THE CHRISTMAS TRAIN

THE CHRISTMAS TRAIN






It was 1954. I was seven years old. My family lived in the poorest section of our town. My father hadn’t started his business yet. So there were times when he struggled to find work and would often be gone out of state (Connecticut at Pratt-Whitney aircraft) whole weeks at a time to find employment and bring home an income. He always did. As a child then I always remember awesome food on the table, and I always felt the security and warmth of our Spruce street home.



What I didn’t know then, and only learned as an adult, was how my grandmother – my “Bacchie” – helped us during those days of hardship. With her savings and social security she helped with the mortgage, the necessities of food and clothing, the utility bills, and even with money for the movies.



I’ll always remember her in her rocking chair, saying her daily rosaries and watching my brother Paul and I play our games – Monopoly mainly. I remember too that so many days ended with me being rocked to sleep in her arms as she continued to pray all the while, her rosary ever in her hands.



One day as she watched and rocked and prayed, I was on the parlor rug, looking through the pictures in the newspaper. It was a month before Christmas and the paper had all kinds of toys pictured in the store adds. I remember like it was yesterday the first moment that I saw it: the picture of the Lionel train set. My excitement at the sight of it was palpable and Bacchie noticed right away.



The price of the train was $4.95 – can you believe it?! Yes, in 1954 it was $4.95 for a train set of six cars made out of real metal, not plastic. There was a figure eight track set, a mountain tunnel, a railroad crossing signal with barrier bar gates that dropped down and came up again after the train passed. On one of the railroad cars – a log car – there was a crane to lift the logs off the train. The logs were part of the train set too.



The steam engine was solid black metal with chrome silver plating. It blew smoke as it traveled the track, and pellets were provided to make the smoke. You only had to put them into the smoke stack, and the electric train heated the pellets and made them smoke.



The caboose was awesome too. It was flame red and had a rear door that opened to a back platform with a railing. There was a little railroad conductor figure that could attach to the platform and ride there at the rear of the train.



My heart was so set on the thought of having that train, and Santa was most assuredly going to get it for me that Christmas. With my mom and dad I was insistent that this was exactly what was going to happen. They weren’t so sure though. They told not to get my hopes too high. The price of that train was expensive (Remember five dollars then would be a thousand dollars today…), and Santa had to buy toys for other children as well. I remember that even days before Christmas I was praying for the miracle of having a train that was too expensive to get just for me.



But then Bacchie was watching and listening to all this pleading. She had seen my excitement, and she knew how much that train would mean to me. On Christmas morning the train was there, all laid out on the parlor floor right in front of the Christmas tree!!!



What a glorious Christmas morning that was. How ecstatically happy I was. My Christmas train! I played with it day after day, week after week. I never grew tired of playing with it. And all the while my Bacchie would watch me.



I never knew as a child that Bacchie paid for the Christmas train. Times were hard for my parents, and the money for a Christmas train was not to be had. I remember hearing from my mom only as an adult how Bacchie had gone out and purchased that train for me. I remember how moved and inspired I was to learn that.





What a lesson in true love it was for me. For Bacchie all that mattered was my happiness. She didn’t need to have me know that she paid for the Christmas train. It was enough for her to rock and pray and watch me play with my miracle gift on Christmas morning.



And so the beauty of this person who showed me from my earliest years a love like only God can love. I felt that love in her arms, in her embrace – the love I feel in the arms of Mary our Blessed Mother.



It was in fact Bacchie’s dying wish the following year to have my brother and I brought from school to her hospital bed. It was so she could embrace us one more time before passing on to Christ. For as long as I live I will never forget the Love that I felt in that final embrace. It was Divine Love. It was the Love of Jesus reaching out to me from within her. It was that Love in her that brought her home to Him, and a Love like that in our hearts will bring us home to God as well.



To all my Facebook friends and to all my LinkedIn colleagues, a most beautiful and blessed Christmas to you and your loved ones, and may your New Year be filled with happiness…



In the Love of Jesus and Mary,

Doug +

A Christmas Story

A Christmas Story




“Can you help me?!” It was as much a desperate plea as it was a question. The plea came from a beautiful young girl, and the plea was directed at me. It was a cold night in December at the Natick rest area on the Mass Pike. I had just come out of the convenience store, and the girl was standing beyond the car parked right next to mine. Long blonde hair, about seventeen or eighteen, shaggy white sweater, dress down jeans that look worn and torn when you buy them. Her eyes were tearing and they shined in the fluorescent light projecting over to us from the gas pump area.

The questioning plea was followed by the hurried talk of someone who wanted to explain all with little time to do it.

I signaled with hand cupping my ear that I couldn’t make out what she was saying. She quickly ran around her car to mine, and now we stood face to face.

She explained that she was out of gas and couldn’t make it home. Did she have a phone? Could she make a call for help? I didn’t ask. I just listened. With rapid fire urgency she made her case. She wouldn’t need much gas and she would give back later whatever gas I helped her to get.

“So you’re asking me for money?” I said. “Isn’t that it? You need money to get gas and go home?” My response to the story of her dilemma reduced her to silence. There was no “yes” or “no” to my question, only the pleading eyes of someone hoping for help, understanding, compassion, mercy.

