Tuesday, August 14, 2012

A Lean Meal

The Eucharist is not just bread and wine; it becomes body and blood; not just body and blood, but broken body and spilled blood; and not just broken body and spilled blood; but the resurrected, glorified body of the Risen Lord.  The bread we eat is not the body of the dead Jesus, but the resurrected Jesus; there is a distinction.

The Israelites in Exodus weren't just acting like spiteful children, always threatening their preference to go back to Egypt, just to get a rise out of God.  They were in such despair and at a point of real hunger and starvation that cruel slavery seemed a better option and this is the point the Lord feeds them.

There is a lot of dying we must do to fully access the power of the resurrection that is present in the Eucharist.  We must be that hungry and that poor.  In an American culture of over-indulgence and every meal suggesting abundance, lavish excess of food and drink, it is easy to also see the Eucharist as a luxury meal with the expectations of a nourishment leaving us feeling fat, full, content, and satisfied.

However, the Eucharist's sacrificial aspect also implies that we come hungry to the table and instead leave with a heart broken by the passion of God and a little lean with just enough food for the journey (taking nothing extra) and just enough strength for the day (spoilt manna) - our daily bread.

(paraphrase from "bread for the journey")

Sunday, August 12, 2012

New Dad Confession 9

My good friend just welcomed his first baby girl.  Only having experiences with baby boys, he asked me for some tips.


Friday, August 10, 2012

The Points Don't Matter Just Like ...



"Welcome to Whose Line is it Anyway, the show where the points don't matter.  That's right, the points don't matter just like ...

... the parts of the women's gymnastics floor routine when they're not doing flips."

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Acting "normal"

IM conversation with a gay and atheist co-worker after I provided a simple script to make a task easier:

----
co-worker:   looks like evil satanic magic!

me:   nope, i'm a godly person remember? ;)
<my co-worker has seen me make the sign of the cross for years and is familiar with my youth ministry>

co-worker:   oh that's right.  i forgot because of the way you act and talk.
<feeling embarrassed because i was about to be called out for being a hypocrite>

<trying to keep things light-hearted>
me:   hm...is that because i act like a heathen?

co-worker:   haha, no.  it's because you act "normal."
----

I think that's actually a compliment.  Is a "normal" witness perhaps a better witness than an antagonizing one?

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Lyric of the Moment 17

"She's so precious with the peer pressure \
Couldn't afford a car so she named her daughter A-Lexus \
...
Man I promise, I'm so self conscious \
That's why you always see me with at least one of my watches \
Rollies and Pasha's done drove me crazy \
I can't even pronounce nothing, pass that ver-say-see \
...
It seems we living the American dream \
But the people highest up got the lowest self esteem \
The prettiest people do the ugliest things \
For the road to riches and diamond rings \
...
I say fuck the police, thats how I treat 'em \
We buy our way out of jail, but we can't buy freedom \
We'll buy a lot of clothes when we don't really need em \
Things we buy \
to cover up what's inside"

          ~ Kanye West, All Falls Down

Friday, August 3, 2012

Words you don't usually hear until you have kids

(As soon as I get home from work in the evening)

"Can you clean up the poop in the bathtub?"

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Another Catholic Problem

http://images.sodahead.com/polls/000069384/polls_barney_burp_3654_410201_answer_1_xlarge.gif

Here's another Catholic Problem for you.  Is it just me or does anyone else feel bad when you need to burp right after receiving Holy Communion?

I mean, having not eaten for an hour before Mass and Jesus still having the physical properties of bread/wafer and wine seems like the perfect storm for belching.

Similar to bread crumbs still being fully Jesus, is the gas that is expelled also?

It seems disrespectful, which is why I usually try to hold it in, but if the celebration of the Mass is supposed to be a feast, then isn't a good burp afterwards a good thing and a compliment to the chef?  (I suppose it depends on the culture - I have no idea about ancient Palestine.)