How Do We Improve Our Lives?

It has been several weeks since I have written and in that time a number of things have happened in my life which forced me to put this blog on hold for a little while. Things are settling down now and I have time to write again.

Over the next few weeks I would like to share with you a series of posts on personal development and how we can improve our lives. Why am I writing about improving your life? The quote in the picture above provides the answer to this question. I want to help people to improve their lives so that we can all work together to build a culture of life and love where everyone can experience the joy and happiness which they have been created for.

In the past I have had the privilege of speaking with many people and hearing their stories. It has been an honour for me that these people would open up their hearts and share things with me that they have not told many people. These people's stories and their experiences are what drives me to become a marriage educator and help as many people as I can and they provide me with the encouragement to keep studying and learning all I can about who we are as human beings and what our purpose in life is.  

I have been learning a lot from a personal development coach named Tony Litster about how to make lasting changes in life. Tony focuses on six different areas and says that if we want to create lasting change then we need to find balance in all six of these areas.  The six areas are; your relationship with yourself, your relationship with others, your relationship with God, your health, your wealth, and your contribution to society and those around you.  

What I would like to do over the next six posts is to speak about each of these areas individually and talk about what I think is important about each area and how to make lasting change. I will be drawing from Tony's work, but also on what I have learned from John Paul II, Christopher West, Matthew Kelly and some other people who have significantly contributed to my understand of these areas. 

After listening to Tony I have come to believe, as he does, that these six areas are key aspects of who we are.  They are really the building blocks of our lives. By focusing on, and improving each area, we can start to live the lives we have always dreamed of and become the best we can be.  

Drawing from people's stories and my own life experience it has become very apparent to me that we are all struggling with something. Everyone I know has some wound or weakness which they are trying to heal or overcome and are not sure how to do that or even where to begin so the goal of these posts is to offer some ideas and suggestions for people who desire to improve their lives but are not sure where to go or what to do. Thank you all for your continued support and may God bless you all and your families. 

Mass Confusion

The Communion of Saints gathered together to celebrate Mass.

It has been a couple weeks since I last posted on my blog and I apologize for that.  Life has a way of throwing you curve balls and things come up which force you to prioritize. 

Today I would like to reflect on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

As the title indicates I believe that there is a lot of confusion about the Mass today so I want to share with you how I understand the Mass by telling you what I believe are the essential and non-essential elements of the Mass.

First off, the essential elements.  Every celebration of the Mass follows the same basic structure.  It begins with the entrance of the celebrant which is followed by the Penitential Rite where we express sorrow for the venial sins we have committed and receive forgiveness for these sins.  This is followed by the Liturgy of the Word where we listen to readings from the Hebrew Scriptures and New Testament.  Then the priest or deacon shares a reflection on the readings or prayers to help the congregation to grow in their spiritual life.  This is followed by the Liturgy of the Eucharist where the priest, acting in the person of Christ, consecrates bread and wine and they become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.  The Eucharist is then distributed to the congregation.  After everyone has received the Eucharist the priest gives all present a final blessing and sends them out into the world to bring the faith to everyone they meet. 

This basic outline for the Mass is important because it allows Catholics around the world to be in community with each other.  If you attend Mass in another country and you do not understand the language you can still follow the Mass because every Mass, around the world, follows the same structure. 

The two key parts of the Mass are the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.  Many people, even Catholics, do not know that when you attend Mass you actually receive Christ twice.  The first time is when we listen to the readings.  Jesus is the Word of God.  So when the person proclaiming the reading says "this is the Word of the Lord" it is a pronouncement that we have just received Christ.  The second time we receive Christ is in the Eucharist when he gives himself, body, blood, soul and divinity, to us under the appearances of bread and wine.

Some things which I think are non-essential elements of the Mass are posture, music, and having a lot of people in attendance.  This is by no means an exhaustive list, I am sure there are other non-essential aspects of the Mass. I mention these things because in recent years they have been very hotly debated and they seem to have become the main focus of many people.  These elements may contribute and help people to have a greater experience of the Mass, but if they become the focus then we lose sight of why we are at Mass in the first place.  

