A little bit of Heaven or Hell...your choice and mine...

Today Fr. Tom Hagea, a visiting missionary from Haiti, said Mass at my church.  He gave an absolutely incredible homily that I think should be shared.  Father talked about how we should look for and create "a little bit of Heaven" in our lives.

He talked about what is truly important: family, friends, love, even watching a sunset and seeing the glory of God in it.  He spoke about this great country of ours, how we are richly blessed in America, but often toss those blessings aside.  He talked about how our culture encourages self-indulgent behavior and narcissism.  I spoke with him after Mass and he said that America has a worse type of poverty than Haiti, a spiritual poverty that robs of us of the joy of the moment.

Fr. Hagea spoke hard truths in love, an art that I strive to be student of, but so often fail.  We don't always link truth and love, but if you are unwilling to speak truth to someone are you honestly showing love?  If you see a friend with broccoli stuck in her teeth and don't tell her about it because you want to save her embarrassment, have you helped?  Certainly not, you have probably caused further embarrassment in the end.  This is a simplistic example of course, but it is true in more complicated cases.  

We often don't share the hard truths for fear of being judged, ridiculed, or felt to be judging the other person.  “Live and let live,” we say.  I am a Libertarian, so to an extent I agree with this statement, but at the same time it is our duty as Christians to stand for truth, to speak truth, and to defend truth.  Changing or hiding who we are to be politically correct is cowardice.

Imagine if Corrie Ten Boom's family had thought, “I must not offend, I should keep quiet and not speak or live the truth.”  What if Mother Teresa or Pope John Paul II had kept silent?  Our job as Christians is to help lead people to Jesus...to Heaven.  We do this by living and speaking His truth in love.

The second bit, love, is also sometimes forgotten.  It is not enough to speak truth, but it must be spoken always in love.  This means meeting people where they are, showing them the incredible love God has for them, respecting their dignity and person-hood, accepting their talents and failures with the love of God.  We must not only see a world missing the truth but at the same time love that broken world like Jesus does.  Not an easy thing for sure, and hard as I try to combine both, I all too often hear myself speak truths in the form of judgments or keep the words in my head and heart in a failed attempt "to be loving."

To listen to a man who so artfully combines truth and love was a blessing.  Fr. Hagea encouraged young adults to "grow up," to take responsibility for their life and actions.  He encouraged the older generation to not complain and remember that we are only retired when we have taken our last breath.  We are here together to fight for and work toward Heaven TOGETHER, yet, we sit side by side alone.  

He encouraged parents to stop spoiling children with material things, stop trying to be their children's friend, and show them real, true love.  He said that to love your child and love your spouse as an example to your child is the best gift you can give as a parent. Being raised in a house that believed this and by parents who live it every day I agree wholeheartedly with Fr. Hagea and count myself immensely blessed.

He talked about how our daily choices create a little bit of Heaven or a little bit of Hell for ourselves and those around us.  He encouraged us to see the blessings in our life, big and small, recognizing that these graces are bits of Heaven.

He talked about the Catholic Church and her unshakable focus on serving the poor and how as individual Catholics it is important for us to share this focus.  He talked about how during the earthquake in Haiti the Catholic Church sent aid that not only fulfilled the physical needs of the people but maintained and restored their dignity, something not all of the groups attempted or succeeded in doing.  He talked about what a joy it was to be Catholic, not because our church is perfect, but because it is so messy.  We are a church of people for people, imperfect on all sides.

One of the most amazing things was that Fr. Hagea didn't focus on buzzwords like abortion; he pierced right to the heart of the issue: our culture's focus on “self” and the lack of true, unconditional love.  If only more of our preachers were so courageous and so skilled in speaking church truths.

He gave me pride in my church, gave me encouragement to continue working to live and speak the truth in love, and reminded me to see and help restore dignity in every person meet.  It was a little bit of Heaven for me to hear him speak this morning.  

May each and every one of you reading this know that you are fiercely loved by God and remember that despite the struggles of life we are deeply and richly blessed.