Seized by Christ

They are experiencing Christianity as joy and hope, having thus become lovers of Christ.

Category: Spiritual Growth & Virtue

Personal formation, theological virtues, building character, discerning truth, and handling spiritual crisis.

What Is the Right Way to Help the Poor?

Many people want to help those in need. But sometimes, the way we help can hurt more than it helps—especially if it takes away a person’s sense of dignity or worth. A short story or memory can help us think more clearly about this problem. Here is a reflection and answer on what real charity looks like.

Q: I knew a priest in a small parish. Poor people would come to him asking for food. He would hand them a broom and ask them to sweep the church parking lot while he prepared them something to eat. If they didn’t try hard, they got no food. I also noticed that mulberries are a kind of fruit that you can only eat if you pick them yourself, because they are so fragile. You never see them in the grocery store. And I think the Bible says farmers should not go back to collect parts of the harvest they missed, so poor people could gather it. I also remember President Reagan told a story about a little girl who wanted to help the poor. He said, “Go pick some fruit, sell it, and give the money to someone who needs it.” But the girl asked, “Why can’t the poor person just pick the fruit himself?”

A: You are touching on an old and important question: how can we help people in need in a way that also respects their dignity?

Let’s look at each of the stories you shared:

The priest with the broom: He gave food, but only after asking for a little work. This shows a deep kind of wisdom. He didn’t just feed the person—he helped them feel useful. He gave them a way to take part in the life of the church. That kind of charity is not just about giving things away. It is about helping people stand on their own feet. Saint Paul wrote something similar: “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10).

The mulberries: These fruits are a great picture of how effort and reward often go together. They are too soft and delicate to sell in stores. If you want to enjoy them, you have to go out and pick them yourself. Nature sometimes works this way—some of the sweetest things can only be reached through hard work.

The Bible and gleaning: In the Old Testament, farmers were told not to harvest every last bit of their crops. They had to leave the edges and anything they dropped for the poor to gather. But the poor still had to go out and pick it up. This wasn’t just a free gift—it was an opportunity to work and eat. It kept both justice and dignity.

Reagan’s story: The little girl’s question—“Why can’t the poor pick the fruit themselves?”—might seem harsh, but it shows a real problem. Sometimes, people who want to help forget that the best kind of help doesn’t do everything for someone. It gives them a way to help themselves.

So what do all these examples show?

The best kind of charity is not just about making people comfortable. It’s about giving them a way to grow, to work, and to feel human. When we give without asking anything in return, we might take away a person’s chance to feel useful and strong.

Real love doesn’t just give. It invites the other person to join in, even if it’s something small—like sweeping a parking lot or picking fruit. That kind of charity is full of truth. And it helps people become whole again.

Conclusion:
Real charity is not soft or weak. It is strong and wise. It gives people what they need, but also calls them to take part in their own healing. When we help others, we must remember: giving is good—but giving in a way that respects a person’s dignity is even better. That is love with truth.

Q&A with ChatGPT

May 6, 2025
Even If You Don’t Come Back: The Hidden Hope of the Hero’s Journey
An Easter Conversation on Risk, Myth, and Resurrection

Q: My son made an interesting observation. He said that hero stories are “success-biased”—we only hear the stories of the ones who made it back to tell them. Most who go on the hero’s journey probably don’t make it back, and we don’t hear those stories. So maybe we’re misled in thinking it’s worth going. But I’ve been wondering: maybe the message of the myths is actually that it’s better to go and not make it back, than to never go at all?

A: (from ChatGPT)
That question hits right at the heart of what myth—and particularly the Christian story—has always tried to say. Yes, your son is absolutely right: hero stories are success-biased. They’re remembered because someone survived to tell them. And it’s true that most people don’t return from their battles unscarred—some never return at all.

But that doesn’t make the journey meaningless.

In fact, your reflection gets to something deeper—the idea that it is better to go and not make it back than never to go. That’s not just a mythic truth. That’s a Christian one.

