A Great Storehouse of Great Stuff

    I spent over two weeks in Italy this past summer with my brother Peter. We visited churches and museums in Sicily, Pisa, Siena, Florence, and Rome. One clear takeaway: the Roman Catholic Church possesses an overwhelmingly great depository of truth, goodness, and beauty, both tangible and invisible. 

    As you approach the proverbial storehouse you will notice that it is being curated by mere mortals. Angels are on other assignments. Some curators don’t have the best of intentions. A few have outright evil motives. 

    But the vast majority of the Church’s gatekeeper servants are not newsworthy because of their faithfulness. They quietly seek to do the will of God for the benefit of the Church and the world.

    To deny oneself of the riches of the Church because of scandal is itself a shame. Don't let the offense of church people acting badly block your pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty... of God Himself. St. Augustine prayed, "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."

Spiritual Communion Prayer. My spin.

"Oh my Jesus, I firmly believe that You are really and truly present here in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar: Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. Lord, I bow before You in adoration. 

Jesus, how I long to receive you in Holy Communion. But since I cannot at this time, please come in afresh by your Holy Spirit. 

I open the door of my heart as if I were receiving You:

Body of Christ, amen.

Blood of Christ, amen.

Lord, never let me be separated from You. But grant that I may be found in your friendship, in the state of grace at the hour of my death.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."

_______________________________________________

    This is my take on a traditional prayer for spiritual communion. It was composed in a Eucharistic adoration chapel.

    But another context where this can be prayed is at Mass when a person is unable to receive.

The Gifts of Hunger and Thirst

 

If I had to rely solely on self-discipline to care for my body’s need for food and water, I would’ve died of starvation long ago.  That is why I am so grateful for the twin cravings of hunger and thirst.  Hunger brings the need for nourishment to my attention and is, in that sense, a great gift from the Designer.  When I eat food my hunger is satisfied -- at least temporarily.  Thirst is closely related.  Our body, which is 80% water, needs to be re-hydrated continually. Thirst is the reminder of that bare necessity.

 

Thanks to my parents, teachers and television commercials I have a pretty good idea of which food, drink and supplements will “do a body good” .  These good folks also warned me what to eat in moderation (potato chips and ice cream).  Then there are those items which are to be totally avoided (street drugs).  

 

In His infinite wisdom the Creator gives us an awareness of our need for spiritual nourishment.  This deep-felt longing Jesus calls spiritual hunger and thirst.  Along with the need, He promises to fill it.  “Blessed is he who hungers and thirsts after righteousness for verily he shall be filled.”  We were created to know God, to love Him and work with and for Him.  That’s why we are here on this “third stone from the sun”.  The Supreme Being made human beings to enjoy the love that exists eternally between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

 

When God formed our first parents they enjoyed pure and perfect companionship with Him.  Everything was all right.  To state the obvious, Adam and Eve were right with God.  They were “righteous”.  But we know how the story played out.  While they could freely eat from the fruit of the trees of the garden, the Slithery One tricked them into a false sense of hunger for the fruit that was forbidden by God.  “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that is was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.” (Gen 3:6)  

 

Everything changed.  Things were not right anymore between the first humans and their Maker.  They and we, their children, would always sense this nagging ache in the deepest part of our souls to be right with God again.  We are unsettled and, apart from God’s Self Revelation, it is impossible for us to put our finger on the cause of this anxiety.  So we seek to satisfy our spiritual hunger, to quiet the inner disturbance.  In every tribe and nation, in every hut and palace, people everywhere have, for all time, reached out to the Invisible.  Man lays down with his back to the ground and looks up into the starry night and cries, “Who are You, Unknown One?  Do You know that I’m here?”  Man gets up, carves a little idol, beats a log drum and blows an animal horn while dancing around a fire.  “You who made the heavens, come and fill the aching emptiness that is bigger and darker than this night sky.”

 

And then a Child is born in Bethlehem which means “house of bread”.   The Boy grows up to make the outrageous claim that He is the Living Bread that came down from heaven.  He went as far as to say that His flesh was food and His blood drunk, something that many of His disciples found gross and offensive.  “This is a difficult statement.  Who can hear it?”  Then as now, a great many walked away, wagging their heads to a life of spiritual starvation.  The Messiah said, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood you shall not have life within you.”

 

Jesus told the woman at Jacob's well that He had Living Water. “Every one who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  

 

The door has been open to disordered cravings that, while they appear to be a “delight to the eyes”, can never satisfy.  The Enemy constantly presents poison and junk food for the soul. Just say 'NO'.  

