Keep It Real

Bonas Brothers find afterlife gigs not quite as fulfilling . . .

Feast of the Assumption

Good Shepherd Shelter

In His poem, Birches, Robert Frost wonders if it might be nice to leave the stress and labor of this life, this weary earth, and climb up a forest birch tree towards an uncertain heaven. But he builds in an escape clause. When the climber in the poem reaches the thin treetop, the tree dips, giving him a playful return back to the forest floor.

I'd like to go by climbing a birch tree,
And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk
Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more,
But dipped its top and set me down again.
That would be good both going and coming back.
One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.

Saint Paul spoke about being torn between his longing to be completely with God, and his passion to continue his ministry within the imperfect temporal world.

Life to me, of course, is Christ, but then death would be a positive gain. On the other hand again, if to be alive in the body gives me an opportunity for fruitful work, I do not know which I should choose. I am caught in this dilemma: I want to be gone and to be with Christ, and this is by far the stronger desire- and yet for your sake to stay alive in this body is a more urgent need. (Phillipians 1:22-24)

The Feast of the Assumption reminds us that we will, in a way, eventually get to have it both ways. Heaven does not wait for our soul alone, but for our physical body as well.

If the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished" (1 Cor. 15:13–18).

It is comforting to know, that no matter how inconceivably wonderful heaven will be, it will in fact be familiar. God will be familiar. We were made in His image for life with Him in heaven. When we at long last arrive on heavens shore, we will not be strangers there. We will be home.

Praying for Reign

Summer Night

Sometimes, mellow is on fire.

Hear Ted?

Saw this window while making a lunch time visit in Holy Spirit Church. Trying to figure out which Ted I should be hearing. Hmmmm. Quick - to Google.

Could this be a plug for Ted Nugent's appearance next week on Fox News Network's new show Money Rocks, or simply a shout out to the career and musical legacy of the loud rocker? I think not and not. Ted Haggard is still sorry, but otherwise seems to be moving on with his ministry/career. Ted Williams frozen head isn't saying anything. I'll put him in the not likely having anything new to "hear" column along with Roosevelt and Kennedy. Ted Turner? Well - this was a church window.

Then it occurred to me - Saint Theodore! Yeah, that's the ticket. I pointed my keyboard towards this mystery saint only to find out that there were quite a lot of Saint Theodore's. Monks, martyrs, bishops, martyrs, soldiers, and more martyrs. I read of Saint Theodore I and Saint Theodore II. Also Saints Theodore of Cantbury and Bologna, Cyrene, Egypt, Studites and Sykeon. And of course, Saint Theodore's of Tabenna, Tarsus, Pausilippus, Pavia, Stratelates, Antioch and Trichinas. Oh, and St. Theodore the Sacrist.

Holy, courageous, inspiring, often tragic, and yet ultimately victorious men. Still, I did not come upon any direct quotes from any of them to "hear." Then I found St. Theodore Guerin, the newest of the Sainted Theodore's, also known as Saint Mother Theodore Guerin. Yes - no Theodora, yet still a lady. Mother Theodore Guerin was beatified by John Paul II in 2008, and as it turns out, is very much quoted. What follows are a few of my favorites, and definitely worth "hearing." For more on this awesome Nun and Foundress, visit the internet home of the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary of the Woods.

Regarding the Eucharist:


“Send your heart a thousand times a day to adore our Lord really and truly present in the Holy Sacrament.”

Regarding the human quality and simplicity to Mother Theodore’s perception of God

“[God] shares our miserable dwelling with us. He remains with us day and night. Yes, while you are peacefully sleeping Jesus is watching over you.” “The spirit of faith consists in doing our actions for God, in His presence, to look upon all events of life as directed by Him.”

Very cool indeed. I'm glad I decided to "Hear-Ted." Thanks window.

National Donut Day

It's National Donut Day! Time to string lights on the Donut Tree, sing Donut Carols, head outside to the yard to see if the Donut Bunny hid any Donut Holes, and check the news to see if Dunxsutawney Daryll saw his shadow when he climbed out of his pink box.