The Christian story flips the script on worldly success. It says: the one who loses everything is the one who gains it all. Jesus doesn’t return from His journey with treasure or a triumphal parade. He returns wounded, rejected, and killed—but through that death, He brings life.

And the earliest Christians saw that. That’s why they remembered the martyrs—not for escaping suffering, but for embracing it with courage. That’s why they honored missionaries who died far from home, parents who quietly gave their lives for their children, and ordinary believers who bore their crosses unseen by the world. They didn’t make it back in any normal sense. But their stories became part of a deeper narrative of hope.

The hero who never comes home still teaches us something profound:
- That courage is not about guaranteed success.
- That the going itself is transformative.
- That the journey may be unfinished, but it is not wasted.
- And that even death does not erase meaning—especially in light of Easter.
The Resurrection is not just a happy ending—it’s the redemption of the journey that seemed like failure. It’s the great answer to your question: even if you don’t make it back, it was worth it. Because in Christ, nothing offered in love is ever lost.

So yes—your question has merit, and your intuition is right. The hero stories may be success-biased, but the Gospel is sacrifice-biased. It tells us that the ones who go, even when they never return, are not forgotten. They are part of something eternal.

And in that, there is real hope.
April 15, 2025
Unpacking the Prodigal Son Story: A Mythical Hero’s Journey

The Prodigal Son is one of the most beloved parables from Christian tradition, but when examined through the lens of the mythical hero’s journey, it reveals a deeper, universal narrative of transformation, redemption, and reconciliation. This timeless tale offers a rich exploration of personal growth, rebellion, and the cyclical nature of life. In this post, we’ll delve into how the Prodigal Son mirrors the structure of the mythical hero’s journey and what we can learn from his story.

1. The Call to Adventure: A Desire for Freedom

In mythological narratives, the hero often begins their journey with a call to adventure — a desire to explore the unknown. The Prodigal Son’s request for his inheritance marks his own “call” to freedom. He wants to leave behind the familiarity of his home and step into a world where he can forge his own path. This moment reflects the universal human desire to break free from constraints and seek independence, much like a hero departing from their original world to pursue a personal quest.

2. Crossing the Threshold: Venturing into the Unknown

The son leaves his father’s house and enters the “distant country,” symbolizing the crossing of the threshold into the unknown. It is here that he begins to indulge in a life of excess, squandering his inheritance. This chaotic journey mirrors the hero’s descent into the “wild” or underworld, where they encounter temptations and distractions that often lead them astray. In mythology, heroes face these temptations as part of their transformation, and the Prodigal Son is no different. His descent represents the dangers of excess and unchecked desires.

3. The Abyss: Confronting the Crisis

Every hero must face a crisis — the abyss — a moment of profound despair and self-reflection. For the Prodigal Son, this moment occurs when famine strikes and he finds himself feeding pigs, longing for their food. This marks his lowest point, symbolizing a metaphorical “death” — the hero’s confrontation with their mistakes and the consequences of their actions. The “famine” represents life’s harsh realities and the price one pays for straying too far from balance and wisdom.

4. The Return: Transformation and Rebirth

In many myths, the hero returns home after their trials, but they are forever changed. Similarly, the Prodigal Son’s decision to return home represents a moment of transformation. His journey back is one of repentance and self-awareness, symbolizing a rebirth. When he arrives, his father greets him with open arms, demonstrating that redemption and reconciliation are possible, even after great mistakes.

5. The Hero’s Reward: Celebration and Integration

After the son’s return, he is celebrated by his father, who restores him to his rightful place. This is the reward phase of the hero’s journey, where the hero integrates the wisdom they’ve gained into their previous life. For the Prodigal Son, this celebration includes gifts such as a robe, ring, and sandals — signs of his full reintegration into the family. In myth, the hero often returns with newfound wisdom, and the Prodigal Son’s return symbolizes the potential for growth and healing, no matter how lost or estranged one might feel.

6. The Shadow: Conflict with the Elder Brother

In many myths, the hero’s return disrupts the status quo, often sparking tension with those who remained behind. The elder brother’s resentment toward the Prodigal Son reflects this mythical conflict. The elder son represents the “shadow” — a figure resistant to change, loyal to the old ways, and unwilling to embrace transformation. His anger symbolizes the internal and external conflicts that arise when old paradigms are challenged, and growth or redemption occurs.

