Scrooge: P,P&F

Posted on December 3, 2015 by Rev. Joe Jagodensky, SDS.

Ebenezer Scrooge … so not a good mini-break look.Pretend to be Scrooge for a few paragraphs.  Put on his heavy, black coat, sleeping cap and one faintly lit candle and seat in a dank room with a smoldering fire facing you.

All right, don’t pretend; it’s not very inviting but instead think of life’s three segments and you get the picture.  Three spirits visit Scrooge on one single night and about one night, but in our lives those spirits live within us everyday –  Past, Present and Future – as well they should.

Depending on who you are, most of your time is spent in one of them when all of us ought to learn to live in all three at the same time.  If you’re down and out, it’s “Present” and his constant visits to the gas station and that “Future” lottery ticket that’s always a number or two off.  If you’re in your prime age then the “Present” fills your prime-time because the other two don’t exist, yet.  If you’re over 50 then it’s that 18 year old from your “Past” that now marvels you.

Scrooge’s visits all focus on one day and its developments – good and bad.  Our lives are best lived by weaving between them all, and attempting to bring them together from the “Present” to help form our “Future” but that’s not always easy to do.  That darn “Past” doesn’t seem to change (go wonder?!) and good and bad seem to filter my “Present.”  (Welcome to life!)

The “Past” only (and I mean “only”) influences your Present but can never dictate your Future.  How often does the “Past” brand us so our “Present” paralyzes us to a “Future” already made?  There is no fortitude in that thinking, no strength or perseverance.  There is “only” (there’s that crazy word again) a”Present” that freezes within us a resignation claiming it is a “given”; and that stupid phrase is repeated, “It is what it is.”  But the retort is always, “You don’t know what it’s like for me” as though you have the unique fortune to be the first person to know misfortune.

When this happens then we become the guy with that heavy, black coat in that cold room with the fire slowly burning out.  Our “Past” happened (which only pasts can do), our “Present” is now and ours in the making toward an unknown “Future”.  Who knows the “Future?”  No one does but we allow the “Past” to inform our “Present” and influence our “Future.”  What else can the word “hope” mean?

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Advent’s Inventory

Posted on December 3, 2015 by Rev. Joe Jagodensky, SDS.

memling-adventEvery grocery and department store knows exactly how much they have on display, in the back or awaiting arrival.  “A dollar is a dollar” and that hula hoop just doesn’t seem to be selling any longer.

Advent is about collecting your inventory and Lent is about evaluating your inventory.  Preparing for Christmas is the same as preparing for the cold winter months.  (No wonder Advent is now.)  Advent’s virtues of peace, contentment, hope and promise warm our souls anticipating again the birth of Christ.  Layers of clothes, a good sweater and jacket gets us from our cars to the grocery store.  We could call ourselves “collectors” during these four weeks.  Isaiah is full of good thoughts these days, thoughts of something good and positive laying ahead of us – just an arm’s reach away if we but stretch out our arm a little.  Advent fills and Lent empties.

Lent rolls around and it’s time to look at our loaded shelves that haven’t moved since December.  (We wonder during Lent why we bought that stupid stuff in the first place.)  Preparing for the resurrection, we empty ourselves only to be filled with Christ’s peace, contentment, hope and promise…stuff we bought last December.  Advent creates and Lent refines.

Persistent, nagging thoughts are useless we tell ourselves during Advent so we fill our life’s shelves with a promise that good thoughts and actions take over.  “Top shelve” is reserved for kind acts and words toward others.  “Middle shelve” is a job well done in our professional lives.  “Bottom shelve” is our personal life that will always baffle but never deter us.  That’s Advent.  Advent plants the seeds and Lent reaps the harvest.

Take these weeks to build up your inventory and place them prominently on its rightful shelve and don’t worry whether they’re sell or not, you will always have the Lenten season to take care of that.

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Advent: Joseph

Posted on December 2, 2015 by Rev. Joe Jagodensky, SDS.

nativity_poster_joseph_460The third starring character in our salvation story had the easiest job.  There were no lines to memorize or standing on marks to get the lights just right before filming begins.  Joseph just needed to be there.  He says nothing in the Bible which is pretty significant since it’s full of words.

