Creative approaches: "Don't worry; I'll catch you."

Climbing BOSU Mountain

I spend a lot of time balancing on a BOSU, an acronym for BOth Sides Utilized. This little inflated rubber half-moon ball attached to a rigid platform bottom looks like an orb cut in half.  

When the dome of the BOSU faces up, the device provides an unstable surface with a stable bottom. When flipped over so that the platform of the BOSU faces up, the training device becomes very unstable. Either way, standing, squatting, lifting or any other exercise on the BOSU provides an opportunity for me to bump up my functional workouts by adding an element of instability. The BOSU forces me to use my core muscles and stay steady to support the lower regions of my broken spine. Core muscles act as stabilizers. By maximizing core muscles, my functional workouts reach their full potential. If I do not use core muscle, I will fall off of what I call BOSU Mountain. The BOSU workout improves my core strength and balance to prevent injuries and equip me to function with more flexibility and vigor in daily life.  

When my functional trainer insisted that become acquainted and workout on the BOSU, I began with extreme trepidation. Afraid to lose my front teeth (and another disk) if I lost my balance and fell off the 'mountain', my trainer slowly eased my anxiety. He held my hands as I mounted the round side of this 'scary' training device. As I gained balance and became able to stand independently, he stood very close to me as he counted me through thirty squats holding a heavy weight in each hand. “Don’t worry, I’ll catch you,” he would say, providing me with a measure of safety until I felt strong and secure enough to climb BOSU Mountain on alternate workout days without my trainer. When I do work with the trainer, he constantly pushes me to climb to the next level of training on BOSU Mountain, stretching my goals so that I exceed my own expectations and level of endurance.

Practice makes perfect

Diligence, practice and consistent work really do pay off. Do I always feel like going to the gym to work out? Absolutely not. Workouts are particularly difficult when I'm in a lot of pain. But I persist because I feel physically and emotionally better after workouts. They are completely worth my best effort, time and focus. I'm a better person, not only for me but for others. I've developed a daily habit that I really miss when I take a day off to rest and recover muscle tissue, another discipline necessary in the science of functional training. Six days of work and a day of rest. Sound familiar?

Photo courtesy of www.compensationcafe.comI actually look forward to climbing BOSU Mountain and always add it to my daily resistance workout. Practice really does make perfect. The outcome results in building really strong core muscles, the building blocks that support all physical function. Some of those core muscles lay buried underneath other muscles and remain invisible to the eye. They need attention as much as they ones that show. By continuing to build core muscle strength, I gain balance, endurance and stability that equip me to be at my best for regular daily activities.

Soul food 

Photo courtesy of www.aperfectworld.orgBecause a blast workout burns a lot of calories, I need to put food and water back into my body after a workout to maintain a proper balance of nutrients and replace what I lose and restore the muscles to recovery. The discipline of putting only what the body needs to function is a deal breaker in body building. Daily fasting becomes a way of life and regular meals. Eating small portions six times a day keeps metabolism up and burns more fat and builds more muscle than eating three full meals a day. Protein always wins. A rigorous fast of no food several times a month serves as a cleanser, purging the body's impurities and prepares it to receive new, restorative nutrients. One meatless meal equals two lesser meals. Sound familiar? 

Self-denial can be difficult but the benefits exceed the discipline. Good nutrition serves more than the body but acts as soul food for the interior life with the same result as a physical cleansing fast. When I fast, I relate to people who struggle, not just for food, but for good health, for meaningful employment, for supportive community. I 'resist' the culture of consumerism. My resistance, functional training cannot be just about me; I must attend also to the body of Christ that surrounds me whenever, however and wherever the opportunity arises. What I save in my non-consumerist lifestyle must serve the population that the Gospel attends with complete priority. 

Temptations arise. But avarice forfeits all my work in functional training and intentional fasting on the physical level and the spiritual level as well. That equates to building a really great home and burning it down immediately after you hold an open house.  