Rings, bars, filled, or simply the hole - get ye to a donut. There are a lot to choose from: Crullers, Vanities, Comfits, Fritters, Long Johns, Boston cream doughnuts, Potato doughnuts, Sour cream doughnuts, Simball, Olicook, Olykoecks, Bear claws, Elephant Ears, Yum Yums, Fasnachts, Frying Saucers, Bear sign (cowboy slang for ring doughnuts) and Johnnycakes. My personal favorite: the apple fritter. Bought my last one right down the street at Yum Yum Donuts. Nothing on their site regarding free donuts, but maybe your local one is celebrating the big day. FREE DONUTS are out there today - if you're reading this in real time. Friday, June 4, 2010. Check out Krispy Kreme and Dunkin Donuts for more info on their observance of National Donut Day.

I have decided to honor National Donut Day by re-running my original blog post which kind of explains why I named this blog "Will There Be Donuts?" in the first place. Happy National Donut Day!

O O O O O O O

Will There Be Donuts?

I remember one Sunday morning a few years back, my wife and I were hurriedly buckling the kids into the minivan trying to beat the start time for the next Mass at St. Convenience's. St Convenience is any parish other than your usual parish that has a mass time which most closely fits an altered Sunday itinerary. You either slept in late because of a pretty good Saturday night, or you're going in early so that you can squeeze in an all day event immediately afterwards. Basically minimum requirement triaging. I don't remember the specific reason for that Sunday morning, but I do remember explaining the change in our schedule to our youngest as I buckled her into her carseat. She had only one question.

"Will there be doughnuts?"

"Oh no!" I thought, "The carrot has been taken from the stick - and she knows." I also remember making the attempt to ease her disappointment with a little preschool catechesis, and I think I remember not being very successful.

It wasn't her fault. She had a very good right to be disappointed, because it really wasn't about the donuts. This particular daughter usually orphaned her donut after a single bite and ran off to be busy with the real attraction of coffee hour. Being in the moment of community. Outside voices inside (with an outside option on most days.) Running, weaving through the maze of chairs and tables, giddy laughing, untethered. Finding friends, or making some. The happy buzz of dozens of voices speaking at once, as one.

At mass, we the collected, the unsorted assembly, are called to be one. We are called to communion. We are called to become one body. In the Eucharist, we become that one body. Even though we rush in from so many different points of view and states of grace, our God re images us into one harmonious people. Is it wrong then, to want to take this gift from the politeness of our pews and not immediately disperse it to the parking lot? Isn't it a good thing to commit twenty more minutes for a kind of second communion, to spend time actually in communion with the other human faces of our Lord's Eucharistic presence? I mean, most of the people we worship with and share the miracle with, never get past a hand shaking relationship with us. Head nods and smiles and parking lot waves.

We should let the kids run a bit. They've been (mostly) quiet for an hour. We could have a cup of coffee and maybe a refill. Find out how George's surgery went. Hear about Tom and Joy's vacation. Get an update on the Smith's kids, and their kid's kids. Welcome the stranger. Listen to the aged. Share stories. Plan plans. Dream dreams. Grow together.

Donuts can be a very good thing. Maple bars. Old fashioned. Jelly filled. Come on people. Let there be donuts.

Rumbly In My Tumbly

Here I come again, running to God like a kid with a handful of sweaty quarters and a sweet tooth. Hit the knees.

"Father, Son, Holy Spirit. God, I need a (FILL IN BLANK.)"

Quarter. Quarter. Quarter. F4.

My prayer life is often a little heavy on prayers of petition and a little light on the other forms of prayer: blessing, thanksgiving, intercession, and praise. It's not that I disregard the other forms, it's just that when I'm navigating a particularly tough stretch of road, some of the other forms don't spontaneously manifest themselves within the situation as naturally as a good desperate priority 1 petition. Driving in fog. In the dark. Low on fuel. Crisis tends to draw one away from theological considerations, and more towards the basic, "Get me there, Lord. Just get me there. Hail Mary, full of grace . . ."

A side note about that rough stretch of road - it's a long stretch. One thing that I've learned is that one crisis always seems to replace another. We are always in need, totally dependant on our God. The Catechism teaches us "that every need can become the object of petition." Our needs tend to get our attention, like the arm waving school kid who sits right in front of the teacher. They also tend to mess with our subconscious thoughts, like the posse flanked bully stealthily punching bellies in the hallway between classes.

Needs. Needs. Needs. Love. Health. Forgiveness. Stature. Victory. Safety. Less fog. Missing car keys. A Snickers Bar.

