November 2016

New Evangelists Monthly - November 2016

New Evangelists Monthly - November 2016

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...about this eBook

Thirst Awakened

Amazing Nearness by Shannon

The little things are really the great things...

Pauca Verba by Fr. Stephen Morris

Secret of Inner Peace

A Spiritual Journey by David Wong

Sponsoring a Child Through Compassion International

Campfires and Cleats by Chris Capolino

A simple explanation of justification

Catholicism and Adventism by Stephen Korsman

Picking Up the Pieces From a Divided Election

If I Might Interject

It Is Time To Walk

Maria Morera Johnson by Maria Johnson

Image and Likeness: Literary Reflections on the Theology of the Body

by Carolyn Astfalk

Grace in a graceless season

by Ellen Kolb

Pregnancy & Infant Loss

by Kim Padan

Pause for Prayer

A Concord Pastor Comments by Fr. Austin Fleming

We Know Who Wins

Wild Things Farm by Sarah

My Friends are Heathens

Erin McCole Cupp by Erin Cupp

I Have Cancer But Please, Don't Kill My Baby to Save Me

Catholic Stand by Birgit Jones

Delving Deep In History Brought Me Home

A Faith-Full Life by Adam Crawford

Amazing Results With the Rosary

Plot Line and Sinker (Ellen Gable, Author) by Ellen Gable Hrkach

Socrates, Crito, and the 2016 Election

Backs of People's Heads and Baby Faces by Katie O'Keefe

The Witness of Chains: Of Apostolicity and Confinement

God-Haunted Lunatic by Rick Becker

Like water from a dam

Peace Garden Passage by Roxane Salonen

Cliffhangers and Cliffs

String of Pearls by Laura Pearl

Anger Will Destroy You, If You Let It

by Virginia Lieto

Election 2016 - There May Still be Hope

It Makes Sense to Me by Larry Peterson

Unelectable

Convert Journal by George M. Sipe

The Challenge to Be Courageously Catholic

Catholic Stand by Denise Hunnell

Healing Our Memories

Catholic Champion Blog by Denise Hunnell

Deacons and priests need to work together

Catholic Deacon by Deacon Scott Dodge

Helpfulness

Bible Meditations by Barbara Hosbach

Behold!

by Tony Agnesi

It is all going to be OKAY

Quiet Consecration by Leslie Klinger

Confirmation: Our Call to Become Saints

Theologyisaverb by Elizabeth Reardon

What I Wish People Knew About Being Pro-life

Under Thy Roof by Kirby Hoberg

Lazy Parenting

Sweeping Up Joy by Alicia

Without the Inspired Word we can do Nothing

Bartimaeus' Quiet Place by Bartimaeus Timeo

Deliver Us From Evil

Classical Catholic Education by Mark Langley

Zero to One (Peter Thiel)

Catholic Book Report by Aaron Martin

The Saints Speak About Love

joy of nine9 by Melanie Jean Juneau

The Altitude of Going Deep

bukas palad by Fr. Adrian Danker

Blue Pillow

Grace to Paint by Sister Maresa Lilley

A Mother's Act of Contrition

The Heart's Overflow by Anna Coyne

The One Essential Thing: Generosity

Designs by Birgit by Birgit Jones

A Plea To Save Human Lives and Souls!

Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation by Michael Seagriff

All You Need is Love

Your Holy Family by Allen Hebert

The path toward service as a permanent deacon

Hermano Juancito by Hermano Juancito

A Masterpiece of your Hands

On the Road to Damascus by Robert Collins

Jesus, Remember Me When

Journey to Wisdom by Larry 'T' Smith

Bioethics and a Three-Parent Baby

A Catholic Citizen in America by Brian Gill

What Our Bunny Taught Me About God

Shifting My Perspective by Claire McGarry

On Generational Spirits

by Vijaya Bodach

I Don't Have To Do It All

Creo en Dios! by Susan Stabile

Unbound

With Us Still by John Schroeder

How I'll Spend Election Day

Mere Observations by Jeff Walker

Mourning for My Maker

by David Torkington

Eroticization and the unique developmental process of human persons

In the Breaking of the Bread by Fr. Gilles Surprenant

Too Apologetic: An Open Letter to a University Admissions Office

FranciscanMom by Barbara Szyszkiewicz

Remembering to Have the Faith of a Child

Catholic Conundrum by Christina Nagy

Temple in Mystery

Thoughts of a Young Catholic Medic by Chibuzor Ogamba

Scripture and Grace

The Catholic Spiritual Life by Eric Johnston

When the Sign of the cross said "Thank You, Lord!"

A Moment From De Sales by Fr. Richard DeLillio

We Cannot Live Lives Of Spiritual Arrogance And Cowardice

Boldly Catholic by Rick Rice

What is the cup of God's wrath? How does it differ from the chastisement of God's children?

Washed, Sanctified and Justified by De Maria

You've Got Your Hands Full!

Little Douglings by Carissa Douglas

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New Evangelists Monthly is an informal, dynamic, crowd-sourced “meta-magazine” showcasing the best posts faithful Catholic bloggers publish each month. Here you will find many different, but faithfully Catholic viewpoints, insights and perspectives.

Contributing authors submit their very best piece from the prior month between subsequent first and second Saturdays. Readers are welcome to visit anytime, even while contributions are still being accepted for a new issue. Back issues are available in the archive.

eBook editions such as this are available within a few days following submission deadlines (the second Saturday of each month). eBook formats include .mobi for Kindle users, .epub for most other eBook readers and .pdf for everyone else.

For the latest edition of New Evangelists Monthly, or for more information about this New Evangelization initiative, visit us at:

NewEvangelists.org

COPYRIGHT NOTICE:   Regardless of where you enjoy New Evangelists Monthly, either online or in this format, note that copyright is exclusively retained by the respective contributing authors. If you wish to use or redistribute any of their content, please contact them directly for licensing information.

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Thirst Awakened [at Amazing Nearness]

Two steps into the sanctuary I could feel a surprising weight. It was as if the air was pushing down on my body. The smell of Lilies filled the medieval church and evoked memories of Easter, water, and fire!

My eyes searched the ornate altarpiece for the notorious Eucharistic miracle of Santarem. Since 1247, the Host of Jesus’s Body has bled.

High above the altar in a small golden monstrance, the Host of Our Lord is on display. A golden tabernacle protects this divine miracle.

Almost as soon as I found a place to kneel, relieving the pressure of the air, the small golden door on the tabernacle closed. My knees ached against the bare wooden kneeler and my heart sighed. Could I not get closer? Could I not see with more than my heart? Like all good and true desires of my heart, God was about to exceed my expectations and delight both my eyes and my heart!

Adoration of God in the Eucharist proceeds from the belief/truth of The Real Presence of Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity under the appearance of bread and wine. No reflection on the Blood of Jesus would be complete without recalling the mystical intimacy Catherine of Siena had with Christ’s passion and Blood.

St. Catherine spoke incessantly of Christ’s Blood. She asserted the need to drink in the grace of Christ’s Blood and become “drunk” on the love poured out in the shedding of this sacred Blood. In one rather remarkable gift of grace, Catherine was permitted to drink the Blood of Christ directly from his side!

Catherine, reflecting on her spiritual children, declared, “Indeed, they go into battle filled and inebriated with the blood of Christ crucified . . . they will pass through the narrow gate drunk, as it were, with the blood of the spotless Lamb.”

By partaking in the Blood of Christ, her thirst was awakened, not quenched. The more she drank in of Christ, the more she desired. Her soul was intoxicated by the love found in Christ’s Blood!

Almost in mid-thought, a Portuguese woman in broken English interrupted my contemplation of Catherine. She bid my group of pilgrims approach the altar revealing a side staircase. The marble floor surrounding the altar gave way to a set of wooden stairs. The walls inside the staircase were covered in religious art and statues of Our Lady and various saints were tucked into every corner. An eclectic assortment of religious items was displayed in glass cases. Somewhere from behind the wall men’s voices were suddenly raised in Gregorian chant.

I climbed the hidden staircase only to find another narrow metal set of stairs at the top. One by one each member of our group ascended and returned. No one spoke. No one looked at each other.

Finally, it was my turn to climb the narrow stair. Up, up I climbed and then I saw Him! Almost six inches from my eyes, separated by merely a pane of glass, I gazed on my beloved Creator. The consecrated Host (the same consecrated at every Mass) was before me! This time the Host was covered in bright red blood! The clotted blood looked as if today His flesh had been torn open for my sins! Torn open for love of me!

Stupefied, I said and did nothing! For several moments I forgot to pray, or how to pray! His love on display, I felt the thirst and intoxication Catherine spoke about. So all I could do in that moment was to whisper through the glass, “I love you.”

This contribution is available at http://amazingnearness.com/2016/10/19/thirst-awakened/
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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The little things are really the great things... [at Pauca Verba]

This lovely, autumn-time, native aster is blooming now in Pennsylvania. Here it grows happily along the edge of the woods in dappled light. It is called Aster Cordifolius or Blue Wood Aster. The thin stems send up big, long-lasting clouds of delicate, powder blue flowers. Each flower is about the size of a baby aspirin. The clusters sway or shake gently when there's a breeze.

In his essay, Wild Fruits, Henry David Thoreau quotes the nature-philosopher Pliny (though the quote isn't verified anywhere) "In minimus Natura praestat" - Nature excels in the least things. Aster Cordifolius affirms Pliny's claim.

And a Jesuit priest-author writes, "Christians live under the sign of the diminutive." Indeed, all throughout the Gospels, Jesus, referencing the small and least things, teaches us about the divine things that matter most. 

the tiny mustard seed that becomes a great bush

the bit of yeast that leavens the whole dough

the widow's coin of least value worth more than grandiose gifts

a few loaves and some dried fish to feed thousands

the little pearl bought by selling everything

small children gathered by Jesus to teach us how to receive God's mercy

the smallest of birds carefully observed by God

the tiny child of insignificant Bethlehem, who is God with us.

We might look and listen for small and least today. God is near.

In the morning as the leaves still drip with rain from last night's storm.

A young mother in the park, feeding her toddler who sits in the stroller.

The sales person so genuinely helpful.

There are tropical plants and even fish in the islands throughout the mall.

A shade of green today that I'd never seen before.

The surprise of a polite driver who knew what the YIELD sign means.

I heard church bells today...

and wispy clouds against a blue, blue sky.

A last robin hanging around made me think of spring for a moment.

The tender story of an old black and white film.

Out of season, the Magnolia has sent out two waxy, deep pink flowers.

The radio song that brought back a lovely memory.

How delightful - the first apples of autumn.

( Fill in the blanks)

This contribution is available at http://paucaverba.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-little-things-are-really-great.html
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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Secret of Inner Peace [at A Spiritual Journey]

        Lesson from today's Gospel reading from Luke 14. Jesus went to dine at the home of a leading Pharisees. He said to the host who invited him, "When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." Indeed, before we invite someone to eat with us, we even consider if that person has ever invited us or if he has, how many times, how good the food was, etc. The same consideration is given when giving a gift. (This reminds me of the "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" saying.) Where is genuine generosity? What Jesus has taught is that we must do good from the heart and not for the sake of repayment. Love must be unconditional. To summarize it further: we must be completely selfless and do good for the sake of pleasing God alone. As a matter of fact, this is the secret of inner peace, when we exclude ourselves (our own egos) from the equation. 

This contribution is available at http://journeyofimperfectsaint.blogspot.com/2016/10/secret-of-inner-peace.html
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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Sponsoring a Child Through Compassion International [at Campfires and Cleats]

writing off of a one word prompt daily.

I'm thrilled to take part and hope my writing 
improves and deepens, given 

a "forced" appointment with my blogger draft daily!

                                                                    So here goes:

"Neighbor"

Not the across the street

or down the block neighbors. 
Not  the neighbors whose kids we carpool,

cheer on from the sidelines along with our own,

plan those block parties alongside, 
or with whom we happily attend backyard birthday parties.

These neighbors are the ones we've never met....

 Our brothers and sisters on the other side of the globe.

Ghana....once  known as The Gold Coast,

is now, The Warrior King.........

 to reflect the ancient empire that 

flourished in West Africa during the 10th century.

Ghanaians highly value dignity and proper social conduct.

Along with different ethnic groups and cultures,  52 separate languages and hundreds of dialects are spoken in Ghana.  The official language is English —  left over from British colonial rule,  from which Ghana gained independence in 1957.

Ghanaians emphasize social values ~  importance of family,  respect for the elderly.

An entire family shares any loss of honor, 

which makes the culture a collective one. 

To protect this, there is a need to maintain harmony. 

People behave with decorum to ensure 

 no embarrassment is brought to others.

Ghanaians need us......and we have the ability to help

through Compassion International.,,,,,,

but friends, it seems we need them..... no?

We, Americans, especially in our current political climate

of hate and divisive finger pointing,

 could take a page out of the Ghanaians' book

on kindness and respect.

 Along with seriousness about their own customs and traditions,  I'm given to understand that Ghanaians happily learn about and adopt other cultures and practices.  Ghana is a comfortable, easy country in which to reside and visit. "Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord,  and he will reward them for what they have done."
- Proverbs 19:17 I'm honored that my little corner of the web was chosen by   Compassion International!   Compassion advocates for children in need globally, freeing them  from poverty and providing them with the resources to become successful, responsible Christian adults. outsiders to visit.

Hey, have you entered the 

What are you waiting for??

Go ahead over and enter!
Good luck!

Dayspring is a partner in the #write31days challenge!!

All profits from the book will be divided equally between 

two ministries in South Africa: 

So, grab the book, support essential ministries, enrich your life!
And join us for #FMF this Friday and every Friday!

          Image result for home themed blog post dividers shabby blogs    Friends, as always,  

thank you for stopping over and 

spending some of your precious time 

here at my home on the web!

Have you signed up to receive my posts in your email inbox?

   If not, just click here to 

quickly and easily  so we can be in touch regularly!

Until next time

 ~Chris

This contribution is available at http://campfiresandcleats.blogspot.com/2016/10/neighbor-sponsoring-child-through.html
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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A simple explanation of justification [at Catholicism and Adventism]

The Fall of Man, by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1530 AD

While Catholics and Lutherans (and some other Protestants) have agreed that both sides mean the same thing when they use different words, there remains tension with some regarding salvation by faith alone vs salvation by grace alone. Our response to grace is sometimes mistakenly seen by Protestants as being our own works, and therefore of no value to God. They seem to ignore Galatians 2:20.

Galatians 2:20 (KJV) – I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

The only time in the Bible where the two words “faith” and “alone” are mentioned in the same verse, faith alone is regarded as insufficient.

James 2:17 (KJV) – Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

Between Paul and James, we see that Abraham was justified by faith and by works:

Romans 4:1-2 (KJV) – What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.

James 2:21-24 (KJV) – Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

A simple explanation for Protestants to consider is this:

Initial justification comes by faith through grace. This is what Protestants typically think of when they talk about justification.

But, biblically, justification continues – it’s not a one-time event. Justification is not a boolean operator – either on or off, present or absent. It continues, and is progressive.

Continued, progressive justification is where we submit our faith to God and follow his will. Abraham was justified by faith (a gift by grace) in Genesis 15, and then he was further justified by his obedience in Genesis 22, which too was a gift by grace. His initial justification, which is either present or absent, came by faith. But he continued to grow in justification, through grace.

Protestants usually think of that as sanctification, but when listening to Catholics they need to understand how we use the words, and not assume that we mean the same thing they do when we use the same words they do.

St Therese of Lisieux

St Therese of Lisieux saw herself as a small wild flower growing in God’s garden:

Jesus set before me the book of nature. I understand how all the flowers God has created are beautiful, how the splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not take away the perfume of the violet or the delightful simplicity of the daisy. I understand that if all flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose her springtime beauty, and the fields would no longer be decked out with little wild flowers. So it is in the world of souls, Jesus’ garden. He has created smaller ones and those must be content to be daisies or violets destined to give joy to God’s glances when He looks down at His feet. Perfection consists in doing His will, in being what He wills us to be.
– St Therese of Lisieux, Story of a Soul

Consider containers of different sizes. A large bucket, a small cup. We are all destined to be filled to the brim with God’s grace, but some may have more than others, yet all will be complete according to God’s love for us, and completely filled with grace.

Further reading:

Was Abraham saved by Faith Alone? … by Steve Ray
The Disasters of “By Faith Alone” … Catholic Answers
What is purgatory? … this blog
St Therese of Lisieux, Story of a Soul

This contribution is available at http://blog.theotokos.co.za/
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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Picking Up the Pieces From a Divided Election [at If I Might Interject]

I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the church has done so often in human history.

—Francis Cardinal George

Let’s Imagine the worst [*] has happened. The candidate you despise the most has been elected President and now you have to face 4-8 years of a ruler who will use the powers of their office for evil. In such a time, it’s pointless to point fingers over how it should have gone and who’s to blame.  Yes, some fellow Catholics did play the role of Judas by putting their political preferences first and supported a candidate whose positions the Church calls evil. No, we can’t condone that. It’s a sign that many in the Church need to be re-evangelized. But regardless of how they voted, we have to pick up the pieces all the same.

Now, stop imagining. Regardless of how the election goes, there is a lot of partisan and unjust behavior Catholics have directed against each other—even when they’re striving to be faithful Catholics. We have to realize  that these other faithful Catholics were not our enemies when their properly formed consciences led them to a conclusion different from ours [†]. In an election with no good choices, there was bound to be disagreements on what the best Christian witness should be.

We’ll also have to repent over the times when we failed to do the Christian thing. Whether one voted against the teaching of the Church,  whether one rashly judged or calumniated a candidate or group of voters they disagreed with, whether one gave scandal by tolerating evils in their candidate they would not tolerate in an opponent, or whether one behaved like Pharisees, believing in their own righteousness and looking down on others who disagreed as morally bad because they disagreed, there is a lot of fallout over the insults and unjust accusations that American Catholics have hurled against each other.

Now, not after the election, is the time to start clearing up the damage to our souls and our relationships with others. Now is the time to start clearing up the damage that keeps us from witnessing to the Kingdom of God. Now is the time to recommit ourselves to being Catholics first and prepare to defend the faith from the wrongdoing our next President will bring.

Those opposed to the next President will be tempted to reject anything he or she does, even if it is compatible with our beliefs. Those who supported our next President will be tempted to ignore or downplay the evil he or she does. Both attitudes are wrong. When the next President does real good compatible with our faith, we should support it, and when he or she doesn’t, we must oppose it and work to limit it.

We’ll have to stop treating the bishops as enemies of the faith because they took a stand against the evils of a candidate. We’ll have to realize that trying to cite our Catholic teaching selectively to make a bad candidate seem good was a corruption of the Faith.

The point is, over the next 4-8 years, Catholics will have to forgive and seek forgiveness over the wrongs suffered and inflicted. We’ll have to set aside the blame and work together as Catholics to convert society as Our Lord commanded. So why not start picking up the pieces now? Why not start forgiving and seeking forgiveness now? Why not start affirming our Catholic faith regardless of how it affects our preferred candidate now?

Perhaps it’s because of our pride?

The Christian path requires us to live as Our Lord taught, even if it costs us. Yes, at times we may have to suffer an unwanted evil (double effect) in trying to do good. But we can never treat that evil as inconsequential. Under double effect, such an evil is something we would avoid if at all possible and must be less than the desired good. It’s not wrong to want to avoid suffering and hardship. But it is wrong to sacrifice our conscience, beliefs and moral obligations to do so .

So let’s stop tearing into each other because we disagree in matters where the Church allows prudential judgment. Let’s also show mercy to those who do wrong (it is still the Year of Mercy after all). Yes, we must correct others who are in error, but we must do so in charity—not by being so harsh that we cause people to reject what is true because of how we present it.

No, it’s not going to be easy. As I write this, I reflect on my own behavior. There have been times when I have been rude or sarcastic or even judgmental of others who were properly applying prudential judgment according to the teaching of the Church. I regret that. It hurt feelings and didn’t help preach the Kingdom. Each one of us will have to prayerfully seek out how to change. But we must all seek change and turn back to God in the areas we failed.

We should not wait until November 9 (the day after the elections), or January 20, 2017, (Inauguration Day) to start picking up the pieces and healing relationships with God, the Church and each other. We should start now.

_________________________

[*] Relatively speaking. I’m sure believers from other parts of the world wish they could have a “worst” like ours.

[†] That means they didn’t vote against the Church teaching. Unfortunately some think that means “You must vote this way!”

This contribution is available at http://www.ifimightinterject.com/2016/10/now-is-time-picking-up-pieces-from.html
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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It Is Time To Walk [at Maria Morera Johnson]

St. Teresa, Brompton Oratory

I’ve never felt more convicted by St. Teresa of Avila’s words than now, when I’ve taken a long hiatus from writing, and find myself facing a deadline. “It is time to walk,” or as I first saw that statement in Spanish, “Ya es tiempo de caminar.”

In other words, get to it.

The context isn’t quite right — she was on her death bed and was talking to Jesus. I’m not on my death bed, though it is a small death to face the blank page if you’re a writer.

Anyway, today on the feast of St. Teresa I am reminded that I need to get moving — get the manuscript finished, but more than that, get myself together and live this pilgrim life.

I just got back from a month-long tour of Scotland. My husband and I took off to enjoy a slow journey around the country — a bucket list vacation where we took our time and saw the beautiful countryside. I expected lots of ruins and monuments, and got plenty of them. I crawled through the cavern to the Tomb of the Eagles and climbed the 246 steps of the Wallace Monument. What I didn’t expect was a pilgrimage featuring some of my favorite saints. I’ll write more about that in the coming days.

The last leg of our trip was in London. We spent a few days in the city, resting, before flying out of Heathrow. Although we had seen many majestic cathedrals, we attended Mass in modern churches since the cathedrals were now Church of Scotland. Finally in London, we looked online for a place to attend Mass on our last Sunday. Mr. Google kindly suggested the London Oratory, which was just minutes away from our hotel in South Kensington.

It was one of the most beautiful Masses I’ve attended in a long time. Maybe it was the beauty of the church, Immaculate Heart of Mary, or maybe it was finding myself in a holy place after chasing so many pagan ruins. I felt at home, surrounded by my favorite saints, Saints who have been in my life recently because of some writing projects. St. Philip Neri has been a long-time favorite, and the church, of course, is part of the St. Philip Oratory, which is sometimes called the Brompton Oratory although its proper name is the London Oratory. Take a tour here!

Though I’d spent a month in tourist mode taking hundreds of photos, I took only a few here. I was there for Mass, not sight-seeing, but I did take a couple of pictures. As soon as I walked in, my eyes were drawn to the altar on my right –I couldn’t help the smile that bubbled up, as I realized it’s the St. Mary Magdalene altar. I’m currently writing about Mary Magdalene, so I walked over for a brief prayer. There, the natural light illuminated a stature of St. Teresa, pen poised, book open.

Hi, old friend, I whispered.

Start walking, she responded.

Good ole St. Teresa. She doesn’t mince words with me. There’s no getting away from her eagle eye ever since I commended myself to her patronage. That’s a good thing, because I need a firm hand. I understood her — I need to get to work on the manuscript, but more than that, I need to get walking with the Lord. He has laid out a path for me, and I will follow it, joyfully!

We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can – namely, surrender our will and fulfill God’s will in us.

Happy Feast of St. Teresa of Avila!

This contribution is available at http://mariamjohnson.com/it-is-time-to-walk/
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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Today is the feast day of my favorite saint –

St. John Paul II

. There are so many things to love about this man. His lifestyle and his personalist approach made him relatable. His love for hiking, skiing, poetry, and drama, as well as his experience in Poland during and after World War II, make him a remarkable and fascinating man. His love, as evidenced in all that he did, is a stellar example of what it means to be a Christian, including the sacrificial nature of the universal call to holiness. So, what better day than today for

Full Quiver Publishing

to release

Image and Likeness: Literary Reflections on the Theology of the Body?Image and Likeness

Why a fiction collection? Erin McCole Cupp and Ellen Gable have put together a tremendous collection by authors as varied as they are talented. In coming days, they will be sharing interviews with those authors that answer (among other things) why fiction? You can find a selection of quotes on the collection’s website, but here’s just one example:

Here’s my own take on “why fiction?” that I shared on my Facebook page:

I’m disappointed when people dismiss fiction as irrelevant or somehow less important than nonfiction. Fiction can be powerful, powerful stuff. It has a rightful place next to nonfiction even when it comes to catechesis and evangelization.

For more information on Image and Likeness, including author interviews, keep tabs on the collection’s website. You can also join the discussion at the Image and Likeness Facebook Launch Party on Thursday, October 27, 2016 from 8:00 – 10:00 EDT. Take a look at all the books authors have donated as party favors!

Image and Likeness: Literary Reflections on the Theology of the BodyImage and Likeness: Literary Reflections on the Theology of the Body edited by Erin McCole Cupp and Ellen Gable
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Even if you’ve read St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body from start to finish and a half-dozen nonfiction books about it on the side, I guarantee this collection of shorts will uncover the teachings in ways you hadn’t considered. It will challenge you in unexpected ways. One or two (or more) of the stories may make you uncomfortable. While the writing is polished, the varnish coating the darkness of our lives is stripped, laying bare the truths written on our heart and the lies we tell with our bodies.

Recommended for reading, reflection, discussion, and even entertainment. A gritty but beautiful introduction not only to the Theology of the Body as it is lived (or rejected), but also to the breadth and promise of Catholic fiction being written by contemporary authors. These shorts are accessible to any careful reader, whether familiar with the Theology of the Body or not.

(I received an advance copy. I am contracted by Full Quiver Publishing for other projects, but had no part in Image and Likeness. Opinions expressed are purely my own.)

This contribution is available at http://www.carolynastfalk.com/2016/10/22/image-likeness-literary-reflections-theology-body/
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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Grace in a graceless season

Spare a moment and a prayer for the political types, please and thank you. I’m one of them.

The bitter election-year exchanges on every platform are part of my daily life. Whether on television on online, shutting them down altogether is not an option, appealing though it may be. Politics is part of my vocation. Times like these, I’m tempted to wish it were otherwise.

This is a plague-on-both-your-houses year, looking at the major parties’ candidates for president. I am reading  C.S. Lewis’s  Mere Christianity this month, and something he wrote in there captures my attitude.

I feel a strong desire to tell you – and I expect you feel a strong desire to tell me – which of these two errors is the worse. That is the devil getting at us. He always sends errors into the world in pairs – pairs of opposites. And he always encourages us to spend a lot of time thinking which is the worse. You see why, of course? He relies on your extra dislike of the one error to draw you gradually into the opposite one. But do not let us be fooled. We have to keep our eyes on the goal and go straight through between both errors. We have no other concern than that with either of them.

Providence was at work when I pulled that book off the shelf days ago.

We have to keep our eyes on the goal – the absolute goal of eternity in the Kingdom of God. Few things are harder for me to do. In politics, the goal is the next vote or the next election. In the greater scheme of things, in the Kingdom, the goal is something different.

I lose sight of that sometimes as a veteran campaign staffer, pro-life lobbyist, and policy blogger. Urgency inheres in those occupations: this vote, this minute, this interview, this crisis, leading up to a defined point: a specific vote or a specific election. Votes and elections are important, but they’re not final.

Even when I’m not consulting with a campaign – and I’m not this year, thank God – I keep a sharp eye on candidates whose success matters to me. If a candidate is underperforming, I tend to mutter things like where the hell is your ground game? There’s that urgency again: how many voters have you met? how many doors have you knocked on? How many phone calls have you made?  

The all-consuming urgency sucks up all the spiritual oxygen, even before the last debates and ads go on the air. No wonder discourse turns nasty, discouragement hits hard, and I keep finding new ways to find fault with candidates and their supporters.

Politics is part of my vocation even as it tends to pull me away from the Source of that vocation. Counteracting that pull requires more than an act of will. It takes the grace and mercy of God, over and over, beyond anything I deserve.  I’m a needy child of God. I squander those gifts of grace and mercy, and He keeps offering them anew, often in little ways.

There’s the Mass, of course. The Sacrifice, the gift of the Eucharist, is priceless. It’s also the best way to poke a finger in the figurative eye of a savage campaign season.

I’m blessed to be part of a parish where Morning Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours is recited. I’m resorting to it frequently. One should never open a politically-centered Facebook feed without praying first. I’ve learned that the hard way.

More grace comes from bishops who take faithful Catholic citizenship seriously and do what they can to keep me mindful of the long view. A friend in a neighboring state sent me an example via Facebook just a few minutes ago. She shared with me a letter from her bishop about this year’s election. His closing paragraph is balm for my agitated spirit.

My final encouragement is to be people of “Good News,” doing and saying only the good things that men and women need to hear, things that will lift them up. There is already too much anger, vitriol, and incivility in our culture today. We do not need to add to it but instead apply a cure: kindness, charity, and mutual respect for each other as brothers and sisters created in the image of God. (Bishop Christopher J. Coyne, Diocese of Burlington)

You’re a channel of grace every time you speak or post about an election without resorting to invective. You’re ministering to me and who knows how many others when you bring charity and discernment to your political communications. I’ll never stop needing good examples.

A prominent Christian commentator recently warned about “merely” praying during election season, as though prayer were somehow keeping us from our real tasks. I take issue with that. There’s nothing “mere” about calling on the Lord for healing and wisdom, or about upholding one another in prayer in challenging times.

There are no saviors on the ballot. The right to life, among other things, is in for more rough treatment in our country, regardless of the election’s outcome. How I meet that challenge is going to depend on grace. That means prayer, and I’m asking for yours as I fumble my way through my earthly vocation. No fair leaving political creatures to their own devices in thorny times like these.