Working the core muscles of spirituality

Just like those core muscles that lay buried underneath other muscles and remain invisible to the eye, interior prayer life needs a consistent functional workout to grow strong and achieve stability and balance. Venturing into the interior conversation of prayer equates to standing on a BOSU. We never venture alone. "Don't worry; I'll catch you." That requires trust building, a connection to the person of Jesus whose voice we can know without seeing as he becomes so well known to us that his voice is as close as our own heart. That kind of relationship requires as much work as my functional workouts. And which one of us isn't somehow broken when we come to Jesus? Let's face it: we're all working on becoming whole human beings, with the grace of God.   

One sided monologues that offer the other no opportunity to express thoughts, insights or opinions cannot be described as relational. In a functional workout, I need to really listen to my trainer with open minded willingness that allows him to access my progress and push me to the next level. And he listens to me with the same intentional openness. When I say, "I can't bend in that direction," my trainer understands that he needs to create a new way to work a particular muscle to accommodate my compromised spine. We learn from each other because we listen to the other. Listening with a generous ear and open heart employs the core muscles of a strong, stable relationship. So whose doing the talking in your conversations and who is doing the listening? Is it a balanced conversation or are you falling off of the conversational bosu in your prayer life? 

"Don't worry; I'll catch you.""Don't worry; I'll catch you," may be a good mantra as you begin a Lenten workout. Now is "acceptable time" to practice a health-driven, wellness-seeking, body of Christ-building spiritual workout that strengthens the core muscles of faith, hope and charity, the functional building blocks of every Christian.    

"A life like this calls for continuous exercise of faith, hope and charity. Only in the light of faith...can we see Christ in everyone, acquaintance or stranger." (Decree on the Apostolate of Lay People (Apostolicam actuositatem, 4. 18 November, 1965, Second Vatican Council.) 

 

The new agora: social media

Pope Benedict sends his first Tweet. Photo courtesy of Vatican Radio.(Vatican Radio) "Pope Benedict’s message for World Communications Day 2013 was released at a press conference in the Vatican on Thursday, the feast day of St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists and writers. The message focuses on the importance of social networking sites as “portals of truth and faith”, and “new spaces for evangelisation”. 
Pope Benedict, who opened his own Twitter account at the end of last year, invites people to appreciate the potential of social media sites and urges believers, in this Year of Faith, to consider how their presence on these networks can help spread the Gospel message of God’s love for all people."

Photo courtesy of http://www.lilesnet.comKudos

You've got to hand it to the Pope. Even at age 85, when a lot of people call it quits on doing anything new and innovative, the pope and his many assistants use every means to initiate interest in the Catholic faith to prompt people all over the world to share the good news of the Gospel. He called this post-modern communication a new 'agora' and sent his address in seven different languages. You can read his short, poignant piece here. http://www.news.va/en/news/social-networks-new-spaces-for-evangelisation  

Photo courtesy of http://www.stevetierney.orgWhat is an 'agora'? 

An agora is an ancient Greek word that means a gathering place, a space where people assemble. In ancient Greece, the agora was the hub where athletic, artistic, spiritual and political events occurred. By calling social networking sites the new 'agora,' Pope Benedict joined the ranks of a new frontier of missionary pioneers who found a way for people to "share ideas, information and opinions, and in which new relationships and forms of community can come into being." 

Photo courtesy of http://vocablog-plc.blogspot.com"Gimme the root..."

I spend a lot of time reading the Vatican II Council documents because of my passion for the beauty of their prophetic language and what they mean for us in this time and place. Sometimes I feel like the dad in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Gus wears his Greek cultural heritage on his sleeve and talks about it all the time to everyone. In one of my favorite lines from the film, Gus makes a claim. "Gimme a word, any word, and I'll show you how the root of that word is Greek," he tells people, much to the chagrine of his daughter Toula.

I think that I might be the female Catholic version of Gus. Give me an event, any event, and I'll show you where the Vatican II documents address it and how they still speak to us today. As a friend once truthfully stated, "Your sainted husband and your poor children have earned more CEU's at the dining room table than anyone I know." They know just how Toula felt. 

