An Advent Reflection 12/16/19:

Recently, I have been asking people what the season of Advent means to them.  This question has been met with many different answers and some extremely interesting insight as to how individuals view Advent in their lives.  This brought me to compare the different responses with my own feelings of Advent leading to some pretty intense reflection over the course of this weekend.  As the boys were sleeping Saturday night after a long day, I sat down and begin to write out the different Advent answers/questions that were on my mind.  Pulling all this together has been the most difficult part however, if you’ll bear with me, I would like to give it a try. 

Advent, as we know, means “coming” or “arrival”.  Of course in our faith, this is in reference to the coming of the Jesus Christ, or the birth of Jesus celebrated in Christmas and our preparation for this most holy event.  This concept made me wonder, as Christians, do we spend more time in actual preparation, or panic, for the upcoming birth of Christ in Christmas.  Christmas is almost here and with that means deadlines.  There are presents to buy, houses to clean, meals to plan, food to shop for, travel to plan, and the eternal question of “do I have everything ready” to answer.  The previous statement seems to sum up the events during Advent for the overwhelming majority of people I spoke with.  Panic.  It seems ironic that many of us don’t ask this same “do I have everything ready” question regarding our spiritual lives during the season of Advent…I mean, isn’t that what the season is for?  Now, granted, I have felt the same way as others throughout this time of year thinking of what it is that I will need to do next.  So, perhaps we should try this, compare during Advent our relationship with Christ and our personal, spiritual preparation for the birth of Jesus with our ability to complete tasks timely in order to entertain others on Christmas. 

This Preparation vs. Panic concept also brought me to another questions; how does this happen?  I mean, we know what the seasons of Advent and Christmas are about, the importance to our spiritual lives both seasons are and yet, many of us as Christians continuously fall into the “rat-race” of Christmas time the same as so many others do.  Perhaps the answer to this is in a statement someone made about being busy.  “If the enemy cannot get you to sin, he will attempt to make you busy resulting in closing off your ability to grow closer to God.”  Let’s think about this statement this person made.  Advent and Christmas are two of the very most important seasons of our Catholic Christian lives and yet, if we are so busy being wrapped up in all the hustle and bustle of the “season” how can even the most devout Catholics grow their spiritual lives.  What can we do to slow ourselves down and keep the Enemy from distracting us from our relationship with Christ?  I guess each of us must answer that question ourselves.  One thing is for certain, just as the shopping/commercial Christmas season will be over before we know, so too will the cleansing/calming/reflecting/preparation season of Advent. 

It is time we put the unnecessary aside to make room for the necessary in our lives.  Don’t let the season that is set aside for the very purpose of drawing you closer to your Savior, be realized in a heap of torn wrapping paper and dirty dishes following the chaos and noise in an empty room.  Instead, use the remaining days individually to take time, slow down, and prepare for Christ to fill you with peace.

Jason C. Swann/OLMC

Walking with God… A Reflection for 12/3/19:

            I remember the light posts running on the sidewalks down College Avenue dimly lighting the path at 5:00am as I walked toward the dining hall on the south side of campus only able to hear the crunching of the fresh snow beneath my feet.  I remember the wind blowing through the bare trees and thinking, I seriously must be the only person awake on campus right now and feeling like I was the only person in the world walking along, quietly, talking to God.  I remember this as if it were just this morning because truthfully, it was the closest, and most vulnerable I have felt in the presence of God just walking and talking as if we were old friends, heading to a campus job.  Simple.

            Simple, yet so difficult:  Why is it that prayer seems so difficult at times?  The event that I just described to you described every Tuesday morning in the fall of my freshman year at Blackburn College.  As a campus job filling time between classes and football practice, I worked in the dining hall the majority of the day (breakfast, lunch, dinner prep) each Tuesday.  These days began a little before 5 in the morning and living on campus in the northern hall, I walked the length of campus to get to work.  I’m not sure how, or when it began but one day I just began to literally talk to God, not so much in prayer, but as if he were walking right next to me.  This was still the closest I ever felt to God, walking in the quiet of dawn, discussing events of the day or week in conversation.  Though I have tried, I have never felt quite the same feeling since.

