Fire-Bending: Set the World Ablaze with Your Inner Flame

Hardcore Zuko

A few weeks ago, the readings at mass were very interesting. They focused on fire. This was an interesting theme, so I decided to write about this "hot topic," (I apologize for my pun....WAIT...no I don't ;D)

The first reading was from the prophet Jeremiah. He was in a position that many prophets found themselves in. He was being persecuted by the authorities. Jeremiah was being led by God to tell people about Him. When he was told to cease his ministry, he said:

"But if I say 'I will not mention His word or speak anymore His name," His word is in my heart like a fire. A fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in. I cannot." Jeremiah 20:9

A fire within him and it exhausts him to REPRESS it. Jeremiah was being persecuted by the princes that were offended by his preaching. However, he explains to the people that God's word is like a fire within him, and it is tiring to try to hide the flame. is flame was so strong that he could not contain it. His solution? Let it set the world on fire.

It would have been easy for Jeremiah to stop preaching. He was a young prophet, so almost his entire life was ahead of him. Being put to death would have been a big deal for someone like Jeremiah. However, Jeremiah's love for God overcame his fear of death. This is something we could all learn from. Jeremiah fanned the flame in his soul until it burned hotter than he could handle, so he shared it with the world.

In the Gospel reading that day, Christ was talking to his apostles about why he came into the world. He is upset that the fire for God has not already consumed the Earth.

“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” Luke 12:49

Christ came to set the world ON FIRE. He started the flame, but it's our job to keep it going! Why haven't we consumed the world? Christ is the best thing that has ever happened to humanity! Why aren't we yelling, screaming, and jumping for joy? Why aren't we dancing in the middle of the streets?!

“Wearing a linen ephod [A royal robe to be worn under cloak. Basically, underwear.] David was dancing before the Lord with all his might while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.” 2 Samuel 6:14-15

“What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight. What is whispered in your ear, shout from the rooftops!” Matthew 10:27

Wimpy Zuko

We have a problem. We were each born with a special burning to find God, but like any fire, it needs to be fed. The result of us not feeding our flames? Weak fire-bending. I don't know how many of you watch Avatar, so for those of you who don't know, this particular Fire-bender is Prince Zuko. He learns in the third season of Avatar how to truly master his flame. Before he learns to master true fire bending. This is what he looks like: a wimp.

When was the last time you praised God shamelessly like no one was watching? When was the last time you shouted about Christ from a the top of a building? You probably haven't recently, but if you have, terrific! We need more people to do things like this! We need more zealots for the faith. God saved you! Share that!

What's stopping us from proclaiming God's word boldly? Doubt? Fear? Embarrassment? Whatever your excuse is, kill it. Stab it, and get rid of it. You don't need excuses. There's no reason why you shouldn't stand up and proclaim God's word. That's the first step is to stand up. Once you're standing, you have to go somewhere. Don't sit down until you get there. Stand up, sing about Him, write about Him, speak about Him, tweet about Him! Set the world on Fire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There aren't enough exclamation points in the world.

A lot of the time, we feel socially awkward when proclaiming our faith. I'll be honest, the real world is the hardest place to be a Christian. Unfortunately, because we all live in the real world, we have to try hard to be Christian. (I know, not fair.) Sometimes, following Christ is like joining the Mathletes. (That's a Mean Girls reference. Nothing against the Mathletes) St. Francis reminds us to preach the gospel at ALL TIMES. No asterisks, no “buts”, no what-ifs, no footnotes. ALL TIMES. The phrase isn't “Preach the gospel at all times, unless someone would get offended or uncomfortable.” We have to step outside our comfort zone in order to get anything done. Sometimes it feels like you can't handle the heat, but we're trying to set the world on fire, so a little heat ends up being a good thing.

Fire consumes all it touches, and as it consumes, it gets greater and greater. This is usually why we regard fire as bad, however, if we kindle a righteous, holy fire, the earth will be "set ablaze" the way Christ intended. Fan your flame every day. Mass, adoration, fasting, and prayer can help a lot to make your fire grow. I pray that your fire grows so much that it pains you to keep it contained. That way, you have to let it out!