At this point I was figuratively pinching myself, to ask myself if all this was really happening. I knew from the look on the girl’s face that her plight was real. There was no guile, no deceit. Far from that there was the pristine beauty and innocence of youth – the willingness to trust, to believe much as Anne Frank, that deep down people are good inside, children of God if you will, and if we approach them with openness we will find that goodness of the child of God made in His image.

It was now with this openness that the heart and soul of this beautiful young person had reached out to me. I was truly humbled by the courage she had shown to approach me, a total stranger, to risk showing how vulnerable she was, how much in dire need she truly was.

In my own soul and spirit the words came to me: Jesus looked upon her and loved her. I suddenly was reflecting on the many times in the Gospels where Jesus looked upon a person, whether a young rich man or a poor widow. He looked upon them and loved them; then He stretched forth His hand to help, to heal, to raise them up out of a stormy sea, or to raise them back to Life and set them free.

So now I could feel the Power of the Risen Christ within me reaching out through me to touch the life of this young girl. I now knew that this moment was not coincidence, not chance happening. The guiding hand of God’s Love had brought this moment to pass. The leading of the Holy Spirit had once more directed a person in need into the path of my life. Or on this feast day (December 8th) of the most Holy Mother of God, perhaps Mary had led this child to someone who could reveal to them the Love of her Son.

“I will help you in the name of Christ…” I said. Stunned, but suddenly excited and encouraged, she began once more to remonstrate that she would repay whatever help I gave her. I raised my hand in protest, and looking right up close into those tearing eyes, I said “Listen to me!” She became quiet.

The stage was now set for a dramatic and climactic pronouncement, and I did no disappoint. “I am going to help you in the name of Jesus Christ.” Having said that, I pulled out my billfold from my back pocket, found a twenty dollar bill, and gave it to her. The Joy that ignited on her face was like that of a child on Christmas morning. I turned to leave, not waiting to watch the tear stream down the side of her left cheek, but I know it did.

There was one glance back at her to say “Merry Christmas!” As I said it she smiled and rushed back to her car with the energy and vigor of someone renewed, restored, raised to new life, “resurrected” you might say – the ultimate sign that Jesus was there, His Risen Presence powerfully alive in the midst of us.

“Merry Christmas!”

Doug +

Holding the Form of Religion But Denying Its Power

“Holding the Form of Religion But Denying Its Power”




- St. Paul, 2Tim. 3:5







Ever wonder why Catholic Churches are half empty on Sunday mornings? Or why there seem to be few if any teenagers present? Ever wonder why the power and influence of the Church has so greatly diminished over the last twenty years? Perhaps what follows may give one important answer, if not the key reason…



Last Sunday at a nearby parish, after the Gospel and the homily – and before the Eucharist - the congregation was told to be seated so that the Finance Committee could present the annual budget. Now mind you, this is in the middle of the Mass!



Would they have done this if Jesus were standing there? If it were the Last Supper and He were just finished speaking to us? Of course not! Yet that is the awesome truth which the Church proclaims: Jesus was standing there. He was truly present. In the Mass, in this reliving of the Last Supper and the events of the Paschal Mystery, Jesus is as truly present after the proclamation of His word (John 6:63) – the Gospel! – as He is present upon the altar after the solemn words of consecration.



He was standing there powerfully present in the midst of us. Yet the people there preferred not to relish His presence or savor His teaching, but rather to focus on facts, figures, and finances – and all this in the middle of the Mass! Incredible, outrageous… Yet more than that – it was and offense and insult to God.



Would a parish have such a report after the Gospel at Christmas Mass, or at a solemn Mass on Easter? Of course not! It is because at these times of the year we want people to experience the Gospel, the Good News of Emmanuel – God with us. We want them to feel the Presence of God’s great Love, the Presence of His Spirit which fills the earth at the coming of Christ, and which anoints the world with Pentecost power after His Resurrection.



But why not aim to have such Power and Presence animate every Mass? Why not be urgent in season and out of season? (2Tim. 4:2) Why not make every Mass every week be a powerful proclamation of God with us? Please, no more anemic liturgies where we treat the Mass as some sort of superficial experience, an honoring of God with “lip service”, a “going through the motions” proclamation of God with us that amounts to little more than a “noisy gong or clanging cymbal”, a boring experience filled with empty words and perfunctory rituals, with hollow words and lifeless speech .



Rather, make every Mass a heart and soul effort to render Christ present in power through God’s Word (Jesus!) and Eucharist, through a Gospel proclamation that releases Spirit and Life into the hearts of the Faithful (John 6:63) present at Mass, through a Eucharist that is taken seriously as a reliving of the Last Supper and the all-powerful Love which made itself felt the night before Jesus suffered.



Wake up Catholics! Increasingly, every day, every moment, our society needs more and more the Love of Christ and the Bread of Life, the Food and Fuel which fills our spirits with the Holy Spirit. Please don’t make a Mass a mockery of a real feast on His Love and a true celebration of His Love present in power among us.