            The season of Advent is purposed not only for the preparation of Christmas, Christ’s birth, but as a time to draw closer to Him through prayer.  Advent allows us to strengthen our relationship with our Heavenly King, and to remind ourselves of why we believe what we believe in the first place.  Simple, yet still difficult.  In a time that is devoted to Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, deals and sales, shopping and festivities, we often find it difficult to make time to walk and talk with God.  Are all these things a barrier which keeps us from the purpose of Advent or, better yet, are we using them as barriers in order to not spend the time to talk with Him?  Perhaps the reason I cannot rekindle that feeling I had during the fall semester over 25 years ago is because I haven’t made the effort to do so.

            We pray for peace yet cannot bring peace to ourselves.  We pray for forgiveness yet often, fail to forgive others.  We pray for more yet give less.  We pray that God listens to us yet often, we fail to listen to Him.  Why is it so difficult?  Obviously, there are many reasons and answers to this last question however, what if we tried this:  This Advent season, just take a walk, alone, with God…and see what happens.  As we prepare for the Holy Christmas Season, may God bless and keep you and may your relationship with Christ be a reflection of the beauty it was meant to be.  Amen.

Mr. Swann/Principal

"Do They See Christ" A reflection for 11/19/19

“Do They See Christ?”

(A Re-post)

It is a funny thing, Christianity.  For most of us, it is a word and title that we grew up with and explaining what it is to other people comes quite easy.  We have been educated on what Christianity is, taught that by accepting the salvation of Jesus and confessing our sins that we are Christians, and understand that this sacred mystery is fact.  We know that to be a Christian we must serve God and find Jesus in all things.  On the surface, this seems quite simple. 

Pondering this question became louder and louder in my mind; “Why is it so easy for ‘God’s People’ to act un-Godly?” 

Perhaps it is because Satan targets Christians the most.  Perhaps it is because we are, as Dr. Cornel West suggests “imperfect, cracked vessels”.  Or perhaps we need to admit that through the gift/curse of free-will we choose to act this way.  If we, as Christians, are asked to seek and find Christ then aren’t we to realize that other Christians are seeking the same and, in many cases, they may very well be looking at us?  This begs the question which we must not ignore when it comes to people other than ourselves, when they look at us, DO THEY SEE CHRIST? 

Too often I hear of Christians take shots at one another.  We exhibit false dominance over others based on title or income or status in our churches, schools and communities.  We break each other down through the devastation of gossip and rumors.  And all the while we stand solid on the idea that we are Christians in the understanding that the word means “Christ in us” however, if others cannot see Him, we are fooling ourselves. When will we stop talking, and start doing?  Stop asking for change and begin changing ourselves?  This begins with admitting that we don’t know/have it all.  We are no better or worse than the next person, and when the final bell rings, it will only be Christ in us that will make the difference.

Fortunately, not one of us is great.  Regardless of how sour these words may taste in your mouth as you read them, it’s true.  I am not great, I am broken, failed and a sinner.  I was born into sin and only through baptism and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ will I see heaven.  Reflecting on the Scripture this morning while I was reading, Jesus said “I am the gate.  Whoever enters by me will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture.”  The goal of any Christian is to “find pasture”.  It is time to stop looking to see what we can find in others and think about what others are finding in us!

There is an excellent quote I ran across a few years ago that I feel describes many of us if only we will admit it to ourselves.  The author is unknown, but the message is profound:

“Yes, I am a Christian.  Yes, I can be the biggest hypocrite ever.  I backslide.  I stumble.  I fall.  I stray into the wrong path.  But God is working in me.  I may be a mess, but I am HIS mess, and He is slowly straightening me out.  And the day will come when I will be by His side, His work in me completed.  Until that day I will take His hand and let Him do in me whatever must be done, no matter how painful it will be for me.”

