Is Your Faith Fireproof?

     My husband and I can’t help but smile and laugh a little when we hear the reading from the book of Daniel about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  We do know that this account of forced idol worship and cruel torture has an awesome, miraculous ending, but our amusement has a lot more to do with our familiarity with the Veggie Tales version still fresh in our minds.       

     The Rack, Shack, and Benny: A Lesson in Handling Peer Pressure DVD is a hilarious, very kid-friendly retelling of this story which is hard to forget.  Truth be told, it’s also amusing to think of the person doing the reading suddenly start referring to these three fireproof men of faith as Rack, Shack, and Benny. 
     It’s powerful to consider these types of questions and scenarios regarding peer pressure, submitting to popular culture, and the effects of standing up for what we believe in.  The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has spoken out about the violations of religious freedom that are included in the Health and Human Services (HHS) Mandate. 
    Am I going to believe whatever Obama and his administration tell me? Am I going to check out one news source only?  Am I going to pray at all about this and ask the Lord what He wants and knows is best for us?
     Over the years, I have been faced with a number of tough decisions and have walked with friends who have asked for advice as they’ve struggled with challenging choices.  The best advice I’ve received and can give is to take it to the Lord in prayer.  If you genuinely want to know the truth about something, then humbly come before the Lord and ask for wisdom and understanding. 
     I’ve found this request for spiritual enlightenment works best when I don’t throw in any provisos or quid pro quos about what the answers ought to be or what they should not include (due to my own particular likes and dislikes).  When I’ve been willing to lay my burden on the altar, and without putting any limitations, restrictions, or rules on the request ask what He wants me to do, then He’s usually made it clear.  Sometimes the answers haven’t come immediately as I’d hoped, but they will be received when our hands, hearts, and minds are opened to whatever God wants to share with us.    
     I have been willing to do some very difficult things in order to stand up for what I believe in and have had it made clear to me by the Lord are His will for my life.  That’s not to say I haven’t freaked out when the flames around me are getting higher and higher.  I’ve flipped out plenty of times, but fortunately that’s not been grounds for revoking the free gift of salvation extended to each one of us.    

     Will you be thrown into the fiery furnace for standing by and for God?  Maybe.  Is that a better prospect than being cast into unimaginable heat for all of eternity?  Absolutely!

Thanks for the Suffering, God

     A couple weeks ago I went to daily Mass at St. Benedict’s, and I had a few ah-ha moments, some real revelations on the greater good that can come from our suffering. I found it interesting that since so many people were already there spread out through the pews, I ended up sitting farther back than usual and pillars were blocking my vision of both statues of Our Blessed Mother Mary that I can usually see, but that the Crucifix was directly in front of me.

The Fourth of July: My Favorite Independence Day Celebration

My favorite Independence Day I spent with Kevin and his family in Rochester, New York, on Lake Ontario. I was used to having a cook-out with my parents and sisters and usually going somewhere to see a legal fireworks display, but the Fourth of July at the cottage with Kevin’s family was something entirely different.

It was one big fun free-for-all. Kevin’s sisters, his nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, and cousins by the dozens had a tradition of gathering at the cottage on July 4th to enjoy a fun-filled day of playing, eating, talking, swimming, boating, and of course watching fireworks. Both sides of Kevin’s family were milling in and out of the cottage throughout the day and into the night.  Friends would show up to talk for a bit. Neighbors came by to say hi.

The weather for my first big summer party at the cottage was nice and sunny. The badminton net was set up in the yard. The water wasn’t too choppy for boating. The tide was low enough there was a decent strip of beach available for building sandcastles (and later a bonfire). The grill had been cleaned and was ready to go. We had tons of food. Hamburgers, hot dogs, potato chips, corn on the cob, his dad’s famous fruit salad, huge slices of watermelon, all kinds of drinks as well as plenty of sunscreen and bug spray to share.
  
Kevin and I played some intense games of badminton. Normally, the two of us played the way my family prefers when no one else was around—meaning no net, no boundaries, just keep the birdie in the air at all costs. But I agreed to play with the actual rules, boundaries, a net, and keeping score.
  