We go to Mass to have a personal encounter with Jesus Christ.  Whether we sit, stand, kneel or lie down does not matter.  Whatever our posture is it should reflect our reverence and gratitude to God for the great gift He gives us; Himself.  

Music is not needed at every Mass, so when there is music it should lift our minds and our hearts to God.  The focus needs to be on Christ, not the choir. Mass is not a concert where we should expect to hear talented musicians perform their greatest pieces.  Even a mediocre singer can sing their heart out in praise to God. 

Whatever we do we need to keep the focus at Mass on Christ.  In recent years, however, it has seemed to me that we are sacrificing essential things like reverence for the Eucharist for the sake of building community or getting more people to attend Mass.  If you look at the picture above you see that there are hosts of angels and saints who attend every Mass so even if only 10 people show up it is still worth celebrating because Heaven comes to Earth each time the Mass is celebrated.  I encourage you to spend some time looking at and reflecting on the picture above.  If people really understood the Mass then there would never be an empty church, it would be a joy to attend Mass.  It would be something we long for and look forward to.

The Mass is truly amazing because it brings together the whole Church and the whole Communion of Saints to gather around Jesus Christ who is truly present on the altar.  We do not need to do anything in order to build community.  At each Mass we are in community with all Catholics throughout the world and with all the angels and saints in Heaven.  

I would like to see a shift in focus, away from the community and towards the individual.  If every individual who attends Mass opens their mind and heart to Jesus Christ and enters into relationship with Him then the community will naturally flow out of each person's relationship with Christ.  These are just my opinions so take them for what they are worth and God Bless!

Healing Our Brokenness: The Resurrection of the Body

As a follow up to my post from a couple weeks ago on the culture of death and how the culture of life will come out of the culture of death I want to reflect on the resurrection of Jesus for a minute and I'll explain how it connects below.  

Christians have always believed that after his crucifixion Jesus Christ was risen from the dead and that we would share in the resurrection.  In the Creed we say that we believe in the resurrection of the body.  We know that our bodies will be raised by Christ because a human being is made up of a body and a soul.  If we are only a soul we are a ghost and if we are only a body then we are a corpse.  Neither of these is a human being. To be human is to be a living body, or an enfleshed soul.  Therefore, in Heaven, we must have our physical bodies if we are to be fully human. Further proof of having physical bodies in Heaven is that there are already two physical bodies in Heaven; Jesus and Mary. How this is possible is a mystery.

If we look at the Gospel accounts of the resurrected Jesus we learn that his resurrected body is not merely a spiritual body, but a physical body.  Proof of this is the Gospel accounts which tell us that Jesus eats fish and Thomas puts his hand in Christ's wounds.  In order for these things to occur Jesus' resurrected body must be physical.  However, there is something different about his resurrected body.  He passes through solid objects, like walls, to stand among the disciples.  We can never be certain of what our resurrected bodies will be like, but we know that they will be physical, but also glorified.  

The image of Divine Mercy, which I shared above, struck me.  If you look at this image you see beams of light shining from the heart of Jesus; where the soldier pierced him with a lance.  You will also notice that their are holes in Christ's hands and feet from the nails.  In the Theology of the Body, John Paul II, talks about how the wounds of Christ shine the brightest in the resurrection. 

If Christ's resurrected body still bears the wounds from his crucifixion then we can say that we too will carry our wounds with us into Heaven.  This is true even now.  The wounds, scars, mistakes, failures, etc. of our past have made us who we are.  Our bodies bear the physical marks of injuries and our souls bear the invisible marks of our weaknesses, failures and sins. We need these wounds as reminders of how we got to the place we are at.  This is not to say that we need to hold on to these wounds and remain slaves to our past, we can allow healing to take place but we cannot entirely erase the effects of these wounds.  Once they are healed they will become a bright light for us and something great will come out of them.