My challenge for you is to stand up every day. Whenever you feel that desire to do something for Christ, don't wait for the weekend or your next free moment. Do it immediately. Good things will come from this!


God Bless!
-Patrick



Deuteronomy 31:6

Apologetics

Hi there everyone!

I figured you all need some illustration

Recently, I have been doing mostly advice articles about different aspects of faith. This has been partly because I've been testing the water with how this blog will be structured. Now its time to get down to the meat and potatoes of this blog.

Don't get me wrong, though.  I enjoy writing those types of articles and I feel they have an impact, however, I would also like to write articles that educate about the faith. In case you didn't already know, this blog was created for the purpose of apologetics. (Its a pun! "Don't Apologize" Get it? :D) My hope is to have a number of posts dedicated to different aspects of faith, particularly those that are confusing, obscure, and potentially controversial, to answer questions and to clear up any doubts you may have. That is my goal through this blog: to defend and explain the Catholic faith.

What is apologetics? Well, I'm glad you asked. Apologetics is a practice of the Catholic Church dating all the way back to...well, Christ. Christ himself engaged frequently in the defense of his own faith by quoting from scriptures and applying morality to hypothetical real-world situations (parables.) This is exactly what an apologist does, unfortunately we can't all be as good as Jesus was. He did, however, have an unfair advantage (being the all-knowing God and everything.)

Often, Patrick Madrid will jokingly describe apologists as "People who go around apologizing for being Catholic." In reality, the word 'apologist' stems from the Greek word 'apologia' which has been adapted into English as meaning "a formal justification". This word was even used in the Greek legal system to describe what would now be a defense attorney. So, contrary to popular belief, 'apologetics' does not mean an 'apology' as we know it today. Usually, when someone makes an apology, they have some sort of guilt and a reason to be sorry. Catholics don't have anything to be sorry for. We believe what we believe. Don't apologize. (There, you see? The name of the blog has a purpose.)




Apologetics has a very real purpose in the church today. Evangelization (spreading the word of Christ) is one of the biggest objectives of the Church. In our world, Christianity is very widely known. This is both a good and bad thing. Because Christian ideas are so widely known, this means that misconceptions of the Faith are also very widely known. People nowadays are less likely to immediately believe when you tell them about Christ's message. This means that, when evangelizing, you have to be prepared for people to resist your teaching. People will call you out and try to make you seem less credible. Just as we are all called to evangelize, we are also called to be apologists. St. Peter tells us all in his first letter to always be ready to defend your faith.

"In your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." 1 Peter 3:15

How does one prepare himself to give a defense? Well, I'm glad you asked that, too. There's no way to prepare yourself for every question you will ever be asked. However, If you have a solid idea of how to handle yourself when a discussion arises, you will be okay. Fr. Sebastian Walshe describes an apologist's process as "accepting a premise that the opponent himself holds and moving from that accepted premise to a premise that is agreeing with the Catholic faith."

By this, he means finding a belief that you share with the other person and reasoning with them leading their beliefs to better understand yours. Fr. Walshe uses an example of an instance where you would be discussing with a Protestant. Because you both agree that the Bible is truth, you would use this common ground to explain to them the reasoning behind a Catholic doctrine.

There are definitely right and wrong approaches to apologetics. Most of the wrong approaches can be avoided by a simple, yet effective, question "What would Jesus say?" If you feel yourself getting angry (which is a perfectly reasonable reaction to confrontation) instead of yelling at the other person for their belief, attempt to calm yourself by thinking of the Christlike way to deal with the situation. After all, we are attempting to promote the Christlike way of life.

An apologetics argument can be difficult. My advice is to study and pray about the faith as much as possible. St. Paul in Romans 2:17-24 warns against hypocrisy, and hits on the point that he who teaches others must also teach himself. If you keep yourself well versed, it will be difficult for you to be caught off guard. Reading articles and books as well as watching/listening to other apologists helps a lot. There are many men and women who are very gifted apologists. Take advantage of their experience, and read up! A man I met recently at a Steubenville conference, Matt Fradd, is an amazing testimony to Christ and offers terrific advice for apologetics in one of his articles. [click here]

I'm praying for all of you! I hope your apologetics ventures will be fruitful. The best advice I can give you is to speak with the Holy Spirit in your heart. Sometimes you don't have the right words, but He does. Also, when you argue, do it for the glory of God, not for your own. It is very easy for an influential speaker to grow cocky with his gift. Keep all of this in mind, and you will all be very successful apologists!

