Sunday, February 10, 2018

Good morning.

If you went to Saturday night’s vigil Mass, you’ve already heard the reading. If you haven’t been to Mass, listen closely to today’s second reading – Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian’s…

“Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the greater glory of God.”

This simple statement has become the theme to my life.

If what we are doing is not meant to bring praise and glory to God, why are we doing it?

I start my day with that thought and I end my day with reflecting on what I did and if I achieved the task of bringing praise to God. As simple as this may sound, this can be a daunting task.

Just yesterday my wife commented at a dinner party we were at “My husband is the pokiest driver I know…he is very calm until somebody ticks him off, then watch out”. She was referring to what I did not an hour earlier – COMING FROM CHURCH, at a stop light near her mom’s house. Did I do anything for the “greater glory of God” by not allowing somebody ahead of me in traffic? I believe my comment was “if that “mule” thinks he is getting in front of me…” My wife then pointed out that (not a 1/10 of a mile later) I was turning off the road to the in-laws house for dinner. I can only hope that one day I truly live a life where people see God through me – I may have to stop driving before that day arrives.

A couple of big events happened yesterday that I would like to comment on…

1. My son Richard and his fiancé rented their first apartment and moved her in yesterday. Come October, when they get married and he moves out with her, that will be my fourth child moving on “from the nest” – my four oldest – two girls and two boys. I chuckle at the thought that when a girl marries, she usually finds a home close to her mother’s house (we live just a little more than a mile from my wife’s mom’s house). Just the opposite here. The closet daughter lives 45 minutes from us and the other daughter lives in LA. The two boys? Neither of them found apartments more than 3 miles away from the house…I still have to hide my beer and pork rinds.

2. My son Tony finished his high school wrestling career yesterday morning. It was an emotional moment for him. Never having wrestled before high school, he set a goal to make the State tournament his Senior year. He came within two matches (at the district tournament) of doing that, losing on points in his last match to a wrestler from Kirkwood. Do I wish he would’ve won and gone to the State tournament – do you need to ask? Did he fall short of his goal? The stark reality of that is yes. Did that make his 4 years of wrestling a failure? Not even close. To witness the way he matured in his 4 years of wrestling, the manner in which he lost his first match in a gym at Eureka (after getting pinned in about 30 seconds) jumping up and slamming his head gear into the mat and now fast forwarding to yesterday, when late in the 3rd period was too far behind in points to win (unless he pinned his competitor) and found himself in a most precarious position to get pinned but fought his A _ _ off not to let that happen. As a father, I couldn’t be more proud of the way he finished his high school career – fighting to the finish, congratulating his competitor on his victory. Never once in any of his losses this year did he blame someone other than himself for the loss and THAT is where I find victory in his wrestling career.

How about some prayers suggestions:

1. Get to Mass and fulfill your obligation. If the only reason you go to Mass is to fulfill your obligation, so be it. The 3rd commandment requires you to do so. If you go to Mass out of obligation and feel you’re not getting anything out of it, say a simple pray as you get to church to have God open your mind to all of the beauty and tradition you are about to experience. It may take years for this to happen, but the only way it can happen is if you’re there at Mass.

2. I mentioned a few days ago about Bishop Robert Baron…You can find his website here.

3. My wife forwarded me a spiritual 30-day challenge for lent which I enrolled in this morning. The cost of this was $32, but I will challenge anyone reading this to sign up for the same. You can sign up for it here.

Have a great Sunday…