Putting 2020 in the Rearview Mirror

It has been two months since I have written for this blog.  I have missed it.  I hope to be able to resume regular posts in 2021.

2020 certainly has presented us with many challenges, changes, and disappointments.  The “new normal” remains elusive.  The shorter, darker days of winter have arrived.  But, as Christians, and especially as Catholics, we have hope for the future.  Jesus is born for us, as we recall each Christmas, and He remains with us always, as long as we do not lose sight of Him.

It is equally important not to lose sight of what 2020 has brought us and taught us, no matter how much we might want to forget some, if not most, of it.  Here are a few things I learned from 2020:

• There is usually a way to adapt your routine to fit a certain set of restrictions.  Change is hard at any time, yes, but it is not impossible.

• Just because “we’ve always done it this way,” it doesn’t mean there isn’t an equally effective way to do it differently, and more safely.

• Time with family is precious.  Enjoy it when you can, whether it be virtual or socially distant.

• Connecting with people in some way is good for the soul, even for those of us who are introverts!

• Work isn’t the be-all, end-all of life.  Finding time for hobbies is crucial to staying sane.

• God never abandons us.  Lean on Him when times get tough.

What lessons from 2020 will you carry forward into the new year?  What are you looking forward to being different in 2021?

Blog Hiatus

 

The blog will be taking a hiatus for the next several weeks.  We hope to be back to our regular posting schedule soon!

In the meantime, please enjoy some of our previous content about the rosary!

My Developing Relationship with the Rosary (originally posted October 2018)

What Have You Gotten Used To?

 There are many things in our lives that we tend to take for granted.  We have gotten so used to these things that we don’t realize just how fortunate we are to have them or have access to them.  Before the Pandemic (BP?), there were many things, I’m sure, which we discovered we had taken for granted when they were no longer as easily accessible.

Think how easy it was Before Pandemic to get your weekly groceries.  Think how automatic it was.  Now, there are many extra considerations involved with just going to the store.  Can we afford a certain item this week?  Do we really need it now after all, or is it something that can wait?  Think how automatic it might have been to send the kids to school each day.  Now, it could be a mess of deciding who needs the family computer the most at any given time for home-based learning, or it could be an added item to the checklist to make sure that everyone has the required mask among their other materials for school.

Life has changed.  Things we took for granted are no longer certainties.  Things we thought would always be there just aren’t anymore.  Even seemingly mundane tasks are no longer quite so simple.  How are we reacting?  And who, in our immediate circles, is watching how we react?  We can be certain that the ever-present and all-knowing God is watching us.  And yes, He knows why we are reacting the way we are.  He knows what our choices will be before we make them, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t our choices to make still. He knows our thoughts and motivations.  It can become easy to take even God for granted. 

How can you strive to keep God a welcome presence in your life?  How can you make your relationship with Him stronger and more intentional?

Hearing God in the Silences

 As I originally wrote this blog on Thursday of this past week, I could hear my neighbor’s generators humming in the background.  This week sure threw us a curveball with the Great 2020 Windstorm (as I have been calling it) affecting the Wasatch Front.  I was very fortunate to have power myself, but across the street, they were still in the dark up until yesterday (Friday) afternoon, if not for a generator providing some small amount of electricity.

It’s amazing how much we as a society have come to rely on electricity, especially in recent decades with the advent of the World Wide Web and almost ever-present technology in our lives.  I can sympathize with our neighbor kids who couldn’t participate in online learning or anything else online due to a lack of electricity and internet connection for the past few days.  Our own Vaughan Center was still “in the dark” as of Thursday.

Such natural disasters are often classified as “acts of God,” sometimes even for insurance purposes.  Let’s examine that terminology and thinking a little closer.  Yes, God can act in grand and sometimes even destructive ways.  We see this in the symbolism of Genesis when God the Father sent the Flood over the entire earth, when He destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and when He scattered the people and confused their language at Babel.  But there are also times in the Old Testament when God acts in a much more subtle way.  We read in 1 Kings 19:11-12, that God was not in the great rushing wind, but rather in a still small voice, or according to the NABRE translation, “a light silent sound.”

Often, we are tempted to look for God in the grand gestures.  We ask Him for a sign.  How often do we take time to be still and listen for God in the silences?  He is always at work.  We just have to put in some effort to see it sometimes.

Where Two or Three are Gathered

 I read a reflection for this coming Sunday’s Gospel reading earlier this week which indicated that the familiar passage, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them,” (Matthew 18:20) might be taken as alarming due to our current situation.  How are we to know that those two or three are doing everything they can to limit the spread of the virus?

Personally, I see this as a hopeful passage for this moment in human history.  Even though we are not able to gather in larger groups safely, God is still with us.  He is always with us.  Further, if we entrust our prayers to God, we can be sure that He listens to them, whether or not we get the answer that we want, and whether we do so as individuals or as a community.  Of course, having a community behind you can’t do any harm.

This is an excellent moment for us to consider how we are reacting to our current situation.  Are we being prudent and cautious?  Are we being alarmist and potentially over-reacting?  Are we being reckless and careless toward those we might interact with on a regular basis?  Take some time for reflection, and try to discern how you can strike a balance between caution and practicality.

Above all, put your trust in God.  He will never abandon you, no matter how isolated you may feel.

Trust the Process

 We all have our own way of doing things.  When that way comes into conflict with someone else’s, it can lead to tension.  Sometimes, the other way is actually more efficient than our way and it leads to good changes in our own processes.  Other times, a different way just doesn’t work for us.  That’s okay.  We can respectfully move on with our lives, being grateful for the exposure to a different method, but leaving it for the other person to take advantage of.

The problem is, that is not what we as humans are inclined to do.  We may want to rebel.  We may want to change everyone else, to bring them around to our way of doing things because our way is obviously better (in our minds, at least).

