Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

A.M.D.G. as it is more commonly known by everyone slightly familiar with the Society of Jesus. Literally, to the greater glory of God. In honor of the feast day of Ignatius of Loyola today, instead of the usual Sunday reading, I will write more about my Jesuit education.

St. Francis Xavier High School, 30 West 16 St, New York, NY was the scene of my secondary education. The decision to attend Xavier was mine in so far as my decision agreed with my father. Previously I knew nothing of Jesuits as I had been raised in a diocesan grade school. Freshman year brought many new lessons, one of which was the practice of entering A.M.D.G on the top, center of each paper, test, quiz and homework I submitted. I studied Latin I among my other subjects and the phrase had been drilled into me early and often. One day I (and a number of my classmates) neglected to place the acronym on a quiz that Mr Finnegan ,who taught Freshman algebra, had given that day. He noticed, smiled and said nothing that day. The next day's period was taken with a lecture concerning AMDG. I never forgot to start the paper after Mr. Finnegan's lecture.

There were countless other Jesuit experiences while I was at Xavier, suffice is to say that the Jesuits changed the most introverted young boy into most of the man you know me as today.

The nest time you see me, as for a rendition of the Xavier fight song.

Seriously, the next major influence on my faith life were the Capuchins of Sacred Heart, to be continued....

Imagine

Explaining Christ within you to someone who does not believe, take a look at this video and spread Christ's love

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

As usual

1 Kgs 3:5, 7-12

Would that each of us, when asked for a single wish, seek the wisdom and understanding to place the needs of others ahead of our own.

America magazine

Harkening back to my Jesuit education and with the guidance that Kathy provides, we subscribe to this monthly publication. Among the features I like the most are:

• THE WORD which contributes to my weekly scripture study preparation
• OF MANY THINGS, the OP-ED section and it would be no secret that I agree with most of the Jesuit opinions
• ARTICLES, which obviously vary from month to month and present a fairly unbiased review of the topic

During the last two issues, social media and technology have been presented to help reach younger Catholics.

Usual Sunday

Rom 8:26-27

Romans Ch 8 speaks volumes about the Holy Spirit. Backtracking a bit,

16: The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

26: In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.

27:And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because it intercedes for the holy ones according to God's will.

v27 spoke to me today for many reasons, here are three:

• Searching hearts, is a process of not accepting things at face value but instead seeing from a number of points of view
• Intention of the Spirit, is a matter of faith as well as understanding
• Intercedes according to God's will, this harkens back to my faith statement, an additional building block in my faith

Matthew 11:28-30

Very simply, this two verse passage from Matthew's gospel is what everyone wants but cannot figure out a way to make it happen.

28 "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

I learned from some my German friends, the art of looking at something 'the other way around' in other words, look at the reading from God's point of view.

Faith Statement

Since this blog is about a faith journey, here's my 5 mins.

I believe God knew me before I was born and knew everything that would happen in my life. I was also given free will. Regarding evolution, I believe God created the origins of life on Earth and watched life evolve from that point forward.

There are two things I am working on at this stage of my faith. First is this new conversation with the Holy Spirit and God's work in my life.

The second is making sure others know that God loves them, whether each person cares about that, is not important. I am driven to share the love that has been shared with me.

Religion and Civilization

I hope this is the beginning of an ongoing dialogue,

The June 2011 edition of the National Geographic magazine cover article prompted a question that I had never considered, Did civilization generate religion or vice versa?

The article posits that the Göbekli Tepe, (pronounced Guh-behk-LEE TEH-peh) dates from 11,600 years ago and the title of the article Birth of Religion sets the tone. I am interested in the above question as well as the historical, scholarly view as well as the faith-based view

Sacred Heart Yonkers Ministries

Today's post concerns something, which is difficult for people to start and near impossible for them to stop. Once you begin a ministry, you generally have no reason to cease. If you become either a Eucharistic Minister or Lector, some people express concern about being in the sanctuary or speaking in front of people, If you have experience with either (altar server or giving presentations) then these concerns are less prevalent.