Joseph was just there.  How many significant events happened during our lives and we can recall where were were, in full color?  Joseph is center stage but it didn’t seem to bother him to have the attention on his newborn or wife-to-be.

Joseph’s role is to be there and make his dreams have words through the actions of others.  Like the Old Testament Joseph, this New Joseph does the same thing.  Dreams and more dreams that all become real.  (If you named your child “Ryan” and he doesn’t speak a lot but dreams often you may wish to have his name changed.)

For us Joseph is two things.  He’s the dreamer and he was there.  How can we meld our dreams and our reality?  It seems pretty difficult at first but dreams illustrate what can be and reality shows us how it’s done.

Joseph doesn’t speak much because he doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone.  How often does our constant talking show how great or smart we are?  Joseph sits and listens and then dreams.  And do you know what happens?  Through Joseph’s dreams he is where he needs to be – beside his wife-to-be and the child who is his.  Jesus is Son to Joseph as much as Jesus is Son to us.

The major stars of our Nativity movie are the cow, donkey, Mary and Jesus.  (Go ahead and add the innkeeper, he only gets one line.)  Joseph becomes us.  Our sleep-fulled dreams are the messages that lead us to be where we need to be.

 

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Advent: An “Act” of Wonder

Posted on December 1, 2015 by Rev. Joe Jagodensky, SDS.

indexThe calendar tells us that the four weeks before Christmas has begun but our heart may be out of sync and we want to say Scrooge’s made up word.  You change the station when Andy sings what a “Wonderful Time of the Year” that this isn’t for you.

If you have children then it’s a cinch because their enthusiasm is so contagious that it’s hard to fake a Christmas smile with those tiny, wondrous eyes gazing at the lighted tree.

We been through this season year after year and the ending may have lost the peace and contentment promised by all those Advent scripture readings.

What better way to get on with it except to “act” like your excited and full of anticipation.  (“I have a minor in drama, I should be able to pull this off.”)  Preparing for “The Godfather,” Marlon Brando thought he looked too young so he put tissue paper in each cheek to broaden his face and make his voice sound hoarse.  History tells us that it worked.  He acted the part and in his old age he was tissue-less because the cheeks did their own thing.  His pretending worked well.

The Disney playgounds ingeniously build-in numerous layers of attractions for those who attend a second or third time.  The first visit you see the magic castle and all the glittering lights.  Your second visit you look past that castle and see something new that’s been planted there just for your second visit.  The Vatican has the same layout only without the scheming.   On your first visit to the Vatican who would ever look at the floor because your eyes are glued to the ceiling and surrounding lifelike figures.  On your second visit the floor may catch your attention as you see the measurements of other Catholic cathedrals around the world and how they pale in comparison to the size of the Vatican.

Advent has something for everyone in all times of life.  The trick, or faith’s beauty is getting you to look and find some part of you that’s been hidden away behind that fixed-rigid clock that ticks away in your head or those heavy bags that weigh down any life-giving energy.

“Act” like you love Advent once more and discover a nook or cranny of hope, peace and contentment that waits to be captured, honored and cherished.  If you “act” well, you may not win an Oscar but I bet there’s a nomination waiting for you during the season of waiting.

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“Pray for me”

Posted on November 30, 2015 by Rev. Joe Jagodensky, SDS.

Prayer-for-Me_web“Pray for me” people say to me.  Some stop me deliberately, others will close their conversation with that petition.  “Pray for me.”  I know what it means but I’ve never understood what it entails?

Do I get to go home early and kneel for awhile while reciting remembered prayers?  Or is this like a nine-day thing that I need to keep track off, like putting an “x” on my monthly calendar?  Do I need to know details to make the prayer effective; like is the prayed-for a victim or merely a victim of him/herself?  And again, how long need I pray?  Never have I been told to “stop praying, everything’s alright now” or “thanks for the prayers but they’re not needed any longer.”  So this is my endless prayers for often an unknown person with little or no details.

This has nothing to do with the priesthood, we are all asked to remember someone in our prayers without a closing date.  What if it’s someone you know with a debilitating condition and then you see her jogging.  Do you then stop your prayers or were your prayers answered and she forgot to email you?  Is this a miracle that you are now a part of?