I'm sure that God understands that the noisy demands of any given moment heavily influence the time we spend with him, steering us more towards being a friend in need than a friend indeed.

Fear. Pain. Loneliness. Sorrow. Anger. Envy. These are the hungers that drive our spiritual appetite. Our indicators that we have a need. We get a rumbly in the tumbly and it's time for something sweet. This isn't just metaphorical, either. Stress or heartache can easily create the need for an actual Kit Kat bar or a cold pint of Ben & Jerry's. So off we go, quarters in hand, to visit God's Vending Machine.

"Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God." Phillipians 4:6

Paul's admonition to petition with confidence, with thanksgiving built into our asking, allows us to blend our asking prayer with a prayer of thanksgiving. Multitasking with a single prayer. Isn't God great? Hey. Now we're praising too.

Visualizing God's generous presence among us as a vending machine also gives image to a problem we can bring to our prayer requests. The rows of brightly wrapped candies illustrate our wants, not our needs. The object or condition we desire is our own personal answer to our problem, a definitive condition linked to our petition, telling God instead of asking. I believe that if God installed prayer petition snack machines in the back of our Churches, there would only be one button. It would read: A1 - Thy Will Be Done. God already knows what we need before we even press the button. (Matthew 6:8) We are experts at knowing THAT we need. Not always on WHAT we need.

Also, God's vending machine wouldn't require any quarters, and it would always be in perfect working order. If we push the button with chocolate on our mind and a carrot drops into the bin, we should count it all joy, and make like a hungry rabbit. If nothing were to drop, we shouldn't kick the machine, but thank God for the generous invitation to fast, or realize that the snack was delivered to someone even hungrier. Hey - now we're doing intercessory prayer!

Forgiveness. Joy. Healing. Conversion. Companionship. Love. Eternal life. Found keys. Clear roads. A Snickers Bar. Wow! There's some really nice stuff in that vending machine. Press the button.

I Got It!

" I got it!"

"Mine!"

"Watch it!"

Three boys and one fly ball. A collision of intent. The result: a missed catch and grass stains on the Sunday pants. The problem wasn't in the fit of the gloves, or in the eyes of the catchers. The problem wasn't even the uncomfortable Sunday clothes. The problem was the intent. Instead of intending that the ball be caught, each boy intended passionately to be the one catching the ball. Great passion badly played.

How often do I find myself making this rookie error in my daily life? Doing things my way. Failing to communicate. Unwilling to yield my opinion. Measuring the big wins by personal gains. Wondering why everyone isn't on the same page - my page.

Luckily, our God is an awesome coach. I can hear Him calling patiently from the dugout, His arms pressed against the chain link. "Ok guys. Let's talk to each other out there."

Sometimes life puts us in right field to watch some other teammate suck up all the action and glory at shortstop. Other times we're in right field praying the big lefty will pull to left field. Accumulating personal gain and avoiding personal pain. Mine!

The gospel is a team sport. Every player counts. We're not all pitchers. We're not all big hitters. But we are all needed. Each one of us has a position to play that is vital to the team. Sometimes the season can seem endless. There are a lot of games to play, and each single game is critical. The whole season can be won or lost in an afternoon. But we are a great team and we do have an awesome coach. All He expects from us is that we show up dressed to play, keep our head in the game, our eyes on the ball, play the best game we can, and always play as a team.

Don't look now, but all those saints and angels in the bleachers just started doing the wave. Batter up.

Jupiter Has Gas

No. Really. It does. Jupiter is a gas giant. My third grader thinks that is hilarious. The word gas is stop-the-world funny at her age. For me, the word is more of a painful metaphor than a humorous one. Gas equals discomfort of the belly or the wallet, depending on whether I'm thinking of indigestion or the price of a fillup at the pump.

But when you're eight years old, or around that age, gas is comedy. And Jupiter being a gas giant can bring you to tears. I mean, really. Could you imagine bunking with Jupiter at camp?

Our youngest child recently had her long awaited turn with the third grade planet project. Basically, the teacher has the children draw planets from a hat, and then they skip home with the single sheet of instructions (rules) that will guide the child in discovering the wonders of our amazing solar system by building a desktop sized model of their chosen planet. This would be the third planet to be born on our dining room table in as many years. One of the pluses of having children in three consecutive grades is that you start to get good at parenting the projects. You become a veteran, you’ve had field experience. You’ve made some mistakes, but you’ve learned from them.