This contribution is available at http://ellenkolb.com/2016/10/21/grace-in-a-graceless-season/
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Pregnancy & Infant Loss

12068759_864671403640386_2988765077167161982_oOctober is upon us again.  In many ways, it is my favorite time of year. Leaves are changing colors here in the Midwest and the temperatures are cool enough for sweaters but not so cold that I am frozen.  Cinnamon, apple, and pumpkin spice treats warm my belly and make me happy.  Bruce and I got married on October 9, 1993…less than a year after our first date on October 31, 1992!  (That fact freaked out some of our nieces and nephews recently, until I pointed out that we were friends for a couple of years before dating.)  All of these memories and sensations are wonderful.

Then there is this:  Gabriel was stillborn on October 6, 1994.

This painful reality used to destroy my “favorite” month.  His birthday would approach, and I would cry and ask all over again, “Why God?  We did everything right.  We were open to life; welcoming a child into our new marriage.  Why?”

It has been 22 years.  I ask “Why?” less often.  Not because I understand everything, but rather because I have come to accept it as a mysterious part of God’s plan for my life.  For those without faith, this is bizarre, and might even sound like a foolish cop-out.  It’s true that Christians, Catholic and Protestant alike, often throw our hands up in the air after a tragedy and say “It’s all a part of God’s plan.”  How does that possibly give comfort to the couple who just experienced their second loss?  How does that give hope to the woman who has had 4 miscarriages and longs to hold a child in her arms? Doesn’t He want us to be happy?

I think the struggle here is that our understanding of happiness is so limited.  We are stuck here in time and space.  We are caught up in the senses, and certainly the sweet smell of a baby or the sound of his giggle makes us happy.

But what comforts me is knowing that Gabriel is already at peace. Yes, I missed out on watching his first step or posting First Day of School pictures on Facebook.  I missed out on First Communion preparation and birthday cakes.  But I have a son who is perfectly whole, and holy, in heaven.  That’s my main job as Mom: be sure my children get to heaven.  I don’t just believe, I know he is with Jesus…and nothing is better than that.

Does this mean I want families who have suffered a loss through miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death to just smile and get over it?   Of course not. This is not an either-or situation.  As grieving parents, we are not either stuck in sadness nor gleefully beyond it.  The way we experience grief isn’t cut and dry, moving from one step to the next.  Our emotions are more like a bowl of pasta…noodles weaving in and out. Sometimes you see the end, then it starts all over again.  That. Is. Okay.  Certain memories will pop up, dates return to the calendar, and family and friends will continue having their own babies.  Some days this is really hard, some days not.  Yes, it has been a long time for me, but it is not time that has healed my wounds.  It is God’s Love.  His Love demonstrated through my wonderful husband Bruce.  His Love shown through my amazing family.  His Love poured out through the people and teachings of the Church.  Love has healed me, and has done so in such a way that Gabriel is not forgotten.

God’s ways are not our ways…and I realize that offers little consolation to those who recently lost a loved one, any loved one.  It is certainly mysterious as to why some people celebrate their 100th birthday and others never take a breath.  Gabriel impacted my life, and I may not have journeyed into foster parenting or prolife work if it were not for my experience as Gabriel’s Mom.  Which parts of this story were ordained by God and which parts were simply permitted by Him, I may never know.  But I do know He was with me… and Bruce and Gabriel the whole way.

Throughout this month, which is Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month, I will pray for my sisters…those women who share this common bond.   I will pray that they can also find the peace and consolation I have found.  I also pray that our children are laughing and playing together before the Lord.  That image, that thought, truly makes me happy.

This contribution is available at http://gabrielsmom.com/2016/10/always-in-my-heart-pregnancy-infant-loss/
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Pause for Prayer [at A Concord Pastor Comments]

Before you strip the trees of all their color, Lord,

before the branches shed their fallish frocks,

take out your brush once more and camouflage my life...

Blend me in and hide me in the colors all around

and clothe me in a jacket dyed bloodred:

fall's final affirmation, autumn's triumph,

nature signing as the artist on all the work you've done,

your promise of victory over any season's passing...

Paint me in the scene and let me see within

the beauty all about me, the colors of your life

bleeding out from my soul's palette, mixed and

brightened in late October light...

Camouflage my life in hues of grace

and blend me into your embrace as my heart sheds

its autumn mood and looks to winter's coming

with its gray and shorter days...

Clothe my soul in bloodred love

and plant the seeds of spring within

where they might sleep 'til light and warmth again

will tease, rouse and wake to bloom

a garden of your colors,

a new spring of your glory...

Amen.

This contribution is available at http://concordpastor.blogspot.com/2016/10/pause-for-prayer-sunday-1030.html
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We Know Who Wins [at Wild Things Farm]

On this Feast of St. John Paul the Great, I’ve been thinking of three of his most famous words.  “Be Not Afraid!”  Considering that he spoke many, many words and ALL of them were worth hearing, it’s ironic that we can boil it down to these three.  But these three words are so relevant for us today.

I have no intention or desire to wax eloquent of this tumultuous election season, but I do think that Christians are, at times like this, gripped with fear.  I hear everyone plotting their run to the hills.  Let’s be self sufficient, let’s abandon society.  But we have to remember that we have been called to be IN this world.   Yes, not of it, but most certainly in it.  We also have to remember that this is the journey, not the destination.

I heartedly embrace the idea of self sufficiency.   The ability to grow food, defend our families, and function apart form the “they” are all necessary skills.  But they aren’t the end itself.  Faith, God, Our Heavenly home is the end.  We must have the knowledge necessary to carry on in this world and the faith to withstand the trials.

Those of us who grew up as children of the late twentieth century were raised knowing John Paul as THE pope.  Not a pope in a line of many, but the one and only from the time we were born and into adulthood.  That’s a unique position to be in.  I believe we are the first generation in history to grow up with the same pope.  His important words, Be Not Afraid, ring in our ears.  They are the armor he gave us to withstand this time.

Be Not Afraid of what is to come.  We must prepare, but we also must not run.  Don’t be foolish; fill you larders, save your seeds.  But never sit back in fear.  We are called to move forwards, bravely, to fight this good fight.

We need to arm ourselves with knowledge and console ourselves with faith.  God prevails.

This contribution is available at http://sewmanywildthings.wordpress.com/2016/10/22/we-know-who-wins/
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My Friends are Heathens [at Erin McCole Cupp]

The release of Image and Likeness has me thinking a lot about art as evangelization, perhaps unintentional evangelization, but evangelization nonetheless.

I also finally have a kid who will sing along with me to the radio, and most of the songs I find us both singing are by Twenty One Pilots. (BTW, Disclaimer: their music isn’t mine.  I’m not making any cash off of them. I’m just sharing.)

Is their song “Heathens” art? Is it evangelization? Every time I hear it, I can’t help but think about evangelization, sharing Good News among bad.  Bad? Bad people? Bad news?

Take it Slow

Nobody wants to hear that someone else thinks they’re wrong.  I don’t.  You don’t.  We are wired to defend ourselves, for good or ill. We are social creatures, desiring unity, wound up to shun the one who disrupts it.  If you start off too soon telling someone that you disagree, that bond is likely gone.    Take it slow.

Wait for Them

“True Love Waits,” or so the slogan goes. Do you try to defend God’s love for your “heathen” friends because because you love them or because you just want to be right?

If you love them, you must wait for them to ask you Who you know.

Sudden Moves

Evangelization these days seems like it must take on the flavor of parallel play next to the cage aggressive.  Do you want your friend to associate you with growing trust or a bid for dominance? The former?  Please don’t make any sudden moves.

Abuse

As I work on trying to share Image and Likeness with potential readers, I keep coming face-up against the clashing definitions of love that divide our culture.  Is love the act of making someone feel good? Is love choosing what is objectively good for the person you love, even if it doesn’t feel immediately pleasant? That first definition is so short-sighted that, well… it often drives us into abusing each other, abusing ourselves: mentally, physically, emotionally.

We all live with that short-sighted definition of love.  We’ve all been abused by it.  We’ve all used it to abuse at varying depths.

We are all sinned-against sinners, isolated by the uniqueness of our own experiences.  You don’t know the half of the abuse.

Stay Away

Our culture, which is run increasingly not by objective ideas of justice but by that aforementioned short-sighted definition of love, keeps adding ways to mock into silence anyone who threatens that already shaky definition of love.  They want you to change your mind, to unsee what you’ve seen of objective truth, or at least shut up about it.  If you don’t shut up about it, you’ll make them feel bad, and making someone feel bad is now the antithesis of love.  That’s hate.  Isn’t it?  And hate should be punished.

They tried to warn you just to stay away.

One of Us

To the evangelizers of objective love , all that sounds like pretty bad news.  Not bad people.  Bad news.

Heathen friends are a dangerous place–okay, for themselves, but also for you… but not for the reason you think.  One of the ideas that can creep or take over the mind of someone set on sharing the Good News is this: we have to save The Lost.  Honey, we’re all The Lost.

We’re all behind these bars, bars of our own making.  It looks like you might be one of us.

Please Don’t Forget

But if you knew somebody who knew a way out, even if that way involved hacking away at rocks, bit by bit, then crawling through a sewer… wouldn’t you take it? Wouldn’t you escape?

Wouldn’t you?

You would… but only if you realized that you were in prison in the first place.

This contribution is available at http://erinmccolecupp.com/2016/11/02/my-friends-are-heathens/
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I Have Cancer But Please, Don't Kill My Baby to Save Me [at Catholic Stand]

Contrary to popular reporting, Breast Cancer does not necessarily mean a death sentence for baby or mother. The truth of the matter is that both can safely live. If you are not aware of this aspect of oncological medicine, it might surprise you to know that this scientific fact is not news at all. Mothers with a cancer diagnosis have been successfully and safely treated for decades – and at no danger to their unborn children.

As we come to the end of October as Breast Cancer Awareness month, we should focus on a perpetuated lie which becomes deadly for either mother or child. Cancer organizations, as well as ill-informed physicians, too frequently convince women that an abortion is necessary – to save the life of the mother, should she be diagnosed during pregnancy. According to their recommendation, she otherwise risks her own life in an unnecessary bid to save her baby – leaving a child without a mother.

Why Women Are Left Uninformed?

Why is this scenario so common? Why do mothers feel driven to decide between their own lives and the lives of their unborn children? One reason is obvious. Abortion is a lucrative business. If women can be pushed into subscribing to unsubstantiated fear, there is money to be made – millions of dollars, annually for abortion giant Planned Parenthood.

The reason doctors fail to inform their patients is a bit more cryptic. Perhaps it has to do with keeping patients in their hometown medical facilities. Personal experience has taught us that doctors often prefer local treatment to referral to out-of-town specialists. An obvious conclusion could then be discerned as a desire to keep ‘business’ at home.

The Truth of Cancer Treatment during Pregnancy

Cancer treatment facilities such as MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX have an astounding success rate of healthy births to cancer stricken mothers. Somehow the news just isn’t getting out into the population at large. Although there are numerous medical journals, success stories, and peer contacts, too many doctors still seem to be in the dark. Whether or not this is a matter of willful ignorance or lack of training, remains an unknown.

Breast Cancer While Pregnant Gets Personal

At twenty weeks pregnant, our daughter was diagnosed with BRCA1 breast cancer – a particularly destructive form present in our family genetics. With dire past maternal outcomes – death within weeks or up to five years –aggressive treatment was in order to save her life. There was no time to lose. Aborting her unborn daughter was an inconceivable option.

Unfortunately, our daughter was given limited options. In consultation with local doctors, it was implied that she had two choices. The first was to terminate (read kill her child through abortion) and then aggressively treat her BRCA1 cancer. The second implication was that she could wait out her pregnancy, at great physical harm to her own health. As a molecular biologist with a gift for research, however, neither answer was satisfactory. Since she was able to access and read medical journals, our daughter did her own research. As a result, she found her answer in Houston, TX.

Making an Educated Decision

Armed with the knowledge of a third, much more palatable choice, a trip to Houston resulted in a chemotherapy regimen, to begin immediately. Two weeks before birth, further treatment was postponed to ready her body for childbirth. Her 8+ lb. healthy daughter was born on Thanksgiving Day and scored a perfect 10 on her Apgar test. The miracle of life, confirmed she had made the correct, pro-life decision.

Sharing the Pro-Life News

Part of our gratitude for finding such a positive outcome to a frightening scenario finds us proclaiming the good news to everyone we meet. Mothers, nurses, and even doctors are often amazed that they have never heard about this decades old treatment option.  The goal of sharing this life-affirming option is a catalyst for an annual sharing of the facts. Please consider passing the word along – a life may be hanging in the balance, even as you read these words.

Amid all of the superficiality of pink month –  pink football teams, toilet paper, blenders, and every other imaginable product of commerce – lies an undeniable fact. The PINK lulls the masses into misguided, yet enthusiastic support for death. Yes, death. What they don’t tell you, these opportunistic marketers, is that it’s all about the money – even if it’s blood money. As an eleven year survivor, I have earned the right to make these distinctions and comments.

Cancer Awareness Run Amok

Breast cancer is certainly not the only cancer affecting a huge population. There are others just as devastating, warranting ‘awareness’, moral treatments, and a cure. While it’s not a competition, why discount childhood cancer, for example, because it hasn’t been as artfully marketed?

The answer is that these other cancers are at a disadvantage because the powers that be can’t make sexist sound bites about them. No, ‘save the Ta-tas’, ‘save the Boobies’ and playing games about the color of ones’ bras is so much more titillating (see what I did there?).

The ‘awareness’ organizations have lots of overhead, pay huge salaries, and spend enormous amounts of the funds collected as donations on marketing. They don’t even play nice with each other, jockeying around for the big bucks. One year Susan G Komen even tried to co-opt the color pink and sued smaller organizations for using the word ‘cure’ in their slogans!

The American Cancer Society and Komen are also supporters of embryonic stem cell research. This research kills tiny human beings – containing the complete package of humanity including an eternal soul – and yet has given us no viable treatments or cures. Unlike ethical adult stem cell research, with many success stories, the attraction for the Frankensteiniam use of embryos comes down to money. You see, adult stem cells can’t be patented – they already belong to you. But embryonic cell lines created in a lab present a high dollar wager and promise government grants galore.

An even more unholy alliance comes with bedfellows, Komen and abortion giant Planned Parenthood. Although PP does not a single mammogram, they are given large sums of funding from Komen every year. PP where abortion represents 94% of all prenatal ‘services’.

Save the Babies, Save the Victims

I’m not here to denigrate the good intentions of others; my intention is to steer those giving hearts into an ethical direction. There are cancer victims galore out here – all sorts of cancers. Why not consider giving directly to a victim, attending fundraisers, sending prayers and cards of encouragement, cooking meals, helping with children, or cleaning houses of those affected? The opportunities are as countless as the victims of this horrific disease. Further, there are moral organizations worthy of your funds and support: The Polycarp Research Institute (TPRI), the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute, and the National Breast Cancer Foundation® offer such opportunities.

All in all, people are kind and generous. They innocently fall into the commercial trapping of the PINK crowd. My aim is to steer them and their good will into a direction worthy of their charity. God bless them for their kindness! My daughter and I have been lifted up by many.

This contribution is available at http://www.catholicstand.com/cancer-dont-kill-baby-save/
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Delving Deep In History Brought Me Home [at A Faith-Full Life]

The Coming Home Network International recently published an abbreviated version of my conversion story in their monthly newsletter and online at their website. I decided to reproduce the article in it’s entirety here along with a PDF of the full newsletter at the bottom of the article. Enjoy!

Delving Deep In History Brought Me Home

We’ve all heard the maxim, “Your starting point always determines your conclusion,” and ordinarily I would wholeheartedly agree. Yet there are exceptions to the rule. In theology and religion, these exceptions are typically referred to as conversions — that is, they involve people whose starting point (like Saul of Tarsus) very much does not determine their conclusion!

Having said that, I also want to say that I was extremely fortunate to be raised in a Christian home by parents who did an outstanding job of acquainting me with the Person of Jesus Christ and the holy Scriptures. Our Christian faith was the center of our life and identity as a family. Over the years, we attended various denominational and non-denominational churches, but they were all characterized by the idea that the Bible alone was our only basis for truth, faith, morals, and authority.

From a young age I was fascinated by the study of theology, and I would often engage in theological discussions with the adults I knew, probing them for answers to thorny questions. Nevertheless, I frequently found myself at odds with the accepted theological beliefs of our Christian friends, many of whom might best be described as Evangelical Fundamentalists. In particular, starting when I was about seventeen, I began to struggle with the idea of “the Bible alone.” I couldn’t seem to get a good answer as to where this idea had come from, or more importantly, where the Bible asserted this doctrine. I found myself at odds with the doctrine of sola Scriptura for primarily logical reasons. If it is “the Bible and the Bible alone,” as every church we attended proclaimed, then where does the Bible make this claim?

When I studied the Bible, it seemed to argue against Scripture alone because it was full of instances when God spoke through direct revelation to His people, or even through intermediaries such as prophets, priests, judges, and kings. In Scripture, I saw that God revealed Himself through His creation, through His incarnate Son who dwelt among us, through His Church, and especially through His Apostles who, “delivered to [us] as of first importance what [they] also received”¹. In other words, with the notable exception of the Ten Commandments, He didn’t choose to simply drop a written user’s manual from heaven in order to communicate with us.

I also noticed that, even when Scripture was interpreted by those who were honestly trying to follow God and submit to Scripture’s authority in their lives, they invariably arrived at very different conclusions from one another. In other words, far from Scripture being the final authority, it really just opened the floodgates for division and a lack of certainty within the Church. This division, especially when it came to our inability to agree on what constituted salvation, has always bothered me tremendously.

Since at that point I didn’t have any frame of reference to categorize this issue and others as fundamentally “Protestant versus Catholic,” I concluded that these were issues I had with Christianity in general — issues that most other Christians didn’t share. I wondered if my faith was in some way lacking, and I was concerned that my views were “unorthodox,” without realizing that they might more accurately be described as “unorthodox Protestant views.” As it turns out, many of those views were entirely orthodox from a Catholic perspective!

I attended a year of Bible College but quit after getting married, and gradually my wife and I gravitated towards “Bible churches,” like Calvary Chapel, and then non-denominational churches that avoided any doctrine that could be considered remotely divisive but fundamentally sought to bring people into a personal relationship with Christ. This could be both good (less divisiveness), and bad (a reduced ability to proclaim truth). These churches taught that a “relationship with Christ” was the ultimate truth — the only truth which really mattered (“no creed but Christ”). Many of the churches we attended might be summed up by the statement, “Just me, my Bible, and Jesus.”

Through the years that followed, I was always involved in some kind of ministry; I really enjoyed studying theology and teaching others. We moved to Boise, Idaho when I was around thirty and became involved with a small non-denominational church in the town of Kuna. Many of the leaders there had ties to Boise Bible College, and one of the founding pastors was a professor there. During our time in that congregation, I had the opportunity to take non-accredited classes through Boise Bible College and was eventually asked to move into a ministerial role, serving as one of the pastors.

Feeling led by God to move towards ministry as a full-time vocation, I applied and was accepted into a Master’s of Divinity program through Fuller Seminary. Due to my previous individual studies and my ministerial experience, they were willing to make a special provision for me in spite of the fact that I hadn’t completed an undergraduate degree. I was definitely moving along in a certain direction, and for me that direction did not include the Catholic Church!

In fact, I had always been somewhat anti-Catholic. I was raised in an environment that was dubious over whether Catholics were saved, and I had contact with an occasional Fundamentalist who was convinced that the Catholic Church was the beast of Revelation and the Pope was the Antichrist! If you had suggested to me a few years ago that I would one day be considering conversion to Catholicism, I would have laughed. I had no inkling that the Catholic Church would ever be even a remote consideration; I would have thought it as likely as my converting to Islam or Hinduism.

There was, however, a gradual softening over the years in my attitude towards Catholicism. In Idaho, I began to read authors like Henri Nouwen, Thomas Aquinas, and Thomas Merton. I began to realize that some of the authors whom I most admired and who had influenced me the most were either Catholic themselves, or strongly Catholic in their theology, as was the case with the Anglican C.S. Lewis. As I read these Catholic authors, theologians, and philosophers, I discovered, to my great surprise, that not only were they Christians, but in many cases profoundly so. They were, in fact, some of the most deeply committed and insightful Christians, apologists, theologians, and philosophers I had encountered! This didn’t change my mind on Catholicism, but it definitely began to soften my previously dismissive attitude.

As I continued to delve into Catholicism with a progressively more open attitude, I was surprised to find that much of what I thought I knew about Catholic belief was either flat out wrong, wasn’t fair to the nuances of their position, or was based on “straw-man” arguments.

I also discovered that many of the authors I had been reading were converts to the Faith. Men like G.K. Chesterton, Peter Kreeft, and John Henry Cardinal Newman. The latter once famously said, “To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant.” While I am not sure that this maxim could apply to everyone, it was certainly true in my case.

I decided to teach a Church history class at the church where I was pastoring. I wanted to tie each portion of Church history to an influential Christian of that period, someone who had really made a difference in the life of the Church. My goal was to give attendees some familiarity with the heroes of the faith since the time of Christ and to provide positive role models who would inspire our congregation to live lives of heroic virtue themselves. I didn’t think of these heroes as “saints,” nor did I realize that this idea of a “communion of saints” was of Catholic origin.

It was an ambitious undertaking, especially since I had never intensively studied Church history prior to the Reformation. All my studies up to that point had either been broad overviews or thorough studies of one particular facet of Church history, such as the Reformation itself or the early American Revivals.

Like many Protestants, for me, Church history began in the Book of Acts and then in some vague and undefined way “veered off course” around the time of Constantine. Then there were even vaguer interludes of crusades and inquisitions, with Church history thankfully resuming some 1500 years after Christ with the Protestant Reformation! As I spent many hours preparing to teach my class, studying multiple Protestant Church history books, for the first time it came home to me that…

During the first 1,500 years of Christianity — for fully three quarters of all Christian history — to be Christian was almost always to be Catholic!

All of the early Church Fathers, saints, theologians, etc. were Catholic! With the exception of Orthodoxy, there was no other Christian church until the time of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th and 17th centuries! I know that it may seem kind of dumb, but this floored me! I had never before taken the time to consider it from an intellectual perspective.

Even acknowledging the heartbreaking split between Orthodoxy and Catholicism in 1054, you still had Churches who were apostolic, sacramental, and unified in their teaching of the Christian Faith. From the time of Christ until some 500 years ago there was no question as to whether Catholic theology, teaching, and practice were an authentic expression of Christianity, because the universal or “catholic” expression of Christianity was the only one that existed! Perhaps I shouldn’t say that “there was no question,” because there have always been heretics and dissenters to the true Faith. But, heresies aside, the Church was one, holy, apostolic — and catholic — until very recently in history.

I will readily admit that reform was needed within the Catholic Church during the time of the Protestant Reformation; but in reality the Church is always and in every age in need of reform because she is composed of sinners such as myself. It is a historical fact that Luther didn’t intend to leave the Catholic Church but to reform it. Furthermore, his excommunication from the Catholic Church was for his heresy, not for his reforming efforts. Consider the following quote from Luther himself:

“That the Roman Church is more honored by God than all others is not to be doubted. St. Peter and St. Paul, forty-six Popes, some hundreds of thousands of martyrs, have laid down their lives in its communion, having overcome Hell and the world; so that the eyes of God rest on the Roman Church with special favor. Though nowadays everything is in a wretched state, it is no ground for separating from the Church. On the contrary, the worse things are going, the more should we hold close to her, for it is not by separating from the Church that we can make her better. We must not separate from God on account of any work of the devil, nor cease to have fellowship with the children of God who are still abiding in the pale of Rome on account of the multitude of the ungodly. There is no sin, no amount of evil, which should be permitted to dissolve the bond of charity or break the bond of unity of the body. For love can do all things, and nothing is difficult to those who are united.”²

And this is precisely where I began to have my own problems, because when I looked at the five solae of the Protestant Reformation — the doctrines of sola Fide (by faith alone), sola Scriptura (by Scripture alone), solus Christus (through Christ alone), sola Gratia (by grace alone), and soli Deo Gloria (glory to God alone) that divide Protestants from Catholics — I found that I disagreed with most of them.

I’ve spoken to many Protestant friends who have agreed with me on various aspects of my objections to the five solae, but then they say that those aren’t the reasons why they reject Catholicism; they have their own reasons! Maybe they reject Catholicism because of its teaching on the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist; but Luther and Calvin still believed in the Real Presence after their split from the Catholic Church! In fact, this doctrine was the reason for the first of the divisions (the one between Luther and Zwingli) which have so plagued the Protestant movement over the past 500 years. Often my Protestant friends don’t realize how many Catholic beliefs and practices were held by the fathers of the Reformation, even after their break from the Catholic Church. The Reformers believed in the necessity of Baptism, the veneration of Mary and the saints, the value of Confession, and much more — not because these were Catholic beliefs, but rather because they were the historic, orthodox, and scriptural positions of Christians from the time of Christ forward!

The bottom line was that the more I looked at it, the more it seemed as if the objections to Catholicism that the Reformers initially held weren’t objections that my friends or I shared!

This led me to begin to study what the early Church actually believed when it came to Sacred Tradition, Confession, the Eucharist, Baptism of infants, the necessity of Baptism, the Communion of the Saints, and other Catholic positions. To my shock, I found that virtually all Catholic doctrine has its roots in the teachings of the early Church — and almost all of it is attested to within the first two hundred years after Christ! There has obviously been an ongoing process of defining doctrine, along with the refinement and development of that doctrine, but I was shocked at just how many Catholic doctrines were actually early Church doctrines.

This obviously destroyed my previous assumption that somehow, around the time of Constantine or shortly thereafter, the Church was led into error, probably due to Roman influence, and that human reason and the traditions of men had gradually replaced the true authority of the Scriptures. Instead, I was forced to ask the question:

“If the early Church was wrong, was she wrong from the very start? If not, why have we dispensed with so much of what the early Church believed, practiced, and taught based on the say-so of Martin Luther and other Protestant Reformers? We are still following the ‘traditions of men’ — just men of much more recent descent.”

That was my problem. There were logical inconsistencies with the arguments from the Protestant side that I just couldn’t seem to resolve. You have men arguing against the authority of the Catholic Church and for the authority of Scripture alone. But ultimately, all they are saying is that they, rather than the Church, have the right to interpret Scripture and teach doctrine authoritatively. This requires us to believe that God didn’t work through His Church to teach right doctrine and properly interpret Scripture, but instead to believe that God has worked through Martin Luther, John Calvin, and the other Reformers to teach right doctrine and properly interpret Scripture.

Aside from the historical difficulties, I was also struggling with the lack of moral and religious certitude that Protestantism was able to offer. This uncertainty had always bothered me intellectually, but it bothered me increasingly in practical ways as well. As a father of three boys, certain things were very clear; for instance, there must be no sex outside of marriage. Other things were much less clear: Is masturbation right or wrong? My father had been taught that masturbation was a sin; however, Dr. James Dobson, an Evangelical Christian psychologist, said that masturbation was natural and not a sin. Who was right?

To me, this issue of truth and certainty seemed to highlight a fundamental difference between Protestants and the Catholics. Within my Protestant upbringing there was no agreement, and therefore no certainty, on what is necessary for salvation: whether salvation can be lost, whether Baptism is necessary, whether works are necessary in addition to faith, or whether the gifts of the Holy Spirit are still with us. And so on.

This lack of certainty began to bother me even more profoundly when I became a pastor. I found it unacceptable to be unable to answer our congregation with any degree of certainty not only on doctrinal issues, but on questions of morality as well. Is masturbation wrong? Is birth control wrong? Is divorce and remarriage okay? What about homosexuality? For me, the answer could not be, “I don’t know” or, “My opinion is .…” This was unacceptable to me both as a father and as a shepherd of God’s people.

So, do I believe that we can know everything with certainty? No. Do I believe that we should be able to articulate what is necessary both for salvation and to live a life pleasing to God? Yes. Do I believe that we should be able to declare with all Christians everywhere the historic creeds of Christendom, confident that they are true and certain summaries of our faith? Yes.

We had moved to northern California and I had taken a new job, largely to allow me to begin work on my Master’s of Divinity at Fuller’s Sacramento campus. But suddenly I found myself at a crossroad. I had taken a step of faith and relocated my family so that I could get my degree and pursue full-time vocational ministry, and now I was seriously considering not only the claims of the Catholic Church, but also what claim that Church might have on my life.

Coming to the point of actual conversion was difficult. Not because of doubts; for the first time in my life I was receiving answers to my previously unanswerable questions! The difficulty was instead in accepting the words of Christ: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s foes will be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:34–39). The difficulty lay in forsaking friends and family and church for the sake of Christ, of letting go of my plans and dreams and desires and giving them to Jesus. Could I trust Him to lead me even when I didn’t know where my final destination would be or why the journey there had become so difficult?

Throughout this process, our friends and family were incredibly gracious, but they were also concerned for our well-being. As I have remarked on my internet home page, “It is often difficult to describe to others all the individual steps taken along the path which have brought you along the way to where you are today. Many have perhaps misunderstood my decision as that of leaving behind one thing for something else, when in reality the experience has been one of adding to, not of taking away — of entering into the fullness of the Christian Faith.”

Many have asked me why I felt that it was necessary to enter the Catholic Church, and I cannot find a more perfect answer than that of G.K. Chesterton: “The difficulty of explaining ‘why I am a Catholic’ is that there are ten thousand reasons all amounting to one reason: that Catholicism is true.” I would add that, for me, there was also the indescribable joy of finding my home, of arriving at the place where I belong.

