Praying and Running

I had a great 10 mile run this morning and even though it is the day after Thanksgiving I had an experience that I can truly be thankful for during that run. We are spending this Thanksgiving weekend with family in MI and even though many of us were participating in a Turkey Trot(5k race Thanksgiving morning) and even though I knew I would be running at least 1 or 2 other days while we were up here, I forgot to pack my polar running watch. The watch gives me all of my stats in both real time and stores the results for analysis later. So while I am running I can keep an eye on my pace, heart rate, elapsed time etc. I have noticed lately that while I used to use my runs as a time to spend in prayerful contemplation, as my seriousness about competitive running grows the watch and stats are getting more and more of my attention during the run. I have noticed that run is no longer about the prayer, not even about the run. Rather the run has become about the stats. The pace, the distance, ...

One great thing about being  Catholic is there are a whole lot of cool words that you get to use. One of my favorites is doxology. The word doxology alone just sounds really neat. But doxology is itself also something pretty awesome when you think about it. After all, doxology is a hymn of praise usually directed toward the Holy Trinity and usually affirming the infinite quality of God. Catholics will recognize a few standard doxologies like the "Glory be" and the "Through him, with him, and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, almighty Father, for ever and ever." that the priest prays before the Great Amen of the Eucharistic Prayer during Mass. But why do I think that doxologies are so great? As we learn from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 45, "Man is made to live in communion with God in whom he finds happiness".  Heaven is where we will be in communion with God fully. Heaven then, is what man was ma...

A homily that I heard once and some wisdom from an old friend I think really put the Mass and our participation in the Mass into perspective. I remember the homily began by the priest telling us that our parish had lost a family to a non-denominational church down the road. He said that this family actually came to him and said they were leaving and going to this other church for two reasons. The first was that the music was better. The second reason was because they didn't feel like they got anything out of Mass. At this point I remembered something a friend once said that made a lasting impact on me. She said essentially, "I don't come to Mass for the music or for the homily or for anything other than Jesus. I come because Jesus is here in the Eucharist." I wish that those people had known my friend. Because there is no where that you can go to be so close to our Lord as you are when you receive Holy Communion at Mass. The priest reiterated this sentiment and th...

 Luke 23:33-34 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him and the criminals there, one on his right, the other on his left.[Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”] They divided his garments by casting lots. One thing I have learned about praying the Rosary regularly is that you always have the chance of stumbling onto something so profound that it makes you think "Man, I really have to reassess my life with this in mind." As I learned again the other night, sometimes this thing that you find that is so profound is something you have always heard, something you have know as long as you have known your own name. It is ingrained in you, you know that it is part of the faith. The problem is, it is so comfortable to you, it is so much a part of the landscape of your faith that you actually quit seeing it. You know it, but at the same time it is foreign and you never even think to apply it to your own life. I say the Rosary...

St. Joan of Arc in Kokomo, IN will be beginning another Catholic home coming program soon. Here is a link to info about the program including schedule, contact info etc. If you have been away for a while, the program will give you an opportunity to ask questions. You will get a refresher on the sacramental Catholic life. And you will get a walk through the Mass. You won't need to feel self conscience because you haven't been to Mass in so long and you won't have to wonder “should I go to communion”. In other words, you are not expected to just walk in and pick up where you left off 10, 20, or 30 years ago. Having been a “fallen away” Catholic myself, I think this is a great thing. I was away from the church for about 15 years. There was no formal program when I came home. But my children went to the local Catholic school and so I had somewhat of a connection. As students, they went to Mass twice a week and knew all of the “rules”. Even still, it was hard to go back. I...

About a year ago I made a commitment to receive the the sacrament of reconciliation on a monthly basis as a way to grow closer to God. I didn't make this commitment without some hesitation however. One thing in particular kept me from it for a while; it felt silly. What I mean by that is that I don't go around breaking commandments in big ways anymore. That being the case, I was afraid that I would sound like a second grader to the priest and instead of making a good confession and feeling the Mercy of God that I would merely be reciting a list of the various and unexciting ways that I had "sinned". There are a couple of things that have gotten me past this. First, I spoke to a priest and told the him that I wanted to receive reconciliation monthly but that I felt like I would sound like a child with "small and petty" sins. His response was two-fold. First, he said that if a person wishes to truly be close to God than no matter how "small" a sin ...

John 6:53-69 Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever" These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. Then many of his disciples who were listening said, "This saying is hard; who can accept it?" Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, "Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he ...