Here's an example. In a Vatican II Council document called Decree on the Mass Media (Inter Mirifica, 4 December, 1963), a portion of the opening paragraph finds its post-modern reality in the new frontier of social networking.

"The genius of humankind, especially in our times, has produced marvellous technical inventions from creation, with God's help. Mother church is particularly interested in those which directly touch the avenues of easy communications of all kinds of news, ideas and directives. Chief among them are those means of communication which of their nature can reach and influence not just single individuals but the very masses and even the whole of human society." (IM,1) 

If you use any kind of social media (texting, Facebook, Twitter, email and the plethora of social network avenues), you may want to read this short decree in its entirety. (Clike here to read) http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19631204_inter-mirifica_en.html)

Compare it to the pope's recent address. Major parallels surface. The decree and the papal address reflect the same basic principles: both challenge all of us who use social media on any level to ask ourselves how we contribute to human growth as 'duty-bound' disciples who witness to the Gospel "with a christian and human spirit." (DMM 3) 

Photo courtesy of http://marketingconversation.com/2010/12/14/go-crazy-with-social-media/The myriad of platforms to social network can be mind boggling. Exploring them swallows up a lot of time. Finding a balanced approach to how much time we devote to social media is a whole other topic for another time. However, because of its existence and its invaluable resource as a tool of evangelization,  "The church has an innate right to use and own any of these media which are necessary or useful for the formation of Christians and for all of its pastoral work." DMM 3

Further, "It is the duty of pastors...to instruct and direct the faithful in their use...for the rest, it will be principally for lay people to animate the media with a christian and human spirit." (DMM 3)  

That really fills the whole enchilada with the stuffing that it needs to be authentic, tasteful and healthy. The Decree also opens the packed potential for social networking to open its portal to be collaboration, dialectic and respectful. Just because we don't 'face off' with people when we connect with them through social media does not exempt us from the same standards of human dignity. 

This new 'agora' creates a virtual meeting ground that gives us opportunities to share faith and reflection, communicate and learn from one another and envision and imagine the reign of God as we pioneer a new way of being within this innovative portal as we sharecrop the way for generations before us. What will we leave as our Christian legacy? How will they remember us when they look back at our conversations, what news we released and how we comment upon it? Several well known writers ceased to accept comments on their posts because of constant verbal abuse. Has social media become the new assault weapon? There are a lot of ways to kill people. If we use social media in even the most minimal way, we're involved in this conversation. 

Special responsibility falls on the shoulders of those who lead us in the way social media. Check out another quote from the Decree on the Mass Media:

A special responsibility ...rests on journalists, writers, actors, designers, producers, programmers, distributors, operators, sellers, critics...they have the power to direct humankind along a good path...by the information they impart and influence they exert. DMM 11

(Artist alert: I wonder if some really creative musician or writer will come up with a new musical or play that depicts Jesus as a post-modern day techie who uses this new platform to preach and teach God's reign. That could be really fun. Any takers?) 

As I read comments on a number of online resources throughout the week, I wonder if people think before they write a remark or post an unkind dictum. Sometimes I feel as thought I'm reading a re-write on Mean Girls, except that some of the derogatory language is produced by men. We live in one of the most violent periods of history; are we contributing to that violence in how we communicate with one another through social media? Do we rage at the gracious words emitted from prophetic writers and prepare to throw them off the proverbial cliff because we disagree with their theology, their politics, their philosophy? What kind of an agora do we want to create? 

Photo courtesy of http://www.etsy.comLove is all we need 

"Public opinion exercises enormous influence nowadays over the lives, private or public, of all citizens, of whatever class. It is therefore necessary that all members of society meet the demands of justice and charity in this domain and what they try, through the media, to form and expand sound public opinion." DMM 8

The next time that you might be tempted to say something harmful, hurtful or cause a bruise or wound that may be irrevocably harmful in the agora of social networking, try an exercise that I find pretty useful. Wherever you find the word 'love,' put your name. If you're writing for a publication, put the name of the publisher that you represent. If you're an artist creating computer imaging or downloading an image to post publicly, substitute your own name to replace the word 'love.' 

