The Veritas & Caritas Group

I must share this with the world:

Our small Church community is connected to the rock more than ever now.  Not only are we part of the one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church, built upon the Rock, St. Peter (Matthew 16), but we also have the ability to ROCK OUT with the Rock Band video game.  You read that right, gringos, we crank up volume and rip the knob off.  I am quite certain that almost every adult in our group had a play on the Rock Band game, much to the amazement (and bewilderment) of our kids.  All I needed was my awesome mullet from back in the day and I would be right there, man. 

And just so you know, we weren't just playing the "oldies" on there either.  We took a stab at the more recent titles on the soundtrack.  And let me tell you something else, brothers and sisters, Jennifer TOTALLY ROCKED OUT THE WHO'S "WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN"!!  Wow!  I didn't see that coming.  You also did well on the rest of your songs (who doesn't love Boston?  Am I right?), but that was my favorite.

It's so wonderful to know that our growth together as a community has the social comfort level that allows us to let our hair down and bang our heads (…metal health will drive you mad?  Not in our group.).  We really are hitting all corners of our lives, is anybody else noticing this?

Looking forward to another wonderful evening together on Friday.  Are we still going to Adoration together again on October 3?

On a recent trip for work, I crossed paths with an old friend whom I hadn't seen or spoken to for more than a year.  In the course of talking over the events of our lives, he began to mention the idea that God was working on a plan for his life.  In fact, he framed it up as,"I never really believed others when they said,'God is asking me to do this.'  I have reached a point where I now believe they may have seen something I didn't — and now, God is at work in my life, and I think he is presenting a choice to me."

 Well, that's the executive summary of the conversation, anyway, without all the details.  Lots of people (myself included) go through an epiphany regarding the presence of God and his influence on their life decisions.  So what makes this any different?  I read this week that God in his totality may be too 'big' to grasp in our feeble human minds — and that we also learn to know Him by first understanding what He is not, and then by understanding where others stand in relation to Him. 

Even before my studies this week, I felt somehow refreshed and enlightened by the conversation I had with my old friend.  We knew each other for years, and this was a little different than any conversation between us…of course the obvious difference is that my old friend has experienced a change of heart.  I knew immediately that he had changed in his relationship with God by the way he spoke of God's presence and actions in his life.  But more than that — and this is my real message — I listened.  I was more comfortable than ever listening to someone elses witness; I wasn't uncomfortable with not know ing what to say.  I was at ease with the idea…even in public.  Finally, my studies shed some light on more of 'why' my conversation had perhaps been so fulfilling.

None of this could be a reality if I hadn't been involved with a small church community.  In hindsight, the point is that I've changed where I stand in relation to God because of my group.  The real beauty is that part of my growth as a Catholic through my SCC is a deeper appreciation for this journey and where others are along a similar journey.  It is certainly recent enough history that I can clearly recall what my response to someone elses witness might have been prior to this single conversation.  I hope my friend finds his way closer to God, and I hope he finds people to help him along the way.  The effects of our SCC on the far corners of our lives always amazes me — I have a circle of people to help me.  Our group is awesome…becaues our God is Awesome.

Just an open ended question that's sort of been floating around in the back of my mind…

Ever wondered what the 'glue' is that puts and holds people together?  Maybe the simple answer is the Spirit guides us all to this point.  That's a little bit of a cop out too because the Spirit guides us in all things if we pay attention.  This is after all, a rhetorical question.  Maybe a better way to ask is,"Why does the 'glue' work the way it does?  How does it work?".

Either way, why does God attract a specific group of people to a cause?  Why 3 housewives and a computer technician? Why a plant breeder and engineer?  And even better yet, why THAT plant breeder and THAT computer technician instead of 2 different ones??  Surely for anyone who has shared their faith (either in your marriage, church, SCC or simple witness to others), you've wondered what your role or purpose was in a greater plan. 

When I share my faith in the right group/setting/context, I experience God's love and plan like never before.  That's the way it is in V&C - like I didn't even know I could experience God outside of Mass.  I am convinced that's why God drew me to these people and a specific group.  Sometimes my attempts to connect with other people haven't been so successful.  Perhaps it means we're just all at different places along the journey.  I know God's plans aren't for me to understand, but ultimately, I've decided the original question isn't for me to answer; it's to ponder God's presence in every detail of my life.  That's something I haven't done very well in the past.   It's pretty humbling for me.  And when I get to that point, it becomes clear:  God has a plan for me that is only for me. 

