A peer into the Diaconate leads me to something else

Many of my family and friends are aware that for the past several years I have been answering a call in my life to lead a more religious life as a Deacon in the Catholic Church. The journey along this path led me to some great experiences, introduced me to lifelong friends, taught me about spiritual direction and has taught me much about my faith that I may never have learned without the need to take certain courses for the Vocation. I also learned in my time in the Diaconate that service to the Church and to our brothers and sisters can be done whether I am ordained or not. This fact that should be obvious and practiced by all people of good will was something that I was blinded to. I am not always that assertive of a person to just offer help as a concerned Christian brother, I always want a certified reason to be somewhere. But through my limited education I have learned that a title is not something I need to serve my fellow citizens of this world.
Service can be done in other ways.

(Going through the Rite of Candidacy, Spring 2011)

I do feel that it is necessary to say that I have profound love and respect for the other men and their wives that were enrolled in the Diaconate with me. I also pray daily for the 8 men that are still in formation to be ordained in the Spring of 2013. Having the knowledge of the sacrifices that these men and their wives make daily in order to serve our Catholic Church and the faithful brings me to  my knees and saddens me that I am no longer walking with them on their journey.

(Field Agent training in New Haven, CT)

My journey has brought me to a never imagined mode of service. It is often said that when God closes one door, He opens a window. My window has been with the Knights of Columbus. I first joined the Knights a year earlier while in the Diaconate as a way to be involved in my Parish while getting to know other like minded, charitable men of my faith. It was through this organization I found my way to serve others without being ordained into the clergy. I am a lector, usher and sometimes even a Eucharistic Minister at Mass, all of which I find to be terrific ways to serve my Church.

Then something else took me by surprise, and I am so glad it did. I was asked if I had any interest in becoming a Field Agent for the Knights of Columbus. My first thought was "an insurance  agent?" After all, I had dabbled in insurance a few years earlier and while I found myself somewhat good at it, I did not really enjoy it. But because of the organization, I felt compelled to at least research the opportunity. I  said yes to the initial interview and was asked to view a short video about this opportunity, which can be viewed at this link: http://bcove.me/zr0sbe9g. I was hooked after watching this video and viewed a few others at www.kofc.org. There were other hurdles to overcome, but I did with no problems.

Me and Supreme Knight Carl Anderson

This career choice has led to a fantastic opportunity to not only provide for my family financially but to also serve Catholic families in different ways. As their insurance agent I am able to help them understand the sometimes overwhelming world of finances and insurance, make changes to their existing insurance and help them file claims when a family member dies. It is this final duty that makes me realize that I am doing a service to God's people in being there with them in these tough and tragic times. I have been asked to pray with families as they go through unimaginable circumstances. This is something I envisioned myself doing as a Deacon someday.  Through my career with the Knights of Columbus I find myself to be an asset to the members who take advantage of the products we offer. I am their agent, I am there for them when children are born, young men get married, and when parents die. I am available and called on at all stages of life.

Father Michael J Mcgivney, the man I work for

Father Michael J Mcgivney had a vision of what the Knights of Columbus could do and I think he saw me and wanted me to be a part of that vision. http://kofc.org/un/en/about/history/index.html is a brief history of the Knights of Columbus.

Thankful times

It has been over a year since I blogged and 2 years since I have done any serious blogging. It could be said that time flies when you are having fun but that has not necessarily been the case. Lets just say that life is messy and sometimes things that you want to do get pushed to the back burner in order to do what you need to do.  My wife and I have not had the marriage we dreamed about when we got married in 1992, that's right, I said it! It has had the peaks we looked forward to and it has had the valleys that we didn't. But it has really been those valleys that we have spent most of our time in and that is where our strength, love and persistence has been fortified the most. I am currently thinking of the song "down in the valley" being sung by our daughter Elani (its the only song she plays on her ukulele). I have always heard that to really know a person you have to walk a mile in their shoes. We have certainly walked in each others shoes, in fact we've walked together in the same pair of shoes for most of our 20 years. So, as Thanksgiving is a few days removed, I have been thinking of what I am thankful for and the list is really quite long, but I will keep it short for tonight's post and share others as time goes on. With that being said I am pleased with our marriage and look forward to the next 20 years!

1.  I am thankful the God is the most important influence in my life. The influence is involved in everything I do from marriage and family to work and play. I just hope that this is evident.

2. I am thankful for my wife who reminds me daily that I am not as important as I think I am, and that I am vitally important to the family unit in ways that are immeasurable(which I lose sight of almost daily).

3. I am thankful for all 4 of my daughters. I still see each of them as the 3 year old who thought I was Prince Charming and I also look forward to dancing at their weddings and seeing them raise their own families someday. They will always be my s princesses!

4. I am thankful for my current career(and hopefully the one I retire from) with The Knights of Columbus as a Field Agent. I truly get more than a paycheck from my work. I love being part of the Knights of Columbus, but as a Field Agent I see it from a different perspective than most of our members and I love what I see from this terrific Order.

5. I am thankful that life isn't easy. I truly believe that all the hard work combined with my faith is what helps my wife and I teach our kids persistence and a good work ethic. Of course, winning the Lotto would be nice, but I am reminded of the Bible passage where Jesus tells someone that it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into Heaven. Of course this passage has meaning that I wont debate here, but the general impression I get is that we are supposed to work hard to get our eternal reward, I imagine it would be alot of work for that poor camel to pass through the eye of a needle.

6. Finally tonight, I am thankful that as the Christmas season approaches my family is trying to focus more on the religious and spiritual aspects of Christmas rather than the secular side where monetary gifts are the focus. I am looking forward to some of the different traditions we have started over the years that are more God centered and less secular centered. Things like the advent calendar, Advent wreath prayers, and reading select Chapters and verses from the Bible are quickly approaching to my delight.

These are some of what I am thankful for tonight. There are certainly other things that I am sure will come out over this Holiday season. I was reminded today at Church that being thankful is not the call of  the Christian to do only once a year.  We should be thankful all the time.