» Archives for August 2010

One Year Anniversary of Live Holiness

Written by on August 31, 2010 - 11 Comments

Okay, so Father is in a blogging slump.  I’m not sure why.  I’m tempted to make all kinds of excuses: the busyness of the new academic year, my new assignment as high school chaplain while maintaining my other responsibilities, etc.  But the truth is, I’ve just been in a writing slump.  So, I apologize for my infrequent postings.

I can’t pass up the opportunity, however, to celebrate the first anniversary of Live Holiness (September 1).  I want to thank all of you, my faithful readers, for your prayers, feedback, and encouragement.  It’s such a joy to connect with so many good people, Catholic and non-Catholic alike.  You’ve enriched my life, and for that I’m grateful.  I do plan to continue blogging, but I ask for your patience as I get out of my slump and adjust to my new schedule.

Here in southeastern New England we are tracking Hurricane Earl.  I’m a weather geek, and actually get very excited at the prospect of a major storm roaring up the coast.  Although it looks like we’ll be spared the worst of Earl’s brunt, his approach reminds me of the first post I wrote for Live Holiness.  And so on the first anniversary of this blog, I share that first post with you here.

God bless you!  And know that I pray for each of you.

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An Extraordinary Life

Written by on August 19, 2010 - 6 Comments

On Sunday, August 15, my beloved godmother and great-aunt went home to the Lord.  She was a truly amazing woman, and I wanted to share with you my homily from her funeral Mass. I hope this glimpse into her life inspires you to live closer to the Lord.

Thirty-one years ago, Rose Turano was given six months to live.  But for us who knew and loved her, we know that the doctor’s prognosis meant very little to her.  It didn’t matter what the doctors said.  Her faith in God was strong; her purpose was clear (she had a family to love); and her resolve was unshakable.

We know the outcome: by putting her faith in God, and by living a life of loving service, she won the battle.  I think it’s safe to say that today we are not mourning the death of a woman who lost the battle to cancer; rather, we’re here to remember and pray for a great woman who rose above a terminal illness to live an extraordinary life.

I want to put this funeral Mass in its proper context before I speak more about my Aunt Rose’s life.  First and foremost, what we focus on today is our Lord Jesus Christ.  Ninety-two years ago when Rose was baptized, she received God’s divine life in her soul and became a child of God.  Today, our firm hope is that she is now sharing fully in the Lord’s life and is with Him for eternity.

Aunt Rose loved God, and she believed that Christ died and rose to bring us the fullness of life.  When Christ rose from the dead, He conquered death so that all who are united to Him in baptism and believe in Him have the hope of sharing eternal life with Him.  This leads to the first point about Rose’s life that I want to focus on: Read more »

Chuck E. Cheese and the Spiritual Life

Written by on August 10, 2010 - 6 Comments

It was Uncle Mike to the rescue.  Last Monday, my sister Maureen had an appointment in Cranston, which is very close to where I live in Providence.  She asked if I could watch the girls for a couple of hours during that time.  Of course, I was happy to do so.  I’m blessed to have three beautiful nieces (Stephanie, 9, Nicole, 8, and Olivia, 6…going on 16), and a handsome nephew (Kevin, 11), and I love spending time with all of them.  This day, I would have the joy and challenge of babysitting for Nicole and Olivia.

What should I do? Admittedly, I didn’t have much of a plan.  When I arrived I said, “So, how about we go to the kids section at Borders.”  They agreed, not with a whole lot of enthusiasm.  Once we arrived, we headed to the children’s section and I could tell that we’d be there for about six minutes–six-and-a-half minutes if I was lucky.  I thought to myself, “Oh boy, how am I going to drag this out without them getting bored.”  Then I had an epiphany: Toys R Us is close by! I had them choose one book each and we headed to the checkout line. Read more »

Stop Striving!

Written by on August 4, 2010 - 10 Comments

I’ve come to see a pattern in many people who are trying to live a holy life: they strive for moral perfection, realize it is unachievable, give into discouragement, and then begin to strive again… Repeat cycle…  Truth be told, I’ve seen this pattern in my own life as well.

It’s this idea of striving, though, that seems to be the problem.  Dictionary.com defines the verb “to strive” as “to exert oneself vigorously; try hard.”  Striving is not bad in itself, but there’s a negative side to it.  For example, recently I’ve been striving to run more miles. However, there’s an interesting thing that happens in running: when I relax and let go, I find that my running is more enjoyable, that I get in the flow; but, when I strive to run well, I find that I get tired more quickly and even feel more pain.  Another example is the golf swing.  Grip a club tightly and swing really hard, and that little white ball isn’t going very far; however, loosen your grip and swing effortlessly, and that ball mysteriously flies farther than you thought you could hit it. Read more »

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