“Pray for me” is religious code for “please, remember me” for whatever reason.  Or how about, “please, don’t forget me” and my friend or son or daughter that’s having a difficult time right now.

With all the turmoil in the world with nameless deaths, troubled countries that we couldn’t find on a map with a gun to our heads, terrorists with religious intentions but no groundings and troubles found in our daily newspapers. We bow our heads so often it should count for exercise and calorie loss.

If “community” means anything then it means that simple three word request.  Community is always built one person at a time whether we know the person or not.  Prayer is our one bond to all the people of the world.

I’m at home in the evening and I’m remembering and praying for “that woman in the white coat with died hair who asked me to remember her son in the Army.”  Am I doing my job?  So I say, “Please remember God, mom and son.”

What does our “Pray for me” look like?  Do we tell God what to do as in “cure,” “remission,” “new career,” “better husband,” “long awaited raise,” “St. Joseph buried somehow to sell the house,” “getting into Yale,” “better credit rating,” “heaven for your dead cat,” “Green Bay Packers recover,” “peaceful death.”  You and I know it can be a longer list for all those things in our needs, wants or desires.

We know we can’t tell God anything but our response to that simple three word question is matched by three simple words, “God bless you.”

“God bless you” in your struggle with whatever it may be.  “God bless you” with all the virtues instilled in you since birth to see you through whatever.  “God bless you” in your waiting and wanting and not knowing the outcome.  “God bless you” to know that I am with you and your troubles in the name of God.  We should never forget that God unites and we are the single folks trying our best to unite.  “God bless you” may not be the answer but it truly is a great beginning – and the best we can do.  (Oh, and it is also covers sneezes.)

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Advent & Lent

Posted on November 27, 2015 by Rev. Joe Jagodensky, SDS.

4424261954_a446500446_bThe two most important Church seasons, both preparing us for two important events in Church history – the birth of Jesus and his resurrection.

You don’t just stumble into glorious events in life.  There’s a preparation period or a period of time that brought you to those events.  Your boss just doesn’t approach you and say, “I’m giving you a 10% raise today.”  That raise would be based on your work, hence preparation.  The odd part of Church teaching is that we cannot work for or toward it.  Birth and Resurrection are unsolicited gifts from God but during our earthly journey we are able to prepare for each and perhaps even act a bit surprised when both these gifts arrive in our souls.

Advent?  It’s purely for kids.  All the unknowns and mysteries of life are presented to us in four weeks.  There’s twists and turns that would turn a Republican’s eye in its revealing  and unfolding beauty.  There’s opposing animals sleeping together and there’s plenty of talk about hope, community and reaching far beyond our today’s concerns.  Just like children, Advent plunges into our imaginations and shows us to forget about what “is” and immerse ourselves into “what if?”  Advent can only look forward and Lent always looks back.

Lent?  Now it’s adult’s time (and we needed to add two extra weeks!) to see the failures that Advent invited, launched and held out to us as “at least possible.”  Lent looks back at those bad decisions, those selfish choices, the times when ignoring the many benefited the few (which is reduced to “what’s in it for me?”).  Advent holds hope in her hands and Lent reconciles his failures to be hope and choosing instead to watch out only for himself.

The weird part is that the Church continues that pagan tradition of honoring time this exact way.  Who among us would place hope (Advent) at the beginning of winter and reconciliation (Lent) at spring’s beginning?  Who are these people?

In our wise wisdom, you and I would put Advent in the spring of new beginnings and the sad season of Lent at winter’s beginning.  Foolish us, we wise people.

Those who are in need, sorrowing, mournful and struggling (like a cold winter) need Advent here and now; and how can you appreciate spring’s hope while carrying around all that old, hurtful baggage.  No, the Church continues the right way of the pagans and keeps our feelings in tune with the seasons in their proper, pagan order.

Yes, Advent is for kids.  So, put on your pj’s, get your ice cream and look up at the moon and wonder how we can bring that reflective moon that is Jesus Christ to our everyday lives.  Open your eyes as wide as a 10 year-old would because this is Advent when anything and everything is possible when done in God’s name.  We have plenty of time before spring when Lent calls us for an accounting of our Advent.

Wouldn’t we be truly God’s servants if our Advents led to quiet and peaceful Lents?  Now find those pj’s.