Being an EM is one of the most personal experiences with God that I can think of. It's different than reading scripture or praying but a lot like volunteering your time with those in need. A smile comes to my face when I say, The Body (or Blood) of Christ, perhaps because I see God in the faces of the communicants.

I asked to become a Lector in order to expand my ministry, more than likely as a result of this faith Journey. The training I received in order to "proclaim" the readings was not only helpful in Church but in other presentations as well. 'Spooning' is the process of lifting your eyes near the end of a sentence or paragraph in order to make eye contact with the congregation. The rest of the training consisted of, ensuring that "proclaiming" does contain contain any theatrics. Simply read the words and proclaim.

If you have any questions about either ministry, ask me or see the parish office for more details.

Theology on Tap

The concept has been around for a while, drinks and a discussion about God, faith.

A few years ago, the NY archbishop, Timothy Dolan was the guest speaker at one of there events. My friend Alan and I went with some young friends from Citibank. We arrived early, anticipating a large crowd. By time the archbishop arrived, it was standing room only. His Grace spoke for a few minutes, then took questions which had been submitted earlier in the evening. http://www.totnyc.org/ is the NY archdiocese's ToT website.

In a less formal setting, here are some topics I would like to address with the guest speaker:

• Faith journey, would the speaker spend some time talking about their own journey and focus on some segment, in detail
• the American Catholic Church, what is the speaker's estimate of the ACC at this time, focusing on any specific the speaker chooses
• Adult Faith Formation, what experience does the speaker have to share?

Would anyone like to join me in an informal ToT?

Faiths of Abraham

Today's topic involves the three Abrahamic faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. A friend's daughter asked a question about Islam and the answer to her question was to bring representatives from the three faiths to Sacred Heart for a public conversation regarding their faiths. Imagine a rabbi, priest and imam speaking about a specific topic that each of the faith's share. For the first thirty minutes, each representative would speak for ten minutes each. For the last thirty minutes, the audience can ask questions for the representatives. The idea is to educate, share ideas and letting the audience discuss rather than argue or criticism what they do not understand.

Some background can be in two Vatican II documents, Dignitatus Humanae, and Nostra Aetate, each of which speaks about the other faiths. If you want to go back further than Vatican II, please review the Remonstrance of the Inhabitants of the Town of Flushing to Governor Stuyvesant, Dec 27,1657.

Sundays

For two simple reasons, the Sunday posts will reflect a Sunday reading and a thought.

Jul 3 I will reflect on Matthew 11:25-30, imagine a day where despair, frustration, insecurity and all the rest are no more because people give their burdens in exchange for Jesus's easy yoke.

Same sex marriage

Recently New York State passed a controversial law regarding same sex marriage.

Today's post is simply my opinion about the matter. I have friends who are gay and I would frame the matter as fundamentally about rights.

On the weekend we celebrate the Independence of our country from England, I thought about two of the earliest documents in our history, the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution, both of which lay out the rights & goals for the people of the U.S.

I hope that the same sex marriage law increases the rights for people in the state of N.Y.

church

Today's topic is the first of a recurring topic. I mentioned previously that my two sons, Dan and Owen, both enjoyed Jesuit secondary eductions. Yesterday Dan and I had lunch. Our conversations are eclectic, eventually the topic of this blog and a bit of our respective faiths came up.

A moment please,

The Roman Catholic Church is more than 2,000 years old, is based in Rome and is well known around the world.

The not so well known church of my faith consists of the people I study scriptures each week, the people who attend Mass, religious and most importantly, the people who never attend Mass, do not think about their faith and think that their lives are complete. If people only knew how much God loves them, they would realize how incomplete their lives really are.

Some have called me a "conversational terrorist", for the passion I have for speaking with people. Today I think this quality is an important part of my faith journey.

Having said all of this, my wish for today is for people to differentiate the Catholic Church and its churches from the people who form the heart of the church. Hear a small voice in a quiet moment. (More to come)