1 Cor 13:4-13

Brothers and sisters:
(.......) is patient, (......) is kind.
(......) is not jealous, (......) is not pompous,
(......) is not inflated, (.....) is not rude, 
(....) does not seek its own interests,
(....) is not quick-tempered, (....) does not brood over injury,
(....) does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.
(....) bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
       (....) never fails.

"So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love." That's how they'll remember us: by our legacy of love on this new agora of faith, hope and love. That's how we'll recognize one another in the agape of the agora - by our civility, our integrity, kindness and patience -- by our love. 

Meet you on the Internet. 

Changed

Anyone who interacts with seniors in college at this time of year can attest to the emotional roller coaster that defines their raison d’être from January through May. The fear factor becomes an unwelcome interloper. Texts of terror crowd smart phone airways as students send messages of trepidation, dread, panic, apprehension, anxiety and angst to one another as parents, interested friends and relatives, teachers and administrators ask the inevitable question, “So you’re graduating! What are you going to do?”

The unknown future can be really exhilarating for a few Type A’s who began to plan their post- college careers the day that they step foot onto their college campus. Some fortunate undergraduates may secure positions in their choice of work settings or post-graduate internships. Some decide to take a gap year and travel, do volunteer service domestically or abroad, while others decide to continue in a post-baccalaureate degree program and pursue graduate study. However, in my experience as a parent of three children in their twenties and a retired college campus minister at three different institutions of higher education, the general feeling of second semester seniors can be best described as bamboozled. The time of commencement day reckoning catches many of them completely off guard and leaves them feeling unprepared, uncertain and afraid of the future. What should be a time of elation too often turns into a period of desolation for many students.  Some of the dialogue between students, parents, teachers and administrators goes something like this:

Student: “I’ve applied everywhere. Suppose nothing turns up? I’m so worried that I can’t concentrate on anything and I can’t sleep.”

Administrator: “Stay focused on the second semester, do your best work and keep applying everywhere. The road will open; you have to be patient and try not to worry.”

Student: “I have to move home for awhile. I can’t afford to live on my own. I need to find work and I need to save money before I can move out again. I like my family but I’m used to being on my own. It’s pretty depressing.”

Friend: “I know. Nobody warns you about this. The end of school comes too fast. I’m not ready for the real world.”

Student: “I’m used to walking across the courtyard and visiting with friends at 2:30 in the morning. I can’t even believe that I won’t be able to do that anymore.”

Parent: “The party’s over. Things will work out. In the meantime, we expect you to be home at a reasonable hour so we can sleep. Expect a curfew after you move home again. And by the way, how many applications have you sent out this week?”

Student: “I thought high school went by quickly; that was nothing compared to college. It can’t be time to graduate; I need more time to learn, to study, to prepare.”

Professor: “The work teaches you what you need to know. We’re never done learning but eventually you have to take what you know out for a spin and see what you can do with all you’ve learned and what you will continue to learn. This is only the beginning of change; it occurs often throughout life.”

I thought about all of this as I listened to the gospel of the wedding feast at Cana this morning. I imagined Jesus as a senior in his final semester of college. He and his friends join other friends and relatives, including Jesus’ mother for a party, a wedding celebration.  Jesus’ public ministry has not begun; he’s still in his internship year and preparing to graduate but he’s not quite ready.

At the party, the wine runs out. His mother worries that their friend the host will be embarrassed. “They have no more wine,” she tells Jesus. Like any good parent that knows their child even better than they sometimes know themselves, his mother believes in her son. She believes in her heart that her son can save the day. She feels compassion that the party may end poorly because at its peak, the jugs run dry. The guests may consider that a rudeness; the reputation of the hosts could be ruined on the very day they wish to offer their invited guests their best hospitality. Without saying so, this gospel sites the mother of Jesus as a really compassionate woman who understood the plight of the hosts and intervenes to her son on their behalf.

