What We Can Learn from Mr Rogers

I may be dating myself with this example, but you may recall the name Fred McFeely Rogers. He born in 1928 and died of stomach cancer in 2003 - an ordinary man, born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, earned a bachelor's degree in music began a television career at NBC in New York, ultimately worked for children's programming at NET. Later, with a degree from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, he became a Presbyterian minister, and the world came to know him as Mr Rogers.

He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which ran from 1968 to 2001. I can recall watching him growing up quite regularly.

What you may not know is that Rogers had a difficult childhood. He was shy, introverted, and overweight, and was frequently homebound after suffering bouts of asthma. He was bullied and taunted as a child for his weight and called "Fat Freddy".

According to one director of the 2018 documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? She said, Rogers had a "lonely childhood ... making friends with himself as much as he could. He had a ventriloquist dummy, he had [stuffed] animals, and he would create his own worlds in his childhood bedroom".

Perhaps that’s why Mister Rogers' Neighborhood emphasized young children's social and emotional needs, focusing on children's developing psyche and feelings and sense of moral and ethical reasoning. And perhaps it's why his show and influence is still popular today.

Weaving together his Christian faith and good psychology, I think Mr Rogers is the perfect example when reflecting on the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians, the tenth book of the New Testament. It's a letter that declares that the Christian mystery of salvation, first revealed to the Apostles, is the source of true wisdom and that salvation through Christ is offered to Jews and Gentiles alike.

The letter encourages us all to lead exemplary Christian lives and to arm ourselves with the “shield of faith,” “the helmet of salvation,” and “the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God”, in order to resist the wiles of the devil. Those sentiments today are captured in the words:

Brothers and sisters:

Be kind to one another, compassionate,

forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.

Or, more contemporarily, in the words of Mr Rogers:

There are three ways to ultimate success:

The first way is to be kind.

The second way is to be kind.

The third way is to be kind.

Let that be our focus this day!

RSM

Advent Message Series - What Are You Waiting For? - Week 1 - Focus

Happy New Year! Today we begin the new liturgical year with the First Sunday in Advent. We also begin our four-part message series entitled, What are you waiting for?

• FOCUS

• OBEY

• REJOICE

• MAKE ROOM

What are you waiting for … FOCUS!

We live in a world filled with trials, temptations, distractions and deceptions. Therefore, as Christians we must nevertheless try and remain focused and maintain a right course, especially if we live and work around sincere and well-meaning people who do not share our values and convictions. It can sometimes be easy to forget that there are plenty of dangerous traps to deceive and destroy the unwary believer. We also know that the Bible is filled with warnings about the consequences of losing our focus and it gives us plenty of instructions for staying on course— if only we have eyes to see and ears to hear! So, what are you waiting for?

There is an old saying that those who do not learn the lessons of history will repeat the mistakes of history. The Sacred Scriptures record many examples of this fundamental truth.

• Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden because their focus was diverted away from God’s instructions in listening to Satan and his subtly twisted half-truths, following their own flawed human reasoning.

• The ancient nation of Israel went into captivity because it followed misguided leaders and focused on pagan ways of worship instead of following God’s holy commandments.

• David got into trouble, and Solomon’s heir lost the ten-tribed House of Israel, because they began to focus on the physical creation, instead of obeying their Creator and His instructions.

Scripture has recorded these examples for the admonition of Christians in order to remind us to keep our focus.

The second reading today is from the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians. In it, Paul writes to a Church that also needs perspective and focus. Considering itself ready for the Lord’s coming, the Corinthian Church will learn in this letter how woefully unprepared the apostle thinks it really is. The Church in Corinth is marked by:

• Theological errors and unethical practices;

• Misplaced priorities;

• Forgetting the poor;

• Constant infighting; and

• Interest in self-advancement.

Some might suggest that unfortunately, these are still hallmarks of our church today!

At the letter’s beginning, Paul celebrates the fact that for all their faults, the Corinthians are nevertheless a true Christian community. He reminds them that God alone keeps them faithful.

The true gospel message that Jesus Christ proclaimed will surprise many professing Christians who have lost their focus. The world generally assumes that Jesus came with a gentle message about love, grace and salvation for all who give their heart to the Lord and who believe that Jesus is the Son of God, without any personal response. Yet the Bible reveals that even demons believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

Jesus, by contrast, commissioned His disciples to preach the true gospel, emphasizing the reality of the coming Kingdom of God. This was the gospel Christ preached before His crucifixion. Jesus emphasized that to be in God’s kingdom, one must repent of sin and must keep the commandments of God. In other words – we are called to FOCUS on Him and live our lives accordingly, each to the best of our ability.

After His resurrection, Jesus told the disciples that they were to be witnesses to the world that His suffering, death and resurrection were necessary for the forgiveness of sin. And even after His resurrection, Jesus continued to focus on the Kingdom of God, as did His disciples.