God bless,

Doug Michaud



P.S. Please know that I would further welcome your contact with me and the chance to dialogue with you through my websites. Please tell others about them as well: www.trinitycorministries777.net, http://trinity-cor.blogspot.com, and www.modedsys-nereg.com.





AN UPCOMING EVENT –

A SENIOR HIGH ANTIOCH RETREAT AT

BLESSED SACRAMENT PARISH

In STOWE, VT.

The Weekend of November 9th through 11th



If you want to experience the Spirit of the Risen Christ powerfully present in our lives, then this is the retreat for you. Contact me at spiritsounds777@aol.com, or via the Tri-Cor website. You can also contact the retreat Director Steve Chambers at epiphanyvt@aol.com

"YOU ARE SPECIAL!"

“YOU ARE SPECIAL”




Please! No more speeches that tell people – and especially young people – that “You are not special!” Not only because the statement is not true, but also because it is the last message our society needs to hear. All around us we continually see the assault on the dignity of human life. The Aurora theater, the Sikh killings in Wisconsin are only the latest episodes of humanity being treated as cheap and readily disposable. The same unnerving phenomenon has been with us ever since the advent of abortion. The trashing of human life made its ugly presence dramatically felt on 9-11, in the Oklahoma bombing, and in the disgraceful treatment of the poor and elderly in the aftermath of Katrina. Media, movies, and violent video games encourage the assault on human dignity. Rape, torture, and mass killings like those in the “Dark Night Rises” make for top box office entertainment today. Is it any wonder that the Boston Herald headline yesterday (Aug. 14th, 2012) reports on the fear which lurks on the streets of our cities today?

So no more speeches which tell people – and especially young people – that “You are not special!” I don’t care how literary the speech may be, or how artfully written – and the “Commencement” speech at Wellesley High last June was one such speech. Truly a literary gem, a work of literary art worthy of being studied and emulated in a course on writing. Yet its message is unfortunate, the last message people need to hear whether in Aurora, Oak Creek Wisconsin, or anywhere in America for that matter.

All the more so since the message is not true. Biblical teaching makes that quite clear. Each and every person has inestimable value as a child of God made in His image. (Gen. 1:26-27) How special each person is as His child, as flesh of His flesh, life from His life, heart of His heart. Even further, the human soul made in His image knows no limit. There is no limit to how high that soul can reach or how far that soul can go with the help of our Father on a journey to excellence in the service of Love.

But how would a public high school in America today know any of this; or, for that matter, how would our secular society, when they exclude from the public forum any word from God – especially any word that addresses the issue of human dignity? The result? A graduating class of American youth get to hear a three typed page message hammering home the reasons why they are not special; and even more tragic, a message like that all-pervasive in media and movies today – one that presents a vision of life and a view of people totally divorced from the context of the Gospel and God’s Word. Sad to say, though unfortunate and tragic, that commencement speech and the media messages like it are an all too common “sign of our times” – not to be surprised then when the news reports stories where “life is not special”, where human life is trashed, cheapened, or in the case of abortion and mass killings, readily disposable.

There are so many better purposes that a graduation speech can and should serve rather than subjecting and pummeling a graduating class of promising teens to three pages of “put down” rhetoric. Why not instead make the case for why you are special based on the core Gospel concept of Christian dignity – the infinite worth and value of each and every human being made in God’s image. Go even further, and cite how that worth was ratified and validated by the suffering and death of Jesus, by the price He paid to bring humanity back home to the heart of their Father.

You want to say something worthwhile to a graduating class of high school seniors? Tell them who they are in the eyes of God. Tell them that Jesus died with their names upon His lips. Tell them that as a child of God made in His image their “…immortal soul is beyond all price. There is no trouble too great, no humiliation too deep, no suffering too severe, no love too strong, no labor too hard, no expense too large, but that it is worth it, if it is spent in the effort to save a human soul…” in any and every sense that a human soul can be and needs to be saved.

- Douglas P. Michaud, Ph.D.C.
See our Ministry Website at www.trinitycor ministries777.net

An Updated Version of My Last Chick-fil-A Blog

An Updated Version of My Last Chick-fil-A Blog

Especially in the light of that dreadful bullying incident in Arizona, I’ve updated my blog on Chick-fil-A, dated August 1^st, 2012

Scathing Responses To Dan Kathy and “Chick Fil A”???

Incredible!

From ABC News.com/Politics:

Mayor Menino wrote a scathing letter to Cathy last Friday urging him to keep his restaurant out of Boston.

“I was angry to learn on the heels of your prejudiced statements about your search for a site to locate in Boston,” Menino wrote. “There is no place for discrimination on Boston’s Freedom Trail and no place for your company alongside it.”

Menino clarified his remarks on Thursday, noting that while he use the “bully pulpit” to discourage Chick-fil-A from coming to Boston, he would not deny the restaurant the necessary city permits to open in the city.

Days after Menino’s harshly-worded letter Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel levied his own criticism at the restaurant, saying he does not believe Cathy’s comments “reflects who we are as a city.”

“Chick-fil-A’s values are not Chicago values,” Emanuel said Wednesday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. “And if you’re gonna be part of the Chicago community, you should reflect Chicago values.”

