Dance Before the Lord

Over the past several years, I have been struggling to find a way to live in praise to God. I know it sounds like a simple concept, but praising God in your life can have many applications.

For instance, praising God when you are having a hard day and it starts raining just as you pull in your driveway to unload the groceries. That's one way to praise. Or praising God when it's sunny, your windows are rolled down, and you're singing to the radio. Or doing your work to the best of your ability and giving it all you've got even when you don't understand why your boss wants you to do something a certain way. When you do the dishes (and scrub pots…) to help out your mom. All of these situations help us to praise God with our lives. But there's something else I want to talk about here.

Praising God often times is connected with a little phrase in the Christian/Catholic sub-culture - "praise and worship" - P&W for short. Some stick to chant and hymns, others to 70's charismatic movement songs, others are of the David Crowder/Hillsong variety. No matter what your taste in tunes, almost everyone has an opinion about how one should praise and worship God. It's kind of a funny thing. Even within one denomination, there could be several varying opinions about how a true follower of Christ should praise and enough services to suit your palette for praise no matter what mood you are in.

So who’s to say how to praise? Is there a way to do it? Well, you’ll find the psalmists in all sorts of positions of praise (more than yoga…) and they were seeking God with everything, in all sorts of situations and circumstances of life, and the Psalms have always been held up by the Church. “Prayed and fulfilled in Christ, the Psalms are an essential and permanent element of the prayer of the Church. They are suitable for men of every condition and time…” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2597). So what do the Psalmists say about how to praise God?

I’m not going to go through a whole list of Hebrew words and what they mean, but I want to list what we see in the Psalmists praise. Take a look at this list:
- Standing (30:8), sitting (139:1; 149:5), laying down (4:5), arms raised (28:2; 63:5), hiding (31:2; 57:2), crying (6:9), laughing (16:11), shouting (18:4; 27:6), singing (9:3), and yes, even sleeping (3:6)….
In every moment, in whatever physical position your body is in, you have an opportunity to invite God in and praise Him.

This Sunday, I was at my home parish in York, PA attending Mass with my family. Right as the piano started the musical interlude for the Gloria, I noticed something swaying slightly side to side, a little piece of pink fabric. I looked around the person’s head in front of me, and that’s when I saw her. This adorable little girl dressed in pink little pants, and a pink shirt with a cute skirt built in. Her black curls pulled in a ponytail on top of her head.

I immediately flashed back to my own twirling days, dancing in my grandparents’ living room, and making family members wait for my “performance” until I had on an appropriate dancing skirt. I loved to dance for them.

Then I was quickly overcome by delight. There was something about seeing this little girl dance to the Gloria across the aisle, moving her hips to the beat, and tapping her toes, her little skirt swishing slightly around her. I couldn’t stop smiling. Her joyful dance before the Lord was contagious. I had to smile. I was delighted in the freedom she had to dance before the Lord and I couldn’t hold it in. I smiled the whole way through the Gloria.

What’s so funny about this seemingly small incident is that before Mass I had been contemplating praise and worship, especially people who speak about how one must be physically expressive in worship to show one’s true openness to God and about the Psalms. I hadn’t really come to any deep, meaningful conclusion, but it was on my mind when I spotted the girl dancing her little heart out at Mass.

Now if I had started dancing in the middle of Mass, people would have been horrified and rightfully concerned. However, this little girl dancing and twirling to the music brought those around her great delight and joy. There was something so fitting about her dancing. King David also made a dancing debut before the Lord (2 Samuel 6:14). What are we to think about that?

The conclusion that came to my mind was that the same delight I had over this little girl’s dancing is the delight that God the Father has for each one of us. He is smiling over us and delighting in our dancing. Not because we are twirling down the aisles at Church or because we are raising our hands to praise Him. He delights in our dance. The dance of our lives – our breathing, our work, our day to day activity, our friendships, our conversations – our very lives are our dance before the Lord.

Our lives are the praise which delights God. More than hands raised, He delights in hearts raised to Him in sorrow, joy, fear, trust, and in the daily grind of errands. The Lord delights when we dance and we will always delight Him. We can’t change the Lord’s delight in having made us, even when we turn from Him and run the opposite direction. However, because He delights in us so much, He longs for us to invite Him into our lives, into our thoughts and dreams, and into every part of our dance. Let the music play on and the twirling continue...

A Fiery Mother's Day?

So today is a special day - it's a day to celebrate moms and grandmothers and the beautiful women in our lives who have served us so well throughout the years. It also happens to be Pentecost Sunday. I know. I know. You're saying, "My relationship with my mother is fiery enough!" Maybe that's true for you. I know at certain times in my life I could've said the same (especially when I was a teen!!).

