Self-commitment

I just Louisville beat Wichita State in the Final Four and they kept talking about Kevin Ware who had a devastating injury.  They said that when he broke his leg that he was in immense pain and all he would say is "Just win the game."  Kevin showed extreme commitment to his team by doing this, he had a compound fracture and completely severed the bones in his leg and all he cared about was his team and the game.  We should all look to Kevin as a role model and mimic his selflessness.  In our call to holiness, selflessness and dire commitment are two things that are essential to living our faith and believing in God.  God calls us to be selfless and give things to the poor and help them to carry on.  Also, dire commitment for any cause, even a bad cause, is still good because you aren't doing it for yourself, you're doing it for your teammate or companion.  That is what God desires in all of humanity, the selflessness that compels you to fight for another and not yourself.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2013/04/01/kevin-ware-injury-joe-theismann-says-my-heart-goes-out-to-him/

Integrity

Yesterday I went to the Mecum car auction where they have some of the most amazing cars you will ever see.  The had lots of old classic cars that looked great and newer cars that went very fast.  Looking at all of the classic cars made me think back to the times when people did the right thing when they weren't being watched.  It made me think of the integrity that people exercised and should exercise and by practicing integrity, you are fulfilling you call to holiness.  You do the right thing in God's name and you do it out of the goodness of your heart.  All people should be inspired by their conscience and the goodness of their hearts to help others and do what is right.  Now every time I see a classic car, it will remind me to maintain my integrity.

http://www.cargurus.com/Cars/1958-Chevrolet-Corvette-Pictures-c431_pi35792906

Saint Simeon

Saint Simeon Stylites the Elder was a devout Christian who lived in Syria from 390 AD to 459 AD. He is well known for his fasting and his faith to God. Born in Asia Minor to a shepherd, he joined a monastery at the age of thirteen. In later years, he lived for a year and a half in a hut with no food or water at all during the Lent fasting season. Hailed as a miracle, pilgrims around the region came to greet him. In order to get away from the ever increasing number of people who frequently came to him for prayers and advice, leaving him little if any time for his private austerities, Simeon discovered a pillar which had survived amongst ruins, formed a small platform at the top, and upon this determined to live out his life. It has been stated that, as he seemed to be unable to avoid escaping the world horizontally, he may have thought it an attempt to try to escape it vertically. Over the years he changed pillars, gradually getting higher; moving from originally four meters to fifteen. In the afternoons he allowed visitors and pilgrims to talk with him, share food and writing supplies, as well as spiritual advice. Simeon became so influential that a church delegation was sent to him to demand that he descend from his pillar as a sign of submission. When, however, he showed himself willing to comply, the request was withdrawn. Once when he was ill, Theodosius sent three bishops to beg him to come down and allow himself to be attended by physicians, but Simeon preferred to leave his cure in the hands of God, and before long he recovered. After spending 37 years on his pillar, Simeon died on 2 September 459. He inspired many imitators, and, for the next century, ascetics living on pillars, "stylites", were a common sight throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. His faithfulness helped him get through the toughness of life ans is an inspiration to all who are suffering.

Call to Holiness

God calls us to holiness. Keep in mind that he does not call us to live blindly; Jesus is the light to our world and guides us on our path to communion with God.

Our conformity to Christ involves a radical love that requires a gift of self. “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). By incorporating us into Christ, the Holy Spirit also makes us members of his body, the Church. Jesus sends us into the world to spread the Good News. Christ himself was sent out to preach to the world, and was persecuted for his message. We too are to follow in his footsteps, and we too will be misunderstood. Jesus himself said, "If the world hateth you, ye know that it hath hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love its own: but because ye are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, A servant is not greater than his lord. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no excuse for their sin."

What does it mean to be a "Child of God"? It means that we must follow and answer his call to walk with him and help to teach others about him so that they too may grow in communion in themselves. We comprise the Body of Christ, and it is from god that we receive our mission and call to holiness. “But now in Christ Jesus ye that once were far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who made both one, and brake down the middle wall of partition, having abolished in the flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; that he might create in himself of the two one new man, so making peace; and might reconcile them both in one body unto God through the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: and he came and preached peace to you that were far off, and peace to them that were nigh: for through him we both have our access in one Spirit unto the Father. So then ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but ye are fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner stone; in whom each several building, fitly framed together, groweth into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom ye also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.

I had the privilege of attending the National Catholic Educational Association opening liturgy. I, along with my brothers and sisters from the Strake & St. Agnes Mixed Chorus, led the laity in song throughout the mass. The NCEA's mission is: "Rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) is a professional membership organization that provides leadership, direction, and service to fulfill the evangelizing, catechizing, and teaching mission of the Church." Their job is to coordinate Catholic unity throughout America. This year's meeting was important because it was the first time ever to be held in Houston. Bishops and priests from local and far-away dioceses were all represented as over forty separate states were in attendance. It was both an honor and a joy to sing for the leaders of both the Church and for all the teachers who enjoyed this wonderful event.