How Good Friday Became a Part of my Spiritual DNA*

Posted on March 22, 2018 by the Bouchers

We buried Grandpa on Good Friday. For me,  he died with Jesus.  The stark reality of his passing was magnified by the emptiness of the church, the covered statues and the fact that there could be no Eucharistic liturgy. But still the memories came rushing in: Walter’s steady kindness, his St. Gerard statue, his love of fishing, his time in the crow’s nest on a Merchant Marine vessel, and silly things like sardine sandwiches. Yuck!
What do you know about your grandparents, your great grandparents, your ethnic background? During this past holiday season thousands of people received DNA kits to search out their ethnic story and their biological identity, which are forever intertwined. Such searches can also be an occasion for spiritual enlightenment. Here is why.
1. Seeking our ancestors helps us understand ourselves. Pope St. John Paul II affirms this in his 1994 Letter to Families. “The genealogy of the person is the genealogy of the family.” It is good to explore our connections to others. This way we can find the roots of our talents and failings.

2. The lives and stories of our ancestors can offer invitations to a faith that may be dormant in our families. Stories of Walter’s faith challenge me. Once, during a hot day’s drive in Quebec, a bee flew into the car window and stung his hand. It became so swollen that he could not hold the steering wheel. “Don’t worry.” he told Grandma. “My mother showed me a healing spring once, just down the road from here.” Several miles later Walter gingerly immersed his hand in the spring and it came out totally healed. [That’s him: right front in 1922 photo]

3. Our DNA, in particular, points to ethnic groups and countries that are more than just groupings of people with the same biology and geography. These groups where most often primarily faith communities with the same spiritual DNA. We both come from French missionary-settlers of Montreal. It has been exciting to see their handwritten records in parish registries and imagine their daily lives.

4. The genealogy of every person ultimately rests in the divine. Therese can trace maternal DNA all the way back to the 1600s on Ile D’ Orleans, Quebec, not far from where our son lives. But there is more mitochondrial evidence going all the way back to the origins of the human race itself. This points toward God’s intervention as the creator of every unique person in history.

**by Therese. For more about uncovering and sharing family history click here.

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10 Evangelizing Lessons THIS Catholic Learned from Billy Graham

Posted on February 23, 2018 by the Bouchers

Over 50 years ago, I met Jesus as a Holy Cross College student. Our encounter was personal, powerful, and life-altering. Shortly after this Catholic Antioch Weekend Retreat, I attempted to “evangelize” others, although I didn’t even have the word “evangelization” in my vocabulary. My zeal was all-consuming, but my efforts seemed to fail, more often than not. Who could help me with my frustration and give me practical guidance, I wondered?

While it was true that the Vatican Council II (1959-1965) “Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church” expanded the idea of mission, it was not yet clear that ALL Catholics are called to be evangelizers in daily life. But even “On Evangelization in the Modern World” by (soon-to-be) Pope St. Paul VI’s (1975) was not written yet. So, I felt like I was on my own.

There were no handbooks for everyday Catholics about sharing faith, or about “how-to evangelize.” So, I, and some like-minded friends, studied materials, especially those connected with the ministry of the Rev. Billy Graham. We filtered everything we learned through the lens of Catholic teaching and a sacramental point of view. Some years later, my wife, Therese, and I would be among the first Catholics to provide a diocesan-wide follow-up for Catholics who attended a Billy Graham Crusade on Long Island. It was an unexpected bonus to share a stage with this humble, grace-filled minister of Jesus Christ.

Here is what we learned. Each insight is followed by a quote from Rev. Graham.

1. Intercede in prayer for someone before you try to evangelize them.
“Prayer is crucial in evangelism: Only God can change the heart of someone who is in rebellion against Him. No matter how logical our arguments or how fervent our appeals, our words will accomplish nothing unless God’s Spirit prepares the way.”

2. Evangelization is every Christian’s call.
“One of the greatest priorities of the church today is to mobilize the laity to do the work of evangelism.”

3. The Holy Spirit is in charge of the results.
“I know God is in charge. Not me, I’m nothing. I wouldn’t be anything except for the power of the Spirit of God.”

4. Everyone is entitled to hear the Gospel of God’s love and call to repent of sin.
“I believe that we should declare the fact that God loves you, God’s willing to forgive you, God can change you, and Christ and his kingdom is open to anybody who repents and by faith receives him as lord and savior.”

5. Persevere in the mission of evangelization together.
“I want people to remember me that I was faithful, faithful to the gospel, faithful to the call that God gave me. And when I get to heaven, I’m going to ask him why he called me, because I was much used to milking cows and working on the farm than I was to preaching.”

6. Failure at evangelizing is normal and yet a stepping stone to learning and success.
“Don’t let failure or disappointment cut you off from God or make you think that the future is hopeless. When God closes one door, He often opens another door – if we seek it.”

7. Suffering is an expected part of working in evangelization.
“Suffering is part of the human condition, and it comes to us all. The key is how we react to it, either turning away from God in anger and bitterness or growing closer to Him in trust and confidence.”

8. Live the Gospel AND talk about it.
“We are the Bibles the world is reading; we are the creeds the world is needing; we are the sermons the world is heeding.”

9. Sharing our faith in Jesus with others deepens our faith.
“Our faith becomes stronger as we express it; a growing faith is a sharing faith.”

10. The cost of being a missionary evangelizing disciple of Christ is everything.
“Salvation is free, but discipleship costs everything we have.”

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Chocolates or Ashes? Is this My Only Choice!

Posted on February 9, 2018 by the Bouchers

No. Therese’s Aunt Lillie gives up chocolate for the whole forty days of Lent! And then she has some two-fisted fun with sweets on Easter Day.

But this February Fourteenth offers all the rest of us believers a unique challenge. It is both Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday. Which will be most important? Will we choose chocolate or ashes? How might we reconcile the two?

Self-indulgence or fasting?

Self-absorption or self-denial?

And is this challenge even an issue for most people?

The Archdiocese of Chicago has stated that Lent is more important than candy hearts, and suggested that Catholics pick some other day for paper hearts and Cupid’s arrows.

A statement released by the Archdiocese explained that Catholics will not be dispensed from the laws of fasting and abstinence on Ash Wednesday, and suggested that we could celebrate Valentine’s Day on Feb. 13th, which is also Mardi Gras. Apparently, rescheduling gratification wins the day in Chicago.

But there is more to this challenge than what we eat. February 14th is an opportunity to look at how we each relate to ourselves. Is it with a sense of entitlement and over indulgence, or is it with patience, sacrifice and forgiveness? Our starting point as Christians is that each of us is created in the image and likeness of God. This is the deepest reality of every human person, as stated in Genesis 1:27. But as we continue reading the Book of Genesis, we also learn about the fall of the whole human race and about our individual and communal tendency towards doing evil, including various forms of self-abuse. In other words, we are made of precious metal, but we are tarnished.

The point is that we often lack the gifts of self-respect and moderation, as characterized by children of God. But when this happens we can ask Jesus for a new sensitivity to the Father’s handiwork within our hearts. We can seek the Holy Spirit for a willingness to be converted over and over. We can make new decisions to truly love ourselves as God’s temples. We can also ask the Holy Spirit for the wisdom to know when to enjoy ourselves and when to fast along with our sisters and brothers in Christ. And finally, we can consider asking this evangelizing question of others, “Are you celebrating Valentine’s Day or Ash Wednesday?” Then listen for clues of God’s presence in the other.

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