But there's a beautiful reality that we can find in the cross fire between Mom's Day and Pentecost. If we rewind to the first Pentecost (Acts 2:1-11), the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles and Mary gathered in the Upper Room in Jerusalem. That's right, Mary was there. The Mother of Jesus, the wife of Joseph, the Mother given to John and to all of us at the Cross (John 19:26-27). She was there at Pentecost to receive Her Spouse, the Holy Spirit, a second time. We can celebrate her as a spiritual mother given to us on this Mother's Day.

So what about the Pentecost part? Well, Pentecost was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that changed the world. The Spirit came to give the Apostles to be witnesses for Christ in the world. The Spirit transformed them, stripped them of their weakness, pride, and fear, and gave them hope for the conversion of the world. What does the Spirit want to do with us? What does He want to transform? Where do we need His Hope?

Maybe the answer can touch on the core relationships of our life, including the relationship we have with our families, most especially our moms. No matter how old we are, our mothers deserve our honor, respect, affection, and love. And no matter who you are, you've probably had a few big arguments with mom in your life time. Some more than others. Even if you have the greatest mom in the world, and you've only ever fought about which china to use for Christmas dinner, the Holy Spirit has something more for your relationship, far beyond what you have in mind. He wants to do something beautiful, something transforming, something life giving in your relationships and in your family. So go ahead, spoil your mom today, pray for her, and pray for the Holy Spirit to come into your relationship!

I love when two calendars collide...:-)

Finding God in the Silence

We had our last Rock session for our newly confirmed 8th graders this past Monday and Tuesday. I invited priests, religious, and married couples to share their vocation stories and wisdom with our teens. It was awesome. We started each session by watching the Fishers of Men video. I saw it a total of 6 times in two days. You think I would have gotten tired of it (and I did) but I also learned a lot.

Two lines really struck me watching this video. "With love, sacrifice is nothing." and "Vocations grow in silence. God calls to ears which are open and ready to hear. It is the same in a relationship with God. It only grows in silence...with a God who only speaks in silence..."

Growth in silence. It's the way the world operates. The sun rises and sets in silence. There is no shattering of the sky or earth. Have you ever heard a sun set? No. What about a flower bloom? Nope. What about a baby growing in it's mother's womb? Of course not. Silence. Beautiful, earth shattering silence. It's how God, our Father, the Almighty Creator, works.

It makes sense then that he would call us in silence. It's so un-natural, un-fun, such an un-human way of doing something. Think about it. How do marketing gurus get us to buy their stuff? To buy in to their programs? To commit our time or our money to something? Loud. Annoying. Commercials. Ads. Flyers. Billboards. Podcasts. Facebook pages. (Blogs...) It's in our face constantly.

But God is not human. And His ways aren't ours (Isaiah 55:8 - thank God). He calls in silence. He speaks in silence. Our relationship with Him grows in silence. He leads in silence.

And no matter how much that might frustrate us or annoy us (especially if we are impatient people), that's how He chooses to work. And He's the Master. It's like the Karate Kid movie...(hang on, let me explain)

The kid goes to the Master. He wants to learn karate so that he doesn't have to keep getting beat up by the bigger guys. The Master agrees, but on one condition, "I tell you what to do, and you do it - no questions asked." The kid agrees.

He shows up the next day ready to learn forms, kicks, punches, but instead the Master tells him to wash and wax all his classic cars. The next day, painting his fences, and then his house. What?! That's NOT karate. What the kid doesn't realize is what the Master knows. The Master knows karate. He knows what kind of motion and muscle strength it takes to master the discipline and art of karate.

How often does God tell us to do something and we just don't get it? (Happened to the Apostles all the time...) He often works in the details - training us, preparing us, teaching us, leading us, transforming us to be our best, the way He made us, whole creations in Him. But instead of trusting the Master, we try to do our own thing and we end up miserable. Instead of facing the silence of His presence, we turn the other direction and look for stuff to fill the void. We turn to creation instead of trusting the Creator.

What is it that is so intimidating about silence? Silence helps us to face reality. Reality is not always easy, and often times our prayers are met with silence and even when we strain to hear God, we find nothing. But when has it all been up to us? Who put us in control? Oh, that's right, it's not about us. It's not about us having it all in control. It's about trusting the Master.

I'm still working on it...waiting in the silence is not easy and trust in silence is not easy...

