Tag: holy

Today, God Made Me Laugh

If you ask certain people, they’d say I’m funny. (I don’t agree with them) If you ask other people, they’d say I cross way too many lines.  (I agree with them) I’d say I’m one to enjoy a good laugh, even if it meant to be at the expense of others. (I’m sorry to those whom I do it very often to. You guys know who you are.  We’ll talk soon.) But there are certain issues that I rarely laugh about, in fact if a certain topic is brought up in a certain way – my emotions flare up and I go berserk. Well maybe not  berserk-berserk, but you get what I mean. The topic of God is one.

About two years ago I was introduced to the concept that humour, joy, and laughter are part of a healthy spiritual life through a couple of books by Fr. James Martin, SJ. (One of my favourite priests/authors) To be honest, when I read about that subject, I found it to be sketchy. How can an all powerful, almighty, all knowing God be funny? Well Fr. Jim did an awesome job in making me understand that it was indeed not just a possible but a very certain reality that God is a God of joy.

A must read.

Fast forward to a few months back, I was able to read a book by Matthew Kelly – The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic. It was really a practical guide on how one can be a better Catholic. Of course, so I can “look like I know my stuff” – I tweeted one of the lines that spoke to me. Little did I know that it wouldn’t get sent. So when I was cleaning my twitter drafts, I saw this there. So I decided to tweet it yesterday.

Kevin_Muico__KevinMuico__on_TwitterSo I was a bit surprised while I was on my way to the office to get a reply from somebody I did not know. He said this.

Twitter___KevinMuico___bracealmighty__RobinGrainger____

My first reaction was to flare up. Who the heck is this guy. Why is he saying that what I quoted was crap. So I did a quick search on google, a found out that there is a Matthew Kelly from Britain who has a 90s show. So I responded that I was quoting a different guy, and I don’t believe that the quote was crap. And it escalated quickly.

Twitter___KevinMuico___bracealmighty__RobinGrainger____

As I was walking to the office, I was already thinking of ways to defend the faith in 140 characters – well less than given that I needed to tag these two guys. My emotions were high. Then I said to myself, that verse is familiar. So I looked it up and it was…

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. – Matthew 11:28

And I burst into laughter.

Today is the feast day of St. Philip Neri, the patron saint of humour. Both of the guys “mocking” me (well they said they were mocking the TV show) were actually british comedians. And the verse capped it off – I don’t bear the burden of defending what I believe to be true. God can defend Himself. In fact theology and philosophy will point this out to be true. I come to God so I can rest in the One who loves me.

God was doing a prank on me, if I was actually listening to Him during my prayer time this morning. If I was looking to the Saint who found way to holiness through joy.

Today’s Gospel says:

You also are witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning. –  John 15:27

I am called to bear witness to the gospel, the good news. If I am not joyful, then the medium hinders the message. The message is love – and in, with, and through it – we find faith, hope, peace and above all joy. Today I found joy in a weird circumstance. But it is still joy found in the Lord.

Saint Philip Neri, we take ourselves far too seriously most of the time. Help us to add humour to our perspective — remembering always that humour is a gift from God. Amen

PS. You can read the rest of the conversation here: https://twitter.com/KevinMuico/statuses/470666370322280448

Why I Am Catholic And Not Just Spiritual

It is very common to hear this line from your “average” Christian.

“I am spiritual, but not religious. I don’t need the Church, all I need is a relationship with Christ.”

At one point in time, I even held this point-of-view. But in my personal journey, praise the Lord, that I have also grown up and away from this very superficial point-of-view.

Here are some of my personal reasons:

1. Spiritual usually means that I just feel good about my own perception of God.

If God fits the mould that I imagine Him to be in, then He is not God. God, ironically enough, by definition should not even be definable.  He cannot be put into a certain view-point or a certain mould. That is why He tells Moses, “I am who I am”. (Ex 3:14) God is simply God. Period.

If I simplify God using my own personal finite cognitive skills, then God ceases to be infinite, which in fact is one of His attributes.

How then, can I come to know God? Well, through how He revealed Himself. He reveals Himself to us in a myriad of ways, from the beauty of nature to the razor sharpness of logic as well. I believe God has revealed and reveals Himself in us, when we discover this God-shaped hole in our hearts as St. Augustine would say. This inescapable emptiness that can only be filled with this infinite God. This infinite God who fully revealed  Himself in Jesus Christ. Which leads me to my next point.

2. Jesus was the Word made flesh. He was not just spiritual, but more importantly physical as well. (John 1:14)

This is where things get interesting. Christians, including me, like to spiritualize things. But God, though pure in spirit (CCC 370), created us in a very PHYSICAL world. We act as if anything that is physical is evil, but the reality it is not. For everything that God made is in fact VERY good.  (Gen 1:31)

And if Jesus is any example – he would be the best – since He is fully human and fully divine, He is also fully good. His humanity and physicality doesn’t take away from His goodness. Neither should our reality of being physically present take away from the innate goodness that God has made us to be. Jesus shows us the way, He integrates the spiritual and the physical. He does not differentiate between both.

This is why for us Catholics, good works are an integral part of living Christian lives. One cannot separate the follower of Christ from good works. Since the source of all good is God Himself. These good works were enumerated by Christ in the Bible. But since not all of those things He said were explicitly said, a lot of them were passed on to His followers – the Apostles and the disciples. (2 Thess 2:15) Which leads me to my next point.

3. I believe in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

The very same Church whom Christ established through Peter (Matt 16:18), the One(not multiple) Church that is made Holy through Christ and not by the people in it. The One that is sent to all peoples, and not just to a select few. The One Church that has a proven lineage that traces itself back to the Apostles and back to Christ Himself. The Catholic Church.

This may come as a shock to some of you, but the bible you know now was compiled by the Catholic Church. In fact the Catholic Church predates the Bible in that sense.

Which brings me back to my second point, remember the time Jesus said:

“While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” – Matthew 26:26-28

Jesus didn’t mean that in a figurative sense of partaking His body or drinking from His cup. He meant it not only spiritually but very much so literally and physically. And guess which Church takes this to heart?

This Church.

Which goes back to my first point, only is it in the Catholic Church that my faith is asked challenged to go beyond the confines of what comforts me. The Catholic Church challenges me to conform my will to something infinitely higher than me. Which is God’s will, because He has revealed Himself through this Church.

I think it would be a sad day if the fullness of God was limited to what I was comfortable with. I want a faith that doesn’t stop at prosperity, but actually challenges me to pick up my own own cross (Matt 16:24) and be crucified in it. I want a faith that tells me to say Yes to His will and say no to the limited world-view. I want a faith that does not want me to compromise Him for the sake of my own personal gain. I want a faith that transcends my limitedness.

Going back to its roots, Religion is taken from the word Religare which means relationship. My religion is the relationship which God has instituted so I can have a fuller relationship with Him. And like any relationship, try going about doing other than what the other person wants/needs and you’ll end up in a very unhappy and unfulfilled relationship. A relationship is about giving oneself to the other, religion is the giving of oneself to God – Catholicism is its fullness. Why would I give God something less than what He wants?