It's the Little Things

We can easily say “I am a Christian” and sometimes it’s even easy to behave as a Christian: when we team or attend a retreat when we attend Mass, when we volunteer in the parish, etc.  These are times and places when it is easy to put on the mind of Christ.  But this is not the where we live and where we live is where the challenge is.  We live in and are exposed to places and situations that constantly bombard us with messages and behaviors that are contrary to Christ’s teachings.  Without pausing to think about it, I’m sure we can all name a couple of people who claim to be Christians but whose lives do not reflect that.   However, I want to challenge you to think about YOU and the areas in your life that may not exemplify Christ. 

Immediately our minds turn to the BIG things:  I’m faithful to my spouse; I go to Church once a week, sometimes more; I don’t swear; I volunteer; I haven’t committed murder; I’m not a thief, etc. Great!  That’s all great, no doubt about it.  But let’s look at the details, the little things of our lives that may speak loudest.  After all that is what St. Therese of the Child Jesus did.  She worked on the details of the picture more than the big picture itself.

Do we give our spouse and children the same courtesy and respect that we would give others such as please/thank-you or excuse me?  We would do that much for strangers, why not our family?  What about our language?  Do we clean up our language when we’re in public but resort to more colorful words with close friends/family? As Christians, we should not have one behavior at home and one out in the world.  We need to do our best to be Christian in our thoughts/words/actions all the time, everywhere.

Are we good stewards of what God has given us?  Do we waste food? Do we recycle?  Do we hoard the clothes that we no longer wear or worse yet, do we throw them out? Are we respectful of our property and the property of others? You’re getting a new set of dishes.  What do you do with the old one? Do you throw it away, store it, or do you donate it to the battered women’s shelter, the food kitchen, Good Will? Do we spend our money wisely? Are we honest in our treatment of others, even when no one else would know?  You have a second job (or your wife or teenager) but are paid under the table so it doesn’t have to be reported on your income tax.  The clerk at the store gave you change for a twenty but you gave her a ten.  We would be quick to point it out if she gave you too little change, but too much change? Would you even have to think about it before saying anything?

Do we place conditions on our commitment to Christ?  I’ll work at the food kitchen/pantry if it rains;  I’ll visit the sick if I can’t find a partner for golf; I clothe the naked if . . . I’ll be kind to my enemy if . . .  I’ll pray more after I retire; after the garden is in; after the kids are older.  First, I have to remodel this room; first I have to roof the garage . . . the kids are too young . . .  after that I’ll  get involved. We are not all called to become Mother Theresa.  We can’t all be great evangelists.  As St. Paul said in his first letter to the Corinthians, we are all parts of the same body and each part has its own function. Not every part is meant to be flamboyant. Not every part is going to be recognized for the work that it does but each part is required to do the best they can, right where they are, just as they are.  

As with St. Therese, it’s the little things that made a difference and it’s the little things that will help to keep us on the path and allow us to follow Jesus as we should.

By Judy Michaud

Slow Down!

The past several months I’ve found myself in a crazy whirlwind of activity.  A summer of transition, a big move for my family, a very blessed trip to World Youth Day, a great evening of worship with Jackie Francois and Patrick Coffin, and now I find myself busily preparing for more wonderful upcoming retreats including Journey 2011, the first ever Catholic Women’s Conference, and the annual March for Life Trip as well as a personal pilgrimage to the Holy Lands and my college roommate’s wedding.  It seems like there’s just been so much going on in all dimensions of my life that I’ve barely had time to breathe, sleep, or even think!  Don’t get me wrong…they’re all very good things – just a lot all at once. 

I was recently sharing with a friend all the great things I’ve been up to lately and made a comment that I just need to slow down so I can enjoy it!  His response: “No, you need to slow down so you can pray.”  Touché.  Without realizing it, in the midst of life’s busyness, my life and mentality shifted to the very thing that Jesus rebukes Martha for in the passage we recently heard in the Gospel at Mass.  “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.  Only one thing is needed.  Mary has chosen the better part.”  Everything going on in my life had begun to become a burden and cause for anxiousness and worry rather than a cause for rejoicing and celebration of the good things that God is doing in my life and through my work.  I had become so busy doing the works of the Lord that I forgot about the Lord of the works!

These words that Jesus speaks to Mary penetrated straight to my heart.  “Mary has chosen the better part.”  What is it that we find Mary doing?  Sitting at the feet of Jesus.  If we are to be effective evangelizers in and through the work that we do, whether we work directly in ministry or answer the call to evangelize in the midst of our secular jobs and temporal affairs, we absolutely must spend time sitting at the feet of Jesus!  Soaking in His love, letting His gaze penetrate ours, and listening to His promptings so that the many things we find ourselves anxious and worried about can become instead causes for joy and opportunities for love.  Sitting at the feet of Jesus reminds us what is truly important and gives us strength to continue doing the work of bringing others to Him.

And so, if you find yourself like me, caught up in the craziness of the fall and a new school year, I challenge you to take some time to slow down…and pray.