7. Rebirth: Death and Resurrection

The narrative concludes with a powerful statement by the father: “This son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” This moment echoes the cyclical nature of death and resurrection that is central to many mythic stories. The Prodigal Son’s “death” represents his metaphorical fall, and his return symbolizes a form of resurrection — a fresh start rooted in humility and wisdom. The cycle of life, death, and rebirth is essential to the hero’s journey, illustrating that transformation often requires loss and renewal.

8. The Theme of Repentance and Redemption

At its core, the Prodigal Son story embodies the theme of repentance and redemption. In many myths, the hero returns after making mistakes, and their journey is celebrated because they have learned from their trials. The father’s willingness to forgive, rather than punish, the Prodigal Son challenges the notion that heroism is about perfection. Sometimes, the hero is celebrated not for their unwavering goodness but for their capacity to learn from their errors and return transformed.

Conclusion: Lessons from the Prodigal Son

The Prodigal Son is more than just a biblical tale — it is a powerful reflection of the hero’s journey. Through his story, we learn about transformation, the importance of self-awareness, and the possibility of redemption, no matter how far we’ve strayed. By examining the Prodigal Son through the lens of mythology, we can see that the challenges of life — the mistakes, the temptations, the crises — are all part of the journey toward self-discovery and reconciliation.

Whether you’re exploring the parable for personal reflection or analyzing it from a mythical perspective, the Prodigal Son’s journey offers timeless wisdom. Embrace your journey, accept the lessons that come with both failure and triumph, and remember that redemption is always within reach.

Written in collaboration with ChatGPT (OpenAI, 2025).

March 30, 2025
The Parable of the Prodigal Son: A Preference for the Repentant Son Over the Loyal Brother

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is one of the most well-known biblical stories. While often interpreted as a lesson on forgiveness, there’s a deeper, subversive message embedded in the narrative. The story emphasizes the redemption of the repentant son over the loyalty of the older brother, challenging us to reflect on the nature of grace, transformation, and true faith.

Let’s break down why this story shows more favor to the repentant son than the dutiful older brother.

1. The Repentant Son’s Journey

The Prodigal Son embarks on a journey of transformation. He leaves home, squanders his inheritance, and experiences deep suffering. But the key moment in the story is when he “comes to his senses,” realizing that his life has gone astray. Returning home isn’t just about apologizing—it’s about a profound change of heart.

His journey isn’t just physical; it’s deeply moral and spiritual. Without experiencing loss and humility, the son wouldn’t have gained the wisdom necessary to understand what truly matters. His repentance is not merely saying “sorry”; it’s taking full responsibility and seeking reconciliation.

2. The Older Brother’s Stagnation

In contrast, the older brother represents the opposite of transformation. He has remained “loyal” and “dutiful,” yet he lacks the deeper compassion and self-awareness that the younger son gains through his fall. His loyalty is tied to a transactional understanding of his relationship with his father. He believes that following the rules entitles him to rewards.

However, when he sees his brother return, he becomes bitter and resentful. His jealousy reveals his inability to comprehend the true nature of forgiveness and grace. While he believes that loyalty should be rewarded, he struggles to accept the father’s generosity toward the repentant son. This exposes the flaw in his view of faithfulness: it’s not just about staying loyal; it’s about embracing grace, forgiveness, and love.

3. The Father’s Preference for the Repentant Son

The father’s actions in the story speak volumes. He doesn’t just forgive the younger son—he goes out of his way to restore him to his rightful place in the family. The father’s joy and celebration of the son’s return show that he values transformation over mere loyalty. To him, the younger son’s repentance signifies a deeper, more meaningful change.

The older brother, on the other hand, cannot understand why his brother is being celebrated. His view of loyalty lacks grace, focusing solely on merit. The father’s actions reveal a profound truth: that genuine transformation and repentance are more valuable than blind obedience or duty.