This can lead to difficulties when we come up against a process that doesn’t work for us, but is the required way of completing a task.  When this happens, it helps to stop and try to understand why this way doesn’t work for us.  What can we learn about the way it must be done that might make it easier for us?  What might we need to change about ourselves in order to make it easier?

Rigidity can turn into a very bad thing if it is not maintained for good reason.

Often, you might hear the phrase “Trust the process” in regard to behavioral changes that are meant to better ourselves.  The same can be said for much more mundane processes, such as planning for an event and facing hurdles along the way.  What are we meant to learn from this struggle?  Is it something about ourselves?  Is it something about the process itself?  Is it meant to be a larger life lesson for us?

If you find yourself struggling to adapt as we enter the beginnings of our “new normal,” think about these things.  Take your struggles and feelings of uncertainty to God.  He is always present in our church buildings in the Eucharist, and He is always with us, even when it might feel as if He has abandoned us.  Never lose hope and faith in Him.

Everything I Really Need to Know, I Learned from...

 It has been a running joke in my family that we “kids” (adults now, but we’ll always be the “kids” to our parents) can quote just about any Disney movie from our formative years at length.  This includes a LOT of Winnie the Pooh.  My dad is known to lament our lack of knowledge of “the greats” like Shakespeare, in such depth…  To which I respond:  “Life’s but a walking shadow – a poor player who struts and frets his hour on the stage and then is heard no more” (“Macbeth”, Act 5 Scene 5).  In other words:  Life is short.  Let us get our enjoyment where we can!

Give us a lead in, and we’ll give you a quote. My sister-in-law is a self-proclaimed Disney addict, so now, it’s even more true.  Disney has a life lesson for just about every situation.  It’s true, some of the older Disney animated classics are “problematic” when viewed through the lens of our modern world, but that doesn’t mean the life lessons and core values are any less meaningful.

Some examples:

Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio – “Let your conscience be your guide.”

Dumbo – Be accepting of those who are different from you.

Thumper from Bambi – “If you can’t say somethin’ nice, don’t say nothin’ at all.”

Cinderella – “I know it isn’t easy, but we should all at least try to get along with one other.”

Alice in Wonderland – “‘Be patient,’ is very good advice, but the waiting makes me curious.”

Peter Pan – “Sooner or later … people have to grow up.”

Sleeping Beauty – Perseverance in the face of adversity and evil.

One Hundred and One Dalmatians – Taking charge of a situation. – “The humans have tried everything, now it’s up to us dogs.”

The Aristocats – Not judging based solely on first appearances

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – Acceptance of people as they are (Rabbit accepting Tigger for who he is) and the importance of loyalty

Beauty and the Beast – Looking beyond someone’s outward appearance to the person they are inside

Pocahontas – Respect for nature and respect for other cultures

The Emperor’s New Groove – Respecting others and not being full of oneself.

Ratatouille – following your dreams – You can be anything you set your mind to being.

There are, of course, many, many more.  What are some of your favorite life lessons and Disney quotes?

Constant Vigilance is Unrealistic for Us but NOT for God

You know why everyone pretty much ignored Mad-Eye Moody (or really Barty Crouch Jr., who was pretending to be Mad-Eye Moody) in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire?  Probably because he was always harping on about constant vigilance, and people were tired.  People were tired of having to keep their guard up all the time.  They had lived through eleven years of Voldemort, followed by thirteen years of relative calm and they thought the worst was over.  Not Moody!  He knew what would happen when and if he relaxed, and it did.

Constantly being on alert is tiring.  We are tempted to give up when things get difficult or drag on for weeks or months on end.  We are merely human after all.  But that is not how God works.  God can maintain constant vigilance because He is a divine being.  He does not suffer the same “weaknesses” of humanity.  That is why we can and should always place our trust in Him.

Fr. Erik mentioned in his homily this past weekend that if God ever stopped caring for us, we would simply cease to exist.  This same theme comes up in our Gospel reading for this coming Sunday.  Peter goes to Jesus across the water of the Sea of Galilee and when he starts to doubt, he begins to sink.  But Jesus is there to lift him up again and help him back on the path of following him.

When our vigilance wavers, God is always there waiting for us to return to Him.  In what ways have you lost your path, and how can you ask for help to return to God?

Affirmations for Making it Through Your Day

I get it.  There are some days when it’s just hard to keep going.  These kinds of days may have become more frequent since we have been dealing with COVID-19 restrictions and restructuring of work and school routines, not to mention simple, everyday routines like going to the grocery store or taking a walk.  Something that might help in dealing with the stress of facing yet more weeks of the ominous “unknown” might be coming up with an affirmation to repeat to yourself throughout the day.

One that I am particularly fond of, which I have as my laptop wallpaper is a saying popularized by John and Hank Green of YouTube fame.  Just some of their channels include vlogbrothers, scishow, and crashcourse if you want to check them out.  They remind each other, as well as their YouTube audience, “Don’t forget to be awesome” or “DFTBA” for short.  I like this one because it is an invitation to evaluate my own behavior.  It is a chance for me to think about the consequences of my actions, in the immediate sense as well as in the near and distant future.  Also, it ties into a pop-culture trend I was a fan of in my college years.

Another affirmation I am reminded of recently is one of my grandmother’s sayings.  “Don’t be that helpless.”  Take control of your situation as much as you can.  Don’t just be a spectator in life.  I shared this affirmation with a group of music teachers who invited my mom and me to be a part of their Katinka Day, in honor of my grandmother being the founder of their organization chapter.

An affirmation we get from a saint is St. Julian of Norwich’s “All will be well.  All manner of things will be well.”  It never hurts to have a hopeful outlook on life, even when the situation seems dire.  It’s a good reminder that things won’t be terrible and awful forever.

