Ring. Ring. Ring.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9

Just last night I was about to head to bed for the night after a long day of work. It was 10pm, I turned off my light, pulled over the covers, closed my eyes, and just then... the phone rings.

***Ring***Ring***Ring***

"Hello?"

The voice on the other end of the phone began to tell me about the past 17 days and how he has been sober after fighting an alcohol addiction for 24 years.

"I'm telling you brother, 5-6 pints of 100 proof vodka each day. And ever since that night... nothing! It's a miracle man."

"That night" which he was referring to took place 17 days ago with another late night phone call from (let's call him) Jay. Jay called me after watching the HBO film Hard as Nails and was pouring out his heart about his struggle to overcome alcoholism and the effect that it was having on his family. His wife and children were not home for Christmas this year. We prayed together that night on the phone - two brothers crying out to the Lord to PLEASE HELP.

"I am telling you Tim, I know that you were tired that night, but staying awake with me, listening to me, and praying with me... it made a difference. Thank you."

You know what, I WAS tired that night. I was REAL tired that night. I even questioned as I went to bed that night whether I could have prayed "harder" for Jay. Can I be real with you all? Ok. Well... I ask the Lord for these opportunities to serve Him but often the Lord provides those opportunities at the wrong time - like 11pm at night after a long day of working to serve Him. A true saint would jump at the opportunity to serve the Lord no matter what the time or inconvenience. I guess it is true that the Lord's POWER is made perfect in our weakness.

-Tim Hanley
Hard as Nails Ministries
Newark, NJ

Give God Everything.

The Lord looked into her eyes,

filled with complete desperation,

and gently asked her...

"Alisha, who do you believe that I am?"

"Lord", she responded,

"I believe you are the Lord,

the one true God, the King".

He paused for a moment

then asked her,

"What do you believe I can do?"

"Lord," she said,

"I believe You can do anything Lord… everything".

The Lord said to her,

"… then let Me Alisha. Give Me everything…"

My brothers and sisters, let God in. Give Him everything.

+ Raquel Jimenez

Hard as Nails Ministries

New York, NY

Shadows.

You can't see me.

The reflections of this man stand
about 12 feet,
making it seem as if I can understand
the plan of the Lamb
to see me be... slaughtered.

I spread my arms to embrace
a life of what ifs and maybes,
and in doing so the only surety is revealed
in the shadow of this act - the cross.

I wish to gaze heavenward at the Glorious Christ
manifesting Himself in Splendor
and Majesty - the Resurrection and
an uncertain understanding of suffering redeemed.

Instead, my eyes fix themselves downward
upon the shadow of redemption itself,
the instrument by which those sufferings
can make sense.

I seek to run
from the shadow,
to the only refuge - darkness -
yet even there it exists
though not perceived with lack of light.

Truth revealed and hard learned -
stretch my arms out
to embrace love in the light,
and become the one
who casts the shadow of the cross
before my own self.

-Tim Hanley
Hard as Nails Ministries
Newark, NJ

Smile and nod.

Just the other night I was chilling outside the Hard as Nails office in Newark, NJ on the streets. Now if you know 8th Street in Newark... enough said. So this guy is walking toward me face to the ground but eyes right on me. I am thinking "Aight, who's this character? Never seen him before." As he approaches I have three options, either (1) look the other way and pay no attention (most common), (2) stare him down as he does the same to me (not a great idea), or (3) smile, say hello, and wish him a happy new year. So, I take a chance and smile, "What's up bro? Happy New Year man."

Why am I so afraid of rejection? There's something in me that hesitates and wonders "well what if he doesn't want me to say hello and just keeps walking." Can you relate? When I was in college, me and a best friend used to tally the number of smiles we could get from people walking down campus. If you got a look that was 1 point (at least they acknowledged you), a smile was 2 points, and if you got a smile and a simple "hey" you hit the jackpot. It was amazing how people would do whatever they could to avoid eye contact and any type of interaction. "Hey there, how's it going?"... and absolutely no response, as if I were talking to a wall. We've done the same thing in Manhattan and I think 4 points is the current High Score.

Anyway, back to the other night in Newark. So after my comment, Mr. Thug Daddy turns to me and quickly his snarl turns into a smile and he stops in mid stride, turns back around to give me daps, and says,

"Yeah, happy new year to you too."

"Thanks bro, God bless you tonight. Stay outta trouble."

"Yeah I will. God bless you too my brother."

Bless somebody today who you don't know and make them smile with a nice word of encouragement. The Lord calls us out of our "comfort zone" in order to make a difference in the lives of others. When we are a little uncomfortable, it makes us turn to the LORD and rely on Him all the more. I mean heck its a small challenge, but I bet it will go a long way.

-Tim Hanley
Hard as Nails Ministries
Newark, NJ

Re-solutions.

So, it's about that time of year again where we have made another New Years resolution that is just a bit more than we can realistically maintain over time. Right? Or maybe we have the ability to stay faithful to these resolutions, but today on day number two , I am beginning to question whether I really want to do ALL of that. I mean come on... no chocolate for a whole year? Running 27 miles everyday for the next 365 days? Seems a little extreme doesn't it?

