an “amen” or a whimper? A shrug of the shoulders or a surge of the heart? For me, it’s getting easier every day. I’m getting acclimated to this new heart and this new blood that comes to me every time I go to Mass. Sometimes it cuts. He’s that divisive. He’s a two-edged sword that slices us through like a surgeon’s knife. But this is the open heart surgery we need, or we’ll die. If we don’t have His Heart, than we suffer those mortal wounds and we’ll never accomplish our own mission or finish the journey…

Arwen the Beautiful held Aragorn’s weathered face in her hands. He was a Ranger and had seen many dangers in the wide world. She whispers “Your time will come. You will face the same evil, and you will defeat it…. The Shadow does not hold sway… Aragorn. Not over you and not over me.”

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Inspiration for the New Evangelization
http://www.missionmoment.org

Fearless and Finally Free

I just finished watching the movie Fearless (thanks for the recommendation, Tom B!). This was to be the renowned martial artist Jet Li’s last film. And what a way to end…

I’m a sucker for a super-kick’em-up movie. Not one that glorifies violence, however, but one that confronts the reality of violence and deals with it in a way that shows discipline, courage, and self-sacrifice. Films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, and House of Flying Daggers all portray characters who have learned great secrets, cosmic truths, and lessons about mercy and compassion through their discipline (be it Wu Dan or Wushu). The character Huo Yuanjia that Jet Li portrays learns these lessons well. So well that they lead him to a truly heroic end in the film, as he moves from an arrogant fighter who “will not be defeated” to a symbol of humble strength and endurance for all of China.

Huo learns his most valuable lesson after a self-inflicted exile leads him far from home. Ruined, broken and despairing after the death of his family, he is rescued by poor mountain villagers. An aging grandmother and a young, blind woman named Moon nurse him back to health. As his strength returns, however, so does his competitive and arrogant spirit. He is put to work in a rice field with two other men, and just as he begins to settle into the rhythm of planting the tiny green rice seedlings, he pushes himself past the other men as if it were a race. As Huo’s back is bent and he scurries to plant more seedlings, he notices that the men have stopped in their tracks. They are standing upright with eyes closed, facing the bamboo forest as it is suddenly caught up in a gentle wind. He sees that the entire village in fact has suddenly stopped their work to drink in the soft movement of the wind in the trees. Ignorant of the grace of the moment, he shakes his head and buries it back in the “rice race.” The next morning, it turns out, all of his seedlings had to be replanted. They were packed in so tightly that they would never have grown. “They need space to breathe, like people do,” the young girl tells him. Later, we see Huo again…. this time a deep contentment in his face. The rhythm of the mountains and the discipline of the fields has taught him well. He stands upright and faces the forest, as a breeze catches the bamboo and moves them.

Priceless moments. We should drink them in, looking up from our “rat race” today to glimpse these higher motions, these cosmic seasons that hold the seeds of answers for us. Look up! Watch the skies. We know not when the Wind of the Holy Spirit will stir up something new.

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Inspiration for the New Evangelization
http://www.missionmoment.org