Who am I following?

Sheep follow a particular shepherd because they know and recognize him. How well do I really know my Shepherd?

Believe the impossible

Believe in the signs He has performed. Believe in His resurrection. No matter how crazy it seems - Believe the impossible.

Caged Sin

Sin is a very attractive cage that Jesus can free us from.

Of course, we have to choose to fly out...

Jesus' Love

If Jesus can fully love his disciples even after they betrayed and abandoned him, I should at least be able to love the people that simply annoy the crap out of me.

There is also more than one way to heal a man.

I've spent some time meditating on last week's Mass and had been dwelling on avoiding "killing" anyone with words. At one point, it finally dawned on me that the best way to not harm someone is to actively love them in the first place. After all...

It's hard to "kill" someone that you're showing love to.

Meditation is a great thing. I don’t know if I would have realized this principle so soon had I not been taking what I learned last week to the Lord  every day for at least ten minutes at a time.

I have go to tonight's Saturday Mass this week instead of on Sunday. I can't wait! 

There is More than One Way to Kill a Man

...and I have "killed" many men many times, and there's a really good chance that you have too.

No, this isn't some religious version of a Cypress Hill song, just a blog post about how deep the Ten Commandments go. One of the Ten Commandments states that we shall not kill, but Jesus reminds us that anyone that hates his brother or calls him a fool is also subject to judgement. That means if we harm our brother physically or otherwise, play a vicious practical joke, talk trash behind his back, or  "teach him a lesson" when we're really trying to be superior, we're just as sinful as if we have killed him (or her of course), and we need to repent for it.

Pretty deep, isn't it? How many times have you or I said something ill about someone else - today?

Hearing about this during Mass really made me think about how often I try to make myself look better by talking about someone else, or make some kind of sarcastic remark that hits a little too close to home, in front of other people? I realized that I am so often guilty of this sin that it spoke to me during Mass more than the passage that says if I even think about a woman in a lustful way I have already committed adultery (a whole other topic).

Regular confession certainly helps, but I believe that this practice of "killing" our neighbor takes a lot more prayer and meditation if we are to actually be rid of this sin. It is possible - I have met many people that apparently have more respect for their fellow man than I do, and I wish that I could be like them.

This is why the one thing at Mass idea is so I have something that I can meditate on all week. Every prayer I offer includes the one thing. Any time I have to be quiet, I listen for the Lord to tell me how I can improve on this one thing in my life. I probably won't be completely stop tearing down my brother for selfish reasons, but I haven't spent an entire week meditating on the subject before, so I'm sure to make an improvement.

If you believe that you could make the same improvement yourself, try meditating on this subject every day for a week. Ask God how you can keep from "killing" your neighbor today and the next. Who knows? Maybe other people will stop "killing" you while you're not looking as well.

Be a Saint Everywhere

...and let God's light shine through you all the time.

This past Sunday's Gospel was Jesus' explanation that we are the light of the world, and that our light needs to be on a lampstand to light the entire house and not under a basket.

Our pastor started his homily with a story (as he usually does) about a devout man that goes looking for a holy man. He couldn't find him in any church or chapel, but instead finds him in the marketplace. The holy man explains to him that a saint is needed more in the marketplace than in a place of worship.

In other words, I learned at last Sunday's Mass that in order to be the best-version-of-myself, I need to be a constant light of God everywhere I go all the time. Yes, everywhere and all the time.

No pressure, right?

I have to show God's light at Mass, no matter how many people supposedly "don't do it right." I need to be His light at work, despite the fact that many of my co-workers don't understand or appreciate my being Catholic, much less Christianity in general. And yes, I need to be a saint in the marketplace, only today's "marketplace" is that dreaded shopping mall or supermarket.

But I must never forget that I need to shine the Lord's light brightly right here at home, so that my wife and children can radiate God's love wherever they go as well.

Yes, I'm sure that is impossible to be saintly everywhere I go all the time. But you know what? Just putting forth the effort makes me far more of a saint than I ever could be.

Calm Your Heart

So today's Gospel was the classic Beatitudes, and God told me to "Calm my heart"?

For the first time today, I prayed what I will always be praying at every Sunday Mass: "God, show me one way in this Mass that I can become a better-version-of-myself this week!" I guess He wants me to be a little more prepared within myself before I receive the deeper meanings of the Liturgy of the Word. That's fine with me. In fact, I completely understand.

Those that know me know that I talk a lot. I used to say that I love to talk, but after 35-years I've been realizing that the "gift" of gab can frequently be a reliability. With this new-found deeper prayer life, I know that I need to listen as much as I talk to God - if not more. Of course, what came to me was to calm my heart, not my lips, so I am interested in how having a calm heart affect my voice. I have a loving heart, I just need to get out of its way.

So please pray for me as I contemplate what the Lord has said to me in this Sunday's Mass.

Yes, I've Changed Things a Little

To my four faithful followers that are still here despite my lack of posting:

I started "Zach's Bicycle Commuting" because I wanted to begin blogging, and wanted a subject to write about. At the time, I was hugely inspired about riding a bicycle to work, and decided to write about my own adventures.

Well, my "adventures" consist of riding just over seven miles on a highway with a wide shoulder through cotton fields. To me, it really is one of the best commutes ever, just short of riding on a path designed just for bikes. Unfortunately, my commute is pretty uneventful, so I didn't have much to write about.

I also realized that in order to maintain a regular blog that you can be proud of, you have to be deeply invested in your topic. As much as I like riding my bike to work, I obviously slacked on it, mostly because I've been too lazy to fix the flat on my Xtracycle and haven't gotten a presta adapter for my Swobo. It's kind of sad, so I decided to start writing about something I'm a little more dedicated to.

Enter "One Thing I Learned at Mass"

I converted to Catholicism in 2008 and my relationship with my Creator has skyrocketed ever since. After recently making a Cursillo, I have rededicated myself towards doing work that God has called me to do. I am almost finished reading Matthew Kelly's Rediscover Catholicism and have decided to take on his challenge of asking God at each Sunday Mass to show me one way that I can be a better-version-of-myself. My plan is to post that one thing each week (God willing) and hopefully write about it a little bit.

So I just wanted to explain to you why this blog resembles nothing like a bicycle commuting blog anymore. This post will also serve as a cheap "About Me" page until I have the time to write one. I won't be promoting this site until I get in the habit of posting regularly and do all the extra things like posting a picture, writing a real "About Me" page, and finding some recommended blogs. However, I believe that if you're reading this post shortly after it's been published, you have an interest in my blog and I owe it to you to tell you what's going on.

Of course I hope that you stick around. After all, one of the main purposes of this blog will be a weekly report on how the Lord makes me a better-version-of-myself each and every day. If He can do that for me, he can do that for anyone - trust me.