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Coffee & The Church

Posted on November 26, 2015 by Rev. Joe Jagodensky, SDS.

nescafe-tasters-choice-coffee-sticks-42ct-2Just try ordering a cup of coffee these days and hear what happens.  It’s not easy.

Decaf or regular, black, ground, roasted or blended, whole, two-percent, skim, soy, and in some places, organic milk. gluten free, sugar or not?   Cappuccino, mocha, latte or eight other names I can’t pronounce.  Small, medium or large?  If you’re experienced you’d just say, “I would like a vanilla latte made with skim milk, two shots of espresso, with whip cream on it. Oh and I’d like that in a tall size.”

Religion has finally been reduced itself to a cup of coffee.  The varieties, times of services, the music served, the sermon heard, the kind of folks surrounding you, the “how much push for money,” the educational needs of your kids for you to be in “this church” all add up to a cup of anxiety-driven caffeine.

These are the days when choices abound when it comes to beliefs and values.  Some give up their parent’s church simply because of that. Beliefs and values.  Others may stay in that church simply because, well, of that.  The Biblical Joshua addresses all the people: “If it does not please you to serve the Lord, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are now dwelling.”

If you are challenging yourself and questioning what is important to you then I applaud and will walk with you the whole way.  If it’s simply convenience and comfort for you than enjoy your coffee cup and the church of your choice.

U.S. Bishops often use the term “individualistic.”  I’m not sure of the context unless it means being selfish, otherwise I don’t get it.  To be an “individual” is the goal of every human life.  If you’re 40 years old and in a Catholic Church because mom taught you that, then there’s plenty of fire exits.  (Please find the nearest for your safety and the safety of those surrounding you.)  The sacrament of Confirmation is still given way too early (8th grade or high school junior) while mom’s words are still clearly heard because she’s planning a backyard party to throw for you and the relatives afterwards.  It is not the faith of the family that is transmitted but the family’s faith.  And that needs to be owned by each person in her or his own way and time.

All churches have a kernel of truth within them if they stand the test of time.  I don’t know any pagans but I’ve grown to appreciate pagans who were (and are) not who we define them to be.  Their connection with the earth and something beyond is the forerunner of every decent church that exists.

Typing away, I’m presently sitting on my porch with my laptop and the rain is falling.  Yet I’m wondering what a supposed “pagan” would be doing about now.  Most likely kneeling in thanksgiving for the gods sending this needed rain?  Knowing that gods exist because there is rain?  Grateful to be in shelter during rains like this?  I don’t know what that means because I’m a Catholic and live in a pretty safe home.  The Catholic Church has borrowed every pagan gesture and action available and simply added “Jesus” to it and that makes it now true and right.  The Lutherans have much to share even if they say they are the “one true church” which Catholics already have copyrighted.

Jesus says, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted to him by my Father.”  As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.  Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?”  Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go?   You have the words of eternal life.  We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

I love people who tell me that they’re confused, unsure or doubting about their faith.  It is never that I will solve their confusion but I encourage it.  Be confused.  Doubt is a gift from the gods.  Unsure means that you’re a thinking individual (there’s that word again) and questioning this or that to help you decide the “this’s or that’s” in your life.  Be a wondering person.  Wonder away and never settle down.  Wonder until you see the white light and then wonder no more.  The rain helps the earth whether it comes to us from the “One True God” or the “gods.”  The Jews wisely taught us that all questions only lead to other questions and then other questions until you settle with what they’re looking for but still not be absolutely sure.

I don’t want to stand and preach to a bunch of Catholics who bought Catholicism “hook, line and sinker.”  I want to stand in front of a bunch of  folks who’ll wrestle with me about the mysteries within this life and then enjoying a strong cup of coffee.”

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Advent: The Cow

Posted on November 26, 2015 by Rev. Joe Jagodensky, SDS.

imagesWhat better way to begin this sacred season of Advent except with the beginning.  A cow.  It is the first of our Nativity characters to be seen because the cow’s has always been here.  This is her home.  This is the place where births take place and newborns are fed with life’s sustaining liquid: milk.

It is the “milk of human kindness,” Shakespeare tells us about mercy and compassion that Advent is.

“Don’t cry over spilled milk,” is honoring the mistakes we’ve made and will continue to make but we learn and move forward.  That’s Advent.