And of course, there is the classic, “Keep Calm and Carry On,” which speaks for itself.

What affirmations do you use or might you use to help you get through rough days?

Parabolic Language

Is “parabolic” a word?

Yes, it is, but not in the sense I would like it to be for the purposes of this blog!  We’re in the summer months of Ordinary Time, and especially in Year A (this year’s cycle), we’re hearing a lot of parables about the Kingdom of God.  Jesus told parables to make things easier for merely human minds to comprehend.  After all, the true nature of God, and of Jesus Christ possessing both a fully human and fully divine nature, is hard for us to wrap our heads around.  Some older Catholics might recall being told, “It’s a mystery!  We’re not meant to understand it.”  But, Jesus tries to make it easier for us to try to understand by putting heavenly realities into earthly context.

This past Sunday, we heard about the weeds and the wheat, the mustard seed, and yeast leavening dough.  The week before, we heard about different kinds of soil.  But it goes beyond the physical elements of each simile.  As Father Erik mentioned in his homily on Sunday, It’s not about the seed itself.  It’s not about the soil.  It’s about our souls and the being open to God’s Word at work in our lives.

This is what I would like to call parabolic language!  It isn’t hyperbolic – making something grander than it actually is.  it’s making things more relatable!

Yes, Have Trust, But Be Prepared Too

This past weekend, I got to put the saying, “courage under fire” to a very literal test.  Saturday’s Crestwood Fire was mere streets away from my house.  I never thought I would ever spend an evening eating dinner and watching flames out the kitchen window.  I never thought I’d ever be so close to a wildfire that I could actually witness an air tanker dropping water or a crop duster plane dropping retardant.  To be quite honest, it’s an experience I hope I never have to repeat.

Smoke from the Crestwood Fire:

 

The resulting burn scar:

It was one of those moments when you realize, it can actually happen to you.  Those events in life, like natural disasters or personal tragedies, that always seem to affect other people can and will affect you too.  I also think it’s interesting to look at people’s responses to these kinds of events.  My parents took the view of wait and see what happens.  My neighbor across the street went closer to the fire to check it out.  I was of the opinion that, since fires can be unpredictable, we should be ready to evacuate.  I was running contingency plans through my brain at a pretty decent clip.

At first glance, my response might not seem very trusting, either in the first responders or in the power of God’s protection.  BUT, there is a saying, “God helps those who help themselves.”  Yes, it is important to trust in God, but if you don’t take action on your own and use the gifts He has given you to respond to these kinds of events, are you really trusting fully in God and recognizing how He is working in your life?

Thanks be to God, the firefighters were able to get control of the fire before it got out of hand.  No homes were affected, and no one was hurt.  It could have been so much worse.  That doesn’t mean it wasn’t unsettling still.  It was definitely a reality check, a wake up call. 

“It” can happen to you.  Inevitably, it will.  What will your response be?

Kindred Spirits in a Time of Pandemic

Okay, I’ll admit it, I’m a millennial.  I grew up in the time of almost nobody having a computer at home, and now, almost everyone has one.  I still marvel at the fact that schools now are working toward a one-to-one student-to-device ratio, because that’s just how education works right now (especially with online learning and home-based instruction).  When I was in elementary school, first at Cosgriff and then at the Madeleine Choir School shortly after it opened, “computer class” was Oregon Trail, and typing games, and that was pretty much it.  When I got to high school at Judge, the library had two rows of big chunky iMac computers.  I didn’t have e-mail until college, and I didn’t have social media until my second year of undergrad.  Now, technology has taken over almost everyone’s lives, right down to toddlers who can navigate an iPhone.  Life moves pretty fast sometimes.

When I was growing up, “screen time” wasn’t a thing.  If someone referred to screen time it meant how long a certain actor was actually on-screen during a movie or television show.  Now, that phrase is used to refer to the amount of time people spend on the computer or looking at their mobile device.  I’ll admit, I spend way too much of my time engaged in “screen time.”  I can justify some of it as necessary to do my job, but a lot of it, I could probably do without.

But even with its definite downsides, technology can serve to connect us during times of social isolation, like the last several months have been.  It can serve to create a virtual community.  It can connect us to our “brick and mortar” communities when we aren’t able to visit them in the physical world.  One can also find groups of like-minded people to connect with.  An example of this is Fr. Gray’s morning coffees with his St. Mary’s parishioners in Park City over Facebook Live.  Using technology to build community rather than to escape from it is a wonderful thing.

At St. Ambrose, we on staff have been working hard since the pandemic restrictions really began to impact our city and state to keep people connected to the parish through social media and YouTube Masses.  We are learning and evolving together.  Let us hope and pray that technology will help us to remain kindred spirits in community even during isolation.

If It's Broken, Fix It!

Here we are in a new month.  Finally.  Or is it already?  Or is it both?  Time can be funny like that, seemingly plodding along when one is in the thick of things and then seeming to have flown by.  The beginning of a new month typically feels like a good time for me to hit the “reset” button.  July usually is doubly so because it’s my birthday month.  It’s a good time to take mental stock – what has been a distraction?  What has been a detriment to me in the last month that I can try to get rid of?  What was a good and constructive way to spend my time?  How can I budget more time for the good activities and less for the detrimental ones?

Typically, one of my monthly “resolutions” will have to do with taking care of certain things I’ve been neglecting to do, whether in my secular life or in my spiritual life.  I ask myself, what feels broken or out of place?  Can I do something about it, or is it out of my control?  If I can do something about it, how can I fix it?  Do I need help to fix it?  How can I get help if I need it?  It’s an interesting mental exercise to go through, and most of the time, if there is a problem in my secular life, adding something to my spiritual life is a good way to try to fix what is “broken.”