Planet number one at our house was basically a soccer sized Styrofoam ball smothered in a thick coat of paper glue to prevent the finishing coat of red paint from eating the planet. Polar ice caps were added with white Play-Doh. The planet sat upon a small black circular stand borrowed from a shelved astronomy kit. Planet number two the following year utilized the same stand, but substituted a friendlier brush-on paint that wouldn't consume the planet. The twist with this model was a light feature that my middle child dreamed up herself. The planet would glow with beautiful light, accomplished by placing a small battery powered LED light in the stand that would shine up and into the hollowed out Styrofoam ball. Have you ever hollowed out a soccer sized Styrofoam ball? Neither has my daughter. Dad got to empty the Styrofoam pumpkin, due to the requirement of sharp, steel and pointy things. Messy, messy, messy.

With the arrival of planet number three, Dad thought he pretty much had this down. Different name, different color, but basically a painted ball on a stand. I knew which store and which aisle to hit. I still had the stand. I was even prepared to talk down any suggested light features. But child number three dances to a different drummer. She was totally prepared to recreate the entire process, to switch up the media. It was a new day, a new planet, and a new vision was called for. So I let her imagination run with her spindly legs down row after row of that craft store. We considered new and wonderful options to the beloved Styrofoam. We looked at wood: blocks, dowels, and boards. We considered clay and clay-like products. Some which never hardened. Some which hardened overnight. Some which only hardened when you baked it like a tray of chocolate chip cookies. We browsed, touched, held, weighed, and even dropped a few things. After more than an hour of discussing, debating, dreaming, re-debating, and finally deciding, we left the store with a bagged Styrofoam ball, assorted colors of paint (Jupiter is striped) and a thick black poster board which would replace the old-school black circular stand of the previous two planets.

So, with minimal parental assistance, Jupiter came to be, red spots and all, completed by bedtime and set on a counter to dry. Jupiter, bolted into still life orbit over a poster board night of paint-dotted stars. Jupiter, the gas giant.

"Hey Jupiter. Did you enjoy those beans?"

"If Jupiter had a finger, would you pull it?"

It's true. Learning about the solar system can be fun and even funny, if you let your third grade sense of humor out for a long overdue play date. You should have heard the jokes last year when our middle child was talked into trading Venus away for Uranus. It really is a pretty planet. It’s also pretty funny.

The Donut Man

How can I not appreciate a guy who hangs out with a donut? Rob Evans & his tasty looking friend Duncan have been setting the Gospel to song & skit for over 25 years via live shows, CDs, videos and television. A convert to Catholicism, Rob's Donut Man offers kid friendly material on the sacraments, the liturgy, and the liturgical calendar.

Rob & Duncan still perform "live" concerts, and Rob can also be called upon as a guest speaker, sharing from his own life experiences on the essential elements of child and whole family faith formation. Visit The Donut Man's web site for information on his CDs and DVDs, his current concert schedule, and for details on inviting Rob to visit your Church community.

The Donut Man Web Page

Remember, as the Donut Man says, "Life without Jesus is like a donut, 'cause there's a hole in the middle of your heart!" Well - at least with a donut, there won't be a hole in the middle of your belly. (Sorry Duncan.)

Turning

The Liquid Ambers in our front yard are turning. The color of the leaves change daily, turning from summer's green to yellow, orange, and scarlet. They are also decreasing in number, with more and more of the blue sky visible from beneath the tree's branches. The thin veins of blue which once framed the crowded green leaves grow wider, until, with winter, they will become the thing framed, held like large fragments of blue glass set into a molding of bony branches.

Everything in this temporal world turns. Seconds turn to minutes, and minutes turn to hours. Summer turns to fall. Milk turns in the refrigerator. We turn pages and corners. We advance, we move on. We progress, and sometime regress, but still move forward, even with a U-turn, the linear motion of our journey is always forward in time. Towards.

We encourage our children to take turns. My youngest daughter just turned eight. We turn eighteen. Twenty one. Thirty. Fifty.

One of the comforting things about Autumn is knowing that the Winter it introduces will in turn introduce another Spring. The cycle of the seasons lets us visit the stark emptiness of naked trees, the old age metaphor of winter landscapes, the hint of natural death, and consider there our own mortality. Then, when we've had enough of rain and melancholy, the days begin to lengthen, the green leaves return and nests are rebuilt. We color eggs and sing Allelluia. We turn our clocks forward.