By Sarah Houde

A Picture Can Say a Thousand Words

The staff of the OLFF would like to officially unveil our new logo, which was finalized after months of prayer and consultation. As it is often said, “ a picture can say a thousand words” and the new logo is no different.  Each of the elements that make up the image offer a specific insight regarding the mission of the office and all those who participate in the passing on of our Catholic faith:

• Blue coloring: to remind us of Mary, the Mother of God, who is the model for all catechists and the patroness of our diocese.
• Sunrise coloring: represents the dawning of a new springtime for evangelization in our diocese, which was proclaimed by Blessed John Paul II as the Church headed into the new millennium.
• Mountains, pine trees, light house and ocean: represents the beauty of Maine.
• Rays of light: to remind us of our mission, entrusted to us by Jesus - the Light of the World, to: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.* And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Mt 28:19-20)
• Dove: represents the Holy Spirit and, by virtue of our Baptism, our responsibility to participate in the mission of the Church to evangelize and catechize the world.
• Thin circle: symbolizes the lifelong process of conversion and faith formation.
• Entire cross structure with circle image: symbolic of a monstrance and, therefore, the Eucharist - “the source and summit of the Christian life.”

As we continue to journey through October, a month dedicated to the Holy Rosary, let us entrust our prayers for guidance and strength - to participate in the mission of the Church and thereby continue to bring about a new springtime for our diocese - to our Blessed Mother and ask her to intercede on our behalf to her Son, Jesus Christ.

By Michael Lavigne

Another Miracle of Life

Dear families, rejoice in fatherhood and motherhood! Openness to life is a sign of openness to the future, confidence in the future, just as respect for the natural moral law frees people, rather than demeaning them! The good of the family is also the good of the Church.
 

-Pope Benedict XVI, Homily, June 5, 2011

As we journey into the month of October, Respect Life Month, my family awaits the arrival of another miracle of life: Julia Rose.  I find myself thinking about “life” as time draws near to meet my third daughter - I have embraced this exercise as I anticipated meeting all of my children.

 
Some of my reflection has focused on what will this world be like for Julia.  Will she grow up in a world that reflects a culture of death or a world that brings forth a culture of life?  Will she encounter a civilization of selfishness and a perverse understanding of freedom or a civilization of love, selfless love for the sake of the other?  Will she witness a disdain for life, especially  for the most vulnerable and innocent, or will she see the witness of those who have an “openness to life” and therefore an “openness to the future, confidence in the future?”

It seems to me, as I continue to be blessed to serve the Lord through my work in the Church, that so many people are unaware what or who they are created for. They lack an identity.  Pope Benedict XVI, in his “Message for World Youth Day (2011), sums up our purpose, “Men and women were created for something great, for infinity. … The desire for a more meaningful life is a sign that God created us and that we bear His ‘imprint.’ God is life, and that is why every creature reaches out towards life. Because human beings are made in the image of God, we do this in a unique and special way. We reach out for love, joy and peace.”

There are too many lost souls who do not know their true identity and this lack of knowledge leads to so much of the pain, suffering and misguided attempts at happiness seen in our world today.  Respect Life Month gives us an opportunity to refocus and become reenergized as Catholics to help the people who cross our paths to come to know their value - to come to know that the Creator of all is loving them into existence each and every moment of their lives.  This “education,” rather, this epiphany will help them to grow in respect of all life, to bring forth a culture of life, to embrace a civilization of love and be witnesses to the openness to life.

This is the world that I pray my Julia Rose will grow up in during the years ahead.  I pray that God will give me the grace to be an instrument in His hands to help build that world.  

Will you?

By Michael Lavigne

A New Revival

A 2008 Pew Forum study revealed that the fastest growing religious group in America is those who have no religion.  One in six are not affiliated with any religious institution. Approximately 25% of cradle Catholics have left their faith (many studies have indicated that the second largest "denomination", behind Catholicism, is ex-Catholics). Of those who are Catholic only 20 to 30 percent attend Mass on a regular basis.  The stats speak for themselves.

But they do not tell the whole story.

It would be convenient to hide behind such stats and adopt the mindset of some that there is no turning back.  That the secular onslaught we witness today will simply erode away the Church.  But to adopt such a thought process would be misguided to say the least.  Do we really believe that God has given up on His Church in the year 2011? 

Pope Benedict XVI (and his predecessors) have consistently said, "No" to such a hopeless mindset. They believed that there will be a new springtime of evangelization precisely because the world needs it in this post-modern era.  At the closing Mass of World Youth Day Pope Benedict challenged the almost 2 million who were gathered to be God's instruments for this new evangelization: "Friendship with Jesus will also lead you to bear witness to the faith wherever you are, even when it meets with rejection or indifference. We cannot encounter Christ and not want to make him known to others. So do not keep Christ to yourselves! Share with others the joy of your faith. The world needs the witness of your faith, it surely needs God."

