I have previously written about Pilate’s questioning of Christ in John 18 (Que Est Veritas). My point in that post was that as a people, we are not very good at seeking the Truth. Since this post is about Truth, I’m calling it part 2.

I recently learned that the Japanese language has two words for truth in the context of society. They are Honne and Tatemae.

Honne is the underlying truth, what is real. Often this is hidden from the world or public.

Tatemae is the outward appearance, what we can see.

Tatemae is not always consistent with Honne.

I’ve reflected on this for the past few days. I once heard that achieving Zen is simply matching our insides with our outsides. I think of the movie 28 Days in which Sandra Bullock plays an alcoholic. She is taken to a farm and given the task of lifting a horse’s hind hoof off the ground. The horse is strong and cannot be forced, despite her attempts. Only when she matches her inside with her outside can she accomplish it. The last scene of the movie has her lifting the hoof of a police horse after finding her true self.

How many of us acknowledge that what is inside of us isn’t always pretty? And are willing to show it off anyway? In my life I have struggled with many sins which are well documented in the posts of this blog. And even today, I struggle. Everyday I strive to become more like Christ despite my significant shortcomings. He calls us to do this. Believing in Him obligates us to this.

I struggle significantly with mainstream Christianity in the United States and abroad. I see many attempting to live perfection without trying to achieve it. I also think this is why many Christians believe their sin only affects themselves, rather than the whole Body of Christ. It seems as though the Christian Tatemae is a mask for impurity, brokenness, and shame. Only Christian rock stars and preachers are to display their past shame as a method of conversion. And once they believed in Christ everything was fixed…right?

The Honne is very different isn’t it? How many preachers have fallen due to impurity? How many “good” marriages fail? Simply look at the divorce rate for Christians of 51% which is exactly the same as the national divorce rate of…yes 51% How many leaders’ careers and ministries shattered when the truth about their lives are known? One has only to look at Representative Anthony Weiner for an example. I could write an entire book on the topic of Honne and Tatemae in relation to pornography and impurity.

Rather in this post I want to ask a different question. Does our Honne match our Tatemae? Are we living proof of Truth? Or do we hide a lie deep inside?

Jesus Christ came for the broken, not the proud.
Jesus Christ called sinners, not the perfect.
Jesus Christ died for the poor in spirit, not the rich.

Which God do you worship? The one who is happy with who you are and doesn’t want you to change, because who you appear to be is already good enough? The “Come as you are God”?

Or do you worship Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, who came to raise you to a new life. A life of Grace. A life filled with Him. A life in which our souls are purified daily by His blood. That’s the God I desire to worship with you. This is Our God.

Lately I’ve heard twice the quote ‘God accepts you for who you are but loves you too much to leave you there.’

Tonight as you pray, ask God to show you who you really are. And tomorrow wake and show that person to the world. That’s who we want to see. That’s who you were created to be. That’s the one who will change the world simply by being loved by Him.

God bless you.

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.

I haven’t posted much in a while. Seems as though life has just taken me by surprise and I reacted rather than pro-acted. Well that is over.

Funny how there are times in life when we just need a break. Our life has dramatically changed over the last two years and in the end I just needed a little time to…not… If you have never had any “not” time, I suggest it.

Well, where do we go from here? You may be surprised.

I am engaging in a journey that I know will change my relationship with God. This will increase my charity, compassion, faith, understanding, and hopefully…love. I am beginning the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.

Some might think I am nuts. Others of you perhaps have no idea what I am talking about.

First, I am not going to do the exercises in the same manner as one entering the Jesuit order. I am going to leisurely work my way through them. The goal is spiritual progress, not levitation.

For those that have no idea what I’m talking about, check out this: Spiritual Exercises

Sooo, I am going to document my journey here, and I will be back on track writing about the daily experiences of Grace like normal.

So, this is the “I’m back” post. Coming soon: more on my journey, and more usual Bob stuff about faith and life.

Later.

In the early Church, Christians lived in community, often sharing everything for the betterment of the whole (see Acts 2:44).  This is the first image of the body of Christ, of the Church.  Even today there are Christian communities attempting to emulate this model. 

In the Catholic Church we have the Sacrament of Penance, or Confession.  In this Sacrament there are 3 realities of forgiveness.  First, we are reconciled with God.  Second we are reconciled with the Church, the Body of Christ.  And lastly, we are reconciled with ourselves.  The mechanics of these 3 realities is mute; the point is that all are necessary for full and complete reconciliation.

I wonder why Jesus taught us to pray “Our Father”.  Is there meaning there?  Is there a purpose for His teaching? 

The Catechism has some beautiful teaching on this idea in paragraph 166 and 167. 

