A Priest Life

I spent much of the afternoon in the hospital in Lake Charles visiting my Godson. While there, I took the opportunity to visit a priest who has been in the hospital.

Throughout my life Msgr. Bourque has always been a good priestly influence. He always encouraged me to pursue my vocation and to dedicate my life to doing Your will.

We prayed together. He extended his hand and offered me some parting advice:

The job of the priest is to love. If a priest doesn’t love God and love his people, what else does he have?

Today, I thank You for Msgr. Bourque and his

priestly job description.

I was in Camelot Brookside visiting their newest resident. She is a woman whose life has had a major impact on our church parish, and she recently suffered a mild stroke. In her new home, we’re hoping she gains the strength to return to her normal routine.

As I was rounding the corner to her hallway, I heard a sob behind me. I turned my head to see two woman emerge from a room in tears. “I should stop and visit on my way back,” I thought to myself.

After visiting our parish friend, I was caught by a nurse, “Are you here to visit Mrs. Esther? It doesn’t appear to be long now.” Hospice hadn’t called me, and I didn’t know of her situation. The nurse gave me the room number, and I headed in that direction.

I found myself standing with the women I had heard crying earlier. Their mother is Mrs. Esther. She is 87, and her daughters were at her bedside.

Introducing myself, I quickly discovered that they weren’t Catholic. However, it didn’t seem to matter.

Mrs. Esther is Southern Baptist. Her daughters told me about her faith and her trust in Your Cross. It was obvious: they love You. 

I stayed awhile. We prayed. We talked of the beauty of faith and the great gift of hope. As a priest, I so badly wanted to celebrate the last sacraments in that moment. Then I remembered one of my seminary professor’s favorite phrases:

Grace is guaranteed by the sacraments but isn’t limited to them.

Your grace was there giving them hope. It reminded me that You are generous. I still hear Your words clearly:

That they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.–John 17:21

The sacraments are visible signs of an interior grace. We may not have celebrated a visible sacrament, but it’s clear You were there. Today, I thank You for

unlimited grace.

Tonight, our youth gathered with their families to contribute to one million rosaries for life. It’s powerful to see the young beseech God’s blessing to aid in the immense task of changing hearts.

As I prayed with them, my thoughts turned to a recent request from our president. On April 26th he spoke at a Planned Parenthood conference. This came as no surprise to anyone. It was his closing line, however, that caused quite a stir:

Thank you, Planned Parenthood. God bless you.

In beseeching God’s blessing on the largest abortion provider in the United States, no little uproar ensued from the Christian faithful. But praying with our flock tonight, my thoughts are different.

To ask for a blessing from God is to request that God pour out his goodness. Coming from the Latin root benedicere, meaning to “speak well of” or “to commend,” to seek God’s blessing is to commend one to God for the sake of sharing in His goodness. It is a request for God to pour our his grace upon another so that they may be sanctified.

This is exactly what Planned Parenthood needs.

We are seeking to change hearts. We desire that hearts may grow and be purified so that all people affected by abortion may experience real love. And in order to grow in love we must have the support of Love Itself, who we call God.

By commending Planned Parenthood to You, we ask for Your blessing. May Your grace change hearts and save lives.

Tonight, I thank You for one million rosaries for life. I thank You for the unexpected inspiration given by our President. May we always work to grow in holiness.

I agree with you, Mr. President:

God bless Planned Parenthood.

It has become so much a part of our generation’s growing up process…I was 12 on 9/11…and there hasn’t been a significant lull since. I think terrorism has shaped us more than we realize.

I received that text from a close friend of mine as we were discussing the tragedy in Boston. We look back and see a remarkable difference on the world before and after September 11, 2001. Acts such as these were not unknown before but they had never defined an American generation.

My heart aches tonight for those affected by Boston.

I’ll never fully grasp how much fear has shaped my generation. It’s like I’m growing up in a marathon of fear and violence and terror. But through this race, You bring my solace:

Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through justification for eternal life. –Romans 5:20-21

If fear has shaped the world, how much more has Your grace? At times such as these we ask where You were. Perhaps the answer lies in a different question:

How much worse would it be if You were not here?

Tonight, my heart aches. We need You today just as much as yesterday. Please, don’t end Your

marathon of grace.

There seems to be red everywhere. A quick look at some social media today might reveal a number of photographs and avatars in red as people express their hopes that the Supreme Court might redefine marriage.