In his poem Birches, Robert Frost gave us the image of a boy climbing a birch tree towards heaven, knowing that when he reached the tree's top, his weight would bend the trunk down, giving him a swinging ride back to earth, to life. Frost's narrator liked to ponder the end of things, when the days made him weary, when the world was too much, but he wasn't ready to commit to death. He just wanted a time share there. A place of rest and release from the concerns of life, arrived at with a round trip ticket.

Last night at bedtime, my middle child sadly told me that she wished that she could have parents forever. I realized she was troubled by a nine year old's consideration of mortality. I told her that she did have her mom and dad forever. She quickly added that she didn't mean in heaven, she meant here. I assured her that forever meant forever. I would always be her Daddy. I told her that "here" wasn't forever. The room, the house, the sky above it, was in forever, but it wasn't forever. Our forever had to fit into a forever place. The forever place was the really real place. The really real place where we find God. We would always be together in that really real way.

Our kids feel the turning. The sound of the earth's relentless axis calls to them as it calls to us. It challenges us. It motivates us. Sometimes it worries us. Keeps us awake. That's when we can turn to our wise and loving and unchanging God who sees beyond the mirage of sickness, age and earthly death, who sees beyond all of our turning seasons. A God who holds us at this moment in the really real time that is His true time. Let us ever and without hesitation turn to Him.

Give Us This Day Our Daily International Bread

If you decide to visit your child's classroom, a good day to drop in would be International Food Luncheon Day: Philippine lumpia, German potato salad & red cabbage, Indonesian chicken curry, Irish soda bread, French chocolate mouse, English fish & chips (my sons contribution) and much, much more. Some days it's good to be a Dad.

It was a nice reminder to watch as each child introduced a facet of his or her personal heritage through food and a few interesting national facts. So many cultures, so much food. And one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.

Thank you God, for preparing such a bountiful table. Thank You for the lumpia, the curry, and for deep fried anything. Thank You also for the Diaz's, the Kellys, and the Hiendshaws. Thank You for the vast diversity we behold in Your human face, and the unifying singleness we share in Your one mystical Body. Amen.

And then - there was dessert: Philippine sweet rice, Scotch candied apples, Indonesian fried bananas, Mexican candy . . .

I'll Get Right On That . . .

The Patron Saint of Procrastinators

(to be determined)

. . . actually, there is a Patron Saint for Procrastinators - sort of.

St. Expeditus, Martyr, is invoked by many for assistance in overcoming procrastination, and as a "special delivery" quick response intercessorary prayer buddy. The problem is, some scholars now believe that he may be more myth than man. Many, though, still consider St. Expeditus a valid member of the good guy team, and his popularity is growing. For more on the debate check here and here.

As for me, my sainted Mother always said that no prayer was wasted, so I will add St. Expeditus to my personal prayer team.

Wouldn't it be cool if people got as excited about building a personal prayer team as they did about fantasy sports leagues?

Guy 1: So - who ya got?

Guy 2: Let's see. I have St Francis, St. Monica, - and St. Peter, of course.

Guy 1: Of course.

Guy 2: And I just picked up St. Remigius.

Guy 1: Epedemics!

Guy 2: Yeah. Ya know, flu season and all.

Guy 1: Smart pick. I just added St. Cajetan.

Guy 2: Patron for the unemployed. Things ok at work?

Guy 1: You can never be too sure. And I drafted St. Michael.

Guy 2: Sweet! I wanted him.

Guy 1: Go ahead and add him. The roster is unlimited, and there's no salary cap.

Prayer to St. Expeditus invoking his intercession before the Lord for the swift resolution of economic problems:

I come before you, St Expeditus, to remedy economic problems in my work and in my home and to ask for your powerful support. Saint Expeditus, protect my income, that I may obtain sufficient money for necessities, and tranquility and joy will reign in my house.By your grace, blessed saint, I request and I pray that I will achieve my desire. (State your petition) And I will give thanks for your glorious intercession. Amen

.

Pumpkin Days

Bombing the Moon

AP - NASA Releases photo of lunar impact.

Man in Moon Cries Foul. World braces for retaliatory moonbeams.

