S&F-Confessions of a Cradle Catholic III: Angry Jesus

Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those engaged in selling and buying there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And he said to them, “It is written: ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of thieves." (Mt 21:12-13)

Jesus is always thought of as being peaceful and accepting, but remember he is fully man, and obviously he has a temper as well.

This is not the Gospel today, however, in going through the events of Holy Week this is one of my favorites and it gives me a chance to rant, which, as a grumpy old man, I love to do.

Every Christmas season for as long as I can remember I go to Church every week and see the parents from the school peddling gift cards in the back of the church.  While the people buying the gift cards get them at full value, the school gets a cut on each card purchased.  Huh?  Are these parents just the money changers?  Am I allowed to channel my inner Jesus and flip their table?

I know what you are saying.  The gift card sales aren't jacking up the price of the gift cards or charging interest of something.  So the idea of gift card sales does not have a bad intent.  But I'm sure that there were people in the temple area just trying to make money they needed to support their family by selling goods during while the celebration of Passover was going on.  They didn't have a negative intent.  But Jesus still took his whip and drove them from the temple area.  Good intent does not mean good reality.

While flipping the table and making some cool speech would be cool, I resist my urge to do so.  I just don't think it would be accepted unless Jesus actually did it.  However the purpose of this Cradle Catholic Series is for me to fix the Church, at least in the view of a grumpy old man.  So here's my wish for the gift card sales this holiday season, stop selling gift cards, like the money changers, in the house of prayer.  They can distribute order forms but move the actual transaction to the school office or to the rectory.

Now I know when I look at the back of the church this Christmas season I'm sure that nothing will change and I'll see school parents doing their duty and selling gift cards.  Once again I will resist my urge to shame them for turning the church into a den of thieves.  But I tell you this, if I see them selling doves back there I can not be held responsible for my actions.  Those tables doves and all are gonna be a flippin.

S&F-Holy Monday: Judas asks a Question

In today's Gospel from John we are placed in the home of Lazarus, whom Jesus had recently raised from the dead.  We see one of his sisters, Mary, anoint Jesus with oil and drying his feet with her hair.  Judas Iscariot was confused by this and questioned why those oils were not being sold and the money given to the poor?  Jesus then foretells again of his coming death, when the oils will be needed for his body.

In some ways I can understand the question that Judas asks.  At this point he would look on Jesus as someone who is rooted on humility and care for the poor and downtrodden.  The Jesus he thought he knew would have wanted to increase his effect on the poor rather than glorify himself.

What Judas missed is the second part of what Jesus said, where he eluded to his coming sacrifice, where they would always have the poor but would no longer have him.

So what do we learn from this passage?  I think while we can put ourselves in Judas's shoes and wonder what we can do to help the poor, we should look towards Jesus's whole mission.  We can do what we can to help the poor in our daily lives, but we can also remember that Jesus said the least on earth will be the most in Heaven.  In some ways the best we can do for the suffering on earth is to glorify God everyday and give thanks for Jesus's sacrifice to restore our relationship with Him.

I know that I don't have a lot of people who read this blog.  And I'm sure that even less read my posts on my faith.  But if I can just get one person to think about the importance of their relationship with God for their eternal life it makes it all worth it.  Realize I am praying for all of you, especially this week when we celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord. 

S&F-Palm Sunday: Our Hero Enters the City

Over the Catholic Liturgical year there are many special days on the calendar.  The two big ones are Christmas and Easter.  They are so big that they have whole seasons (Advent and Lent) devoted for preparation and time periods after to celebrate.

While both are important, I always find myself drawn to the Lent/Easter as the one that means more to me personally.  And I think the reason is Holy Week, which starts today.

Today, with Palm Sunday, we reenact the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem.  With the reading being the entire narrative of the Passion from Jesus's praying in the garden, to the arrest, scourging and crucifixion we get all the highlights of the week to come.

And that's what I love about this week.  I can wake up every day and think about what Jesus was doing today on his week leading up to his death.  This is a good time to imagine being present in the events of Holy Week week Jesus.

Today I picture myself in the crowd, watching Jesus sitting on the donkey entering the gates of Jerusalem.  I see myself as one of the Jews in the crowd cheering the living God entering the city.  Is this going to be the time that Jesus is going to fulfill the prophesies and take his seat at the temple?  Is this the time where he is going to overthrow our Roman oppressors?

We know now that Jesus's mission was not to triumph as an military hero, but to have a victory over sin and to restore our relationship with God.

But, 2000 years ago, the typical Jew would have still looked to Jesus as someone who was going to call down the wrath of God on the Romans and restore the kingdom on earth.  And that is why Jesus is being celebrated as a conquering hero on his entry to the city.

How does the attitude change so much that we go from cheering Jesus to demanding for his death over the next week?  That's the journey we, as Christians go, on over Holy Week.  It's exciting to walk with Jesus over the coming days and I am looking forward to documenting it here.    