The point I am trying to make is that every bad experience, every wound, every failure, can be used to move us towards happiness.  And once we have experienced healing and are able to talk about the pain we have experienced from a place of peace and acceptance, our wounds will bring forth great things for the world.  For example, in Catholic circles there are a number of big-name speakers who are sharing their stories and changing lives.  People like Christopher West, Jason and Crystalina Evert, Scott and Kimberly Hahn, Jeff Cavins, Christ Stefanick, Leah Darrow, Matt Fradd, and many many more.  My favourite example is Pope John Paul II who lost his whole family by the age of 24 and lived the majority of his life under foreign occupation.  Yet he opened himself up to the healing love of God and his experiences and suffering made him the man he was and enabled him to change the world.  We too can change the world if we allow accept our brokenness and open ourselves up to the healing love of God.

How does this connect to the culture of death?  The culture of death is made up of wounded people.  We have all been impacted one way or another by the world we live in and once we accept ourselves in our brokenness we begin the process of healing.  By opening ourselves up to healing we give other people permission to do the same.  As more and more people begin to accept each other's weakness and failings the culture of death will transition into the culture of life.  We are all broken, we are all wounded.  So let's stop pointing fingers, let's stop condemning each other and just accept that we are all sinners.  Why don't we try accepting each other for who we are so we can all move forward together to the peace, happiness and joy which we all desire and which we are all destined to experience in the Resurrection?  

A New Perspective on Facebook

I, like many other people, spend a lot of time on Facebook.  I wouldn't say I am addicted but I definitely could use it a lot less.  I check my Facebook at least 20 times a day, and while most of these are just quick glances at the News Feed, sometimes a post will catch my eye and I'll end up spending a couple hours following links, looking at memes/pictures, or just reading people's posts.

The question I have been asking myself is; is Facebook just a big waste of time?  

I think there are a number of ways to answer this question and there's not really a complete answer because the answer would depend on what we mean by a waste of time.  I think many people spend a lot of time on Facebook and it can be a distraction for our work, school, or other responsibilities, but it doesn't have to be.  It can be used as a tool to promote your business, church, organization or events.  It can be used to connect with other students at your school to work together on group projects and it is a great place to share ideas.  So I think that to answer the question it comes down to how each person uses Facebook and only that person can decide whether the time they spend on Facebook is helping to achieve their purpose in life.

The way I see it Facebook tries to fulfill a deep need that we all have for communion.  The greatest desire of the human heart is to love and to be loved; or we can say to know others and be known by others.  I think Facebook is so popular because it tries to provide a forum for people to share their thoughts, feelings, and ideas.  It's a place to express yourself through words, videos, pictures, and music.  It enables all of us to share who we are and who we want to be with the whole world.  Through Facebook we have the ability to know and be known by a large portion of the world's population. 

That being said what you can share on Facebook is very limited and it will never replace direct human relationships.  It is just one way to share yourself with others, and a very limited one at that because there's only so much you can post online and there is more to a person then their Facebook profile.  Also, it should be noted that posting too much about yourself online has a lot of negative consequences and this can have serious repercussions in your life.  You open yourself up to a lot of negativity and hatred because the community is so large.  Instead of being rejected by the people in your geographical area, you make yourself vulnerable to attacks from people around the world.  So we need to be careful what we post online and I, personally, am not in favour of posting everything about myself on Facebook.  

The goal of this post is to try and see Facebook in a positive light.  To see how amazing it can be as a tool to connect with people around the world and the potential it has to fulfill a deep desire of the human heart.  If we see Facebook as a way to truly know someone then I think the time we spend on Facebook is well used because we are participating in the lives of millions of people and becoming a part of a global community.  

With all the benefits of Facebook I am still not a huge fan of it because I think that even though it has potential to help people know others and be known by others, that potential is not being actualized, and because of this there really isn't a whole lot of benefit to Facebook and you can waste a lot of time.  It is up to each person to use Facebook responsibly and ensure that they do not spend excessive amounts of time online, especially when that time could be put towards improving the real people and situations in your life.  All I hoped to achieve is to present a positive case for Facebook because I think there are a lot of people who see no benefits at all to Facebook and are just hating on it all the time, which I don't see as a good approach either.

The New Evangelization

Today's post will conclude the series on the legacy of John Paul II which I have been writing about for the past couple weeks.  Using the idea of a triptych I have tried to highlight three of the significant accomplishments of John Paul II which, I think, give us insight into his vision for the Catholic Church and all of humanity.  I want to end this series by talking about the New Evangelization.