“What’s this got to do with me?” Jesus asks his mother. He addresses her politely but disputes her timing. He protests. Mom, I’m not ready to go to work. If I do what you suggest, this news will spread like wildfire in this small village and I’ll be forced to go public before I feel prepared. Do you really expect me to go center stage before I feel ready? This is not a major crisis; we’re talking about empty wine jugs, not world peace. What does this have to do with you and me?

The mother of Jesus never answers his question. The unspoken word between a parent and child can speak more clearly that any argument, opinion or viewpoint. Something needs to be done and you can help. You’ve had enough time to prepare; it’s commencement day. Go to work. God will provide what you need as you go along. Trust in God, believe in your own God-given gifts and share them with the people who need them as they present themselves, one at a time. Right now, there’s host with a bunch of empty wine jugs at a wedding. We need you to step up to the plate. I know that you’re afraid and that you don’t feel ready. I believe in you.

“Do whatever he tells you.” With those words, Mary catapults her son from his period of preparation period into action. His internship period end; the work begins in earnest. Jesus ‘orders’ the waiters to fill the jars with water. Any student training within the hospitality industry will understand that while the waiters follow his directive, they probably wonder about the sanity of his order. The head waiter tastes what Jesus produces and calls the groom over and tells him that hosts usually serve the good wine first. However, in this case, the host saves the best vintage for the end of the party. God only serves us the very best.

I confess that I woke up today in a terrible mood. Chronic pain and long term disability can sometimes lead you into a very dark place. Let’s face it: we all have those days, disabled or not. Today, I wallowed in a self-imposed pity party.  My husband serves as the pastoral musician for our parish, work that I can longer consistently do because of the amount of sitting it requires on a bench at multiple liturgies. I miss it, I really do. I know that I am always welcome to join Patrick in our parish and embellish his organ accompaniments by adding instrumentation that enhances the music for the parish community. We’ve always worked well together and I usually welcome those opportunities but today I decided to be a stubborn brat and told him that I would find another place to worship. Disgusted with my immaturity, I prayed. “Do whatever you want with this dreadful mood. I give it to you because I don’t know what else to do with it.”

En route to my alternative worship destination, I suddenly turned the car around and found myself pulling into the parking lot of our parish one minute before Mass began. I can’t even tell you why I turned the car around; I just did. When I reached the church stairs, I ran up to the choir loft. Pat smiled. “Changed your mind?” he said and handed me a copy of the gathering song just before the procession began.

Because his cantor called in sick, Pat planned to lead song for two Masses, accompanying the assembly and singing the psalm from the loft. “Why don’t you lead the psalm from the ambo and I’ll play for you?” I suggested.  I ended up playing for both Masses with my husband. We went for coffee in between liturgies. In the choir loft I could safely stretch, walk, squat and plank to stay limber and pain-free in between ministering music without disturbing public prayer. After the first Mass, a former student came up to the loft to say hello. Now a well-respected administrator in higher education, I was reminded that not so long ago, he was one of the seniors who wasn’t sure which direction he was headed after college.  To see him happy and successful felt like the sun on my heart.

After church, I went to the gym. Workouts always boost my endorphin levels and my spirits and bust my chronic pain into smithereens. I picked up my dad from the nursing facility so that he could enjoy an afternoon with us watching football and enjoying a homemade dinner on a day as warm as spring. When we stopped for gas, a dear friend saw us and ran over to give him a hug. I made dinner for my family, wrote this column and will end my day feeling as though the day was worth living. God broke into my day and changed my water into wine.