I guess I'll chalk my rhetorical question (and naivite) up to 'Wonder & Awe' — I feel a little like a deer in the woods with theirs pricked up…something tells them they are supposed to listen for something, but they don't know exactly what to listen for.  If it's just awareness of God trying to communicate with me, then I hope I keep my ears pricked long enough to hear what God needs me to hear.  Maybe listening closely enough, I'll even get some 'Wisdom' and 'Courage' for use on my journey!

After much deliberation, two arm wrestling matches, and a cage fight, we have settled upon a new name for our group.  No longer are we "the group" or even "the village", although our numbers certainly have not decreased.  We are now the Veritas & Caritas group, from the Latin words for Truth and Love.  Some have said "V & C", and sometimes I just say "VC".  And so we are named.  Hooray for conformity, right?

Well, as if that weren't enough fun, we also changed our meeting night.  Now we have our Small Church Community gatherings on Friday evenings.  This will help those of us with school age children, as they won't have to miss sleep or study the night before a school day.  The change means that we meet twice this week.  Hooray!

Please read this article that I wrote this morning about the new online Codex Sinaiticus project.  I am having difficulty containing my excitement, and I want everyone to be just as excited.

My article about Codex Sinaiticus online project

The actual Codex Sinaiticus online project site

This is going to be GRRRRRRRRRRRRREAT!

Hooray for manuscripts!!!!!!!!

Yet another wonderful evening as our families gathered for Small Church Community.  I cannot get over the amazing feeling I get when I think of the transformations we see in each other each week.  Getting to know one another, sharing our struggles, our victories, our prayers, our attention, our homes, not to mention our munchies, I can see us really becoming a community.  When I take a step back to see where we began and where we've arrived in just a few weeks, I wonder what we'll look like in another 3 months.  Now, what is sure to be the most critical decision we will make this side of heaven, what do we call this rag tag bunch of merry men, women, and children?

Do we take the pious sounding approach and choose a name that sounds supremely religious?  Do we go with a "secular" phrase for the fun of it?  Is there something in between?  And what would really describe us anyway?  Is there a one word descriptor?  Is there something that will fit in the URL?  These are the eternal questions we must ponder.

In the meantime, there is this amazing spiritual growth happening among us as individuals, as families, and as a group.  I am still amazed at what I see and hear each week.  Kids, you all really threw me for a loop with your responses and participation this week.  Wow!  And, Janice, that was probably the most totally awesome activity I have ever seen for such a wide age range.  Well done.  Seeing our children participating with us in prayer, scripture, and praise just gets me fired up.  They truly are part of our group in every way, which is something beautiful to behold.

Well, people, come up with a good name.  You certainly won't bother me if you reference lions, squirrels, lemurs, sharks, leprechauns, or badgers.  Anything related to the saints or the scriptures is wonderful as well.  Hmmm.  Oooh.  What about John Paul the Great?  Did anybody think about that?  What a champion for the Gospel and the family?  And who better to symbolize our unity than the humble servant of God who served as the visible head of the Church?   Yup. That's my vote.   

After getting Andy’s email Monday I realized it’s been several weeks since I last logged on to this great website Andy created and noticed we’ve been letting Andy have all the fun writing in it so I thought I put in a few thoughts. Everyone should check out Andy’s blog and Polycarp Ministries site. We especially enjoyed the ‘Redneck 4th of July’ Youtube clip. I’m not nearly as talented as Andy at writing but thankfully that’s not a prerequisite.

Father Denis in his homily Saturday mentioned the book “The Road Less Traveled” by M. Scott Peck. I read this book about 15 years ago and started rereading today. It made a big impression on me 15 yrs ago and even though it’s not a Catholic book I highly recommend it. I mentioned in the meeting a couple of weeks ago that I got a book from the library called ‘Trusting God’ by Jerry (not Jeff) Bridges. Again, he’s not a Catholic author but he helped me have a better understanding of the sovereignty of God. I had always had trouble understanding how God works in a world that is so full of evil and suffering. I wrote it all off to the effects of free will and sin but that still didn’t explain natural disasters, disease, etc, etc…. This book helped me see that everything, no matter how evil we perceive it to be at the time, can be used for the further glory of God and our own good and that God is always in control. Our own good is not always what we think it is but is God’s will for us to become more like His son. We don’t always understand because we can’t see the big picture but we have to have faith and trust in God’s infinite love and wisdom. Trust is easy when life is good but can be very hard in the painful times when God tests our faith.

If anyone has read any books that have had an impact on their life (I already know about the bible) I’d like to hear about them. There are so many books out there but it’s hard to sort the wheat and the chaff. Rebecca mentioned to me the ‘Interior Castel’ by St. Teresa of Avila. I’m looking forward to reading it.