Is there something in your life that feels “broken” right now?  Do you have control over it?  If you do, what could you add or change to “fix” it?

Taking Stock

My brother and his wife were over this past weekend to celebrate Father’s Day with my parents and me.  After dinner, my mom sent all of us down into the basement to go through what seemed like mountains and mountains of STUFF.  (I can hear Mrs. May, my sixth grade religion teacher, in my head right now…  “Stuff is not a word!”)  This was the moment to go through things in the storage room because we will need to have some major repair work done in the basement soon.

It is sobering to go through years’ and years’ worth of STUFF that has accumulated.  It’s like looking back at a past life.  My brother had “projects” from his years at trade school down there that he looked at wistfully but ultimately resigned to the trash or charity piles.  There’s still quite a bit of stuff down there, and it brings back memories of good times and of bad ones too.

I myself have been doing some cleaning out as well, both of my personal belongings at home and of things at work.  Now that I’m two years in at my job, I know what I use, what I need, and what I can safely give away.  Summer is a good time for me to take stock, since in theory, there are fewer things for me to juggle during the summer months.

If you are finding yourself with extra time on your hands, consider taking stock of your own spaces.  Make piles to throw away, piles to donate, and piles to drop off for the Knights of Columbus garage sale in August.  You never know what you might discover.  And if you can’t use something, there is surely someone out there who can.

Preparing for the Unpredictable

At the moment, it feels like we are in something of an indefinite holding pattern.  We don’t know what the next few months, let alone the next few weeks or days, will look like.  I am friends with a lot of teachers at various levels of the education system, and they are feeling the uncertainty particularly strongly as we enter the months of planning and preparation for the new school year.  What will our “public life” look like in the fall?  It is impossible to say.  And yet, teachers have to prepare for all eventualities.  Whether students are back in the classroom or still learning from home, teachers will be there to support them and their parents. 

I myself find myself working through several models of how I might present faith formation for those who would like to become Catholic.  We are very fortunate to have access to online options at the moment, but it can become a poor substitute for in-person interaction.  I find myself falling back on certain strategies I learned in my special education training classes in college.  Differentiated instruction, here we come!  Find multiple ways to convey the same information.  Simplify.  Break down.  Chunk.  All of my education buzzwords.  Don’t assume one way will work for everyone, just because it works the best for you.

Who knows?  Maybe we will stumble onto something that is better than what we had before.  And if not, that’s okay too.  We will adapt, and we will carry on, and we will do the best we can with the circumstances we face.  It doesn’t do us any good to despair over the fact that we don’t know what is coming.  Even when life seems to be predictable, it really isn’t.  Life is going to throw us curveballs, and our reaction to them is what matters in the end.

The Vanishing Man

In spite of many obstacles, my brother is getting married in a few short days.  As such, he has been moving his things to the house where he and his fiancé will live.  It feels like my brother has always been around.  He is seven years older than me, and I can almost count on one hand the number of years during my lifetime that we have not lived in the same house.

We weren’t what I would call “close” when we were growing up.  Seven years is a BIG difference when you are a kid.  But as I reached my teens and he, his twenties, we started to get closer to one another.  We joke that we were raised on the same source material, so we have the same sort of sense of humor, and it annoys our dad to no end when we get going.

I think it’s really going to hit hard next week when he’s no longer around all the time.

And in thinking about all this, it strikes me how much our liturgical year and the scriptures assigned to it can speak to us in our day-to-day lives.  Jesus has ascended into heaven.  He left his disciples, but he did not leave them, or us, orphans.  He sends the Holy Spirit to us to be our comforter, advocate, and guide.  Just so, in my family’s current situation, my brother is not abandoning us.  On the contrary, he is giving us a new family member for us to love and who loves us in return.  (Having never had a sister, I am super excited!) 

It will mean changes for all of us, as we adapt to new habits, for the better.  It will be an adjustment to another aspect of our “new normal”.  In that sense, maybe it is helpful that it is happening now, when we are, necessarily, making other adjustments to our lifestyle.  Moving forward will be an adventure, and one that we will hopefully welcome with open arms.

A Case for Ascension Thursday

Author's Note:  Due to certain family circumstances, this is a late blog, but nevertheless something to consider, whether it is after the fact or not.

In most dioceses of the United States, the feast of the Ascension has been transferred to the Sunday before Pentecost.  The reasons for this vary according to whom you ask.  One reason I have heard is that it’s such an important feast that it should be observed by all Catholics, and moving it to Sunday makes it more likely that people will attend.  As Father Erik pointed out in his homily on Thursday of last week, it is a solemnity and a holy day of obligation, and to miss Mass on a holy day of obligation through one’s own fault is a mortal sin.  So, remove that possibility altogether, and move it to Sunday!

 

I don’t know that that’s really a good reason to move the feast.  It takes away a bit of accountability for us, and we can always use more accountability, especially in these days of restrictions and unconventional circumstances.  Father Erik also pointed out that the Ascension is a historical event.  It took place forty days after Jesus’ Resurrection.  Forty is such a significant number in the Bible that it makes sense to preserve that.  Further, if we celebrate Ascension on Thursday, we get a full ten days to prepare for Pentecost, which took place fifty days after the Resurrection.

 

We celebrate Christmas on whatever day it happens to fall.  Yes, this is due to the commercialization of Christmas to a certain extent, but it has a place in our consciousness.  Easter is a more significant feast for Catholics.  Our entire liturgical year is set by the date of Easter.  Surely the feasts of the Easter season should be given the same dignity.  Further, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has not transferred other feasts which are holy days of obligation, such as August 15^th, the Solemnity of the Assumption.  Surely, Jesus’ return to His Father in heaven should be afforded the same courtesy.