When we give Jesus an opportunity, he changes things. Anxiety becomes anticipation. Dread becomes delight. Panic turns to proactive calm. Paralyzing fear becomes hopeful determination. That’s not magic: that’s a miracle – change that comes when and where it’s needed at the moment we need it to occur. Even Jesus felt unprepared and hesitant to take a step into his future. He needed a nudge from his mother who was prompted out of her compassion for the mortified host to ask her son to change the situation. And he did, through the grace of God because she asked him to. We might want to consider that God will do the same for us, whoever we are, however young or old we are, wherever life finds us in any circumstance. It’s not magic; it’s a miracle – change for the good and made possible through the grace of God.

For a deeper exegesis on this gospel, click http://ncronline.org/node/42096

Hidden

A Chinese photographer pondered the movement toward Christianity in his country since the period of the Japanese invasion from 1931 through World War II. The photographer witnessed many of his friends converting to Christianity through the influence of Christian missionaries in his country. He longed to know the truth. Greatly troubled, the photographer prayed one day as he walked through home through the winter snow. “Lord, if I could only see your face, I would believe.”  

A voice spoke to his heart, “Take a picture.”

The photographer surveyed the pools of melting snow that exposed the earth beneath. There seemed nothing attractive or interesting in the scene. Nevertheless, the photographer focused his lens on the snowy landscape and snapped a photo.

When he arrived at home, he developed the film immediately, more out of curiosity than expectation. Formed from the black and white areas of the snow scene, the young man beheld the face of Christ looking directly at him full of love and compassion. The photographer sought baptism and became a Christian.

This image circulated since the late 1950s. I found it in the late 1970’s and keep it on my desk. The image is the face of Christ. Some people see the face immediately, some see the face gradually and some people cannot see the face at all. Can you see him?

Perhaps the image represents how difficult it can be to find Christ hidden in today’s world. Quite often, we create our own barriers and blinders. Disappointments lead to bitterness and mar our vision to what lies underneath hidden mystery. And there always is Christ waiting to love us with tender compassion. We want to know the truth but miss it even when it meets us on the proverbial road.

Through baptism, Christ initiates us into his light so we can find him through our blind spots, like the earth hidden under the snow. Our baptism in Christ plunges us into grace and inaugurates us as members of his body.  Our ‘missionary’ task is to seek and find Christ in every snowy crack and murky crevice and make him known to everyone who longs to know the truth.  

Welcome, Heart of Jesus Maronite Catholic Church

Heart of Jesus Church, center window"The Catholic Church values highly the institutions of the eastern churches, their liturgical rites, ecclesiastical traditions and their ordering of Christian life. For in those churches, which are distinguished by their venerable antiquity, there is clearly evident the tradition which as come from the apostles through the Fathers and which is part of the divinely revealed, undivided heritage of the universal church...the Mystical Body of Christ, made up of the faithful who are organically united in the Holy Spirit by the same faith, the same government, and who, coming together in various hierarchically linked different groups, thus form particular churches or rites. Between those churches there is such a wonderful communion that this variety, so far from diminishing the Church's unity serves to emphasize it."Decree on the Catholic Eastern Churches (Orientalium Ecclesiarum). 21 November, 1964, Second Vatican Council. 

From ordinary to extraordinary

Last Saturday morning, I took a quick run to the YMCA in New Bedford for a furnace workout before leaving with my husband for a weekend away. Destination: Fort Lauderdale, FL. After my usual full body blast, I felt ready for the three hour flight. As I prepared to leave the gym, I encountered one of the weekend trainers who stopped to chat for few minutes.

"Have a great weekend," he said. "Are you doing anything in particular?"

"We are," I replied. "We're flying to Florida for the weekend for an event."

"Good for you - leaving the cold behind for a few days! What's the event?"

Chorbishop Michael Thomas, pastor of Heart of Jesus I explained that our friend Chorbishop Michael Thomas established a new Maronite Catholic parish in Fort Lauderdale, FL. On Sunday, January 6, 2012, Bishop Gregory Mansour, the Ordinary of Saint Maron of Brooklyn would consecrate Heart of Jesus Church at the 11:00 AM Mass.