Family Road Trip 2009

Summer 2009 Family Road Trip. Overall, it was a rewarding adventure and worth every gallon. New Mexico is truly the Land of Enchantment. Arizona is pretty awesome too. Lots to marvel at from the windshield. I filled up my virtual knapsack with generous portions of family time, great food, and endless vistas of God's humbling handiwork. Our God is truly an awesome God. The family was also blessed with some quality candle lighting prayer time in the The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi and Loretto Chapel, both in Santa Fe, and the quiet and holy Shrine at El Santuario de Chimayo. More on these in a later post.

Regarding the Family Road Trip: I present for your consideration the following list of 10 Family Road Trip Truisms (in no particular order.)

1. The Freeway/Highway alphabet game works once. Only once.
2. If you stop for food with more than 1 child on board, at least 1 of said children will not be pleased with the food options. (Sonic was the exception)
3. Kids will watch the same DVD again. And again. And . . .
4. Regardless of what the kids say, they all DO need to go to the bathroom.
5. Hotel pools # 1 - kids will peek when playing Marco Polo. Always.
6. Hotel pools # 2 - at some point, a cannonball will be committed, with heavy liquid collateral involvement by dry poolside sitters.
7. Small souvenir rock dinosaurs will lose their heads if dropped to the floor.
8. There are countless creative ways to ask "are we there yet?" without actually saying "are we there yet?"
9. All Rest Stop restrooms will be, as our 10 year old son put it, "disturbing."
10. There will always be slower cars to annoy you and faster cars for you to annoy.

The Bread of Life or It Takes a Village?

I heard it again today. It was suggested to me that when we read John 6:1-15, wherein Jesus feeds a multitude with five barley loaves and two fish, it wasn't necessarily a miraculous event. Jesus simply encouraged a large disconnected crowd of people to redistribute the food they already possessed equitably among themselves. In those days, it was pointed out, people did not hit the road without a plan. There wasn't a 7 Eleven or a Jack in the Box on every corner. No Taco Bell. The people comprising that assembled crowd in that particular time and place would have been packing, meaning that they would have brought their own food and beverages, and more than likely had them discreetly stowed beneath their cloaks. Some might have brought more than they needed. Others might not have brought enough. All that Jesus did was to teach, by the example of a generous boy, that the crowd could abundantly feed itself if everyone shared what they already had in common.

Not a bad story. Not a bad lesson. Misses the point, I think.

I'm always curious whenever a believer, be they a theologian, a catechist, or the guy eating a donut next to me at coffee hour, feels the need to weed out the miracles from the words and works of Jesus in the Gospels. His life begins with a virgin birth and ends with resurrection and ascension. The water walking, dead raising, demon expelling, and food multiplying parts in the middle shouldn't be too much of a stretch to accept framed within that context. Why is removing the miraculous (and traditional) understanding of this event necessary? Does it provide more clarity, or is it simply too much to expect modern rational minds to accept the narrative literally?

We can begin by asking ourselves why the author of the Gospel included this event. Is it intended to teach us to share what we have with each other, that hunger and poverty are man induced, and that we, like Dorothy and her companions in Oz, have the solution to our dilemmas within our own grasp all along if we but trust to look? Or is the point of the event a confirmation that Jesus is the messiah, accompanied by signs and wonders, and that this God man is not only concerned with our eternal destiny, but demonstrates human compassion for our current temporal struggles? Might Jesus have even used this sign to prepare His followers, including us, to understand that He Himself would feed us always, would Himself become the bread come down from heaven, would be Eucharist?

In the Gospel story, we're told that the crowd had gathered because of the signs that Jesus was performing, specifically with the sick. This was not a marketed event. There were no flyers posted around the villages noting when and where Jesus would be, including a start and end time. It was a spontaneous crowd that gathered and grew in response to Jesus miraculously curing large numbers of sick people. As Jesus moved away from the populace, the crowd followed after him. Passover was near (think Eucharist.) Instead of returning home for the Passover the crowd continued to follow Jesus into the mountains. The crowd followed Jesus beyond where they had expected to follow Him. The crowd was compelled. Something amazing was happening. This was not a trip that they had planned and packed for. This was a movement of the Spirit. The crowd followed Jesus beyond the line of personal risk. Haven't you ever found yourself there?

"When Jesus raised his eyes

and saw that a large crowd was coming to him,

he said to Philip,

“Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?”