After seeing these pictures this morning, I walked over to the church to pray as I do most mornings. As I sat in the pew and looked into the sanctuary, I was struck by a color: red. My heart felt heavy as I pondered and prayed. Then I opened my breviary and noticed its color, too: red. My mind turned to the many comments I’ve read about the ongoing debate about marriage, but my heart turned to the missing fundamental cornerstone: Jesus Christ.

In all of these debates, in all of these circles, I rarely hear of the talk of true love, I rarely hear of Christ’s love for us. When I sat in the church this morning, that’s the only place my heart would let me go. Reflecting on today’s Gospel, I felt Jesus’ own heavy heart: “Jesus was deeply troubled” (John 13:21). My heart was heavy, too.

This week is never easy. The celebration of the Sacred Triduum requires me to go to the very depth of my being in search of answers. Indeed, the question of suffering is not easily answered. In my admittedly short life, this celebration of the Sacred Pasch is the only answer I’ve found to the question of suffering.

Seeing this red everywhere reminds me of that fact of our existence: the world is in suffering. Perhaps the entire debate of marriage has arisen from the suffering experienced within family structures. With so many broken homes that contain so many broken hearts, we’ve begun to ask if love itself is broken. “If love is broken, then marriage is too,” our society seems to say.

But sitting in church this morning surrounded by red, I realized once again that love is not broken; it’s just in need of further redemption and purification. So many years ago, the world experienced evil and suffering. As Jesus mounted the wood of the Cross, He showed the world the answer to the question of evil and suffering: God suffered, too. The beauty of the Cross, the beauty of this Sacred Pasch, is that Jesus redeemed suffering and allows us to participate in His redemption by suffering with Him.

This is what the color red represents. We are suffering. Violence tears apart nations, families are torn apart by broken love, and men and women suffer in their attractions to each other.

Seeing all this red, I fail to believe that love is broken; it’s just in need of redemption and purification. That’s why we celebrate this Holy Week. Jesus’ Church stands by marriage and defends its dignity because of love–redemptive, sacrificial love. She supports men and women in their suffering, bringing them to the Cross for redemption.

The goal should not be for the Church or the State to redefine marriage. After all, God created it and all God created is good (cf. Gen. 1:31). Instead, the Church, we, must help each other bear our sufferings and bring them to Christ so that He can redeem them. The Church doesn’t seek to take away all suffering. Instead, she seeks to redeem it through Jesus because we preach Christ crucified (cf. 1 Cor. 1:23).

Men and women are not defined by their desires. It’s a bit sad that our culture seeks to define a person’s worth or dignity based on the object of sexual desire and its expression. As fallen creatures, all our desires have gone awry, including our sexual desire. It’s easy for this desire to be focused on the things of earth rather than the things of heaven. However, we learn that our desires in this world are simply a shadow of the intimacy and relationship we desire to have with God, our creator.

We often feel trapped by these fallen desires, but Christ gives us the ability and the freedom to no longer be defined by them and to experience the freedom that comes from being sons and daughters of God (2 Cor. 6:18). Jesus’ redemption on the Cross provides us with the ability to participate in the act of redemption by suffering with Him.

Men and women who struggle with, especially those who suffer because of, their sexual attraction have an incredible opportunity. They have the potential to reveal to the world the purpose of sexual attraction: that our desire for union with another person is a foreshadowing of the desire for real intimacy with God. Christ reveals to us that his Cross is a moment of closeness to His Father (cf. John 17). By allowing their desires to be redeemed, especially through suffering, they can reveal to the world the power of the Cross and the beauty of the Lord’s Resurrection.

As a priest confessor, I’m most fully aware of human suffering, especially as it relates to desire and attraction. No one is perfect and no one is without suffering caused by desire. That’s evidenced by the people who line up to seek the Lord’s mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation day after day. My goal as a priest, and the goal of the Church as a whole, is to bring those sufferings and desires to Christ so that He can redeem them. This is what I witness as a priest: that Christ redeems our suffering and brings us the hope of resurrection!

I do not support the redefinition of marriage for a number of reasons, but among them is this: I do not want take away from men and women who suffer in any way with their sexual desires of any orientation the opportunity to participate in the redemption of the world by uniting their cross to the sufferings of Christ. Christ constantly invites us to pick up our Cross and follow Him. This includes those with same-sex attraction, those with heterosexual attraction, and those who struggle with having no attraction at all. Marriage exists as a natural good in and of itself, and it has been elevated to the level of a sacrament by Jesus Christ. Attempting to change the definition will not decrease or end the suffering that men and women experience. Instead, that suffering caused by desire must be brought to Christ in an act of sacrificial love because He alone alone can redeem suffering and give it purpose. When desire is heavy like the Cross, it’s an opportunity for sacrificial love that can be united to Christ crucified, and thus suffering can reveal God’s eternal plan of redemption.