If we know what it is to be a Christian, we need to show what it is to be a Christian.  We have a responsibility as Christians to act as Christians.

Mr. Swann/Principal OLMC

Silence!  A Reflection for 11/4/19:

      Hanging out this weekend I began to contemplate the concept of silence.  This may be because when you’re around two teenage boys there isn’t much of it.  One could also suggest, however, that silence no longer truly exists due to the constant streaming, advertising, messaging, marketing and overall digital society of which we live in.  From the time we wake until the time we lay back down at night, we are bombarded by images and suggestions that are meant to combat silence by filling any “dead space” with a suggestive noise.  The kind of noise that tells us “we deserve this/that” and that we should have it now.  The kind of noise that compares everything we are and everything we have to everything we are “supposed” to be in life, all while suggesting that the path to get to that “supposed to be” should be faster, cheaper, and have fewer demands. 

      We substitute personal interaction and discussions with texting and endless social media messaging.  We can order anything of desire, from clothing, appliances and now even food to our doors without ever getting up.  I have even watched a three-year-old tell a can of air freshener to “turn on the lights” because she thought it was a voice command device.  To summarize, our modern world is teaching us a level of entitlement never witnessed before.  Please don’t misunderstand me.  I too am a consumer, and like many others, I often enjoy the consumerist modernity that we live in today.  However, where I fear that our ideology has hurt us the most is in the area of our spiritual lives.  Many people have come to believe they can reach God’s Holiness with a shortcut, purchase, or title without any personal sacrifice to be made.  Proof in this can be taken from the way many pray.  “God grant me; God help me do, get, have, accomplish..; God provide me with the means, ability, money, title, etc.”  It is as if God’s grace can be clicked into our shopping carts in the same search as those shoes we want as we are scrolling Amazon.  Furthermore, even if God is answering all those demands contained within our prayers, how can we hear him if we never shut some of the noise down? 

     Contact and conversation with the Ever-living God cannot be found in noise.  “What we need most in order to make progress is to be silent before this great God with our appetite and with our tongue, for the language He best hears is silent love” (St. John of the Cross).  Silence is the answer to the question of how to find peace in modernity.  Silence calms our restless spirit and allows us to enter into a true conversation, a relationship with God.  Silence isn’t something that just happens; it takes effort.  Silence, in order to be successful, requires us to put down our phones, shut off our devices, and shut our doors.  It is something we must do intentionally.  To succeed at silence, we must daily strive to find times to pause and reflect in order to remove ourselves from the constant barrage of modernity, and enter into a humble, attentive, spiritual relationship with our Heavenly Father. 

Mr. Swann/Principal

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Who am I Lord? A Reflection for 10/28/19:

            In the Gospel of Luke today, we hear about Jesus naming the apostles.  He chose twelve from the disciples, Simon (Peter), Andrew, James & John, Philip & Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, Simon (Zealot), Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who later betrayed Christ before the crucifixion.  In reading this short Gospel, I began to contemplate as many have I’m sure, why Jesus chose these “blue- collar” carpenters, fisherman, tent makers, etc., and not a more educated, highly respected few. 

            Clearly Christ was putting together a team to go on before Him to spread the Gospel to the multitudes.  One may argue that He should have picked individuals who held a higher position within the public; perhaps a great speaker or legal counsel.   Still better, a land owner or lord within the areas where He intended the Gospel to be spoke.  Regardless of the reasoning, Christ didn’t do this and furthermore, we are all of the understanding that He knew full well the hearts and minds of the individuals which He did pick.  Peter would deny him, Judas would betray him and all of them were born into sin.  Yet, Jesus still chose them.  So, how does this relate to us?

            On more than one occasion, I have felt as though there must be a better person to do what it is that I do.  I have done this with every professional position I have ever held.  I have done this in athletics all the way through college, and I did it in my academic side of life as well.  At times, I struggle with how a broken individual such as I can serve God’s will while being successful in the tasks that He places in my life.  Perhaps, if I can be so brave as to assume, you have done this as well.  If you have not however, then may God continue to bless you with that confidence.  It was in this seemingly constant question, this personal struggle, where reading today’s Gospel that something jumped out that may help to address those concerns.  Just as Jesus chose the twelve from the group of disciples, He chose us from a group of many. 