“The consecration of a Catholic church is a magnificent and very moving rite,” I told the trainer. We’re thrilled to participate.”

Over the course of the year, we visited with Chorbishop Thomas at Heart of Jesus Church throughout its deep renovations. Set on Florida's Intercoastal, we watched an ordinary property become sacred terrain, where a seedling of faith continues to grow and draw more and more people, creating a new community of Catholic faith. 

Heart of Jesus, rear church view During the conversation, the trainer's genuine interest and replies took me by surprise.

"Wow, that's fantastic! I’ve never heard about that religious denomination. Who are they?”

I explained that the Maronite Church can be traced to the time of the early Christians of Antioch in Syria, where a mixed group of Greeks, Jews and Gentiles received the good news of the Gospel and grew into a vibrant faith community. Barnabus and Saul (later, Paul) stayed with the group for an entire year and "met with the church and instructed great numbers. It was in Antioch that the disciples were called Christians for the first time.” (Acts11: 26)

“But they’re Catholic, right?” the trainer asked respestfully but looked simultaneously puzzled.

 Sometimes there's just nothing like a teachable moment, even when you're dripping sweat all over the gym floor from a workout blast. 

“That's a great question! Yes, the Maronite Church is Catholic and in union with the Roman Catholic Church and very distinct in in its use of linguistic and cultural tradition, “I answered. “You don’t have to go to Florida to experience it,” I added, chuckling. “Our Lady of Purgatory in New Bedford has been a very vibrant and active local parish for many years. Bishop Thomas grew up in that church with a wonderful pastor, Fr. George Saad. I’ve never met a more welcoming community and always think of them when I hear the Olive Garden slogan, “When you’re here, you’re family,” because that's how they make you feel." The trainer laughed in appreciation. His next comment really caught me off guard. 

"They're Catholic and they're opening a parish?" the trainer asked.

I understood. In this day and age of church closures and mergers, this trainer spotted a success story with deft perception.

Side garden, Heart of Jesus "Remarkable, isn't it?" I smiled. "This parish will create a new Catholic community that's growing very quickly. The people are so grateful that they don't need to travel 50 miles to worship on a Sunday morning. That's what prompted the establishment of this new parish. The distance between parishes didn’t accommodate a growing need for people who live in the Fort Lauderdale area. They had to travel long distances to worship on Sunday morning. And there's an increasing number of Maronite Catholics coming from South America to live in that part of Florida. This parish will be a place of sacramental worship and magnificent hospitality." 

"The liturgy for the consecration of a church is really quite magnificent and very moving," I added. "We feel fortunate to attend and celebrate with the Heart of Jesus community." The trainer stunned me with his next statement.

"Well, I am a man of God. I believe that God's spirit lives in all of us. I wish you and your husband a safe journey and wish that the Spirit of God lives this new community of faith. God bless them. Have a wonderful time."

I've talked to this trainer for over a year. We've talked about the weather, furnace resistance workouts and he’s even spotted me a few times when I lift heavy metal, just to insure my safety. I would never in a million years expect this trainer to display an obvious desire to learn about religion, let alone perceive or anticipate his intelligent curiosity about such an obsure topic such as the consecration of a Catholic church. 

I marvel at the encounters that God places at our disposal every minute of every day. Availability can change ordinary moments into an extraordinary opportunities for dialogue, a chance to touch the Holy in a holy exchange. I wonder how many times such moments forever elude us because we fail to employ God's grace, which is always at our disposal. Do we presume disinterest on someone's part based on our own bias, our subjective and preconceived opinions? Consistent examen, like persistent workouts may alter some of our conjecture. I admit that I have my spiritual workouts cut out for me and need to attend to them as diligently as I do to workouts in the gym. 

No one seems to be stretched beyond God's reach but our arms must do the reaching. With a sense of urgency, our lips must relay the message that Christ is alive and well and living among us, as evidenced by a new Catholic parish born from a seedling and growing into a cedar of Lebanon. Our assumptions that people remain disinterested and apathetic about God must cease on behalf of people who long for the burning platform of Gospel passion to emit from all Christians who profess and proclaim that by his death and resurrection, Christ has set us free to speak up on behalf of God. 

