Ambassadors of Faith

This morning while getting my coffee, I was listening to my coworker tell me a story of her explaining one of Jesus’ miracles to her granddaughter.  The little girl asked questions like why the symbol for Jesus is a fish?  What is a Christian? How did Jesus feed so many people with such little food?

It made me think about how we explain our faith to others.  Do we use complicated, church lingo? Is it something a child would understand? Do you even explain yourself to those around you?  What kind of tone do we use? Is it condescending? Defensive? Full of love and patience? Do your actions reflect this explanation?

I sometimes have a hard time explaining my faith. So much of it is very personal so it’s not always easy to express something so intimate.  I don’t always think about how I would explain aspects of my faith and I struggle when the perfect opportunity arises to talk about something but I am unprepared.

Even though I have a hard time with it, it’s still an interesting thing to contemplate.  How we explain Jesus’ life, His message is pretty important I think.  How we relay our faith to others can dramatically effect how they view Jesus.  We are ambassadors. What’s your foreign policy?

Brothers’/Sisters’/Neighbors’ Keepers

We read in the Bible about how great it is to lay down one’s life for a friend: It’s the ultimate sacrifice of love, and, basically, if done with a pure heart and no mortal sins, I feel like that’s the elevator straight into heaven.

But what happens when we are called upon to lay down just a LITTLE of our lives for our friends?

What if your friend and you like the same guy and he expresses interest in her?
What if you drove to a party and you’re having an absolute blast, but your friend gets sick and needs to leave?
What if your friend is in utter despair bordering on suicidal thoughts, you’re on the phone with him, and it seems as though you are helping somewhat, but it’s going on 3am, and you have to get up in 4 hours for work?
What if your friend’s car breaks down an hour away and you’re the only one she can get ahold of, but you had other plans you’ll have to miss completely if you go get her?

Now obviously there’s a fine line between laying down your life for a friend and just letting them walk all over you…

BUT, when your friends have a time that they really need someone that they can depend upon… Are they able to call you? Will you come through?

God is Green

And it’s not easy being green.   Ok, sorry. But did you see the news? The Vatican has officially declared that pollution is a sin. It makes sense.  We (as in all of humanity) were entrusted with the earth and all that was in it to take care of. (Review Genesis for further study.)  It boils down to what we do matters.  Everything.  Right down to the piece of gum you spit out on the ground or the trash that you throw away.  By taking care of our earth, we show respect and thanks to the Creator who made it all.  By taking care of our earth, we take care of one another.  Among the other sins that were officially announced were genetic manipulation: including cloning, stem cell research; drug trafficking and social and economic injustices.

Being more and more interested and wanting to go green, I was excited to see the Vatican itself has taken steps to setting an example with adding solar paneling to produce electricity and hosting some scientific conventions to create a forum for people to talk about what we can do to change.

One thing that’s frustrating is when you have good intentions to “go green” but not sure where to start.  It seems like a really big problem.  But it starts with one action – for example, do you recycle? Check if you have recycle pick up or a drop off location.  You can also subscribe to Cool People Care 5 Minutes of Caring. It has some great environmental suggestions and they’re EASY.  Sometimes the biggest changes can be quite easy.

Standard of Living

It is possible to believe in something and still fail to live up to it.
~Dr. Wilson on “House, M.D.”

I was watching an old House rerun on TV the other day, and it was back when they were doing a whole run of shows challenging House’s atheistic/gnostic views with patients who were deeply religious. It was really well done and interesting (surprise, surprise!), I must say. This particular quote comes from House being all high and mighty because someone who was a borderline-crazy religious person was a big fat sinner… and Wilson responds with this wisdom (to which House has zero reply).

What beliefs do you fail to uphold every single day? What standards have you set for yourself based on your morals and values… which ones have you not quite reached?

The Lord, who sees in secret, knows how much I’ve failed. It’s a lot. More than anyone could/should know.

How many times do we say one thing with our lips and another with our lives? Just like the hypocrites that Jesus criticizes over and over again!

I catch myself doing this all the time!

And yet… the miracle of it all… is that HE LOVES US ANYWAY and still wants us to be his disciples!

Look at what Paul, one of the top 5 apostles, felt:

Romans 7:15-21

What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate.
Now if I do what I do not want, I concur that the law is good.
So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh. The willing is ready at hand, but doing the good is not.
For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want.
Now if (I) do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
So, then, I discover the principle that when I want to do right, evil is at hand.

Talk about using the weak to show up the strong! Sheesh.

1 Cor 1:26-31

Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters.
Not many of you were wise by human standards,
not many were powerful,
not many were of noble birth.
Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise,
and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong,
and God chose the lowly and despised of the world,
those who count for nothing,
to reduce to nothing those who are something,
so that no human being might boast before God.
It is due to him that you are in Christ Jesus,
who became for us wisdom from God,
as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,
so that, as it is written,
“Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord.”

I can only hope that, little by little, I can gain all these things in order to be ABLE to boast in the Lord! But first, I have to get rid of the tendency to boast about myself. And try to follow what I believe, practice what I preach and all.

And walk the walk that I talk.

Must… stay… awake…

[Rollover text: What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!]

I love XKCD comics in general, but this one in particular is SO me.

Not about the same topics that the little character is probably talking about (i.e. science, math, computer stuff), but about God/faith/religion issues.

I’ve had MANY nights of staying up ’til 3am or later on IM or writing email responses to people who were saying things about the Catholic faith or about God or whatnot that were wrong… because I just HAD to correct them!!

Now, if it were any other kind of topic, I would just wait ’til morning to do anything about it, or just sign off of IM. But faith crises? Can’t ignore them!

I wonder how much of it comes with pride, and how much of it comes from a sense of responsibility due to working for the Church and just (hopefully) being a good Catholic.

(I’d like to think it’s the latter. I hope it’s the latter.)

But I think it IS our responsibility to set things right whenever and and wherever we can.

There are so many rumors and misconceptions out there about Christianity, and especially about the Catholic Church. And there are a lot of privately held beliefs that are construed as doctrine/dogma… and a lot of tradition that has been turned into superstition by those who have not been corrected.

So it’s important to evangelize — even to those who think they know the truth! I actually find that I evangelize the most in this way: to people who’ve had bad experiences with the Church and with Catholics. They look at me and they wonder why I’m different than that bad experience….

But I think that’s our responsibility in many different fields: To go boldly into the darkness, bearing light.

Ha, Jesus thinks so, too: In Luke 5:4, Jesus tells Peter, “Duc in altum!” Put out into the deep! He wants Peter to go to the hardest, darkest places… not just in the shallow water where it’s pretty easy to *fish for men*.

So, friends, I tell you: DUC IN ALTUM! Go get ‘em Tiger(s)!