CACC 166: Faith is a personal act—the free response of the human person to the initiative of God who reveals himself. But faith is not an isolated act. No one can believe alone, just as no one can live alone. You have not given yourself faith as you have not given yourself life. The believer has received faith from others and should hand it on to others. Our love for Jesus and for our neighbor impels us to speak to others about our faith. Each believer is thus a link in the great chain of believers. I cannot believe without being carried by the faith of others, and by my faith I help support others in the faith.

CACC 167: “I believe” (Apostles’ Creed) is the faith of the Church professed personally by each believer, principally during Baptism. “We believe” (Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed) is the faith of the Church confessed by the bishops assembled in council or more generally by the liturgical assembly of believers. “I believe” is also the Church, our mother, responding to God by faith as she teaches us to say both “I believe” and “We believe.”

I know this appears to be a broken post, as there are various points above…however consider this…When one believes that faith is only personal or one dimensional, they are depriving the body of Christ.  The fact is that if faith is only “my” or “I” then there is no Faith.  The Faith, with a capital F, is Ours…something we are called by Christ to pass on.

Again, I know this may seem like a small divide, or some insignificant ideology…but this is really a fundamental problem.  This is a break in the body of Christ.  There are believers who don’t think they are a part of the body!  That’s a problem!

It goes further…  The reason I brought up Confession before is because forgiveness is directly tied to this idea.  If I sin against you, I sin against God (Read 1 Cor 8).  If I sin against you, but only ask God for forgiveness, have I not still left the body of Christ broken and bruised?  Have I not left a division among us?  I think this mentality, that of only needing to confess our sins to God, is what causes gossip, hatred, and judgment in the body of Christ.  This is not to say that Catholics do not struggle with these things, there are many Catholics who don’t take advantage of Confession, nor do they seek to live out the teachings of the Church. 

Again, I’m not trying to single out any denomination, or group, because I don’t think this division is that easy.  It’s more about how we see others, and how we see God. 

That’s just my 2 cents….

“I’ve heard a lot of people say “I can’t do it”. But is it “I can’t” or “I won’t”? One can be conquered. “

This struck a chord with me.  I’ve been “trying” to lose weight for a while.  I’ve been “trying” to have a better prayer life for a while.  I’ve been “trying” to do this and that for a while.

But what is “trying”?  For me it is saying I’m doing something about it, and then not really doing anything at all.  So really, I should be saying “I won’t”.

The greatest tragedy of life is not being truthful with yourself…and with God.  I’ve often told the story of my former spiritual director telling me I needed to pray, ‘Lord, show me how You see me.’  That is by far the hardest prayer I have ever made.  And it took me a few times to really mean it. 

So let me ask you this.  Is it that you “can’t” pray more, or get to Mass more, or talk about God with your spouse or friends…or is it that you “won’t”?  If you are like me, then you are tired of making excuses and saying ‘I can’t’ when you know the truth that you can, you’re just unwilling to. 

Today I started a swear jar at work.  While I don’t swear like a sailor, I do use some inappropriate words to often.  So I asked my coworkers to join me in rooting out the use of these words. 

Tomorrow I’m going to try and pray one rosary throughout the day.  And I’m going to ask my wife to hold me accountable to pray it before I go to bed, or start doing other things in the evening.

I say I don’t watch TV, but yet last night I watched TV for two hours.  Tonight, I’m going to read, or do something else, and ask my wife to do the same.

I spend too much money on lunches at work.  So I’m going to fast 1 day a week from now on to remember my responsibility to steward my finances and care for my family as God calls. 

Yesterday, in pure spite of my friends Facebook status, I came home and worked out.  Tomorrow I’ll work out again.  I’m asking my friend Wit to keep me accountable.

These are the things I’m going to do to tip the scales toward “I can”. 

So how is this Christian…other than praying more?  Well read this from Luke 1:26-38

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, ¹¹ and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”  But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived ¹³ a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Mary says, “I can!”

“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”

I have long been in awe of Mary’s yes.  I’ve spoken on it.  Told others we are called to embody her response to God’s call.  Desired to respond the same.  Yet I still say “I won’t”.  My fiends, today I say “I can” with Mary in response to God’s call.  I’m not taking on foolish goals, just one simple one.  Say yes to God in my life.  It’s that simple.  He will guide me, pastor me, lead me to the places he has for me.  And He will do the same for you.

So are you in too?  Are you willing? Or “can’t you” muster the strength?  If not, that’s okay for now…but you better be praying that you gain strength because “I can’t” only suffices for a short time…then it’s time to be real with yourself before you get into trouble.

Let us pray.

Mary, we ask your intercession for us as we seek to say Yes to your Son in our lives.  Intercede for us that God the Holy Spirit would fill us with the Grace of faith, trust, and perseverance.  Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with thee.  Blessed art though among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy women Jesus.  Holy Mary mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.  Amen.

NOTE: so who was my friend on Facebook?  None other than my best man, Paul V.  You can check out his site at www.pvsfit.com.  Oh, and he doesn’t know I wrote this, nor that I took such an impact from his status.