Tag: #hope

It’s time to be shepherds

Last night I was having a conversation with my son about events taking place in the Middle East right now. That coupled with the less publicized attacks against Christians in the same region, and truthfully throughout the world, was filling him with a sense of rage. Sitting there listening I can remember when I was in my 20s being just as quick tempered especially when faced with a scenario or topic where I wanted to protect…everyone. Now that I am 20+ years older I see things from a different perspective. Although the 20 something-year-old that still resides inside of me wants to come down like a hammer, I understand now that that is not our way. As in all things, all we have to do is simply look to Christ. When the Romans came for Him and Peter drew his knife to fight them, He said no.

Because that is not our way.

We must never waver in our faith and prayer. Believe me I know it’s really easy to question things when you look at the direction society is going. And maybe doing something as simple as praying seems like not enough.

But that’s when our Faith needs to become the strongest.

It’s at that moment we we need to tell others and physically show them that it’s through prayer and our faith that evil will be defeated.

Something to remember when it comes to prayer is that when we’re praying we are literally having a conversation with God.

We’re having a conversation with God.

And there is absolutely nothing that God can’t accomplish or handle. It’s not just believing in God, it’s trusting Him. And remembering that He believes in you. And He trusts you.

Know that I am always praying for you, and remember to live the Faith. God bless.

If you have it, give it.

Just a real quick story. prior to things falling apart from Covid are used to take the train every day to and from work. Over the course of years of doing this are used to come in contact with a lot of homeless people. There were a couple in particular that I had developed a friendship with. Although it’s started for me give me a dollar or two he developed into more of just people to have conversations with, for them and me. I often wonder, now that I no longer take the train, how they are doing.

How they fared through the pandemic.

Which brings me to today. I was telling a coworker one of my “Penn station stories” when a woman, much older than I, walked up us saying that she was thirsty. So I grabbed a bottle of water out of my truck and a dollar out of my wallet and handed it to her. In a barely coherent voice she said thank you and walked away. Short time later as I was driving back to the yard, I came across a man standing in the intersection. He kept shaking his arms and hands like they were in pain, unfortunately it’s something identify with. Around his neck was a handwritten sign that said “my name is Frank. I could use some help or at least a friendly voice”. Even though the light was green I want to pull up next to him I stopped and said “hey Frank, how’s it going?”. After we spoke for a few moments about the weather and the neighborhood I reached over handed him a bottle of water and another dollar I had in my wallet. As I drove off he said “thank you very much “, “It’s not a problem” was my response. “not just the water and the money, taking a minute to talk to me, most people don’t have that kind of patience”. As the light turned green I said,”if you have it, give it”. We both waved to each other like old, new friends, “take it easy…God bless” was the last thing I said as I drove away . It wasn’t until I was about a block or so away so I thought about what I had said. Honestly it rolled off my tongue without me even thinking about it. And as I got further and further away it became more and more clear, that’s all God wants from us. If any of us has what someone else needs than give it. Maybe it’s as simple as a smile, but that could mean everything to someone who needs it.

Know that I am always praying for you and remember to live the Faith. God bless.

Within us all


Something that we have to remember, and I absolutely forget all the time, is that the same love and power the brought Christ to us and then raised him from the dead is the same love and power the God has for us and is inside of all of us in the form of the Holy Spirit. Knowing that how can any of us believe that anything is impossible? How do we have fear? We need to believe in ourselves the same way that the Lord believes in us. Know that I am always praying for you all, remember to live the Faith. His bless

At the foot of the cross

I was walking down the street the other day headed to grab a cup of coffee with my mind racing in 1000 different directions. “Large cream one sugar” I blurted barely looking over the counter. I got halfway back down the block before my “fog” was broken by the sound of a car horn. After watching the bike bound food delivery guy and the cab driver exchange a few colorful words I started back on my way, only now I was taking in all that was going on around me. It was amazing to me how just a few minutes earlier was “alone” walking down 5th Ave in Manhattan but now I was surrounded by “alone” people, who seemed to barely notice I was in their midst. How often does that happen to all of us. Our problems, our blessings, our lives…can sometimes make us isolate ourselves from the rest of the world. Not always intentionally, sometimes it’s self preservation, sometimes it’s how we’ve trained ourselves.

Personally, it’s either a lack of self worth or a feeling of “drowning” that makes me detach myself from the world. Now by self worth what I mean is that I have a tendency to think my problems, or victories, aren’t as big or important as other people’s so I keep to myself. “Drowning”… well I think that’s a bit more common. When we keep to ourselves it’s like dropping small stones into a creek, it slowly causes a dam and when enough water builds up, like a river that overflows it’s banks, our minds get so overwhelmed concentration is virtually impossible.