 

Holy days of obligation are a chance for us to stop, take stock of our spiritual lives, and make a small sacrifice of an hour of our time to attend Mass.  Our lives might be inconvenienced, but it is worth it to maintain our relationship with God.

Easing Into It

Let’s face it, things will most likely never go completely “back to normal.”  We’re going to have to create a new normal.  As Father Erik mentioned in his homily last week, we have plenty to trouble our hearts right now, but Jesus speaks to us through the scriptures.  He tells us “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Have faith in God.”

We also need to have some common sense and a healthy sense of caution.  Just because we CAN do more things with restrictions easing doesn’t mean we must or we should.  But above all, we must have faith.  For some, going out in public is going to be scary, and that’s okay.  Ease into it.  Don’t try to do too much at once.  Don’t let it become overwhelming.  Take baby steps.  Believe that it will get better.  It will get easier.  It will become more normal.  Taking small steps forward will help to reduce the number of steps we have to take back.

If you are hesitant to come back to church, take that hesitancy to God in prayer.  Let Him help you regain the confidence to join in once more.  These times of isolation and separation have been difficult, even for those of us who prefer alone time to being with big groups.  Ask God to help you return to Him in small ways at first and then each step will get easier.

We look forward to the day when our new normal actually seems normal again.

Imposing Self-Discipline, Even When It’s Hard

A lot of us are working from home now, or we are finding ourselves with an abundance of time on our hands while we are furloughed or looking for work.  It can be difficult to find the motivation to keep at it when we don’t have a supervisor or the need to go further than our home office to do our work.  I will say, I have enjoyed being at home for two reasons.  First, I don’t have to pack my lunch every day, and second, there is no commute, no matter how long or short.  When I’m ready to start work, I just do. 

But it can also be difficult to focus on work when there are so many distractions typical of being at home.  Yes, I don’t have to pack a lunch to take to work with me, but I have to be cognizant of how long I am taking for a lunch “break”.  The TV is right there, ever so inviting.  Yes, there is no commute, but do I spend more time being distracted by my phone while I’m getting “ready to start” in the morning?  (The answer, unfortunately, is yes.)

The same can be said for our current worship situation.  Do we take advantage of the fact that we don’t have to worry about getting to church and we can just watch it on EWTN or online?  Do we not make it into a time of prayer?  Are we extra distracted during Mass because all those things that need doing at home are literally right there in front of us?  Be aware of your distractions.  Have some self-awareness of what your main “triggers” are when it comes to losing focus, and try to reduce those triggers.  I know it’s hard.  I’m not saying I’m perfect when it comes to ignoring my own triggers, but I keep trying.

Set goals.  Make lists.  Change up your environment, if you can.  Make a holy space at home.  Make a point of dressing for church, even if you are “going to Mass” in your living room or on your mobile device.  Act like someone is watching you, because someone is.  And if you stumble, it’s okay.  Try, try again.  Nobody is perfect, but that doesn’t mean we can’t strive to be the best we can be each day.

In the Midst of Turmoil, the World Still Turns

While it seems like most of the country, and to a certain extent, much of the world, has ground to a halt in the wake of COVID-19, life goes on.  It is helpful to try to maintain some sense of normalcy and routine.  Of course, there are differences.  Online and homeschool instruction for students.  Working from home, or finding oneself newly unemployed.  Trying to maintain contact with friends and family through different means than usual. 

And then, there are signs that life and time marches on.  People continue to get married.  People continue to have babies.  Birthdays still happen, regardless of how they are celebrated.  Anniversaries come and go.  Time waits for no one.

Maybe that is why my nephew and his fiancée decided to move their wedding to two months earlier than they originally planned.  They got married this past weekend in a private ceremony.  My brother and his fiancée intend to keep their planned wedding date in about a month, with a smaller private ceremony as well.  The only thing that really has to wait is the reception.

It is a good reminder for all of us that even though things are drastically different right now in some ways, in other ways, we continue on as we always have.  And this is also a chance for us to be grateful for all the things we tend to take for granted.  Who knows when we might wake up and those things are gone?

Aftershocks of Scripture

Happy, Blessed Easter!  Keep saying it, because the Easter season lasts all the way until June, and as Catholics, we are an Easter people.

I was struck by a thought as I listened to our Easter Triduum scripture readings this year, and I wonder how many others had the same thought.  I had always registered the verse, “There was a great earthquake” at the moment of Jesus’ death on the cross, but this year, that verse stood out to me.  Yes, it is due to our recent events here in Utah (and even more so with the aftershocks in the last few days), but it also brings to mind a reality of what scripture is meant to do for us.

God speaks to us through scripture.  Hopefully, He moves us through His Word.  In the practice of Lectio Divina, we are encouraged to spend time in silence, contemplating the passage we have read and/or heard.  We are encouraged to listen for what God is saying to us in our current circumstances through the passage.  We then reflect on why He is saying this to us here and now, and we respond to Him in prayer.

Prayer is a dialogue.  It can’t just be us talking all the time.  If it is, how would we know when God responds to our prayers?  This year, the earthquake verse shook me out of my routine (pun intended).  Just as we continue to experience aftershocks from our recent quake, allow God to move you with the aftershocks of His Word.

A Holy Week Like No Other

We are not able to congregate for our Holy Week liturgies this year.  This is sad for us as Catholics as these are some of the most beautiful liturgies of our entire year.  While we miss our celebrations, we can still participate in prayer and even in the liturgies in a limited way via streaming and other online options.

As I write this, I have the Chrism Mass from the Cathedral playing in another tab.  Who would have thought just a few short months ago that this would be the way we are celebrating the liturgies of the Holy Triduum?