 

        Jesus is the Living Bread we hunger for.  As a deer pants for the refreshing stream, our souls long after the Living Water that flows from His heart.  Nothing else will ever satisfy. As St. Augustine of Hippo wrote, “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.”

The Carrying of the Cross & Power

"Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called
GOLgotha)." John 19:16-17

“Where do you come from?” [Pilate] asked Jesus.
Jesus gave him no answer.
“Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said.
“Don’t you realize …I HAVE POWER…
I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
Jesus answered,
“You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.”
John 19:9-11

That first Good Friday morning Pilate was in charge. He was the 5th prefect of the Roman province of Judaea – the Top Dog in the region. Secular historians report that he was a cruel leader who was rebuked by none other than Tiberias Caesar a number of times for provoking and mistreating the people he ruled. But here The Big Man was afraid of Jesus. And, even though he was used to getting his own way, he was unsuccessful in his attempt to sway the angry crowd away from crucifying Jesus. So, exercising his authority, he handed Jesus over to the them.

But “they” – the raging mob – didn’t take custody. It was the Roman soldiers who took charge of Jesus. Imagine that: being in charge of Jesus. Jesus, the Lord over all lords and the King over all kings. All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made. The soldiers took charge of the One to whom all authority has been given in heaven and on earth. Jesus could call on His Father, and He would send Him more than twelve legions of angels. (That’s roughly 60 or 70,000 angels.) But He didn’t. He didn’t because He knew the power of the cross He was carrying to Calvary. He set His face like flint, not looking to the left or to the right. He was resolute in denying Himself, picking up His cross and trudging down The Via Dolorosa – The Way of Suffering. Jesus was determined to offer His body as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to His Father. It was true worship. It was fitting worship.

We know that Jesus carried His own cross, but we also know that Simon of Cyrene was selected to help Him. Unwittingly, unknowingly and, maybe reluctantly, Simon entered the Passion of Christ, forever providing us with an illustration of what it looks like to deny self, take up our cross, and follow Jesus. The REAL power is in the self-denial – resisting the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life. The REAL power is in the taking up of the cross – embracing the instrument that can put these deadly sins to death. The REAL power is in following Jesus – imitating Him, becoming His follower, disciple, student and friend.

Take up your cross… because whoever does not carry their cross and follow Jesus cannot be His disciple and is not worthy of Him. These are tough words. These are Jesus’ words. Take His yoke upon you, the yoke of the cross, and learn from Him, for He is gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Buona Pasqua a tutti.

Brother Sun, Sister Moon and Father Joseph

Pope Francis’ encyclical comes 3 days before Fathers Day 2015. Towards the end he writes about Joseph - the man who, along with Mary, was charged with caring for and raising Jesus.

Happy Fathers’ Day to all Dads!

242. At [Mary’s] side in the Holy Family of Nazareth, stands the figure of Saint Joseph. Through his work and generous presence, he cared for and defended Mary and Jesus, delivering them from the violence of the unjust by bringing them to Egypt. The Gospel presents Joseph as a just man, hard-working and strong. But he also shows great tenderness, which is not a mark of the weak but of those who are genuinely strong, fully aware of reality and ready to love and serve in humility. That is why he was proclaimed custodian of the universal Church. He too can teach us how to show care; he can inspire us to work with generosity and tenderness in protecting this world which God has entrusted to us.

ENCYCLICAL LETTER LAUDATO SI’
OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
ON CARE FOR OUR COMMON HOME

FULL TEXT

The Mary-Thing

While standing in line at the pharmacy I recognized a local minister with whom I am acquainted. He had his back to me while he carried on a conversation with a man and a woman so I didn’t want to interrupt him. They were just a few feet from me so I couldn’t help hearing their exchange.

Minister: At our Christmas Eve service we sang “Mary, Did You Know?” by Mark Lowry. So beautiful!

The man: Hmph.

Minister: You don’t like it? It’s such a beautiful song!

The woman: I don’t like the Mary-thing. Jesus wasn’t Mary’s baby. He was God.

If I understand her correctly, I have to choose between the two. Where does this aversion to “the mother of my Lord”* come from? Did God the Son, who commands us to “Honor your father and your mother” disobey His own command by marginalizing her? This need to sideline the “blessed”** mother of Jesus is typically born from anti-Catholic prejudice and often leads to heretical ideas about Christ Himself.

• Luke 1:43

** Luke 1:48

Mark Shea goes into more detail here.

Meditation on a mock coronation.