He said this to test him,

because he himself knew what he was going to do" John 6:5-6

Phillip's answer to Jesus assumes that everyone in the crowd would need to be fed. Phillip was a man of that time and place. He was familiar with his own culture. He did not say, "Well, most of these people probably have enough to feed themselves. We only need to worry about the geniuses that came along without a sack lunch." No. Instead, Phillip guesstimated that "Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little." John 6:7.

Enter the boy with the "five barley loaves and two fish." John 6:9 It seems that he had brought more than enough for himself. Most likely, when his mother packed his lunch, she always threw in a little extra, just in case. I don't think she realized that this time she was preparing a meal for 5,000 plus. The boy came forward to help, and directly or indirectly, gave the food to Andrew, who then brought the small amount to Jesus. Jesus responded with, "OK. That should do it," gave thanks, and then proceeded to offer the boy's lunch to the crowd. Not only did everyone have enough to eat, but more food was gathered up from the left overs than the amount that had been originally served.

Was this truly a miracle?

"When the people saw the sign he had done, they said,

“This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.”" John 6:5-14-15

The fed multitude believed that something supernatural had occurred. The gathered had become sharers in the type of sign and wonder they had set out to behold.

Jesus then realized that the crowd, in response to what they had witnessed, wanted to carry Him off and make Him king there and then, so He escaped further off into the mountains alone. The apostles departed by boat without Jesus. The boat encountered rough water, and Jesus caught up with them, having crossed the water on foot, just as they reached the other side. It should be noted that many of the people who had "eaten the bread" also departed by boat and were surprised to find Jesus on the other side. He chastised them for being more excited about the bread, the temporal comfort and curiosity, than the implication of the sign, which He went on to connect first to the manna by which their father's were fed in the desert, and then directly to Himself, to the Eucharist. The chapter ends with Jesus repeating that His flesh is real food and His blood real drink multiple times, and that His followers must consume Him in order to have life.( John 6:53-58) For most of the gathered, Jesus' words were too hard to accept. Most walked away. Jesus then asked his closest friends if they were going to leave Him too? Peter responded as we must, "Lord, to whom shall we go?" John 6:68

John Chapter 6 is all about the Eucharist. Jesus is the Bread of Life. Jesus giving us His own flesh and His own blood as food and drink. This is miraculous. This is the central miracle of our faith. Jesus offered on the cross for us. Jesus as the Passover Lamb. It requires faith in the miraculous. More than that, it feeds faith in the miraculous.

The Gospel is still too hard for many to accept. The signs and wonders that Jesus worked are too difficult for many present day believers to fully embrace. Miracles must be made metaphor, the wonder relegated to internal spirituality. The natural interpretation trumps the supernatural. It isn't surprising that some liturgists have begun to more celebrate the gathered than the sacrifice for which we gather. Our God is a miracle. Jesus is still working wonders among us. We need to be a people of the wonder. We need to offer, unashamed, our belief in the wonders of our God to a world much in need of wonder. Accepting that Jesus miraculously fed a multitude of hungry people does not negate the role of the gathered in the miracle. Jesus allowed the saved to participate in the saving act. The young boy risks rejection and scorn by offering a small gift to a large problem. Much like Mary's humble yes to the Angel by which the Word became flesh, Jesus takes a small humble act and magnifies it. When Andrew brought the boys small gift before Jesus, he asked Jesus, "what is that among so many?" John 6:9 Jesus responded by feeding the multitude with 12 baskets in excess. In the company of Jesus, we can always confidently approach the needs before us, the struggle at hand, in our homes, in our parishes, or within our world, bringing no more than the strength, the intelligence, and the faith we have on hand. Some may ask, "what is that against so great a problem?" We know the answer. Everything.

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

Thanks to RAnn, hostess for Sunday Snippets - A Catholic Carnival for the invite to take part this week. I've selected an appropriately carnival themed entry titled Be Not Afraid .

The Family That Prays Together Really Needs To

No. Really. It's true.

When my wife and I were newlyweds, we decided that when our "two become one" became three or more, that we would commit to praying as a family on a daily basis. We actually asked God in prayer to help us with this. (The knowing now nod knowingly.) Well - God really likes prayer, and you know, the more the merrier, so God must really enjoy family prayer. Asking God to help us pray is one of those slam dunk prayers. It's like asking Him to send forth His Spirit. He can't wait to say yes.

