† Fr. Andrew's Thoughts †

Words from Scripture

April 15, 2021

Hello Everyone,
            Freedom. (Jn 8:31-36) The ability to do what we want. But we owe it to ourselves to clearly define what that is. Only by knowing that, by achieving that, are we truly free. So, what do we want?
            On our deathbed, we can look back at our life and be proud of the decisions we made or be ashamed by them. We want to be proud of our decisions, we want to call ourselves good persons.
            We can make any possible decision about any possible situation in our life, but that is not freedom, that is autonomy. True freedom, we said, was being able to do what we want, and we said what we truly wanted was to call ourselves good persons.
            Freedom is being able to live our lives and always making the decisions we want. Slavery is having another make those decisions for us, either another human or our own autonomy. In both cases our life is not our own. In both cases, decisions are not made because of our own want, but for the desire of another. We are a slave.
            True freedom is found by embracing a moral life, a life guided by our relationship with God, a life defined by us as one in which we are proud.
            We could easily be our own kings and queens, but we choose to be His servant. We choose to limit our autonomy so that we can be infinitely free.
            Please check out my Welcome Fr. Andrew Video Series  to get to know me better and my YouTube channel where I post my homilies and additional things.
Peace,
Fr. Andrew

April 8, 2021

Hello Everyone,
       Silence. (Ex 14:14) A moment without words. A moment where we reflect, where we are compelled to dwell on the majesty of what we just experienced. To some, silence is just wasted time. To others, silence is more eloquent than speech.
       These silences are not long and may be missed if we are focused on other things. They are moments, not minutes. They are for feeling sentiments, not for forming sentences. God knows our hearts. These moments are for us to know them too.
       They are for experiencing our own regret and then dwelling in the immensity of His forgiveness. For reflecting on our own intention and being confident that He desires that for us as well. For meditating on His Word and recognizing that He is leading us towards achievement. For being present to God and listening as He stirs our hearts into action.
       These moments of silence can be ignored, or they can be anchor points from which we can launch ourselves forward, like a pulse imparted. Moments where we can share a feeling of joy, or trust, or gratitude with the God who loves us. Often a well-timed silence is more eloquent than speech.
       Please check out my Welcome Fr. Andrew Video Series  to get to know me better and my YouTube channel where I post my homilies and additional things.
Peace,
Fr. Andrew

April 1, 2021

Hello Everyone,
       Give up. (Prov 29:11) We do not give up enough in our lives. After all, the world owes us so much. And when it fails us, we should let it know how hurt we are by withholding our effort, by complaining to anyone and everyone, by denying our love to all regardless of their guilt in the matter.
       We should unleash our emotions and allow them to have free reign. If we cannot control our emotions, then, by all means, we should allow our emotions to control us. Cooler heads be damned. Where is the fun in that? We all know we never regret giving our rational mind a break now and again. It is just good practice.
       We cannot always concern ourselves with the welfare of the person standing in front of us. What if conversation spontaneously occurs? We run the risk of learning something new and that new thing has a small chance of not being in line with our existing knowledge. This would force us to defend our ideas, whatever they are, to our dying breath and ain’t nobody got time for that.
       The world just needs to fulfill our wishes and leave us the hell alone. Our social media posts are not going to curate themselves. Wishing everyone a blessed April 1^st.
       Please check out my Welcome Fr. Andrew Video Series  to get to know me better and my YouTube channel where I post my homilies and additional things.
Peace,
Fr. Andrew
 