For me, the process was one of intensive study for almost two years before I finally told my wife, Missy, that I needed to begin attending Mass and exploring for myself the claims of the Catholic Church. I promised her that I would continue to go to church with her and the kids, but that I could no longer resist God’s pull towards Catholicism in my life. When I said that, I honestly didn’t know if she would agree to attend Mass with me or not. But she was willing to go for my sake, and for six months we attended a local non-denominational church in the morning and St. Teresa of Avila’s parish in the evening as a family. (My kids really got a lot of church during that time!) Missy and I agreed to enroll in RCIA classes (the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults), and nine months later, on Easter Vigil of 2013, we were all received together into the Catholic Church. I can honestly say that that Easter Vigil service was one of the most profound and joyful experiences of my life!

All of this isn’t to say that I no longer have any questions at all or that I am under some delusion that the Catholic Church is perfect. She has obviously had her share of failings and problems over the years and will continue to do so — maybe even more so now that I am a member! There have been priests who were dismal failures, bishops and popes who were motivated by greed, selfishness, and a desire for power rather than love. The Church has done things both amazing and horrific in the name of God.

But … she is Christ’s bride, made holy and without blemish by Christ Himself and by the righteous deeds of His saints³. And like all brides, she has been joined to Him that the two may become one flesh. It is through this incarnational mystery that we, as the bride of Christ, become in that marital union of one flesh, the very Body of Christ, with Himself as our head⁴.

You see, for me, the balance had shifted, and I could no longer in good conscious consider myself Protestant. As I pointed out in an article I wrote, entitled “Sola Scriptura — An Anachronism”:

“There is a theory which I have heard proposed in many different ways by many different groups over the years. It is always vaguely articulated, but generally it loosely follows the same formula, namely, that sometime during the first 1,500 years of Christianity, the Church was led into error and that human reason and meaningless Church tradition gradually replaced the true authority of the Scriptures. At face value, I have a sizable problem with any theory that proposes itself in contradiction to the words of Christ, who said, ‘I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it’⁵. Every Christian denomination which has since split from that Church, has essentially proposed some variation of the theory above. Namely, that Christ was wrong, His Church was not preserved by Him, the gates of Hell did prevail against it, and it has now become necessary to split from the Church which He founded and start an entirely new church in order to return to the original teachings of Christ.”

I have come to the conviction that it was indeed Christ who founded His Church — not Luther, or Calvin, or Zwingli, or the King of England, or John and Charles Wesley, or Joseph Smith, or Chuck Smith, or anyone else since that time.

I have decided to trust in the plain words of Christ preserved in the Scriptures for us. Yes, I have decided that — when He guaranteed His Church that He would be with her always, even to the end of the age; and when He promised her that He would preserve her against the very gates of Hell — He meant what He said. I have decided that if I am to be His disciple, then I should begin with obedience — and in obedience, belong to the Church which He established. And finally, I have decided that Christ is not into polygamy — He only desires one bride, one Church.

I will leave you with the words of G.K. Chesterton: “It is impossible to be just to the Catholic Church. The moment a man ceases to pull against it he feels a tug towards it. The moment he ceases to shout it down he begins to listen to it with pleasure. The moment he tries to be fair to it he begins to be fond of it. But when that affection has passed a certain point it begins to take on the tragic and menacing grandeur of a great love affair.”

And here’s the full newsletter: Coming Home Newsletter September 2016

!

1 Corinthians 15:3 ↩

Martin Luther — An Instruction on Certain Articles: late February 1519 ↩

Ephesians 5:25–27, Revelation 19:7–9 ↩

Colossians 1:18a, 24; 2:17–19 ↩

Matthew 16:18b ↩

This contribution is available at http://adamncrawford.com/delving-deep-history-brought-home
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Amazing Results With the Rosary [at Plot Line and Sinker (Ellen Gable, Author)]

Rosary“The holy Rosary is a powerful weapon. Use it with confidence and you’ll be amazed at the results.”
St. Josemaria Escriva

Although I grew up in a Catholic family, I learned how to say the Rosary at Catholic school. My father often said the Rosary privately, but we never recited it as a family and I rarely said it on my own before the age of 11. One evening, however, my parents were involved in a violent argument. It was my first experience at being “amazed at the results” of the powerful weapon of the holy rosary. The following is another excerpt from my novel, Emily’s Hope. It’s based on actual events and is a true illustration of Our Lady’s powerful intercession.

I listen as my parents are fighting again, fighting over bills they can’t pay. Each time my mom yells, my dad yells louder. Dad starts to throw things, not at Mom, just throwing things. I’m scared. It makes me feel anxious to see the two people I love most in the world screaming at each other. Don’t they love each other, I ask myself. Why won’t they stop yelling?

Dad just said something about moving out. Oh, God, please, I don’t want my dad to move out. Mom says good. Oh, please, Mom, don’t say that. I look at both of them but they don’t seem to see me or the panic in my eyes. They only glare at each other.

Dad goes upstairs. I run after him and watch as he gets a suitcase out and starts putting clothes in it.

God, why won’t you stop him? I pass by my bedroom and notice my rosary sitting on the bedside table. I grab it, sit down on my bed, and begin saying the rosary. As I say each Hail Mary, I plead with Our Lady, “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.” Please, Our Lady, don’t let my Dad walk out.

As I’m saying another Hail Mary, Dad walks by my room and doesn’t notice that I’m even there. He stomps down the steps. I can’t hear if he says bye, but I hear the door slam shut.

“Oh, God, please, make him come back.” I continue saying the rosary, each Hail Mary becoming more fervent than the last. I pray until my heart is bursting. Please, God, listen to my prayer.

I begin saying the Hail Holy Queen prayer and suddenly, I hear the door open downstairs. Without finishing, I stand at the top of the stairs and I see that my dad is standing at the doorway. Mom walks over to him. At first, they’re silent.

Then, my dad starts to cry. “I can’t leave you. I can’t leave my family.” He and Mom embrace.

I begin to cry. Thank you, God, and thank you, Our Lady, for bringing my daddy back.

My parents remained married until my father’s death eight years later. He was buried with his rosary in his hands.

Emily’s Hope is available on Amazon in paperback and on Kindle. The novel’s website includes reviews, an excerpt, a synopsis and a radio interview.

Copyright 2016 Ellen Gable Hrkach

This contribution is available at http://ellengable.wordpress.com/2016/10/11/amazing-results-with-the-rosary/
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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Socrates, Crito, and the 2016 Election [at Backs of People's Heads and Baby Faces]

One of my favorite things about Philosophy is how evergreen it is. It's amazing to me that something that was written in 350 BC can be so very relevant to what we do every day, but I guess that's the entire point of the philosophical adventure --getting to the heart of what makes us human. And when we find that heart, it's really no surprise that humanity hasn't changed much.

There has been a great deal of talk about not voting for a presidential candidate in the upcoming presidential election, and, instead, voting down ticket. This is even something that I have toyed with, though I have made no firm statements about what I intend to do. Each of us must vote our own conscience. I only offer these posts as a check to you and to myself --are you sure you know what you are voting for and what that will mean if carried to its logical conclusion?

So, the question this week is: Should Catholics participate in this election fully? I think that the answer to that question is an emphatic and undeniable, "Yes!"

Plato's work,

Crito

, falls in the life of Socrates, after he is convicted (

Apology

) of corrupting the youth of Athens and before he is executed (

Phaedo

). Crito is named for Socrates' interlocutor for this dialogue. A close family friend (a member of his

deme

) who is a man of means and has connections, Crito has shown up at Socrates' cell just before dawn to break him out and spirit him away before he can be executed. He has bribed the guards and has arranged for Socrates to be taken to another city to live out his days in peace. Socrates, who is an old man of 70, turns Crito down.

Scholars have argued over the intervening centuries as to why Socrates wouldn't go with Crito --some say that it is because he was old and tired of the fight, but most agree that it is to prove a point that the Athenians got what they wanted, (but not what they needed,) by executing him.

In the course of the dialogue, Socrates gives his reasons for staying. First, that by leaving, he would do harm to his reputation as a philosopher. He would be branded as a coward, or worse, as a dishonest man. He had spent his life trying to get the Athenians to govern themselves, personally and politically, with wisdom and to be the same man in public as each was in private. To be one man in private and another in public was, to Socrates, dishonest and did not move one closer to living the best life (which is what ethics is all about). By eliminating his voice, the Athenians might sleep more soundly in the short term and not have to give adequate thought to the laws and governance of the city, but in the long-term that inattention to wisdom will ultimately be their undoing. This is a "prophecy" that Socrates makes in the

Apology

, but he reiterates it here in the

Crito

. This, however, is not the argument he spends the most time on.

The argument I really want to focus on is that Socrates tells Crito that he has been a citizen of Athens from his birth and as such, he had taken advantage of the protections of the laws of Athens. Though Socrates has not participated actively in the political life of his city-state, he has benefited from the stability of the political life and the laws that govern him. Plato spends a great deal of time in this dialogue working through a soliloquy that is an imagined dialogue between Socrates and the Laws of Athens. This argument is a two-fold warning for us here in 2016.

First, Socrates gives a defense of the laws themselves. We cannot say that we agree to be governed by the laws of our country and then pick and choose which laws we will follow and which ones we will not. Socrates tells us that he agreed to abide by the laws of Athens and that includes the laws that he disagrees with but were legislated appropriately with a majority vote. This means that if Socrates benefits by the laws of Athens and they say that he should die for his crimes, then he must abide by those laws, too.

This is a warning for the single-issue voter. If you would have a wisely governed country, then you must pay attention to the whole picture. You don't want to be the one working on the cat puzzle while everyone else is working on the balloon puzzle. If you are only focused on one piece of the puzzle, it's easy to miss all the other pieces that make that picture complete. Socrates was so worried about gaining wisdom, that he missed the political piece of the picture that ultimately killed him.

(Or maybe he didn't. Maybe his death was the final thing he had to teach the people of Athens --that's a debate I have heard, too!) 

When we focus on a single issue, we can miss the other pieces that would make that issue work more effectively. Legislation that improves life for those who are poor and helps to heal some of the generational effects of poverty treats the roots of the abortion issue, not just the symptom. Ignoring these other issues and clinging only to one piece of that very complex problem ignores a set of tools that might be more effective in ending the scourge of abortion in the long run.

Am I saying that pro-life legislation is worthless?

NOT AT ALL.

I think it needs to be approached holistically and right now, the approach is not holistic. When we have pro-life public figures actively tearing down victims of sexual assault and defending the indefensible, in the name of respecting all women --including the unborn --we have a big problem with cognitive dissonance.

Secondly, we can infer that Socrates is encouraging us not to stand by and allow laws to be made in our name (as citizens) that we do not agree with. We must use our voices to hold our government accountable. By standing aside and allowing laws to be made without his active participation, Socrates has become the unintentional victim of his own lack of involvement in the political process.

This is a warning for the apathetic voter - if you don't vote, you may be the unintentional victim of what comes next. Whether you vote for Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, a third-party candidate or no one, you will still be subject to the winner's rule. That's the agreement we make as citizens of the United States. We benefit from all of the freedoms (and, yes! there are still many more that we enjoy than citizens of other nations) but this also means that we must accept the outcome of the political process. If you do not participate, then you have no hand in that decision.

There is a saying in the Catholic Church that we always get the vocations that we deserve. I think that the same can be said of our politicians in the United States. My daughter, quite frankly, is furious with all of us. This is her very first presidential election as a voter "...and 

these 

are the choices you're giving me?" But, maybe we really do deserve exactly these choices. It's up to us to choose wisely and force the parties we have left after this election to make better choices in 2020.

Photo: "The Death of Socrates"  Jacques-Louis David (detail)

Want to read

Crito

for yourself?

Click here to get access to a free online copy.

This contribution is available at http://peoplesheadsandbabyfaces.blogspot.com/2016/10/socrates-crito-and-2016-election.html
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The Witness of Chains: Of Apostolicity and Confinement [at God-Haunted Lunatic]

Next year, perhaps, God willing, we will again go to jail.
~ Dorothy Day

Oleksa Zarytsky, a Greek-Catholic priest, died in a Kazakhstan prison 53 years ago today. It was his second go-around behind bars on account of his dogged faith, and he’d already survived years of forced labor at the hands of the Bolsheviks. Still, the human body can only take so much, even when it’s a saint’s body, and Zarytsky succumbed to the beatings and mistreatment, earning a martyr’s crown on this day in 1963.

I was doing a bit of research on Fr. Oleksa, beatified by John Paul II in 2001, and I printed out some materials I found online. When I went to retrieve them from the shared printer at work, a colleague met me in the hall and handed them over. “I figured these were yours,” she said (I’m the token Catholic at our evangelical college), “and I hope you don’t mind my reading them. What an edifying story – he kept witnessing to the Gospel even at the risk of being returned to prison.”

The hallway was lined with students studying for their A&P lab, and you could tell they were listening in. I thanked my friend for delivering the documents, agreed with her assessment of Zarytsky’s story, and, mindful of the undergraduates listening in, I added, “Going to jail is certainly a mark of distinction for Christians.”

A different colleague, listening from his office, hastily added a qualifier (perhaps for the students): “If it’s for the right reasons!” – and who can argue with that? Nevertheless, it’s important to remember that Christianity and imprisonment have a long and noble shared history. Religious liberty is rightly on our radar these days, both here at home and abroad, but there’s little question that Christians belong in jail.

At the very least, we belong there as visitors – it’s one of the corporal Works of Mercy that Jesus himself enumerated in Matthew 25 – although we seem to belong there as occupants as well. Just this past Thursday, for example, we heard St. Paul in the first reading ask the Ephesians for their prayers, that he’d continue “to make known with boldness the mystery of the Gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains….” Those chains weren’t a metaphor, and the New Testament attests to Paul’s repeated imprisonments for refusing to compromise on the Gospel, not to mention the persecution of all Christians in those earliest years of The Way.

It’s a historical reality that was brought home for me when I had a chance to visit Rome long ago with my parents and sister. They were primarily interested in ancient Rome, but happily they were willing to indulge my penchant for the more Catholic side of the Eternal City.

Occasionally, our interests overlapped – as when we toured the Colosseum, so closely identified with Roman persecutions of the early church. Another site of mutual interest, and a highlight of the entire trip for all of us, was the little out-of-the-way 5th-century basilicamoses_by_michelangelo_jbu140 of San Pietro in Vincoli. In English, that’s “St. Peter in Chains,” but my mother preferred the fluidity of the Italian and she delighted in affecting an accent when enunciating it. I can still hear her voice – San Pietro in Vincoli – and see her satisfied grin as the words tumbled from her tongue.

Our family visit to San Pietro occurred long before the advent of GPS and cell phones, so it took us a while to wind our way through the back streets of the Esquiline and track it down. When we finally did so, we were hot and tired, and it was a relief to enter the dark, cool church. Fodor’s immediately directed us to Michelangelo’s Moses off to the right. The imposing sculpture, intended for a Vatican monument in honor of Pope Julius II, was waylaid at San Pietro’s for a variety of reasons, and now it’s a permanent fixture there.

However, it wasn’t Moses that captured our attention when we visited, but rather the chains. According to tradition, the Basilica’s high altar houses the fetters that held bound the Apostle Peter when he was arrested in Jerusalem – the very chains that “fell off his hands” when an angel appeared to effect his release (Acts 12.7). After receiving them as a gift, Pope Leo the Great sought to compare the Jerusalem relics to a second set of chains associated with St. Peter’s Mamertine confinement in Rome. When the Pontiff brought the separate shackles together, they miraculously fused, almost as if to ratify their historicity.

Regardless of their provenance, those chains in the impressive glass-encased reliquary at San Pietro make very concrete the biblical tales of saints being locked up for their faith and for spreading his Good News of salvation in Christ. For my mom, a devout evangelical, seeing those actual restrains was a confirming touchstone of belief – a Roman apostolic equivalent to visiting the Holy Land and walking where Jesus walked.

Of course, that kind of radical Christian witness didn’t cease with the apostolic age, which brings us back to Fr. Zarytsky, a very modern example of absolute abandonment to the Lord. Born in 1912, Oleksa had his sights set on becoming a priest from a very young age, and the triumph of Stalinist atheism in his native Ukraine didn’t dissuade him. He attended seminary in Lviv, received ordination in 1936, and set about his priestly duties with relish – catechizing, baptizing, hearing confessions, and, above all, celebrating Mass and giving the people their Eucharistic savior. Not surprisingly, the Communists caught up with him in time, and he was deported to a Kazakhstan labor camp in 1948.

oleksa-zaryckyjAfter his release in 1957, Fr. Oleksa rebuffed Soviet pressure to denounce the Pope and he redoubled his priestly efforts on behalf of the land’s beleaguered Catholic minority. Eventually he was appointed Apostolic Administrator of Kazakhstan and Siberia, and he became known as “The Tramp of God” on account of his tireless travels to bring the Gospel and the sacraments to his vast pastoral territory.

Arrested again in 1961, Zarytsky was returned to the prison where he’d meet his demise two years later. But even in jail, this dedicated priest would not abandon his apostolate. Aside from the comfort he brought to his fellow prisoners, he kept up a lively correspondence with those on the outside. “Who has God in his soul has it all,” Zarytsky wrote his brother by way of explanation. “This is my ray of light, the highest thought of my life.”

So that’s all inspiring, I know, but how relevant is it to those of us who’ll probably never face incarceration? Plenty, and it makes me think of my mother again. Confinement can take many forms, and, in her case, it was a physical confinement – a debilitating neurological illness that ultimately took her life. Even so, she bravely faced each day and sought to glorify her savior despite her significant limitations and ill health. She desperately prayed for healing, and she was honest with God about her anger when it wasn’t forthcoming, but she also never let up praying for her family, for her friends and acquaintances, and for the church at large – particularly for those Christians facing persecution in the far-flung corners of the world.

Hence the full meaning of St. Paul’s reference to his ambassadorship in chains: That, regardless of circumstances, regardless of whatever might hamper our human mobility or psychological freedom or even physical existence, we can nonetheless be conduits of grace and envoys of Christ wherever we find ourselves. “Have no anxiety about anything,” wrote the imprisoned St. Paul, “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Fr. Zayrtsky could only concur. “Every day and every hour we have to offer everything to the suffering Jesus who carried his cross on Calvary to show us how to come to eternal life,” he advised from inside the labor camp. “Pray a lot. Prayer is our greatest strength.”

No manner of chain can keep us from that.
______________________________

A version of this essay appeared on Catholic Exchange.

This contribution is available at http://godhauntedlunatic.wordpress.com/2016/10/30/the-witness-of-chains-of-apostolicity-and-confinement/
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Like water from a dam [at Peace Garden Passage]

roxjasonOur Catholic schools community has been very blessed. Through the past years, we’ve had an incredible array of speakers come from faraway places to grace us with their wisdom at the annual Cupcakes for Life event — an annual fundraiser to help our students travel to and attend the March for Life in January.

In the past, we’ve welcomed folks like David Bereit, founder of 40 Days for Life; Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life; my good friend and collaborator Ramona Trevinor, former Planned Parenthood manager; along with a host of other incredible local speakers.

This year, we happily welcomed Jason Evert. Jason and his wife Crystalina are part of an initiative called The Chastity Project. Jason told us that in the past, he did what a lot of other pro-life folks do — he prayed at abortion facilities. But at some point, he saw how last-ditch effort this was. He wanted to be more proactive. He wanted to start at the other end of the equation, and help teach the beautiful reality of intimacy and love from God’s point of view — and the view that ultimately will fulfill every human being, whether or not they believe in God.

His talk touched on so many different areas, and was addressed most of all to parents trying to navigate this zany culture of ours. I pulled some of his quotes out to share with others, and while they might not be as rich out of context, I wanted to share them here, too.

But there’s one in particular I’d like to highlight, because it’s something that I have discovered in recent years, while parenting young adults especially. It’s a belief I’ve come to the hard way, kicking and screaming along the way, and then finally, surrendering to the reality that even when it appears our children are off course, we have to believe, if we really believe God is as awesome as he’s cracked up to be, that God’s got them in hand.

And in his hand is the very best place for any of us. Don’t let appearances fool you. What you see, and what is going on in the soul, are two different things. If you are praying for your children, there is going to be an effect. Guaranteed. And it will be good.

Here’s the relevant quote:

“Your prayers for your children are welling up like water from a dam. One day the dam is going to crack. And the graces are going to flow out.” – Jason Evert

https://morguefile.com/search/morguefile/3/dam/pop

Yep, it’s true. One day, that dam is going to give way. And then, there will be nothing to stop the waters of grace. The soul to whom they’re directed will not be able to resist them. Love will flood their being, and the transformation will be underway.

In some cases, this might not happen visibly before us. We might not even be around to witness it. I hope most of us will. But whether it’s from here or heaven, we will see how our prayers made a difference. No prayer is wasted!

So keep praying for your children, and keep being the best parent or friend or spouse or co-worker or neighbor you can be while you wait for the prayers to bear down like an avalanche of love.

I am clinging to this concept right now. Won’t you join me?

Here are a few other nuggets that Jason proclaimed from our pulpit. Enjoy!

“The living cells of the child remain in the heart of the mother throughout the entirety of her life.”

“Abstinence is a profound expression of love.”

“When God is forgotten, the creature grows unintelligible.”

“The default should be openness to life. Children are a supreme gift.”

“Depression is the new STD…When teen girls become sexually active, depression follows.”

“Tights are not pants and your butt is not a billboard.” (On modesty)

“Dating is like getting on a freeway. The other roads ahead are either marriage or breakup.”

“To cleave means to hotly pursue.” (Wooing in marriage)

“The world will fill the silence of the dad with its own ideas.” (On why dads need to talk to their kids more)

Q4U: Do you believe that God is listening? Or do you wonder if your prayers have fallen on deaf ears?

This contribution is available at http://roxanesalonen.com/2016/10/like-water-from-a-dam/
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Cliffhangers and Cliffs [at String of Pearls]

In

my last Grace-filled Tuesdays post

(coincidentally, my last blog post, written way back on Sept. 27...sheesh, I am not a very prolific blogger these days!), I left you with a cliffhanger of sorts.  I promised that at our next "meeting" I would reveal the inspiration for the scene in

Finding Grace

where Tom Buckley pats Grace Kelly--who is dying of unrequited love for him--on the head, and she just about dissolves into a puddle of goo. 

Well, if you think I wrote that scene into the story because my very own Tom Buckley (that is,

my husband

, who became my boyfriend when we were both 15 and has been my one and only ever since) patted me on the head in a similar manner, well...you would be...

WRONG.

There are many scenes in the book that were inspired in part by my high school memories: Grace and her friends eating at a local pizza joint after a football game, for instance, and Tom patiently giving Grace ski lessons at Whiteface Mt. (which a similarly gap-toothed heartthrob also did for yours truly), to name two; but that head-patting scene was inspired by something you would probably never guess.

The fall of our senior year, my husband broke his arm in a football game, ending his season prematurely.  (And the team's season, too, because we didn't manage to win another game without him.  But I digress.)  Because of the location of the break, his arm was in traction and he had to sleep sitting upright in a chair rather than lying in a bed.  He was in the hospital for a few days, and I went to see him as often as I could.

One day when I was there with him, he got tired; so I told him not to worry about staying awake to visit with me, and I held a pillow for him, so that he could rest his head against it while he slept in his chair.  As I was sitting there, holding that pillow and ignoring any aches or numbness caused by staying in that awkward position (and staring at the sleeping face of the handsomest boy I had ever seen with a look of utter adoration, I expect), his dad came into the room so quietly that I didn't notice him right away.  And before I knew it, I felt the warm and loving hand of this man--who was truly a giant in the way he influenced my life--resting on the top of my head.  His son and I had been dating for going-on-three years by then, but there hadn't been a whole lot of physical signs of affection between us up until that point.  (You have to understand that this was the mid-1970's, and in general, they were far less

huggy

 times than we're living in now. I could no more imagine hugging Mr. Pearl--or one of my male teachers, or any grown man who wasn't a blood relative--than I could imagine living on the moon.)  So that simple pat on the head, so unexpected and so sweet, flooded me with warmth and made a lump form in my throat.  That hand resting on my head made me feel so loved and appreciated that from that moment on, the head-pat became one of my favorite ways to give and receive affection.  And that's why Tom pats Grace on the head; and that's why Grace, who has never been kissed by a boy, thinks it's so wonderful that she imagines it must be every bit as knee-weakening an experience as a kiss.

My father-in-law has been gone for 13 years now, so I can't ask him what he was thinking that day; but

when I remember the incident now, I often wonder if a lump formed in his throat, too, when he walked into that hospital room and saw his eldest son being so obviously LOVED by his young girlfriend, who was holding a pillow for him to rest his head on and gazing at him as if she was witnessing a miracle or something.

Okay, so that's it for

Finding Grace

.  Now for a quick word about

Erin's Ring

, a novel that goes back and forth in time between the 1990's and the early 1800's and tells the story of some Irish-Catholic immigrants who had a big influence on a small New England town.  I'm giving away five free copies of

Erin's Ring,

Before I sign off, I want to show you some pictures of my youngest son (the one who is currently living in Germany), taken on some famous cliffs overlooking the ocean.  He and a friend decided to spend the four-day Columbus Day weekend in Ireland.  They flew to Dublin and visited some pubs and castles (and of course, they also visited the home of Guinness beer!).  Then they took a bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher.  My boy said that it was an absolutely mind-blowing experience for him.  He could hardly believe that he was really there on those iconic cliffs; truly, he said, it surpassed any expectations he had for it.  He's got lots of Irish blood in his veins, and I think he felt as if he'd come home.

My love for Ireland runs very deep, in spite of the fact that I don't have nearly as much Irish blood in me as my husband or my sons.  (If you've read either of my novels, you might have guessed this about me.)  I've never had much of a bucket list, since my life has been blessed already beyond any wishes I ever had for it.  But I think I need to stand on those cliffs one day, too; yes, I think I need to see the Emerald Isle with my own two eyes.

Until next time, dear readers:

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields
and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

This contribution is available at http://mumsie2five.blogspot.com/2016/10/grace-filled-tuesdays-book-club-meeting.html
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anger This begins a seven part series on the seven deadly sins. Today, in part 1 of 7, we start with Anger.

Do you ever get so angry that your face turns red, your blood pressure rises, and you lose control? When this happens, do you ever stop to think about what really causes you to experience such rage?

Anger arises when an evil persists in the face of our resistance or when a good remains beyond our grasp, despite our efforts. ¹

Anger is a natural emotion. Even Jesus lost his temper with the money-changers at the Temple. Yet, Jesus’ anger was righteous; used for the purpose of defending His Father’s house. For most of us though, anger arises when we feel unrighteousness crossing our paths. For us then, it is how we deal with it that makes all the difference.

We best channel our anger appropriately when we seek the virtue of Fortitude. This virtue “ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of good” ². In essence, Fortitude gives us the strength to endure the trials of evil and to pursue the good.

Handling Anger Caused by Evil

When we can see evildoers for who they really are, we see their weaknesses and vulnerabilities. We can hold our emotions in check by recognizing from where the evil originates. For example, when we realize that evil borne by another individual stems from abuse or ridicule, then our emotions tend to move from anger to pity, compassion and forgiveness. We replace anger with charitable love.

Handling Anger Caused by A Good Beyond Our Grasp

When we become frustrated because a desired good is out of our grasp, again we seek the virtue of Fortitude to persevere in prayer, and seek God’s will. We wait with patience and the anger subsides. We know that if we do not receive the desired good, it is because God either has something better for us, or the good we wanted, wasn’t really good for us.

So, anger will destroy you if you let it. Therefore, the next time you get so enraged that you feel like you are going to lose control, stop for a second and ask yourself where does it come from, and seek the virtue of Fortitude. Change your anger into charitable love for your neighbor and for God.

Come back on Wednesday, when we discuss the second of the seven deadly sins, Envy, in part 2 of this seven part series.

Footnote:

¹ Schu, Walter. “The Whole Human Person at a Glance,” The Splendor of Love: John Paul II’s Vision for Marriage and Family, New Hope Publications, 2003, p. 70.

² Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition, Vaticana: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997, Print, n. 1808.

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Election 2016 - There May Still be Hope [at It Makes Sense to Me]

IT MAKES SENSE TO ME

By Larry Peterson

Pope St. John Paul II said, “A nation that kills its own children is a nation without hope.”

Hillary Clinton’s decades of political experience have allowed her to master the art of parsing the English language to suit the moment. To be fair, she is just one of many skilled politicians who has this uncanny ability to say certain things to please a certain audience and then deny having said those same things to please a different audience. Amazingly, the world seems to excuse it all because, as they say, “That’s politics.”

There is one issue, however, that Mrs. Clinton speaks to where political language is non-existent. That is abortion. Mrs. Clinton is perfectly clear about her position; she not only is in favor of abortion, she believes it is perfectly all right for a woman to have an abortion up to and including the moments right before full term birth. It seems to me that St. JP II’s opinion and Mrs. Clinton’s opinion on the matter are on opposite ends of the Sanctity of Life spectrum.

Secularism’s success is contingent on eliminating God our Creator from the life equation. God has rules; God’s rules say “NO”. A society filled with, foremost, a sense of self-indulgence, cannot have that. This secular society believes that every person should be able to do what they want—“Hey, I’m not bothering you, am I?” 

Secularism’s mantra of self-gratification has been the catalyst that has driven people the world over to reject the sanctity of life, fomenting many folks to embrace the false notion that each of us can decide who lives or dies. Why are there so many people determined to bring St. John Paul II’s words to fruition?  I think the answer is simple enough; “I” and “me” have replaced “you” and “them”. However, I do believe there is still hope.

There are many people who proclaim their catholicity and intend to vote for the Party of Non-Life (those who approve of abortion and euthanasia---Euthanasia is legal in five states, parts of New Mexico and is up for referendum in Colorado ). How folks can be part of a religion and reject what it basically stands for is beyond my understanding. I leave their spirituality up to them. Bottom line---that still leaves a goodly percentage of Catholic/Chrsitians that still embrace the sanctity of God’s individual creations, whatever their age may be including the pre-born.