Watching the Lights Come On

It's the best part of my job. Watching the lights come on in someone's eyes. I was graced with one of those moments just today. My buddy, Jim, who works as the adult faith formation/Bible study guru, is out of town this weekend in CO so I nobly agreed to take his Baptism prep class.

I got into my office an hour early. Organized the materials. Started feeling nervous. The weight of eternity bearing down on my soul - a World Series of what-ifs. "What if they don't know Jesus and hate Church? What if this is the only chance to prepare them for what's going to happen to their children? What if I can't do this? What do I know? I'm not a parent. I've never had a kid baptized. I tried to reassure myself - I have a theology and catechetics degree from an awesome university; what's the problem? I'll be fine." It kind of worked...

But finally I had a talk with God. Okay, God, this is your business. You're going to have to speak to these parents. I know that I received you in baptism, help me to share my love of you with them. Suddenly, I felt much better. Calmer. Less ADHD. More focused. In control. Funny, I thought I just gave up control.

Well, I set up the room. Double checked my materials. Then as I was walking back to the youth office, I saw a young woman sitting at the table. I felt like my throat was in my stomach or something, but the whole thing clicked right away.

She had read the sign in front of church congratulating First Communicants and Confirmands. She came into the basement and was reminiscing about her Confirmation that took place at St. Alban Roe right after her family had moved to the area. Then I enter, stage left, the Confirmation coordinator. Bingo.

So I ran the class. And right in the middle of it when I was least expecting it. It came. My favorite part of my job. Watching the lights come on.

We were talking about how God has shown his love for his people and provided for them since the beginning. I thought a visual would be nice. I started with Adam and Eve and drew a semi-straight line ending in 2008. Then I drew a cross. That's when she got the big picture. The lights came on. God the Father has been providing and caring for his people since day one, saving His people through WATER, we were created to be like Him. Jesus proved it, and His sacrifice, the BLOOD and WATER from His side, extends back to the beginning and all the way up to this very moment, including her son's baptism in a couple of weeks. She glanced up and smiled. A big, warm genuine smile. A "I get it...God is big and He loves us..." smile.

Nothing compares to it. There's no greater joy. Seeing someone realize how big God is and how small we are, but how He reaches down and touches the details of our lives. How big He is and how intimately He cares about each soul. It's a beautiful thing. Watching the lights come on.

And today I got to see it happen. I'm a lucky woman.

Ministry and Living Mission

I've been thinking a lot about ministry and missions...a bagel and mocha with a YM friend really got me thinking.

Youth ministry in a parish is very different from being in a foreign mission field. I'm used to having a house full of Catholic young adults ready to go out and change the world - one outreach, one teen, at a time. All behind a common mission. Then also having fun and living life and friendship together. I miss it. I miss the community.

It's difficult to move to a new city and try to connect there without a "home base" of other young adults to support one another. I've had a very challenging year. It's been good. I've certainly learned a lot - abandonment, trust, God's faithfulness and providence have carried me through it for sure. But there's something special about having COMMUNITY - daily, life giving, diverse...

Acts 2:42, "They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread, and to the prayers..."

That's what I'm talking about. :-)

Third Day: Communion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x6khRQFlOc

A good friend of mine sent me this video off of You Tube. It is the Third Day song, Communion, set to clips from the Passion of Christ by Mel Gibson.

"I am the Living Bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world." John 6:51

Let us never forget that in each Mass we receive the very Body and Blood of our Savior and King. He has given Himself fully to us so that we can live for Him.

One Year After Steubenville

A year ago, I was getting ready to graduate from Franciscan University with some of my best friends in the world, five amazing sisters in Christ, me, Mary Jo, Anna, Valerie, and Jen. The first Warriors to leave home base. Now we are all over the United States and the world. Scattered sheep. Yes, but each of us in ministry, serving God, on the front lines.

I'm here in St. Louis working as a youth minister. MJ is in Slovakia - missionary and English teacher. Anna is in the Bronx - lay missions and serving with the CFRs. That takes care of the founders of the Warriors of the Word. Then Val is in New Hampshire - youth minister and soon to be bride. Jen is near Boston - youth minister.

It was a year ago that we all graduated from Steubenville. Our hearts filled with the Word, going out to change the world, and be witnesses to Love. Our younger sisters cheering us on.

What will the next year hold? Where will His Word take us? We now stand back watching our younger sisters go out to take their place and be scattered wherever the Word takes them.

It's hard to say where we will all end up going. But we will always be Warriors at heart. Striving to follow the voice of His Word. The whisper of the Shepherd. It's the best life there is.