The secret to evangelization? Be Christ.

I'm enjoying a quiet Friday night after being out to sea for the week. It was a great week, a lot of good training and awesome opportunities. It had been a while since we've been out to sea for more than a day, and it really was fun to get out and run the ship as it was meant to be run--at SEA!

There really is something strangely odd about my business. I've noticed that at times, we sailors complain about getting underway (going to sea) and all we can think about or talk about is when we're coming home. But secretly, we all love it. We love going to sea. We love the challenge of never knowing what to expect next. We love the details of our duties and responsibilities. We love the formality and traditions about what we do. And you really see this when we go to sea. People rise to the occasion and face every situation in our operations with professionalism and proficiency. But we don't talk about it in that way. We're just doing our jobs--ain't no thang. And hence, I once again get to experience just how humble my shipmates are. It's never, "wow, look at all the sacrifices I am making." It's more like, "I'm just doing my job." It's astounding. I think anyone who has served in the military understands this. And it is a great blessing in my life, to be surrounded by such people constantly.

I had the unusual grace of getting to go to Mass nearly each day this week. We had a Catholic chaplain ride with us all week, a wonderful priest who is on exchange from the Canadian Army. I've really been trying to bring the Lord more and more into my life on the ship; trying to mesh my spiritual life with my work life. And getting to literally be WITH Him this week in the Mass, on my very ship, was beyond wonderful.

I really see myself as a missionary out here, in a way I didn't really expect. And each day, God is calling me to preach His Truth to everyone I meet. The funny part is, each person and each encounter is incredibly different and requires a totally different manner of evangelization. Some simply need an ear to listen. Some need to be praised in the details. Some need compassion and encouragement amidst a tough environment. Some need just a smile and a greeting as you walk by.

I feel like most of my "preaching" is done without even mentioning the name of Christ. Unconventional? It's seems so, but it's really not. Evangelization, in the purest form, is actually quite simple: be Christ. Christ Himself. As Saint Josemaria said, we must not just be alter Christus, another Christ, but rather, Christ Himself!, ipse Christus! And there en lies my ministry. Be Christ. At all times. To everyone you meet. Easy, right? Only with His constant grace, no matter how unworthy I may be to receive such grace.

I must admit that although I sit this night among the many comforts of my home, in an environment that is quiet and comfortable and away from the stressful pace of the ship (and the rough seas!), part of me already misses being at sea. There's just something about it. It is a life of service, a life of sacrifice, a life of total reliance on God at each moment. Things are a lot simpler out there.

May He mold my heart to live out each moment of my life preaching His Truth. Veritas!

To the honor of Almighty God...

Some great new photos to share from the First and Final Profession of Vows and Reception to the Habit of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in Nashville...can you tell by now I'm a big fan? :-) See more photos and news stories from their congregation here.

I included some of my favorites below. Pray for all of these young women, in thanksgiving for their fiat, their yes to God's invitation, and for their perseverance in their vocations!

Driven by Love

"The young nuns from Nashville don't seem driven by conservative theology or ideology. Instead, they seem driven by a love for God."

Great article from Nashville's The Tennessean newspaper about the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, whose Motherhouse and Novitiate is in Nashville, and whose missions span the U.S. and even Australia.

I love the quote I included above. I think this also applies to our generation in the Church as a whole. The renewal in the Church, coming out of the today's youth, is not just a reaction to ideologies or styles of worship. It's a genuine renewal in the way we are to Love God, and live out the immense Love He has given us--in every facet of our lives. The Springtime is here--and it's all about Love.

For this is My work

Over two months into my new life as a Naval officer.  In a new place, with new people, new surroundings, new expectations.  Living on my own.  Paying the bills.  Coming home not to the college dorm, not to roommates and loud music and homework, but to silence.  To dinner waiting to be prepared.  To dishes and dirty laundry--all my silent friends.  Silence.

And also in my time here, four weeks of time underway at sea.  A total opposite lifestyle.  People everywhere.  Constant community.  Hard work, long hours.  No bills to worry about.  Dinner's ready when you want it.  Laundry's taken care of twice a week.  A lot of noise and people and opinions...but there is silence.  There's some opportunity to recollect.  The silence I most enjoy is going outside on the bridgewing at night to look up at the stars, and hear the ship cut through the water.  A gentle moon glow.  A deep breath of salty air.  A moment to remember what I am doing and why I am doing it.  It's all for Him.  

Commissioning.  A great commissioning occurred over 2000 years ago when our Lord sent His twelve apostles to go out and preach to all nations, teaching them all that He taught them.  A daunting task for anyone, let alone these ordinary men.  

It's no coincidence that the moment you become an officer is known as your "commissioning."  My great commissioning happened nearly 12 weeks ago.  Our Lord has sent me out to preach, to teach, at a very specific time and in a very particular place.  Facing, just like the apostles, an ineptitude for the task and a seemingly great opportunity for failure.  

And yet, He has left me with something, just as He left His twelve brothers.  He promised to stay with them--with us--even until the end of time.  And He is with me.  Even when I don't feel Him, even when I think I am failing Him, even when the task seems far beyond what I am capable of.  He is there.  And this is His work.

