"Nemo Dat Quod Non Habet"

I am humbled and at the same time grateful to God for the gift of priesthood. Last June 26, I celebrated my 11th year anniversary as priest and I honestly admit that it is only by God’s grace and mercy that I reached this point in my priesthood. I also thank nameless and countless people who pray for me and love me despite of my imperfections, mistakes, and sinfulness. 

In my priestly life, I always remind myself of this phrase: “Nemo  dat  quod  non  habet”  It  is  a  Latin  statement  which translates: “You cannot give what you do not have.” These words remind me of the author, Janet Ruffing. She said; “Unless  we experience  the  light  of  God’s  loving  touch,  we  remain  too frightened to enter into the fullness of life God offers.” This is very true in my own spiritual life! This theme truly runs at the center of my priestly ministry. The simple truth is that, it is impossible for an individual to bring God’s light and love if that individual does not know God, or simply decides to live in hate or chose to live a life without God.

 I would like to invite everyone to reflect and ask ourselves these questions: How can we guide somebody if we do not allow ourselves to be guided by someone? How could we completely love  another  person  if  we  have  not  yet  learned  how  to  love ourselves the right way? How could we truly value anyone around us if we haven’t truly valued ourselves? How can we trust others if we struggle to trust ourselves? How can we offer forgiveness, if we haven’t tried forgiving ourselves?

In our spiritual practices it seems difficult to think of our own selves first, because if we do, we can actually feel uncomfortable and somehow we come to believe it is selfish and selfserving. However, I believe  that  the  proper  care  for  oneself  in  the  aspects  of  physical,  emotional,  mental,  social, psychological and spiritual is of primary importance. I am not asking you to be selfcentered; I am simply asking you to take care of yourselves.

Jesus commanded us: Love your neighbor as you love yourself. This implies that there is nothing wrong or sinful in loving yourself. Love yourself so that you can love your neighbor in the right way. I believe that the principle of giving to oneself first is one of the important benchmarks in finding inner peace and creating successful relationships. “You can’t give what you do not have,” does not only apply to things. It also applies to love, trust, value, honor, belief and forgiveness. I believe that selfcare and the nurturing  of  self  is  the  groundwork  of  living  true  to  our  vocation,  our universal call to holiness.

If we learn to love ourselves in the right way, we can develop the ability  to  give  so  much  more  of  ourselves  to  others.  Learning  to  give ourselves the gift of love, acceptance, value, honor, trust and forgiveness makes it so much easier to give to those people we care about, without any hesitation and without any feeling of helplessness.

No Hands or Feet but Yours

The Diocese recently offered a series of workshops for people who are new to the ministry of cantoring, which we hosted here at St. Ambrose.  In the Catholic Church, a cantor is the person who sings at Mass.  Often, the cantor also serves as the Psalmist (the person who sings or proclaims the responsorial psalm).  I attended these workshops as a representative of the parish, and I found the sessions very interesting even though I have been serving as a cantor for St. Ambrose for over ten years now.

The sessions culminated with most of the participants getting up to present a psalm to the group.  Nerves ran high, as was to be expected.  It brought to mind how I felt when I first started.  Experience is a wonderful thing, in that I have been singing in front of people for most of my life, and I have had this opportunity quite often.  I simply don’t get nervous very often anymore.  That isn’t necessarily a good thing.  A certain amount of nervousness keeps you on your toes and helps you not to become complacent.

Ministering in the Church, whether as a cantor, a lector, an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, or even as a greeter requires that a person makes themselves vulnerable.  It means that they are opening themselves up to potential criticism, potential failure, and they are willing to take that risk.  It is worth it, to serve in the Church.  This was the attitude that I saw in each one of the participants at the cantor workshops.

People in any new job or volunteer position may encounter times of feeling like they don’t really know what they are doing or doubting that they are really the best person for the job.  This phenomenon is known as Imposter Syndrome.  I have faced it multiple times in my life, especially as a new teacher and when I first started as a cantor.  To be honest, there are still times when I feel like this in my current job.

What helps people to get over Imposter Syndrome is to realize that most people don’t know what was supposed to happen, so if a mistake is made it isn’t as disastrous as it may seem to be.  People don’t know that you hit a wrong note or that you left out a part of the lesson plan.  People don’t know what you rehearsed.  Whatever happens, happens.  It isn’t the end of the world.  In Church ministry, it is important to take things seriously and to act with reverence, but it is important not to take things TOO seriously.  Very few people will remember if you stumble over a sentence in a reading.  Hardly anyone will realize that the psalm wasn’t supposed to go “like that”.  Confidence is key.

If you have been considering ministering at Mass, but haven’t stepped forward due to embarrassment, nervousness, or a feeling that there must be someone in the parish better than you who could do the job, please know that you are not alone.  Anyone who ministers feels these things in the beginning.  Remember what St. Teresa of Avila said:

“Christ has no body on earth now but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours; yours are the eyes through which he looks with compassion on the world; yours are the feet with which he walks to do good; yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world.”

