In the history of the world there are great societies ruled by empirical governments headed by an emperor (yes I know it’s simple right.).  Today we have governments of many forms, and few empirical societies remain.

I have often stated that I believe the United States to be a cultural empire ruling the world’s societies.  It is not hard to imagine.  Our music, clothing, political ideology, material desires, opportunities, etc. are coveted by the world over.  Our citizens are the most sought after servants of any empire.  Simply watch the television for an hour and see how much the world wants you…you to own this kind of car, and that pair of pants, to lust after this, and covet that.  Watch a football game and see how beer manufacturers quite literally transform your life into one of a soft porn star instantly.  You too can hang out with these women right!?

The title of this blog simply points to this ideology.  We, not the world, but “We” or more importantly “I” rule this empire.  I am the king.  I am the God.  My opinion, my desires, my lusts, my images are what drives this society.  “I” of course being the individual.

This blog, chronicles my journey toward destroying this empire.  The empire of Me.

Many Christian faiths teach these days that man is nothing but dung and God’s Grace covers us with a white sheet to make us beautiful.  Yet at the core we are still dung.

I believe that humans are created by God as Holy.  Originally in the Garden of Eden when man was created God saw him to be good.  Man is not dung!  We have covered ourselves in sin, but at the core we are good.  We are created in likeness to God and He Is Holy!

By destroying the empire of myself, I tear away the sin and desires for things not of God…so that only His likeness remains.

We all “rule” our own little world we call reality.  I invite you to de-throne yourself and allow Christ the King to reign supreme in your empire.  Let your empire be a sovereign nation in the Kingdom of God…rather than an island ruled by the blind.

We live today in a world of comfort.  You may disagree…perhaps you will tell me of the number of people suffering from hunger, poverty, and the like.  And you are correct, a portion of the world suffers, but overall we are an ungrateful glutton bunch.  Look around, note the number of things people own…the amount of wasted food at any restaurant or house…the amount of apathy among men. 

Last night while in Adoration I read this:

And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job, and that there is no one on earth like him, blameless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil?” But Satan answered the LORD and said, “Is it for nothing that Job is God-fearing? Have you not surrounded him and his family and all that he has with your protection? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock are spread over the land. But now put forth your hand and touch anything that he has, and surely he will blaspheme you to your face.”  - Job 1:8-11

While Job had everything he praised the Lord who is worthy to be praised.  Satan argued that Job is of course an upright servant of the Lord, for God has allowed him to have many possessions and a wonderful family.  The Lord hath looked with favor on Job.

So the Lord, knowing the strength of Job’s faith allowed Satan to test him.  In the first trial all of Job’s livestock is stolen and all of his seven children are killed on the same day at the same time.  Job, being the upright and fitting servant of the Lord responds by saying this…

Then Job began to tear his cloak and cut off his hair. He cast himself prostrate upon the ground, and said, “Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I go back again. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD!” In all this Job did not sin, nor did he say anything disrespectful of God. – Job 1:20-22

BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD!  Are you kidding me!  Job praises God on the very day when his livelihood is taken from him!  And on the same day in which his children are killed!  Are you kidding me!!

See if you can follow me on this.  The U.S. is the richest country in the history of the world, we all have houses, cars, refrigerators, stoves, microwaves, Costco, Wal-Mart, Target, Guitar Center, Lehboner Children’s Hospital, St. Jude, and on and on and on.  People born in the U.S. are the luckiest people on the planet because no matter your race, in the U.S. you have more opportunity to survive then anywhere else. 

We have all of this, and yet we are not upright and worthy servants of the Lord.  You tell me how many people here truly, honestly, when attacked by Satin say, “Blessed be the name of the Lord!”  Rather people respond “God why have you forsaken me!” 

America…you are weak.  We call ourselves a Christian nation and then we live and act like pagans. 

Christ tells us in the Gospel of Matthew (7:21) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.”