San Francisco became the third city to turn a cold shoulder on Chick-fil-A when Mayor Edwin Lee tweeted his distaste for the company’s anti-gay stance on Thursday.

“Very disappointed #ChickFilA doesn’t share San Francisco’s values & strong commitment to equality for everyone,” Lee tweeted, adding in a subsequent tweet, “Closest #ChickFilA to San Francisco is 40 miles away & I strongly recommend that they not try to come any closer.”

My Response:

I’m incredulous… Mayor Menino and other U.S mayors wanting to ban “Chick-fil-A” from their cities?! And all because its founder, Dan Cathy, wants to believe as Jesus did that marriage is a sacred bond between a man and a  woman?! (Mt. 19:4-6)

Is this crazy or what? Thankfully Mayor Bloomberg from Yankee Country (NYC) had the intelligence to sound off about the issue with a position statement that still respects the parameters of common sense, and more importantly, the Bill of Rights protected by the Constitution of the United States.

Honestly, what are those others mayors thinking? Personally, I was embarrassed to be represented by some liberal politician who makes Boston sound like some sort of Police State. Mayor Bloomberg is right when he says that “You can’t have a test for what the owners’ personal views are before you decide to give a permit to do something in the city. You really don’t want to ask political beliefs or religious beliefs before you issue a permit. That’s just not government’s job.”

Exactly right!!! And God help us if we move even one step in the direction of the other mayors’ directives. Especially disturbing is the allegations by Mayor Menino of discrimination and prejudice directed at Dan Kathy for thinking differently from the powerful Liberal Left lobby in this country. God forbid. I mean what is this country coming to?

                And I’m sorry – shame on the people who constantly tell me not to speak my beliefs for fear that they might offend others, the people who remain silent in an effort to be kind and compassionate toward others. I am kind and compassionate. Dan Cathy is too. But he, as well as myself, do not intend to remain silent when we constantly see the scathing anger and intolerance directed at the bedrock values upon which this country is founded. Can’t anyone see the anger and intolerance toward Christian values and teaching reflected in the words of these of these U.S. mayors? That’s the real issue here: intolerance toward Judeo-Christian values, and the censorship of any and all speech that disagrees with the Liberal agenda in this country.

Be silent in an effort to be kind? Bullcrap! I’m going to say “Merry Christmas!”, not “Happy Holidays!”, and tell those offended people to be kind and tolerant toward me and to respect my freedom of speech protected by our Constitution. And don’t give me that hogwash that because I want to believe in Jesus and His teaching, I’m prejudiced, or that I’m discriminating and want to treat certain people as less than equal. Not so!

And should I be “banned in Boston” when I say “Merry Christmas”? Or if I refuse to say “Winter Tree” instead of “Christmas Tree”? If so, then that is discrimination – to deny access or full participation in society based on race, color, or CREED!

God forbid that Chick-fil-A, or some other business should publically say, “Jesus is Lord!” in Boston. God help them. Perhaps we could set aside one of the islands in Boston Harbor as a prison where we could put such people – and all political dissidents, or more specifically, all who dare to think differently from the Liberal Left in this country.

I really do have a message for all these people who accuse others of “hate”, “prejudice”, and “discrimination” simply and solely because they believe differently than the Liberal agenda in this country:

“Grin and bear it!”, as they say.  And thank the God that you may or may not believe in that you are free to dissent from the majority consensus in this country.

“Grin and bear it!” And thank this God that the majority rule in this country gives you that freedom to dissent, that they don’t instead try to incriminate you and put you into prison for believing differently.

“Grin and bear it!” Even get down on your knees and thank this God that you’re not in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Egypt, or Indonesia – never mind Syria! When you are there don’t ever act offended, insulted, or discriminated against when the majority around you gives “Praise to Allah!” You’d be in for one “hell of a shock” at what will happen to you.

 Forgive my rant, but all this is so maddening. I can remember the story in a Catholic high school near by where a non-believer would take down the cross off the wall while he was teaching, and not allow one in his homeroom – in a Catholic school mind you! The administration of the school allowed such behavior in the name of tolerance and so as not to give offense. Hello?! Where was the teacher’s mandate to be tolerant and understanding toward the mission statement of the school that paid him: to make Christ known! There it is in a nutshell - intolerance surrounding us everywhere today permitted, condoned, and countenanced in the name of tolerance and compassion – it is all so absurd, and it has to stop, or the cherished biblical values of our country’s founding documents will soon fade from the public forum, and our country as we have known it will soon cease to exist.     

  

Congratulations to Chick-fil-A!!!

The comments about same-sex marriage made by Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy a week ago continue to generate controversy this week…


"Guilty as charged," Cathy was quoted as saying in the Baptist Press last week when asked about his company's support of the traditional family unit as opposed to same-sex marriage.

"We are very much supportive of the family – the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business," Cathy was quoted as saying.