            Regardless of whatever reason we can come up with as to why we are not worthy of God’s Grace, His mission in our life, the position that He has placed us in, we are exactly where He intended for us to be.  Our job is to continue to serve Him through whatever that platform may be and, as most of us do not have a manual for each curve life will throw at us, we can trust that God’s plan is greater than our anxiety to it.  We must stop asking “Who am I Lord” and begin proclaiming “Here I am Lord.” 

           

Mr. Swann/Principal

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

It’s Time for Harvest! A Reflection for 10/18/19:

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus appointed seventy other disciples and sent them ahead of him in pairs.  These new disciples traveled to every town and place to inform people that Jesus was coming.  He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few, therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.  Go on your way!” 

Jesus didn’t paint a pretty picture saying “See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.  Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road.”  However, in addition to these instructions Jesus made one thing clear, not going wasn’t an option. 

“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”  This is so true.  The work we all have been asked to do, spreading the Gospel, has the unending potential to reach so many; in our cities, our schools, our parishes and so on.  This work brings God’s message to those who struggle with employment, hunger, sickness, abandonment yet, more often than not, it is the same small number of people who are trying to accomplish all these things for so many.  Look around at our schools and parishes where volunteers are often asked for to service a multitude of projects yet the same faces are the ones that appear. 

Everything we do is about bringing the Kingdom of goodness to those who have the least and who deserve much better.  It is about being the reflection of Christ through us to others.  Think of the overall number of members within our parish alone and what if, just what if each person did one thing for the Harvest?  Even Jesus Himself only appointed seventy and just look at the multitude that was able to reach.  This life is not meant for us alone, this Christianity…this incredible and everlasting gift from God is not meant for us to hold all to ourselves.  Today’s Gospel reading implores us to get out into the community, to break bread with our neighbors, to bring healing to the sick, and to work for peace, love and compassion for all. 

Do not be foolish as to wait for someone else to work the Lord’s harvest for you. 

Mr. Swann/Principal

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Reflection for 10/9/19:

            As the first three days of this week have come and gone, I cannot help but be reminded of the different ways God speaks to us.  These first few days this week, although productive, have been quite challenging for many members of the OLMC parish and school.  Challenge because of the different areas of our lives which are, and will always remain out of our control; but also because of those areas in our lives that we have control yet fail to do so.  The Gospels so far this week addresses many of our most damaging challenges that can be controlled by our attitudes towards our situation, as well as our attitudes towards others. 

            Yesterday, Saint Paul reminded us that we should never let differences between one another become obstacles to friendship and love.  “If your brother or sister is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love.  Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died….For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”  Likewise, in the First Letter of Peter today, “Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.  Be hospitable to one another without complaining.  Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.” 

            These Gospels remind us two things, that if we are to truly become more Christ-like, we must above all love each other first.  Secondly, that we are not in control.  This second point seems to be what causes us the most difficulty for, although we are fully aware of this fact, we fight against it vigorously as if through our arrogance we will eventually be in control of the world around us.  It is that arrogance, that foolish quest to be in control which damages not only the relationships around us, but our own well-being.  Even in prayer we have expectations that often are not met and only when we realize how foolish we have been in those expectations do we fully turn our journey over to God.  Why is this; why are we so…so stubborn with our brothers and sisters, with our God? 

            I am reminded by a quote from Mark Twain, “Man is the only animal capable of blushing and, perhaps, the only one that needs to.”  If I take anything from this week it will be to slow down, listen to God speak to me in the man different ways He may do so, and to be reminded that each of us has been made unique with gifts to share and that if I pause for just a second, perhaps God is speaking to us…to me through them. 

Mr. Swann/Principal

Our Lady of Mount Carmel