"Why are you troubled, you coward?

Go on and I will help you--for this is My work and not yours."

~Our Lord, speaking to Saint Camillus de Lellis

More blogging to come?

Ok, another little change to the theme of the blog--a new header, signifying the new things ahead of me in my life and hence new things I will be blogging about.  Writing about my new life in the Navy, and the many many experiences to come, while being able to share it with my friends back home.  So enjoy.  I pray the Lord use it all however He desires as I spend these last days in preparation to set out into the deep!

The greatest Love story of all time...

"At the very heart of the vocation to religious life 

is the encounter of the person of Jesus Christ.  

It's not a matter of goals, or ideals, 

or imitation of the Sisters you've come to know; 

it's a matter of being drawn in 

to the greatest Love story of all time."

~Father James Cuddy, O.P.

First the renewal, then the aggiornamento

One of my heroes and guiding lights is Mother Marie William MacGregor, OP, who was the Mother General of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia (Nashville Dominicans) from 1964-1976, during a difficult time in the Church, when there was much confusion following Vatican II.  Many in the Church, from the average parish to the biggest religious congregations, began to abandon their traditional way of life for the sake of "modernization."  Ancient practices were abandoned, teaching the fullness of the faith was exchanged with a watered-down mess, and now an entire generation of Catholics is under-Catechized and uninterested in the Church.  

Many argue that religion is no longer pertinent.  Some can't handle that people who consider themselves religious are indeed imperfect.  Others don't realize that there is a difference between freedom and license.  Our culture is screaming for Hope.  They are thirsting for Truth--and looking in all the wrong places.

There are a "rebellious few" out there who know and love the fullness of Truth, of Beauty, of Goodness, found only in the Person of Jesus Christ and His Spouse, the Church, of whom He gave His life for.  We desire all to know this fullness.  We desire to be the tip-of-the-spear leading our generation to the "Springtime of the Church" which Pope John Paul II preached about.  And it is coming.  Do you feel it?

But, before we run off to conquer the world with Love, we must look at our own hearts.  Have we let Him fully conquer ours first?  Have we really surrendered all to Him, that all the holy work we desire to do is truly His work and nothing of our own?  If we desire to preach and love through the New Evangelization, have we allowed that new evangelization to constantly renew our hearts?

"First the renewal, and then the aggiornamento..." were the words of Mother Marie William to her congregation as they set out to serve the post-Vatican II Church.  She understood that the most important thing to face the perils of the quickly-changing culture was to first to renew your own heart and commitment to Christ, then adapt to the times.  

Pope Paul VI said this: "Modern man is more willing to listen to witnesses than to teachers.  If they do listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.  In short, be the witnesses of sanctity."  For us to be witnesses, and hence bring our generation to Love, we must be always renewing our hearts and adapting.  To live is to change, to be perfect is to change often.

As we face the depravity of the world, may we find our Hope in the Divinity that dwells within each of us.  May we constantly, daily, in all things, renew our hearts with the Love of Christ, that we might be always be ready to share our reason for hope--which is something our culture is, quite literally, dying for.  Only then can we be the change the world needs.

"We wish to start Heaven here on earth..."

Salt+Light TV, the Catholic TV network of Canada, has spent the past year and a half working on a documentary of the life of the Dominican Sisters of Saint Cecilia, our beloved Nashville Dominicans.  They wrapped up filming this fall, and the final 55-min piece is scheduled to air in January.  They have a beautiful trailer posted on their website...

And here are some of my favorite quotes...

"They're looking at leaving behind good things; the good and beauty of married life and parenthood, and to see, can I be a spouse to Christ; and yet, to say, I'll leave those behind for the greater good of Christ alone, where He becomes my everything."

"If you think about it, all people are called, ultimately, to live totally united to Christ; and most people will do so in Heaven.  We wish to start heaven here on earth."

"The vocation to the religious life is a call to love Christ as our Spouse, and our neighbor as He loves them.  It's magnificent.  He gives us the grace to love, and we have to remain faithful to that grace."

Saint Cecilia, wise, prudent, and faithful virgin, pray for us!

Thy Kingdom Come

"In our present political climate it would be very easy to somehow link our courage and hopefulness to the outcome of political endeavors.  It would be easy to position our hope in some kind of political strategy and call for greater courage in fostering that particular strategy.  

The fact that whatever kind of kingdom we manage to build here will always be an imperfect kingdom helps us keep our focus on that in which and for which we ultimately hope, a kingdom of God in eternity."

~Bishop Robert Vasa of the Diocese of Baker, Oregon

This is so well said.  Nothing can or should steal away our hope.  We are a people of Hope, we are a people of Christ.  As our Holy Father has said, people who have Hope live differently.  And that is our call--and quite honestly, always has been our call.  Living the Christian life, authentically, is a radical call to live the gospel; and in our society, that is living quite differently. Rejoice.  Pray.  Have Hope.  This is our call!  

And might I add--I got to spend time with Bishop Vasa at World Youth Day--LEGIT. 

VOTE LIFE

50 million dead.

1/3 of our generation killed.

The greatest holocaust in history.

VOTE LIFE