Psalm 139:13-16 speaks to each one of us as God’s individual creations. "For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them."

The unexpected candidate for the presidency, Mr. Donald Trump, has proven to be an enigma to the election process. Honestly, I never knew anything about this man except that he was a very wealthy and successful international builder and entrepreneur. He also hosted a #1 rated TV show called the “Apprentice” which was on for 12 years (I actually never watched it). I had never heard anything “bad” about him and I never had an opinion of him one way or another. Then he ran for President of the United States. 

According to all the political elite and main stream media and many in his own party he is almost akin to a new “Hitler”. He is “evil” personified. Yet,  through that all, he stands before the world and says he will defend life and is pro-life and promises to appoint Supreme Court Justices that will be pro-life. That seems to me to be quite "UnHitlerish".

As a Catholic man who believes in the Sanctity of Life and honors the fact that his Church defends life I must cast a vote for the person that will also defend that life and also has the power to do something about it. I do not care if that person is obnoxious. I do not care about what they did 10 or 20 or 30 years ago. The color of their hair matters not and if they happen to be the lousiest politician who ever lived, so be it. I, and millions like me, are sickened by the callous disregard for human life especially when this callousness is being disguised as compassionate. It is NOT compassionate. It is bloody, it is destructive and it is fatal.

If we truly believe that we are all God’s individual creations and that Jesus died for all of us, including the elderly and the pre-born, then we have our moral duty before us. Finally, from page seven (7) of the old St. Joseph First Communion Catechism,1963: “God made me out of nothing. He made me because He loves me. -----I belong to God because He made me.”

                                      ©Copyright Larry Peterson 2016

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Unelectable [at Convert Journal]

I have been looking at this, trying to understand it, and collecting my thoughts on it for months. You probably have been too. I am speaking of “the election.” Even writing “the election” now brings me a sense of repulsion.

Unelectable Candidates

I remember a time when just a slight history of impropriety would torpedo a presidential candidate’s chances. In more recent decades we would lament how bad our choices were and resign ourselves to choosing the “lesser of 2 evils” while hoping and praying, in the future, it would get better. False hope that. It got worse, then worse again, and now…

Any objective observer would agree we have two of the worst candidates ever. The history of each and the numerous revelations which have come out about each should completely disqualify both of them. Not only do they both have a long string of serious issues, from all appearances they are also completely unrepentant.

Regardless, one will be our next president.

If you happen to think that one is morally superior to the other, you are woefully uninformed or highly misinformed. On that later point, the always biased news sources have pulled out “all the stops” to manipulate your vote.

Representative Democracy

Recalling our grade school civics classes, you and I do not get to directly make governmental decisions. We do that only indirectly through our elected officials. In effect, we give our proxy to someone else. Choosing where to invest our 1 vote is choosing the overall outcome we hope to attain with it.

Whoever the president is, they are themselves a proxy for the bundle of policies they represent. For the most part, we are not choosing a person of high moral caliber to make decisions for us as unforeseen events unfold. Rather, we are choosing a proxy to implement a vision. You can count on that regardless of who is elected. This is key.

Popularity Contest

I am AMAZED at how many people fall for this (although I understand it as an emotional reaction). People completely ignore issues as big as a mountain and focus on candidate personalities the size of a rock in long-term importance. How often have you heard “I would never vote for her…” or “I would never vote for him…”? They are rejecting her/his character and history, which they should — but that is not what our vote is about. We are not choosing a prom king or queen. Using our vote in that way is missing the forest for the trees.

Speaking for myself, I could not endorse either candidate as a good, moral person. All indications are they are both far, far from that. Despicable is a word that often occurs to me. I would not hold either as a role model. I would not like to personally meet either candidate. I could not be friends with either. I want nothing to do with either. Neither is worthy of my vote…   or yours.

Regardless, one will be our next president.

Elections have Consequences

I have heard all manner of tortured explanations why one or the other will be a better “leader.” Neither will ever be my leader. He or she will however greatly advance policies which at this point are very well known and will not significantly change. Each has a base they depend on for power and will not deviate much from those positions.

Our vote is a POLICY decision. It is not a personal endorsement. POLICY.

Long, long after the next president is gone, our country and society will be greatly impacted by their legacy. It is NOT reversible (except, maybe, over decades). It will outlive the candidates and very probably us.

Choosing a Policy Bundle

Which policy bundle should we choose? Of course, they will each have at least some pros and some cons. Do they balance out?

If you are a faithful Catholic, not even close.

We might be tired of hearing it, but the one issue that should not and can not go away is abortion. There are over 1 million surgical abortions PER YEAR in the US. Many more if you include abortifacients such as “Plan B” and various contraceptives (and you should count them, BTW). No political relabeling changes the fact that a created person, scientifically a human being, with their own unique DNA — and completely innocent is killed. A human heart is forever stilled when its human body is violently ripped apart. Our Church calls this an “intrinsic evil” because the taking of this life can not possibly be justified under any circumstance.

Some would like to balance that against a presumption that one party or the other is more war prone. That is an assumption completely contrary to historical facts. For the sake of argument, let’s pretend it is true. 1.3 million Americans have died TOTAL in all the wars we have ever been in. 1.1 million of those in the Civil War and WWII (so 200,000 outside of those sad periods). While this is terrible of itself, it pales compared to the ongoing abortion of the innocents just in the US.

One candidate is enthusiastically committed to abortion, to overturning all restrictions, to using your taxpayer money to fund it, to support it worldwide. They have a perfect NARAL rating (a bad thing), the highest honors from Emily’s List (another bad thing) and the unqualified support of Planned Parenthood (the abortion giant).

This candidate is also strongly opposed to religious freedom as we have historically enjoyed in America. They are committed to suppression of religious liberties of constitutional “freedom of religion” to a far lesser novelty they call “freedom of worship.” That is a huge difference. In essence, freedom of worship is the concept that you can worship in private as you wish but may not bring your beliefs into the public square. If you attempt to do that, you will be harshly persecuted. There are numerous examples demonstrating this erosion of our basic liberties already. It can and will get much worse under this candidate.

The other candidate, similarly deplorable in their acts as a person, has very opposite positions on these crucial matters. This is not only about the laws these candidates will propose, but the Supreme Court justices they will nominate. Like it or not, future Supreme Court decisions will be 100% different on matters the Church has the highest interest in based on the 3 people the next president will very likely choose. That is, you will choose via your proxy of that next president. To be clear, YOU are predestining now the outcome of those future Supreme Court decisions for or against life and for or against the Church.

Choosing Based on 1 or 2 Issues?

Issues are not of similar weight. Issues of life itself and religious freedom are non-negotiable. All faithful Catholics must hold this. Most other issues are ones of prudential judgment in which we can differ in good conscience. Those are issues of security, healthcare, immigration, economics, and so on. Life itself and the freedom to live that life in good conscience must first be secure.

Clear Catholic Teaching

I considered giving you a raft of links, quotes, videos, etc. but respect your limited time (and tolerance to read further). You are probably also repulsed by this overall topic as am I. So instead I offer you only this recent video from Fr. John Lankeit (Diocese of Phoenix). Please spend a few minutes to view and reflect on it.

This contribution is available at http://www.convertjournal.com/2016/10/unelectable/
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The Challenge to Be Courageously Catholic [at Catholic Stand]

A few days ago we returned home to a plumbing catastrophe. We had been out to dinner for a little over two hours and in that time an estimated six hundred gallons of water had flowed from an upstairs bathroom into the two adjoining bedrooms. It traveled through the walls and floor to flood the kitchen on the floor below. It continued the downward trek to soak a basement bedroom and bathroom. It has been an overwhelming experience.

Facing the Devastation

We are now in the recovery phase. We have ceilings removed, drywall ripped out, carpet cut and removed and every possible surface cleaned and disinfected. We lived with the roar of industrial fans on every level of the house for six days. We are waiting for the insurance company to tell us how much of this devastation and loss they will cover.

The thing we know is that there are some things that will have to be replaced whether or not the insurance company covers the cost in order to mitigate the risk of mold or the risk of electrical fires. That may mean more money out of our pockets than I would like, but we really do not have a choice. The repair work must be done right in order to make the house safe and livable again.

This is not too different from the current situation facing Catholics as we look at the American political and cultural landscape. There is no one running for president who aligns with Catholic morals and principles or provides spiritual leadership. But the reality of good and evil does not hinge on who gets the most votes on November 8. What changes on November 8 is our degree of religious liberty. In spite of that, with or without government approval, we have no choice but to adhere to the tenets of our faith in every aspect of our lives and do what is right. The salvation of our souls depends on it.

The Price of Living the Faith

The outlook for religious freedom is grim. The current administration has declared that pregnancy is a disease and fertility a disorder so that all must contribute to the destruction of human life through abortion-inducing drugs. There is no respect for religious principles in the HHS mandate requiring all employers to pay for contraception and sterilization. The latest declaration from HHS requires that all health care providers participate in the provision of gender transition or risk prosecution and sanctions for discrimination.

The chairman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, Martin Castro, claims that the phrases “religious freedom” and “religious liberty” are mere “code words for discrimination, intolerance, racism, sexism, homophobia, Islamophobia, Christian Supremacy, and intolerance.” Hillary Clinton stated explicitly that “deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed” with regards to abortion, contraception, and sterilization.

No matter who wins the White House, the attacks on the free exercise of religion will become bolder and more numerous. How will American Catholics respond? Will they compromise their faith and allow themselves to be marginalized in order to get along, or will they stand firm in their faith and shoulder the costs? There has been little public outcry over the assaults on religious liberty thus far. What will it take to rouse American Catholics to recognize and resist religious oppression?

Real Threats to Religious Liberty

For example, many public schools are already more intent on indoctrination than on education. The United States Department of Education, as well as many public school boards, demand that teachers promulgate the view that homosexuality, transgenderism, and same-sex marriage are normal and acceptable. They call this being “value neutral”. The reach of such requirements already threatens Catholic colleges. There is no reason to think that Catholic grade schools and high schools will escape being targeted for enforcement of the recently broadened definition of anti-discrimination policies.

Yet how many of our Catholic schools are willing to give up all the strings of government money in order to be free to function as an authentically Catholic institution? How many Catholics are willing to step up and sacrificially support these schools so that every Catholic child can receive an education in an environment that promotes virtue and holiness? The Diocese of Wichita takes this quest for every Catholic child to be educated in a Catholic environment seriously. Children of active parishioners attend both grade school and high school tuition-free. Yet this is only one diocese in the United States. Why is this not the model for every diocese?

Catholic health care institutions and Catholic health care providers are similarly being pressured to provide objectionable services, including assisted suicide and abortions. Will faithful Catholics still be able to participate in health care when the government offers no conscience protection? How can Catholic patients feel confident that they will be allowed to receive health care consistent with their moral principles? In spite of this threat, too many Catholics look the other way and assume they will not be directly affected.

When a local pro-life medical group in my community tried to establish a pro-life pharmacy that did not provide morally objectionable medications, there were not enough Catholics who were willing to bear either the inconvenience or the extra expense involved in utilizing this service. This endeavor to provide a pharmacy where workers and customers alike could do business without fear of cooperating with evil as part of their transactions had to be abandoned for lack of community support.

Ready to Be Courageously Catholic?

The cloud of secularism thickens and seeks to obscure all that is true. Faithful Catholics must stand up and courageously be beacons of the light of Christ in this cultural darkness. St. Paul exhorts us:

If we have died with him, we shall also live with him; if we endure, we shall also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us …. (2 Timothy 2:11-12)

Therefore, as faithful Catholics, we must not deny Christ and accept the limitations that a secular government and culture want to impose on our faith. We must take to heart the words of St. Pope John Paul II and “Be not afraid!” Our mandates come from God and His Church, not from government agencies and institutions. God calls us to do what is virtuous and true. He challenges us to raise the holiness of our culture without fearing the costs. Are you ready to be courageously Catholic?

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Healing Our Memories [at Catholic Champion Blog]

Our memories are a gift from God. It is through the memory that we can examine, recollect and deliberate on our experiences. This makes us unique in that we are given intellects to do many things that other animals cannot. Memories however can at times haunt us and past bad experiences can lead us to despair or even bring us into temptation. This can happen on its own as we dig through our past or it can be something brought upon us by the demonic. Sometimes our past experiences can cause us enormous spiritual strife.

Whenever we commit a sin our memories are affected in a negative manner. This especially becomes problematic when we commit habitual sin. Our memories are filled with our past actions which can at times put us into an occasion for sin. This can happen most easily with sins of the flesh such as eating decadent foods all the time or committing sins of impurity habitually. For example people who view pornography over and over again can become prisoners to their own memories. The devil can bring up the images over and over again enticing the individual to commit the sin again. Our memories can also be damaged by sins committed against us. We can have anger issues for example for unjust things people have done to us in the past. We dwell on them and wish we could have revenge when we may have been vulnerable in the past.

Often the affects of our disordered memories come in the form of despair, or sins against the virtue of Hope.  We project onto the future our disordered past, and it inclines us to fall into a state of hopelessness. Our sins become alive in the future even before we have committed them. Our imaginations often take over the reality that God loves us and wants us to overcome the sin our lives. This is the tactic the demons love to use against those who are trying to overcome sin in their lives. He tries to bring up the past and get you to project it onto the future so you can lose hope and commit the sin again. If anger is your issue the devil will stir up something in your memory so you can project a past injustice onto a current situation. This will often get you to justify some outburst of anger that is not really justified. This can happen with the sexual appetite as well. The devil will bring up how many times you have committed the sin in the past and convinces you that one more time won't make any difference. Then when you commit the sin again it attaches even deeper into your intellect. For those who have issues of attachment to material things, he will use your thoughts against you and get you to dwell on goods that catch your fancy such as expensive cars, big houses, decadent clothes and the list goes on.

The memory and our imaginations can be used against us if we are not careful. We have all fallen prey to this in one form or another. What can we do to combat these sins that are enticed by our disordered memories? Mother Angelica in her book called,

'Three Keys to the Kingdom'

tells us that we must cultivate the virtue of Hope. Instead of letting our minds go into a fog of fantasy in which we then project onto the future, we focus on the kingdom of God. It is much easier to accept our immediate suffering and put up a struggle against our sinful inclinations when we reflect on God, focusing on His sacrifice and the kingdom that awaits us if we are faithful to Him. Mother wrote,

"Hope keeps our memory and imagination from harboring resentments and gives us the assurance that no matter how dark things seem to be, our little boat is being guided by the hand of a loving and omnipotent Father. It gives us a light heart in regard to disturbing occurrences and helps us to see God behind everything that happens."

In her book Mother uses examples of Saint Peter and Judas to show us which two choices we have before us. Judas let his past sins and damaged memory drive him into despair. It became fuel for his pride and he eventually destroyed himself by suicide. We see many people follow a similar course when they become addicted to drugs, alcohol, pornography or engrossed in their material wealth They slowly kill themselves, if not physically then always spiritually. Saint Peter on other hand let those memories humble him. He did not dwell on those memories and let them drive him into committing the sins again. He fortified himself with the virtue of Hope through Jesus Christ. So Mother says,

"We must use all our past regrets as opportunities for greater things, because they have taught us to depend on God and not ourselves."

How do we nourish the virtue of Hope in our lives?

1. We must make a serious effort to guard our intellects. Garbage in means garbage out in the actualization of sin. We must not watch movies or television shows that will cause us to reflect on things that tempt us. The people we surround ourselves with should not build up our inclination to sin, but help us to live holy lives. Guarding our intellects takes serious and persistent effort.

2. Nourishing our intellect with holy images and reading can begin to heal our memories and imaginations. Reading Sacred Scripture or a good Catholic book can have a great affect over a period of time. Using holy images in our homes to keep our eyes on and intellect focused on God and the Saints help to keep us from projecting our bad thoughts onto the future. Instead the images invoke Hope in us. 

3. Prayer and meditation goes along with reflecting on holy images and good books. I have written many posts on the importance of prayer so I will not repeat myself here. There is no better saying to remember than, " Those who pray little have little chance of getting to heaven. Those who pray much have a great chance of getting to heaven, and those who do not pray have no chance. Be sure to make a daily prayer schedule and stick to it. Include the Rosary every day. 

"I think we forget that the Rosary is powerful."

(Mother Angelica) This is not an option as in fact one of the most essential ingredients to making this all work.

4. Christ has given us immense graces through the Sacraments. We must receive Baptism and Confirmation. Most of us already practicing the faith have already received them. Through these Sacraments comes a healing grace and a fortifying of our souls against sin. These Sacraments must also be nurtured by the Sacrament of Holy Communion and Confession. When we commit a sin, we must immediately make an act of contrition and schedule a time as soon as possible to receive the Sacrament of confession. The Sacrament of confession reconciles ourselves to the Body of Christ and forgives our sins. This gives us a divine affiliation once again with God the Father. Once we are in a state of grace, we then can receive the Holy Eucharist when we attend the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Our Lord gives us spiritual healing and nourishment through His most precious Body and Blood. It is good to go to daily Mass if possible.

5. Finally, Our beautiful Queen of Heaven, and the Saints are always ready to assist us in our battle. Devotion to Our Lady is something every faithful Catholic will hold as a treasure. She is at the center of all things and points us to her Son Jesus Christ. She along with the Saints bring Christ and help us along on the field of battle. I don't know where I would be without The Blessed Mother in my life. No matter where I may find myself on any given day, I always begin by asking her for the grace to love her Son more. I also ask for the help of the Saints, especially that of my dearest friend St Dominic.

In summary, our thoughts determine our future actions and will determine our lives. If we let our memories and imaginations run amok in past sin, causing us to abandon Hope we will find ourselves void of divine life and will be damned. If we choose to begin again, guarding our minds, nourishing ourselves with holy images, reading and receiving the grace of the Sacraments, we will find life through divine affiliation. Our minds will begin to heal and the virtue of Hope will grow within us inoculating us against committing sins in the future. This all requires patience and persistence. It is important to remember that all of this takes time. There are no instant cures. Many of us have fast food mentalities and we think there is always a quick cure for everything. Mother Angelica said it best,

"Holiness is not for wimps and the cross is not negotiable, sweetheart, its a requirement."

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Deacons and priests need to work together [at Catholic Deacon]

Yesterday I mentioned that last weekend, along with my brother deacons and many of their wives, I was privileged to once again participate in our diocese's annual weekend-long deacon retreat. It's always a joy to see, spend time among, and talk to many of my brother deacons. One thing that remains clear to me after nearly 13 years of being a permanent Roman Catholic deacon is, generally speaking, priests don't care much for permanent deacons. As in most things, there are certainly exceptions. I don't make this observation in an accusatory way, or because something has recently happened in my own ministry that pissed me off. I make it simply as an observation over nearly 13 years of ministry. For what it's worth, I firmly believe it's something that can be overcome and rectified if it's given the attention it deserves. In my experience, not much caring for permanent deacons is true both of more and less traditionally-oriented priests. It seems this not much caring for deacons takes two forms, which I will seek to set forth in a

very

generalized manner.

In the first instance a permanent deacon isn't deemed by the priest to be ministerally competent. Lack of ministerial competency, which does not necessarily, or even usually, imply utter incompetency, usually results from inadequate initial and/or the utter lack of on-going formation, as well as the lack of genuine opportunities to serve, opportunities that allow the deacon to hone his skills. In such cases the priest dismisses him as not being up to the task. Of course, the fact that many priests eschew on-going formation themselves- something that shows in their ministries, often taking the form of the outmoded "Father knows all, makes the decisions with little or no consultation, and does all the things that really matter" view of ministry- is usually overlooked. About those deacons who may be ministerally incompetent, remember, no deacon is even accepted as a candidate for ordination without a strong recommendation from his pastor!

The second generalized instance involves a deacon who was initially well-formed and who actively seeks to improve his ministerial skills. These deacons are often viewed as a threat, as a competitor, someone to be kept in his place by various means. This often holds true despite the fact that people in most parishes are pastorally under-served. But there is no need to compete or priests to feel threatened by competent and active permanent deacons because the pastoral need in most parishes far outstrips the parish's pastoral capacity, even when one thinks about priest(s) and deacon(s) working together at something like full capacity. There are reasons why, by-and-large, Catholics no longer seek pastoral advice and counsel, spiritual direction, if you will, in matters affecting their lives, even when it comes to complex moral issues such as in-vitro fertilization, marriage preparation and counsel, end-of-life issues, etc. In other words, even in matters that seem to call for pastoral consultation and input as a serious Catholic prayerfully discerns what to do, or seeks assistance in trying times, people seem to grasp there is often not much to be gained from seeking pastoral advice, which assumes it's made available when they seek it. This is a challenge for the Church across-the-board.

How both of these states-of-affairs are typically made manifest is the refusal of priests to have anything substantial to do with deacons assigned to their parishes, choosing instead to keep them at arms length. In many situations, it seems, the best a permanent deacon can hope for is a kind of benign neglect that gives him a certain list of things to do which he is then left to do with little or no interference. In my own diocese I aware of permanent deacons willing, able, and ordained to serve who are given either trivial or, in some instances, nothing to do. In short, when it comes to ministry, many permanent deacons are under-employed, which is not only to their own detriment, but that of the entire parish and, in the aggregate, the detriment of the entire Church. Collaborative ministry requires communication and partnership. As in all such relationships, be they personal, professional, or pastoral, these require effort, work, and no little creativity. At minimum the fruitful collaborative relationship between priests and deacons requires a view of pastoral ministry that involves deacons. Fruitful collaborative relationships don't just happen, they require leadership and initiative.

It's surprising to me that priests working with deacons and deacons working with priests does not seem to be given much emphasis in either priestly or diaconal formation. What often passes for this in diaconal formation is for the deacon to be utterly deferential in every way to the priest(s) he serves alongside. While it's not the job of the deacon to play loyal opposition or be a divisive force within the community, much less to play devil's advocate, such an utterly deferential attitude can seriously compromise a deacon's

diakonia

. A deacon should not reject his pastor's authority, but he shouldn't be shy about speaking up when it's the right thing to do. Ideally, such speaking up is done at a time and in a place when and where it is not divisive for the community, but useful. This means such times and places must exist.

One thing I've never understood is what in reality is a priests' convocation being billed as "Clergy Convocation" while excluding deacons. Why do deacons and priests of a given diocese not come together, say, once a year for a convocation together, an actual Clergy Convocation? Are there dioceses that do these kinds of things? How often do the clergy of a parish, even if it's one priest and one deacon, get together to discuss ministry to the parish and build fellowship with one another in order to foster

koinonia

in the community they serve? Why is communication often done through intermediaries, like parish staff, and not directly, even in relatively small parishes? Deacons and priests working together strikes me as a matter of great importance for the Roman Catholic Church in the United States and other countries that have a well-established permanent diaconate. I think we're overdue for this matter to be given its due.

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Helpfulness [at Bible Meditations]

  Help others and you will be helped. Proverbs 11: 25b

We can’t help others without helping ourselves. Helping others gives us a sense of purpose. It makes us feel useful, maybe even important. Reaching out to others generates good will. Even when others don’t—or can’t—reciprocate, we can feel good about the kinds of choices we’ve made. Maybe we feel gratified at the chance to “pay it forward” in return for a kindness we’ve received.

We all need help at times. It’s reassuring to participate in creating the kind of mutually supportive community we’d like to believe is possible.

Unfortunately, sometimes what we call “helping” is an attempt to interfere and/or control other people or situations. It’s a mistake to do for others what they can and should be doing for themselves. We might think we’re helping, but instead be sending the message that we’re more competent than they are. We may be preventing others from standing on their own two feet. We may be depriving them of the opportunity to develop the sense of self-esteem that comes from working through a challenge or the chance to learn from their mistakes. In these cases, although our egos might feel gratified, we haven’t truly helped others or ourselves.

Prayer: Lord, give me the wisdom to know when and how to help.

Reflection: When has helping someone else helped you? When has being “helpful” backfired?

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Behold!

behold“The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”  –John 1:29

One of my favorite words from the bible is behold. In some older translations it is use almost 1300 times. Many of the newer translations use the word less. The meaning is never more relevant than in this distracted world we live in today.

Everyone is distracted.  Soccer practice, school plays and gymnastics; it is a wonder we can behold anything.

Many people are disgusted with social media.  They are contemplating taking a break from Facebook, Instagram Twitter and others platforms. Advent is the perfect time to do this. The average person spends close to 3 hours a day with social media. “I just don’t have the time” seems like a poor excuse.

Advent is just a month away and a great time for each of us to spend some time to reflect on our relationship with our Lord.  We need to find some time to behold!

“The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”  — Luke 2:10

To behold means to give something our undivided attention like our relationship with God.

Luke asks us to ponder the angel’s statement to Mary to behold the good news.

In John’s gospel, John the Baptist asks us to behold the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world.

And, Jesus’ statement in Matthew to behold the fact that He will be with us always until the end of time.

“And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”  –Matthew 28:20

Many people think that Lent is the time of year for reflection. Advent gives us a time to prepare ourselves for the coming of our Lord on Christmas day.  Let’s promise ourselves that we will spend some time pondering the Word of God. Let’s reflect on our relationship with the Lord.  And, take a needed break from social media and the distractions in our daily lives.

So, how do we do it?  How do we make some time for God?

We need to cut back on social media!  Try going on Facebook only twice a day.  And, shut of the notifications from Facebook and other social media platforms.  If you are like most people you can gain an hour throughout the day to just behold!

Use you time in the car driving to and home from work as a time of prayer and reflection. It will make you workday less stressful and will return you home in a good mood.

Read at least one good inspirational book during advent. There are so many wonderful Catholic and Christian authors. A visit to your favorite books store should help anyone find something that suits their needs.

Spend some quiet time in prayer and reflection each day. Try to make a weekly Holy Hour, or attend a weekday mass besides mass on Sunday.

So, how about it?  Let’s promise each other that we will avoid all the noise and distractions.  Let’s spend some time this Advent season with our Lord.  I promise it will make your Christmas holiday better than ever.  We will Behold “the good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.”

Have a blessed Advent.

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It is all going to be OKAY [at Quiet Consecration]

One of my most unexpected and startling personal victories has to be my acceptance that, no matter what goes on around me, God is personally and particularly concerned with my welfare.  He loves me.  He wants me to be happy, healthy, whole.  God wants me to spend eternity with Him in heaven and no matter how many times I throw away that opportunity or do damage to our relationship His  goal for me does not change.  I don't really have to worry about a thing.  God's got this, and God's got me.

That being said, one of my most difficult challenges in life is holding on to that knowledge or, rather, keeping that knowledge in the forefront of my tiny little brain.  I can start to worry in a minute.  I can get disgruntled, discontented and restless.  I can become convinced that the sky is falling if you just give me a minute and the right background music.

Normally I can pull myself back from the brink of despair but every once in awhile I have a down period that does not seem to have an expiration date.  It is those times that I need to reach out to a friend, call my 12 step sponsor, go to a meeting of like-minded and similarly afflicted types or run and sit quietly in the Adoration Chapel before the Body of Jesus.  If I take the right action, I can become okay again pretty quick.

This past political season has been a tough one on me and, I suspect, on anyone who is quiet and thoughtful when it comes to making their decisions as to voting.  I am a 1950's baby, the child of Depression and WWII era parents, a Catholic who remembers the excitement that gripped our parish when the first Catholic was elected President of the United States.  I can remember watching the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Wars being broadcast by NBC and CBS news, narrated by Cronkite and Huntley and Brinkley right into my living room as I sat on the floor with my Barbie.  I remember our heroes and I remember the villains and quite frankly life was easier back then.  The bad guys were Commies who spat on our troops and the bad guys sic'd dogs on young African American men who sat at lunch counters.  The police were both the good guys and the bad guys - it is no coincidence that my ultra conservative Southern father could use the N word in a sentence without shame AND advise me to never stop for an Oakland cop once I got my drivers license (he told me that if I saw a red light in my rearview mirror and I was within the Oakland city limits to floor it until I got to Berkeley and head for the police station in THAT city).  I was raised by a mother whose first language was not English.  I was taught to pray and say the Pledge of Allegiance, but that same mother could remember when SHE was taught that same pledge and the word GOD was not in it.  In other words, I had a fairly balanced upbringing - or as balanced as can be expected for a little Catholic White Girl in the Suburbs.  We had a political bent.  In those days it was considered Liberal...but not anymore.

Today, the traditional political stronghold for Catholics has been corrupted beyond belief.  I cannot support a Democratic candidate when the party that once championed Civil Rights now thinks such rights include the right to shove a pair of scissors into the brain of a child emerging from its mother's womb.  The political party of refuge for those with more conservative values has become a platform for reality tv.   People like me have been left behind, called haters and bigots because we do not believe abortion is a right or that marriage can be redefined by civil law.   It is not recognized that my kind are the ones opening our homes to those in society that have been discarded.  Rather, we are vilified because we don't believe respect extends to being okay with false science about gender identity or that Bruce Jenner should be given an award for taking female hormones. 

My kind is the first to send our loved ones into battle and we are the last ones anyone cares about when those same loved ones come home and cannot get a flipping doctor appointment while their nightmares increase, their drinking increases, their withdrawal from us worsens and we watch them fade from view.

I am one of the lucky ones.  I would say that 85% of my friends know how to express an opinion without being horrid.  They do not demand that others think like them and they do not find it necessary to imply that those who DO thinking differently are uneducated trash.  However, and I mean this with all my heart, I have been saddened that there are at least a portion of my friends who DO actually believe the drivel they post via Facebook memes and one sentence statements.  I have been shocked that people I thought were intelligent and thoughtful cannot seem to articulate their stance without attacking the stance of others.  I am tired of the pompous statements about sin.  I am exhausted by the holier than thou attitude exhibited by members of my Faith Tradition - on BOTH sides of the aisle - towards those who do not agree with them. 