Congratulations to “Chick-fil-A” President Dan Cathy for his stand opposing same-sex marriage. Would that more corporations, businesses, and schools (especially Catholic schools!) would take a stand for what the clear teaching of Jesus with respect to how marriage should be understood:

Jesus answered, “Have you not read that He Who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man divide.” - Mt. 19:4-6

Christians, claim the courage of the Spirit, a gift from God that is within you through the laying of the Apostle’s hands (2 Timothy 1:6), and use that gift to proclaim urgently and boldly the truth that is from God both “in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2), whether popular or not. Don’t slide down the “slippery slope” of moral decadence with media, movies, and even public schools – all of which regularly work to erase the Judeo-Christian values of the Bible upon which our society is built.

God bless,

Doug Michaud
See blogsite @ http://trinitycorministries777.net/Blog-Spot.html

Celebrating God The Father’s Love on Father's Day

It was 1955 and the Carnival had come to town. It was one block away. My brother Paul and I were beside ourselves with excitement. I was seven then. Paul was five. Jumping up and down we pleaded with our parents for permission to go and watch it all set up.


With permission granted we ran to the Fair grounds and allowed ourselves to be drawn into the awe and wonder of seeing a little “magic kingdom” set itself up right around the corner from our house. With rapt attention and totally captivated we watched it all assemble tent by tent and ride by ride. There was a Tilt-a-Whirl, a Merry-Go-Round, an Octopus, and an awesome Ferris Wheel which I could see all lit up at night from my bedroom window. From my window I could also hear the music of the Carrousel, and smell all the wonderful aromas of a circus – popcorn, roasting peanuts, hot dogs, hamburgers, and sausage with fried peppers and onions.

Once the Carnival was all up and ready and open, Paul and I had to go. I especially nagged and pestered my father relentlessly. I didn’t want to hear about how poor we were – and we were, more than I ever realized until long after childhood.

My father said “no!” and “no!” again. Paul and I implored and begged, promising good behavior and chores down cheerfully – whatever it would take to get a “yes” from our Dad.

Our tenacious resolve prevailed, and the “yes” finally came – and that on the second night of the Carnival. We would go at night, but my Dad clearly made the point that money was tight. Paul and I could each have only one ride, only one drink, and only food item.

I got Cotton Candy, and I chose to eat it on the Carrousel. My Dad stood between my horse and my brother’s, making sure we were safe and strapped in tight as the horses galloped up and down and all around in a beautiful rhythm with the music of the Merry-Go-Round.

I was in “Seventh Heaven” and I hoped and prayed that the Cotton Candy would last forever and that my one and only ride would never end. Yet life is not like that – or is it? The ride did start to slow down and I braced myself for the end of more than just a good time. It was the end of enchantment, the end of a most magical moment in time. But not really…

As the music stopped and the ride came to a halt, my Dad pulled a twenty dollar bill out of his pocket (That was a lot of money in 1955!) and told us that our night at the Carnival was far from over – it was in fact just beginning!

In that great and wonderful moment I’ll never forget the Joy which swept over me. But more than that, I’ll never forget the smile, the happiness, and the love which shone forth from my father’s face. It was a love for me and my brother. Paul and I had everything to do with it. I just knew it and could never doubt it.

To this day the Joy and Love radiating from my father’s face remains a most powerful image and mirror of God the Father’s Love for me. In that awesome sacramental moment with my Dad I could see and feel God’s Love reaching out to me. I could see and feel a Love that there not only for me, but for all of us, for we are all His children.



To all my friends,

Please share my joy. Patti and I are married forty years as of today!!!!!! Wow, what I could say about her love, the love of someone with whom I have shared the happiest moments of my life!

Also please “spread the word” (What I hope all my books do – spread The Word!) about “Eve of All Hallows, The Power of The Christ”. This is Book Two in the Hallows Trilogy and it was published by Lulu Press as an eBook this week. Check it out at Lulu.com!!!

An Important Distinction: Christ Did Not Come into This World to Suffer, But to Reveal The Father's Love For Us

                                                      

                                                     April 15th, Divine Mercy Sunday                                                           


                                                         An All-important Distinction:


Christ Did Not Come Into this World To Suffer, But To Reveal The Father’s Love For Us



Prelude to This Reflection:

Two weeks ago I was at Mass while traveling in another part of our beautiful country. I was part of a congregation which filled the Church to the point of standing room only. It was Lent, and even that Sunday in Lent that traditionally we call “Passion Sunday”. But still I was not prepared for a homily that I can only characterize as fearsome – frightening even to the extent of morbid and menacing.

The preacher, with an intensity that stared down his congregation from an elevated pulpit, told the Catholic faithful assembled that Christ came into this world to suffer. And if we would be His disciples, we must embrace suffering too. We must “crucify all unholy thoughts and desires” and through fasting and penance wage war upon our sinful flesh. This was the Christian life, and were ready to drink from the chalice of Christ’s suffering?



A Response

Jesus did not come into this world to suffer! As God’s only Son become man, he was a person on a mission, a man driven by a dream of the Kingdom of God, a man sent into this world to bring humanity back home to the heart of God, a man determined to restore us and our world to that realm where God’s Love reigns supreme. If that mission involved cost, cross, crisis, and challenge, so be it. If that mission called Him to embrace on the Cross a Love like only God could love, then so be it.