It’s a rough time, but it doesn’t have to be the way. What we have to remember is that Christ sacrificed Himself for us on the cross. And by doing so He gives a place to leave all our burdens. To share our pain and our joy.


At the foot of the cross.


It’s here we are all equal in the eyes of God. No one is greater. No one is more worthy. What’s even better is that God already knows what’s going on in your head so all you have to do is give it up to Him. No matter who you are or where are you are, you’re guaranteed a place at the foot of the cross. It’s there for all of us, all we have to do is ask. Truly is that simple. Know that I am always praying, and remember to live the Faith. God bless.

Halfway Attitude

Just for the record the Blessed Sacrament isn’t something that you order à la cart. The 10 Commandments are not on the “pick three menu”, And Jesus didn’t say…


“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love…sometimes”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, our faith is the easiest to follow and the most difficult to practice. Now I say practice because none of us are perfect, perfection happened once, and when He was here Christ taught us to love everyone. Forgive everyone. And as difficult as that may be at times it doesn’t mean we don’t strive for it everyday. We have to learn to “unlearn” what society taught us, and focus on what Jesus teaches us.

I was in the car the other morning thinking about a conversation I had been in a few days earlier. There was a few of us talking about acceptance. Let’s be real here, it probably wasn’t more than a week after Adam and Eve were banished from Eden before they started looking at some people sideways! Ok I know I’m being a bit dramatic but you understand my point. We all build up these preconceived notions over the course of our lives about how we view the world and the people in it whether we want to admit it or not. So at one point in the conversation I stopped talking and just sat back and listened. Initially, my silence was to try and really learn how everyone else’s thought process steered their viewpoints, but as the conversation went on I started to have this “conversation” in my head. What struck me was when someone had made the comment about how “we’re all made in God’s image”. Now I absolutely agree with that, but does everyone? I will tell you I didn’t always think like that. But if you truly believe that, then how can you justify not treating everyone with love and forgiveness?

Which brings me to the picture at the top of this letter. As I said earlier I was driving trying to formulate these thoughts into some form of order I looked up and saw the car in front of me. Immediately I laughed and thought to myself this guys got a real “halfway attitude”. And as ridiculous as he looked it was such a great visual to the point I’m making. I mean how many of us have a “halfway attitude” when it comes to practicing our faith? Like the guy who cleared off the bare minimum of his car to travel, don’t we sometimes do the same spiritually? But the reality is halfway is not enough. Not enough when you’re driving and absolutely not enough when you’re living your life for Christ.

As always know that I am praying for you, and remember to live the Faith. God bless.

Trust in Him

It’s crazy to me how people sometimes seem to forget the power of our Faith. We forget that we were made in God’s image and not the other way around. We’re so quick to deny miracles, or even the possibility of a miracle, because we’ve been trained to see the world through our eyes and not His. It’s sad if you really think about it, considering that our entire faith based on the belief in extraordinary things.
The Holy trinity, immaculate conception, all the miracles performed by not only Christ but by the apostles as well, and most obviously the crucifixion of Jesus only to have Him rise back up on the third day.
When you think how we are so quick to believe all those things that happened so long ago but doubt or deny something that could happen for us, today. A popular tag line you see around Christmas time is John 3:16 . When you look at those lines do you see them? I don’t mean read them I mean actually see them.


“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”


The power of that statement is awe inspiring. The fact that God loves you and I so much that He sent Christ to us knowing full well what He would have to endure. So if you believe in the power of Christ. You believe in all the miracles that he performed and all the acts of the Apostles. You know from scripture the power and love God has for you and I, so how can you not believe That God is willing to step in for you and I and do anything…everything? The fact is it’s easy to doubt. It’s easy to not see the value in ourselves that God sees. But we have to stop. We have to see ourselves and the world through His eyes. If you trust in Him and truly rely on your faith you will start to see that your life, like our faith, is limitless.

Remember to live the Faith, and know that I am praying for you. God bless.

