Unearned Luck

A friend asked to hear the story of how I came to Jesus.  I replied briefly in an e-mail and I think I messed up a story I told.  I should never do more than one thing at a time. I don't know that my story is a matter of coming to Jesus.  I've always known that Jesus has been with me.  We used to have long conversations, when I was growing up about how things were and nothing ever changed.  I went to a Catholic grade school and had a fairly typical experience there.  We were a small class with the usual cliques and issues that exist among a small group of very different children who are together for three-fourths of every year for eight straight years. Our pastor for those eight years, Fr. Noll, was an eccentric man given to distraction and preoccupation, but he was a very good man and priest.  One of my classmates and I had similar builds, but very different names.  For eight straight years, though, Fr. Noll called me, "Alex" and called Alex,...

I can't remember now how long after my separation this conversation occurred, but it was within the first year.  A dear friend and I were talking one evening about all that was happening with me, when he stated he had no idea how I was doing it.  I asked him what he meant and he said, "I would have been an alcoholic or a drug addict or I would have committed suicide by now.  I don't know how you're going through all of this the way you are."  At the time, I didn't know either and I did not have a good answer for him then. This past Saturday, another dear friend of mine and I were talking about what has been going on in our lives since the last time we spoke.  We are both facing what seem to be insurmountable obstacles and a quantity and type of suffering that only seems to worsen.  We have issues with our children, employment, betrayals, lies, isolation, struggles with the enormous weight of our own weaknesses and sins.  When each of us had given onl...

I'm in the middle of writing a book on evangelization or it might end up being a tri-fold brochure.  I don't know.  In talking with and observing people, it's fairly clear that evangelization is not very well understood and, maybe, defining some terms might help.  Please remember that I am and have been a Catholic in Indianapolis, IN my entire life and, being all I know, I speak from this perspective. Apologetics is answering questions, clearing up misconceptions and countering objections.  It's focus is ensuring that the Catholic faith is accurately represented in the dialogue taking place within our society.  Contrary to some of what I have seen, apologetics is not a sledge hammer.  It is an act of love and should be conducted lovingly.  That is with the heart: sympathy, empathy, understanding, patience.  You know, 1 Corinthians 13. Catechesis is educating those who want to know.  Most people associate this with the Rite of Christian In...

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I saw "The Avengers" with my four older sons last night.   Steven Greydanus  was right in saying the movie "gets practically everything right and very little wrong."  It was 142 minutes of incredible fun and seeing it with my sons made the evening the best movie experience I've had in a long, long time.  If you haven't seen it yet, do.  If you're going again, call me.  I may join you. Part of the fun of the movie was the many ways it underscored how futile it is for any person to set up himself as a god.   Joss Whedon , it seems, is an atheist, and it may be that the point he was trying to make was that God is only ourselves dressed up to accommodate our own needs and desires.  I wouldn't disagree with him that this is our tendency and has been from the time of the Fall.  In one scene, for example, Loki is protesting the Hulk's treatment of him by declaring himself a god.  Before Loki can finish, though,  the Hulk grabs Loki and b...

Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits sin is a slave to sin."                                                                                                             - St. John 8:34 Recently, some man, a self-proclaimed activist named Daniel Savage, recently attacked the Bible as "bullshit" in front of an audience of high school students.  Then, Daniel savaged those students who left in a courageous exercise of the same constitutional rights for which he claims to be an activist.  The sweet irony in the story is that Daniel Savage, this administration's choice to lead the campaign against bullying, bullied Christian students in an address designed to highlight the e...

"The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world."    - St. John 1:9 (RSV-CE) "Erat lux vera, quae illuminat omnem hominem, veniens in mundum."    - St. John 1:9 (New Vulgate) The Word, the Christ, the Son of God, Jesus enlightens every man. This is the reason we Christians must evangelize without ceasing. This is why we Christians must work at reconciling our broken relationships with those who are closest to us without ceasing, even if our attempts are limited to praying for the other person in the quiet of our rooms. This is why we Christians must ask for and grant forgiveness without ceasing. Jesus, the true light, enlightens every man. Wow.