Philippians 4:8-9

God Bless!
-Patrick

If you have any questions you want answered or topics you want discussed, email me, and I will get to writing. The topic for my next article is "Blessings." Thank you!

Balancing Yourself in the New School Year

Balancing your life can be hard, especially when school comes around. Even the summer can be stressful despite our wishful desires for three months of stress-free fun. I made the mistake of getting a part-time job that I was not ready for as well as dual-enrolling with summer classes. However, despite my load of responsibilities, I managed to have fun this summer, and I plan to do the same during the school year by balancing myself.

There's a reason why tightrope walking is so impressive. Balancing is almost impossible whether spiritually or physically 40 feet in the air. Maybe we marvel at an acrobat's poise because we can't find it in ourselves. I'm going to make a joke here but I want you to take it seriously as well as lightheartedly. Sometimes, in order to balance, we have to do what the tightrope walker does before they step out: pray. We have to take the advice of the skydiving instructor from the Helicopter episode of Drake and Josh. I really hope most of you get the reference. In the episode, he tells Drake step by step how to skydive:

"First you gotta Squat, then you gotta Pray. Leap, then Aaaahhh! Then Touchdown." 

Sometimes tackling on a stack of homework and a college essay while worrying about your relationship and that swim meet on Thursday will feel as stressful as jumping out if a plane. Trust me, though. If you just Squat and Pray, the Leaping and Aaahh-ing will result in a peaceful Touchdown.

We frequently get caught up in our busy lives that we forget to stop and thank God. Sometimes you can't think of anything to be thankful for because everything is so stressful! However, being thankful is the best way to calm your soul and deal with stress.

Prayer is the only fool-proof way to deal with stress. Even if your problems don't go away, you will always benefit from extra time with God. Spend some time praying a rosary, going to adoration, or quietly reading the bible. These can be great study breaks that both ease your mind and enrich your spiritual life. I highly recommend perpetual adoration. If your parish has an adoration chapel, make use of it. Adoration is a great experience. Sitting silently with Christ, just being in His presence, can help ease your heart.

Some problems dont have a due date, however. People don't give teenagers enough credit. There is a lot going on in our lives besides homework, relationships, and sports. It seems like there is always one thing that brings us down during our day. I know, personally, there is always one thing I am worried about, and no matter where I am or what I am doing, I am thinking about it. I'm sure some of you feel the same way. However, St. Paul writes to us that a "thorn in the skin" can actually be a blessing.

"Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:8-10

This is one of my favorite passages, and I reference it a lot. Paul talks about how his thorn has kept him humble and, in the end, more thankful. Our thorns can do the same for us. We just have to recognize what they are. 

As you enter this new year, whether as a new high school or college student, or even returning, remember that sometimes stress can be a blessing, and can bring us closer to Christ. Don't worry about anything. Jesus told the apostles some reassuring advice.

Awwwwwwwwww!!!!

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?"  Matthew 6:25-27

God takes care of the birds and everything else on earth. They don't worry about anything because they know they will be provided for. Jesus makes the point that you are more important than the birds, so God will always provide for you as well. After all, worry doesn't add an hour to your life.

I would like to leave you with a bible verse to look up on your own. Whenever I hit really hard times, this verse from the Book of Sirach (aka Ben Sira or Eccleciasticus) helps me. Please look it up and reflect on it whenever you feel you need more strength.

Sirach 2:1-6

Thank you for reading and have a blessed school year!

God Bless!

Patrick

And do your summer reading!!!

Brother (And Sister) Hood

We all have best friends. “Besties”, “BBFs”, etc. These people are fun to be around! You joke around, call each others’ parents ‘mom’ and ‘dad’, and you practically live with each other on weekends. These relationships are all over the place, but while you have a best friend, do you have a brother or sister?

I have found there to be many types of brothers

(Printer Company)

But I'm not talking about those types of brothers. I’m also not talking about the younger/older children that live in your house, steal from your room, and eat your fruit roll-ups.

