Your Pastoral Coach

Masters in Pastoral Theology... All done!

Yesterday was my graduation at St. Mary-of-the-Woods College. It is the culmination of a 3 year journey in which moved by my faith, I was seeking greater understanding of God (rephrasing Anselm of Canterbury's definition of Theology). I felt the call from Jesus, the Good Shepherd, to join him in caring for souls, to join him in feeding the sheep, and be also a shepherd with Him (in Latin, a pastor). Although I was hearing Jesus calling me by name, I hesitated. It was so different from my professional career. My wife Angie helped me see how aligned this path was with my talents and passions, and helped me gain the confidence to take the first step.

In the past years I have learned about Theology, Scripture, Ethics, Cannon Law, Ministry, Christology, Liturgy, Church history, and spirituality. I have learned to appreciate the beauty and elegance of our faith, the mystery and and complexity of some of our beliefs, and I have been able to see God with a renewed sense of awe. The more I studied, the more I realized how little I could comprehend about God and His works. The studies helped me immensely, yet, only love, and service, and community and grace, have truly helped me to better know and experience our wonderful God.

If anyone reading this is wondering about pursuing a similar program, I highly recommend the graduate program at St. Mary-of-the-Woods College. The convenience of distant learning and the quality and competency of the faculty are great, but the best traits is how much Virginia the program Director and her faculty care about the students and their growth. They really invest themselves completely and at the end you finish with not only increased knowledge, but also with deep friendships. The sense of community among the students is one of the best gifts of this program. Mixed with the joy of not having to write more papers was the sadness of not been an active member of this wonderful community of shepherds. Well, there's e-mail and the annual Summer get-togethers...

And the journey continues. I love my career in Information Technology, helping companies increase their business value through technology and helping grow IT leaders. Yet, I love to compliment that with a vocation as a Pastoral Coach, helping people grow in their careers, in their personal development, and in their relationships by integrating Christian spirituality with the rest of their lives. With God's grace, I will continue to answer the call to act with justice, love tenderly, to serve one another, and to humbly walk with God (David Hass and Micah 6:8)

Technorati Tags: Accomplish Goals, Catholic

Reflecting on Hispanics in the USA and Church

As some of you know I have been quite busy lately on many, many fronts, one having to do with final projects and papers for my Masters in Pastoral Theology. I have three papers left and a 30 page report on a project. I should graduate this May. My project was a workshop that I held with the Church leaders on immigration, social justice, and the response of the Catholic Church and our parish to the growing population of Hispanics in the US. We ended the session with a healthy brainstorm on actions we could take to better serve the Hispanics in our parish and to unite the Hispanic and Anglo communities. The session went very well. To complete my project I have had to facilitate a series of theological reflections with the participants. I'm happy to say that I facilitated the last session tonight. Now it's time to write!

One of the added benefits of this process has been to meet some very nice and interesting people. Interestingly enough, what shocked and challenged the people I talked to was not what I presented, but the prejudicial and protectionist statements of some participants. How could Catholic members of our parish say such things about other members of our church? These Anglo members came face to face with what some minority groups face daily and it really challenged them to deal with intolerance. Because of a beautiful video I showed entitled "Dying to Live" the members were able to put a face to the issue of immigration. What a blessing to sit with others and reflect on how the Gospel challenges us to think and act differently. Well, I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the school work tunnel!

Technorati Tags: Catholic

Would God Save Us from Natural Disaster?

I need people's help on this one. A reader of this blog sent me an e-mail asking if God could protect us from things like natural disasters. My initial reaction is no, but I wonder what people think on this and why. I'm comfortable asking God for protection against evil, for strength against temptations, for wisdom and other gifts so that I may listen to His will, and for forgiveness. I can see asking God for endurance in suffering, and to use my suffering for the forgiveness of my sins or the sins of the world. I can see asking God to touch the heart of an oppressor, an unjust and mean person, or someone suffering from depression. I just don't think it's right to ask God to save me from physical death from a calamity like an earthquake, a hurricane, or a tornado...

Did Jesus Have Brothers?

We don't believe so, and I will explain why. I received an e-mail asking about this and I would also like to clarify a comment my dear friend Lorna made on this other post. Lorna said, "I think it was a bit of a silly question though it was sincere at the time. My reasoning behind it was something I read about James and Jude (brothers of Jesus) and how Catholics don't think Jesus had real siblings. The text said something like James and Jude are HALF-brothers because they shared the same mother (Mary) but different Fathers (Jesus= God, other brothers = Joseph)."

Catholics do not believe that they were children of Mary by two different fathers (God and Joseph) or that Mary had any other children. The short answer is that most Roman Catholic scholars believe that when Scripture refers to Jesus' brethren it meant close relatives and that those specifically named were actually cousins of Jesus. Let's go deeper...

Why is Mary "Mother of God"?

A reader from "Your Pastoral Coach" sent me an e-mail asking me how it is that Catholics can call Mary “Mother of God” and when this theology developed. I am corresponding with her, but thought I would post my answer here in case anyone else had comments.

The reason for stating that Mary is mother of God begins with Jesus. We believe that Jesus was one person with two natures, human and divine, from the time he was conceived in Mary’s womb by the Hoy Spirit. The third ecumenical council at Ephesus in 431 stated "that the Word, uniting to himself in his person the flesh animated by a rational soul, became man." Church teaching says that “Christ's humanity has no other subject than the divine person of the Son of God, who assumed it and made it his own, from his conception.” Since Mary gave birth to the Son of God, the second person in our Triune God, we say that she is the mother of God. This title was ratified also by the council at Ephesus in 431.

Are There Spiritual Benefits in Suffering?

There is something about Catholicism and suffering that I have not found in other Christian denominations. It has something to do with thinking that when we accept the difficult and even painful things in life, such as sickness, when we accept them with humility and prayer, we can offer them in union with Christ for the salvation of our souls and of the world. We join in the passion and redeeming suffering of Christ for the expiation of sins. Many saints would even go out of their way to create this situation that would cause them mortification.