Over the past several years Catholics have been hearing a lot about the New Evangelization; especially since last October when Benedict XVI called for a Year of Faith where Catholics are called to learn about their faith and share it with others. The term New Evangelization and what we mean by it has never really been explained, so I would like to share with you my understanding of the New Evangelization.

My understanding of the New Evangelization is that it is about proclaiming the Gospel to the modern world.  It is new not in content but in method.  This movement, to proclaim the Gospel in the modern world, really began in the years leading up to the Second Vatican Council and was really the reason why John XXIII called the Council.  Fr. Hattie, a professor at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy and an expert on the New Evangelization has said that "John XXIII called Vatican II because he felt that there was a need for the Church to proclaim anew the message of Christ in the modern world.  This was a continuation of Christ's mission."

Many people believe that Vatican II and the New Evangelization marked significant changes in the Church's teaching and think that the purpose of the Council was to make the Church more open and accepting of cultural practices which the Church has traditionally condemned such as; divorce and remarriage, same-sex marriage, contraception, abortion, women priests, etc.  This is not the case.  The Second Vatican Council, according to Fr. Hattie, "was more about changing the world then about changing the Church." The goal of the New Evangelization is not to change the teachings of the Church but to proclaim these teachings in new ways.

One example of this is the emphasis the Church has placed on using social media to proclaim the Gospel.  In my home diocese, the Diocese of London, Ontario, Bishop Fabbro has assigned one of his priests, Fr. Paul Nicholson, to be a "Missionary Preacher" and focus on spreading the Gospel and promoting the New Evangelization by creating a Catholic presence on the internet.  If you are interested in learning more about Fr. Paul and his mission please see his YouTube channel, Twitter feed, or Facebook page or follow this link to his website: http://fatherpaulnicholson.com

The New Evangelization began with Vatican II, continued with Paul VI and Humanae Vitae, and really came into popularity with John Paul II and the promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the teaching of Theology of the Body and the founding of World Youth Day.  Everything John Paul II did throughout his pontificate was meant to participate in the New Evangelization and give Catholics the tools they need to proclaim the Gospel in the Third Millennium.

Since Vatican II the Church has been trying to find new ways and language to express the unchanging message of the Gospel which she has proclaimed since Christ commissioned the Apostles and sent them out to baptize the whole world.  The doctrines of the Church have not changed and cannot change.  The New Evangelization is new in method, not content.  There is only one Gospel and it is unchanging.

The New Evangelization is not just for clergy; it is for all Catholics.  Each one of us is called to share our faith with the people in our lives.  Now this does not mean we all need to be formal instructors of the Faith.  We simply need to be witnesses to the truth of the Gospel.  We are all followers of Christ so we all have the same mission; to proclaim the Good News of God's salvation to the whole world.  How we do this will be different for everyone.  Some may be blessed with a talent for teaching and they can use this to formally teach the faith.  Others have been blessed with time and resources (financial or other) which they can donate to the Church to support and encourage our priests and lay instructors of the faith.  Some have been given a talent of using their hands to create things and by doing so they participate in the creative work of God.  Each one of us has been given a talent or skill which can be used to build up the Church and we must take it upon ourselves to discern what that talent is and how God is calling us to use it to further His work.

We all have family and friends who can see, by our example, how to live a Christian life in the modern world, so we can all join the New Evangelization, so please use your gifts and talents to help
the Church in the New Evangelization and begin (or continue) to share the message of hope with everyone you meet through your words and deeds.  God Bless!

World Youth Day

In continuing with my theme of of Pope John Paul II's legacy I would like to share with you my experiences with the second panel of the triptych (see post on The Legacy of John Paul II); World Youth Day. Before launching into my experience though I would like to share with you my perspective on why John Paul II started World Youth Day and what its role or purpose is.

As I said in my post on the legacy of John Paul II, the goal of World Youth Day was/is to gather Catholic youth from around the world to one location so that they can build relationships and be reaffirmed in their beliefs.  The hope was that by bring the youth together the whole Church would benefit because the youth would bring new ideas and new energy back to their home parishes and communities.  