The Crowning with Thorns 

Good Friday 2013

Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. (Matthew 27:27-31a)

I asked the Lord to grant me a seat - front and center - to witness His crowning with thorns. Almost unrecognizable from the scourging, it is extremely difficult to see Jesus treated this way. This is wrong. This is all so terribly wrong. Present are all of the trappings of a coronation: a great assembly, a kingly robe, a crown, a staff as scepter, and cheers of homage. But this coronation is a demonic inversion of a true crowning. My first impulse is to cry out “Lord, do you want me to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” But Jesus is silent and calls me to imitate Him in His silence. As I behold this unholy charade conducted by these vile men, I am once again reminded of the great paradox of the Gospel of the Kingdom.

Kingship

God the Son is the King of kings and Lord of lords. We acclaim Him in song: O worship the King all glorious above… Hail Jesus, You’re my King… Our God Reigns… Majesty, Worship His Majesty… The splendor of the King, Clothed in majesty, and, of course, just a few months ago we were singing “Hark the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King”. He truly is worthy of reverence and respect. But He was served suffering, humiliation and sacrilege. What we witness in this assembly is the diabolical, total opposite of the honor that is due to King Jesus.

The Robe

“They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him.”
We sing the Psalm, “The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength” (Psalm 93:1) but Jesus endured the shame of nakedness and a farcical scarlet robe. In contrast, we are called to be clothed with Jesus Christ Himself and are promised to be numbered with the Great Multitude in White Robes in Heaven. (Revelation 7:9)

The Crown

What crown would be fit for the King of the Universe? In St. John’s vision of heaven he saw “a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man with a crown of gold on his head.” (Rev. 14:14) But in order to redeem us from the curse, the soldiers used material that is connected with the curse after the Fall, for God said to Adam “cursed is the ground because of you… thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you”. Jesus was crowned with thorns so that we can one day “receive the crown of glory that will never fade away”. (1 Peter 5:4)

The Staff

They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!"

“A scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom” writes the Psalmist (Psalm 45:6) Since justice is giving someone their due, worshipping God is the first act of justice. Once again Jesus is dealt the inverse of what is due to Him. Not only did they give him the staff of insincerity, they beat him with it driving the thorns deeper into His sacred head. King Jesus suffered the greatest injustice possible. The staff of man beats down and abuses us the way the soldiers beat on Jesus’ head. In sharp contrast, the rod and staff of the Good Shepherd, comfort us. (Psalm 23)

In this paradoxical mystery Jesus shows us how to “do humility”, how to respond to gross disrespect, how to transform suffering into an offering of praise. We also catch a glimpse of the price paid for our inhumanity, mockery, indifference, and rebellion.

Columbus Day week at Dark Horse

Columbus Day, Oct. 8, 2012, was my son Michael's 23rd birthday. It was the first time I was not with him on his birthday as I was in Nashville starting a recording project for country-pop singer-songwriter Joni Wallace. For five days we worked at the beautifully situated and appointed Dark Horse Recording. Owner Robin Crow and his staff were incredibly accomodating, the session talent stellar and engineer Ronnie Brookshire a true assett. I could get used to working with those people in that place.

My "Proverbs of a Church Music Director"

Proverbs of a Church Music Director

A skilled singer makes a pastor glad,

But a shrill singer is a heaviness to his congregation.

Better is a single, adequately skilled musician than a bandstand full of neophytes.

Give instruction to a gifted musician and she will be still more musical;

Teach a singer who can match a pitch and he will improve his intonation.

A sensitive drummer makes the heart rejoice,

And he who doth not disturb the groove will get called again.

The singer who does not warm up should be burned at the stake,

But the well-prepared player causes no inner disturbance.

An untuned guitar is a weapon of destruction;

He who wields it assaults the outreach committee.

An inconsistent tempo is an abomination to a celebration,

But those who keep time stay in the praise band.

With banal songs, a music director quenches heartfelt adoration, 

But through the final blessing, the faithful will be delivered.

just finished a complete reformat of the Kringle score and, managia, has blisters on his blisters.

"Whereas nationalism involves recognizing and pursuing the good of one’s own nation alone, without regard for the rights of others, patriotism, on the other hand, is a love for one’s native land that accords rights to all other nations equal to those claimed for one’s own. Patriotism, in other words, leads to a properly ordered social love." Blessed John Paul II

Agita

I searched the American Medical Association's website and got this response:
No results were found for agita.

For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

Why does the Pope use a Shure Beta 58A?

Everytime I've seen a Vatican event I can't help but notice that the Pope's microphone of choice is a Shure Beta 58A. I personally like the mic and its precursor the SM58. They are rugged and reasonably priced. But I'm a little puzzled about why the Pontiff's sound-man doesn't use a wireless lavaliere.  That goose-neck on a stand looks so clumsy at those Wednesday audiences.

Happy 2011.