I have many memories of singing for the Chrism Mass as a chorister at the Madeleine Choir School.  Typically, the Cathedral of the Madeleine is packed, not only with priests, but also with a congregation of laypeople.  The Bishop mentioned in his opening remarks that this was the first time in his time as an ordained priest that he had attended and presided at a Chrism Mass in an empty cathedral.  It is very strange to see the shots of the Cathedral of Madeleine with essentially nobody present.  I can only imagine how the priests of our diocese must feel, not being able to attend in person and experience this time of fellowship and fraternity.

However, I feel like there is a silver lining in the events of today.  Typically in this diocese, the Chrism Mass is transferred from the morning of Holy Thursday to the evening of the Fifth Thursday of Lent.  In celebrating it today, even if only electronically, we are able to celebrate it at the typical time it was celebrated for centuries in the past.

The oils blessed at the Chrism Mass are distributed to the entire diocese – usually taken by each pastor back to his parish.  This year, we will still receive our holy oils, just via another method.  Each of us who has been baptized, confirmed, or anointed at some other time (either in Holy Orders in the case of our priests and religious or in a time of illness) has benefited from these oils.  Let us give thanks that we still have access to these, and that pray that our priests may be strengthened in their continued ministry.

Self-Examination and Discovery

As we continue to navigate the ever-changing situation that the COVID-19 pandemic presents us, there are many changes we have to make, and most likely, there will be many more to come.  Personally, I relocated most of the essential materials from my office at St. Ambrose to my home this week.  I am lucky in that most of my job can be done remotely, and those things that can’t be done remotely could be completed quickly with a visit to the office once a week.  In the process of deciding what should come with me and what should stay, I had to do some examination of my work habits.

I am, by nature, a creature of habit.  I had luckily built in a lot of the framework I would have needed to switch to working remotely long ago, and I had migrated a lot of my computer files to a portable machine earlier this year.  My weeks are very structured when it comes to what must be done each day.  This has been helpful in keeping up with what day it is in general and I haven’t experienced too much sense of one day bleeding into another and forgetting where I am in the week.

So, for me, the switch to working from home didn’t come with too many hiccups, but it did come with a healthy dose of self-examination and discovery.  Where previously my brother and I had been working outside the home and our parents were holding the fort in their retirement, now “the kids” are both home all the time.  It’s been an adjustment for my dad in particular, having everyone around all the time.  But we’ve all carved out our own spaces in the house, and if we ever need to self-isolate, even in the same house, it won’t be too much of an issue to do so.

I did realize that I have to have a relatively clean and organized area to work in.  I’m not too proud to admit my room is typically pretty disorderly.  Now, with me working there, I found very quickly that I needed to clean up.  Still, I find myself glancing up to check the calendar where it is in my office and it isn’t there, because I’m not in my office.  And I’ve found that I am actually more productive if I set boundaries and expectations for myself.  For example, if I would typically put in a set number of hours in my work day, I set a timer for that long.  I allow myself to stop and take breaks, go outside for a walk around the neighborhood, but the hours must get done, not to mention all those tasks that I am able to do remotely.

It is definitely an exercise in discipline, but I think I will come out the other side of this situation with a more streamlined approach to my daily work.  And of course, prayer is a part of my days each and every day.  I ask for strength and perseverance to get through each day and to maintain my focus.  So far, I’ve been successful.

If you have recently shifted your work situation or environment, have you made any discoveries about yourself you didn’t realize before?  How are you making the best of your current situation?

Shelter in Place? Sounds Familiar...

As of early this afternoon, 36 states have issued “Shelter in Place” orders in some counties, and in some cases statewide.  Utah’s Summit County is among them, and according to stories that ran on the local news on Tuesday, Governor Herbert hasn’t ruled out a statewide order.  As a former teacher who was in the classroom in this post-Columbine era of school shootings, Shelter in Place sounds very familiar to me.  It’s what we called a soft lockdown.  Continue with activities in the classroom, just don’t let anyone leave or go outside.

These statewide orders are similar.  It comes down to staying home unless it is absolutely necessary for you to go out.  What would this mean for us as Catholics?  Public celebrations of the Mass are already suspended.  It would mean, if enforced, that we might not be able to go to our churches, even individually, for private prayer, as is the case in Summit County.

It means that our Domestic Church – our churches in our own homes consisting of us, the people of God – would need to be stronger than ever.  One can engage in private prayer anywhere at any time.  Don’t be discouraged.  Take heart, and pray for God to be our shelter during this time of uncertainty.

Laetare? and Alternatives to "Happy Birthday Twice"

The Fourth Sunday of Lent is almost here.  This Sunday is known as Laetare Sunday.  It is the middle of Lent, and we’re halfway through our journey toward the commemoration of Jesus’ resurrection at Easter.  Rejoice!

Wait, what?  Rejoice?  How can we rejoice these days?  We can’t go to Mass on Sunday with the rest of our parish.  We have to practice social distancing, and in some cases self-isolation and quarantine.  AND we just had an earthquake yesterday!  What is there to be joyful about?

Rejoice in the fact that this, too, shall pass.  Rejoice in the fact that God loves you.  Rejoice in the fact that you can still pray, even if it is in isolation.  Rejoice in the fact that so many of our priests continue to pray daily for us, and they seek ways to keep us connected to our faith and our parish communities.

If you are struggling to think of things to be thankful for at this time, try to come up with at least three things.  They can be small things.  Thank God for the rain.  Thank God for the medical professionals who are working to help those who are sick.  Thank God for this time to grow closer to Him through silence and contemplation.  He is waiting for you, always.  Go to Him in prayer.

(Last week’s blog never got posted due to the situation being in a state of flux.  Please find it below.)

