He must increase; I must decrease.

"John answered and said, "No one can receive anything except what has been given him from heaven.
You yourselves can testify that I said (that) I am not the Messiah, but that I was sent before him.
The one who has the bride is the bridegroom; the best man, who stands and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. So this joy of mine has been made complete.
He must increase; I must decrease."  John 3:27-30

I have been feeling quite perplexed lately. Struggling really. Not with God, not with my faith per se, but with what to DO with my faith. The Parish I attend has a lot of issues, and I am trying to answer in my heart and in my head what *I* am supposed to be doing. But the whole time, I feel like nothing I can do will help. Many of my friends feel helpless, as if we are in a situation that is almost insurmountable.

So I have been listening to some Podcasts of Fr. John Riccardo. Fr. Riccardo was the pastor at the Novus Ordo parish that my family used to attend before we moved up to Alaska. He was amazing. (That parish is also where Fr. Acervo and Fr. White, are priests. Can you believe we left there?)

The church is huge - auditorium/concert hall style, has thousands of people, has a k-8 school, and was modern beyond belief. No statues, a huge amazing organ, but no tabernacle. Rarely did people kneel, but they did have a LIFETEEN mass with guitar, drums, electric bass, and lots of... well... whatever that sort of thing brings. The second Fr. Riccardo got there though, things began to change. People kneeled, the tabernacle came INTO the sanctuary smack-dab behind the altar. Then came the statues, 3, then 4, and who knows how many now. He came in and started ministries and apostolates like RCIA for Catholics, Catholicism for Cradle Catholics, a great mens group (Not just KofC), and he went to Theology on Tap.

Many people made it about him, he is a very charismatic person. He made it about God. He frequently quoted John 3:30: "He must increase, I must decrease." So as I was struggling last night, I was praying, and I thought about listening or reading something that will nourish me. So I remembered Fr. Riccardo had his podcasts online, and I went and downloaded some... and then I heard this and it nailed me:

"We must decrease, and HE must increase, if we are in this for our own glory...we are going to be really let down, because they nailed Jesus to the Cross and he had no sin, they would have a field day with me... or you..."

Wow... he is right. We must act and think in a way that allows God to INCREASE, while we decrease. As he goes on, Fr. Riccardo explains, that when we strive to do things for God, we must do them for GOD, and not for US. Everything.... EVERYTHING we do, should be to increase the GLORY of GOD, and reduce our own glory.

"If we want to be faithful disciples of Christ, what we should strive to do, is to Conform to His mind. We should try to think with the mind of the Church... We should be in-step with the Lord. And if we are in-step with the Lord, we can expect the shrapnel to start flying. This is not going to be easy to be his disciples. The faith is ANYTHING but for the weak, it takes incredible courage. We shouldn't worry about fitting in, because we won't fit in, if we are following him."

So it became clear, and this energized me. Don't worry about me... worry about HIM. He will give me what I need, and guide me on my journey... just follow Him, be in-step with Him, and get ready for the shrapnel to come-a-flyin! Oh, and the guy that said that whole decrease-increase thing... he didn't quite get shrapnel, but well... it didn't "end" so well for St. John the Baptist, but it still was worth it! It is better to die for the Faith and for Christ, and then to die for one's self.

From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence,  and the violent are taking it by force. Matthew 11:12