Recently our office hosted a special edition of the Hour of Power that offered participants an opportunity to gather for praise & worship (led by Jackie Francois), a testimony on the Eucharist (shared by Patrick Coffin), reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation (thank you to the priests who offered their whole evening to hear the confessions of many who were present), and Eucharistic Adoration.  On a beautiful late summer night over 175 people (of all ages) filled the Chapel at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception for this evening of adoring the Real Presence of Jesus Christ and celebrating our Catholic faith. To say that the evening was inspirational is an understatement.

I couldn't help but be moved in the very core of my being at hearing the words of one of the songs Jackie sung during Adoration.  "I see a generation rising up to take their place. With selfless faith. With selfless faith.  I see a new revival stirring as we pray and seek. We're on our knees. We're on our knees." (Hosanna by Hillsong - click to see and hear Jackie leading us that evening).  All around me was a generation of young and old Catholics on their knees giving their lives over to the Risen Christ. A generation willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the Gospel message. A generation who want to "share with others the joy of their faith."

This weekend we celebrate Catechetical Sunday and ask God to bless all those who come forward to share their faith through the ministry of catechesis.  Let us pray that God uses all of our catechists - all those who teach and witness our Catholic faith to all ages - to share His truth, goodness and beauty in a profound way.  Let us trust that the God of life, who continues to nourish us through the Eucharist, will continue to guide all of us through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to enkindle a new springtime of evangelization in our diocese and beyond. 

By Michael Lavigne

Joined in Christ

It was a warm April afternoon in Rhode Island; friends and family packed the small church of St. Agatha and watched as we exchanged our vows- the outward sign of our commitment to each other in the bond of marriage. In his book Love & Responsibility, Blessed John Paul II (then Karol Wjotyla) wrote of marriage as “an act of will that signifies and involves a mutual gift, which unites the spouses and binds them to their eventual souls, with whom they make up a sole family - a domestic Church.” We are firmly convinced, after our first seven years as a married couple, that it is due to the grace showered upon us by Christ, through the sacrament of marriage that we have grown as individuals, as a married couple, and thereby as parents of the six additional souls that make up our domestic Church. 

God, the author of each of our lives, is ultimately the author of marriage. For us, our marriage was the culmination of years during which we learned to surrender our wills to the will of the Father. By doing so, we were able to enter into “the marriage covenant, by which a man and woman form with each other an intimate communion of life and love,” which the Catechism reminds us “has been founded and endowed with its own special laws by the Creator” (CCC, 1660). 

This intimate communion of mind, body and soul between a husband and wife is expressed fully in the mutual gift, or self-donation, that takes place in the marriage bond. It is this gift of self, unique to the marriage act, which mirrors the sacrificial love of Christ and His Bride, the Church. Man and woman witness to this spousal love of Christ through their own selfless and sacrificial love for one another. The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults captures this beautifully, “the grace of this Sacrament perfects the love of husband and wife, binds them together in fidelity, and helps them welcome and care for children. Christ is the source of this grace and He dwells with the spouses to strengthen their covenant promises, to bear each other’s burdens with forgiveness and kindness, and to experience ahead of time the ‘wedding feast of the Lamb’ (Rev 19:9)” (USCCA, p. 285). 

The Church in her wisdom articulates the two purposes of marriage: the unitive, as described above, and the procreative. As husband and wife, we have had the privilege of being co-creators with God, of six beautiful souls (Michael Jr., Mariana, John Paul, Therese, Julia, and Gabriel, who we trust is in heaven). The complete communion of the man and woman in Christ forms a bond that ultimately can bear fruit in the miracle of human life. “‘By its very nature, the institution of marriage and married love is ordered to the procreation and education of the offspring and it is in them that it finds crowning glory.’ (CCC, 1642: GS, 48)

The fruitfulness of married love includes the moral, spiritual, and faith life the parents hand on to their children. Parents, as principal educators of their children, are at the service of life” (USCCA, p. 283-84). In this beautiful vision of the Church, the parents seek holiness for each other, which as a result enables them, in “the service of life,” to seek holiness for their children. Likewise, this “domestic Church” becomes a beacon of light to the world around it encouraging others to desire sainthood in their own lives. The Church recognizes that “not all married couples are able to have children. ‘Spouses to whom God has not granted children can nevertheless have a conjugal life full of meaning.... [and] can radiate a fruitfulness of charity, of hospitality and of sacrifice’” (USCCA, p. 285). 

With so many people not understanding the importance of sacramental marriage as an institution of Christ it is no wonder our society bears the scars of broken marriages begun on a secular foundation of sand. The Church, through Christ and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, offers a foundation of rock: “By their mutual fidelity, the spouses continue to make present to each other the love of Christ and lead each other to greater holiness through the grace they receive from the sacrament” (USCCA, p. 283). In April of 2004 we began such a journey together. It is our prayer and hope that many others, with faith in God, will do the same. 

by Michael & Lori Lavigne
Michael is Director of the Diocese’s Office of Lifelong Faith Formation; Lori is Director of Faith Formation for Good Shepherd Parish, Saco. This article originally appeared in Harvest Magazine.

On Pilgrimage

Continue to pray for our group of pilgrims as they make their way to Madrid to celebrate World Youth Day with Pope Benedict XVI.