I feel really fortunate to be in this group and definitely feel like it’s an answer to prayers. I pray for those in the group and especially about concerns that members bring up in our meetings. I pray that there will be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the group that will bless our lives, our families, and community.

God bless,
Tony

Was Sunday not awesome?  Saturday night we're watching boxing and hearing our associate pastor yelling, "Finish him!" "Knock him down!" People are walking off with shoes and on the television a guy sits in the ring for 10 minutes bleeding like mad while officials determine whether the bout is a knockout or a disqualification.  As a pro wrestling enthusiast, by the way, I never saw a steel chair, interference from a manager/valet, brass knuckles, or thrown fire, so I saw no grounds for a disqualification.  Oh, but there was blood.  Wow!  I thought the guy's eyeball had been punched out.  And that wasn't even the main event! But I digress.

Sunday's SCC meeting was a treat.  I look forward to our meetings each week, and I know my children do as well.  It would have been easy for me to remain in conversation into the wee hours of the morning because I am at such ease with our friends.  

You all know I would never divulge anything of our conversations on something as public as our blog, but there is something that I didn't get to say last night that is easy enough to share here.  It's relevance is universal, AND I GET TO USE GRAPHICS! Joy!

Look at this chart.  It has become for me an illustration of our growth as Christians.  As I studied models of sanctification, I saw many models that postulated that there were immediate and sudden "conversions" after which a person was, for lack of a better word, "perfect".  I tend to think that those cases are rare, though by manipulating the definition of holiness or sin, one could easily broaden the list of those who claim perfection.  That, however, is a talk for another day.  What conversion looks like for most of us is the chart above.  If you were to zoom out on this chart, the lines would smooth and you would see a steady progression "upward".  Yet, zooming in you see the many pits of the stock market.  Translate that into our spiritual lives and the struggle of fighting against sin, learning detachment from the things of the world and conforming ourselves to the will of God.  We rise, we fall, we rise again, and we fall again, but the continuing trend is an upward progression.

That is what growth looks like.  We have times, I'll call them "mountain top experiences", when we experience great growth.  Other times are slow and steady.  Still others are downright failures because we lapse into sin and self-centeredness.  Yet, when we sin, we are reconciled to God and to each other through the Sacraments, and we dust ourselves off and move forward.  There are millions of people in the world who "go through the motions" of Christianity, but who are oblivious to the relationship with God that they are neglecting.  Those of us who are aware, by the grace of God, notice when things are not right.  We see the struggle.  We are frustrated.  We know where we want to be, and sometimes we know that we just aren't there.  We are not unlike St. Paul (this is now the year of St. Paul, by the way), who struggled with sin, with his own ambitions, and with persecution.  Yet, at the end of his life, St. Paul tells St. Timothy that he has finished the course and that he has fought a good fight.

The saints show us that growth is possible, that it comes by submission and sacrifice, and that it is not easy.  No wonder Jesus says that the way is narrow that leads to eternal life and that the path is wide that leads to destruction.  Our growth by cooperating with God's grace is how we will become saints, and that is the goal.  It has nothing to do with feelings.  It has nothing to do with popular trends or opinions.  It has nothing to do with the charisma of our leaders.  It has everything to do with the objective reality of God's grace acting in our lives. So we stick it out and fight the good fight, knowing that all we experience in this journey is strengthening us as we grow.

I hope everybody has a great week.

Since nobody else is posting, it must fall upon me to write something.  To those who refuse to post, shame and fleas for you.  

Yet another thrilling meeting on Sunday.  Many thanks to Kevin and Lori for hosting.  I know I tell people this all the time, but we really do have an awesome group of folks.  I feel totally at ease speaking with the men and women in our small community and our children seem to be getting along very well.  Add some killer snacks afterward and you've got our Sunday evenings. 

Looking at this from the perspective of a man who used to try to get things like this going in other congregations, I am excited to see things done right.  There are infinity groups doing it wrong all over the place, especially those "small groups" that are detached from the pastor and the rest of the Church.  Becoming an entity unto themselves, they are open to many dangers.  However, the SCCs I'm seeing at Incarnation have the proper ties.  What a welcome relief!  And, on top of all that, the group I find myself in is the best group of all time.  I think we'll be getting a trophy and commemorative t-shirts soon.  

So maybe I am a bit biased, but the rest of you, who happen to NOT be posting, could chime in and share your thoughts.  You're having fun here, right?  Experiencing spiritual growth and finding encouraging community?  

Hey, has everybody fallen off the face of the earth?  NO posts since May 20th!!!!  Sorry I missed what sounds like a great discussion Sunday before Father's Day Sunday but I felt like my face was going to explode off of my skull from sinus pressure!  What's on the agenda for this weekend?