4. The Parable’s Subversive Message

What makes the Prodigal Son so powerful is how it subverts conventional expectations. The older brother, who has done everything right, is not the one the father celebrates. Instead, it is the one who has made mistakes, strayed, and then returned with genuine repentance.

This aligns with a deeper spiritual principle often emphasized in Christian teachings: God values repentance and the willingness to transform oneself over mere outward adherence to rules or social norms. The story challenges the idea that it’s enough to simply “do your duty” or “stay loyal.” True faith requires openness to growth, change, and grace.

5. The Call to Radical Grace

The parable points to a radical message: true grace and forgiveness are not about rewarding those who follow the rules but about welcoming the lost, the broken, and the repentant. The father’s unconditional love for the Prodigal Son serves as a model of divine love—extending forgiveness even to those who have fallen farthest, as long as they return with a sincere heart.

This challenges conventional ideas of justice based on merit and points to a more inclusive form of love. The older brother’s sense of entitlement contrasts sharply with the father’s generosity, showing that grace operates outside systems of merit and deservingness.

6. The Lesson for the Faithful

There’s a deeper challenge here for the “faithful” or “loyal” figures in the story, such as the older brother (who represents the “righteous” or those who follow the rules). The story teaches that loyalty and obedience don’t automatically entitle you to special treatment. Instead, the lesson is about embracing the joy of redemption and the value of grace.

The older son’s bitterness reveals a misunderstanding of true loyalty. Loyalty isn’t about comparison or competition; it’s about love, compassion, and the willingness to rejoice in the redemption of others. The parable emphasizes that doing the right thing is important, but it must be coupled with a generous, forgiving heart.

Conclusion: The Preference for the Repentant Son

The Prodigal Son’s story clearly favors the repentant son over the older brother. It places a higher value on transformation, humility, and the willingness to embrace grace over mere fidelity or rigid adherence to rules. The father’s response teaches us a profound lesson about the nature of divine love and forgiveness, encouraging us to look beyond our assumptions about justice, loyalty, and merit.

The older brother’s jealousy and anger reflect the common human tendency to measure worth based on performance. But the parable calls us to embrace a more radical, compassionate vision—a vision where even the most flawed and broken can be redeemed, and their return is celebrated, not condemned.

Yes, the story of the Prodigal Son does show a preference for the repentant son—and in doing so, it calls attention to the importance of grace over judgment and transformation over stagnation.

Written in collaboration with ChatGPT (OpenAI, 2025).

March 30, 2025
A Call to Adventure: Finding Meaning Beyond Science

In today’s world, it’s easy to get caught up in the quest for knowledge. Science explains how things work, but it doesn’t answer the deeper questions that stir our hearts: Why do we exist? What’s the purpose of life? These questions go beyond facts and data, and no matter how much we learn, they always seem to lead us back to one truth: there’s something more.

Science can’t explain the deeper mysteries of the universe, nor can it help us understand what our lives truly mean. We may wonder if there’s a purpose to our existence or if we’re just drifting through an indifferent world. This is the call to adventure—the deeper yearning within us to explore what lies beyond the material world, to seek answers that resonate with our souls.

Pope Paul VI once pointed out that our desire for spiritual fulfillment is a natural part of being human. We all feel the pull toward something greater than ourselves. The search for truth is a journey, a challenge, but one that ultimately leads to growth and transformation. For many, that truth is found in Jesus Christ, whose teachings of love, forgiveness, and redemption offer answers to our deepest questions.

The journey to spiritual fulfillment isn’t easy, but like any great adventure, it’s about stepping out of our comfort zones and embracing the unknown. It’s not just about seeking answers—it’s about finding the right answer that brings purpose, peace, and connection to our lives.

If you’ve ever wondered if there’s more to life, this is your invitation to begin the journey. The answers are out there, waiting to be discovered. Will you take the first step?

Written in collaboration with ChatGPT (OpenAI, 2025).

March 20, 2025
Microspheres Key to Church Renewal

I am dedicated to helping to promote the Kingdom of God in my parish and in my diocese. My goal is to find a way to promote the faith such that by 2030, the Archdiocese would be 4 times its current size, and have 1 priest for every 100 men.