Resolutions for the new year:
EAT Italian,
PRAY without ceasing and
LOVE unconditionally.

Our man-cub is 36 today.

Our firstborn male-child Derek James "Bud" Natalie turns 36 today. My wife Kathy and I were reminiscing about that first hour in our home after returning from the hospital. It was just the three of us in our living room. I (22) was holding my "Little Buddy" and I turned to Kathy (21) and said, quite seriously, "I can't believe that they let us take him home!" But with the help of our parents, siblings and friends we managed. And we are extremely proud of the man, husband and father Derek has grown to be.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BUD! As your Grandma N says, "We love you too much."

This is thankful.

"Walter Hawkins & Donnie McClurkin" thankful. Oh Happy Day of Thanks to you all.

Fun music video for our daughter.

We are celebrating our daughter Julie's special birthday today. You can watch a music video tribute with my four brothers here.

Youngest brother Jeff shot the scenes with my suited & dancing brothers including himself, Peter, Joel & Alan. Then Jeff took video that I sent him and edited it. Thanks, Jeff!

Looking?

Lt. Dan & Forrest:

"Have you found Jesus yet, Gump?

I didn't know I was supposed to be looking for him, sir."

Jesus: "What do you seek?" Jn 1:28

Time.

I needed more cowbell so I turned to The Chambers Brothers. http://ping.fm/T61ew

Tha Fab Four & The NYC Bishop

So glad we have The Beatles at the iTunes store and Archbishop Dolan heading up the American bishops. It's getting better all the time.

I believe that "The Family That Prays Together Stays Together".

What is worship?

I was asked, “what is worship to you ... what is your hope when you sit behind a keyboard and strike the first note of a service ... where do you hope to be going?”

Worship is our response to God.

God has revealed Himself to us in creation, His covenant with Israel, and, most profoundly, in Jesus Christ. Worship, the offering of our bodies as living sacrifices to God, is our response to that revelation. We are the Lord’s and He is ours.  

The Christian assembly.

Jesus rose on the first day of the week. Sunday has come to be known as The Lord’s Day. “This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.” When I sit down at the piano in a Christian assembly, I hope to facilitate that rejoicing and gladness through music and words that become an essential part of the celebration. Psalm 68:4 exhorts us to, “Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds ; his name is the LORD - and rejoice before him.” I hope to assist in that rejoicing.

God centered worship.

We are dead. Our lives are now hidden with Christ in God. Our worship in this life is a participation in the worship of heaven where all eyes are on the Lord God Almighty. It is ongoing, continuous adoration and we join our voices with the choirs of heaven. Song selection, preparation and implementation are employed with that reality in sight. 

God centered worship is first an offering. Nobody in heaven is complaining, “I didn’t get anything out of worship” because it’s not about them. It’s not about getting a buzz or emotionalism. But how can we not be moved and touched in our soul during corporate worship? Experiences and self-realization are the result of our upward gaze, not the motivation.

If the medium obstructs, is it still a medium at all?

When a music minister gets in the way, s/he is no longer ministering. As a “chief musician” there are many ways that I can be a stumbling block in the celebration. Two major impediments come to mind: (1) seeking the praise of man; (2) being unprepared and making a mess of it. Both are gross distractions. Excellence of the heart and excellence of the art, rather than being mutually exclusive, are two sides of the same coin.

Who should lead the crowd?

Those who are gifted, called and seek to walk in a manner worthy of the calling should lead the throng in song.

No fall-back position.

I was an hour early for church Sunday morning because ...

Stoked about mid-term elections?

I am trying to stay positive about election day. Maybe these "totally stoked" voters can help. http://ping.fm/FxBZW

Happy All Saints Day.

Today I am singing "Oh when the saints ... come marchin' in!"

I am particularly inspired by the life story of Elisabeth Leseur which can be found here.

The pushing, striving & struggling of a seed.

I found this gem by Caryll Houselander (†1954) this week in Magnificat. There is no circumventing the painful process of the green blade bursting through the "hard, frozen earth".

Learn to love yourself, to forgive yourself, to be kind to yourself, by looking outwards to God, by accepting the fact that you are infinitely loved by Infinite Love, and that if you will only cease to build up notions of the perfection you demand of yourself, and lay your soul open to that love, you will cease to fear, and you will cease to be exhausted as soon as you stop fighting one part of yourself with another.

Realize that in you is the power, strength, and love of Christ, that you can carry all that darkness and not go under. If you realize that in you Christ lives his risen life, you will soon be convinced that you will also come right up through the darkness into the light. Try to believe that life is in you like a seed, pushing, striving, struggling up to light. Instead of fighting yourself, let this seed of supernatural life fight its way out through the darkness, just as an ordinary seed fights up through the darkness and heaviness of the hard, frozen earth.