March 25, 2021

Hello Everyone,
       Integrity. (John 1:47) We set the tone for how honest and dedicated the people around us behave. Only us. Honesty, harmony, achievement, belief, inspiration. We can paint these words on walls, make t-shirts, start off every meeting with them listed on a PowerPoint. But, if we do not model them to those around us, then all the people with integrity will leave. And all that will remain are the people that are OK with us lying to ourselves and them.
       Simon Sinek noted, “Leadership is a choice. It is not a rank.” We know many people who are at the senior most levels in organizations and are not leaders. They are authorities and we do what they say because of that, but we would not follow them. And we know many people at the lowest levels of organizations with no authority and they are absolutely leaders. This is because they have chosen to look after those around them.
       They have chosen to create an atmosphere of safety for us. To be firm in their convictions, to model behaviors we find important, to make us feel secure, to care more about the human heart than anything else. And because of this, we would do the same for them.
       Some individuals are willing to sacrifice their comfort, their reputations, their very selves for the benefit of others. Jesus comes to mind, but we see it in all forms of intense service. Military, fire and police, healthcare, even families, all vocations that generate heroes. Who thinks that is a coincidence?
       With this knowledge, would we tolerate anyone sacrificing others for the benefit of themselves? But we do. Would we tolerate people not even caring to create an environment of safety for us? But we do. Would we tolerate people sowing mistrust in hopes of covering up their short comings? But we do.  Jesus has revealed to us that we deserve true leadership, true integrity. Why would we settle for anything less, from ourselves and others?
       Please check out my Welcome Fr. Andrew Video Series  to get to know me better and my YouTube channel where I post my homilies and additional things.
Peace,
Fr. Andrew

March 18, 2021

Hello Everyone,
       Leadership. (Mk 10:42-45) It is not what we think. Leadership is internal. It is when the vision for the direction of our life is being lived out through our wise choices and positive personal change.  Doing so focuses our efforts on only those actions which serve our vision, making success likely. It motivates us and fosters confidence in our abilities. It is only when we lead ourselves that true leadership takes place and doing this well is what causes others to follow us.
       I am the leader of my life. It is up to me to create my own vision. If not me, then who? The weak do the minimum; leaders change the world.
       When we identify the vision for our life, it makes it simple for us to only engage in meaningful things. Without vision, without a sense of meaning, we engage in very little. Vision creates leaders and leaders get involved.
       Where does church fit in our vision? Is our faith important enough to get involved? If not us, then who?
       To create a vision for our life, we must first put our lives in order. We must identify what is important and then begin changing our lives to do those things. It will make our lives meaningful and by doing meaningful and important things, we become leaders.
       Does our vision include God; does it involve leading others to Him; involve being present for ministry as our priests come and go; involve claiming ownership of our parish and making it our home? If not us, then who?
       Leadership is realized when vision is defined. Include Jesus in our vision and He will give us meaning, He will make us leaders.
       Please check out my Welcome Fr. Andrew Video Series  to get to know me better and my YouTube channel where I post my homilies and additional things.
Peace,
Fr. Andrew

March 11, 2021

Hello Everyone,
       Dying to Self. (Mt 16:24-25) We engage with the world through the channels of thought, perception, and feeling. Sometimes our use of these channels becomes superficial and lazy because we are distracted. This distraction permits us to project our own prejudice and ignorance onto the experience unfolding before us; we fill the gaps that we ourselves caused. By being distracted, by not appreciating our channels of engagement, by not giving them our full attention, we miss out on their essential natures.

Truth - the essential nature of - thought
Beauty - the essential nature of - perception
Love - the essential nature of - feeling

       To discover these essential natures, we must quiet all the things which distract us, which prohibit us from pure experience. We must die to self, only then do we experience Truth, Beauty, and Love. Some experiences do this naturally for us. They capture us, they take our breath away, they help us lose ourselves for a moment. When these few experiences are profound concepts, we call it truth; when they are objects, we call it beauty; when they are persons, we call it love.
       These few experiences provide for us the opportunity to forget our very selves, to quiet our ego and become one with them. But we are called to do this in all experiences, to find truth, beauty and love everywhere and to allow others to find them in us.  
       Jesus calls this dying to self and it is our essential nature. It is the essence of you, the image and likeness of God within you being allowed to interact undistracted, deeply and actively, with the world.
       We find this experience of dying to self so profound, so captivating, so alien to our normal self, that we assign it amazing words like Truth and Beauty and Love, even though it is all the same thing, dying to self.  
       Please check out my Welcome Fr. Andrew Video Series  to get to know me better and my YouTube channel where I post my homilies and additional things.
Peace,
Fr. Andrew
 