I wish to be like Job.  I wish to honor the Lord with all of my being every day, despite the weather, or my house, my car, my groceries, my friends, my family.  I wish to be like Job more today than ever before in my life.  Bring it on Satan…you haven’t met a man more focused on Praising the Lord.  I will not be stopped because I do not walk under my own power but only by the Grace of God go I. 

Please don’t mistake this as a woe to us post.  I am writing this more as a join me, let’s change the world, let’s make Christians Christian again.  We know that Christ has the victory!  This time will pass and He shall reign again in the hearts of all men.  Let us answer God’s call to carry our crosses, not count the cost of our labor, accept a fair daily wage, and Love unceasingly.  That maybe we could answer the Lord as Job does…

Then Job answered the LORD and said: I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be hindered. I have dealt with great things that I do not understand; things too wonderful for me, which I cannot know. I had heard of you by word of mouth, but now my eye has seen you. Therefore I disown what I have said, and repent in dust and ashes. – Job 42:1-6

 I wish not to understand what God calls me to, but to have the Grace to say Yes and do it.  I pray that we all have this Grace and that, like Mary, we respond “Let it be done to me according to THY word.”

God bless you today and deliver you from all evil…because Satan isn’t done working, so neither should we be.

“Do I really Glorify God?”

What does that mean exactly?  To “glorify”? 

Well Mr. Webster says this:

 Taken from: www.webster.com  (content edited)

Main Entry: glo·ri·fy 

1. a : to make glorious by bestowing honor, praise, or admiration

   b : to elevate to celestial glory

2 : to light up brilliantly

3 : to represent as glorious : extol

4 : to give glory to (as in worship)

Read those definitions closely.  Very closely.

Do you bestow honor, praise, or admiration on God?  Do you light Him up brilliantly? 

Do you represent Him as glorious? 

That one hurts.  This is where I cried enough!  Honestly, when you say to someone that you are a Christian, do you then represent Him as GLORIOUS!  Consistently?

1 Cor 6:20 says, “For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.” 

I can do that.  I am modest, have worked really hard to respect the dignity of others.  Have rooted out and continue to root out any objectification of others from my mind and heart.  I am not perfect, but I think I do this pretty okay.

But then I read this…

O LORD, you are my God, I will extol you and praise your name; For you have fulfilled your wonderful plans of old, faithful and true. For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; The castle of the insolent is a city no more, nor ever to be rebuilt. Therefore a strong people will honor you, fierce nations will fear you. For you are a refuge to the poor, a refuge to the needy in distress; Shelter from the rain, shade from the heat. As with the cold rain, as with the desert heat, even so you quell the uproar of the wanton.   Is 25:1-5

What gets me is verse 3. “Therefore a strong people will honor you…”

Am I strong people?  Are you?  Are we? Check out what Paul writes to the Romans in 15:5-7

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another, in keeping with Christ Jesus, that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God.

I don’t know about you, but that describes a place I desire to be.  A Church.  Not a brick and mortar place, but a people “set apart” for one purpose.  TO GLORIFY!  For me, bringing God glory has been about learning to Love.  I have and continue to learn not judge or berate or belittle; but instead to love, to commend, and to build up. 

Yesterday on the plane back from MI I sat next to a lady who is searching.  She is married, her husband sat across the isle with their 2 beautiful kids.  They live an average American life.  But something is missing.  We talked and she lit up as I shared my conversion story with her and talked about faith.  She took notes when I said things like “persistence is what sets apart the successful from the not”.  (The Saints were persistent.  Think about it. I have another post on this coming soon).  All in all, this was an amazing conversation, one divinely scheduled by the Master Carpenter.

The beautiful thing is that after we parted off the plane I thought I missed an opportunity.  We shared a great conversation; her husband is the one that really needs to learn that he is loved by God.  And I didn’t seek him out to tell him or to talk with him.  And as I began to tell God I was sorry I didn’t do everything in my power to Love this man….there he was, standing in front of me waiting for his wife.  Now keep in mind I went to the restroom, and took my time wandering because I knew it would take a while for the luggage to be unloaded, etc.  This is an airport, there are hundreds of people.  How is it that I almost run into the one person I so desperately wanted to Love.

