Come, Lord Jesus— Come, when the loudness and rudeness of this holiday season masks the anxiety, sadness, loneliness, and depression of so many. Come, as our politics grow ever more divisive and callous. Come, bringing mercy and relief for migrants and their families. Come, with your healing and acceptance for so many trapped on the…
Category: family
catholicism, family, Jesus, JesusJusticeJoy, ministry, prayer, reflection
By marriage, I am saying…
Today, Orin and Erin celebrate their 14th wedding anniversary! Here’s a photo of them on that fateful day.
Marriage, as a sacrament, can be described lots of different ways. Here are a few ways that I (Orin) like to think about it.
1 – By marriage, I am saying to my spouse that one of my life’s tasks is to make sure she gets to heaven. That can take a lot of different forms, of course – helping her avoid sin, urging her to pray, etc.
2 – By marriage, I am saying to my spouse that her needs come first, over mine. This facet is of course a difficult one for most any married person to live; I am no exception. But, if I am to show the world by my marriage that I love Erin the way Christ loves us, I must be willing to sacrifice my very self for her.
3 – By marriage, I am saying to my spouse that I want to bring forth life with her. While we have not been blessed with children (not yet anyway, nor do we suspect anything at the moment), there are lots of ways that we bring forth life, both with each other and in the world. In fact, I’ve often wondered if perhaps the many ministries in the Church I have, especially with youth, are not more possible because of my particular family circumstance.
If you have a person in your life to whom you are married – or are considering that step with – might I suggest you take a moment to think on and pray with the three facets above, and see what the Lord might be calling you to next in your relationship.
catholicism, family, JesusJusticeJoy, oddwalkia, reflection
Save the Trees!
Up until about three years ago, we Cernekas lived in a 1,200 sq. ft. starter home. Our family of six, which also features two cats and a dog, were pack pretty tightly into that tiny house. Our home had almost no storage space and was impossible to keep clean. Erin and I and the frothy…
announcements, bible, catholicism, family, Jesus, JesusJusticeJoy, Judaism, liturgy, ministry, music, oddwalkia, prayer, reflection, saints, scripture, shrine
Guard Your Lions
Apologies for the unannounced four week hiatus from our Jesus-Justice-Joy posts here at the Oddwalk central. On the other hand, no one has been banging on our houses’ front doors demanding their return— Yet, today they do return.
But first, a brief word of explanation. Shortly after our most recent post of September 11, significant events occurred in the lives of Orin and Shannon. Orin’s dad, Orville “Doc” Johnson, passed away on September 17 – more on that in a moment. On the Cerneka side of things, Shannon’s wife Erin lost her job at very nearly the same time. On top of and in-between those occurrences have been other things, like a couple Oddwalk engagements, and, of course, all the personal and professional things that some call “real life.” While generally speaking all are doing “okay,” to pick a most vague and not-especially-descriptive term, please do keep us in prayer.
Last Friday night, in St. Louis, some local to STL friends and family of Orin gathered in a service of remembrance for his parents, Orville and Eva (Eva died in 2008). For this week’s return to JJJ posts, we share here the Gospel passage read at that service and Orin’s preaching on it.
Orville and Eva, at Orin & Erin’s Wedding in 2004
Luke 12:35-40
Jesus told his disciples: “Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks: Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
family, JesusJusticeJoy, Joy, music, odd, pets, random
The Healing Properties of a Chicken Swing
Last year on this date, Orin wrote a thoughtful reflection on the anniversary of the September 11th attacks. This year, on this date, I (Shannon) have neither the time nor the headspace to write something thoughtful. And yet, it’s my turn for Jesus-Justice-Joy. Soooo…I think for today I just want to try and bring a…
catholicism, family, JesusJusticeJoy, Justice, ministry, prayer, reflection, scripture, technology
Out of Order
This one time, at work, there was this one photocopier. It worked great! It collated, stapled, scanned, everything I (Orin) needed it to do.
One day I arrived at work, at there was an “out of order” sign hung on it. Asking around, I learned that one of the “feet”, on one corner of the bottom of the copier, has broken, and without it, the whole copier leaned just a little bit in that direction.
“What does that matter?” I asked.
Well, I found out that if the copier wasn’t very close to level, it would put strain on the motor which ran the light across the glass, it would have trouble feeding the paper out of the drawers, the toner might settle in the cartridge, and probably a few other things which have since left my memory.
That is, if the copier’s “foot” was broken, the whole copier fell into disarray and couldn’t function, even if the only issue was that it leaned over an inch or so.
Consider this passage now from Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 12:20b-26)
There are many parts, yet one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I do not need you.” Indeed, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are all the more necessary, and those parts of the body that we consider less honorable we surround with greater honor, and our less presentable parts are treated with greater propriety, whereas our more presentable parts do not need this. But God has so constructed the body as to give greater honor to a part that is without it,so that there may be no division in the body, but that the parts may have the same concern for one another.
If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy.
Take some time to reflect today: which part of the body of Christ is suffering today? How de we all suffer because of their suffering? How do we ease that suffering? Hint: it’s not as easy as fixing a broken foot on a photocopier. Where are the issues, and how do we address them? Take it to prayer, and then turn prayer into action.
family, Jesus, JesusJusticeJoy, oddwalkia, reflection, YNIA
An Inconvenient Yes
I’m writing this post, but I don’t really want to. There isn’t time to do it, but I’m making time. I should be cleaning the kitchen, making dinner, and attending to children. It’s my turn to write, though, so here we are. This few minutes of eloquence (ha ha) is a microcosm of the past…
announcements, catholicism, family, friends, Jesus, JesusJusticeJoy, ministry, music, prayer, retreat, YSP
Musical Theater Jesus Camp = YSP
When I (Orin) and some others need to quickly describe Youth Sing Praise (YSP) to those who know nothing about it, we often call it a “Musical Theater Jesus Camp.”
More elaborately, it’s an 8-day period where high schoolers gather to both mount a production of a faith-based musical and take part in a retreat based on that show. This year that show is the 2012 revival of Godspell.
Pictured here are the campers and staff gathered at Mass Saturday night. It’s hard for me to think of any community that more embodies “We are many parts, we are all one body” than does YSP. Christ is present here in community, with varied gifts of music, acting, dancing, and more, and through the evangelization that the show allows the cast to do, Christ is again present in word, song, and actions.
I hope you can all come to the free performance this Saturday night, 7pm, at Our Lady of the Snows. I’ll be the guy playing piano in support of these amazing teens. I will personally guarantee you will not be disappointed you came.
Visit: youthsingpraise.com