{"id":59929,"date":"2011-05-27T02:58:03","date_gmt":"2011-05-27T02:58:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thesmokingpriest\/?p=59929"},"modified":"2011-05-27T13:54:59","modified_gmt":"2011-05-27T13:54:59","slug":"my-first-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/2011\/05\/my-first-flight.html","title":{"rendered":"My First Flight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently I began to reflect on the first time I was on a plane.\u00a0 It was 1980 and I had just finished my first two years of seminary training for the Catholic priesthood and now I was being sent to Spain for my third year of seminary.\u00a0 The flight was from New York to Madrid and I was so excited.\u00a0 I was thrilled about flying for the first time and I was eager about going to Europe.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many years have gone by since my first flight.\u00a0\u00a0 Now, my priestly ministry brings me to the airport a lot and all of the excitement about flying is gone.<\/span><\/p>\n

I complain that I am being charged extra money for my checked bag. \u00a0I complain about taking my shoes off.\u00a0 I complain that I can\u2019t bring my bottled water through security.\u00a0 I complain that I have to take my laptop out of my carry-on.\u00a0 I complain that someone is scanning my body.\u00a0 I complain that the plane is too small.\u00a0 I complain that there is no leg room.\u00a0 I complain that there is no food or that the food stinks.<\/span><\/p>\n

All of the excitement and the illusion of that first flight to Madrid are gone.<\/span><\/p>\n

As I remember that first flight and my bad attitude about flying today, I realize that perhaps that just might be my attitude about life in general.<\/span><\/p>\n

Have we lost the excitement?\u00a0 Have we lost the illusion?\u00a0 Do we still dream?<\/span><\/p>\n

Dude, go back and think about the first time that you met your spouse.\u00a0 Wow.\u00a0 Think about your wedding day and your first years of marriage.\u00a0 Wonderful.<\/span><\/p>\n

The years have gone by and what is going on now?\u00a0 You are complaining that your wife is fat or that your husband is a lazy slob.\u00a0 You complain that you can\u2019t pay your bills and just about everything else that is going on in your life today.<\/span><\/p>\n

Enough!\u00a0 Let\u2019s stop the complaining!\u00a0 Dude, we are Christians and we are supposed to be an Easter people.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking of flying, do you remember when the Concorde used to fly?\u00a0 Wow.\u00a0 You could leave Paris at 11 AM and get to New York the same day at 9 AM.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s Easter!<\/span><\/p>\n

With Jesus, we know that we are journeying, not to the sunset, but to the sunrise.<\/span><\/p>\n

And Easter is not just one Sunday a year.\u00a0 No.\u00a0 We are an Easter people and Easter is every day.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, stop the freaking complaining!<\/span><\/p>\n

Sure life is difficult.\u00a0 People get sick and die.\u00a0 Jobs are lost.\u00a0 Thing happen; even crazy things like earthquakes, tornadoes and wars.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, Jesus has risen from the dead and we have to be totally convinced that \u201cby turning everything to their good, God co-operates with all those who love him, with all those that he has called according to his purpose\u201d<\/em> (Romans 8: 28).<\/span><\/p>\n

Remember that first time when you took off from that first airport and live life with that same excitement and enthusiasm.\u00a0 Do not let the difficulties; the challenges and even the disappointments of life diminish your excitement and enthusiasm.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI rescue all who cling to me, I protect whoever knows my name, I answer everyone who invokes me, I am with them when they are in trouble; I bring them safety and honor.\u00a0 I give them life, long and full, and show them how I can save\u201d<\/em> (Psalm 91: 14-16).<\/span><\/p>\n

By the way, I wrote this while listening to the most awesome jazz music.\u00a0 I would have smoked a cigar too, but I don\u2019t want to stink up my office.\u00a0 So, time to go and stink up my house with a great cigar.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hey, did you know that I wrote my second book?\u00a0 Check it out on my website<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 It will change your life.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently I began to reflect on the first time I was on a plane.\u00a0 It was 1980 and I had just finished my first two years of seminary training for the Catholic priesthood and now I was being sent to Spain for my third year of seminary.\u00a0 The flight was from New York to Madrid…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":382,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,84,83],"tags":[18,28,30,16,29],"class_list":["post-59929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholic-spirituality","category-easter","category-jesus","tag-easter","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-jesus","tag-motivation"],"yoast_head":"\nMy First Flight - The Smoking Priest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/2011\/05\/my-first-flight.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"My First Flight - The Smoking Priest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recently I began to reflect on the first time I was on a plane.\u00a0 It was 1980 and I had just finished my first two years of seminary training for the Catholic priesthood and now I was being sent to Spain for my third year of seminary.\u00a0 The flight was from New York to Madrid…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/2011\/05\/my-first-flight.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Smoking Priest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-05-27T02:58:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-05-27T13:54:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Father James Farfaglia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"My First Flight - The Smoking Priest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/2011\/05\/my-first-flight.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"My First Flight - The Smoking Priest","og_description":"Recently I began to reflect on the first time I was on a plane.\u00a0 It was 1980 and I had just finished my first two years of seminary training for the Catholic priesthood and now I was being sent to Spain for my third year of seminary.\u00a0 The flight was from New York to Madrid…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/2011\/05\/my-first-flight.html","og_site_name":"The Smoking Priest","article_published_time":"2011-05-27T02:58:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-05-27T13:54:59+00:00","author":"Father James Farfaglia","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/2011\/05\/my-first-flight.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/2011\/05\/my-first-flight.html","name":"My First Flight - The Smoking Priest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-05-27T02:58:03+00:00","dateModified":"2011-05-27T13:54:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/#\/schema\/person\/5ba36445fd924e8858c4ed757531d02c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/2011\/05\/my-first-flight.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/2011\/05\/my-first-flight.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/2011\/05\/my-first-flight.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"My First Flight"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/","name":"The Smoking Priest","description":"Just another Beliefnet Blog site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/#\/schema\/person\/5ba36445fd924e8858c4ed757531d02c","name":"Father James Farfaglia","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/fe4\/fe492cc6d06474fdf10dd185cec77b83x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/fe4\/fe492cc6d06474fdf10dd185cec77b83x96.jpg","caption":"Father James Farfaglia"},"description":"Father James Farfaglia is the founding pastor of Saint Helena of the True Cross of Jesus Catholic Church. He is presently the new pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church. Both parishes are located in Corpus Christi, Texas. You can learn more about Father James, read his homilies and purchase his books by visiting him on the web at www.fatherjames.org.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.fatherjames.org"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/author\/jfarfaglia"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/382"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59929"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59932,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59929\/revisions\/59932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}