I have been blessed with the opportunity to attend two World Youth Days; Sydney, Australia in 2008 and Madrid, Spain in 2011.  What I loved most about these experiences was the energy, excitement and enthusiasm of the youth.  Walking down the streets everyone was happy and smiling and you could walk up to anyone and start a conversation with them without having to worry about being self-conscious.  I also really enjoyed getting to see and be a part of a small community in the Australian Outback where met ordinary Australians who shared their lives with our group and I was able to see places that you would never get a chance to see as a tourist.  My favourite memory  of World Youth Day was being less than 10 feet from Pope Benedict when he first arrived in Australia.  In Spain I loved all the history and culture.  I also enjoyed hearing a number of amazing speakers like Christopher West and Vicki Thorn.  

My two experiences with World Youth Day showed me the magnificence of the Catholic Church.  I met so many amazing young people from all over the world and I experienced the true universal nature of the Church.  It was a great reminder to me that I am not alone in my Catholic beliefs and it reinforced my beliefs through the emphasis on prayer, the sacraments and gathering together as a community of faith.  

It is hard for me to explain how it feels to be a part of World Youth Day.  You have to experience it for yourself.  I encourage all of you, if you have not been to World Youth Day, to go to one in the future.  I will admit that every World Youth Day has its own challenges and it is not a vacation but it will be like nothing you have experienced before.  Please consider attending the next World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland in 2016.  God Bless!

The Theology of the Body

In my last post I talked about what I understood as the legacy, or triptych, of Pope John Paul II.  I am now going to use the next three posts to discuss each panel of the triptych in a little more detail; beginning with today's topic the Theology of the Body.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Theology of the Body I am sure you are asking "what is this Theology of the Body?" and the best definition I can have is from Christopher West who says that 

"Theology of the Body is the working title that John Paul II gave to the first major teaching project of his pntificate.  Delivered over the course of 129 Wednesday Audiences between September 5, 1979 and Nov 28, 1984, these catechetical addresses present as in-depth biblical reflection on the meaning of human embodiment, particularly as it concerns our creation as male and female and the call of the two to become 'one flesh.'" - Christopher West

 This is a technical definition of what it is but it is too academic and does not get to what I feel is the heart of the Theology of the Body.  I think it is important to know the technical definition because it gives a clear facts about what the Theology of the Body is.  However, for the rest of this post I will be sharing my personal understanding of the Theology of the Body.

I came across the Theology of the Body in high school when I was searching for my purpose in life.  I was at the point where I needed to decide a direction for my life to take; whether I wanted to go to college, university, or work at home on the family farm.  The Theology of the Body provided the answers to a lot of my questions.  It taught me what it means to be a human; how we are different from the animals and the pinnacle of all creation.  It taught me that to find fulfillment in life I needed to live in service to others.  It taught me about the gift of my masculinity; the creative strength of men which is meant to be used to help women and children.  It taught me that I can only find myself by giving myself away.

Before you can decide what you want to do in life you need to know who you are.  Theology of the Body helped me discover who I am and from that knowledge flowed my purpose.  Please don't misunderstand me, I don't have everything figured out.  I still have problems, I still make mistakes, I just have a clearer picture of what I am meant to do in life; the trouble is I don't always choose to live according to my purpose.

I cannot possible outline the whole teaching of Theology of the Body in one post but I hope this gives you some understanding of what it is about.  If you have questions about what it means to be a man or a woman.  Or why you exist. Or why you have those deep desires of your heart.  Or what the desires of your heart are pointing you towards then I encourage you to learn more about the Theology of the Body.  Do not start with John Paul II's writings unless you are an academic because they are dense.  The best place to start, I think, is Christopher West's book entitled "Theology of the Body for Beginners."  So if you are at all interested in Theology of the Body please get your hands on a copy of this book.  Christopher West is a much better writer than I am and he can provide you with a better understanding of what Theology of the Body is all about.  For those of you who are not readers check out these YouTube videos that explain some aspects of the Theology of the Body.