Always listening

So as I’ve mentioned in the past I have this ritual when I’m working in an underground structure where I scrape onto the wall John 1:5. Just a couple of months, ago in addition to that I started scratching Romans 8:31. That verse in Romans talks about how if God is for us who can be against us. With all the struggles in the world right now I felt drawn to that passage. I didn’t know exactly which chapter and verse it was but I had to go and Google it and then break out my Bible and read it myself a few times. It’s definitely important for us all to remember that as disciples of Christ no matter what’s going on in the world there’s nothing too big that God’s grace can’t carry us. With all that said the other day I was working in a hole and after I finished up I went to go to scratch my markings on the wall. The first one, the John 1:5, no problem, but when I went to go carve the Romans verse into the wall for some reason I completely blanked on the chapter and verse and I ended up scratching Romans 8:23. I’m not sure why I was drawing a blank, maybe it was just exhaustion, but it wasn’t until after I got up the ladder that I started to laugh because 8 23 is my wife’s birthday. Understandably a number that would stick in my mind… if I know what’s good for me LOL.
Flash forward and a couple of days had gone by but I couldn’t quite shake the fact that I had wrote the wrong verse. But then I thought to myself “maybe it’s not a failing memory, God works in mysterious ways, maybe He wanted me to see that verse.” So once again I broke out my Bible and it says…
“Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.”
I’m gonna be completely honest first time I read through this I was a little bit confused, I mean …fruits and adoptions… so I read it a few more times. And then suddenly…there it was. It’s actually pretty awesome when it hits you, because the verse is about hope and let’s be honest, who can’t use a little hope right now. What’s being said is that we all have the Holy Spirit within us, and as awesome as that feels there is so much more in store for us.

Have you had that feeling? You know what I’m talking about, something happens and you feel The Spirit in you. Regardless of whether it’s brought on through a song or an action you get that feeling, but unfortunately it doesn’t last. And that’s what the verse is saying in the words “groan inwardly”. We want that feeling all the time, and by our Faith we know that there will be a time when we will feel it for eternity. Stop for a moment right now and think of your “happy place”. For me it’s on a beach, with clean waves, and my wife and family with me. Whatever yours is just imagine that times forever and that’s what Christ has in store for us. So when life acts like…well life, and you feel hopeless remember what’s waiting for us and let that fill you with Hope. This was a nice reminder for me too keep listening because God us always talking, and to never forget that as we walk the streets of this world, knowing what we know, allows us to be the light for others.
Know that I will be praying for you and remember to live the Faith. God Bless.

We all need to just relax a little…But Not too much

It’s been a while since I’ve written, and over the last year as we’ve all watched the world seemingly, if not unravel, at least start to fray a bit I found it difficult to put my thoughts into words. I literally have a notebook with pages of topics I’ve started writing about, but for some reason I couldn’t move past the first few lines. I’m not sure what changed in me now, but I’m pretty sure it’s a cross between prayer and the need to stand up. I actually started this piece by writing the title first which was provoked as I was driving in my car listening to a mix of news reports, podcasts and different YouTube videos (traffic sucks) and I found myself saying out loud how everyone needs to relax. Looking back I guess that initial topic statement, especially in light of the world right now I could’ve been talking about it several different things.

Covid.

Politics.

Religion.

Anyone who’s read any of my work in the past knows that I’m here to talk about my Faith, although the other two are important topics, faith will always take precedence. Now what is sparking this conversation, amusingly, is a conversation that I wasn’t even part of! I overheard two people discussing the antichrist, and how he’s here on earth right now. Believe me when I say I know these are trying times. These are scary times.But these are not the end times. In the Bible they talk about certain things when discussing the antichrist, like how there will be more than one antichrist (1 John 2:18), he will display miraculous powers (Rev 13:13), and he will desecrate God’s Temple (Matt 24:15-21) to name a few. One thing that will link to them all is that the anti-Christ will deny that Christ is our savior. Throughout history that’s happened several times on a large and/or publicized scale between the leaders of other religions, Roman emperors, and of course radical atheist “celebrities”. That’s not what we have going on right now, right now we just have a lot of lost sheep. Additionally, the last I checked there’s been no loud booming voice yet (1Thes4:16), which is a good thing because that means there’s still time. And that’s where the “stand up” part comes in.
We’ve become a society where the idea of kindness and respect is not the norm, and where someone offering to do a good deed is looked at with thoughts of conspiracy. Being slow to think and quick to react has driven us far from where Christ wants us to be. And to make it worse we’ve developed such an ego that we don’t see our own faults. We, like the older brother in the story of the prodigal son, only see the wrong in others actions. Ignoring the fact that our judgment of others sins is just as bad as the sins themselves. When in doubt always look to Christ. He was known to hang out with not just the Apostles, but with tax collectors, criminals, and Romans and was mocked for it. But you can’t fix something from a distance, you can’t teach people by ignoring them, and you don’t save people by condemning them. So as bad as things may seem, take a breath and relax…a little. And when you’re ready stand up and start living like we’re supposed to. Just because this isn’t the end doesn’t mean we don’t have work to do. As always you know that I’m always praying for you. Remember to live the Faith. God Bless.

