Lenten Hair Cuts

My son needed his hair cut. His eight-year-old sister even commented that his eyes are in his hair. No, sweetie, his hair is in his eyes. Haircutting in our house means we all watch a movie while the “victim,” perched on a wobbly stool, gets his head shaved by mom. Well, it used to be shaved when the boys were little tykes, but now the constant reminder is, “Not too much, mom.”

So I checked out our DVD/video collection. No one seemed interested in Learning How to Sing or Darwinism on Trial, so I kept hunting. Oh, another day, another time. Then I found the perfect fit. It is Lent after all. I announced, “We are going to watch, I Don’t Believe in God, I Know God by Fr. Rick Wendell.” The rabble rousers did not rise up in arms.

After setting up the temporary barber shop, we popped in the DVD and all settled in to watch, while I snipped away. Let me say it is hard to concentrate on cutting hair when you are listening to, that is, watching a captivating speaker. I really didn’t expect it to be so engrossing. The poor “child” is lucky he didn’t lose any flesh on his ears or receive any nicks on his skin.

Recorded before a live audience, Fr. Rick recounts the dramatic account of his life story. Beginning with his youth, he relates his conversation or reconversion to the faith, depending on how you look at it, since he never really practiced it. But most amazingly of all is his death experience. This is the moment that transformed him.

Through his mother’s request, God gave him another chance at life. The doctors could not resuscitate him. He lay in ER, brain dead, his body waiting to have his organs harvested, when his mother begged God to bring her son back, whole or not at all.

While she was pleading for his life, he was experiencing the afterlife. Totally entranced by the immense power of God’s love, he had no desire to return. But
God had other plans.

Eventually, God brought him back to life, miraculously, without any complications. After he returned, he felt God had given him this chance for a purpose. Initially engaged to be married, they broke the engagement because of financial circumstances.

While God’s call was certainly dramatic, he resisted it. Being a priest was the last thing on earth he could imagine himself to be. Up to this point, he had lived anything but a holy life. Eventually, he succumbed to the “hound of heaven.” Thankfully, he answered God’s call to the priesthood, a life of service to God and his people.

I urge you to view this DVD. It is a beacon of hope in a world gone awry. There still are conversions in the world, dramatic conversions, displaying the immense power of God’s love.

Available at www.jmjmediagroup.com

Published by Catholic Exchange April 2, 2009.
Lenten Hair Cuts