In the life of faith, I sometimes find myself slipping a little bit in different areas. Take for example my prayer life. If I notice that I have been unfaithful to a daily prayer life of spending time with my Lord, it is easy to go into "PERFECTION MODE" where I come up with everything that I need to do each day in order to get back on track.

"Ok... I need to go to Mass, spend a holy hour in prayer at the chapel, pray a rosary, read a chapter of the Bible, pray Morning - Evening - and Night prayer, and of course read a chapter from a spiritual book and contemplate how to apply it to my life. And when I get it all done today, then I have to hold myself accountable to doing it again tomorrow. I'll be back on track in no time!"

A bit ridiculous huh? We then realize that we can't maintain such a crazy schedule after doing nothing for the past two months. So, we give up, go back to doing nothing at all, and then a month later we try to go into "PERFECTION MODE" once again. After this hasn't worked a few times, then I try to come up with another solution to the "problem" of my lacking prayer life. After that solution doesn't work, then I try another solution. This turns into a vicious cycle of solution after solution, and resolution after resolution - and then we never really make a change.

Here's my quick suggestion... pick one thing to focus on in your life right now. Maybe its a particular struggle or addiction that needs to be rooted out of your life. Maybe its a need to grow in your knowledge of scripture. Maybe its a need for more quite time with Jesus. Whatever it is, pick the ONE thing that stands out to you as that which will most positively affect your life of faith. Ok... got it? Now come up with a realistic game plan to focus on that thing over the next day. Then execute that game plan today and tomorrow. You did it? Good. Now keep focused on working on that issue until you are comfortable with the progress you have made and feel that its time to move onto the next thing that needs tending to in your life. This may take weeks or months. Just be faithful to the small things and you will find that over time the Lord does change us. Don't be satisfied simply with a DESIRE for change. Make an effort to be faithful to Our Lord in the small stuff, and you will see that He will turn that DESIRE into a REALITY.

-Tim Hanley
Hard as Nails Ministries
Newark, NJ

Love, The Bond of Perfection

My heart was moved with conviction as I heard the second reading at Mass yesterday. The conviction: that something in me needed to change.

"Brothers and sisters: Put on, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection." Colossians 3: 12-14

Yesterday the Church celebrated the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. The readings lead us to reflect on the areas of our family life that need improving. I could not help but think about my own family and how I've been failing in truly loving them. I felt the Lord calling me to love them as He loves me… without measure.

In the family of Jesus, we find the perfect model for family life. The second scripture reading, part of which I quoted above, gives us the formula for loving them. Saint Paul lists the virtues that characterized the love of the Holy Family - love that is compassionate, kind, humble, gentle and patient. Our Lord gives us the opportunity to express these virtues everyday in our family relationships. Each is a manifestation of His love…

Love is the summary of all things. It is the beginning, end and goal of everything. May Our Lord fill our hearts with a passionate love for Him, profound knowledge of His virtues and a sincere appreciation for the family with which we have been blessed.

+ Raquel Jimenez
Hard as Nails Ministries
New York, NY

All talk?

Today we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. As a man, I am so inspired by Joseph's faithfulness and action. Have you ever heard someone referring to another person as "all talk?" There's this part of guys that is constantly battling to be the best. I can remember stories being told in my college football locker room by one guy, and another would say "Oh come on, you're all talk!"

In the scriptures, we see a model of manhood in Joseph that shows us he was "all action." We never hear words spoken by Joseph, we only hear words spoken to him. Following the words of the angel of the Lord to Joseph, he is always quick to act. He is a man of ACTION!!! Check out one example from the following quote in today's readings:

"... the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, 'Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.' Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt." Matthew 2:13-14

As the earthly father of Jesus, Joseph would have been the man who taught Jesus how to be a man. Sounds like some task huh? Imagine raising the Son of God and teaching him how to be a real man. If Joseph was good enough to teach Jesus how to be a man, then he's definitely someone I have lots to learn from. I guess I can start by becoming a man who "does" more and "talks" less.

I'll pose the challenge for all men reading this to spend this day as a man of action. Remember we have nothing to prove to anyone except our Lord Jesus Christ. When we start concerning ourselves with Christ alone, it is then that we will become powerful witnesses to the world. He proves his love for us, its time we start proving our love for him. It's time we stop the talk and PROVE IT like Joseph did. So what's the Lord asking you to DO?

-Tim Hanley
Hard as Nails Ministries
Newark, NJ

My Lord and my God!

"Lord, I believe... help my unbelief."

This is such a beautiful prayer which we can utter over and over throughout the day and all the days of our life. It's ok if there is a part in you that struggles to believe in Jesus or doesn't quite "get it all." In these times of uncertainty simply close your eyes and speak to the Lord as if He was your best friend just sitting down right next to you. Even in the most unsure moments in our lives there is at least a tiny part of us that believes and wants to believe. With that part of yourself, speak to the Lord from your heart and say, "Lord, I believe... help my unbelief."

-Tim Hanley
Hard as Nails Ministries
Newark, NJ

Long daze.