“Milk it for all it is worth,” is the perpetual capacity for the fullness of life that is with us, no matter our age, until our last breath.  That’s Advent.

“Land of milk and honey,” is always our promise for the land in which we live, even when it does not happen or remain – it is our hope and God’s promise.  That’s Advent.

Woody Allen’s said, “I’m thankful for laughter except when milk comes out of my nose.”  Rejoice, rejoice and then rejoice once again.  That’s Advent.

Each Nativity character plays a role in the Christian beginning of our salvation history.  We cannot have life without birth and there is no life after birth except the nourishment coming from the most ordinary of animals, producing the most extraordinary creation of God: us.  That’s Advent.

Welcome Advent’s first of several characters – eating food from Mother Earth, providing meat for hungry travelers, and with “udder” (couldn’t resist) rejoicing milk from mother’s breast.

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Backward Hope

Posted on November 25, 2015 by Rev. Joe Jagodensky, SDS.

lot3bHope is about an unknown future and hopefully our hope is that “this” will not end up the “that” that we dare not to speak.

Even the dictionary gets it wrong with “expectations” and “certain things to happen” as though the second greatest virtue is limited to our future and not our past.  “Faith” and “Charity,” please set aside as we show  ourselves that the power of “Hope” can heal the backwards of our lives.

There’s a quaint, quiet town outside busy, metropolitan Milwaukee that illustrates “hope” as defined by the dictionary.  Driving through it, it reminds me of a movie set – when you walk behind the store fronts you see the boards propping them up.  It seems as shallow as dismissing my past as forever gone and not to be bothered with any longer because there are “certain things to happen.”  (Where’s Miss Mary Sunshine when you need her?)

When we seek closure or some kind of healing that can never be granted because the past is gone, we easily use the word “wish.”  “I wish that that memory could fade away from me,” or “I wish healing about that incident or episode that I regret.”  We can’t hope for it because of hope’s limitations.

Can’t the second of the greatest virtues be broadened without blowing itself up?  Can’t the power of hope in all its full maturity offer a healing or a softening to that “thing” of the past?  “Wishing” works well in fairy tales but “hope” is very effective in healing what cannot be healed in order to get on with our lives.

Those mistakes of the past, whatever they may be, have a cute way of haunting and persisting in our minds and behaviors.  Looking blindly toward an unknown future, like my quaint town, feebly attempts to bypass our pasts as though they never existed.

Try this example.  If you dent your left driver’s bumper then guess where your next accident will occur.  (No one seems to guess it correctly.)  Your next accident will be your left driver’s bumper.

The longer we live the more background we have.  Each of our “store fronts” may look clean and neat to those who drive by us but unless we hope our ways toward our backs then we are simply a scene set on a studio lot in a cheap make- believe-movie.

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“Thanksgiving”

Posted on November 24, 2015 by Rev. Joe Jagodensky, SDS.

imagesIt’s the one and maybe only day of the year when the “Big Guy” is brought out for all the good and happiness in our lives.  Personally, I’m grateful to God for being born white, birthed by strong parents, living in a simple city, smart, educated and successful beyond my dreams.

I jest of course because God had nothing to do with any of those things.  But we yearly attribute to God all the good and of all the bad we asked God to take it away, as though God authorized both to flying angels with their traveling instructions.  (Cue the Wicked Witch and her flying monkeys.)

The rest of our year is spent taking the good for granted and hoping the bad is minimal or nothing at all.  Looking back, however, did not the difficult or “bad” episodes bring us closer to ourselves, family, dependence and then perhaps leaning on God’s assistance?

What kind of assistance can God provide since he really didn’t really send angels down upon us?  It’s always been simple but we seem to complicate the simple whenever we get the chance.  It’s the virtues that begin and end with God and slowly simmer in our lives, especially during trying times until they burn themselves into us.

They are the gifts of the Holy Spirit – wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, fortitude, piety, and fear of the Lord (wonder).  The internet calls it “wonder” but a little fear won’t kill you.  God’s provided us with these seven enduring gifts, a delicious Turkey dinner and even a wishbone for our fanciful fantasy about who God is and who we are in relation to God.

Happy Thanksgiving.

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