The Transfiguration

The Transfiguration has always struck me as being a little...well, inexplicable, I suppose.  It's easy to imagine how overwhelming it would have been for the apostles at Christ's side.  I mean, intellectually they believe that He's the Messiah, but it's a whole different thing to see the power of God suddenly unveiled before you.  And even that was most likely but a taste of His true glory.  The seemingly mundane Jesus revealed His splendor before their eyes.  I think there are definite Eucharistic overtones here (glory revealed through the veil of flesh), but I also think that it also prefigures the ultimate end of Lent (and, really, of all human life) -- to see God as He is, not merely as we with our limited capacity believe Him to be.

Anyhow, that's all for tonight.  Back tomorrow.  Hope everyone is doing well.  Till next time, peace and God bless!

Apologetics

One obstacle I seem to run into frequently is the question of to what extent I need to defend my faith and my beliefs.  I mean, I can't simply be insulted every time someone makes a joke or light-hearted comment (or else I'd be offended pretty much all the time), but where's the threshold for when I need to speak up?  Is it sufficient that I always tell new people (e.g. residents) that I'm Catholic?  Do I need to say something when they tease me about my faith? (For clarification, this has always been lighthearted and without any malicious intent; I've never actually been slighted for my faith by any residents, just the one attending whom I've mentioned before.)  There have been times that I probably should have spoken up, should have tried to correct a misconception, but I either chickened out or didn't think it would make a difference.  In some cases, I don't say anything because I worry about how it will change people's opinions of me.  So when do I speak up?  And how do I make sure I consistently speak the truth with charity?  Thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

That's all for tonight...hope everyone is doing well.  Till next time, peace and God bless!

Reflections on reflecting

All right, I've got to admit, this is harder than I thought it would be.  It's challenging to come up with a new topic to write about every night, and equally so to do some of these topics justice.  But part of the reason I'm doing this is because it's challenging.  It forces me to think -- every night -- about Lent, about my faith, about so many different things.  It gives me no choice but to open my mind and my heart, even if only a smidge.  All of my Lenten resolutions in the past have been of the "giving things up" variety.  Some of those were pretty challenging, but none of them forced me to spend at least a little time in contemplation about why I was doing something crazy (like giving up chocolate).  Sure, I'm familiar with the theory that you're supposed to give up something that hurts at least a little bit, but I think now it's a lot more valuable when it's coupled with a sacrifice of "taking on" rather than "giving up."

Unfortunately, there's not much to tell from the world of family medicine today.  The patients were pretty straightforward, most of the difficult families were gone (along with one or two of the really great ones), and all our admissions came to us because of foul-ups somewhere in the chain of communication.  Still, though, I have to say that my experience here has been far better than I ever expected.  If not for the useless busy work they insist on forcing us to complete, this would be a really good clerkship.  As it is, I'll be singing the praises of the Altoona placement, but I'm still frustrated by the rotation itself.  Hmm...now that I think about it, the experience with somewhat extended drives might also come in handy...

Anyway, that's all from me for tonight.  Back tomorrow with further writing (that maybe three people will read...including me.  Twice.)  Hope everyone's doing well...peace and God bless!

A mini-reflection and other stories

I'm exhausted, so just a quick reflection and then a couple of other quick things will have to suffice for tonight's update.  One thing that's been on my mind (especially today after dealing with some highly unpleasant individuals) is how amazing God's love for us must be if He allowed His Son to suffer and die for our sakes even knowing how depraved and unkind we can be.  The thought brought me up short a couple of times today when trying to deal with some rather difficult families.

Quick thing number 1: Happy St. Patrick's day!  May the road ever rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back, may the rain fall soft upon your fields, and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Quick thing number 2: Congratulations to Nicole and Veronica (as well as the other MS4s) on your residency matches!  Thoughts and prayers for you, and I'm sure I'm not the only one wishing you all the best in your programs!

That's all for me for tonight.  Hope everyone's doing well; till next time, peace and God bless!

Lenten Reflections, Part VIII - The Color Purple

Seems a little odd sometimes that the color associated with Lent is purple -- the same color associated with the elite in ancient Roman society, the color of the Emperor himself.  It's an awfully majestic color for a season in which humility is the main course.  Why not something a little more understated, a bit more subdued?  Because "Jesus Christ, though in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.  Rather, He emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave..."  The ruler of all things, Creator of the universe, humbled Himself for our sakes, and we commemorate His sacrifice in this (and many other) ways.

Quick update from the world of family medicine -- if you're on home oxygen, please stop smoking.  Especially if you're actively using said oxygen with a nasal cannula.  No, it's not "just air."  But I guess if you really like fireworks, go ahead -- just don't blame me when I'm trying to take care of the third degree burns on your face and your partially denuded scalp.  This has been a public service announcement.

Anyway, don't know if any of the above post makes any sense.  I'm a little out of it tonight.  Hope everyone is doing well...till next time, peace and God bless!

Lenten Reflections, Part VII - First Steps

We're a week into Lent, and I can't decide whether to qualify that statement with an "only" or an "already."  In some ways, it's the slowest season of the liturgical year for me -- mostly because I'm a wimp and don't like giving up things that I enjoy.  At the same time, though, it never seems like it's quite long enough -- I always feel like I haven't prepared well enough, that I've left things undone.  So I'm both cheered and a bit miffed by the fact that the first steps of Lent are already behind us.  Guess all that can be done is to make the most of the rest of it, right?

One other thing I wanted to mention -- apparently today was the day for the 4th years (soon to be PGY-1s) to find out whether they matched into a residency program.  They don't know where yet (that'll be in a couple of days), but hopefully they do know that they've matched.  So please pray for all of them, that they'll end up where they want to be.

That's all for me tonight...more reflections and a brief family med update tomorrow.  Till next time, peace and God bless!

Lenten Reflections VI - Sacrifice

Katherine raised a really good point earlier today.  One of the traditions of Lent is that of sacrifice -- giving up something that matters, something that it hurts a little to let go of.  Why do we do it?  First, we do so to allow the seeds of spiritual discipline to be established within ourselves.  Second, we remember and honor Christ's great sacrifice by our smaller ones.  And, in fact (and those of you more learned in Church teaching than I, please correct me if I'm off base here), we participate in the Cross by willingly joining our offering to His.  That's why the "what" of the sacrifice doesn't so much matter as the trajectory (poor choice of words, but it's late and I can't come up with a better) -- what I mean by this is that a small sacrifice freely given to the glory of God participates far more deeply in the mystery of the Cross than a crushing sacrifice without any particular goal.  I needed to remind myself of that -- I think for the last couple of years I've given up things that were very difficult for me (by the way, giving up meat is MUCH easier than giving up chocolate, and don't ever try both at once if you value your sanity) but I never really spent much time thinking about the why.  It was just something I didn't really think about, something I did because it was Lent.  So this year I decided to take the advice of a priest whom I respect very deeply.  He recommended, rather than giving many things up, that I instead give up one thing and replace it with something that would help me to grow in a spiritual discipline -- reading the lives of the saints, praying Compline, something like that.  So I'm trying that this year; we'll see how it goes.

Oh, by the way, this is apparently my 100th blog post.  Only took me about 2 years.  Figured I'd mention it.  Anyhow, hope everyone is doing well...till next time, peace and God bless!