First it has to sharpen its own green blade in the night and cut through the ground, but suddenly it breaks into flower, and when it does that, it does not see its own beauty. The world outside sees that. What it sees is the glorious sun that drew it up out of the darkness and into Light.

-- The Letters of Caryll Houselander, Her Spiritual Legacy

Here I Am To Worship

I did a harmony work-up of "Here I Am To Worship" & posted it here on ReverbNation.

“Being Italian means never having to wear sunscreen.“

A Few Words From My Italian Siblings

I am the second born of eight children to Alfonso & Giuseppina Natalie … 100% Sicilian-American from “testa a punta” (head to toe). October is Italian Heritage Month so [a couple years ago]I posted a question to my family about ethnic pride. The answers follow my post. My baby sister Nancy didn’t respond. I think her computer is down. I also got some great responses from aunts, uncles, cousins and nieces. Fahgeddaboudit! These seven responses are plenty.

Please don’t be offended with any subtle boastfulness you might detect. It’s all in fun. We love non-Italians. None of our spouses are Italian and all 22 of our kids are half-mozzarella/half-Velveeta. (Besides, being half-Sicilian makes you full-blooded Italian anyway.)

Oh … I didn’t get their permission to publish. But I got one question if they object: “What’s your problem!? Go sit down! Here … have a cannoli.”

  

Angelo’s question:

We all know there's the bad kind of pride that "goes before a fall" or keeps us from forgiving or bending the knee. But there is "good pride: a reasonable or justifiable self-respect; to be extremely joyful and delighted" in something noble ... like your ethnic heritage. So what is it about being of Italian descent that makes you joyful & delighted?

Personally? I'm in it for the food. ;-)

Peter:

One of the unique aspects about being Italian are the emotions that are so strong in all of us.   When we love, it is unparalleled.   When we hate, look out!   In a way, it's both a blessing as well as a curse.   Not easy dealing with those emotions sometimes.   I want to say that I love all of you to an extreme (usually ;-) and am so proud to be a member of this family, and 100% Sicilian!   Ti voglio bene, familgia!

Pietro DiNatali

Annie:

We're Italian????!!!!!! Seriously, all the posts so far have made me vaklempt. I know that's Jewish, but they’re cool too.   I have always felt set apart and somewhat special to all my mixed breed friends throughout my life to say that I am 100% Italian.   Aside from the olive skin and dark hair which sets us apart, all the things that have been written so far are so true.   Even though we can't go too far back in our Serpe history [Mom’s maiden name], I am so proud of our family and all that has been accomplished through our ancestors until now.   I have friends today that tell me they envy the closeness of our family.   So obviously our pride does show!

Connie:

Being Italian means never having to wear sunscreen...always making people feel at home...feeding anyone that walks through your door...there is our kind of food on every corner of every city in the US...arguing if Sicily is really in Italy...knowing people are afraid if they cross you, you might be able to get a cousin to rub them out...the cookies...the lasagna...antipasto...pasta...Christmas traditions of family, food and yelling at kids...raising other peoples kids as your own...never being alone when you need people around...all priceless   Connie

Joel:

Being Italian sometimes gives you liberties to be loud and boisterous, in which I take plenty of license.   I find it funny how there are zillions of Italian restaurants but very few Irish or Polish ones, even though they probably out-number us...so the food is key. Big families and lots of cousins and great weddings and heart-wrenching funerals and slow metabolisms and wondering if you're somehow linked to "La Costa Nostra" and saying "butta bing" and having fifteen cousins named Angelo and being the guy in the room with some "character."

Alan:

One word:   "Amore!"

Jeff:

Who doesn't want to be Italian and better yet, Sicilian? I tell people in therapy "Don't make me break your knee caps" and they all know immediately what I'm talking about. There's a certain amount of street credibility you get when you say your 100% Sicilian and grew up on 18th Street. Even the big shots that I see in therapy give me my propers...

As for the really valuable stuff, like Pete said, who better knows how to love, to hate that's what I feel great about. We're not afraid to experience life, to really embrace people and love them. We do that so well. We feed others (as Connie said); there is no one better at hospitality. We care deeply.

Great post Gelo.

Oh...I almost forgot. As a result of being Sicilian/Italian...we get to meet amazing people who you end up marrying. Like my bride....

Ride "Secretariat" to a feel-good place.

We saw "Secretariat" this weekend. Excellent & inspiring.

I love that Walter Hawkins' recording of "Oh Happy Day" moved the horse's owner to keep on keepin' on.