As I have previously stated I found a political party I am comfortable with and so will not be voting for either Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Trump or Mr. Johnson.  I chose the course I am taking because, at my age, it is more important for me to be as clear as possible when standing in front of Jesus at the end of my life.  I don't think having Mrs. Clinton as our president is a signal of the end times.  Neither do I believe Mr. Trump is the anti-Christ. I don't think Mr. Johnson is an escaped mental patient.  I believe that our country will survive the presidency of any one of these people.

Why?

Because I firmly believe that God is All.  God's got this and no matter what happens, my job is to be able to look at myself in the mirror and like what I see.

My job is to fulfill God's destiny for me - to be able to spend eternity with Him in heaven....and I can do that no matter who gets 'married', no matter how many women make the tragic and horrible choice to end their child's life, no matter how many young men and women we march off to war and no matter where I go to Mass - Cathedral or Catacomb.

God's got this....and I am going to be okay.

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Confirmation: Our Call to Become Saints [at Theologyisaverb]

This weekend, to my heart’s delight, my son Peter was confirmed in the Catholic Church as Paul. In this moment I was reminded both of the importance of this sacrament and of the journey ahead. These were my words to him..

“Welcome to the school of the Spirit, the sacrament of Confirmation…for those who want to be holy, to be saints, to be warriors of God, men and women of Spirit”

– from Rites of Justice by Megan McKenna

Perhaps, you haven’t thought about this sacrament in this light and thought of it as a conclusion to your learning in the Catholic faith. If so, let’s look again at what happens in this sacrament and what it truly symbolizes and signifies.

First, confirmation is not considered a sacrament of conclusion but of initiation into a more active participation into the life of the church. Once celebrated with baptism and the Eucharist, it highlights the reception of the Holy Spirit to empower the candidate to walk the sometimes difficult path as a follower of Christ. The sacrament is marked by a laying on of hands, anointing with chrism oil with the words, “Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit”, and a sending forth by God and the community to serve as “true witnesses of Christ”.

So, there is a reception of the gifts of the Holy Spirit to guide and strengthen us, but also an invitation to respond to the suffering, and injustice in the world with the very witness of our lives. Therefore, this sacrament is not an end, but a challenge to go forth and to be a visible sign of Christ in the world. God confirms you as a member of the body of Christ, but then the response and the choice is yours. It is a call to a higher standard to strive for love, mercy and peace not only within the doors of the church but as saints in the world.

In answering this call..

we can look at the examples of Christian faith set by the apostles Peter and Paul. Peter, originally named Simon, was a fisherman by trade who heard the call to “come after me” and become “fishers of men”. Although Peter’s boldness put him in the wrong at times it is because of his faith that Jesus called him “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it”.  In the life of Peter we learn of a man who lost courage in walking on water to Jesus, and who was taught humility of service- in being asked not once but 3 times if he loved Christ and in having his own feet washed by Jesus. Even after having denied Jesus, Peter was one of the few disciples chosen to witness the resurrected Christ. Peter lived that witness with his life, in preaching and leading the early Christian churches, and in facing a martyr’s death. Paul, who we know was previously a persecutor of Christians, encountered a vision of Christ that transformed his life forever. From then on he is known as a passionate teacher for Christ, traveling far to the east and west, establishing early Christian communities, and suffering martyrdom as well for the faith.

Likewise, there are later saints like Catherine of Siena, born in 1347, known for her care for the poor, diseased, and for the conversion of sinners, who used her “insight, passion and determination to tell the truth in the chambers and cathedrals in the larger church”. Another beautiful example, of one who courageously walked the lifelong path of discipleship is Teresa of Avila. Born in 1515, Teresa joined the Carmelite order at age 20, but realized that even in the monastery the Christian life “demands much more”- a deeper friendship with God and other Christians that aren’t always encouraged in society. Led by visions from God, Teresa was very aware of God’s presence in prayer and championed active reform of the monasteries and in the “lives of all of the people she touched- a woman who inspired and gave life”.

Looking within the past century, we are given numerous contemporary saints like Maria Faustina, and Pope John Paul II. St. Faustina, born in Poland before WWII, joined the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in 1925, and soon thereafter began to receive revelations on the Passion of Christ. In these meditative experiences, Christ urged Faustina to tell others about His enduring Divine mercy and forgiveness for the sins of the whole world. . Beatified on Divine Mercy Sunday, John Paul II is considered one of the most beloved popes in the history of the Church. Instrumental in the continued work of Vatican II, John Paul II worked tirelessly to encourage communication and interfaith initiatives between Catholics and other Christians, and between Christians and other religions of the world. He is both the longest serving pope and the most traveled pope having visited 127 countries.

Yet, if we should begin to think that saints are a thing of the past..

we only need to look around us to find the saints among us. In each of these stories we are witness to the “gracious work of the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ” in taking our natural gifts and talents and adding grace so that so that Christ’s mission in the world may be visible to all. There is no “distinction on the basis of gender, social status, or ethnicity”and each one of us is given gifts “simply by being members of the body of Christ”.

As you can see, there are many ways God could be challenging and calling you to be a saint in the world today. And while you may not know yet what that is to be, you need only to be ready and willing to do God’s will. If you put God first, then the path is clearer.  It is now that I ask of you, what will you do today with your gifts as a confirmed member of the body of Christ?

This hopeful saint in the making,

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What I Wish People Knew About Being Pro-life [at Under Thy Roof]

It's JEI (Just Enough Info) but I'm digging pretty deep today. As always, if you want to talk more, comment or hit up one of my contact methods on the sidebar. 

Does your family or parish mark the month in a special way?

October is a bittersweet month for our family.

The one year anniversary of our miscarriage is in a little less than two weeks from today. 

We have a small family altar, and I like to put particular holy cards or mementos on the altar in memory of those who are no longer with us.

I do wish our parish would mark this month. This is not the year for me to be in charge of it, but memorial masses for lost children, additional outreach to the ill and homebound, or special rosaries would mean a lot.

Do you have any books or resources to recommend on the Respect Life theme?

Honestly, there are so many good resources out there and they're so easy to find on the internet. What is tricky to finding out where we each need to grow.

I think we all have some growing to do in order to work towards creating a society where all humans are seen and valued as persons.

One of our great faults as a society, in my experience, is we don't know how to be there for someone who is grieving or struggling. Their hurt seems big and scary, and we're often so terrified of doing the wrong thing we do nothing.

We try and force "moving on" by acting like things are fine or that the hurting will be over soon.

I'll let you in on a little secret - it's never "fine". It will never be the same once a person has gone through something that hard.

What every grieving, hurting, person needs is someone to reach in, see their humanity, and be there.

How you do that varies drastically from person to person.

I know a lot of women who do that by feeding people. They are the ones who will show up with full, hot, meals on your doorstep plus a little extra to "eat on later". It doesn't matter if a new baby was born, someone just had surgery, or a loved one died. These ladies will make sure you don't starve.

Food can be a beautiful love language.

Plenty others have a gift for listening. They can listen to you ramble and struggle to put your conflicting thoughts and emotions into words and never feel the need to shut you down.

Keep inviting those people into the community and to do fun stuff. Even if they don't go, being asked means you still wanted them to be a part of your life and that they still matter.

Don't be afraid to embrace another person. Sometimes a hug is all it takes for some of that emotional healing movement to happen.

Don't wait to be asked. Step into any needs you see. Sometimes the best thing you can do is help the ones who are supporting those who are grieving.

What do you wish others understood about the Respect Life message?

The biggest thing is that it is a whole person idea. If you're pro-life you have to be pro-ALL human life.

It's a pretty simple bar: we don't kill people, and we don't decide which humans are people. Boom.

It's not a hard concept, yet we, as a society, struggle to accept it.

Just stop and think about how much time we, as a society, have WASTED arguing about who counts as human. How much of a narcissistic God-complex must one have to think we can decide who should count as human?!

Yet our society does it every day.

It's really easy y'all. Everybody counts.

Even criminals.

Even the smallest clump of a human blastocyst.

Even the insane.

Even the terminally ill.

Even those in such physical pain they are suicidal

.

*************************

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Lazy Parenting [at Sweeping Up Joy]

(The goal of the project is to write for 31 days.  I made it 15ish days.  Not exactly a glowing example of stick-with-it-ness, but the other topics I felt called to write about this month like miscarriage, stuff I’ve found in our bathrooms, and the solutions to all my problems took up time and brain space.  Add that to how topsy-turvy our October shaped up to be with Cee’s increasing pain and the loss of my grandma, and I’m still going to call this one a win.)

From the outside, we look like lazy parents.  We don’t rush to pull the baby off the table.  We don’t break up every argument between our kids.  We don’t provide a lot of structured activities.  Our kids choose what to wear for the day from a small pool of hand-me-downs and things they’ve been given as gifts because we don’t buy them much for clothes.

Part of it comes from having four kids.  With a limited amount of time and energy, we have to pick and choose our literal and figurative battles.

Exhibit A:   In September we took a trip to the St. France Cabrini Shrine in Boulder, CO.  That Sunday we were the only ones walking through the garden area at the shrine, and we let the kids explore.

Just a minute after David snapped this picture of me and The Bubs for My Sunday Best, Moe decided to put his newfound potty-training skills to use.  Except not in a bathroom.  No one was around to be scandalized, and we knew the sun would dry up any evidence quickly.  Other than a little chat about the appropriateness of such an action, we didn’t get too worked up about it.   Moe is kid # 3.  We’ve seen worse.

There’s more to it than just having lots of kids, though.  

David and I have enjoyed watching the new TV series Speechless.  Have you seen it?  It’s about a family that includes a son with cerebral palsy.  It’s been decent, and this clip in particular put into words why we’ve stopped caring about lots of stuff.

But that doesn’t mean we let everything go.  Most things– but not everything.

Do you know Anni?  I was looking to add to my “favorite blogs” and asked around for recommendations.  Her blog came up several times, so I had to check it out.  After reading several posts of hers, I was hooked.

This post in particular about compromise gave me pause.  In it, Anni gives a short list of things that are NOT open to compromise for her family, and it’s implied that everything else is up for negotiation to some extent.

The more I thought about it, the more this sparked what is going to be my last happiness post for Write 31 Days.

I think that the best advice I could give to anyone making a big transition – – such as getting married or having a baby – – is to come up with a list of non-negotiables and leave the rest open to compromise.

I know several people who make a big d-a-m-n deal out of everything.  There’s no middle ground.  There’s no compromise.  If there’s an opinion to be had, they’ve got one– and it’s a strong one.

The problem with such a lifestyle is that it is exhausting.  If you’re constantly busy being irritated or feeling offended or standing your ground there isn’t a lot of space to be happy.

Ever since reading Anni’s post, I’ve felt called to explore my non-negotiables.  Maybe it’s also as a response to those who think we’re just lazy parents.  Turns out we do care about some things!  Just not the things like whether our kids are wearing Under Armor brand clothing.

Non-Negotiables:

Faith:  We will attend Mass and pray as a family.
Service:  We will do our part to help in our family and world.
Kindness:  We will treat each other with patience and care.
Stewardship:  We will love people and use things in a way that builds up God’s kingdom.
Thinking:  We will learn and grow and talk about everything together.

I’ll need to take some time to think about my list, but it seems like this covers a lot of territory while still leaving room for compromise.  How we celebrate a holiday?  What our schedule looks like?  To homeschool or not to homeschool?  All of those are open for discussion, given the context of our larger values.

I’d really like my kids to be better at chores, but freaking out over every way they’ve failed isn’t going to be effective or make me feel happy.  If we sit down and talk about realistic ways that we can serve each other in or family, though, that gets us one step closer to meeting our service non-negotiable.

Yes.  I like this list.  I don’t think we’re quite as bullet-proof as the DiMeos in the clip, but we are a sturdy bunch who knows what’s important.  And that might be the key to any sort of long-term happiness– knowing what you stand for and living it out.  That means not getting all worked up about a little preschooler public urination.

Thanks for reading along.

The Happiness Series
Day 1:  The Evolution of an Idea
Day 2:  In a Cave
Day 3:  The Pursuit
Day 4:  Peanuts Gang Style
Day 5: A Beautiful Death
Day 6/7:  Like a Moody Teenager
Day 8:   Survival of the Fittest Gardening
Day 9:  My Sunday Best
Day 10:  Traditions
Day 11:  Still in the Cave
Day 12: More Than Surviving
Day 13: On Rollerskates and Wheelchairs
Day 14:  Rainbow Moments
Day 15: Lazy Parenting

Follow along via facebook, , or email subscription (above). 

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Without the Inspired Word we can do Nothing [at Bartimaeus' Quiet Place]

Without the Word we can do Nothing

My Words are Spirit and They are Life!

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.   (John. 1:1-5)
My Fellow Pilgrims in Christ …

Our Absolute Need for the Word

I believe It is my continuing responsibility to remind you of the importance of maintaining our intimate personal relationship with Jesus during our spiritual journey here on earth. Since He, the WORD, is the source of Life we cannot grow in Life, including our spiritual life without growing closer in our personal relationship to HIM and to His WORD!

Brothers and Sisters, It must also be clear to you who have already come to know Him, that your relationship with Him cannot be maintained without persisting in letting the WORD of GOD enter in and abide in your Hearts to the point of yielding yourself totally to the WORD in your life so He can, not only guide you and Lead you, but so He can also conform into His image! Praised Be His Holy Name!

Since He is the WORD, and the WORD is  the ONLY source of His Spirit, it is clear that if we do not seek his Word to continuously renew us and provide us His guidance daily we will begin to lose our contact and fellowship with Him! Without fellowship with Him we can do nothing of any import spiritually.

Remember that He also told us that He is the Vine and we are the branches  and that if we disconnect ourselves from the Vine we cannot bear fruit … and will be subject  to be cut down and cast into the fire. (cf., John 15:1-5)

However, keep in mind, that He loves us and so it is His deepest desire for us to remain in constant fellowship with Himself – He will not do it by imposing Himself on us — He desires our Love and, Love, true Love, cannot be forced, True Love requires a free act of our will, a Loving resolution to be His and Be His forever! In this way, and only in this way, will all that we do be joined with Him so that all that we say or do or think becomes a manifestation of His Kingdom in this world!

The world system, under its satanic master, is set up to do anything to separate us from  the VINE , so that the satanic kingdom of darkness amy prevail. Beside being Christians, we are also sinners embedded in this world and the kingdom of darkness that controls it. As redeemed believers we have the Spirit of Christ in us to enable us to be envoys of the Kingdom of Light. Indeed, our calling  is to be instruments of His light in this world but we are not of this world. Therefore,the main intent of the enemy is to put our light out by attacking us through deceit and sin to prevent us from fulfilling our calling.

As God’s elect, our spiritual integrity is constantly at risk of being influenced by “the world, the flesh and the devil”. That is why it is all the more important that His Word remain in us in order to work in us continuously to keep us from being overwhelmed by the forces of darkness, who are constantly attempting to seduce us into a bondage that will keep us from fulfilling our divine calling to be instruments of God’s Love in this world’

In order to counteract the darkness that surrounds us It is essential that we depend more and more on His WORD to remain free from these ungodly influences and to persist in the Holy Faith with the resolution we need  to maintain our Love relationship with Him. Keep in mind, However, that in order to be fruitful in us, the WORD of God, must above all be INSPIRED by the Holy Spirit.That is , it must be activated in By Faith so that the inspiration contained in the WORD can reach our spirits and set us on fire spiritually. Without this inspiration the enemy can easily water down our beliefs and divert us to follow a lie.

For instance …

From the time of the so-called “enlightenment” historic period onward “humanistic” and “naturalistic” thinkers began to be very challenged by the “faith” elements of Christianity which pervaded western society. As atheists, they determined that the most effective way of discrediting and killing the faith of “believers” was to attack the “truth” of who Jesus Christ of Nazareth, really was, and thus eliminate Christianity as a social and moral force in the world today.

In their attempt to do this they set out to discredit the so-called religious “dogmatism” and scripture-based traditions on which our faith was based so that they could eliminate the “spiritual” element from our schools and social lives and draw us and our children into the darkness of an atheistic and secular humanist ideology.

Today there is a constant stream of literature attempting to “prove” or, at the very least, “show” that  Jesus was nothing more than an unassuming middle-eastern peasant; a charismatic, itinerant jewish preacher around which the myths an legends of Christianity were derived. To accomplish this they began various so-called “quests” to “discover” what they claimed was the real “Historical Jesus”.

These “quests” being no more than a cover to produce quasi-historical information that would negate the divinity of Jesus as the Christ and thus remove the the value of the scriptures and the Word of God, as a source of knowledge in determining the “reality’ of the identity of Jesus and His True Spiritual and eternal nature. Their intent being, to move all supposedly “thinking and rational” people to discard anything claiming to be supernatural or spiritual and, instead, base their social development on rational intellectualism, based on modern, and humanistic concepts. Thus bringing them closer and closer to their own humanistic and atheistic ideals.

One of the commentaries on the Gospel of John (by Mathew Henry) indicates somewhat why the Humanists are so eager on attacking the God-Given identity of Jesus as the WORD of God and the One who brings true “enlightenment” to the world:

Comments on John 1:1-5 The plainest reason why the Son of God is called the Word, seems to be, that as our words explain our minds to others, so was the Son of God sent in order to reveal his Father’s mind to the world. What the evangelist says of Christ proves that he is God. He asserts, His existence in the beginning; His coexistence with the Father. The Word was with God. All things were made by him, and not as an instrument. Without him was not any thing made that was made, from the highest angel to the meanest worm. This shows how well qualified he was for the work of our redemption and salvation. The light of reason, as well as the life of sense, is derived from him, and depends upon him. This eternal Word, this true Light shines, but the darkness comprehends it not. Let us pray without ceasing, that our eyes may be opened to behold this Light, that we may walk in it; and thus be made wise unto salvation, by faith in Jesus Christ.

This search by the secular humanists for “historic” truths are based on the  false premises, that in order to maintain “truth” in developing concepts of our belief about Historic and Religious Personalities, the results of all our investigations must be formed on the basis of the atheistic and naturalistic historicity surrounding that person.

Of course, the criteria for “historicity” comes from their own naturalistic philosophy. A philosophy which does not consider any so-called  “supernatural” events to be “historic”.  For instance, the history  surrounding Moses’ Passover liberation of the Jewish people from the Pharaoh of Egypt would not be considered by them to be historic unless some naturalistic explanation could be found to “explain” the miraculous events surrounding that period of history. To them these events represent only myths and legends about something that never happened – because according to them such events CANNOT happen. Yet the Jewish people and Israel exist to day as evidence that their do happen!

That is why, not only is the Word of God essential in fending off false prophets and their twisted theology, but it is of utmost importance in defending the purity and integrity of our souls as the enemy attack us in our soul, our moral integrity and our relationships with others of our faith, and especially our relationship with the Father of Jesus.

If we are to survive these attacks, God’s WORD must be to us…  A lamp to my feet, And a light to my path (Ps 119:105). If we receive the Word as merely intellectual or philosophical information it will not help us .  In order for the WORD to be effective as a spiritual weapon it must be inspired by  the Holy Spirit to truly spiritual. That is why we need to pray and meditate over the WORD we receive so that the Holy Spirit may empower the WORD and bring the Holy Fire it contains into our spirit.

The enemy we are facing are spiritual in nature, therefore if our weapon is the WORD it must be activated in us as a “spiritual” weapon and not as “the wisdom of man”.  As we progress on our path, we should always keep mind St. Paul’s exhortation to the Ephesians, that “.., our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the [spiritual] principalities, with the [spiritual] powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens.” (Ephesians 6:12)

You Need Armor to Fight the Battle

And, as spiritual warriors we therefor need to “… put on the “spiritual” armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground.” (Eph.6:13)

Remember also that we have not only been given defensive arms but also the most effective offensive weapon against the spiritual enemies of God, namely the Sword of the Spirit, which is the WORD of God. (cf.,Eph. 6:17)

“For the word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as the division of the soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Heb. 4:12)

Therefore, as Paul also stated to the Corinthians …
“… since we have this ministry through the mercy shown us, we are not discouraged. Rather, we have renounced shameful, hidden things; not acting deceitfully or falsifying the word of God, but by the open declaration of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God”. (2 Cor. 4:1-2)

That is why brethren, it is so important as we engage the enemy, to keep ourselves pure and in a state of Grace, utilizing the Holy Sacraments the Church provides us (Reconciliation and Eucharist) to maintain our relationship with  the Father an thus be under His protective Providence.

Are you being Conformed to Christ’s Image?

When we yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit and yield ourselves to Him, the work of conforming us to the image of His Son begins. In effect the Father sets us apart for His purposes that is, He “sanctifies” us to be molded into the image of His Son. Listen to Jesus’ Prayer to the Father for His disciples:

“14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15 I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.[e] 16 They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.” (John 17: 14-19)

If we are predetermined to be conformed  into His image (cf., Rom.: 8:28-29) then this prayer is also for those who respond to His call to Discipleship — those of us who are set apart through His WORD to be saints.

In conclusion …

… remember Paul’s word to Timothy as he encourages him how to continue in his calling to not only to proclaim the WORD but Living the WORD out as well!

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tm 3:14-17)

I charge you (therefore) in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths. (2 Tm 4:1-4)

I leave you with this Prayer:

Father, in Jesus Mighty Name I pray that all who are touched by You with this instruction be filled with Your Holy Spirit to move forward boldly in the calling which you have given them and may you affirm the calling for those who are just in the process of receiving it!

May it be so in Jesus Name! Amen and Amen!

Your Brother  in Christ Jesus … Bartimaeus

(© B.R.Timeo and Bartimaeus’ Quiet Place, [2008-2016])

Related Links

<> Sweet Yoke of Love

<> Husbands Love your Wives

<> Walking the Walk

<> Discerning the Spirit’s Call 

<>  Hearing God’s Voice and Obeying It

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Our Father who art in heaven…

God is still in heaven and everything that happens is still within His all-powerful and omniscient grasp. Nothing escapes His notice and everything happens according to His Divine will even if it be only according to His permissive will. It is he who finally rules the nations as the Psalmist cries out ,

Let people confess to thee, O God: let all people give praise to thee. Let the nations be glad and rejoice: for thou judgest the people with justice, and directest the nations upon earth.

Everything that happens plays out as it was already decreed in His master plan. The results of the American 2016 election are no exception! He, as a loving father, has already decreed the election results and has arranged everything for the best for us His children.

Hallowed be thy name…

May the name of God be held holy in all hearts but especially in the hearts of those who prevail in political office. May all those in public service honor that name upon which they implicitly or explicitly took oaths when they began their public service. May the name of God continue to be the bedrock upon which elected leaders establish their service.

May those candidates for public office prevail who cherish the name of God. May those candidates prevail who will work to protect the right for the citizens they represent to invoke and praise that name not just in their homes, schools and churches but also in the marketplace and public square. May those candidates prevail who cherish religious liberty!

Thy Kingdom Come… 

Put not your trust in princes: In the children of men, in whom there is no salvation.

We do not deceive ourselves with the thought that this or that public official will solve every problem. We do, nonetheless, entertain the hope that our political leaders will work towards the establishment of justice and the promotion of the common good. We at least refrain from supporting those candidates who place obstacles and barriers to the establishment of the kingdom of God.

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…

The will of God is always done. We ask only that we perform it willingly and consciously. We pray that those candidates will prevail who will be instrumental in cooperating with God’s merciful will. That they will be instruments of God’s mercy to the poor and downtrodden. We pray that our political leaders will not be unknowing instruments of God’s wrath to punish us for our collective sins. For each political leader is a minister of God’s will knowingly or unknowingly.

For he is God’s minister to thee, for good. But if thou do that which is evil, fear: for he beareth not the sword in vain. For he is God’s minister: an avenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil.

Give us this day our daily bread…

We pray for leaders who will advance just and fair laws, human industry and the dignity of human labor. Unlike those politicians that from time immemorial promise “panes et circenses” (bread and circuses) to cull favor among their constituency, we beg for leaders who understand and encourage policies that allow us to earn our own bread through dignified human labor.

Keeping in mind the words of Saint Paul:

For also when we were with you, this we declared to you: that, if any man will not work, neither let him eat.

May those candidates prevail who understand the proper role of government in protecting the right for every citizen to engage in suitable daily work.

And Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us…

We acknowledge the enormity of our sins and realize that we do not deserve God-fearing and wise political leaders. But we beg forgiveness and pray to God in the words of David,

The Lord is compassionate and merciful: long-suffering and plenteous in mercy.

He will not always be angry: nor will he threaten for ever.

He hath not dealt with us according to our sins: nor rewarded us according to our iniquities

with us according to our sins: nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

For according to the height of the heaven above the earth: he hath strengthened his mercy towards them that fear him.

As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our iniquities from us.

As a father hath compassion on his children, so hath the Lord compassion on them that fear him:

And lead us not into temptation…

We pray that we may not give into the temptation of crippling despair in the face of political leaders who appear to be incapable of promoting the kingdom of God. We pray for leaders who will not transgress righteous behavior and impartial justice because of their desire for human respect and widespread adulation.

But deliver us from evil…

Finally we pray that we be delivered from evil. May those candidates who seek public office and who do not acknowledge God’s holy will be defeated. May public officials who promote policies and laws contrary to the natural law be replaced with those who will advance the Kingdom of God.

May we be delivered from the leaders we deserve because of our own sins. May we be delivered from the ill consequences of electing bad leaders. May their plans fail and may their tenure in public office be ineffective.

Amen.

This contribution is available at http://lionandox.com/2016/10/31/deliver-us-from-evil/
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Zero to One (Peter Thiel) [at Catholic Book Report]

Many things have been written about Peter Thiel’s book, Zero to One, and I thought it was about time I should read it. Thiel is interesting because he and I have so many similarities: we both studied philosophy in college, we both went to law school, we both clerked for a judge, we both worked in a law firm, we are both chess masters, and we both went on to found a company and make billions of dollars. Ok, the last two are not true. I do love chess, but given the way I’m playing recently, the likelihood of me being a chess master is probably less than my likelihood of becoming a billionaire. Given our similarities, though, Peter Thiel has paved the way for me. Perhaps there is Thiel-like success in my future, too.

Thiel’s book, co-written with Blake Masters, is derived from notes that Masters took during a course that Thiel taught in 2012 at Stanford on startups. The title of the course, “Computer Science 183: Startup,” would not have convinced me to take it during law school. It may not even convince me today. But now I’m glad we have the book because Thiel’s wisdom can be spread to the hoi polloi that did not attend an obscure-sounding course at Stanford Law School in 2012. On to the book…

The book outlines seven questions for every business, which are worth repeating here:Image result for zero to one

The Engineering Question–Can you create breakthrough technology instead of incremental improvements?

The Timing Question–Is now the right time to start your particular business?

The Monopoly Question–Are you starting with a big share of a small market?

The People Question–Do you have the right team?

The Distribution Question–Do you have a way to not just create but deliver your product?

The Durability Question–Will your market position be defensible 10 and 20 years into the future?

The Secret Question–Have you identified a unique opportunity that others don’t see?

These are all worthwhile questions, and Thiel does an admirable job of identifying why each of them must be answered affirmatively for a successful business. The two questions that hit me the hardest were the first, third, and seventh. The other questions have been asked many times before. Jim Collins wants you to get the right people on the bus. Everyone knows this is necessary to building a good team and a good business. But for me, the most striking questions were about the impact your business will have.

In the Engineering Question, Thiel asks whether you are changing the game, improving the world, or, in Seth Godin‘s phrase, “causing a ruckus.” If your business does not bring something new to the world, it is at best an incremental improvement of some old technology. That may be useful and good for the world, but it does not create a breakthrough. The auto industry has made many improvements since the Model T, but Tesla changed the conversation altogether.

The Monopoly Question also made me think. This is the idea that you need to be a big fish in a small pond, to be the major player in a market. To do this, you get into the market late and take over. What I struggle with here, and with the Secret Question, is not the question or theory itself. I understand and agree with those. What is difficult is finding that market, identifying a unique opportunity. I’m a lawyer. I went to school, I listened, I studied, I got good grades. I’m a self-described “rule-follower.” So for me, it is particularly difficult to break out of the mold–or even think of a business that may be outside the norm enough so as to be useful and to have monopoly potential. I keep thinking, but it is difficult.

Thiel’s book, I think, should be read in conjunction with the Manifesto of his company, Founders Fund. The Manifesto discusses specific opportunities and developments in specific industries that help to round out Thiel’s discussion in Zero to One.

I’ve been thinking for some time now of how I can start a business and break out of the work-a-day world to do something really great. Thiel helped clarify a lot of things for me and I think this is a worthwhile read for anyone in the same position. If you are thinking of creating a business or finding ways to improve your current business, put Zero to One on your reading list and see how you can implement the principles in your own life.

This contribution is available at http://catholicbookreport.wordpress.com/2016/10/30/zero-to-one-peter-thiel/
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The Saints Speak About Love [at joy of nine9]

What is really essential, what is the most important thing for us to focus on during our life on earth? The saints all seem to agree that it is love.

“Where there is hatred, let me sow love” – St Francis of Assisi8ef6f474d455db719f0a73fc3898ae54

32fc48795f1baddb015f51dbc00bfe3b“Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next-door neighbour… Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting.”
~ Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta

As for what concerns our relations with our fellow men, the anguish in our neighbor’s soul must break all precept. All that we do is a means to an end, but love is an end in itself, because God is love.

– Edith Stein8b36d790ab7b2ca209d1a4af926d753c1

Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing stronger or higher or wider; nothing is more pleasant, nothing fuller, and nothing better in heaven or on earth, for love is born of God and cannot rest except in God, Who is above all created things.

