Humble Pie

Hey Zeteo community,

The newest Zeteo post is up for the week, written by Brad Weinberger, a new face to the blog. Please give it a read. I found it very inspiring, and always enjoy reading the insights of other people that have attended the Zeteo events. Often, the different point of view sheds light on things I may have missed.

God bless you all,

Olivia

Week 2: Humble Pie

I’ll admit it, ok. When I heard Louis Rouleau introduce the topic for his talk as “world religions”, I immediately had an idea what I was interested in hearing about and knew the questions I wanted to ask a fellow expert. Sure this was my first Zeteo, and I told myself I had come with an open mind for what God had in store for me, but this was a topic I knew something about. How could I not have all these opinions? I read about ISIS and their brutality. I had seen the in depth articles on how the Muslim governments new laws in Pakistan are affecting cow farmers. And don’t get me started on Israel, the perennial hotbed of religious tension surrounding the holy land and its settlements. I just couldn’t wait for Louis to finish so I could grill him with some hard hitting questions, to flex my vast understanding of the subject and see if he agreed with me.

When I opened myself to what God had in store, it didn’t occur to me that the dessert for the evening was going to be a giant slice of humble pie. Where Louis took the discussion was so much higher than I had been thinking it could go. Especially his emphasis on the seeds of the logos, the idea that wherever there is truth, there is God. I had let the media be the lens in which I understood other religions and people, and in doing so, completely lost the sense of humanity and the eternal search for the mystery, that which we long for, God. 

Looking back on that evening, there are two things that really stuck with me. Two concrete things that can help transform me into a better disciple of Jesus, which I am called to be. 

First, how often do my prejudices and preconceived notions about a culture/religion cloud any interaction I might have with a person of another faith? Do I let them speak and do I listen, I mean really listen, before I respond? I often find I’m lining up my response to someone before they’ve even finished speaking or letting their religious attire be the only colour I paint them with, as if it in itself can tell me everything I need to know about the person. How much does overcoming the prejudice add to the already steep learning curve of adapting to life in a new place?

Second, do I care enough to love them first and understand their own search for God before condemning them or their practices? I have to really thank my daughter, Eden, for reminding that I too, am a child. Yes a father and a husband, but I was a child first. When I take Eden out, all she knows is what I’ve taught her. She can’t know all about the rules and customs, the understanding another child at the library or park. She never ceases to amaze me how easily she finds a new friend though. 

Similarly, often others, and myself if I’m honest, only know the religion and culture they’ve been taught. I may even be like a child in my understanding of others my whole life. I don’t have to be the adult who pretends to know everything. I can be that child who loves first. A recent gospel reading from Mark, 10:21, starts out “Jesus looked at him and loved him”, before getting into specifics. This must be my approach as well as I encounter the people God puts in my path. 

Louis’ talk covered much more than this I know, including how religions are diverse and complex, how they differ in their primacy of either doctrine or form, and how any attempt to understand reality is at its heart a religious impulse. However, if I can’t first be present and open to the person I encounter, and love them right where they are at, I can’t ever understand the deeper realities of their religious world view and personal experience of God in their lives. I, a sinner, fail at these all the time and God still calls me to keep seeking to grow in this area. 

Maybe I’ll run into you someday on your journey and we can chat about your religious experience over coffee? Oh, and a slice of humble pie too please.

I Stand at the Door and Knock

Happy Thursday Zeteo Community,

Again, it is late on Thursday, and I am just finishing the post for this week. The explanation is part of the blogpost today, so please give it a read.

I hope you are all having a fantastic and productive week. Enjoy the weekend!

God bless,
Olivia Fischer

Week 1: I Stand at the Door and Knock

I am not going to lie, writing the blog this week felt more tedious than usual. My faith life is going through a bit of a dry spell right now, it seems I can never find the time to pray. My days are filled up with keeping a one-year-old alive, and trying to keep the house in some semblance of order as he goes behind me and pulls everything right out again.

It is times like this in my life, I love how Catholic my Facebook feed is. The other day, a friend of mine posted this status: "Don't say, 'I don't have time to pray,' for, if we're honest, we always find time for that which we love: social media, television, waiting in line for coffee... and sin. From now on, be honest and say, 'I don't have the love to pray.' And then tell our Lord that, and plead with him for that love." - Victory

At the time I was sitting on the couch, on my phone, drinking a tea. I know a day does not pass without me checking Facebook, spending time on my phone, wasting time watching an episode of Friends. However, when I am feeling far from God, as I do now, it is easy for me to go weeks without structured prayer. I am wanting of the love that is required to pray and to seek the Lord.