But suffering was not His focus. You, me, all of us were His focus, the reason why He did all He did. We were His focus and He died with our names upon His lips. You, me, all of us were His focus as He died knowing that He had paid the price to bring us back home to the Father. In doing that He revealed on the Cross the fullness of the Father’s Love for us. To reveal that Love was at the heart and core of His mission, at the heart and core of the reason why He was sent into this world.

To say that Jesus came into this world to suffer is to completely misunderstand His focus. We were and are His focus, and this focus gave Him power – power to do whatever it would take to wrest us from the grip of Evil and restore us to the Father’s embrace.

It is so absurd to see Jesus’ focus as SUFFERING! My mother and father raised eight children. We children were their focus. Out of love they gave us home, food, clothing, shelter and warmth, protection from the evils of this world. If such a task and mission involved cost, cross, crisis, and challenge – and it did – then so be it! They paid whatever price necessary to be there for us.

But how absurd it would be to characterize my parents’ lives as a call to suffering. Rather, they saw their mission as a call to love their children and to pay whatever price necessary to provide for them.

My wife and I raised six children. We did the same. But never once did we view our lives as a call to suffering. It was a call to love. And we did whatever was necessary to love them, provide for them, and protect them.

So enough already to the preacher who, with menacing eyes, stared down his congregation and told them that “…Christ came into this world to suffer. And if we would be His disciples, we must embrace suffering too. We must crucify all unholy thoughts and desires and through fasting and penance wage war upon our sinful flesh.”

Give me a break! No wonder the congregation seemed repressed and devoid of all joy. With a weekly homily like that they would be in danger of mental illness.

I suppose there is something to be said for the good intention of the preacher, as well as for the good Catholic faithful who welcomed His message out of a holy desire to do God’s will. But please, don’t pass off to us such a warped message and sick focus as having anything to do with the authentic Gospel, or with that beautiful Christianity which once changed the world and can still do the same today.

A recommendation to that preacher would be to prayerfully read again the story of the “Prodigal Son” – also called the “Story of the Father’s Love”. If you want a correct focus while preaching on God’s Word, that’s the story which should guide your message to society today, and it is the Love of that story which should forever be our focus.

In Jesus' Love,
                        Doug +

Passion Week - Hurt People Hurt People

As we head into the “home stretch” of Lent and enter into Passion week, I always find myself thinking of Dominic Cavallaro, a Marist Brother and my high school teacher, as well as someone who became my mentor and friend for over forty years. He has passed on to God now, and I miss being able to come to him, for it was to him I turned when I was hurt or dealt with unjustly.


Passion Week deals with that theme in such a central way – a week when so-called friends, colleagues, disciples (Today we call them “students”!), and even religious leaders turned on Jesus. They turned on Him and condemned Him unjustly, and they did this out of envy, jealousy, and hate, but most of all out of fear – afraid and intimidated by an authenticity, integrity, and a charismatic Power of the Spirit that was unnerving.

How incredible it still is for me every year to contemplate the steadfast and unconditional love of Jesus in the face of the unbridled hate, the sinister fury, and the calculated malevolence that was unleashed upon Him in the Passion. In the face of that fury, His words to this day bring me to my knees: “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Only the Son of God could respond like this to the Evil that assaulted Him – only the Son of God, only One Who could Love with a Love like only God could love.

Jesus told His disciples to expect the same to happen to them if they followed in His steps. Bro. Dom was one such disciple whose love was so genuine and palpable that he too endured the moments of Passion. He too endured the hate of people who feared the Light, and would not “…enter the Light for fear that their evil would be exposed.” (John 3:20) And like Jesus, Br. Dom endured that hate with Love, a Love like that on the Cross, a Love like only God can love.

So I would come to Dom whenever I was hurt or dealt with unjustly. It was a ritual for me really. I already knew what he was going to say, and I already knew what he would need to do before He said it. He would always take me to the Brothers’ chapel, and as he said the words he always said, he would look to the Cross, a Cross that had to have the corpus of Jesus upon it.

What was his repeated counsel to me in the face of life’s injustice and in the face of the malice of dishonest men? Pointing to Jesus crucified, Dom would urge, insist and even declare as a moral imperative that “You must always ask yourself, Doug, how much had those people been hurt, to become so mean?” “Reach out to them with the healing Power of Christ’s Love, not with revenge and malice.”

The words of a true Temple of the Holy Spirit… Yes, Dom was such a Temple. He taught me what it was to be a Temple of God’s Son. To do that he pointed me to Mary, the radiant Temple of God’s Son; Mary, who models for all of us what it is to be the dwelling place of God’s Spirit in this world. “Look to Mary!” Dom would say to understand what it is to be a Temple of God. “She will teach you that at the heart of the Temple there must be only God, and all must be Love. Only Grace must flow forth from the Temple to touch, heal, and transform the darkness and iniquity of this world.”

In the Passion, in the face of Hell’s fury, both the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary were pierced for Love. And when pierced it was seen that only Grace poured forth, only Divine Life and Love poured forth, only rivers of “Living Water”. Their hearts were filled with Love and belonged to God alone. There was no room for revenge, for hate, for malice.