-Imitation of Christ,

Thomas A Kempis

a956b8e45488e1afebda3e479c3276a5You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them.

-Saint Therese of Lisieux

Pure love … knows that only one thing is needed to please God: to do even the smallest things out of great love – love, and always love.

(140)–Divine Mercy in My Soul, St. Faustina

4a773cf8f9d6efb81510217c1b0a2de4“We become what we love and who we love shapes what we become. If we love things, we become a thing. If we love nothing, we become nothing. Imitation is not a literal mimicking of Christ, rather it means becoming the image of the beloved, an image disclosed through transformation. This means we are to become vessels of God´s compassionate love for others. ”

St. Clare of Assisi

“Merit consists in the virtue of love alone, flavored with the light of true discretion without which the soul is worth nothing.”

St. Catherine of Siena

connecting with theology is a verb

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The Altitude of Going Deep [at bukas palad]

Year C / Ordinary Time Â / 30th Week / Sunday (Mission Sunday)

Readings: Ecclesiasticus 35:12-14, 16-19/ Psalm 33:2-3,17-19,23 (R/v 7a) / 2 Timothy 4.6-8, 16-18 / Luke 18.9-14

Altitude. Itâ€™s a distance measurement. In aviation, geometry, geography, altitude, it is about the vertical or â€œupâ€� direction. Height is our common word for altitude.

Whenever we stand at some height or attitude above ground, like on a high floor or a peak, we see differently. Our perspectives on things and people change. Donâ€™t people look really tiny from way up high? Sometimes, we stand on such heights as being right, as being holy, as being superior to others that our attitudes towards them slowly but surely alters.

Altitude and attitude. They figure in todayâ€™s parable of the Pharisee and the tax-collector in Lukeâ€™s gospel.Â Here, Jesus teaches us about humility in prayer. In particular, he is teaching us to practice a prayerful attitude towards God and each other. Such attitude is possible when we inhabit the right altitude to live life and faith as Jesusâ€™ disciples, and so carry on his mission.

For Pope Francis, Jesusâ€™ mission is â€œto announce the mercy of God, the beating heart of the Gospelâ€� (Misericordiae Vultus, Â§12). You and I are invited to recommit ourselves to this mission on Mission Sunday. I believe we can do this well when we embrace a prayerful attitude for mission.

Let us return to the parable and consider how Jesus uses altitude and attitude to instruct us for prayer and mission.

Two men go up to the temple to pray. The Pharisee stands by himself in the holy space he feels is his rightful place because of his position.Â The tax-collector stands away from this holy place, some distance from it, at the periphery because he feels unworthy. They inhabit different altitudes to relate to God and each other.

The Pharisee prays to himself, thanking God that he is better than other people. He does not ask for Godâ€™s help; he is full of himself. The tax collector prays to God, repeatedly asking for Godâ€™s mercy and forgiveness, desiring reconciliation. He depends on God. They have different attitudes towards God and about themselves before God.

Jesus ends the parable teaching that God values the pray-er who knows himself and his relationship with God. God is interested in the right attitude for prayer and the right altitude to prayer from.

The tax collector has the right attitude -- dependence on God -- because he inhabits the right altitude -- humility --Â before God and with others. His prayer allows him to deepen his relationship with God.

Why should we pay attention to the altitudinal and attitudinal location of the two characters in this parable? Because Jesus is warning us against having the naivetÃ© of the Pharisee.Â Such naivetÃ© is a bluff: it makes a person believe that he is better than everybody else in life and faith, and that God needs no one for the mission but him alone. This is a very dangerous blind spot to have. We all have this same blind spot, if we dare to examine ourselves.

If I have learnt anything from my lifeâ€™s journey, it is that I have usually fallen and failed not from my weaknesses, but in my strengths. These often are my blind spots. Perhaps, youâ€™ve realized this too. The irony is that we did not guard our strengths; and in the shadow of our glittering self-images of who we think we are and what we are capable of doing, these strengths failed us and we fell.

Today Jesus is offering us wisdom for salvation. He teaches us the importance of relating to God from a humble position, never a highhanded one. This is the space to practice the right prayerful attitude for Christian life, faith and mission.

This is why we need to be honest about ourselves as we listen to this parable. Luke tells us that addressed it to those â€œwho prided themselves on being virtuous and despised everyone elseâ€�. We are these people too, these Pharisees, sometimes, even as we desire the sincerity and humility of the tax collector to be in right relationship with God and neighbor.

In our Pharisee-like moments, we perch ourselves high above others, look down on them, and minister to them from our point of view. In these moments, we depend more on ourselves than on God. These are perhaps less than Christian moments in mission. Moments like treating the less skilled and educated with less attention and care. Moments like offering our help and hospitality to Christians only. Moments like taking care of ourselves and our loved ones, and forgetting the rights of others. Moments like judging who in our midst here can and cannot receive communion.

But God surprises us even in our most Pharisee-like moments whenever we come to God as we truly are: good as we are bad; human as we need God; sinful and repentant as we hope to change and grow in holiness.

To come to God like this is to come like the tax collector did in the temple -- with a prayerful attitude. It is a graced attitude. Such attitude springs from his hope that God will meet him in God's mercy, and that he, a sinner, can reach out to God in his humility and dependency.

This attitude springs from being on level ground with God: this is the right altitude for life, faith and mission with God. This is Jesusâ€™ insight into how right attitude and correct altitude play a part in Christian life. He teaches us this today. It is challenging to hear but it is hopeful to live by; and it is necessary for mission.

Having this prayerful attitude by being with God on the same level will enable us to work with Jesus on Godâ€™s mission. It opens us to hearÂ Godâ€™s call to mission, as Jesus did. It allows us to know our strengths, our giftedness, our suitability for the mission, as Jesus knew. It draws us back into prayer to renew ourselves, as Jesus practiced the dayâ€™s mission is done.

Perhaps, the most important reason to desire this prayerful attitude for mission and to practice it is because it binds us in solidarity with those we serve. It is only when we can see, connect, love and care for one another prayerfully while on mission that we can discern how to do Godâ€™s will faithfully and to do it for no one other than another like me, a sinner yet always Godâ€™s beloved.

This is why knowing the right altitude to live and move and have our being before God and with one another, especially, those in need of our help, will indeed guard us from being morally superiorÂ and being quick to judge and condemn. It will moreover preserve us from being blind to others and acting as if they donâ€™t matter.

Ultimately, having and practicing a prayerful attitude in daily life empowers us to always keep rediscovering what God finds good enough to love in each one of us, whether we are like the Pharisee or the tax collector.

And what this goodness is is the human potentialÂ to yearn for God. This is what God values in us. This is what gives God hope in humankind.

This goodness is what saved the tax collector for life with God. This goodness is what Jesus hopes the Pharisee will hear in his closing words to the parable: â€œFor everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the man who humbles himself will be exaltedâ€�.Â And yes, this goodness whatÂ you and me should listen to in Jesus' call this evening.

It is a call about going deeper, about increasing the distance in which we can go deep in our friendship with Jesus, and through him, go deep in our relationship with God. Depth is also a vertical measurement; it is about altitude too. The altitude of going deep. We need this depth; it anchors our discipleship deep in Jesus so that we can go far and wide to carry on his mission for God.

Sisters and brothers, shall we not embrace this depth, and live it daily, this good news for going deep into God for others?

Preached at St Ignatius Parish, Singapore

Photo: willis tower deck by vito (www.smartdestinations.com)

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Blue Pillow [at Grace to Paint]

6×8″ oil paint on primed canvas sheet

A friend has allowed me to photograph her wonderfully enticing rooms; this is the second in three.

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A Mother's Act of Contrition [at The Heart's Overflow]

Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for all the yelling I did today,

For losing my patience more times that I can remember,

For rolling my eyes, and slamming doors,

And forgetting that they're just babies, and they don't know any better.

I'm sorry for failing to be a good partner to my husband,

For blaming him when my day is difficult,

As if his day spent with other adults is somehow responsible for my children's terrible naps.

And for forgetting that we are in this parenting thing together.

I'm sorry for choosing to do bad, and failing to do good.

For being selfish instead of serving,

For trying to escape instead of being present,

For seeking earthly comfort instead of Heavenly treasure.

I know that these things grieve Your heart, and I know that I don't deserve Your mercy.

But I know that You still love me.

Because after my child threw the most epic of tantrums,

And after he spent three minutes in the time-out chair,

I wanted nothing more than to pull him into my arms and say

I love you

.

In these moments I can see what it must be like for You to love me through all my faults and failings.

Nothing my child could do could make me love him any less,

Even though sometimes he makes me want to pull my hair out.

I'm so grateful that this is only a shadow of what Your love for me must be like.

Help me, with Your grace, to start again, O Lord.

Help me, with Your grace, to see every hardship as an opportunity to share Your cross.

Help me, with Your grace, to remember my children are the sheep You have asked me to feed, the mission field you have placed me in.

Help me, with Your grace, to give myself to my family, even as You gave Yourself for us.

Help me, with Your grace, to love the way You love me.

Amen

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The One Essential Thing: Generosity [at Designs by Birgit]

According to

The Seven Pillars of Catholic Spirituality

, Mass is the third pillar – after Confession and Contemplation. Yet what exactly do we expect to get out of Mass? Are we preoccupied with the ‘cosmetics’ of the Mass – music, priest, parishioners, or other human trappings – or are we there for the nourishment of our souls?

In one segment of his inspirational presentation, Matthew Kelly encourages listeners to become aware of the ‘one thing’ in reference to the Mass. He suggests investing in a small journal to take to Mass each Sunday. In it, we are instructed to write ‘the one thing’ that speaks to us in our topic of inspiration during Mass. According to Kelly, after a year of listing our ‘one thing‘, we would own the “most powerful spiritual reference” – a guide to help us to more fully live out our Catholic faith.

Generosity

The one thing still on my mind when I attended Mass this past Sunday was,”What would become my one thing? Would I really be able to hone in on one particular topic and expand my efforts in that direction?”

As I listened to the readings, sang the Responsorial Psalm, and moved on to the Gospel I became aware of a theme. Not only was our substitute priest a 20 year veteran of missionary work, but the focus of the scriptures was trending toward generosity – doing for the least of these.

It Isn’t Just About the Poor

However, our generosity can, and should, extend beyond the poor in Haiti and other Third World countries. Yes,

the poor will always be with us

, yet we are bound to give in charity to the limits of our generosity. There is more demanded of us. Are we generous with our time and talents? Does our generosity extend to family, friends, and community? How about our parish? What do we share of ourselves with these?

Creative Generosity

Surely, the one thing which comes to mind is giving alms – donating money or perhaps even a trip to Haiti, to minister to the poorest of the poor. But there is more to be done. Generosity can mean engaging people in talking about spirituality – the sharing of the Good News. In this sense, evangelization is generosity because we are sharing our time in the pursuit of sharing the Word of God with others.

Generosity can also take the form of watching our tongues. Do we really need to share this or that story about someone? Wouldn’t it be more generous to leave information private, if there is no good reason for sharing? Thoughtful silence can, therefore, exemplify generosity.

Looking into the eyes of strangers with a smile, listening to a child spin a winding tale that takes way too long, or a commiserating hug for someone in mental anguish – all of these give witness to generosity.

God Still Speaks Today

God hasn’t left the human race. He wasn’t content to speak only to Adam, Moses, or His Disciples. Kelly reminds us that, “It isn’t that God has stopped speaking, it’s that we’ve stopped listening”. What part do we play in our own formation? “He wants to speak to you in your life” and help you become the best version of yourself, explains Kelly. Every time we open up our hearts to the unitive message of God, we will find more inspiration for generosity. There are no limits to the methods we can employ to do the Will of God.

Finding Our One Thing

Now that the mission has been identified, we are ready to take the challenge. As Kelly suggests, write this line in your journal: “God, show me one way in this Mass I can become a better version of myself this week”. Bring your journal to church, arrive early, and be open to the voice of God. Listen. The music, prayers, quiet of your heart, and readings – all of these components will coagulate into a theme, the one thing. Write it down and let it become a prayer during Mass. The one thing will color your perceptions of what is happening there as Heaven meets earth.

What Now?

Fully armed with the inspiration with which we have been gifted we face the coming week, and the world, focused and invigorated, and energized. Kelly reminds us that, “Our lives change when our habits change”. As we begin the journey of living the one thing we will gain everything we need to make a difference. When we count ourselves as one of many who are working to transform their lives, we can awaken a sleeping giant. This sleeping giant of our combined efforts can change the world. With God at the helm, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.

He said to them: The things that are impossible with men, are possible with God. Luke 18:27

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A Plea To Save Human Lives and Souls! [at Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation]

This is not a political post. It is a moral exhortation, a plea to save human lives and souls!

 Speaking the Truth should not be a rarity in the pulpits of our country. Since the salvation of souls is the primary purpose of the Catholic Church’s existence, Truth should be an ever-present pulpit visitor.

But alas Truth is an infrequent guest there.

As a result, souls are being lost and millions of human lives, in and out of the womb, are being prematurely snuffed out and discarded like so much unwelcome trash.

Nothing is more valuable or entitled to greater protection than human life – from the moment of conception to the natural death.

Abortion and euthanasia are intrinsic evils – always and under all circumstances. Such grave sins can never be supported by anyone, most especially those professing to be Catholic.  No Catholic can ever support these evils or vote for any public official who does. Despite the never-ending attempt to find some nuance around such clear Truth, there are no valid prudential exceptions applicable to this command. None!  

See how clear the Truth is? A simple man can explain it in five sentences. 

So why are we so hesitant to proclaim this Truth? Why do we not care enough for the salvation of souls that we would remain silent in the face of these evils? 

That is a question each of us, clergy and laity alike, will have to answer when we stand before our Lord.

Look what St. Gregory the Great (who reigned from 590 to 604) had to say about preachers who would not preach the Truth:

“Pray for us so that we may have the strength to work on your behalf, that our tongue may not grow weary of exhortation, and that after we have accepted the office of preaching, our silence may not condemn us before the just judge…There is something else about the life of the shepherds, dearest brother, which discourages me greatly…I speak of our absorption in external affairs; we accept the duties of office, but by our actions we show that we are attentive to other things. We abandon the ministry of preaching and, in my opinion, are called bishops to our detriment, for we retain the honorable office but fail to practice the virtues proper to it. Those who have been entrusted to us abandon God, and we are silent. They fall into sin, and we do not extend a hand of rebuke.” - (Excerpted from Second Reading in Office of Readings for Saturday in 27th week of Ordinary Time)

But that was centuries ago, you protest. Things change over time. You are correct. People and things may change over time, but God’s Truth ever remains the same – unchangeable till the end of time.

I challenge everyone reading this post to set aside the 20 minutes it will take to watch the video below.  You have the time; just view it instead of your favorite comedy or news program.

You will meet a courageous priest and a bishop who care about the salvation of souls and have heeded Pope Gregory’s prayerful plea. 

Pray that more of their brethren will find the courage to speak this Truth NOW, loudly and clearly. 

But don’t stop there. Fulfill your duty to teach and defend the Truth – share this video with everyone whose soul you treasure.

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love-aah-enhThe Beatles were right, all we need is love. As the father of nine children, one of my biggest concerns is ensuring that my children receive a solid foundation rooted in our Catholic faith. In my experience, achieving this end is a delicate balance of clear boundaries coupled with love. As St. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13, we can do all the right things as parents, have the most efficiently run home on the block, provide our kids the best education, use the right form of discipline every time, always have the right words to say to soothe a broken heart or a scraped knee, but if we do not have love, then we are a noisy gong (and we will not achieve our desired goal).

A Lesson in the Importance of Love

A few years back one of my daughters was participating in a sport and was not giving it her best effort. For many children this may not be a big issue, but for her I saw this situation as a perfect opportunity to teach her an important lesson about the importance of perseverance in the difficulties that we encounter in our lives. swimFor her, most things come easy and when she encounters something that is difficult, she is tempted to give up rather than persevere. In my endeavor to teach her a lesson in the virtue of fortitude, she questioned my love for her. When she believed that my love for her was conditional based upon her success in that particular sport, she effectively ceased to listen to what I had to say. She even got really mad at me and refused to speak with me for a couple of days. Instead of trying to prove my point about the virtue of fortitude, I decided to tell her that no matter how mad she was at me, there was nothing she could do to cause me to stop loving her, it didn’t matter if she was successful and I would still love her even if she didn’t love me. She thought about that for a little while and when the anger subsided, we were able to talk about the situation and the motivation behind my actions. No matter how right we may think we are in an argument, if the other person does not believe that we have their best interest at heart (otherwise known as loving them), we risk being a clashing cymbal or a banging gong and the message we are trying to convey could be lost.

The love of God is much more than many of us have experienced in our earthly relationships. His love is patient and kind, it is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude, it does not insist on its own way, it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things and His love for us will never end. As a father, I can tell you that I fall short of demonstrating God’s love within my family on a regular basis, but I get back up and try again each time. A quick search of the Internet will show a plethora of articles citing the reality that the way our earthly father shows us love has a major influence on our perception of God’s love.

The Love of God

murillo_the-heavenly-and-earthly-trinities-mdWe have all been told that God loves us since we were young, and thus there is a temptation to believe that we know that and thus don’t need to meditate upon it again, however I don’t think we will ever truly know the depths of that Love until we, God willing, meet our creator in Heaven. His love is not conditional, He does not love us because we obtain some great achievement, He does not love us because we are beautiful, He does not love us because we love him, He loves us because of who we are and by the mere fact that He is our Father. There is nothing we need to do to earn his love. He only desires us to love him back, but even if we completely reject him and mock him and offend him, He will never stop loving us, in fact He will pursue us even more to save us from ourselves. The more we run away from his love and reject him, the more He will do to draw us back to himself.

God’s love may seem irrational and foreign to many of us, but that may be due to our lack of experience with it. Through prayer, frequent reception of the sacraments, and reading scripture, we can come to a better understanding of God’s love and thus be able to love our children as God loves us.

“So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Cor. 13:13)

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The path toward service as a permanent deacon [at Hermano Juancito]

This is a translation of a revised version of a talk I delivered at the Major Seminary Our Lady of Suyapa, the national seminary, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on September 20, 2016, at the invitation of the seminary rector, Father José Mario Bacci. 

On July 15, 2016, Bishop Darwin Andino ordained me a deacon for the diocese of Santa Rosa de Copán, Honduras. I am the third permanent deacon ordained in Honduras, the first in our diocese, and the first celibate permanent deacon in Honduras. 

If you had told me three years ago that I would be an ordained deacon, I would have given you all the reasons why not. Now I think I can give you some reasons why.

I believe that I am a deacon because this is the way the God wants me, at this stage of my life, to live out my baptismal commitment – to love God and love my neighbor, believing in God, and letting myself be formed into Christ Jesus, prophet, priest, and servant-king – with the help of the grace of the sacrament.

At the end of August, my pastor, Padre German Navarro, asked me about my experience as a deacon. In one sense, I am not doing much more than what I was doing before my ordination – training catechists and leaders of youth groups, preparing materials for workshops, visiting distant communities, bringing them communion. Some things have changed: I am baptizing, preaching, burying the dead, and assisting at the altar. But, looking from the outside, not much has changed.

I think that not doing much new can be seen as a confirmation of my ordination. Looking back, I see a pattern emerging that has led to my ordination and my ministry as a permanent deacon. There are threads that God has woven in my life so that I assume the mantle of deacon.

I grew up in a blue collar family, outside of Philadelphia. My father wasn’t Catholic, but I was raised as a Catholic, studying in the parish grammar school.

This was the time of the beginning of the civil rights movement and I began to be aware of the racism and injustice in the United States.

I thought I had a vocation to the priesthood with the Franciscans and spent high school and two years of college in their minor seminary. I left because I was not mature enough to really live as a priest.

Those seminary years, 1961 – 1968, were very formative for me, marked by a number of events.

The Second Vatican Council, 1963 to 1965 was an important event for the church and for me, as I saw the church opening to the world.

I had developed a strong interest in the liturgy and this became closely related to social justice. In the US, the movement for liturgical reform was tied very closely with social justice, beginning in the 1930s with the work of a Benedictine monk, Fr. Virgil Michel, and others.

Those seminary years were the years when the civil rights struggle became more intense, with the nonviolent struggle of US blacks and the nonviolent leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr.

In my high school years, I became aware of the holocaust and Nazism. I was a Little concerned about what seemed to be a weak response by the Catholic Church and wondered how I might be called to respond to social evil.

During these years, the war in Viet Nam intensified. Even though I would have a religious exemption when I registered for the draft, I still wondered if I could ever participate in war.

When I left the seminary, I began to study philosophy at a Jesuit university, the University of Scranton. I was involved in the church as well as in anti-Viet Nam war protests. Afterwards, I studied four years in graduate school in New York City at a private university, where three of my professors were Jewish émigrés from Nazi Germany. I got a Masters’ degree but left New York before finishing my doctorate.

I worked for several years in a variety of jobs.

First I taught for two years in a small Catholic high school in Indiana – religion, freshman English, choir.

Then I moved back to Scranton where I worked in a home for children and youth with social, psychological, and behavioral problems. I also taught philosophy part-time at the university,

After several years I was informed that there would not be any opportunities to teach the following year. So I applied for a position with the Vermont Ecumenical Council as coordinator of efforts to promote peace from the perspective of faith.

I worked there for 13 months and then spent six months as a volunteer for the Fellowship of Reconciliation, an interfaith pacifist organization.

I returned to graduate studies, this time at Boston College, another Jesuit university, where I taught two classes a semester, took three or four classes for three semesters, and prepared to write my dissertation.

I

n my fourth semester there, after finishing all the classes and pre-doctoral examinations I needed to take, I only had to write the dissertation.

But I felt a certain restlessness. I loved teaching and was ready to write the dissertation but I felt something missing.

I saw an ad for a position at St. Thomas Aquinas Church and Catholic Student Center at Iowa State university in Ames, Iowa, working in campus ministry and justice and peace ministry. I had heard of the parish. The combination of working with students and justice and peace work from a faith perspective responded to my vision of my calling. I applied for the position, went for the interview, and was hired.

There The parishioners introduced me to the situation of Central America, especially the refugees fleeing the wars in El Salvador and Guatemala. In 1985 I made my firsts visit to Central America and fell in love with El Salvador, which I visited many times. Monseñor Oscar Romero, now blessed, became a great inspiration for my ministry.

The parishioners also moved me to direct contact with the poor and I began to involve others indirect service to local poor.

In 1992, I spent seven months of a sabbatical in El Salvador, working for six months in the parish of Suchitoto with the Salvadoran pastor and five US sisters. They sent me to work in the farthest region of the parish, a four hours walk from the city of Suchitoto. I lived with a family, sleeping in a hammock to avoid displacing anyone from a bed.

It was a time of great blessing – working with the people, helping the pastoral work, training catechists, and living with a family – eating tortillas and salty beans, going to the river to bathe, using a primitive latrine. But I woke each morning with a deep sense of thanksgiving.

I also began to teach classes at the university, in both philosophy and religion. I also worked a bit with the national Catholic Campus Ministers Association, planning a national convention.

I was generally content – and planned to continue until retirement. At times, I looked for other positions – but almost always seeking to combine faith and peace and justice, often with students.

But something happened. Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.

Soon after this happened, a college student I worked with bothered me so much that we organized a group to go help in New Orleans for the 2006 spring break. We worked with Catholic Charities, cleaning out and cleaning homes which had flooded.

One day we went to empty the house of a black woman who had raised her children and grandchildren in the house. As we were emptying out the house, with her looking on, God hollowed out a place in me, emptying my heart.

God was calling me to something

more.

It was a classic case of what Ignatius Loyola called the

magis.

Sharing this with my spiritual director, she asked me, “Why?” My immediate response, without thinking was, “To serve those most in need.”

Two months earlier, I had told her that I was content with my work and had no intention of changing it. But now, I wanted to change, leaving the security of my employment.

What had happened? I had encountered a real person suffering, which provoked a meditation of the limitedness of life. I experienced a lack of attachment to my possession. But, above all, God opened me, he hollowed out a place in me, so that God could fill it with a life of service more committed directly with the poor.

I had a friend whom I knew from Suchitoto. Sister Nancy was working in the dioceses of Santa Rosa de Copán, Honduras. She arranged a meeting with the bishop, Monseñor Luis Alfonso Santos, who gave me a green light to work in the diocese.

Bishop Santos wanted me to work in campus ministry at the Catholic University campus, but I wanted something more. Some Franciscan sisters opened the way for me to help in a kindergarten in a poor neighborhood as well as to visit the local prison helping in a literacy program. I also often visited Hogar San José, a home for malnourished children under five, run by the Missionaries of Charity.

A priest invited me to visit his parish, Dulce Nombre de María, and I soon began to regularly visit the parish helping with catechists and other projects, after consulting with the bishop.

Later, in 2009, Monseñor Santos asked me to help in Caritas as associate director. I worked as a volunteer there and helped in some projects and had the chance to participate in several national Caritas projects on peacemaking. I especially enjoyed the opportunity to help the diocesan program in Catholic Social Thought and prepare a book for the base communities. It was a real blessing to work with leaders in several of the deaneries of the diocese.

I continued to work in the parish of Dulce Nombre even as I worked with Caritas.

But at the end of 2014, after consulting the new bishop, Monseñor Darwin Rudy Andino, I left Caritas to help full time in the parish.

One night, during the three days Bishop Darwin was celebrating 500 confirmations in the parish. Padre German Navarro, Monseñor Darwin, and I were sitting around the dinner table. After asking me about my education and formation, the bishop asked me to consider the permanent diaconate.

A few months before that, Padre German had also suggested it but I explained to him some of my concerns – including the possibility that the diaconate could create – or widen – the breach between me and the people I serve. I still had those concerns, but I promised the bishop to consider his proposal. By the way, Padre German had not mentioned to the bishop his conversation with me. The bishop’s question came from himself.

I immediately began to study the diaconate, reading articles, books, and church documents in English and Spanish. I talked with some of my friends here and in the US. I e-mailed a priest friend – whom I’ve known since summer camp after fifth grade. He had been the director of the diaconate in his archdiocese.

Two months later, I told the bishop that I was open to beginning the process.

The first article I read was an interview with Deacon William Ditewig,

[1]

which gave me a good idea of the meaning and roots of the permanent diaconate.

The Nazis imprisoned many Catholic priests and Protestant pastors. More than 2,500 were held in the Dachau concentration camp. There various priest began to discuss the situation of the rise of Nazism: “…why wasn’t the church able to somehow influence society to prevent all of this from happening? What can we do in the future so this doesn’t happen again?”

In their reflections they noted that the Church had visible images of Christ as priest and king, but it did not have a tangible image of Christ the Servant. And so they discussed the possibility of the permanent deacon where men with jobs in the secular world would have a role in connecting the Church with that world.

After the war several priests wrote major articles on the diaconate. In 1947, the Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner began writing about the diaconate as a permanent state of life.

In the same article, mentioned above, Deacon William Ditewig emphasized the centrality of service for the deacon – as a permanent vocation.

I read many of the documents of the Church. But paragraph 16 of

Ad Gentes,

the decree on missions of the Second Vatican Council, was the clincher. I was deeply moved when I read:

Where Episcopal Conferences deem it opportune, the order of the diaconate should be restored as a permanent state of life, according to the norms of the Constitution on the Church.60 For there are men who are actually carrying out the functions of the deacon’s office, either by preaching the Word of God as catechists, or by presiding over scattered Christian communities in the name of the pastor and the bishop, or by practicing charity in social or relief work. It will be helpful to strengthen them by that imposition of hands which has come down from the apostles, and to bind them more closely to the altar. Thus they can carry out their ministry more effectively because of the sacramental grace of the diaconate.

I realized that I had been trying to live – without ordination – the vocation of the deacon. Maybe, I pondered, I need the sacramental grace of the diaconate to live that life of service more profoundly, with greater conviction, and more attuned to Christ Jesus the Servant.

What became clearer to me, reading many books and church documents, was that, without knowing it, a diaconal/servant spirituality had been a part of my life for decades.

 THE SPIRITUALITY OF THE DEACON

For me, the spirituality of the deacon has several aspects, including

The deacon ought to live the

kenosis

, the emptying of Jesus, making himself servant.

The deacon is an animator, a driving force for service.

The deacon is a sacramental sign, an icon of Christ the Servant.

The deacon ought to make visible the link between faith and life, between the altar and the world.

The deacon is a martyr, a witness of Christ.

For me, the deacon ought to become like Jesus in his emptying, going lower in order to be a servant, a slave of all:

Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus,

Who, though he was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.

Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave,

coming in human likeness;

and found human in appearance,

becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.

Philippians 2, 5-8 (NAB translation)

[2]

Pope Paul VI said that the deacon is an animator, a driving force for service.

[3]

He doesn’t do everything, but animates all the faithful to live as Christ the Servant.

Deacon James Keating has written:

The deacon possesses no unique power by virtue of ordination but possesses a mission in being sent by the bishop; he evokes from others the power that is theirs by baptism.

[4]

Icon of Christ the Servant

The deacon is an icon, a sacramental symbol of Christ the Servant

At their meeting in Puebla, Mexico, in 1989, the Latin American Bishops Conference wrote:

Conferencia Episcopal Latinoamericana, Documento de Puebla, 697:

“

“The deacon, co-worker of the bishop and the priest, receives his own specific sacramental grace. The charism of the diaconate, a sacramental sign of “Christ the servant,” is very effective in bringing about a poor, servant Church, that exercises its missionary function for the integral liberation of the human being.”

[5]

Making visible the link of faith and life, especially with the poor

The deacon ought to make visible the link between faith and life, between the altar and the world.