Louis Rouleau delivered a powerful teaching at the last Zeteo on how we, as Christians, are meant relate to other religions. He quoted a wise man, Father Giussani, with saying: "all life is fundamentally religious. We are all constituted by a set of needs - for truth, freedom, goodness, beauty, justice, with which we explore the mystery of existence. Any attempt to understand this mystery is good, because it is a religious impulse."

Christianity, as Louis mentioned, makes a singular and radical claim about this elusive mystery. Through Jesus Christ becoming man, the mystery enters history, as is written in 1 John 1: 2-3. "[this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.] The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us."

We do not have to seek an unreachable mystery anymore, for Jesus Christ came personally to find us. I have faith in this truth, and believe in the Bible verse we have all heard in some form or another. "'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me." Revelation 3: 20

So how do I still feel He is far from me? How do I still lack the love to let Him into my daily life?

Louis answered this question with this simple statement: "Our ability to perceive Christ as the answer [to the mystery of existence] depends on the question of how important the religious impulse is to us." He explained that the more sensitive we are to our need for truth, freedom, goodness, beauty and justice, the more capable we are of discerning Jesus as the answer.

I have become desensitized to the mystery - as I think many of us have, in the grind of daily life. This does not diminish my need for these religious impulses, but results in a sort of "nose-to-the-grindstone" mentality that makes it difficult for me to truly appreciate the beauty, the goodness, the truth of everyday moments.

My daily life is not a burden - the diapers, the relentless housework, the baby clinging to my leg as I try to make supper, all of these are meant to lead me to the mystery. These are my small reality, and it is through them, that I am called to seek what is beautiful, good, and truthful. It is through them I am called to seek Christ. It is unfortunate the very things which are meant to lead me to Christ often end up distracting me from seeking Him at all.

I know how important a structured prayer-life is, and for this I will continue to strive. However, I have come to realize I need to abandon myself to the mystery, to seeking the truth of my existence. I am small in the realm of reality, but I am not insignificant, my search is not in vain. Christ is standing at the door - should I chose to look outside my flawed scope of reality, I would find Him there.

Freewill

Hey Zeteo community!

The next Zeteo event is tomorrow. I am not sure about the rest of you, but this past month has absolutely sped by. Having a one-year-old will do that to your time, I suppose. I hope to see many of you there tomorrow, even though it is a holiday weekend.

Here is the newest Zeteo in Action post. If you have any questions, concerns, thoughts, insights, stories, or anything else to add, I would be happy to hear from you.

God bless!
Olivia Fischer


Week 4: Freewill

The other day, a friend of mine posted the picture below on Facebook. Ever since I read it, it has been on my mind, especially the line "... for our freedom has the power to make choices forever, with no turning back." (CCC 1861)


Freewill has always troubled me. When I found out about it as a child, I wondered why God had possibly given us so much power. Why would he have ever given us the ability to chose not to love Him, and end up in hell - it seemed so cruel to me.

As a mother, I have a little bit of a different perspective. While I have long understood why we have freewill, the love of my child has altered that knowledge. Jerome is one year old now, and he can willingly chose who he wants to be with, if he wants to hug me, if he wants nothing to do with me. While he does - though I know it is silly, have the ability to hurt my feelings, I understand the importance of when he does chose to show me love, and it is so much more precious because of that choice.

There have been many times in my life where I have felt that choice to do what I know is Gods will in a situation, or the opposite. It is easier to chose the opposite, because we tend to forget how much turning our back on God hurts Him. I once heard that God is always waiting for us, as in the tabernacle of the church, and every time we chose not to turn to Him, it pierces His heart. Our free will is in no way a cruelty to us, as I believed as a child. As explained in the Catechism, CCC 1730, free will is given to us as the dignity of our person, so that we may be able to seek our Creator of our own accord.

Freewill of course, is governed by truth that is far beyond man's understanding. God gave us freewill so that we could be rational beings, as He is. However, we need to turn to Him and His truth, in order to know what is good and what is evil. It reminds me of the story, which Michael Chiasson mentioned, of Peter walking on water. Peter gets out of the boat, and begins to walk toward Jesus. It is only when Peter looks away from Jesus, that he becomes incredulous of his ability to walk on water, and he begins to sink.