Who will fill these crucial needs in the Church today if not you?

Are You a Priest?

I consider myself blessed to have witnessed 19 adult baptisms and 120 Catholics being confirmed in April of 2015. And these awe inspiring and meaningful events made me nostalgic as I remembered the kind of priesthood we all share in Jesus Christ.

There is a certain passage on priesthood that says: “One is Priest, Some are Priest, and All are Priests”. At a first glance this passage makes no sense, but if you are going to analyze it, in the light of our faith as Catholics, this grammatically incorrect statement makes sense.

One is Priest. This means that there can only be one priest, a high priest according to the Letter to the Hebrews 7:2627:

“For it is indeed fitting for us to have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need to do every day what those priests do, to offer sacrifices first for their own sins and then for the sins of the people, since he did this in offering himself once for all.”

Jesus is the One Priest, the only priest who offers permanently a sacrifice pleasing to the Father, and that is Jesus offering himself to the Father for the salvation of us all.

Some are Priests. There are those among us through the grace of God who was ordained to the MINISTERIAL PRIESTHOOD. They were ordained not for themselves but for the sake of service and ministry for the people of God. The Catechism of the Catholic Church number 1547 beautifully said:

“The ministerial priesthood is at the service of the common priesthood. It is directed at the unfolding of the baptismal grace of all Christians. The ministerial priesthood is a means by which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Church. For this reason it is transmitted by its own sacrament, the sacrament of Holy Orders.”

All are Priests. By virtue of our baptism when the priest anoints the child with chrism he receives the kingly, prophetic and priestly function of Jesus, thus making us sharers of Jesus’ COMMON PRIESTHOOD. That is why in when danger of death you can baptize; you can give communion if you are delegated by the priest.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church number 1547 also states:

“The common priesthood of the faithful is exercised by the unfolding of baptismal grace a life of faith, hope, and charity, a life according to the Spirit”

Having reminded that all of us share the priesthood of Jesus, we therefore should fulfill our priestly role as baptized Catholics. We should preach the Gospel not only by preaching through talking, but by preaching through a life of holiness. Let us be agents of peace, unity, forgiveness, love and mercy to the entire world, so that the Kingdom of God will truly be spread far and wide.

Is Summer Vacation a Good Thing?

This will be the second summer that I have worked a job straight through the summer.  I was very lucky growing up that I did not need to have a summer job.  In fact, almost every summer after I graduated from high school, I was involved in some sort of summer course through various colleges.

It has always helped me to have some sort of continuing structure to my summers, similar to what I had during the school year, whether I was a student or a teacher.  When I didn’t have something to do, my days became tedious and almost wasted, so for me, it was better to keep busy and mentally stimulated.

Studies of human development indicate that it is necessary for children to have a “break” from academics so that they can process what they have learned and get ready to learn new things.  Different studies contend that while breaks are necessary and good, perhaps long breaks, such as the two and a half to three months of summer vacation are in fact too long.  This is the stance of advocates of a year-round school model.

For students who attend Catholic schools, summer vacation might also mean a break from church.  Mr. Timothy Carr, principal at Cosgriff from 1993 to 1997, used to tell us at the end of the last school Mass of the year, “Don’t let this be the last time you’re in church until August.”  In other words, don’t take a vacation from God.

So yes, summer vacation is a good thing, but like all good things, you can have too much of it.  Be mindful of that when making your summer plans, and remember to keep God in your summer.

The GREATEST Miracle of All

A few Years ago, I was privileged to watch a musical play with the theme of “Why can’t we all see miracles?” In all probability many of us will also conclude that that the era of miracles is over. We do not see miracles anymore.

What is a miracle? According to Wikipedia, it is an event not explicable by natural or scientific laws. It is an extraordinary event without a physical or a natural explanation. If you follow that definition, you will also discover that when the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening that can also be a miracle. There is no explanation for it. Science may say something about it but questions will continue to rise. Questions like, why it never stops rising in the morning and setting in the evening. We do not consider it as a miracle because we have become used to it.

On the other hand, if the sun does not rise in the morning and does not set in the evening, it might not be considered a miracle. Science would call it a phenomenon or an abnormality, even if it is an event not explicable by natural or scientific laws. Actually, the truth of the matter is, and the real miracle is that the sun still rises and sets; the real miracle is that a baby is born; the real miracle is that you are still alive. These are real miracles because there is no explanation for these things.

Many scientists and doctors can give us explanations of how these things happen; but the real ultimate explanation can only be traced to the Supreme Being who is God. He is responsible for making everything possible.