In a general audience in 1993 Pope Saint John Paul II said:

A deeply felt need in the decision to re-establish the permanent diaconate was and is that of a greater and more direct presence of Church ministers in the various spheres of the family, work, school etc., in addition to existing pastoral structures

.[6]

A little more pointedly, Father

Paul McPartlan wrote

[7]

that

“The deacon stands at the altar and prepares the gifts with clean hands, but he stands also where the practical need is greatest, getting his hands very dirty.”

This is what being a deacon means to me. But I’d like to share my interpretations of this quote which I “translated” into Spanish in this way:

El diácono atiende el cuerpo de Cristo en el altar con manos limpias y llega al altar con manos ensuciadas atendiendo el cuerpo de Cristo en los pobres y enfermos.

The deacon assists/attends to the Body of Christ on the altar with clean hands and comes to the altar with hands which are dirty from assisting/attending to the Body of Christ in the poor.

I made an even stronger interpretation:

 El diácono sirve en la mesa del altar con manos limpias, porque se le han ensuciado las manos sirviendo en la mesa del pobre.

The deacon serves at the table of the altar with clean hands because he has dirtied his hands serving at the table of the poor.

The deacon as witness, martyr

The deacon is an ordinary minister of communion, and in a special way the minister of the chalice, the Blood of Christ. He prepares the chalice during the offertory, he raises the chalice at the end of the Eucharistic Prayer, he purifies the chalice.

The deacon ought to recall not only the blood of Christ poured out for us, but hte blood of all the martyrs from the days of the first martyr, the deacon Stephen, to the most recent martyrs in Latin America and the Mid-East.

I have a strong devotion to the saints, especially the martyrs – whether or not recognized by the Church. I particularly cherish the memory of Lawrence, the most famous deacon of Rome. I was blessed to be able to attend the beatification of Monseñor Oscar Romero in El Salvador in 2015.

For me, la litany of the saints was one of the most moving moments of my ordination. I felt enfolded in the cloud of witnesses, especially the martyrs. I added a few names to the litany, including Saint Clare and Saint Bonaventure, reflecting my Franciscan roots. I was very pleased that the young man being ordained a priest at the same Mass had added the name of Blessed Monseñor Oscar Romero. I suggested another blessed, Charles de Foucauld, inspiration of the Little Brothers and Little Sisters of Jesus, who was killed one hundred years ago in Tamanrasset, Algeria, on December 1, 1916.

The martyrs remind me that I have to be ready to give my life for the people. I don’t want to die a martyr but I experience great inspiration from the martyrs.

In the words of Archbishop Romero:

My disposition ought to be to give my life for God, whatever might be the end of my life. Unknown circumstances will be lived with the grace of God. El assisted the martyrs and, if it is necessary, I will feel him very near when I hand over to him my last breath. But more important than the moment of death is to hand over to him all my life and to live for him.

[8]

This spirituality has sustained me for years – and I pray that it will continue to be evident in my life as a deacon.

To conclude I’d like to return to Padre German’s question: “How has your experience as a deacon been?”

• I sense that the sacrament had given me the strength, the grace to deepen my life with Christ the servant.

In the consecration prayer, the bishop prays;

Así, también, en los comienzos de la Iglesia, los apóstoles de tu Hijo, movidos por el Espíritu Santo, eligieron siete hombres de buena fama, como auxiliares suyos en el servicio cotidiano, mediante la oración e imposición de manos, los dedicaron al servicio de los pobres…

In the first days of the Church moved by the Holy Spirit, the apostles of your Son appointed seven men of good repute to assist them in the daily service… By prayer and the laying on of the hands the apostles dedicated them to the service of the poor.[9]

•I now sense myself more sensitive to the sick, the weak, the aged, those in need. I am visiting the poor a little more frequently and I will try to visit once a month the malnourished children under five in the Hogar San José in Santa Rosa, run by the Missionaries of Charity.

In the examination of the person chosen for the diaconate, the bishops asks:

¿Quieres mantener y fomentar el espíritu de oración que corresponde a su manera de vida y, en este espíritu, según su estado, cumplir fielmente con la celebración de la liturgia de las horas, en nombre de la Iglesia, más aún, en nombre de toda la comunidad?

Are you willing to maintain and deepen a spirit of prayer appropriate to your way of life and, in this spirit, to celebrate faithfully the Liturgy of the Hours in the name of the Church and, even more, in the name of for the whole community?

• I feel myself in solidarity with the world when I pray the Liturgy of the Hours. The night of my ordination, praying the psalms of Vespers, I had the sense that I was praying with and in the name of the Church and the community.

[10]

Even when I didn’t personally fear the anxiety of the psalmist, I felt that I was praying in the name of those who were anxious and troubled in spirit.

• I also find myself praying even more the Jesus Prayer.

•I even feel myself aided and strengthened in the face of temptations.

• More than anything else, I feel a deepening of my baptismal call, a call to be conformed even more to Christ the Servant.

That is what being a deacon means to me.

[1] A call of their own: The role of deacons in the church, US Catholic, June 2014.      http://www.uscatholic.org/articles/201406/call-their-own-role-deacons-church-28973

[2] τοῦτο φρονεῖτε ἐν ὑμῖν ὃ καὶ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ,

   ὃς ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ ὑπάρχων οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ,

   ἀλλὰ ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν μορφὴν δούλου λαβών,

     ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος…

[3] …inspirador del servicio, o sea, de la diaconía de la Iglesia ante las comunidades cristianas locales, signo o sacramento del mismo Jesucristo nuestro Señor, quien no vino a ser servido sino a servir.

El Papa Pablo VI, Carta Apostólica Ad Pascendum

[4] James Keating, “Themes for a Canonical Retreat: The Spiritual Apex of Diaconal Formation,” Forming Deacons: Ministers of Soul and leaven

[5]

“

El diácono, colaborador del Obispo y del presbítero, recibe una gracia sacramental propia. El carisma del diácono, signo sacramental de «Cristo Siervo», tiene gran eficacia para la realización de una Iglesia servidora y pobre que ejerce su función misionera en orden a la liberación integral del hombre”.

[6] Papa Juan Pablo II, Audiencia General, Deacons Serve the Kingdom of God [Los diáconos sirven el Reino de Dios] (6 de octubre de 1993), núm. 6.

[7] Rev. Paul McPartlan, “The Deacon and Gaudium et Spes,” The Deacon Reader (p. 67)

[8] Monseñor Romero, Cuaderno de Ejercicios Espirituales,  25 febrero 1980.

[9] The English reads: “In the first days of your Church under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the apostles of your Son appointed seven men of good repute to assist them in the daily ministry, so that they themselves might be more free for prayer and preaching. By prayer and the laying on of the hands the apostles entrusted to those chosen men the ministry of serving at tables.” Notice that the Spanish speaks of entrusting to them “the service of the poor”, where the English reads, “serving at tables.”

[10] The English version of the rite invites the deacon to pray the Liturgy of the Hours for the Church. The Spanish invites him to pray the Liturgy of the Hours in the name of the Church and the whole community. Quite a difference.

This contribution is available at http://hermanojuancito.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-path-toward-service-as-permanent.html
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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A Masterpiece of your Hands [at On the Road to Damascus]

Looking inquisitively at the solid block of marble he picked up his hammer. Placing the chisel to the rock he struck with a gentle force. A small chip of marble arced through the air. Another whack, another chip off the block. One small chip at a time. After more than two years of chipping Michelangelo put down his hammer and chisel, took a step back, and gazed upon his masterpiece, a fourteen foot statue of David made from solid marble.

We all are created in the image and likeness of God. God is the sculptor and each of us is formed by his own hand. Each and every one of us is a masterpiece created by the Father. Each and every one of us is priceless in his sight. Because we are each hand made there isn’t a single one of us the same.

God forms each of us with his own hand. Some of us are like malleable clay easily molded with a gentle touch. Others are like marble requiring repeated whacks with a large hammer. It took Michelangelo two years of strenuous labor through every type of weather to free David from the marble. God works on us continuously through our entire lifetime. We are a masterpiece constantly being changed and improved, much like the Illinois highway system.

God’s work in my life is constantly on-going right up until the point my body breathes its last. Then it returns to the dust from whence it came. The work on my soul continues until that is also made perfect. Again, for some of us our souls are like clay easy to form. Others require a long period of timelessness to perfect.

When our souls have been perfected God gathers the dust of our bodies and breathes new life into it. He then reunites our perfected souls with our newly formed perfected bodies. With all that is not perfect removed we now can dwell with God for eternity in heaven.

I am always amazed at God’s hand in my life. I lived in the shadows just shy of the darkness. God brought me forth from the shadows to the person I am today. This is not something I was capable of myself. People live in darkness because it is easy and it is fulfilling to our animalistic desires. To live in the light takes constant work. It takes discipline. It takes denial to things that seem to feel right. Addiction to darkness is the strongest addiction there is and all other addictions flow from it.

God has given me a vision of the person he wants me to become. That is the most frightening thing in my life, to see where I was and compare it to where I am supposed to go. There is no way I can ever accomplish that on my own. But the Lord knows this and he guides me through every step along the way. He is calling you to a new life as well and stands ready to take you by the hand and walk with you along the way. Will you allow him to guide you?

Whack me again with that hammer, Lord. I am your David waiting to be freed from this marble prison.

This contribution is available at http://damascusroadsojourner.blogspot.com/2016/08/a-masterpiece-of-your-hands.html
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Jesus, Remember Me When [at Journey to Wisdom]

Sunday, November 6th, 2016

A Reflection on Luke 20:27-40, N.A.B.

Riddle me is a figure of speech that means: Go ahead and try to explain that to me. It’s easy for us to shake our heads and smile at the Sadducees’ foolishness at approaching Jesus, the Author of Life, with a riddle, a brainteaser which they had used to stump the Pharisees for years.

In Judaism of Jesus’ time, a childless widow would marry the brother of her late husband, according to the custom known as levirate marriage (Deuteronomy 25:5). The law was designed to perpetuate the name of a man who died childless. The hapless woman in the Sadducees’ made-up story suffered through seven childless marriages and finally died. At the resurrection, whose wife would she be? The haughty Sadducees had cooked up this riddle to show that resurrection would lead to ridiculous results; it suited their purpose perfectly because they didn’t believe in a resurrection whereas the Pharisees did. The riddle had never been satisfactorily explained, that is, until the high and mighty Sadducees decided to challenge Jesus with it.

²⁷ Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward and put this question to him,

²⁸ saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, ‘If someone’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother.’

²⁹ Now there were seven brothers; the first married a woman but died childless.

³¹ and the third married her, and likewise all the seven died childless.

³² Finally the woman also died.

³³ Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her.”

³⁴ Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry and remarry;

³⁵ but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.

³⁶ They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise.

³⁷ That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called ‘Lord’ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;

³⁸ and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”

³⁹ Some of the scribes said in reply, “Teacher, you have answered well.”

⁴⁰ And they no longer dared to ask him anything.  – Luke 20:27-40 N.A.B.

The eavesdropping scribes might have been clapping and high-fiving when Jesus solved the riddle by contrasting life in the current age with life in the age to come where marriage will not be a part of the age to come because one of them approached him and said, “Teacher, you have answered well.” Not only had the arrogant Sadducees, along with their gloomy doctrine of no life after death, been put in their place, but the scribes and Pharisees could look joyfully forward to life after death.

At this confrontation Jesus not only upheld the doctrine of resurrection, but he also spoke of the age to come noting that “only those who are deemed worthy” would have life in the coming age. Since worthiness to enter the age to come cannot be grasped or assumed because it comes from God’s judgement, and is therefore a grace, Jesus’ words bring endless joy to those souls God calls to himself, to those who hear and obey. Are these words of dread or discomfort to those souls who hear and fail to respond or understand? If they aren’t, they should be. Do those graceless souls hate God? Probably not, it’s His commandments that they dislike and choose to ignore.

What can we learn from this Gospel story that has meaning in our modern world? Our earthly transformation, the path to worthiness, begins when we start to model ourselves after Jesus by following his example and his teachings. This is how He is spiritually resurrected millions of times a day, even by the slightest act of kindness performed in His name; it is how He continues to live through us. In following Jesus’ teaching we announce His resurrection to the rest of the world.

This contribution is available at http://journeytowisdom-ocbs.blogspot.com/2016/11/jesus-remember-me-when.html
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Bioethics and a Three-Parent Baby [at A Catholic Citizen in America]

A Jordanian couple have a baby boy: who does not have a lethal genetic disorder, thanks to DNA transplanted from a third person. Four of his siblings did not survive the procedure.

I’ll be talking about the decisions involved in that procedure, research involving “tiny brains” grown from human cells, genetically modified humans grown as research subjects, and water bears.

It’s a Boy: With DNA from Three People

Growing “Tiny Brains”

“Breaking Taboo” and Disposable People

DNA and Water Bears

After discussing recent genetics news, I’ll share why I take human experimentation and medical ethics personally, and what I see coming in the near future:

First, a look the Tuskegee experiments, Shakespeare’s Richard III, and emotions.

Tuskegee and the Hippocratic Oath

Someone, Hippocrates or one of his students, wrote the Hippocratic Oath about two dozen centuries back.

It’s been rewritten, or ignored, quite a few times since.

But the basic idea, that doctors should behave ethically, won’t go away.

The World Medical Association’s Declaration of Geneva, 1948, followed embarrassments like Josef Mengele, Sigmund Rascher, and Unit 731.

A few decades later, the Tuskegee syphilis experiment (1932-1972) was finally exposed.

Around the same time, Hepatitis studies at Willowbrook State School were shut down; possibly because too many folks got squeamish over using mentally disabled children as lab animals.

Using humans in medical or scientific experiments isn’t bad by itself. What’s wrong is exposing the subject’s life, health, or sanity “to disproportionate or avoidable risks.” Taking that sort of risk without informed consent makes it worse. (Catechism, 2295)

That does not make doctors evil, or science bad.

Scientific research, including “research aimed at reducing human sterility,” can be a good thing: provided that we behave ethically. (Catechism, 2292–2295, 2375)

Ends and Means

I don’t need a cochlear implant, happily; but both my hip joints were swapped out a few years back, and several medications correct chemical imbalances in my brain.

I’m not racked with guilt because I didn’t ‘trust God,’ expecting miracle cures — because health is a “precious gift,” and I’m supposed to take reasonably good care of mine. (Catechism, 2288–2289)

Wanting to cure disease or reduce suffering is a good thing, but the end doesn’t justify the means. Doing something bad and saying it’s for a good cause doesn’t make it right. (Catechism, 1753, 1789, 2278–2279, 2288)

Shakespeare has the title character say ‘I’ll be a villain’¹ when the curtain goes up in Richard III: getting away with it because he’s Shakespeare, and Elizabethan audiences loved that sort of thing.

I strongly suspect that most folks who behave badly don’t see themselves as villains:

“And what’s he then that says I play the villain? When this advice is free I give and honest….”
(Iago, act II, scene III. “Othello,” Shakespeare, via Project Gutenberg)

Using humans as experimental subjects isn’t necessarily bad. Forgetting that humans — all humans — have equal dignity is. (Catechism, 372, 872, 1700 and following, 1934, 2203, 2334)

It’s not too hard, these days, to convince many Americans that subjects of the Tuskegee experiments were people whose lives mattered. That’s good news.

Changing Standards

Our standards have changed since the mid-19th century:

“…’…We blowed out a cylinder-head.’

” ‘Good gracious! anybody hurt?’

” ‘No’m. Killed a [redacted].’

” ‘Well, it’s lucky; because sometimes people do get hurt….’…”
(“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” Part 2 (1885), Chapter XXXII, Mark Twain; via gutenberg.org)

“Huckleberry Finn” is fiction, but I’m pretty sure that Mark Twain knew folks who shared Aunt Sally’s belief that some folks weren’t, or weren’t quite, “people.”

Aunt Sally was nice enough, with no more than the usual human failings. But she lived in a society which treated some people as if they were property. It was a bad idea then, and still is. (Catechism, 2414)

I’m a Catholic, so I must believe that humans are people. All of us.

Human Life and Beliefs

I’m obliged to believe that each of us is someone, not something; a person; made in the image of the God. (Genesis 1:27; Catechism, 355–357, 362)

God creates each of our souls. My soul is the immortal part of me, made by God at my conception, which will be separated from my body at death, but reunited at the final Resurrection. (John 5:28–29; Acts 24:15; Catechism, 366, 1038)

That’s why human life is sacred. (Catechism, 2258)

Everyone’s life is precious, no matter who our ancestors are, where we live, what we look like, or how old we are. (Catechism, 357, 361, 369–370, 1700, 1730, 1929, 2273–2274, 2276–2279)

We’re not all alike, and we’re not supposed to be. But we each have equal dignity. (Catechism, 33, 366, 1934–1938, 2232, 2393)

We can think, and decide how we act. In these ways we are like God. (Catechism, 1700–1706)

People, including children, are not property. My wife and I see our children as gifts from God: people in their own right, who we have been blessed to raise. (Catechism, 2221–2224, 2373–2379, 2414)

I must respect local, regional, and national, authorities; and be a responsible, active, citizen. (Catechism, 1897–1904, 1913–1917)

That does not mean blindly following orders, or committing acts which are legal but wrong. I shouldn’t steal, for example, unjustly taking another person’s property — even if my action is legal and socially acceptable — and “one is morally bound to resist orders that command genocide.” (Catechism, 1905–1912, 2242, 2313, 2409)

Science and technology are fine. Learning how the universe works and using that knowledge to make new tools, is part of being human. Ignoring ethics isn’t — or shouldn’t be. (Catechism, 159, 2292–2296, 2375–2377, 2414)

“I have a Very Bad Feeling About This”

In the movies, these are good lines:

“I have a very bad feeling about this.”
(Luke Skywalker)(via IMDB.com)

“Luke, trust your feelings!”
(Obi-Wan Kenobi)

I didn’t find Obi-Wan Kenobi’s advice from the 1977 movie “Star Wars” in IMDB’s lists of movie quotes, except for something involving Mystery Science Theater 3000, which surprised me a bit.

I’ve seen plenty of references to “trust your feelings” elsewhere though: mostly in discussions or rants about how it’s a bad idea.

I talked about trusting emotions, within reason, on Wednesday. (October 5, 2016)

Basically — emotions² aren’t good or bad by themselves. Emotions happen. Sometimes they tell me that I should pay attention to something. What matters isn’t the emotion. It’s how I use my will and reason. (Catechism, 1767)

Humanity’s track record for using our freedom is far from perfect, and that’s another topic. (Catechism, 1707–1709)

1. It’s a Boy: With DNA from Three People

(From New Hope Fertility Centre, via BBC News, used w/o permission.)
(“Dr John Zhang holding the baby boy who was conceived thanks to the new technique that incorporates DNA from three people”
(BBC News))

“First ‘three person baby’ born using new method”
Michelle Roberts, BBC News (September 27, 2016)

“The world’s first baby has been born using a new ‘three person’ fertility technique, New Scientist reveals.

“The five-month-old boy has the usual DNA from his mum and dad, plus a tiny bit of genetic code from a donor.

“US doctors took the unprecedented step to ensure the baby boy would be free of a genetic condition that his Jordanian mother carries in her genes….”

The mother is healthy, but about a quarter of her mitochondria have genes for Leigh disease, or Leigh syndrome.

Her first two babies died from this disorder. Leigh disease affects the central nervous system, and generally kills its victims after a few very unpleasant years. Small wonder that this couple decided to get help.

A family; mother, father, and children; is very important. Families are where societies start, where children learn to care for themselves and for others. That’s how it’s supposed to work, anyway. (Catechism, 2201–2213)

Having kids is a good thing. “…Children are really the supreme gift of marriage….” (“Gaudium et Spes,” Pope Paul VI (December 7, 1965))

Some folks are catching on that sub-replacement fertility is happening in nearly half of the world’s nations, and that’s yet another topic.

My hat’s off to couples who decide that raising more than one or two kids is a good idea.

“…Among the couples who fulfil their God-given task in this way, those merit special mention who with a gallant heart and with wise and common deliberation, undertake to bring up suitably even a relatively large family….”
(“Gaudium et Spes“)

Not having kids can be a good thing, too.

Married couples who cannot have children “…can radiate a fruitfulness of charity, of hospitality, and of sacrifice.” Adoption can be a win-win situation for an infertile couple and a child who needs a home. (Catechism, 1652–1654, 2379)

My wife and I had no trouble getting kids started. Keeping them alive was another matter. Two of the six died before we got a chance to know them, and we nearly lost my wife the second time. That was a stressful experience.

Some couples discover that they cannot conceive children. That can be stressful, too. (Genesis 30:1; Catechism, 2373–2379)

Sole Survivor

(From BBC News, used w/o permission.)

“Exclusive: World’s first baby born with new ‘3 parent’ technique”
Jessica Hamzelou, New Scientist (September 27, 2016)

“…The method approved in the UK is called pronuclear transfer and involves fertilising both the mother’s egg and a donor egg with the father’s sperm. Before the fertilised eggs start dividing into early-stage embryos, each nucleus is removed. The nucleus from the donor’s fertilised egg is discarded and replaced by that from the mother’s fertilised egg.

“But this technique wasn’t appropriate for the couple – as Muslims, they were opposed to the destruction of two embryos. So Zhang took a different approach, called spindle nuclear transfer. He removed the nucleus from one of the mother’s eggs and inserted it into a donor egg that had had its own nucleus removed. The resulting egg – with nuclear DNA from the mother and mitochondrial DNA from a donor – was then fertilised with the father’s sperm.

“Zhang’s team used this approach to create five embryos, only one of which developed normally. This embryo was implanted in the mother and the child was born nine months later….

“…Neither method has been approved in the US, so Zhang went to Mexico instead, where he says ‘there are no rules’. He is adamant that he made the right choice. ‘To save lives is the ethical thing to do,’ he says….”

I am happy for the couple and their surviving baby. The four siblings who died in the process — I trust that their deaths were unintentional.

Given what I’ve read about this situation, I am reasonably certain that the couple did not knowingly agree to a ‘winner takes all’ situation, with life as the prize for the one child who survived.

Whether or not the doctors involved understood what they were doing is a good question. I prefer to assume that Dr. Zhang and others believe they acted correctly.

My take on this situation is counter-cultural, and starts in Deuteronomy:

“¹ ‘Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone!”
(Deuteronomy 6:4)

A bit over a half-dozen centuries later, our Lord said that “This is the greatest and the first commandment.” (Matthew 22:38)

He also said that loving our neighbor, and seeing everyone as our neighbor, is a very good idea. (Matthew 5:43–44, 22:36–40; Mark 12:28–31; Luke 6:31, Luke 10:25–27, 29–37; Catechism, 2196)

That’s everyone: the neighbor using power tools outside at night, the guy who took ‘my’ parking space, folks I’ve never met. Everyone — including folks who aren’t “people” by my native culture’s standards.

I can’t pick and choose who I want to believe is a person and who isn’t.

Well, actually, I can. I’ve got free will, and that’s yet again another topic.

This is where it gets awkward.

Some of what follows may seem familiar. I discussed this sort of gene therapy last year, when A Catholic Citizen in America was on Blogger. (February 13, 2015)

Therapy, Death, and “Rational Reflection”

Mitochndrial donation is a new form of in vitro fertilisation where part of the baby’s mitochondrial DNA comes from a third party.³ As of last year, it’s legal in the UK:

I could assume that this medical technology is bad because it’s new: or good for the same reason. That doesn’t seem reasonable.

Instead, I’ll look at what’s involved.

I’m pretty sure that scientists who developed this technique didn’t see major safety or ethical issues. Unless they’re daft, the scientists wouldn’t ask for human testing until they were confident that their tech would work.

Preventing lethal disease of any sort, including mitochondrial diseases, is a good idea. (Catechism, 1503–1510)

I could get excited by the prospect of a world without birth defects.

It’s a personal issue for me. A friend and classmate died in her teens of a cancer that might have been due in part to an inherited metabolic glitch.

My defective hips may be inherited, or could have happened for other reasons. My quirky neurochemistry is almost certainly inherited. My father was the same way, although less so; and two of my kids enjoy — or suffer — what I do.

However:

“…what is technically possible is not for that very reason morally admissible. Rational reflection on the fundamental values of life and of human procreation is therefore indispensable for formulating a moral evaluation of such technological interventions on a human being from the first stages of his development….”
(“Instruction Dignitas Personae on Certain Bioethical Questions,” William Cardinal Levada, Prefect; Luis F. Ladaria, S.I., Titular Archbishop of Thibica, Secretary; Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (September 8, 2008)) [Emphasis mine]

Life and Leftover Parts

(From HFEA, via BBC News, used w/o permission.)
(“1) Two eggs are fertilised with sperm, creating an embryo from the intended parents and another from the donors 2) The pronuclei, which contain genetic information, are removed from both embryos but only the parents’ are kept 3) A healthy embryo is created by adding the parents’ pronuclei to the donor embryo, which is finally implanted into the womb[.]”
(James Gallagher, BBC News (February 3, 2015))

(From HFEA, via BBC News, used w/o permission.)
(“1) Eggs from a mother with damaged mitochondria and a donor with healthy mitochondria are collected 2) The majority of the genetic material is removed from both eggs 3) The mother’s genetic material is inserted into the donor egg, which can be fertilised by sperm.”
(James Gallagher, BBC News)

Like I said earlier, I must believe that human life is sacred; and that humans are people; no matter how young, old, or sick we are. (Catechism, 2258, 2270, 2276–2279)

That’s why I’m pretty sure that “method one” isn’t acceptable.

You’d start with two people: one from the parents, and one from donors. You’d wind up with one person: with the donor-child’s mitochondrial DNA and the parent’s DNA in his or her cells’ nuclei.

I could rationalize that half a person is better than none, or that two halves make a whole, or dive into metaphysical gibberish.

I won’t, because I’m pretty sure that when two living people go into an operating room, and one comes out — someone’s missing, and the leftover parts suggest that one of the originals died.

That doesn’t seem right.

I think “method two” may, in at least some cases, be acceptable. In theory, at least.

That’s because the church doesn’t insist that every bit of material with human DNA is a person.

“Method two” could start with two eggs — not people — and ultimately end with a person. Nobody dies, and that’s a good thing.

Four out of Five

More accurately, that would be a good thing, if nobody died.

As Jessica Hamzelou’s article in New Scientist (September 27, 2016) points out, five people were conceived in this procedure.

Only one “developed normally” and was allowed to live.

Four out of five non-survivors is an 80% mortality rate.

Again, I’m happy for the baby boy who survived, and for the couple who will raise him: but that’s a lot of death for one life.

The death rate leading to this couple’s new arrival was about as low as can be hoped for. That was the case in 2008, at least, mentioned in footnote [27] of “Instruction Dignitas Personae:”

“…It is true that approximately a third of women who have recourse to artificial procreation succeed in having a baby. It should be recognized, however, that given the proportion between the total number of embryos produced and those eventually born, the number of embryos sacrificed is extremely high.[27] These losses are accepted by the practitioners of in vitro fertilization as the price to be paid for positive results….”
(“Instruction Dignitas Personae on Certain Bioethical Questions;” William Card. Levada, Prefect; Luis F. Ladaria, S.I., Titular Archbishop of Thibica, Secretary (September 8, 2008)
“[27] Currently the number of embryos sacrificed, even in the most technically advanced centers of artificial fertilization, hovers above 80%.”

“…The practice of keeping alive human embryos in vivo or in vitro for experimental or commercial purposes is totally opposed to human dignity. In the case of experimentation that is clearly therapeutic, namely, when it is a matter of experimental forms of therapy used for the benefit of the embryo itself in a final attempt to save its life, and in the absence of other reliable forms of therapy, recourse to drugs or procedures not yet fully tested can be licit….”
(“Donum vitae,” “Instruction on respect for human life;” Joseph Card. Ratzinger, Prefect; Alberto Bovone, Titular Archbishop of Caesarea in Numidia Secretary (February 22, 1987))

2. Growing “Tiny Brains”

(From BBC, used w/o permission.)

“The genius who grows tiny brains in a lab”
BBC Earth (26 September 26, 2016)

“Our brains are complex organic computers – some believe the most complicated in the Universe. Yet one scientist has managed to create mini brains that mimic how our minds work.

“Deep in a lab in Cambridge, England, you will find see an extraordinary thing: tiny, exact replicas of the human brain growing in a petri dish.

“Their creator, Madeline Lancaster, still remembers the day she first wanted to study the human brain as a small girl. Her father was a scientist, and one day he allowed her to peer down a microscope and view a neuron growing in a petri dish. ‘I was completely struck by how beautiful and how complex the neural structure is. It’s just amazing.’…”

The human brain is amazing, and I agree with BBC Earth’s assertion that “animal studies can only tell us so much about our own minds.”

I talked about our version of the SRGAP2 gene last month. (September 23, 2016)

I’m not so sure about this:

“…Unfortunately, it’s been enormously difficult to probe its secrets – it’s not as if a scientist can just lift off the skull, like the hood of a car, and peer inside at the tissue underneath….”
(BBC Earth)

It’s true that craniotomies are major operations, and that finding enough student volunteers for a research project might be a challenge.

However, imaging tech has come a long way since my youth, when shoe-fitting fluoroscopes were still in fairly common use. As I’ve said before, I don’t miss the ‘good old days.’

These days, surgeons often get an MRI scan before the operation, to see where the various parts are. That would be an example of structural neuroimaging.

Functional neuroimaging tech, like positron emission tomography, functional magnetic resonance_imaging, and magnetoencephalography — try saying that fast, five times — lets us “see” what a brain is doing.

I’ll grant that neuroimaging, like anything else, has limitations.

That, apparently, is why Lancaster is growing miniature versions of human brains in her lab.

Neurons and Confidence

(From keval_tilva, Shakhova, O., and Sommer, L., Neural crest-derived stem cells (May 4, 2010); via Wikimedia Commons; used w/o permission.)