In the current situation of hyper-vigilance due to the coronavirus, the CDC is reminding all of us to wash our hands.  Having worked in a daycare previously, I became well-versed in the CDC guidelines for proper handwashing.  Part of the guidelines indicates to scrub hands for 20 seconds – “about as long as it takes to sing Happy Birthday twice”.  Alternatives include “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” or the ABCs (once).  All of these is great to use with your younger kids, but what about for us as adults?

I’ve seen several posts floating around on Facebook with alternatives to “Happy Birthday twice”.  Some suggest excerpts from musicals, others bits of popular songs.  I even saw a Youtube video posted by our Episcopalian brothers and sisters suggesting “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow” – what they call the doxology.

I have a suggestion for us Catholics, which is especially relevant right now during Lent.  Try singing either of the settings of the Kyrie we use at St. Ambrose.  Both are about twenty seconds in length if you repeat each phrase (i.e., Kyrie twice, Christe twice, Kyrie twice).

Above all, remember:  Keep Calm and Wash Your Hands

Struggling with Lenten Resolutions

It is a typical Catholic practice to give something up for Lent.  I try to make a commitment to add something as well as giving something up.  This year, I haven’t struggled as much with what I have decided to give up as I have with what I have decided to add, and it is because “life” insists on getting in the way.

Of course, I have to tell myself, that it is a matter of priorities.  Health and sleep are higher priorities than adding something to my routine each day, but am I letting my obsessive-compulsive tendencies get the better of me?  Am I trying to do too much?  Do I need to scale it back?  I have to be honest with myself when trying to answer these questions and make a decision one way or the other.  And I’m not sure what my answer is yet.

Struggling with Lenten resolutions is a good thing, I think.  It helps us realize that we aren’t superhuman.  We are prone to failure, but we can always keep trying.

The Tricky Math of Lent

Happy Lent!  We started this year’s observance of the season yesterday with many a reference to the forty-day nature of the period.  But if you actually count the days from Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday, you end up with forty-seven days.  So, how do you square that with what you’ve heard your whole life?

Well, there is a lot of biblical significance to the number forty.  It rained for forty days and forty nights when the Flood came.  The Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years after their captivity in Egypt.  Jesus went into the desert for forty days prior to beginning his public ministry.  And he spent forty days with his disciples after his resurrection.  So, forty just seems like the appropriate number to ascribe to the period of Lent.

Some scholars argue that one shouldn’t count the Sundays of Lent as actually Lent, because each Sunday is a commemoration of the Resurrection itself, and yes, that does make it add up to forty days.  Another way to look at it is to consider the Triduum and Easter Sunday outside of the period of Lent, as well as the days following Ash Wednesday.  After all, we haven’t gotten to the first week of Lent yet.  These are just warm up days.  And once we get to Holy Thursday, it’s a completely different feeling than the rest of the liturgical season.

But, no matter what “counts” and what doesn’t, it is important to keep a spirit of preparation throughout this time leading up to Easter.  There aren’t really “cheat” days.  We aren’t on a diet (unless of course we’ve given up candy, soda, or dessert for Lent).  Even on days you consider to be outside the period of Lent, remember to keep preparing for the big event:  Easter.

A Reminder When Life Creeps Up on You

I am not a parent, but I was a teacher, and I have had the experience of encountering kiddos I taught several years after they had left my class.  I may have taught them when they were tiny, and now, they are teenagers, or, in the case of those I worked with when they were in high school, they are adults now.  I have experienced something similar with people I went to school with.  In my mind, the kids who were in fourth or fifth grade when I graduated from eighth grade are perpetually fourth or fifth graders.  That is, until I see them again at Basement Dweller reunions, and then I think, oh yeah, I grew up, so they did too.

At these times, it’s tempting for me to think, oh geez, I’m OLD!  But then I have to take a step back and get some perspective.  I spent almost three years working at the same school as my former sixth grade homeroom teacher.  What must it have been like for her, seeing me in faculty meetings “all grown up”?  In the words of a song by the band They Might Be Giants:  “Time is marching on, and time… is still marching on!”

And because time is a pesky thing like that, life can have a tendency to creep up on us.  Before we know it, a whole month has gone by, or even a whole year.  Our experience of time can also be relative.  A week may seem to drag on and on endlessly, only for us to look back at the end of a month, and think, where did it go?

As I look toward the end of this month, next week, I’m having this feeling of “Wait, where did February go?”  Looking toward the future, I think, May is so far away, but it’s not!  It’s only two or so months away.  We’re running out of time to get ready for my brother’s wedding at the end of May.  I’m running out of time to get my RCIA candidate ready to complete his initiation by Easter in a month and a half.  WHERE DID THE TIME GO?

If you want to think of something really mind-bendingly weird, consider how God might experience the passage of time.  God is eternal.  He has always been and He will always be.  Yet, He cares for each one of us, even though our lifetimes must be less than a blink of an eye to Him.  Take a moment today to thank God for His constant care for you.

Tell the Truth Until It Feels Good

I once heard someone say that to tell people to give until it hurts was not good advice.  This person argued that one should tell people to give until it feels good.  I think the same can be said for being open and honest with people.  If you go around pretending to be someone you’re not, you may end up disappointing people because you didn’t live up to their expectations of you, whether warranted or not.  And when you disappoint people you may wind up feeling disappointed in yourself.  And then, it could turn into a cycle of disappointment, and nobody would be very happy.

That doesn’t sound like a very pleasant way to live, does it?  What if you changed the situation from the very beginning?  If you are honest with others when they ask you questions, yes, you may disappoint them at first, and that may not feel very good.  But they will learn more about you through your honesty.  They will learn what they can expect from you.  They will most likely respect you more for being open than for pretending to be something or someone you are not.  In the long run, you will develop stronger relationships because you build trust through honesty.