The point that I am trying to emphasize is that the era of miracles is not over. We still have miracles. The fact is that the miracles have become so ordinary that we do not consider them miracles anymore. Let us continue to see with eyes of faith the marvels and miracles that continue to unfold before us. Let us be sensitive to the wonders of God, telling us that we are special to Him. Let us be grateful that despite our unfaithfulness, He remains faithful. Despite our sinfulness, He continues to bless us and never fails to show us His unconditional love in the beauty of creation. God, loving us is the greatest miracle of all.

Keeping the Faith as an "In-Betweener"

It is challenging being an “in-betweener” Catholic.  I don’t really fit with the “young adult” crowd anymore, and I don’t fit with the more mature crowd yet.  Luckily, Catholic Utah, co-founded last year by some of our parishioners right here at St. Ambrose, exists to help meet the needs of “in-between” Catholics like me.

It seems most of the people I went to school with at Judge Memorial have fallen away from the Catholic faith (if they were very faithful to begin with), and I feel like this is a phenomenon that affects most youth and young adults.  It can be hard to ignore the impulse to rebel against authority, in this case, one’s parents and their lifestyles.  But every once in awhile I get a boost of hope for my generation when I see a familiar name cross my desk as a parent or godparent at a baptism, or as a sponsor for Confirmation.  I grew up in the parish, and it is definitely interesting to be working here now, to see the many ways in which it has changed and evolved, and the comforting ways in which it has stayed the same.

It is definitely a challenge being Catholic in Utah, but I don’t know that it is any more or less of a challenge than it would be anywhere else in the United States.  Yes, our LDS neighbors heavily influence the predominant culture here, but secularism is becoming a huge factor in society these days on a global scale.  That affects all of us, regardless of our faith or lack thereof.

It is crucial that we continue to find ways to hold on to our faith and recognize the importance and the value of passing it on to others.

How do you keep your faith alive and strong?  How do you pass it on to your children and/or those around you who are seeking a relationship with God?

Are You Looking for a Sign?

Are you looking for signs? We are created beings that always see signs everywhere. Traffic signs, restaurant signs, shopping store signs and many other signs that we have to see and deal with every day. In relation to faith, are signs necessary to have faith?

As a teenager discerning for the priesthood, I asked God to give me a sign if He was really calling me to be a priest, but unfortunately I didn’t see or receive the sign that I was asking for. Nonetheless, I joined the vocation seminar and regular meetings for discernment and after 20 years I now find myself working in a parish in the United States as a priest!

A sign is not needed for one who has faith because he believes anyway. On the other hand, one who does not have faith, even if he already sees signs, will still say that it is not a sign. A sign is of no value to the one who believes because he will do so even without a sign. It is also of no value to one who does not believe, because he will not believe even when presented with a sign.

Let us now examine our Christian life and our Christian faith. Are we the kind of people who always look for signs? Do we pray and ask the Lord for signs? Do we pray and ask the Lord, “If this is Your will, this is the sign I ask of You.”

A sign is not important for us, what we need is faith. The Blessed Virgin Mary did not become beautiful before God because she was given a sign. She was and is still beautiful because she believed even before the sign was given to her. St Teresa of Avila received apparitions and special attentions from God, still she told Him, “Lord, please take away these signs. I want to believe in you even if there are no signs.”

 If you believe because you see, there is no real room for genuine faith; there is not so much merit in that because everybody else will believe as you do. If you believe even if there are no signs, then this is something beautiful. This is genuine faith. Let us not yield to the temptation of asking the Lord for signs. Rather, our prayers should be:

“Lord, give us faith, even if there are no signs, we will believe. Faith is your gift to us. And our faith, is also our gift to You.”

We are Sent

The beginning of summer usually brings with it graduations—from high school, from college, from middle school, and in some places, even from Kindergarten.  Sometimes, these ceremonies are referred to as commencements, which is a fitting description.  Often, speakers at graduations will note that it is not the end of something, but the beginning.

So, let’s think about the words “graduation” and “commencement.”  Graduation brings to mind some kind of a change, a stepping up, or a stepping out.  When a person graduates they move on from one part of their life or schooling, to another part.  While they leave one part, they begin something new.  Similarly, “commencement” is the noun form of the verb “to commence,” which is a synonym for “to begin.”  Participants in commencement ceremonies are beginning a new stage of their lives.

In my work with the RCIA program this year, I have tried to have the same sort of attitude.  I stressed to those in the program that the Easter Vigil was not the end (though it was the climax), it was the beginning.  We had our final get-together on Tuesday night, and this was the sign I made for our party.

As I was considering what the sign should say, I thought of the words the priest says at the dismissal at the end of Mass.  There are several options for him to choose from:  “Go forth, the Mass is ended,” “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord,” “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life,” or simply, “Go in peace.”  Each of these is an exhortation to go, and to carry God with us to others as we do.  Thus, just as a graduation or a commencement is the beginning of a new stage of life, we can see the end of Mass as the beginning of the rest of our week, or if we attend daily Mass, the rest of our day.

What efforts can you make to keep the spirit of Mass with you after you leave Mass?