What Are You Celebrating?

We are in the midst of a wonderful season: Advent. It is a time of preparation, a time of waiting, a time of anticipating. What are we waiting for? We, as Christians, are waiting for and preparing for the birth of Christ. We are anticipating His coming. We look forward to, each year, celebrating the birth of Jesus....or are we? Do we really celebrate the birth of Jesus?

Each and everyone is celebrating something--and not just at Christmas. We are celebrating something each and every day of our lives. What are we celebrating? Take a look at your lives. What is important to you? Is your Xbox or Wii important to you? Is it your iPhone or Blackberry? Is shopping important to you, or making lots of money? Is prestige and popularity important to you? Is partying and drinking important? Is your family important to you? Is your faith important? Whatever it is that you find important, whatever it is that you give priority to in your life is what you celebrate.

We all become what we celebrate. If you celebrate the things of this world, then you will become worldly. If you celebrate your family, then you will have a strong family. If you celebrate Christ's birth, ministry, death, and resurrection, then you will become more Christ-like.

It's your choice. No one is forcing you to celebrate on thing over another. What do you want? Do you want worldly success? Do you want a strong family? Do you want to be more like Christ? Then celebrate! For me, I choose to celebrate family and Christ. I hope you choose the same.

Training for Devotion

My mom took my name, Timothy Daniel, from the bible. She chose my name at a time in her life where, as she tells me, she wasn't even going to church, much less picking up a bible. But for some reason, when she was trying to decide on my name, she picked it up. It is that reason that St. Paul's letters to Timothy have always held a special place in my heart. Every time I read them I am affected by them in some way. They seem relevant to my life. It's been a while since I read those letters to Timothy, so I picked my bible up today and began reading Paul's 1st Letter to Timothy. And, again, I was moved by what I read.

The passage that struck me today is from the 4th chapter of that first letter:

Avoid profane and silly myths. Train yourself for devotion, for, while physical training is of limited value, devotion is valuable in every respect, since it holds a promise of life both for the present and for the future. (1 Tim 4:7-8)

After I read that passage, I started reflecting on what devotion means and how I can train myself for it.

There are, in actuality, several ways we need to show devotion in our lives, each of them important. The first way we show devotion is in our work--our jobs and our schooling. We show this devotion by doing our jobs to the best of our abilities and making the best of all situations we encounter in our work, whether good or bad.

The second form of devotion that we need to show is with our children, if blessed to have them. We need to be a committed and devoted parents. We need to make ourselves available to them when they need us. The discipline we give our children needs to be done out of love and not out of our selfishness. This devotion is more important than our careers, and we need to remember that. We need to be willing to have a balance between our devotion to work and our devotion to our children. And we need to make our employers aware that our family is important and sometimes has to come before our jobs.

The third devotion we need to have in our lives is to our spouses. This one is the most critical and most important of our "earthly" devotions. We made a commitment to our spouses when we said those vows, when we entered into the Sacrament of Matrimony. We need to uphold that commitment, that covenant that was made. This devotion needs to take priority over both our jobs and our children. If we let this devotion fall between the cracks then our families, and possibly our careers and lives, will fall apart. We need to spend time with our spouses--talking with them, and not just about the weather or the football game. We need to open our hearts and souls to our spouses and share our joys, our fears, our insecurities with them. This is particularly difficult for me to do. But I find that when I am successful in opening up to my wife it truly does deepen my love for and devotion to her.

The final--and by far the most important--devotion is our devotion to our faith--our devotion to Christ. Without Christ in our lives we can do nothing. Just as St. Paul said, "physical training is of limited value, devotion is valuable in every respect, since it holds a promise of life both for the present and for the future." Placing our hope, our devotion, in Christ, we are enabled to be devoted to our spouses, our children, and our jobs. We cannot be truly devoted to anything if we are not first devoted to Christ. Everything else falls apart with out Him.

So, we need to "train" ourselves for devotion. We need to put forth our best efforts in our jobs. We need to spend time with our children. We need to pour out our hearts to our spouses. And, most importantly, we need to pray. How does one "train" himself in these devotions? We do as any good athlete would. We practice. And then we practice some more. The best athletes are the ones who are deeply committed to their sport. If we can be deeply committed to just one of these devotions in our lives--our devotion to Christ--then all of the other devotions we have in our lives will fall into place naturally.

All Hail the Golden Arches

I was traveling down a major road in my area during evening rush hour and I saw something that is, unfortunately, a common occurrence. There was a line of traffic at the drive through of the McDonald's. In fact, there was so much traffic waiting for the drive through that it was spilling out onto the road. I say that this is unfortunate not because I have animosity towards McDonald's (I love their french fries!), but because we, as Americans, don't make time to sit down to a family meal anymore. Our lives are so over-scheduled (mine included). Between running the kids from one activity to the next, both parents working, and the long hours we have to put into our jobs, there just doesn't seem to be time to sit down and eat together anymore.

My family is in a good situation when it comes to family meals. My wife and I chose to make the sacrifices necessary for her to stay home with our children. So, family meals are served most nights. I also have a flexible work schedule, which allows me to be home with them for most family meals. Oftentimes I have to go back to work after dinner, and am not home as much as I would like to be to support my wife and spend time with my children. But at least I can make it home to dinner most nights. Family mealtime is good for families. Families are healthier when they eat homemade meals together, and not just physically. Families are also healthier emotionally and spiritually through sharing a meal together. A sense of community and belonging comes from sharing this all too important meal together as a family.

There is also another meal that is, in my opinion, more important than family dinners. That meal is the Eucharist, the Mass. The Eucharistic meal is the most important thing we can do for our souls, our families, our communities. If you want a happy, healthy relationship with your spouse, go to Mass together. If you want a happy, healthy relationship with your children, participate in the Eucharist at least weekly with them. If you want to feel an inner peace and joy in your own life, join the community of Catholics at Mass. Don't just go, sit (and stand and kneel) for an hour, and then return home. Don't just go through the "drive through". Get involved! Participate in the Mass. Sing the hymns. PRAY! Stop looking at your watch and actually listen to the readings and the homily. Don't look at what everyone else is wearing or doing, but concentrate on the mystery that is being revealed before your eyes! Christ joins us, physically, in the Mass! He is there! Don't pass up this wonderful opportunity to talk to Him and be with Him. Engage your whole mind, body, and soul in the Mass.

Make the time out of you busy schedules to eat dinner several times a week with your family. Don't just grab McDonald's on the run and scarf it down a you go from one activity to the next, but prepare a meal, sit down around your dining room table, eat, and share. It will transform your family. Likewise, make time to go to Mass at least weekly. And don't just "scarf Christ down" and impatiently wait for the end of Mass so you can get back to your busy schedule. Engage in the Mass. Listen to the prayers being prayed--and pray them yourselves. And don't just bolt for the door as the recessional hymn begins. Take the time to engage with the other members of your church community. Get to know them. Become involved in your church. It will transform your life.