The World’s Gone Mad

The Current Picnic Area

I keep hearing this refrain, but it isn’t true. You can look around at the world and everything aside from human beings is carrying on as usual. It’s you who’s gone mad.

That makes this a perfect time to consider our spiritual growth, and our human formation.

Spiritual growth because it’s always important. But overcoming the stresses of the world is a spiritual challenge as well as a physical one. The triumph of our spirit over any circumstance is a testimony to the power of the Trinity indwelling within us, and a testimony to our fortitude in witnessing to the life in Christ – as long as we act in charity.

In any circumstance we have the power to choose our actions and our responses. No matter what the world throws at us, we can still consider our actions in the light of faith, and choose to remain in the peace which only Jesus Christ can give. No one can rob us of that.

So, the wild-eyed reactions on social media, the vocal irritation with the Church, the complaining about things out of one’s control, the near hysterical reactions to authority – it’s all understandable as frustrations boil over. It’s also just as easy to choose to act in different ways.

In that sense it becomes a matter of human formation as well. What kind of man or woman are we becoming through our continued actions? Calm, recollected, centered in Faith, serene in Hope, confident in Charity? Or irritated, frustrated, controlling, and miserable?

Personally I’ve gone through many different stages during this lockdown. But I came to realize the things I was experiencing simply didn’t add up, in the big picture. People were complaining about things they weren’t involved with, reactions to certain ecclesial actions and governmental responses are predictable, animosity was palpable. It helped me to grow as a person, and to simply choose to respond differently. Aside from having to be very strong about various issues, it’s a fruitful time, and Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament has been invaluable.

We can always choose how to respond, and to live in a considered manner, considering who we are in Jesus Christ, no matter how busy life is, or how stressed out others may be presenting.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.

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Outtakes from Livestream Living

There’s a reason the Lord didn’t call me to broadcast journalism and it needs no explanation. So how I ended up making videos is a subject of vast, deep, unknowingness. It’s what one does these days as a Priest.

I consider that a reason I’m not called to do it, yet have to do it anyway, is that on some level it will help the faithful to realize that the entire COVID nightmare is just temporary.

Always leave them wanting more, I tell you. But here’s another, just in case you like to have one.

Always leave them thankful you’re leaving, is what I say. Or, that you’re not recording much.

Or something.

It keeps me out of trouble in these uncertain times.

I pray everyone is safe and sane and remember all of you at Mass, where we shall surely all meet again in the not too distant future.

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Paint All the Things

Parking Lot Restriping

With the rise of Coronavirus lockdowns has also arisen the time to get projects done while no one is around. Hence the re-striping of the parking lots!

Cleaned, getting prepared for painting.

By the time people return in numbers greater than ten, we’ll have the place shiny as a brand new dime, and spinning like a top once again. In the meantime I’ll be re-examining my use of similes and colloquial phrases.

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The Live-stream Chronicles.

Live-streaming is, as with anything one does often, ultimately very easy. It’s that learning curve when it’s 2 minutes before Mass starts and nothing’s working, or the sound goes awry, and every other concern that one just has to let go of until you reach that point where you just plop down the camera, hit record and then pray.

Eventually you learn to check the batteries in everything beforehand!

We’re re-opening everything slowly starting May15, 2020. So until then we’ll be live-streaming Masses with only ten people allowed in.

If you have any questions, the answer at this point is that I don’t know. But we’ll know it all by tomorrow.

Stay tuned.

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