May the same be said for us – that pierced by the malice of men, only Grace flowed forth from the Temple of God that is our heart.

God bless us abundantly with His Grace during the events of Paschal mystery…

Peace,

Doug +

P.S. Please visit our most expansive website at http://www.trinitycorministries777.net/

Lenten Reflections

Here are some thoughts that I always return to for Lent:


       Then Jesus told His disciples, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what does it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?”

-          Matthew 16:24-26

“An immortal soul is beyond all price. There is no trouble too great, no humiliation too deep, no suffering too severe, no love too strong, no labor too hard, no expense too large, but that it is worth it, if it is spent in the effort to win a soul for God.”

-          Author Unknown


From my friend, Brother Shawn:


Lent is a season that calls us:

• to fast from discontent and to feast on gratitude;
  to fast from anger and to feast on patience;
  to fast from bitterness and to feast on forgiveness;
  to fast from self-concern and to feast on compassion;
  

  The dying words of Jeanne d"Arc: "Jesus! Jesus!"

  Mother Teresa: "All for Jesus!"

  St. Ignatius: The greatest act of Love is to yearn that a person possess Christ, and to lead that person to Him."

  His Love and Power to all of you today... - Peace, Doug + 

  
  

Adult Antioch in Stowe, VT - March 2nd-4th 2012

 
To All My Friends in Christ,
 
       An alert to all of you about the upcoming Adult Antioch in Stowe!!! It's an amazing experience of sharing the reality of Christ's Love and the Power of His Spirit alive and with us today. You can't ask for a better setting either in the beautiful surroundings of Stowe Hollow, VT. If you're 18 or older, this experience is a must! Hope to see you there...
 
Peace, Doug +
 
 
Dear Friends in Christ –


We are looking forward to the Antioch Retreat here in Stowe (as we do each year) scheduled for

March 2 – 4, 2012. We hope you have found it to be a peaceful and enjoyable way to further your

relationship with Christ.

This year, we will need to make some changes so that we are able to continue the tradition while

we live here in Stowe.

For the last 14 years, we have joyfully sponsored and subsidized the retreat; however, with

increasing taxes, cost of living, food, utilities, etc., we will need to increase the price. We will also

need to have people commit earlier so that we know who is coming and how many we need to feed.

Though it may not seem difficult from the outside looking in, it can be a real challenge to coordinate

all the details so that things run smoothly. Please consider that we have to plan for meals (decide

what to serve, purchase and prepare it, etc.…), coordinate who stays where and why, prepare the

guest house and have it professionally cleaned after the retreat so it is ready for our next group of

renters.

Changes:

1.) Cost for the weekend will be $60 per person, or $100 per couple. This will be for all

out of town guests who stay on the property, including speakers. I believe this to be very

reasonable for 4 – 6 meals and two nights lodging. Stowe residents attending are not

charged, but will be asked to help supply and/or prepare food for the meals, and assist in

the clean up. If this creates a financial hardship for you (or someone in your group),

please speak to me directly so we can work something out.

2.) People will need to register for the retreat no later than February 15th. Registration will

include sending me a check for the cost, names of those attending in your party, and

anticipated time of arrival. This will make it much easier to plan for and purchase food, and

prepare the guesthouse for visitors.

3.) We will need to cap the number of out-of-state attendees @ 24, first come, first served.

I already have 6 “commitments” for this year.

Though John Dawyot remains the retreat leader, please respond back to me directly via email or

phone (see below) so that I can keep track. I hope you understand the need for these changes

and look forward to seeing you in March.

May God bless you & your family.

Steve

513 Hollow View Road

Stowe, VT 05672

802.253.4673 (Home Office)

epiphanyvt@aol.com

Rick Santorum, I Applaud You! - A Response by Mike Naranjo

Mike NaranjoJan 29, 2012 07:57 PM


I could not agree more! If we were to boo or even disagree with Obama the name calling would start. Clearly those who believe in Christ are closed minded and uncaring.



Those who believe in smaller governments and less taxes are considered greedy and accused of not "not paying their fair share". While I am not a huge Mitt Romney fan I do not like some of the things being said about him. Over the the last 2 years he has paid $6 MILLION in taxes and has given away $7 MILLION to church and charity. Obviously he is what is wrong with how the wealthy pay taxes. Because he made, earned or risked $40 MILLION does mean he should have to give another $6 MILLION to political pork projects.



Sorry I got sidetracked- It is a shame Santorum is too far to the right to be electable. Perhaps Gingrich or Romney can be the voice of the right and not the right now. Perhaps when in office they will stop worrying about the 1% and the billions of dollar they contribute but perhaps addressing the trillions that is needlessly spent. Here is a great place to start- save $150 MILLION annually by stop funding Planned Parenthood, NPR and PBS. The people who want that stuff should pay for it. Those that are opposed to what they stand for should not have to support it with their tax dollars.



Doug- you are a champion for those who cannot articulate what is happening all around. The erosion of values and character. Everyday our world moves in the wrong direction. That is why when someone like Rick Santorum or Tim Tebow stands up for Christ it strikes fear into the hearts of those who prefer darkness to light!