We are unable to know good from evil on our own, and if God had left us to figure it out alone, that probably would have been cruel. However, He gave us the perfect example of love, as well as the Holy Spirit, for us to fix our eyes on. He is a personal God, one we can choose to have a close and intimate relationship with - it is only when we take our eyes away that we lose sight and begin to sink.

The Catechism, CCC 1721, speaks of freewill as being a "force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude." In choosing good over evil, we become ever more mature in our faith and, the Catechism says, we become more free. For in fact, choosing sin negates our freedom and leads us to the "slavery of sin." (CCC 1733)

In a way, freewill is a grand test of our character. As Michael Chiasson challenged at the last Zeteo, "what we do reflects our belief, and eventually our true selves will always show through. Are we okay with that person?" Through freewill we are given the ability to choose each action, and this will always reflect who we truly are - someone who seeks heaven, or by default, the opposite.

The Army of Gideon

Hello Zeteo community,

Hope you are having a great week! I'm back writing the blog this week - I hope you enjoyed reading what Brielle had to say last week! If you are interested in adding to the blog, please contact me.

God bless,
Olivia Fischer


Week 2:

At the last Zeteo event, Michael Chiasson discussed vision and how it takes bold and great faith. Vision in faith is vital, in fact, Proverbs 29:18 says that: Where there is no vision, the people perish. As I have mentioned in the past few blogs, spiritual discernment is an important part of our walk in faith, because it is through spiritual discernment that we are able to develop vision.

We gain a clearer vision as we grow in spiritual maturity and knowledge of Christ, as is explained in this blog. This vision allows us to see what we desire to accompany us in our walk with Christ, as well as what Christ desires for us.

In Michael Chiassons talk, he spoke about the army of Gideon. Upon researching this story, I realized there was so much more to it than a man leading a tiny army to victory - although this is an amazing part to the story, which I will be coming back to. Gideon was a poor farmer, but he had a bold faith. When the angel appeared to him proclaiming that God was with the Israelites, Gideon questioned him, according to Judges 6:13, saying, "if the Lord is with us, why has all of this happened to us? Where are his wondrous deeds, of which our fathers told us. [...] For now the Lord has abandoned us into the power of Midian."

When the Lord promised Gideon that He would be with him and lead him to victory, Gideon responded in humility, arguing that he was small and insignificant. However, the Lord assured Gideon that He had blessed and chosen him, and Gideon trusted.

Gideon rallies an army of thirty-two thousand men to fight the Midianites, and God asks him to trust by paring this army down. The men who admit to being afraid were sent home, and Gideon was left with an army of eleven thousand men. Again, God asks Gideon to decrease his numbers, and Gideon trusts - until he is left with an army of only three hundred men. With this army, Gideon conquers the Midianities.

Now, why would God so radically ask Gideon to go against the Midianite army with so few men? 

He wanted the victory to undeniably be attributed to Him, for the Israelites to see the glory of God through it, instead of the glory of Gideon's army. This is a remarkable example of how much bigger God's vision is, compared to ours. Gideon and the Israelites were praying for freedom from Midian tyranny, but God orchestrated a period of true peace for the Israelities in turning them away from their idols and back to Him. 

If God had told Gideon from the beginning he would be asked to conquer the Midianite army with only three hundred men, I am sure Gideon would have had a difficulty trusting. God, in His wisdom, allows Gideon to see only a small part of the picture - just one step of the staircase at a time.

We might ask God for the big picture, and feel we are capable of dealing with the entire vision, but the truth is, we often have difficulty enough with the small steps. Vision, to see what God desires for us, requires bold faith: it often means taking steps without seeing the entire staircase, and trusting that He will bring us safely every step of the way. Much like the bridge I spoke about in this post, God is walking with us every step of the way.

Sometimes, even the small steps seem too big for us, be it that He asks us to move, to start a new ministry, to continue being single, though we desire to be married. If God has placed something before us, however, we can only trust He will guide us through, that He will provide, that we are capable, because the God who calls us is infinitely capable. Trusting in God takes humility, as He required of Gideon, to say we are incapable of climbing - of winning the war against all the odds, without Him. He wants to be an undeniable part of our victory.

Truthfully, He already is an undeniable part of our victory. As Michael Chiasson pointed out, our track record for making it through seemingly impossible situations is already one hundred percent. I would say that is pretty good odds in favour of trusting the Great Orchestrator to lead us through.