World Youth Day

Well, Pope Francis has certainly been challenging the youth, as he has been challenging pretty much everyone else since he became Pope. Unfortunately with the upcoming mission we can't watch any of the footage on the internet, but I read his message to the youth of Argentina this morning.Yikes. In honor of World Youth Day, I thought I would post some highlights from that.

I would like to say something. What do I expect as a consequence of the Youth Day? I expect a mess. There will be one. There will be a mess here in Rio? There will be! But I want a mess in the dioceses! I want people to go out! I want the Church to go out to the street! I want us to defend ourselves against everything that is worldliness, that is installation, that is comfortableness, that is clericalism, that is being shut-in in ourselves. The parishes, the schools, the institutions, exist to go out!

Messes aren't comfortable, nor do we like being uncomfortable, but if I have learned anything here, it's that if I am totally comfy and taking it easy, I'm not following Christ.

And faith in Jesus Christ isn’t a joke, it’s something very serious, it’s a scandal. That God came to make Himself one of us is a scandal! And that He died on the Cross is a scandal, the scandal of the Cross. The Cross continues to be a scandal, but the Cross is the only sure way, Jesus is the only sure way, Jesus’ Incarnation! Please, don’t liquefy faith in Jesus Christ! There is orange milk shake, apple milk shake, banana milkshake, but please, don’t take liquefied faith! The faith is whole, it’s not to be liquefied. It is faith in Jesus. It is faith in the Son of God made man, who loved me and died for me.

So much for domesticating our faith, which is so easy to do, especially in the States, because it is easier and more comfortable. Like CS Lewis says, Christ was either a lunatic, a liar, or the Son of God. Notice that nice teacher isn't on that list.

Have a blessed week and I pray that as the world see more of what Pope Francis has said we are all uncomfortable and challenged.

Do you believe in miracles?

You always hear about the miracles that Jesus worked in the Bible. Every once in a while you hear of something incredible that happened to someone who knows someone who knows someone. It is easy to say we believe in miracles, but I don't know if I ever really believed what I said. I think God is trying to teach me that He still works powerfully in the lives of those who have faith because these last couple weeks I have been hearing story after story after story.

It started with my mothers group that I lead on Sundays. I have been meeting with them for almost five months, but they are finally opening up to me. As I listen to their life stories I am amazed. They have nearly no access to medical care and have told me many of their family histories when someone was seriously ill and then somehow recovered. One mother was suicidal because her husband left her. She was also pregnant at the time. But she picked up a Bible and started to read. That was a year ago and she probably participates in the group more than any other. She is totally different now. I count that as a miracle.

This lesson in miracles continued on this last mission to La Union. On several house visits the woman told me about ways that God had worked in their lives. The first told me about how she had serious heart troubles and was in the hospital. She could hear everything, but couldn't open her eyes or move. The doctors thought she was dead because her vital signs stopped and her husband has crying over her. She could feel his tears on her cheeks. She prayed to God and then opened her eyes to comfort her husband. And that was just one woman. There were several others.

Whether you call these miracles or simply God working in people's lives, it is humbling to hear. Maybe the reason we find it hard to believe in miracles is because we don't trust in God. We are self-sufficient. We can go to the doctor. We know where our next meal is coming from. When something goes wrong there is a safety net. The people here have none of that. They know their absolute and total dependence on God. It is something profound that we can learn from them.