After we finished a doubles match, Kevin and I got Popsicles and sat on the porch eating them while his cousins played. One of his cousins started doing sound effects that made the pair of them even more hilarious to watch. Every single time he swung, he would grunt or groan like the Wimbledon players do. He even shouted out the score with a British accent. Good times, good times.
 
I’m not sure if it was before, after, or during my first Independence Day celebration with Kevin’s family that I learned about some of their previous Fourth of July bashes. Kevin told me that one year someone on shore set off a bottle rocket which hit the boat that he and his friends were in. The bonfire they had every year usually got so big it would set the deck and/or the neighbor’s tree on fire. This tradition prompted Kevin’s aspiring firefighter friend to stand at the ready with the garden hose. (Said friend is now a volunteer firefighter in East Rochester. No really, he is.)
  
My first year being a part of these holiday traditions, Kevin and I went out on the boat to watch the fireworks. It was awesome to see the fireworks from out in the water. The reflection of the lights on the water and the increased visibility—usually trees, houses, a stage, or something were in the way of me seeing the entire spectrum of the show—made the night that much more spectacular.
 
The big display of fireworks set off from Charlotte Beach was on our left and the significantly smaller, definitely illegal fireworks show put on by Kevin’s family members was to our right. We held each other close as we let out the necessary oohs and ahhs that, of course, enhance any light show.
  
Fun, food, fireworks, laughter, and romance—what a great mix! Hope your Independence Day includes at least three of those ingredients. Happy Fourth of July!

What It Means, What It Takes to Be Enflamed by the Holy Spirit

Fire attracts people. The intensity of it sets a mood. Fire draws people closer together, gives off a comforting warmth, emits a glow, changes the appearance of things, and creates glimmers of light where darkness prevailed. 
     
In the Old Testament, fire symbolizes two aspects of God: presence and holiness. There are many stories about offerings and sacrifices of praise to the Lord, and many times these sacrifices were burned on the altar. Moses and the burning bush show how when God uses fire, it can purify and ignite without reducing something to ashes.
     
The story of Abraham and Isaac is a profound Old Testament example of what the Lord calls us to do. God instructed Abraham to give back to Him what he had wanted most and prayed for most fervently: a son. Why would the Lord ask this? God wanted proof Abraham was consumed with love for Him above everyone and everything else in his life, even his beloved son.
     
In the New Testament, the apostles are together on Pentecost at which time “…there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were filled with the holy Spirit…” (Acts 2:3-4).
     
In this instance, the Holy Spirit as symbolized by the flames which descended upon each one of them, gives them the courage, passion, and confirmation they needed to go out and spread the Good News. After locking themselves in an upper room, afraid of what would happen next, they experience the power of the Advocate Jesus said He would send to them, and they’re suddenly ready to go and carry out the task they were called to from the beginning.
     
If we give our lives over to God completely, He will set us on fire with His love. The more we “let go, and let God” by allowing ourselves to be consumed by Him, the brighter He shines in and through us.
     
We were lit from within when given the gift of faith. Offering our minds, bodies, and souls on the altar each day means we allow God to use us however He sees fit. If we only put some of who we are and what we have on the altar, the flame of our lives won’t be as big. The more we sacrifice on the altar, the bigger the flame. The bigger the flame, the more who will see and be drawn to it. It was God’s intent to shine as much as possible in and through the apostles. He also wants us to be beacons of light, bonfires of love, hearts on fire who, by allowing the Holy Spirit to move freely in and through us, glorify the Lord and draw others closer to Him.
     
Daily prayer, the Sacraments, reading Scripture, ongoing religious and spiritual formation, generously giving of who we are and what we have, and maintaining close relationships with other strong Catholics will fuel the fire of faith God has given us.
     
“Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful. And kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your spirit, Lord, and they shall be created. And thou shall renew the face of the earth.
     Let us pray, O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of your faithful; grant that in the same Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in his consolation. Through the same Christ, our Lord. Amen.”


Note to reader: This reflection originally appeared in the June 2010 edition of the Rooster Review in honor of all of the participants of the Cursillo Women's Weekend taking place June 24-27, 2010.