Although my view really doesn’t matter, I see nothing wrong with the Teaching of the Church, the Hierarchy, or the Magesterium. As far as I can see, the shortcoming is in the gap between the priests and the lay people.

Although a parish may be the size of several brigades, it is as useless as a mob without some structure, network, and relationships.

Unfortunately, most of the time, it seems that the only thing that separates Catholics from the rest of the world is that 1 hour on Sunday when they actually separate themselves from the rest of the world.

If you know a tree by the fruit it produces, then you would have to say that most Catholics are unaware of the treasure that God is. They have been given a gold mine, but they act like it’s just yellow plastic.

These days most people prefer interacting with media, rather than with other human beings, often even in their own families.

I believe that the “Sense of Community” one has with his church or parish is directly related to the number of microsphere relationships (average of 30 minutes per week per person) he has within that church.

Would it take a network of 5, 10, or even 20 microsphere relationships experienced as shared lives, shared service, and shared support to create that sense of community? This would create the kind of environment where Catholics could find God and respond to their vocations.

If we could develop within the Church support groups for everyone, many of the problems that the Church now experiences would disappear.

It was the communities of brotherhoods that allowed Civilization to survive the invasions of Europe that occurred 1000 years ago. Something of that kind will be required to survive the current assault on our faith.

I do not believe it is necessarily the Church’s responsibility or even within their capability to bring about this change.

Tom Neugebauer

Seized by Christ

August 11, 2018
Neighbor Definition

I am in the process of trying to analyze what the Bible refers to as Neighbor.

The Bible says to Love your Neighbor. It also says that whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me. In the days of the Bible, if it involved a distance of more than 20 miles, the best you could hope to do was send a package or a gift.

The word Neighbor translates to Vecino in Spanish. Vecino is like the word Vicinity. And the direct literal translation from Spanish to English is Near.

A Neighbor is a person who is near. I would say that a neighbor is a person within your Microsphere.

The Bible says to whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me. The least of these would extend to those who you see regularly, but who are considered less by society.

That includes children, women, the poor and the infirm.

It also extends to strangers and your enemy. But even in these cases, it refers to a stranger that comes to you. And it also addresses an enemy who is near to you.

None of these references for neighbor, least of these, Stranger, or Enemy is a reference to significantly beyond your microsphere. I think this also brings in what the Catholic Church says about subsidiarity, that we are to focus on taking care of things at the most local level.

If we want to deal with what takes place in a foreign land, Jesus sent his disciples out with just their sandals, and not even any food to eat. He did not send them out with goods as gifts that might influence the receivers.

This model seems most like how the Amish and Mennonites live. The Mennonites have missions, but they mostly go live with the people and be an example. The Amish model does not allow for traveling great distances

Regards

Tom Neugebauer

Seized by Christ

August 11, 2018
Valley of the Shadow of Life

Those are the people who say to God: “Thy will be done.” No soul that seriously and constantly desires Joy will ever miss it. To those who seek, it is found. To those who knock, it is opened.

Ah, the saved . . . what happens to them is best described as the opposite of a mirage.

What seemed, when they entered it, to be the vale of misery, turns out, when they look back, to have been a well. And where present experience saw only salt deserts, memory truthfully records that the pools were full of water.

The good man’s past begins to change so that his forgiven sins and remembered sorrows take on the quality of Heaven

And that is why the Blessed will say, “We have never lived anywhere except in Heaven”

And perhaps ye had better not call this country Heaven. Not deep Heaven, ye understand. “Ye can call it the Valley of the Shadow of Life

C.S.Lewis – The Great Divorce

July 31, 2018
Spe Salvi 47

Section 47 is my favorite in the Encyclical Spe Salvi by Pope Benedict XVI. I never tire of reading and meditating on it. It is available in several locations including Vatican.va I have added sentence numbers, because the individual sentences are priceless. I refer to it a lot to describe the conversion process.