Our goal is to celebrate the Resurrection at Easter. However, He said, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Don’t be afraid of the Cross! Don’t put it down or walk away from it. Instead, pick it up and head towards Calvary in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. It seems like love is broken. Love is not broken; it’s just in need of further redemption and purification.

This Triduum, we see red; and its most appropriate. Red is the color of suffering, it’s the color of Redemption, it’s the

color of love.

I was driving to Truth Poured Out and praying for our new pope. I’ve been spellbound by his humility and his example.

As I pulled onto the interstate, I noticed I was following an unmarked vehicle from the Jeff Davis Parish Sheriff’s Department. The black suburban has external lights and is easily identifiable as law enforcement. He merged and set his cruise control at the speed limit.

I followed him.

About 3 minutes into our trip, I began to watch with amusement. I could see people coming up quickly in the left lane in my mirror, but they slowed down as soon as they noticed the black suburban with the lights. During the 40+ mile trip to Lake Charles, no one dared to go faster than that black suburban; they simply fell in line behind him when they noticed the speed he was driving. By the time we arrived, we had a line of traffic in both lanes that stretched behind us for as far as my mirrors let me see.

I chuckled most of the way as I prayed for the new pope.

Then You reminded me:

Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses. –Paul VI

You have given the world Francis, and he has shown us that he wishes to lead by example. Already, some believe that we are in the third phase of a beautiful trilogy: John Paul II taught us hope, Benedict XVI strengthened our faith, and Francis will show us to how love.

Make him a modern witness to Your love. As we followed the deputy because of his obedience, may we follow Francis in the law of love. May his obedience to love inspire those on the road to heaven to follow him in a

traffic jam of charity.

You have given me great role models in my life. I was young for his pontificate, but Blessed John Paul II was part of my inspiration to become a priest.

Benedict XVI taught me how to be one.

I was in seminary when he became the 264th successor of St. Peter. His words and role model have been a great example. But there is one quality of his for which I am especially grateful and that I desire to imitate with the simple gifts You give me:

“He has the intelligence of five men and the heart of a child.”

I may not have the same intelligence, but I do have the same desire to love. Today, I thank You for Pope Benedict XVI and his

heart of a child.

It was late. A few pieces of wrapping paper were still scattered on the carpet. Opened presents were stacked half-hazardly around the living room. Most of the kids had all gone home.

My sister called and told mom that my nephew was upset. He couldn’t find an accessory to one of his new toys.

“Poor guy,” I thought to myself. “He shouldn’t have to be sad on Christmas day.”

I heard her search through the stacks of presents for five minutes. “I guess it got accidentally thrown away with the other trash.”

“That’s too bad,” I thought to myself again.

I heard the back door open and close.

Fifteen minutes later another sister asked where mom was. “I’m not sure. She was just in the living room searching for a piece of a toy.” She walked to the window: “I found mom.”

It was dark and cold outside. Mom was wearing a coat with a scarf tied around her head. Four enormous black trash bags filled with wrapping paper and packaging surrounded her. Their contents littered the back porch. She was going through them one by one.

He had lost something. She loves him, so she searched in the trash.

Today, we remember the Incarnation: You love us and come to

search in our trash.

Our arms are empty, but Christ will fill them.

Third Sunday of Advent, 2013

I was in our school’s library when I heard the news. We had kids the same age reading stories about Clifford the Big Red Dog.

Violence is awful in all of its forms, but it’s particularly heinous against innocent children of only a few years old.

The librarian leaned against the wall, “What do you say?”

I was at a loss, so I turned to You. I opened my breviary for daytime prayer:

Psalm 59
Rescue me, God, from my foes;
protect me from those who attack me.
O rescue me from those who do evil
and save me from blood-thirsty men.

See, they lie in wait for my life;
powerful men band together against me.
For no offense, no sin of mine, Lord,
for no guilt of mine they rush to take their stand.
Awake, come to my aid and see!

O my Strength, it is you to whom I turn,
for you, O God, are my stronghold,
the God who shows me love.

O God, come to my aid
and let me look in triumph on my foes.

As for me, I will sing of your strength
and each morning acclaim your love
for you have been my stronghold,
a refuge in the day of my distress.

O my Strength, it is you to whom I turn,
for you, O God, are my stronghold,
the God who shows me love.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be for ever. Amen.

You always know exactly

what to say.