No, I’m talking about your spiritual brothers and sisters. These spiritual siblings help you through rough patches; catch you when you are doing things wrong, and most importantly, help you grow closer to God. Your best friend doesn't have to be your spiritual sister and your spiritual sister doesn't necessarily have to be your best friend, but most of the time they end up taking that role.

Think about it really hard for a second. Search through every person you know. Now take your deepest, darkest secret. Out of all the people you thought of, who would you tell that secret to? More than likely, these people are your brothers and sisters.

Your brothers will be guys and your sisters will be girls. This has to be established (thanks to the hit song by Avril Levigne). Most of the time, you can go to your sisters for advice and your brothers for support (of course there are exceptions, this part isn't exactly a rule, it really depends on the person.) But guys lean on your brothers and girls lean on your sisters. It’s good for a girl to have brothers, but she should also have sisters to lean on. The same goes for guys. There are just some things that you can’t tell the opposite gender.

Above all, these people should bring you closer to Christ. If you find that your friend is constantly dragging you into bad situations, then they are not your brother or your sister. Your brothers and sisters should do the opposite, actually. They should notice when you are about to make a poor decision and then quickly pull you out of it. It may hurt them to tell you when you’re doing something wrong and it may make you mad when they point it out, but trust me. They’re doing it for your own good.

"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." Proverbs 17:17

I had an instance yesterday that got me thinking about brothers and sisters. It wasn't even that complicated of a situation. All I did was leave my trash on the table, but my friend said, “Dude, come on. Pick it up”. Of course, I did, but it was a little weird to me that he pointed it out. But then I realized that I wasn't thinking about the people who would have to clean up my garbage because I was being inconsiderate, and that simple sentence whipped me into shape for the rest of the day.

If you have a serious problem at 3 in the morning, there should be at least one person in your life that you can pick up the phone and call without them getting mad. That constant listening ear or comforting personality. Or maybe even that harsh word you need to hear to straighten up your life. God created us as social creatures. Christianity is a contact sport! You can’t be a Christian and be alone, it just doesn't work! No one can be godly by themself; everyone slips up once in a while. That’s why we need someone there to catch us.

"For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—and a threefold cord is not quickly broken" Ecclesiastes 4:10-12

Also, just a quick thing to add. I've heard of a few of my friends getting in pairs for a challenge that goes great with this topic. You find another person very close to you in your life and you challenge each other. Every week you come up with a different challenge for that person, like “smile all day” “say three good things about yourself every time you see me” stuff like that. This is a great way to form a bond with someone while simultaneously becoming a better person. I've seen it in action and it seriously works.

God Bless!

Patrick

Bobo

Hey everyone (and by everyone, I mean the 11 people that have viewed this website.) I completely forgot about this site and came back to check. I thought it was cool that I got two views from Russia and one from Germany. and about 7 from my own United States. This 'spike' in viewership has encouraged me to actually write, so here it goes:

[I wrote this article a few days ago, and I plan to make it into a video. For the videos I am using my Youtube Channel: Link To Channel Here. There are currently no videos, but I am looking for suggestions, so if you have any suggestions on a religious topic or question, e-mail me! I will do my best to respond or make a video/post about it.]

Hey look! Clown clones. Clownes?

This story involves a county fair and a rude clown named Bobo. Over the summer I went to the county fair with a few of my friends and I was walking around waiting for them, and looking at all this stuff. There was a dunk tank booth with a clown shouting insults through a microphone at people passing by, it was pretty funny, so I was laughing. People were yelling things back, but you could barely hear over his nasally clown-laugh. As I was about to pass I heard “HEY Kool-aid!” and I kept walking, not realizing the smiley face shirt I had on looked like a Kool-aid shirt. He said it again and I paused, then I heard “Yea I’m talking to you fatzo!” I turned around and told him to have a nice day and as I walked away he made a remark about buying cheeseburgers, so I yelled back something about being lactose intolerant, and that got a few laughs. I walked away, but you know, it still hurt a little. After I had found my friends we passed by again and he faked an earthquake shouting about how “Kool-aid was back”. He said he was scared I was going to eat him and I said I liked my clown well-done, so he’d have to jump in a fire first. I was appearing clever, and unscathed on the outside, but on the inside I was feeling insecure and hurt by this complete stranger.