I'm sure you're familiar with the musings about what happens when you ask God for something. Metaphorically it breaks down like this: ask God for toast and he will make you hungrier so that you will learn how to make toast. Well, experience has shown us that asking God to make family prayer a daily norm is pretty much the same as asking God to send us more and more reasons to need Him - daily. Big reasons, sometimes.

In the eleven years since our stormy (El Niño downpour) Valentine's Day wedding, God has blessed us with a total of three healthy children, a comfortable house (although no A\C in 90+ temps at the moment), supportive friends and family, and a great parish community. We've also had the death of a parent and a grandparent, layoffs, unemployment, a broken hip and a broken knee (mine then hers), a child with asthma, and the assorted bumps in the head and bumps in the night that keep us, as a family, in daily need of a quality relationship with our loving and ever listening God. So - daily prayer is a given. The question then becomes, how does a family go about it?

* Family Prayer Fail

Just because we should and do pray as a family, doesn't mean we always get it right. One experiment that didn't go as planned was our attempt to address two challenges with a combo strategy. First, the kids were not loving bedtime. They didn't kiss us, pull their comforters up to their chins and cutely drift off to sleep each night. Second, we were finding ourselves so exhausted after finally getting the kids to sleep, that we would take turns falling asleep during our couple prayer time. My wife heard from a friend that small children could be lulled to sleep by the sound of their parents praying, so we decided that after the kids had been scrubbed, read to, prayed with, and tucked in, we would linger in the soft darkness of their room and say a rosary while they drifted to sleep, hopefully somewhere between the fist few decades. What follows is a near to actual transcript:

Me: In the name of the (put Superman down - under your pillow) of the Father, and of the (Now. Under the pillow and leave him there) and of the Son, and of (Here. Give it to me.)

Daughter 1: I'm thirsty.

Wife: Shhh. You already had a drink, baby. Lay down.

Me: And of the (leave your sister's hair alone!) and of the Holy Spirit.

Wife: Give Batman to me. Now. I told you he can't have these under his pillow.

Daughter 2: I have to go potty.

And so on . . .

* Family Prayer Alleluias

The good news is, in spite of stumbling here and there, we have been successful in establishing prayer as a natural component in our children's lives. Grace before meals (at home and in public.) Bedtime prayers. Road trip prayers. Siren prayers. Where did Daddy leave his car keys prayers. These are all norms of daily family prayer in our household. A phone call or a neighbor's knock at the door that presents someone facing a challenge will usually lead to a spontaneous prayer huddle joined by whomever is in the room at the time.

We continue to seek new ways to incorporate natural and authentic family conversations with God. My wife recently came up with a good one. She had purchased two nicely bound journals after we made our Marriage Encounter Weekend. Loved the weekend, but let's just say the journals were "available." My wife labeled one of them "Our Family Prayer Book" and the other "Our Family Miracle Book." We introduced them to the kids as our family prayer journals, and we told them that all of us would have access to write in them. The first journal was intended to record the needs which we were placing before God, our petitions and our intercessions. The second was to record God's answers - the big and little miracles that happen daily. We've found that it has been wonderfully insightful to be reminded of the storms that threatened our little boat last year, realizing now that God had seen us through each storm . The Miracle Book, which is basically our thank you notes to God, is where we really write our family story. This is an ongoing record of God saying yes to our prayers, where we remember in written form all of our family's safe comings and goings, our prayers for the health of family and friends, recovery from illness, the security of our home and neighborhood, even the found keys and action figures. This is where we can say to God, "Wow! Thanks! That was awesome! Again!"

And so the journey continues. We continue to pray together. As a family. Daily. How could we not? Why would we not? Lord, to whom would we go?

If They Had Twitter

by @BroThunder1 Me n John totally left our boats today, full nets and all, right there @ the shoreline.

J says we're still fishing. ;)

by @John_o_Zeb Wedding still going strong. More dance - more food - lots of wine.

by @BroThunder1 J just cleaned a leper! Amazing!! Gonna stick close to him. . .

by @Simon_Peter Jesus started me on water walking today! Got a few steps in then sank! Need lots of practice. Not sure how he wants me to use this . . .

by @thomas_of_JC Confused 2nite. My turn to pick up food. Got back & was told J had been by. Up & walking. Want to BLieve, but Y come when I was out? Just saying.