Waiting 

An unadorned altar and empty tabernacle await ChristMusicians prepare to pray the sung liturgyBefore any liturgy, certain details and preparations occur. Musicians arrive, warm up and tweak out a few rough edges before people arrive. Well rehearsed liturgical ministers arrive early to review their parts one last time. Plant managers survey Parish hall and workers prepare the banquet hall and feast the church with keen eyes to insure safety and cleanliness. Environmental teams lend their artistic expertise to offer beauty to the eye. Hospitality ministers work behind the scenes to prepare food and drink for post-liturgical celebration.The details triple for a solemn consecration of a new Catholic church. Everything in the church must be blessed. Invited concelebrants arrive from all over the country and must be housed for the weekend. The parish staff must attend to family, friends and parishioners who will attend the liturgy that will welcome Christ to dwell in their midst. If you've even worked behind the scenes and planned a large event, you'll understand how much work goes into this, in addition to a year's worth of building up a new community while renovating a property. You can imagine the joy when the day finally arrives. On Sunday, the elation could have filled the world. Isn't that what the good news of the Gospel is supposed to do? 

Worship

Chorbishop Thomas incenses the peopleMaronite sung liturgy sways between Arabic, Syriac (a version of Aramaic), English and Greek. The music modes are Middle Eastern and repeat often enough so that even neophytes like me who usually worship in the Roman rite can eventually participate in the sung responses throughout worship. The worship aid created for the liturgy contained rubric, ritual and musical dialogue between concelebrants, choir and assembly. 

Bishop Mansour consecrates the altar 

I provided a small video segment taken with my Android as Bishop Mansour consecrates the altar with sacred chrism. (Please forgive my amateur attempts; I am NOT a professional videographer!) 

Images evoke prayer

Some of my favorite Old Testament scripture passages can be found in Kings and Chronicles and describe the building, dedication and re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem. When the musicians and the people express their gratitude to God for their permanent place of worship, they sing "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever" and "the building of the Lord's temple was filled with a cloud." (2 Chronicles 5: 13) That 'cloud,' called the Shekinah literally means the settling, the dwelling of the presence of God amongst the people. God comes to reside with them.

Throughout Sunday's liturgy as all of the sacred symbols were incensed often and generously, the density of incense evoked the image of the Shekinah coming to dwell within a new church and community. The palm tree seen directly behind the altar through the center window at Heart of Jesus added timely and prayerful imagery as it danced and swayed to the mesmerizing Syriac chants and eastern modes that transcend centuries of time. Imaginative prayer seeks the truth of the heart, an encounter with Jesus. If we engage the images and symbols at our disposal, we can return to them often to savor and experience their sensory persuasion again and again in our encounters with Jesus. Engaging the senses heightens the mysteries of faith. On Sunday, I drowned in rich symbols and imagery that I will return to and reflect upon often in prayer.  

Fellowship

One of the best treaures that I know of in life is to share and celebrate a friend's success. On Sunday, we celebrated with our dear friend Chorbishop Thomas who continues to be a deep blessing and gift in our lives and extend our deepest gratitude to him and to Heart of Jesus Catholic Church for including us in this magnificent event. May Heart of Jesus parish welcome many who will seek and find the Lord Jesus within this beautiful new Maronite Catholic parish of faith and fellowship. Mabrouk "مبروك"! Ad multos annos! 

Here are a just few more pictures from the liturgical celebration. I admit that I was too busy having a great time at the party to think about taking pictures! 

from left:Bishops Caggiano, Favalora, Mansour, Coleman, Thomas

Rev. Samuel Najjar, Msgr. Stephen Avila, Bishop Frank Caggiano, Chorbishop Michael Thomas

Fully adorned main altar. Welcome, Lord Jesus Christ!