Sadly, over the years, some have lost sight of the gospel of the kingdom, and the challenges and sacrifices it requires, mistakenly watering down the challenges of the Gospel, and reducing the Church to a sort of casual Christian country club. In the days of Jesus and in our day too, there surely have been and are plenty of misguided leaders who have lost the proper focus, causing confusion, doubt and scandal.

The Church founded by Jesus Christ and His apostles can be recognized—if we focus on what we see revealed in the Scriptures, Sacred Tradition and the teaching of the magisterium. Each of these sources of God’s revelation can help us to better our focus on what really matters on how we are to live and to leave in the blur those things that are unimportant and even detrimental to our faith and our everlasting life.

In the stories of faith, the disciples were not just preaching about a cute little baby Jesus who loved everybody. They did not portray the Church as a mere spiritual hospital for lost souls. They were preaching about a real coming kingdom and the return of a powerful Christ who will shake the nations and restore the government of God to this earth – sorting out the sheep from the goats! Yikes!

The challenge facing us Christians today is to stay focused on the right priorities: the true God, the real Jesus, the word of God, the true Gospel, the servant Church. As Christians, we are called to develop the knowledge and character that God can use, to accomplish the mission of His Church and bring to fruition His great plan.

In these days of Advent, perhaps our New Year’s Resolutions can be working to increase our spiritual attention by:

1. Identifying our distractions

2. Pray regularly, asking God to help us find practical ways to minimize distractions

3. Asking God to speak through His word and show us each time one specific thing to focus on

4. Regularly reading God’s word in the Bible

5. Pondering and praying about the one thing that stands out as we read

6. Reflecting on one way we can apply what’s been read

7. Writing it down – keeping an Advent journal

On this first Sunday of Advent, despite the ominous message of Mark’s Gospel that warns us to “Watch, therefore; because we do not know when the Lord of the house is coming” we are reminded of a number of things that are comforting:

1. All of us fall short of God’s expectations and in love our God does not harden his heart against us but makes possible a way for us to gain his presence again – focus.

2. Despite our imperfections, our sins, and our weaknesses, we are unified in our Christian community through Christ. We grow in him and are strengthened by him. Let’s pray for each other in our community too!

3. Though God understands our weaknesses, we are called to overcome those weaknesses in Christ.

We pray that by our improved focus, and God’s grace, that through Christ that we will be found blameless on the last day.

So, what are we waiting for? Let’s get to it!

RSM

Happy Thanksgiving!

From all of us at St Teresa of Avila, we wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!

We have all heard that the Chinese use the same word to describe the concepts of crisis and opportunity. What they mean to say is that in every crisis lies an opportunity, depending on how it is looked at.

The word crisis comes from the Greek "to separate, to sift" which means to pass judgement, to keep only what is worthwhile. There is an opportunity in every crisis and the deeper the crisis, the better the opportunity can be. But some people are not capable of seeing it. That can also be true for us, people of faith.

I’m sure that today many people will be reflecting on how they have been adapting to the coronavirus pandemic, and I hope rolled into that reflection is a pondering also on the topic of gratitude from the perspective of a person of faith.

Thanksgiving provides the perfect chance for us to explore and (strive to) articulate exactly why we are grateful to be a Catholic Christian, particularly during a time of crisis. The most obvious source of gratitude is that our Catholic faith, in addition to providing us with the guidance, provides us with the strength and perspective we all need to carry forward amidst times of intense difficulty. Jesus also provides us the Eucharist – the ultimate act of giving thanks.

While guidance to seek happiness in the happiness of others, to serve others, and to care for others are important, and this outward focus can truly get us through trying times, we first have to pause and be thankful for who we are and all we have in Christ.

The last few months have been testing, to say the least. I don’t believe anybody has been immune to the impact of the coronavirus and we have all been affected by its wrath either directly or indirectly.

Lives are still being lost, people are increasingly unsure of where to turn for solace and guidance, communities have been forced into isolation, and feelings of despair are rife even here within our community. But, the Chinese are right, with every crisis there comes an opportunity, but it is reserved only for those who can see it – that is for those who look with the eyes of faith.

It is hard to tell how long we will be suffering through this crisis. Surely there are signs of hope – the vaccine – the lowering number of deaths – the knowledge that has been gained over the last months. And there are those for whom this is already too late ... It’s in times like these that I think we can learn so much from the faith and our Scriptures. Luke says:

There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars,

and on earth nations will be in dismay,

perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves.

People will die of fright

in anticipation of what is coming upon the world,

for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

But the passage ends with …

And then they will see the Son of Man

coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

So, on this Thanksgiving, despite all that’s going on around us and perhaps even within us, with gratitude let’s take the words of the Scriptures to heart and live like we really believe them:

But when these signs begin to happen,

stand erect and raise your heads

because your redemption is at hand.

Let’s take a moment today also to pray for and thank those essential workers, from every walk of life, who have served us and carried us through these months, that they will also receive the reward of their labors.

May the food on our tables and the smell of our homes, and the bubbles in our glasses remind us to give thanks happily, today and always!

Blessings!

RSM