I have often had people say to me, “Why don’t you do things a different way?” or “Why don’t you try changing x about yourself?”  My answer is simple:  because that’s not me.  If I change something about myself to make people like me better, that is no way to live.  I would be living a lie, disappointing myself, and making myself miserable.  Not to mention, when I am no longer able to keep up the charade, I am going to let people down who think I fit the mold of what I have pretended to be.

So, tell the truth, be open, be candid.  You will gather a group of people around you who know the real you and respect you for who you are.  And I doubt you will miss those who may have liked you for a mere appearance anyway.

Sledding in the Dark

There is a prime sledding hill within walking distance from my house.  It is, in my opinion, one of the best sledding hills in the Salt Lake Valley, and no, it isn’t located at Sugarhouse Park.  The reason I feel it is one of the best hills is because it offers something for everyone.  At the eastern end of the hill, it is steep and bumpy – perfect for the thrill-seeking older sledding enthusiast.  As you move west, the hill gets progressively easier – less steep and definitely less bumpy – so it’s great for little kids who might get scared at the eastern end.  I remember sledding there as a kid, and I would always grumble when Mom or Dad said it was time to go home because it was getting dark.  But, as is usually the case, Mom and Dad knew best.

If you drive by this hill after a decent snowfall, you will see cars lined up all along the hill and kids (and adults) of all ages on the slope.  In the past two years or so, there has even been a diehard group that goes to the sledding hill after dark.  I noticed them back again just last week.

Just think of the motivation and enthusiasm these people must have to go sledding in the dark.  They also have to have a significant amount confidence and trust that nothing will go seriously wrong.  Yes, they could use the headlights of their cars to light the way, but they are essentially sledding blind.

Try now to put this in the context of the apostles.  We heard of the calling of Andrew, Simon Peter, James, and John in last Sunday’s Gospel reading.  Think what their relatives and friends must have thought when they went off to follow Jesus.  How did they know where he would lead them?  Why abandon a perfectly good (if not entirely stable) job as a fisherman to go off with this man?  Why, why, why?  It must have seemed the height of nonsense, just as sledding in the dark seems to me.

Perhaps they did it for the thrill of something out of the ordinary, at least at first, but I doubt they felt quite as excited once they realized Jesus faced opposition.  Nevertheless, they stayed with him, to the end in John’s case, and most of the Apostles died as martyrs, having come back to Jesus after the resurrection.

Jesus kept them coming back, just as the lure of the sledding hill keeps bringing the thrill-seekers back, even in the dark.  Do we have the courage to listen to Jesus’ call as much as we listen to the temporal urges and longings of our hearts?

Taking the Church's Temperature

At our RCIA session this past Tuesday, we were talking about the history of the Catholic Church from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance.  We discussed several influential Church Councils, including the Lateran Councils and the Council of Trent.  Church Councils serve to clarify doctrine, and reaffirm the Church’s position on moral dilemmas of the day.

In the course of our discussion, the current crisis we are facing – that of abuse of minors – was brought up.  While we do not want to diminish the seriousness of this crisis in any way, the point was made that, as a Church, we have faced a multitude of issues that could have torn the Catholic Church to pieces.  In the case of the splintering of the Church, first through the Schism of 1054 and then the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s, differences of doctrinal opinion have divided Christianity into thousands of denominations.

We must not despair at the brokenness of our Church, even when scandal seems to rise to a fever pitch.  The Church is still here, 2000 years after Jesus Christ walked the earth.  It has been rocked by scandal and division before, and God has sent defenders of the faith to guide it through tumultuous times.  We can only pray that He will do so once again as we face the issues of today.

Working through Changes

Life very rarely stays the same, which is a good thing.  Just imagine if nothing ever changed.  How boring would life be then?  But often in our lives, we can be resistant to change.  Adapting to changes, rolling with the punches, is a skill we have to learn as human beings.

Change often accompanies “milestone” life events – births, marriages, deaths, etc.  When my grandmother died, my parents spent almost nine months in California, getting her house ready to rent.  Truckloads of her possessions made the nearly thousand-mile trek from Santa Barbara to Salt Lake City.  We are still going through bits of it, almost nine years later.  In the act of going through her things, it brings back memories of her life, her mannerisms, her accent, and it brings a smile to our faces, so the change is not all bad.

Another big milestone is on the horizon for my family.  My brother will be getting married in May, and moving out of our family home.  He’s moved out before, when he went to college and then vocational school, but it wasn’t permanent.  There is a significant age gap between us, and to me, he’s always been my big brother, across the hall or just downstairs.  I can always depend on him to be there for me and for our parents.  Now, he will still be “there,” just not physically.  Again, this change won’t be all bad – I get a sister out of it, after all – but it will still be difficult.

Life will go on.  We will adapt.  And we will find a new normal.

When things change in your life, when you find it difficult to accept change, ask yourself:  How am I going to grow because of this change?  How can I be joyful through this change?  Do I need God’s help?  Have I asked for it?

The Post-Christmas Slump

Christmas, in the secular sense, is over.  After this Sunday, the Christmas Season will be over in the liturgical sense as well.  There are Christmas trees on the curbs awaiting collection on garbage day.  The winter days are just cold and gray.  And with the current political climate there is a feeling of trepidation and uncertainty in the air.  You might ask yourself, how am I supposed to keep the Christmas spirit with the world in this mess?

Yes, it is hard, especially when the post-Christmas slump hits and you might feel exhausted from all the activities that took place over the holidays.  It’s hard to go back to a regular work schedule.  It’s hard to go back to a “normal” life.

Try to keep a spirit of joyful anticipation in your heart.  What do you have to look forward to in the coming weeks and months?  How can you incorporate God into your waiting?  How can He help you to get through the inevitable “let down” of having to return to routine?