I had to bring my dad to the hospital last week for surgery on his neck. We go into admitting and sit down with the admitting person. His last name happened to be Leahy, so my dad started chatting him up, because there are some Leahy’s in my family. The gentleman proceeded to tell us that he was 1 of 8 from a big Irish Catholic family. So, my dad casualy asks him if he goes to church. When that question is asked, a common response would be either yes or no, and most people move on. This man began to tell us a story of when he was young and he lost a dear friend. From that moment on, he never went back to church. It was actually an amazing witness. I thanked my father afterwards, for asking the question. Not that the man will miraculously go back to church but because he most likely is thinking about his decisions now. It was obviously something that weighed on him spiritually. This is how the lost get found, we open ourselves up, stand out in a crowd. Love it!

I was thinking about this today, and how it relates to my journey..So, Jesus knocks, and God willing, I answer the call. Here I am walking along the road with Jesus, everything is awesome, then all of a sudden..WHAM! A distraction, a detour. I think, oh I can go this one alone Lord. You stay right here, and I’ll be back in a jiffy. Well, the problem is I am human, I stumble and lose my way and when I leave that state of grace, there’s only one ‘way’ back. Only one way back to the crossroads where Jesus waits for me, where I left him. I believe that ‘way’ is through forgiveness. Two of the things Jesus tried to teach us while he was here on earth were love and forgiveness. He showed us these lessons many times, so that we would learn them. One of my favorite stories of forgiveness is the one of the Prodigal Son. “My Son was lost, but now he’s found.”

I sometimes forget the ‘way’ home. That ‘way’ is not always about asking God for forgiveness because I’ve sinned, more often than not it’s about me seeking forgiveness from others, and many times forgiving myself…

I just got back from an awesome trip to the west coast. Spent a week in southern California, just north of San Diego, in Carlsbad. Vacations are usually a time where I’m able to relax some of my habits related to health and excercise..i.e. I eat a lot of crap and do very little exercise. Well, last week was different, it was the start of Lent. With Ash Wednesday and the first friday of Lent, packed into my vacation, I had to take a somewhat different approach to this vacation. With fasting happening 2 out of the 6 days of my vacation, I decided to turn my attention to the soul…a little spiritual renewal, which it turns out I really needed.

I went to Mass at St. Patrick’s Church in Carlsbad, CA. on Ash Wednesday. A wonderful church, with a large hispanic community. The pastor gave beautiful sermon, which I enjoyed, and I received a very large, very dark ash cross on my forehead. Immediately following the service, I took the family out to dinner, and needless to say I got a few interesting looks, but I sure felt proud wearing that cross on my forhead..”such a beautiful faith” was the quote I kept playing over. The quote comes from a terrific book hat I read during my vacation. I would recommend it to any of you. It’s called “Have a little faith” by Mitch Albom. There are so many great little tidbits in this book. I will be sharing some quotes from it in the next few postings, and if you get a chance, you should read it. While, he is Jewish, and there is a focus on that at times, the book transcends religious boundaries, and focuses on the commonality of all religions and the journey we are all on. There are not many books that give me goosebumps or bring me to tears, but this book did both.

Let me finish with a quote from the book:

“He was never haunted by ‘Why am I here?’ He knew why he was here, he said: to give to others, to celebrate God, and to enjoy and honor the world he was put in. His morning prayers began with Thank you, Lord, for returning my soul to me.”