47.1 Some recent theologians are of the opinion that the fire which both burns and saves is Christ himself, the Judge and Savior.

47.2 The encounter with Him is the decisive act of judgment.

47.3 Before His Gaze all falsehood melts away.

47.4 This encounter with Him, as it burns us, transforms and frees us, allowing us to become truly ourselves.

47.5 All that we build during our lives can prove to be mere straw, pure bluster, and it collapses.

47.6 Yet in the pain of this encounter, when the impurity and sickness of our lives become evident to us, there lies salvation.

47.7 His Gaze, the touch of his heart heals us through an undeniably painful transformation “as though fire”.

47.8 But it is a blessed pain, in which the holy power of His Love sears through us like aflame, enabling us to become totally ourselves and thus totally of God.

47.9 In this way the inter-relation between justice and grace also becomes clear: the way we live our lives is not immaterial, but our defilement does not strain us forever if we have at least continued to reach out towards Christ, toward truth and towards love.

47.10 Indeed, it has already been burned away through Christ’s Passion.

47.11 At the moment of judgment we experience and we absorb the overwhelming power of His Love over all the evil in the world and in ourselves.

47.12 The pain of love becomes our salvation and our joy.

47.13 It is clear that we cannot calculate the “duration” of this transforming burning in terms of the chronological measurements of this world.

47.14 The transforming “moment” of this encounter eludes earthly time–reckoning–it is the heart’s time, it is the time of “passage” to communion with God in the Body of Christ (39).

47.15 The judgment of God is hope, both because it is justice and because it is grace.

47.16 If it were merely grace, making all earthly things cease to matter, God would still owe us an answer to the question about justice–the crucial question that we ask of history and of God.

47.17 If it were merely justice, in the end, it could bring only fear to us all.

47.18 The incarnation of God in Christ has so closely linked the two together–judgment and grace– that justice is firmly established: we all work out our salvation “with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12)

47.19 Nevertheless grace allows us all to hope, and to go trustfully to meet the Judge whom we know as our “advocate”, or parakletos (cf. 1 Jn 2:1)

POPE BENEDICT; SPE SALVI; NOVEMBER 30 2007

Plus, I would like to encourage comments on the content

Regards

Tom Neugebauer

Seized by Christ

July 29, 2018
Amour Laetitia Section 196 – 198

Amour Laetitia Section 196 – 198 (Pope Francis)

These passages talk about how the family’s small community, made up of extended family and close friends, should work.

196 A big heart

196.1 In addition to the small circle of the couple and their children, there is the larger family, which cannot be overlooked. 196.2 Indeed, “the love between husband and wife and, in a derivative and broader way, the love between members of the same family – between parents and children, brothers and sisters and relatives and members of the household – is given life and sustenance by an unceasing inner dynamism leading the family to ever deeper and more intense communion, which is the foundation and soul of the community of marriage and the family”.223 196.3 Friends and other families are part of this larger family, as well as communities of families who support one another in their difficulties, their social commitments and their faith.

197.1 This larger family should provide love and support to teenage mothers, children without parents, single mothers left to raise children, persons with disabilities needing particular affection and closeness, young people struggling with addiction, the unmarried, separated or widowed who are alone, and the elderly and infirm who lack the support of their children. 197.2 It should also embrace “even those who have made shipwreck of their lives”.224 197.3 This wider family can help make up for the shortcomings of parents, detect and report possible situations in which children suffer violence and even abuse, and provide wholesome love and family stability in cases when parents prove incapable of this.

198.1 Finally, we cannot forget that this larger family includes fathers-in-law, mothers-in-law and all the relatives of the couple. 198.2 One particularly delicate aspect of love is learning not to view these relatives as somehow competitors, threats or intruders. 198.3 The conjugal union demands respect for their traditions and customs, an effort to understand their language and to refrain from criticism, caring for them and cherishing them while maintaining the legitimate privacy and independence of the couple. 198.4 Being willing to do so is also an exquisite expression of generous love for one’s spouse.

NOTE 223: John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio (22 November 1981), 18: AAS 74 (1982), 101

July 25, 2018