Building the City of God

God has moved within me!  Because of that movement in recent moments, I have received great clarity on the idea of happiness.

The question that heads this essay is one that might have a thousand different answers from a thousand different men.  However, because I am a man who has experience in many different states of life, and because I know that there is one Ultimate Happines, I know that I am "qualified" to answer such a perplexing question.  In fact, the question becomes quite an easy one because of the various perspectives from which I have seen, endured, and lived this human life.

The first Psalm of David says:

"Blessed [sometimes translated 'happy'] is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night" (vv. 1-2).

I certainly am a man who has walked in the counsel of the wicked; I have stood in, and even danced, in the way of sinners.  I spent many nights trying to find happiness in such sensuality.  After all of that searching, only one thing is clear: the wickedness in which I wallowed was only an erroneous happiness.

In recent years, that erroneous happiness has been replaced by a true blessedness, one that brings more peace, joy, and fulfillment than I have ever known.  I find more pleasure in being a Christian, husband, father, and minister than in seeking base sensual pleasures.  To use a modern (or not-so-modern) example, I would rather sit with my son's head resting on my shoulder, and know that my wife is cared for and content, than seek my next drink.

Indeed, the counsel of the wicked and the way of sinners would have me seek over-indulgince in alcohol, misguided sexual pleasures, gluttony, and, impatience among other things.  Yet those things seem grotesue and unfulfilling anymore.  True happiness, rather, comes from the latter portion of the Psalm quoted above: seeking, knowing, and doing the law of the Lord day and night, even when opportunities to do the opposite arise.

God has blessed me with a plethora of opportunities to seek, know, and do His will.  Those opportunities, then, are where this man, and humanity as a whole, will find infinite happiness.  There exists nothing as pleasurable as casting off those things that the world and the Enemy advertise as the means to happiness.  It is, without a doubt, one of the great paradoxes that a person can learn when He knows Truth: greater happiness, true happiness, is found in denial of selfish pleasures; in making a gift of self to another of the Creator's creations.

I pray that the Holy Spirit will impregnate this world with true happiness and peace.  And, I pray that all men will learn to dwell in that happiness and peace for all the days of their lives.

God bless!

Ahh, it is good to be able to sit down for a few precious moments of scribal bliss!  Only today have I been able to find the requisite time to spill my thoughts into the cyber domain.  I do expect, however, that the output of my fingertips will increase during the next weeks.

What have I been working on, you ask?  In the early days of this month, I was putting the final touches on a four-part Bible study that I created.  It is entitled "The Mass in Scripture and Scripture in the Mass," and it is TOTALLY AWESOME!!!  (That's according to the youth who were engaged in the study, not just me.)  Apart from that, I was conducting the final sessions of my high school Confirmation course and wrapping up the Spring semester of the youth ministry year.  Once both of those responsibilities faded into the rearview, I began to focus on the Summer ministry schedule, which includes a Steubenville youth conference and the World Youth Day celebration, along with budgets and schedules for the next fiscal and academic year.  I am also in the process of developing a four-year high school youth ministry catechesis curriculum; a high school Confirmation catechists' manual; and another Church History course, all of which will be added to my parish's faith formation repertoire.  The cliche is so true: "No rest for the weary."

Despite my physical fatigue, I am quite excited about a lot of things in my life.  First and foremost is my family!  My son is about to turn one; my wife is DEVOTED AND WONDERFUL to me; and I will get to spend time with my father on Fathers' Day for the first time in nearly a decade!  As you can see from the paragraph above, I am excited about the fruits (borne and unborne) of my labor.  Finally, the summertime is coming, and she brings (along with hellish heat) long hours of daylight, which are good for family time and work productivity.

Life is GOOD!  I have become quite settled and efficient in my life at this point.  I only pray that the personal growth, family love, and work productivity and effectiveness will continue into the future…until the day when we are called to be with God forever.  I also ask that anyone who reads this post keeps me and my family in his/her prayers as we continue to seek God's will for our lives together.

God bless!

As a Catholic husband, father, and minister, there is one area of my life over which I nearly constantly worry: money.  I suppose that most average adults can attest to the fact that “there never seems to be enough,” or that some unexpected financial obligation always interferes with the grandiose plans.  After more than two years of marriage and nearly one year of fatherhood, I have gained infinitely greater respect for the tough financial decisions that adults face; and I have struggled over and over again with becoming a good steward rather than indulgin my own selfish desires.

As I continually gain new experiences in this area, I seem to be in prayer continually: asking the Provider to help stretch those last few dollars until the end of the month and for the grace to place my family’s needs above my own.  The Mass readings for today, as well as a short passage from the Divine Office, offered emotional and spiritual reinforcement that was much-needed.

The first chapter of the letter of St. James reminds me to view “various trials” (among which are certainly financial worries) as joyful because they bring about perseverance in faith (vv. 2-3).  That same letter goes on to offer an image of withering fruitfulness: “For the sun comes up with its scorching heat and dries up the grass…and the beauty of its appearance vanishes.  So will the rich person fade away in the midst of his pursuits” (v. 11).  Further, the Responsorial Psalm acclaims God’s bountiful blessings; the benefits of affliction; and the kind and comforting reward brought by such faithfulness to His Divine Will (vv. 68, 71, 76).  Finally, one of the petitions in the midst of Evening Prayer requests that the Lord lead me into a life of “peaceful security.”

Such words and phrases resonate in my mind and heart.  They offer immense hope for my (and my family’s) future.  They offer simple, yet profound assurance that struggles are temporal; diligence is rewarded in great measure; happiness and fulfillment are found not in “gold and silver pieces” but in the “law of your [God’s] mouth” (Psalm 119:72).

I pray that God will continue to pour out His abundant grace on me and my family as well as all Christian families who work diligently to honor Him by taking proper care of His gifts.  May we build the City of God by becoming faithful stewards!

God bless!