March 4, 2021

Hello Everyone,
       Commitment. (Lk 9:62) The act of putting our very being towards a relationship with someone or something. The act of offering our life as a sacrifice with the understanding that if we give our all then the best possible thing will happen. Commitment and sacrifice are the same thing.
       We will never know what we can achieve until we sacrifice everything to it. Sadly, there are some who show little evidence that they are capable of this kind of sacrifice, little evidence that they are committed to anything.
       We commit to things like kindness, mercy, honor, truth, love throughout our lives. To not see the similarity between these commitments and the committing to, the sacrificing for, faith in God is to be blind.
       All these opportunities for commitment in our lives are meant to be used as practice to help us in our commitment to God. If we struggle committing to these wonderful gifts, then we will have difficulty committing to our relationship with Him. And, more so, without even the remotest understanding of commitment, relationship with God will be out of reach.
       Responsibly commit to someone or something. Prepare ourselves for a relationship with God. Choose our sacrifice, or it will choose us when we are unaware.
       Please check out my Welcome Fr. Andrew Video Series  to get to know me better and my YouTube channel where I post my homilies and additional things.
Peace,
Fr. Andrew

February 25, 2021

Hello Everyone,
       Empowerment. (Lk 10:19-20) The idea of us taking steps to become stronger and more confident. It is not an end, but a journey.  Empowerment is the act of continuously speaking truth from a place of love.
       In order to speak truth, we have to let go of the outcome. Empowerment is stating what we believe to be true and living with the consequences. Because nothing brings a better world into being more than stated truth.
       We must speak our understanding of truth, we must become stronger and more confident, we must become empowered. And if, and when, we are proven wrong in our understanding, it should only serve to make us less wrong the next time we speak truth. Think of where we will be after five years of this growth, this empowerment.
       I agree, it is not safe to speak truth and it never will be, but it is even less safe to not speak it. We can pay the price for speaking truth or we can pay the price for being silent. Truth costs our comfort. But silence costs our self-respect, our power, our ability to affect change. And we will be consumed with resentment when our silence makes us invisible.
       Empowerment is what occurs when we say what needs to be said out of love. Entitlement is what occurs when we don’t.
      Please check out my Welcome Fr. Andrew Video Series  to get to know me better and my YouTube channel where I post my homilies and additional things.
Peace,
Fr. Andrew

February 18, 2021

Hello Everyone,
       Entitlement. (Lk 14:11) We generally have two fundamental world views. The first is where we feel the forces that control the quality of our life lie within us, we call this an internal locus of control.
When we see life with this world view, fulfilling our desires is the product of our initiative, our courage, our talent, our drive. Therefore, to which we feel we are entitled is reasonable and expected. It is more fitting to call it empowered rather than entitled, but you get my point.
       The second is where we feel the forces that control our life lie outside of us, in the fairness of the world, we call this an external locus of control. In this world view, life is not about nurturing and actualizing our potential.  Instead, it is about getting the world to provide what we want because the world controls the quality of our life.
       Fortunately, most healthy people have some semblance of both, we fall somewhere on a spectrum. Those who fall closer to the internal end are who we call empowered. Those who fall closer to the external end are who we call entitled.
       Both world views are necessary in a society as complex as ours. For instance, we must empower ourselves when the society is too burdened to care for us specifically. Conversely, we must make demands on society when an issue becomes bigger than one person can handle. A problem only occurs when an incapable person finds themselves at either end of the spectrum.
       Incapable internally minded people who have nothing to offer the world become bitter and complain constantly. Incapable externally minded people who see themselves as weak compared to the world try to shame or badger it into giving them what they want. Neither is helpful, neither sparks positive change.
       Please check out my Welcome Fr. Andrew Video Series  to get to know me better and my YouTube channel where I post my homilies and additional things.
Peace,
Fr. Andrew

February 10, 2021

Hello Everyone,
       Trust. (Ps 20:7) Trust is the currency for social beings. It is the “grease” that enables relationships to work without friction. It is the shortcut that allows us to have confidence in the actions of another without needing to be afraid.
       Without trust, we must stop our life and worry about this person that is passing before us. Our currency becomes valueless. Therefore, it benefits us to establish this trust, to invest in this currency. This does not mean we offer infinite chances to people; forgiveness, yes, but not trust. In seeking trust, we will be disappointed and deceived, but someone must act first. And that someone is us.
       When we offer our hand in trust, we will invoke the best part of that person to come forward. This is courage, not naivety.
       Please check out my Welcome Fr. Andrew Video Series  to get to know me better and my YouTube channel where I post my homilies and additional things.
Peace,
Fr. Andrew