4/12/25-Sports!

For as long as I can remember I have been a sports fan.  I grew up watching baseball and following my hero, Tony Gwynn, every night.  I loved the "Showtime Lakers" and Magic Johnson.  I would spend my Saturdays watching college football and Sundays watching the NFL.

When Wayne Gretzky was traded to the LA Kings I instantly became a hockey fan.  I knew that March was for the NCAA basketball Tournament, April was Masters Golf, May was the Indy 500 and Father's Day weekend was Golf's US Open.  My tennis viewing was built around Wimbledon.  The Olympics were an every four year obsession.

As I got older I added NASCAR and even some Formula-1.  Every night ended with the mandatory viewing of ESPN's SportsCenter.

I was so into sports that I named my children after some of my favorite athletes, Steve Yzerman and Jeff Gordon.

I just realized it's Masters weekend and I tried to watch it, but had no interest.  I haven't watched the NCAA Tournament in well over a decade.  The NBA is dead to me.  I don't know who the top ranked tennis players are now.  I don't care enough to try to figure out the scoring system in NASCAR.  I barely recognize baseball from the game I grew up loving.

So what happened?

This might just be a grumpy old man rant, sitting on his porch, yelling at the clouds, but at some point sports became less about the team and more about the individual.  Athletes are more concerned about their brands and endorsements then even winning in some cases.

Take the example of Labron James, who is the poster child of the decline of the NBA by taking days off for "rest."  His brand is lack of hustle and whining about calls.

The typical college athlete makes so much money in NIL that they don't care about their school or their team.  They enter the "transfer portal" at will to move onto another school where they feel they will be better compensated.  And don't even get me started on how they have forgotten the "scholar" part of scholar athlete.

NASCAR and baseball were both sports rich in their tradition.  However, in the modern era of low attention span, both have made changes to their sports to make them more appealing for today's viewers.  Why does baseball limit pitching changes?  Why don't we make pitchers hit in the National League?  Why is there a runner on 2nd in extra innings?  Why does NASCAR stop the race and have a half-time break?  Why does NASCAR need a playoff?  None of those things improved their respective sports.

Don't even get me started on the demise of ESPN and SportsCenter.

All I have left is hockey (Go Vegas Knights) and football (which I mostly watch to spend time with my kids).

I know that I am not the audience that sports cares about anymore.  I think they are just waiting for all of us old men to die off so they can truly embrace turning sports to something that can be digested in YouTube Shorts.  Maybe the Olympics should be sponsored by Tic-Toc.  

But I miss sports.  I miss reading the stats.  I miss following my idols.  I miss planning my weekends around the big events.

So to the NBA, MLB, NASCAR, College athletes worried about NIL, ESPN and the like I say:

You have all ruined something that was once a good source of entertainment and a distraction from the hustle and bustle of daily life.  You have turned sports into a shell of what it once was, full of narcissists and crybabies.  You all have ruined a part of my childhood and made it somewhat unrecognizable from what I loved.  To you all, thanks for absolutely nothing. 

S&F-Jesus Doodles

 

Today's reflection is inspired by the Gospel from this week's mass, the 5th Sunday in Lent.  The reading is from the John's Gospel, 8:1-11. 

It is the story of the Pharisees and scribes bringing a woman caught in adultery in front of Jesus for judgement.  Their goal was to try to catch Jesus by either him saying stone her, showing a lack of mercy or saying let her go in violation of the law of Moses.  Neither is good for Jesus.

He responds by ignoring them and writing the dirt.  When pressed he says:

 "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."

Everyone eventually leaves and Jesus forgives the woman's sin telling her to sin no more.

In my life I have heard many homilies about different parts of this Gospel.  Things like: 

• Adultery is a sin committed by two people, so where is the man?  The answer-don't know!
• What was Jesus writing in the dirt? The answer-don't know! But I have heard maybe he was writing the sins of the Pharisees and scribes to remind them of their sins.  I prefer to think he was just doodling like any other man.

As I was listening to the homily today another thing came to mind.  Jesus could have just been influenced by the crowd and gone with the majority opinion.  But he didn't, he made a judgement based on what was right rather than what the crowd wanted.

How does this relate to us today?  In my opinion sometimes the Catholic Church today finds itself interjecting itself into the world's social and political issues.  Maybe it is LGBT issues, women priests, abortion, immigration or environmental issues.  And in those cases The Church make judgements based on what society wants for fear of repercussions from media or world view.  The Church makes statements as to not hurt people's feelings.  And in doing so they come out wishy-washy and unclear.

I can never tell the Church was to do but I miss the times when the Church was more focused on the spiritual.  They made declarations based on what was in the teachings in the scripture, tradition and the magisterium rather than what might be politically correct.

The Church should try to not be in the world, but of the world.  