So, I stopped, stunned for a moment, and then as if I knew what I supposed to do, I handed him my book and said, “Here, God wants you to read this.  I think you will enjoy it.”  He said thank you.  And I went on my way.  Almost to the sound track of some chick flick with a happy ending.  The whole thing was surreal.

What does this have to do with glorifying God?  Well, honestly, everything.  The book has nothing to do with it, nor does the circumstance.  To me, I repented and He saw fit to give me a chance to say Yes again.  That is glorifying God. 

Repenting and saying yes Lord.

It IS that simple.

Take some time to review the definitions of Glorify and see if you fit.  If not, perhaps it’s time to take stock in who God is, and who you are called to be.  Here is a simply examination to help.

-          Do I bring praise, honor, and admiration to God?

-          Do I elevate my soul to the supernatural in prayer and attention to the Holy Spirit daily?

-          Do I allow Christ to light up my life “brilliantly”?

-          Do I, in my words and actions, represent God as glorious?

-          Do I give God glory in worship often?

If you answered no to any of these, then you are like the rest of us….human.  God writes in Is 43:4, “Because you are precious in my eyes and glorious, and because I love you…”  Do not be discouraged by imperfection, rather be hopeful.  If you recognize that you are imperfect then you are willing and open to receive the Grace from He who Is perfect.  There is no such thing as imperfect Grace.  Every time we pray we become more like Him, and that is enough. 

Tonight I pray that I will glorify God with all my being.  I pray for you the same.  I am blessed to be in Church with others and to see Him in them.  I leave you with this.

“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” – MT 5:16

PS: I should note, the book was “Be A Man” by Fr. Larry Richards.

I’ve been inconsistently doing the Liturgy of the Hours. I am currently on day 1, going into day 2 of a Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for the Cursillo weekend next week. I do have a daily prayer to God for those on my prayer list. But in all reality these are little things. If God is so important, and so valuable to my being…shouldn’t there be more?

I know some are thinking…well you are always “doing” church things and those can be prayer. Yes…but no. I still need, we all still need, personal time with Him who is King. It is the same as when my wife and I are both busy and we look at each other after a couple weeks of doing (like housework, kids, work, events, etc.) and realize our relationship has suffered because we haven’t had time to just “be” together. You know, like sit in the same room, perhaps on the same couch, without distraction or something we must accomplish. This “us” time is critical. It is what makes us “us”. It’s the marriage part. The intimacy part.

Yes, sorry men, marriage isn’t all about sex. And us Catholics do have that part down. So let’s focus on the other part…actually speaking to our wives.

Okay sorry, I’m back… Soap box is put away for now.

Anyway, the God relationship thing. Without some personal time, just He and me, my relationship with Him suffers. Ask yourself, outside of Mass, when do you spend time with Jesus? Either in Adoration, personal prayer, silence, etc.

From 12am (Friday) to 1am I have Adoration at St. Louis. I’m going to simply “be” with God. I will behold Him, the King of the Universe and instead of taking books and books, and Rosary’s, and other such stuff….I’m going to simply Behold Him for a while. I’ll have my journal and write, but mostly I just want to “be”. I want to sit on the couch with God in silence. Words aren’t necessary, and sometimes they are a distraction. He knows my heart. He knows my words. I need to SEE Him more.

I hope you have the opportunity to spend some you time with God. Put away the books, the phone, the ipod, the distractions….and just “Be.”. You’ll be surprised at how present He is, when we pay attention.

Bottom line is this…we need to raise our expectations to encounter God every day.  He has a plan for our lives, it is a bold plan, a grand plan, one that we can’t even imagine.  Our expectations set the ceiling for our experience.  It’s like saying, this is my limit.  So…in order to seek, understand, fulfill, and live out His plan, we need to raise our expectations to His level.    I hope you will join me in expecting nothing less than Heaven everyday.  Now that is bold.

God bless