After a few more laps around the midway, each of the insults got more severe. After the 7^th time, I lost my cool. I flipped out on the guy with words and tears flying and I stormed off. He yelled something about bringing him back a cheeseburger unless I got too hungry. I have no idea why this guy could only think of cheeseburgers. But I picked up a ball and threw it, dunking him. It was the first successful dunk of the day, so I got a prize, but I got in trouble. Luckily, the whole “harassing a minor” thing got me off. They said it was fine because I was provoked, but still, I should be old enough to handle myself in public. Just the whole “fat” thing does not fly with me.

I feel like Bobo is a great metaphor for what we experience everyday. Not that I think we are all harassed by clowns every day, in fact, if you experience being harassed by a clown on a daily basis, please consult your physician, for you may be experiencing the plot to a Stephen king novel. But we all experience 'Bobo' every day. Sometimes Bobo is the name of a monkey that sits on our shoulder, and whispers things in our ear. “You’re getting a little chunky” “Was that pimple there yesterday” “your nose is way too big, maybe that’s why he doesn’t like you”, “Why do you even try” “Hah. Stupid.” “You don’t really have any friends”. It just gets worse and worse as he tries to shut down your self-esteem. The thing about Bobo is, he just sits there safley behind his bars. Watching everything. He’s able to talk to you from miles away. He could be talking to you through your brother, through your friends, through people that sit next to you in class, or even just those self-deprecating thoughts in your head. Sometimes his microphone seems too loud for you to say anything back. But the thing is, you can! Bobo seemed so strong. Strong man right? Sitting up there, untouchable. Yelling at people through a microphone while hiding behind the protective bars. There is nothing that can hurt him. There doesn’t seem like there is anyway to get to him. Except for the clear shot into the tank from the Ferris wheel right next door. Oh believe me. I took advantage of that. Although I shouldn’t have. Even though those Bobos seem untouchable and strong, remember: the strongest man isn’t the one that’s untouchable, but the one that’s not afraid to be hurt. There is a quote from Longfellow that says: "Self respect is an armour that none can penetrate"

There are two things to do to retaliate in a situation like this. The first is the thing that I did, and isn’t the good path. You can remark back. You can give him what he wants and throw that ball; he gets paid for every ball you throw. He loves it. Get mad, freak out, its all for his entertainment anyway. He loves watching people get mad. That’s his job! And he enjoys every second of it. Although, you could take the higher road. If you do, then you will find yourself at level ground. Instead of getting angry and throwing a hissy fit. Say: “You know what Bobo? In your eyes I may not be pretty, or attractive, or thin, or worthy enough for you. I may not be worthy in your opinion, but guess what Bobo? You’re not the one that matters! God is the one that matters!!”

"Let your spirit not be quick to anger, for anger resides in the heart of fools." Ecclesiastes 7:9

"Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God."James 1:19-20

This is what’s great about God. One of the many, many things. God sees you for what you are. He sees all of your “downfalls” all of your “faults” and sins. He sees every crappy thing that you’ve done. But God doesn’t care. He sees all of you, and knows all of you, but he would never say those things to you. If you ask God “am I worthy?” He will always say yes! Not only will He say yes, but He will also tell you how perfect you are, and how much He truly loves you. That’s amazing! The one person in the universe that knows you better than you do, wouldn’t even acknowledge one of your flaws. But instead, look at you with love and say, “You are perfect.” How could anyone who can only see what’s on the outside even think for a second about judging us? You can’t even fathom the life of that weird kid at the edge of the lunch table. We may not be good enough for the world, but to God, we are MORE than enough! Isn’t that all that matters? He is perfect! When someone who is perfect calls someone 'perfect' it is safe to assume they know what they are talking about!

I have no idea if that Bobo guy will ever see this. He may never. But I’ve forgiven him. We all have Bobos in our lives, so I challenge you: you don’t even have to do it out loud, but forgive every Bobo who has ever done something to hurt you. And whenever Bobo comes to you in the form of yourself, pray for your self esteem. Think about how much God loves you. After all, He made you exactly the way you are for a reason. There is not a hair out of place.

"You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I a wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalms 139:13-15.

God Bless!

Patrick