4/5/25-Let It Go, Let It Go

 

I have seen the movie Frozen one time.  In my opinion, it, like most modern Disney movies is good but not memorable.  Granted, I don't think middle aged men are the target audience for this movie, so I might not be the best person to review it.

If you haven't seen it, this is what I remember.  There are 2 sisters.  One has the powers of Mr. Freeze from Batman or Frozone from the Incredibles, and can freeze stuff at will.  Pretty cool, I think.  Slurpee's at anytime without going to 7-11.

But she doesn't like her powers for some reason and separates herself from her sister.  In order for the sisters to get back together and for Princess Freeze to accept her powers they meet a live snowman, an ice farmer, and a reindeer names Sven.  Sven should be the star of this movie.  

Anyway through the power of song the sisters get back together and everyone lives happily ever after and they go to work at various Disney parks in a ride.

I think I got it right.  If there's something I missed let you can let me know in the comments.

 Anyway one of the endless parade of songs it called "Let It Go."  While I can't remember any of the other words to this song or what it was really about, the title does have some good advise. 

Today, it seems to me that there is a lot of unhappiness and division in the world.  Due to social networks people feel they can rant and rave on any topic that bothers them.  And due to the size of places like Facebook and X (or whatever) they get affirmations that their feelings are right.  If they get a negative response in the comments they either ignore it or worse talk down to the person who made the comment.  Social networks are largely an echo chamber for hate and discontent.

The other thing that this leads to is people feeling that, because they get confirmation, they are making a difference rather than realizing that, even though you might have thousands of followers, you are not changing people's minds in a post, no matter how many sources you site to back up you opinion.  I venture to say that there are just as many sources to refute your position.  That's just the way the modern media works.

The truth, in my opinion, is we should all take a lesson from Anna (or Elsa-I don't know who actually sung the song), and "Let It Go."  I'm not saying that people cannot write opinionated things on Facebook.  But realize you are not making a difference.  You are spreading discontent.  You are breeding hate by not being open to discussion.  And hate and discontent just leads to unhappiness.

I realize that this post may be controversial, but I speak from experience.  I made a conscious effort to step back from the negativity on social networks over the past couple of years.  And I feel I am better for it.  I really don't go to Twitter at at all and refuse to join Tick Tock.  I am still on Facebook, but only for a limited amount of time every few days.   I make an effort to avoid and posts that might be divisive.  And I feel happier for making those changes.

So, for all of you out there, maybe its time to at least try to "Let It Go" a little.  Maybe it will improve your outlook on life.

Oh-and if you haven't seen it, watch Frozen.  It's actually pretty good (to watch once). 

S&F-Confessions of a Cradle Catholic II: Catholic School

I never got to go to Catholic School.  I was a public school kid and am very proud of it.  However, both of my kids did get the privilege of  being able to attend a catholic school and I realize that it is something that should be taken advantage of if a family is able to do so.

However, this is my series on rants about the church, so you know there is going to be some problem with Catholic School that I have an issue with.  Before you say, what do I know since I never went to a Catholic School?  I submit that I have seen Catholic schooling in my family for over 2 decades and at one time I was on the school advisory council for Our Lady of Grace.

First I want to say the educators and teachers are great at Catholic schools in the area.  I have never heard of an issue with teachers pushing agendas or other inappropriate practices like we tend to see occasionally in public schools.  I do believe the staff and teachers at parochial schools do what is best for the development of their students both socially and scholarly.

That's where I have the problem.  Some of these places have placed the education over the spiritual.  They have become schools that happen to be Catholic rather than Catholic Schools.  I understand that they are private institutions that must have great STEM academics to get high quality students.  I know some of them have to even recruit athletes to highlight their athletic programs.

And that's great and all, but as a Catholic whose money I put in the collection every week is subsidizing these schools I would rather see statistics on the percentage of students who become priests rather than go onto a college scholarship in a sport.  Or number of young women who enter the convent from Catholic Schools as opposed to go to four-year universities.  Yes, its important to educate the students, but its also important to help their spiritual discernment.

I do try in these rants to come up with a solution.  While this is defiantly beyond my level, I think that their should be scholarships at both the elementary school levels and high school levels for altar servers.  They have taken an interest in the church and participating the the mass and should be rewarded for it.  Those individuals are our best chances to find deacons, priests and religious sisters in the future.

This one hits home because we are well into Lent, but by no means should a Catholic School be on spring break for Holy Week, especially Good Friday.  It seems like most of the Catholic schools in the area are taking off Good Friday and then the following week for spring break.  Good Friday is part of the most important triduum of our faith.  What are we teaching the students if we are prioritizing getting a day off to travel over the death of Jesus on the Cross.  At a minimum they should have a morning of prayer and reflection, focused on Stations of the Cross.

It's time to remember that the word "Catholic" comes before the word "School" in every school's name.  Maybe students should go to mass more as part of their school day.  Maybe they should be studying the Bible just as much as their chemistry book.  Maybe they should be spend as much time in prayer as practicing free throws.