A holy man follows the movement of the spirit

Today is a bittersweet day for the Catholic Church in San Diego. Bishop Salvatore Cordelione has been appointed as the bishop of the Diocese of Oakland, California.

He will be a gigantic blessing for the faithful there. His humility, faithfulness and boldness will most certainly have an impact.

I had the chance to get to know him during my time in the priestly formation program for the Diocese of San Diego. Smart. Well-spoken. Charismatic.

There is a lot of sadness here as Bishop Sal departs. But his impact on this local church - his home town church - will be long lasting.

The choice in conversion

So I woke up with many thoughts aflowing on this Monday morning. The first was, "wow no rain here?"

The second was the idea of conversion.

I wondered what choices St. Paul had to face (and struggle with) after his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus. Do I listen to the Voice and go with my friends to Damascus? Do I want this priest to restore my sight? Do I really want to be different? Do I have a say in all of this?

I can't imagine that Paul's conversion was as straight-forward as it would appear from reading the book of Acts. So there must have been choices. Hard choices. The freedom to choose.

Would Paul's conversion been a real, honest conversion, if he didn't have a choice in responding to the Voice of Christ? What if he had been forced to make a change in his life?

So, then I go to thinking about ministry. How I go about it. How the Church goes about it. I've been particularly moved and challenged by this idea of Youth Ministry 3.0. Communional and missional. That's the direction we're heading. And, at least in my experience, that's the right direction to go.

But, for communional and missional to really have life, the life of the Holy Spirit, isn't conversion the hinge on which this movement rests? And shouldn't it be a conversion similar to St. Paul's, a conversion that is entered in to in and with freedom?

The Church - especially those of us in youth ministry that have access to the latest relational and evangelizing technologies - is good at creating an encounter with Christ.

Retreat. Conference. Camp. Worship service. Mission trip. Sacraments. Eucharist.

But, after the encounter, are we good enough at boldly and lovingly offering the choice of conversion? Not a coercive conversion (i.e., you will go to hell if you sin). But an authentic, from-the-inside-out new-born desire to recognize hope in love, hope in faith, hope in redemption, hope in fulfilling the deepest desires of our heart.

Because, to me, communional and missional is not possible without conversion. Without offering the choice of conversion, do our ministries fall short of what Christ and the Church is calling us to?

Without conversion, don't we leave God waiting on us on the doorsteps of our hearts for Him to share his unwavering love and mercy?

Happy birthday?

Our culture certainly places a lot of importance on money. This explains why the news is so full of stories of how our current financial downturn has affected EVERYONE, rich and poor alike.

But in our desire to use money in our best interests for us and our family, we find an interesting dilemma in defining what is essential and what is not.

Perhaps for some, a birthday party would be considered not essential when money is tight (or, in many cases these days, when there is no money at all). But, a non-profit organization in Massachusetts would disagree. And is doing something about it.

Proof perhaps that self-donating love shines the brightest when darkness seems to surround us?

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

The First Amendment...really?

Our country has always prided itself in freedom of speech for all people. But it is possible for even the President to abuse this:

Maybe we really can't say whatever we want, whenever we want. Could it be that the real spirit of the First Amendment demands and expects temperance?

You better believe that words can break hearts as much as it can fill them with love.

Attention all technology people...

I will be the first person to admit that I am a technology G-E-E-K!

I enjoy being around technology. I've worked at technology stores. I "snuck" into this year's Consumer Electronics Show (amazing experience!).

I am very excited about the soon-to-be-released Palm Pre smartphone.

I have a blog, Facebook, Twitter, and ways to update all three on my phone.

My MacBook goes with me wherever I go.

And, if I was being honest, I could find more technology to be consumed with.

So, this morning, as I was exchanging Tweets with fellow youth minister Chris Faddis, this simple phrase re-surfaced in my mind:

Hi-tech/low touch

Bob Schrimpf is a friend, a holy man of God, a devoted husband and father, and a youth worker who has influenced many ministries and lives across the country. He coined this phrase and has shared it at conferences and meetings that he is asked to speak at.

And he shares this phrase to point out that, while our technology makes us more "efficient", it does not make us more loving or compassionate. Our humanity is not "cyber" by nature, it is physical by nature.

Touch, not texts, are natural. The warmth of a hug, not a Facebook bumper sticker, expresses authentic, loving relationship. Sharing laughter with one friend, not hundreds of anonymous Twitter followers, will bring us joy and peace.

This is not a bashing of technology or the people that use it!!!!

Technology works. And it does have a place in our culture, in our family lives, in our ministries.

But, for as advanced as technology will continue to become, it will not replace the need for the physical-ness of our human relationships.

Why is this? There are lots of very smart people, inventing very smart things.

Those smart people thinking up those smart gadgets can't design or create one very important thing...

LOVE.

Incarnated, self-donated love is the ONLY thing that can fulfill our deepest desires and longings.

And that can only come from Our Creator, the One who made us in His image and likeness, who reaches down from Heaven to touch us - I mean, physically and really touch us - in the Sacraments, in the Church, in our relationships.

We may have a hard time perceiving God as God. It is an act of faith to recognize that he is touching us, speaking to us, watching us, listening to us at every moment of our day in a very real and physical way.

So, send out your text or post or tweet. But be sure to follow that up with love.

March Tension

I will filling out my one and only bracket for the NCAA Men's basketball tourney last night. I'm not a stat geek, so I really make my picks based on, how do you say, intuition (a fancy word for guessing).

But an interesting dilemma came up. The UCLA Bruins are playing the Virginia Commonwealth Rams in the first round of the East Regional. I have been a UCLA fan all of my life. And, of course, the fan in me wants them to win the National Championship (or at least get to the Final Four).

However, they are a young team that has been very inconsistent the entire season.

So, I was dwelling on that place in my bracket: do I go with the fan pick or the realistic pick?

DRUM ROLL PLEASE....

UCLA over VCU in round 1. Villanova over UCLA in round 2.

P.S. In case you're wondering, I have Pitt winning the whole thing.

Old School is the new New School

I've been blessed to play music for a Holy Hour at a young adult retreat this coming weekend. I love Adoration and I love worship and I love music.

But, as we were planning out with the time of prayer, I had to learn a song that was new to me: O Salutaris Hostia.

I've probably heard that song many times in my lifetime as a Catholic, but I probably dismissed it because it wasn't "cool" enough as a song.

After I heard it and learned how to play it, all I can say is...WOW!

What a beautiful proclamation of the awesomeness of God, present in the Eucharist.

Now, this blog is not about the song per se. But more about the notion that old church hymns can be and should be as relied upon as an encounter with Christ as much as contemporary music.

These old hymns teach us about who we are. And who we are has a past, a history, that can be traced to some of the greatest saints in the history of humanity, like St. Thomas Aquinas who wrote this song. And this encounter with our past tells us who we are striving to be: citizens of our home in heaven.

So, Church, let's sing out O Salutaris Hostia as loud and as proud as Your Grace is Enough. The saints and the angels will be singing along with us.

P.S. A huge special thanks to Tom Booth for re-recording O Salutaris on his new album, Captured.