February 4, 2021

Hello Everyone,
      Lying. (Ex 20:16) Lying, or manipulation, is the fastest way to destroy any relationship we have.
And make no mistake about it, a ridiculously large number of people can tell when we lie. They may not say anything, but they know.
      What they also know is how little respect we have for them when we lie to them. Lying destroys the perceived foundation of our relationships and makes false what we thought our lives to be.
      We are all entitled to the truth. It is promised to us in our faith when Jesus tells us, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.” Lying denies us this promise.
      We tell the truth and that creates an atmosphere around us that people desire to be a part of. We tell the truth and that forms a conscience that recognizes highest goods and will not lead us astray. We tell the truth and that never makes us afraid to offend people with facts out of love. Because if we live in a world without truth, then we live in a world without meaning.
      Please check out my Welcome Fr. Andrew Video Series  to get to know me better and my YouTube channel where I post my homilies and additional things.
Peace,
Fr. Andrew

January 28, 2021

Hello Everyone,
              Compliments. (Prov 31:30) How often have we had an impulse to tell someone that we appreciate their effort? Then for reasons like fear or laziness or an internal policy of appearing unengaged, we remain silent. Modern psychology even tells us that when many are given compliments, they feel it’s a lie or a manipulation. So, yes, compliments can be thought of in a negative way, but only by the weak.
               Recently, I received a compliment through email from someone who just decided to reach out. And their decision came at the perfect time. It was a challenging day, and their words made all the difference.
              When we receive compliments, it empowers us to be brave and strive to do great things. To acknowledge that we have something to offer the world and to be confident that the world will be receptive. What a gift.
              When we give compliments, we are identifying qualities within another that we consider valuable. Failure to do so prohibits us from identifying these qualities which would eventually make up our ideal self. What a tragedy.
              Silence makes us weak. Compliments make us strong.
          Please check out my Welcome Fr. Andrew Video Series  to get to know me better and my YouTube channel where I post my homilies and additional things.
Peace,
Fr. Andrew

January 21, 2021

Hello Everyone,
            Conversation. (Ti 2:8) When did this become something to be avoided? Conversation, when done right, is supposed to be something that risks offending.
            Conversation is meant to provide you, or another, with information that was unavailable a moment before. The word comes from versare and con meaning “to turn with.” We are meant to be forever turned, forever changed because of our engagement in conversation.
            Conversation strengthens, or weakens for that matter, our beliefs; it fosters empathy; it makes our opinion valuable; it creates a richer life for us. A life lived shielded from conversation, or only engaged in viewpoints that match our own, is squandered.
            One of the highest possible goods is to say what needs to be said out of love. Life is too precious to not risk offending or being offended.
            Please check out my Welcome Fr. Andrew Video Series  to get to know me better and my YouTube channel where I post my homilies and additional things.
Peace,
Fr. Andrew

January 14, 2021

Hello Everyone,
           Empathy. (Rom 12:15) Forever using our existing experiences so that we may enter more fully into the hearts and minds of those around us. When we can empathize, what usually follows are feelings of compassion and love. When we cannot, it is conflict and fear. Communion is the cornerstone of our faith and empathy is the cornerstone of communion.
           Do not get me wrong, I thank God every day that I cannot empathize with acts of stupidity, ineptitude, and hatred. But I also thank Him every day that I can empathize with people discovering who they are, with relationships growing through challenges, with belief systems being strengthened or weakened because of open and honest conversation.  Empathizing with these, witnessing these are the most rewarding moments of my life.
            I am so happy we are on this journey together and look forward to everything we have to offer one another.
            Please check out my Welcome Fr. Andrew Video Series  to get to know me better and my YouTube channel where I post my homilies and additional things.
Peace,
Fr. Andrew

January 7, 2021

Hello Everyone, 
     I am overjoyed to be your priest. Coming to Corpus Christi during COVID-19 has been interesting. I have met so many welcoming and loving people and I am hoping to get to know ALL of you once the restrictions settle down and we feel confident to socialize again. What a great day that will be!!!!!
     Until that happens, I am trying my best to offer Masses in which we can engage, preach homilies in which we can grow and do all things in keeping with Corpus Christi's beautiful culture. 
     Please check out my Welcome Fr. Andrew Video Series  to get to know me better and my YouTube channel where I post my homilies and additional things.
     I wish everyone a rewarding 2021 and look forward to witnessing all of you being leaders in the Corpus Christi Parish Family.
Peace,
Fr. Andrew