Time to stop the wheel

1What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.

-James 4:1-2

Raca. The rough translation is worthless. Just take a few minutes to think how often you see or hear someone saying worse things than that about someone else on a daily basis? In Mathew 5:22 it says

“Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ d is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell”

Sadly, I think it’s safe to say that at this moment the fires of hell have a lot of fuel. I have to admit that over the last several months on more than one occasion I’ve either said or wanted to refer to someone as raca…and those were good days. Working in (under) Manhattan while also living far to the East on the Island my traveling has given me ample opportunities to unfortunately see the negative changes happening. A while back I wrote about giving the devil a foothold (Eph4:27), don’t fool yourself this has gone far beyond a foothold, we’ve allowed him all the way to the door. But it’s not too late…it’s never too late. That’s the power and strength of Christ. Human emotion can cause both great and terrifying things to happen, but it’s our choice to decide which one will prevail. It was the foothold quote that has been ringing through my head since this morning to the point that I broke out my Bible from my bag and went to that chapter and verse in Ephesians. The verses before and after speak of things like not going to bed with anger in your heart and turning over a new leaf in your actions, words, and spirit. Although the latter part is a perpetual work in progress for me, I do have a ritual before I lay down at night where I simply thank God for the day, thank Him for my blessings, and simply say “I trust you Lord”. And just like that a weight is lifted off of me. As long winded as this is, I can finally get to the point of all this. No matter how strong I am I still look to the Church for guidance. The silence is deafening. The crime and violence in New York is worsening daily, to the point that I spend almost as much time watching out for what I’ll call vulnerable people as I do actually working. Knowing that this is not solely a New York problem and is agitated by some political forces, it troubles me more that the Roman Catholic Church says/does nothing. It saddens me further that I find both the Coptic and Russian Orthodox are more vocal about protecting the family and other faiths then my own. So I feel like we must look to the Apostles, who no matter how fearful, understood the need the world had and the power of God and ACTED. Accordingly it’s come to us, the faithful, like those who came before us in troubling times, who when faced with a world that is seemingly spinning out of control must step up, step out, and stop the wheel.

Remember to live the Faith, and as always I’ll be praying for you.

Clanging Cymbal

So for the last couple of weeks I’ve doing shift work. Between working nights and overnights the mental exhaustion alone gets you to the point that knowing which way is up or down is a near impossible task. Add in the physical side along with the heat and a throw in a tropical storm for good measure, and as I am driving into work right now I’m not 100% sure what day it is. It’s in moments like this, when I can’t see straight, that I see myself the clearest. And maybe it’s not that I normal can’t see myself, it’s more of a fear of being honest with myself. As I sit here and think, for as long as I can remember I have lived my life and gauged myself based on my faith. No matter what I faced, good or bad, the way I saw it everything that happened and everything I did was through the grace of God and for His glory. And maybe that sounds cheesy or even cliché but that’s honestly how I felt and how I looked at life. Truth is living that way made the good times sweeter and the bad times bearable. Now I’m not sure exactly when it started, but absolutely over the last couple of years, in the same way a house, no matter how beautiful and strong, if not maintained will simply wear away and fall apart, my spirituality has started to crumble. And today I finally saw how living without that safety net is crushing me. I’m losing the ability to stay positive on a daily basis. Whether it’s work stress (or unhappiness), the physical pains associated with getting older (and coming to grips with that) and probably about 1 million other things that I can’t think of, my demeanor is changing. The worst part is, is that I didn’t even see it happening. That’s not who I am…well I guess that’s not who I was, but unfortunately, I guess it is who I am but it’s not who I want to be. Just to be clear, my faith is strong. My faith is absolute and unwavering. Like the land that the house was built on it’s not going anywhere and that is my foundation. I love to talk about and share my faith, and I find refuge in prayer and reading scripture. But like it says in James 2:17 it says something along lines of how faith without deeds is dead. And I almost feel like that’s what happened (happening)to me. In first Corinthians chapter 13 verses 1 through 3, before the “love is” passage it talks about how if you do great acts of faith without love it’s pointless. How you can speak in tongues of men or angles, but if there’s no love it’s no more than the sound of a clanging cymbal. Well on a spiritual level I’ve become the dilapidated ruins of who I was…I am the clanging cymbal. I’m better than this. God made me better than this. I hope and pray that this letter, like ripping that first handful of weeds from the garden is the beginning of my way back. I think it’s time for a ministry. As always know that I’ll be praying for you, and remember to live the Faith. God bless.