The days after Christmas can be so tiring, can't they? After a long day with family, eating, chasing little cousins around the living room table, etc... I found myself in a daze yesterday, very sluggish, and trying to motivate myself to do anything - even to pray. Yes, that's right! Praying doesn't always come easy does it? This can be a great invitation to offer a beautiful prayer of sacrifice to the Lord. By sacrifice, I mean sacrificing what I "feel" like doing (sitting on the couch and watch TV) in order to do what I know is best for me (spending some time in prayer with Jesus.)

Yesterday we celebrated the life of Stephen, the first martyr in the church's history. Luke tells us about Stephen in the Acts of the Apostles. "As they were stoning Stephen, he called out
'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.'" - Acts 7:59 Can you imagine the faith it must take to be a martyr - to die for your faith in Jesus? Well we can't begin to imagine giving up our whole lives for Jesus if we can't even give him that moment when we don't feel like spending time with Him in prayer. These moments come everyday where we have the decision to choose Christ or say "no." Choosing Christ in the little things is a way that we "die to ourselves" and allow Christ to live in us. "Dying to ourselves" simply means that we accept what the Lord desires for us, even when it is contrary to what we want at the moment. By doing this over and over again we become martyrs in the ordinary circumstances of life.

The words martyr comes from the Greek word "martus" - which means witness. In order to be a witness to Christ, the Lord asks us to offer the little things to Him. When we don't want to clean the dishes, we do it anyway. When we don't want to spend those ten minutes in prayer, we do it anyway. When we don't want to get our sister a glass of water because "she can get it herself," we do it anyway. If we can't offer Christ these little things each day, how could we ever offer Him our life? A true martyr (witness) is born from the small sacrifice of the daily grind. So the next time its just been a long day... persevere and remember to say "YES" to our Lord, no matter how long the day has been.

-Tim Hanley
Hard as Nails Ministries
Newark, NJ

The Best Christmas Presence.

So did anyone get any good presents yesterday? I got a new 2008 planner, a few shirts, even a new pair of throw back Jesus sandals. How about you? Anything good?

It's so easy to get caught up in the exchange of presents on Christmas and forget about HIS PRESENCE on Christmas. On this joy filled day, we should really celebrate the greatest of all presents, which is the LORD's PRESENCE in our lives. His entrance into our lives calls for much rejoicing.

One area I would like to suggest working on over these next days is called the "practice of the presence of God." God is always present, right? Always there for us, right? Yes! and yes! Well when we practice the presence of God in our lives, we try our best to remember throughout the day that God is right there by our side and in our hearts all the time. We can do this by simply talking to Him and saying hello at various times throughout the day. Little "thank you's" go a long way. Go ahead, try it. All day today, try as hard as you can to remember Jesus in all things that you are doing. Thank Him for as many things as you can. "Thanks for this toothpaste Jesus." "Thank you for hot water to take this shower." "Thanks for this shirt that I am putting on Jesus." "Thank you Lord for this car that I can drive to work." "Thanks for getting me to work safely Lord." etc...

Brother Lawrence, a Carmelite monk who lived in the 1600's said this, "In the practice of the presence of God we call Our Father to mind at every possible moment. At every opportunity, we focus our attention on Him and silently say, "Thank You, Father" throughout each day."

On Christmas day we said "thank you" for every gift that we received, let's try our hardest to say thank you to the Lord for all of the gifts we receive today, most especially the greatest present of them all - His PRESENCE in our lives!

-Tim Hanley
Hard as Nails Ministries
Newark, NJ

God is with us.

"Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel." - Matthew 1:23

The world seems so broken, is God really with us? My life is such a mess, is God really with me? I was thinking and praying on this for some time and it hit me hard that there is a big difference between (1) Jesus coming to simply dwell AMONG us, versus (2) Jesus coming to dwell as "God WITH us" - Emmanuel. Emmanuel means "God is with us." (Mt 11:23) Look at those words - AMONG and WITH.

When Jesus comes into the world as the little baby born in the manger, He is entering into our very lives... the God of the universe taking on human flesh. God... GOD! enters WITHIN the very flesh of a baby and becomes a human just like you and me (except for sin). This is much crazier than we typically think of it. This is much more than little baby Jesus dolls lying down in a manger scene. If the God of the Universe had the POWER and the CARE to become a little baby in order to save his people, what makes you think that He wouldn't want to enter more deeply into your life and circumstances right now... in the year 2007. He entered as deeply into the lives of humankind as He could when He became a man, and even that is not enough because the real truth is that He wants to enter into you! into me! He wants to be "God with us" everyday, in all our thoughts, actions, and in our very lives. This is the coming of Emmanuel as we await His next coming in GLORY.

I was chatting recently with numerous people who have expressed a sadness and depression as Christmas approaches and they are struggling to "get their act together" in their lives. Many people will go without family and feel alone this Christmas. Some because of addictions, some because they lost a loved one, others because something in their life is not the way they wish it would be. Christ comes to us this Christmas and says, "Hey, can I be God WITH you this Christmas?" And not only this Christmas, but all the days to come as well.

-Tim Hanley
Hard as Nails Ministries
Newark, NJ