Thanks for listening

Tim Thomas and Tim Tebow - I Applaud You!

It vexes me to listen on radio to the onslaught of criticism directed at both Tim Thomas and Tim Tebow. The substance of the criticism is that “I just want to watch sports. To do that I shouldn’t have to be subjected to political or religious statements that I find offensive.”




My response to all this is “Welcome to the world of Christians in our culture today!” For example, I was watching a film recently – “The Ides of March” to be specific. I just wanted to watch a movie – not be subjected to political or religious statements that would insult and offend my beliefs.



Yet there it was: a reference to my Lord Jesus Christ with the “F” word being used as His middle name. You can search high and low through American movies, magazines, and media and you’ll never see a reference to “Yahweh” or “Allah” being denigrated in that way. But the name “Jesus” being insulted, disrespected, and mocked is a regular occurrence in our society today.



Is there any outcry against this appalling development in media and movies? Not really… That’s because such a denigration of things Christian is right in line with the anti-Christian bias that media and movies have been imposing upon American society for years now.



Good for you, Tim Thomas and Tim Tebow. I applaud you for standing your ground against the intolerance that surrounds us everywhere in our contemporary culture – intolerance toward Christ and things Christian, toward the Judeo-Christian values upon which this country and its constitution are based.



- Doug M. +

Rick Santorum, I Applaud You!

Rick Santorum, I Applaud You!






Rick Santorum! Awesome! I applaud your courage to boldly declare your moral convictions in a society suffering from a crisis in courage. The jury is still out on whether I want to completely “come on board” with your election bid, but I can say at present that it is so refreshing to experience a Presidential candidate whose authenticity is so palpable. To be frank, I haven’t been this excited about a Presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan, and before that, JFK.



In our sick society so many universities and so many religious and secular “leaders” are “selling out” and sliding down the “slippery slope” of moral decadence. Faced with that, how striking and inspiring it is to see someone standing up and standing out in stark contrast. Your example and your message so far have been a brilliant light, “a city set on a mountain top” (Mt. 5:14), a “lamp burning and shining” in a dark place (Jn. 5:35).



As for the students from all over our country at that college conference in Concord, what were you thinking? When you “booed” what Mr. Santorum said, you mocked and insulted the Judeo-Christian foundations of America and the values which have guided two hundred and thirty five years of United States history. Shame on you.



Such students and the universities which represent them may also want to reflect upon the fact that “booing” is the response of the intellectually weak. Did any student actually have anything intelligent to say by way of response to Mr. Santorum? The only facts reported in the media were that the students “booed”, “shouted”, and tried to talk over the speaker. Such strategies are all the responses of the defeated, the responses of “losers” in the face of wisdom which the stupid can neither gainsay nor refute.



Such students and the universities they represent need a “reality check”. If these schools are teaching that such responses have any place in an academic dialogue, then their educational product is not at all worth the expensive price tag of university matriculation today. It is a product that certainly has no place in a true community of scholars. Whatever “bill of goods” they are selling, it has nothing to do with the substance of a real classical education.



I welcome responses to this blog. I would welcome also your responses to our “Trinity-Cor” website at www.trinitycorministries777.net.



God bless,



Peace,

Doug +

Christians Beware!

Christians beware of the growing intolerance toward us. I applaud the “O’Reilly Factor” for its recent series of reports under the title of “The attack on Christmas”. How increasingly easy it is in our society today to assault the deeds, the traditions, and the customs of Christians - even to “demonize” the people who are followers of Jesus. In fact, that is my greatest fear for celebrities, star athletes, or public figures who openly declare the Lordship of Christ – that on the basis of someone bearing false witness against them, their reputations will be ruined, their dignity trashed, their professionalism ridiculed and discredited.




Our response to all this? Christians stand your ground! In a society that is so blatantly intolerant of things Christian, so insulting, offensive, and even sacrilegious in its references to Jesus, take heart and pray. Pray for the fortitude to openly declare yourselves for Jesus. Rejoice too when you are hated and attacked because of it. It is a sign and validation that you are authentically living for Him! (Mt. 5:11)



As for the sources of intolerance, pray also for them. Pray especially for those in power who use their authority to twist the truth into a lie; who represent Good as Evil, and Evil as Good; who call Light, Darkness, and Darkness, Light - “leaders” who even call Christ, Satan. Pray for them. I really believe that what they have done and continue to do borders on blasphemy and sacrilege.



Pray for such “leaders” among us, both clergy and lay, who are nothing more than phonies - petty politicians parading around with lofty titles or holy suits – “leaders” who are nothing more than plastic persons defined by the politics of power, and pursuing nothing more than praise and the next promotion. Pray that Jesus send us another John Paul, Romero or Bonhoeffer – someone willing to risk all for truth, justice, and the Gospel. (John 18:37; 1 Corinthians 9:16; Isaiah 42:3-4, 6)



I welcome your responses. I would welcome also your responses to our “Trinity-Cor” website at www.trinitycorministries777.net.



Peace in Jesus,

Doug +