“…She uses stem cells cultivated from skin samples and then bathes them in nutrients and vitamins designed to trigger their development into neurons, before planting them in a dense protein gel. Amazingly, as the cells replicate and grow, they start to organise themselves into a tiny model of our own brains.

” ‘Although they don’t have any sensation or any feeling we now have this tool that we could use to answer all kinds of questions about a developing brain,’ says Lancaster….”
(BBC Earth)

I hope she’s right, that “…they don’t have any sensation or any feeling…” — and that these tiny brain-like clusters of human neurons are no more than useful laboratory specimens.

About the stem cells used to get these organoids started: stem cells in my skin aren’t “embryonic,” and haven’t been for decades. But they can be reprogrammed to act embryonic stem cells, after which they’d be called induced pluripotent stem cell.

I probably wouldn’t enjoy the process of collecting stem cells from my skin any more than I enjoyed giving blood samples for routine lab work yesterday. But aside from discomfort, I’d be unharmed; and very nearly unaffected.

Getting back to the brain-like clusters of human neurons, I’d be more confident that they don’t feel anything if so many folks weren’t convinced that animals don’t experience pain. That idea goes back at least as far as Descartes.

I’ll agree that humans are a special sort of animal, and I’ve talked about that before. (July 15, 2016)

Brains in a Vat?

Since the mini-brains aren’t connected to eyes, ears, or other body parts, they can’t tell researchers what they see or feel.

I’m not entirely convinced that this inability proves that they aren’t aware to some extent.

A near-worst-case scenario is that they’re very young people, experiencing something like locked-in syndrome combined with total sensory deprivation.

Folks have used partial sensory deprivation for millennia.

Hitbodedut, dark retreat, Pratyahara, and various disciplines of monastic silence, involve reducing or avoiding sensory stimulation. Some folks think it’s therapeutic, and they may be right.

I do an hour of Eucharistic adoration each week in a very quiet room. That sort of spiritual exercise does not come naturally to me: but I think it’s a good idea.

On the other hand, complete sensory deprivation for 15 minutes sometimes leads to hallucinations or delusions. Researchers figure some of that comes from source-monitoring errors in our brains.

Longer-term sensory deprivation. particular when it’s forced on someone, can lead to more unpleasant experiences.

Maybe those clusters of human neurons really are no more than experimental subjects. They’re certainly not equivalent to adult human brains.⁴

But I’d be a whole lot less uneasy, if I limited my notion of “people” to folks who are at least a few months old.

3. “Breaking Taboo” and Disposable People

(From Rob Stein/NPR, via NPR, used w/o permission.)
(“Fredrik Lanner (right) of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and his student Alvaro Plaza Reyes examine a magnified image of an human embryo that they used to attempt to create genetically modified healthy human embryos.”
(NPR))

“Breaking Taboo, Swedish Scientist Seeks To Edit DNA Of Healthy Human Embryos”
NPR (September 22, 2016)

“NPR recently got exclusive access to Lanner’s labs at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm to watch some of his early efforts.

“During the visit, Lanner and a graduate student carefully thawed five embryos donated by couples who had gone through in vitro fertilization at the Karolinska University Hospital to try to have children.

“One of the embryos didn’t survive the freezing and thawing process. The researchers gingerly placed each of the remaining 2-day-old embryos into a dish on a special microscope….”

I say this a lot: learning how the universe works, and using that knowledge to make new tools, is part of being human. But being curious isn’t an excuse to misbehave.

Experiments on humans are okay, but not if the experiment “…exposes the subject’s life or physical and psychological integrity to disproportionate or avoidable risks….” (Catechism, 2292–2295)

I don’t imagine that humans become people at some arbitrary age: convenient as that might be. (Catechism, 2270)

That’s why I think that therapeutic treatment of folks who haven’t been born yet can be a good idea: but growing disposable people so they can be used in experiments isn’t. (Catechism, 2275, 2292–2295)

4. DNA and Water Bears

(From Eye of Science/Science Photo Library, via Nature, used w/o permission.)
(“Water bears are renowned for their ability to withstand extreme conditions.”
(Nature))

“Tardigrade protein helps human DNA withstand radiation”
Jason Bittel, Nature (September 20, 2016)

“Experiments show that the tardigrade’s resilience can be transferred to cultures of human cells.

“Water bears are renowned for their ability to withstand extreme conditions.

“Tardigrades, or water bears, are pudgy, microscopic animals that look like a cross between a caterpillar and a naked mole rat. These aquatic invertebrates are consummate survivors, capable of withstanding a host of extremes, including near total dehydration and the insults of space.

“Now, a paper published on 20 September in Nature Communications pinpoints the source of yet another tardigrade superpower: a protective protein that provides resistance to damaging X-rays. And researchers were able to transfer that resistance to human cells.

” ‘Tolerance against X-ray is thought to be a side-product of [the] animal’s adaption to severe dehydration,’ says lead study author Takekazu Kunieda, a molecular biologist at the University of Tokyo. According to Kunieda, severe dehydration wreaks havoc on the molecules in living things. It can even tear apart DNA, much like X-rays can….”

Takekazu Kunieda and others picked Ramazzottius varieornatus, an exceptionally indestructible tardigrade species, for their research.

The first step was sequencing the critter’s genome.

Apparently observing the processes that happen inside tardigrade cells is easier if the tardigrade genome gets inserted into mammalian cells. These researchers reprogrammed cultures of human cells to produce pieces of the water bear’s metabolic machinery.

They learned that a protein called Dsup (“damage suppressor”) kept tardigrade DNA from breaking under the stress of radiation and desiccation. They also discovered human cells with tardigrade DNA weren’t as susceptible to X-ray damage as those without.

This is good news, since the research may lead to treatments that reduce risk for folks working in and near nuclear plants.⁵

I’m not eager to get my cells reprogrammed with tardigrade DNA: partly because I’m not near radiation hazards, partly because we haven’t sorted out some interesting ethical concerns yet.

“Instruction Dignitas Personae on Certain Bioethical Questions” (2008), 33., specifically addresses reprogramming human somatic cells with another animal’s oocytes.

In other words, the Catholic Church has looked at the implications of mixing human and animal DNA in ways that pass the genetic reprogramming on to succeeding generations.

It’s something we can do, but “…such procedures represent an offense against the dignity of human beings on account of the admixture of human and animal genetic elements capable of disrupting the specific identity of man.…”⁶

Unchanging Principles, Changing Applications

I feel a little frustration at the 2008 decision about reprogramming human reproductive cells: and think it makes sense, given what we know today.

The idea isn’t that we should be afraid of knowledge.

It’s that we should remember who we are.

We’re made in the image of God, with a dignity that goes with that our nature. Respect for the dignity of the human person is why social justice is so important, and that’s still another topic. (Catechism, 1700, 1701–1706, 1928–1942)

I accept what the Church says about mixing human and other DNA.

I am also certain that the Church will still say that humanity is made in the image of God two millennia from now — with the dignity and responsibilities that implies.

Since we’re rapidly discovering more about previously-unknown aspects of genetics, I suspect that rules about DNA will be reviewed within the next century: probably sooner.

The Church doesn’t ‘change its mind’ about underlying principles: but how we apply those principles gets revised occasionally.

Cremation, for example, was forbidden at one time: but now is allowed, unless the act is a denial of the body’s resurrection. (Catechism, 2301; “Some Current Questions in Eschatology,” 6.4, International Theological Commission (1992))

Horizontal Gene Transfer, Being Human

Getting back to genetics — over the last few years, we’ve been learning that gene swapping between species happens regularly. It’s called horizontal gene transfer.

Pea aphids have genes from fungi; a malaria pathogen got genetic material from humans that may help it stay in our bodies.

A recent study says that 100 of the 20,000-odd genes in our DNA probably came from other species. Those figures may or may not be accurate: debate and research were still happening, the last time I checked.

If we learn that some of our inherited genes come from horizontal gene transfer, and if this turns out to be how our bodies are supposed to work — maybe the Church will decide that mixing human and other DNA is acceptable.

It could, I suspect, be seen as equivalent to implants like fillings and artificial joints, but on a molecular level.

Meanwhile, like I said, I accept what the Church says.

Reminiscence of a Lab Rat

Rotating the hips was part of a newborn’s first checkup, even back in 1951. When I screamed, the doctor said something like ‘that hurts, doesn’t it?’

I don’t know why he didn’t tell my parents that I had congenital hip dysplasia. That’s a five-dollar term meaning that my hips hadn’t grown correctly.

He definitely knew what I was going through, writing a learned paper on what happens when this particular birth defect is ignored.⁷

My parents eventually learned about my substandard hips. Two operations in early childhood put me on my feet, and after decades of perhaps-avoidable pain I got both hips replaced. It’s a nice change of pace.

That experience, and what happened to my mother when I was twelve, made human experimentation and medical ethics personal issues for me.

Problems — and Opportunities — Ahead

I think we’ve got problems — and opportunities — ahead.

Strictly therapeutic genetic manipulation may, in some cases, be okay: and a blessing to folks with inherited disorders.

The same technologies could be used to purge “undesirable” traits from humanity. Since many of my ancestors are of an ‘inferior race,’ I can hardly be expected to show enthusiasm for eugenics. And that’s still another topic, for another post.

More posts about faith, science, and making sense:

Polio, Zika, and Using Our Brains”
(August 21, 2016)

Bulldogs, Transgenics, and a Robot”
(August 5, 2016)

Humility isn’t Being Delusional”
(July 31, 2016)

Sandra and Tommy: Apes and Ethics”
(July 15, 2016)

Temperance, Catholic Style”
(July 10, 2016)

¹ The original line is “I am determined to prove a villain” — my language has changed a bit over the last few centuries. Shakespeare’s Richard III is a very successful play, but not particularly accurate:

² Some folks seem to be “emotionless;” but my guess is that we have a very great deal left to learn about how we use our neural circuitry, and what can go wrong:

³ ‘Three-parent’ baby, background:

⁴ Grow-your-own brains, brain in a vat thought experiment, and all that:

⁵ Tardigrades and somewhat-related topics:

Wikipedia

“Extremotolerant tardigrade genome and improved radiotolerance of human cultured cells by tardigrade-unique protein”
Takuma Hashimoto, Daiki D. Horikawa, Yuki Saito, Hirokazu Kuwahara, Hiroko Kozuka-Hata, Tadasu Shin-I, Yohei Minakuchi, Kazuko Ohishi, Ayuko Motoyama, Tomoyuki Aizu, Atsushi Enomoto, Koyuki Kondo, Sae Tanaka, Yuichiro Hara, Shigeyuki Koshikawa, Hiroshi Sagara, Toru Miura, Shin-ichi Yokobori, Kiyoshi Miyagawa, Yutaka Suzuki, et al.; Nature Communications (Received June 21, 2015; Accepted August 3, 2016; Published September 20, 2016)

“Three-dimensional reconstruction of the central nervous system of Macrobiotus hufelandi (Eutardigrada, Parachela): Implications for the phylogenetic position of Tardigrada”
Juliane Zantke, Carsten Wolff, Gerhard Scholtz; Zoomorphology, via ResearchGate.net (February 2007)

⁶ A longer excerpt:

“…33. Recently animal oocytes have been used for reprogramming the nuclei of human somatic cells – this is generally called hybrid cloning – in order to extract embryonic stem cells from the resulting embryos without having to use human oocytes.

“From the ethical standpoint, such procedures represent an offense against the dignity of human beings on account of the admixture of human and animal genetic elements capable of disrupting the specific identity of man. The possible use of the stem cells, taken from these embryos, may also involve additional health risks, as yet unknown, due to the presence of animal genetic material in their cytoplasm. To consciously expose a human being to such risks is morally and ethically unacceptable….”
(“Instruction Dignitas Personae on Certain Bioethical Questions,” Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (June 20, 2008))

⁷ Reminiscence of a Lab Rat, continued:

My parents learned about my hips after noticing that I had trouble rolling over and wasn’t very good at crawling.

A surgeon sculpted a socket for my left hip, using bone from my femur. I was able to walk back into the hospital a few years later, when something went wrong with the remodeled hip. The right socket was definitely not up to specs, but was good enough to leave alone.

Neither of the operations, or the physical therapy, were a medical experiment. I’m getting to that.

My father was head librarian at a college, getting himself assigned to the reference desk from time to time. He enjoyed being able to connect students with information they needed: and having time to read a book or periodical from the shelves.

One day, he noticed an article titled something like “Effects of Delayed Treatment on Congenital Hip Dysplasia.” Decades later told me that, as he read the author’s name and realized what the good doctor had done, it felt like the top oh his head had come off.

Before he got to the doctor, my mother discussed the matter with him. He returned to his duties at the library. She made an appointment with the doctor.

During that appointment, I suppose that she discussed the matter of congenital hip dysplasia, certain aspects of medical research, and her son. I understand that she did not speak — ever — of what happened in that room.

It might have been more humane, in a way, to let an enraged Irishman get at the doctor, instead of five-foot-nothing of concentrated viking determination.

This contribution is available at http://brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen/bioethics-and-a-three-parent-baby/
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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HTTP/1.1 200 OK Server: nginx Date: Sun, 13 Nov 2016 16:59:30 GMT Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Transfer-Encoding: chunked Connection: keep-alive Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=86400 Vary: Accept-Encoding Vary: Cookie X-hacker: If you're reading this, you should visit automattic.com/jobs and apply to join the fun, mention this header. X-Pingback: https://shiftingmyperspective.com/xmlrpc.php Link: ; rel=shortlink Last-Modified: Sun, 13 Nov 2016 16:59:30 GMT Cache-Control: max-age=300, must-revalidate X-nananana: Batcache X-ac: 3.ord _dca What Our Bunny Taught Me About God [at Shifting My Perspective]

What Our Bunny Taught Me About God [at Shifting My Perspective]

Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.  Isaiah 30:18

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURESAfter our hamster died, my kids were desperate for another pet. My husband REALLY wanted a dog. It is an understatement to say I am NOT a dog person. I can barely keep up with housework as it is. By no means do I want to add dog slobber and shedding fur to all the other things in my life that need cleaning up. I knew I had to act quickly to derail the dog campaign.

As fate would have it, my niece had an Animal Adventures birthday party recently. There was a very cute rabbit there that was wonderful with the kids. When I found out it was up for adoption, I knew I had found my answer.

I spent the next week making frantic phone calls to Animal Adventures, and putting up pleas for a bunny cage and advice on Facebook. My friend Mary came through for me in a big way. Thanks to her, in a little over a week we were fully equipped and the proud owners of Oreo, a little black mutt and Netherland Dwarf mix.

I thought I was just getting a pet for my kids. What I didn’t realize was we were also getting a living example of how God’s love works.

Mason, more than the others, was itching to hold and hug our bunny. But Oreo was brand new to us. He was a bit skittish, and very much in need of playing things his own way.

So I took Mason into the bathroom with Oreo (the place I thought would be the safest to let a bunny roam free). I instructed Mason to sit “criss-cross, applesauce” on the floor, put his hands in his lap, and just be still. I told him he needed to let the rabbit explore him the way Oreo wanted to, not force anything, and not grab and hold Oreo. Mason needed to earn our bunny’s trust by letting Oreo call the shots. I joined Mason on the floor and observed.

I watched Oreo hesitantly draw near Mason, test the waters, retreat when Mason couldn’t resist reaching out, and then come back, intrigued. The more still Mason was, the more Oreo approached. Before I knew it, Oreo was sniffing Mason out, licking his hand, and putting his paws on Mason’s knee. The more Mason allowed Oreo to be in charge, the more Oreo trusted him.

But I know Mason. He loves deeply and passionately. He fell in love with Oreo the second we got him, and that love has grown with each passing second. Mason is also incredibly expressive and affectionate. He’s my “hugger for no reason” and never wants to let go. I knew it was killing him to be so passive. All he wanted to do was reach out, grab that furry bunny, and hold him tight, for forever!

That’s when it hit me: God loves like Mason, and we are Oreo. God is just itching to reach out, grab us, hold us tight, and never let us go. Like Isaiah 30:18 says, He longs to be gracious to us.

But God is an all knowing God. He knows a love earned by trust far outweighs a love created by force. In fact, that’s not love at all: that is subservience. Mason doesn’t want that from our bunny, and God certainly doesn’t want that from us. He wants a love that comes from us willingly, because we’ve reached a point where we realize our lives are enhanced a hundredfold when we have a relationship with Him.

God’s love is also deep and passionate. It is forgiving, unconditional, and all encompassing. When we finally realize this, and step into His open arms, He lavishes us with more grace than we could ever imagine. That’s when we wonder why we waited so long to take that step, to open ourselves up to the deepest love we could ever know.

Oreo is still testing the waters, forcing Mason to be patient. But I am sure that eventually, Oreo will willingly step into Mason’s open arms. And when he does, he too will experience a love greater than he has ever known.

Questions For Reflection:

      * Do I recognize that God is patiently waiting, letting me call the shots in our relationship?

      * When I’ve trusted God enough to draw close, have I experienced Him lavishing me with the greatest love I have ever known?

      * What is preventing me from just staying put in God’s loving embrace?

This contribution is available at http://shiftingmyperspective.com/2016/11/03/what-our-bunny-taught-me-about-god/
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On Generational Spirits

I spent a most enjoyable hour petting the kittens as I listened to Fr. Chad Rippenger (sorry, but I can't seem to make a direct audio link)expand upon the article he'd written a couple of years ago in the Latin Mass Magazine on generational spirits through the last hundred years. It's a fascinating account of both social and spiritual history, and a reasonable explanation of how we've managed to sink so low. Here's a summary as part of Fr. Anderson's homily.

The generation that came of age during WWI suffered a great deal but did not express it, especially talking about the virtue of embracing the cross. Their children, who grew up during the Great Depression and fought in WWII are called the Greatest Generation (remember Tom Brokow's book?) and although they did what had to be done, they lacked a "spirit of mortification." They never wanted their children to suffer as they had and so they indulged their children. These are the Baby Boomers (Michael and I are both in this generation and the way we spent our 20s and 30s reflects what follows). Their parents “did not pass on the traditions of their fathers which required discipline and self-denial," which led to lack of temperance. This made them indocile (not following authority, people who know more, their betters). Yup. That was definitely us: we were our own gods. 

The children of Baby Boomers are known as Generation X and Y (born in the 70s and 80s), also called the 'me-generation' because they are noted for sense of entitlement. They are not necessarily immoral, but rather, amoral. Their children are known as Generation Z (our children fall in this category given that we had our kids later). "It is the generation that has gone without a coherent moral code, religious doctrine, or societal norms." This describes our children up until the time of our conversion and in fact, it was the lack of anything authoritative beyond us that made us realize we needed God desperately. Thank GOD! However, we still suffer from all the generational sins because it is very difficult to uproot what you've sown. Only by the grace of God are we growing in faith and virtue. And we hope and pray to keep the faith until the very end.

The Sixth Generation is the one being born now. “This generation will have a spirit that is not like any of the other generations. It is a spirit of paganism, fueled by the licentiousness and depravity passed down from the last couple of generations."

Depressing, no?

As you can see, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree for a reason, and the sins are compounded. From a "spirit on non-communication" we have reached a "spirit of depravity." Note that not everyone is affected by these. Those who try to live a sacramental life, doing their duty in their state of life, obedient to God do not succumb to the spirit of the ages.

Have hope.

Fr. Anderson says: "The Holy Spirit is at work among the young generation today. Many who are coming of age today recognize the truth and beauty of the Catholic faith in all its richness. They readily see how the rejection of traditional, orthodox Catholicism has deprived them of their spiritual inheritance, but they are claiming it back. Each generation is called by God to accomplish certain tasks, to fight off certain evils, and to achieve certain perfection. The Holy Spirit is now giving this generation what was not passed down to them. They are receiving Catholic tradition and they love it."

  Binding Prayer

Spirit of N., I bind you in the Name of Jesus, by the power of the most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ and by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Michael the Archangel, the blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul and all of the saints, and I command you to leave N. (Name of person or object) and go to the foot of the Holy Cross to receive your sentence, in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. I like to sing  and I hope someone will sing it for me when I die.

This contribution is available at http://vijayabodach.blogspot.com/2016/10/on-generational-spirits.html
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I Don’t Have To Do It All

October 20, 2016 by Susan Stabile

It can be very exhausting to feel like the entire weight of the world is on your shoulders, to feel that it is somehow your job to fix enormous problems on your own.  True, we don’t phrase it that way, but it is easy to feel like we can’t let up our efforts, and have to work past the level of our capacity because there is so much to be done.

Although seductive – because it makes us think of ourselves as committed, dedicated people – such behavior really is a form of “functional atheism.”

In his book, Let Your Life Speak: Listening to the Voice of Vocation, Parker Palmer describes functional atheism as

the belief that ultimate responsibility for everything rests with us.  This is the unconscious, unexamined conviction that if anything decent is going to happen here, we are the ones who must make it happen – a conviction held even by people who talk a good game about God.

Parker talks about this in the context of talking about leadership and community, suggesting that if we are made for community (a basic truth in Catholic thought), then each member of the community must be both a leader and a follower.  More importantly, regarding our sense that the fate of the whole world rests on us, he reminds us that “[c]ommunity cuts both ways: when we reach the limits of our own capacity to love, community means trusting that someone else will be available to the person in need.”

It is an important lesson.  As Palmer writes

The gift we receive on the inner journey is the knowledge that ours is not the only act in town.  Not only are there other acts out there, but some of them are even better than ours, at least occasionally!  We learn that we need not carry the whole load but can share it with others liberating and empowering them.  We learn that sometimes we are free to lay the load down altogether.  The great community asks us to do only what we are able and to trust the rest to other hands.

It is good to examine our own behavior and ask whether a bit of functional atheism is lurking beneath the surface.  I’m not decrying hard work, but a lack of trust – in God and in other members of our communities.

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Unbound [at With Us Still]

What do you think she noticed first, the woman who for 18 years had been ‘bent over, completely incapable of standing erect’? What did she see…as she straightened her spine and looked into the eyes of the One who had just cured her infirmity?

And what did they see in her: The friends and neighbors gathered there, in synagogue, on the day of her liberation?

image-10_2Something tells me it was a bit like the look I saw on the faces of many of the inmates we have been ministering to over the past several days inside Menard.

A holy mixture of relief…surprise…joy…and perhaps even determination.

Indeed: What an unexpected blessing to discover – as one of the Kairos participants put it yesterday – ‘God is doing a new thing in me.’

Or as another man said, with just a touch of amazement in his voice, ‘My heart ain’t filled with junk no more! It’s filled with Jesus! (And cookies.)’

Or another, who after 35 years of incarceration, realized that he was no longer chained to the destructive habits of the past, nor weakened by the debilitating mockery of the broken people all around him: ‘I have the strength. I can prove it to others: I can set the bar higher.’

I never tire of seeing these miracles occur on a Kairos Weekend. I am overjoyed to know that the inmates I’ve met…have in some mysterious way been lifted up from the mud and muck of their present circumstances. They remain incarcerated. But their hearts are unbound. They have been set free.

And their cures, I’ve noticed, tend to have a restorative effect on me.

Jesus is generous in dispensing this gift of healing. The invitation is there, just as it was for the crippled woman in the synagogue, to straighten my spine. To feel the strength. To look into the loving eyes of my Lord and Savior.

Here’s looking at You, Lord: Thanks for another great Kairos Weekend at Menard!

Let us pause now…to recall that we are in the presence of the Holy & Merciful One.

IHS

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How I'll Spend Election Day [at Mere Observations]

“To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

“Ora et labora.” – St. Benedict of Norcia

_________

A few weeks ago I began to think pretty seriously about taking a camping trip over a 3-day stretch in early November. There were two reasons for this: the warmer than usual (and beautiful) autumn weather, and…the election. Oh, did I mention that the three day stretch I had in mind was November 7-9? I figured I’d leave Monday afternoon and return home on Wednesday afternoon. I’d pack my tent, sleeping bag, extra blankets, food provisions, make a big fire…all of it. I’d probably pack a journal along with a good book or two, including the Liturgy of the Hours so I could continue to sanctify the time. My phone? Yes, it’d be with me in the event of an emergency, but I’d put it into airplane mode so that I could make that call if necessary, but not have access to the internet.

Why? Because the Tuesday sandwiched in that timeframe is Election Day.

I want nothing to do with this year’s election anymore. Nothing to do with the noise that has been shattering eardrums for well over a year, generated by partisans on both sides and a press that’s all too happy to stoke the flames of division instead of doing their jobs.

My second option is likely the one I’ll do because my oldest son is home after spending the bulk of the year deployed overseas and I hate to take three days away from that family time. This option involves me spending election night sitting/kneeling in my church. Phone still shut off. A book/journal with me as well as the prayers of the Divine Office. Still sanctifying time, just not out in nature as I’d prefer.

A third option would involve inviting over a few close friends I have on both sides of the partisan divide to break bread, enjoy a libation or two, and sit around the firepit. No phones. No politics. Perhaps taking a break from our conversation to pray a rosary or my leading/teaching them to pray Vespers (Protestants have been known to pray a form of the Divine Office) and in our own way we’d still be sanctifying time with our friendship. Common ground.

I awoke yesterday to news that there had been another earthquake in Norcia, destroying the 14th century Basilica of St. Benedict, the historic church built atop the birthplace of St. Benedict. In this ancient Italian mountain village Saints Benedict and his sister Saint Scholastica were born. Benedict has been credited with the saving of western civilization due to his creation of the monastic system in the 6th century which preserved so many of the writings and lessons of the past for those of us in the present.

The remains of the basilica at Norcia.

Last night I read an article by Rod Dreher about the basilica’s unfortunate destruction. But in the middle of his piece he included a few paragraphs from his forthcoming book The Benedict Option that I felt provided an excellent continuation of what I’ve been writing (or trying to write) lately about prayer and its importance. When he was visiting the monks at Norcia this past February, he was having a conversation with Brother Ignatius Prakarsa. And while he asked the monk about how the cloistered monks evangelize, I thought Brother Prakarsa’s reply about the discipline of prayer very important. Dreher writes:

This past February, when I was visiting, in conversation with Brother Ignatius Prakarsa, I asked him about how cloistered monks evangelize, if at all. This short passage from The Benedict Option contains his answer:

“The structure of life in the monastery, the things you do every day, is not just pointless repetition,” said Brother Augustine Wilmeth, 25, whose red Viking-like beard touches his chest. “It’s to train your heart and your spirit so that when you need it, when you don’t feel strong enough to will yourself to get through a difficult moment, you fall back on your training. You know that you wouldn’t be strong enough to do it if you hadn’t been kind of working at it and putting all the auxiliary things in place.”

In other words, ordering one’s actions is really about training one’s heart to love and to desire the right things, the things that are real, without having to think about it. It is acquiring virtue as a habit.

In the grand scheme of things, these habits are what the Lord can use to save the world. You never know how God will act through the little things in a life ordered by His love, to His service, to speak evangelically to others, said Brother Ignatius Prakarsa, the monastery’s guestmaster. In the summertime, the monastery’s basilica church fills up with tourists, many of whom are lapsed Christians or unbelievers, who sit quietly to watch the monks chant their regular prayers, in Latin.

When he meets them on the church steps later, visitors often tell Brother Ignatius that the chanting was so peaceful, so beautiful.

“I tell them we’re just praying to the Lord. We’re just opening our mouths to sing the beauty that’s already there in the music,” he said to me. “Everything is evangelical. Everything is directed to God. Everything has to be seen from the supernatural point of view. The radiance that comes through our lives is only is only a reflection of God. In ourselves, we are nothing.”

The Benedictine monks of Norcia have always been disciplined prayer warriors. Their motto is after all Ora Et Labora (pray and work). They have practiced the merging of praying and working simultaneously for over 1400 years. They are masters at sanctifying time:

The Church takes seriously the call to sanctify all things, even time. The Catholic significance of days and months is a profound reminder that our lives are finite, and that time should not be squandered. As the Psalmist said, “teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90:12). But more than anything, it reminds us that time is a gift from God, and with him and through him, all things are holy, and nothing is without meaning.

When I think of the concept of Time I do not merely The Present but also The Past. As we approach two of my favorite feast days in the Catholic Church’s calendar (All Saints Day on Nov. 1st and All Souls Day on Nov. 2nd) I can’t help but have history on the brain. To scour the landscape today it is easy to see that is not really the case among my American peers however. Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia recently touched on this when he said:

Americans have never liked history. The reason is simple. The past comes with obligations on the present, and the most cherished illusion of American life is that we can remake ourselves at will. But we Christians are different. We’re first and foremost a communion of persons on mission through time—and our meaning as individuals comes from the part we play in that larger communion and story.

It is due at least in part to this disdain of history that we see such a disconnect with things such as family, God, and even prayer. Why sanctify time for God if you do not believe in Him? Why should I be concerned about my family tree? Most likely they were a bunch of backwards, uneducated hillbillies with an embarrassing amount of white privilege. They’d have nothing to teach me about living in our modern, complex and nuanced world. For that matter why on earth would I be concerned about the unborn? They are a nuisance that will hold me back from my own self-fulfillment and realizing my potential. So why would I, a modern individual living in the modern age, bother myself with the discipline of prayer?

Americans have become consumed by nothing more than consumerism in the guise of entertainment. I’d argue more than that, they are interested in one thing: the raw Power of the Now. How else do you explain Democrats who overlook the crimes, deception and possibly treasonous actions of their candidate for the highest office in the land? How else do you explain Republican voters, who once proudly and accurately hung their hats on the rule of law and a certain sense of morality, now throw out those principles in order to prop up a man such as they have because he isn’t her? Yes, I know I am being overly simplistic, but I will argue that it is for the pursuit of raw, unadulterated power that both sides are doing this. Saddest of all has been the surrender of not just the nation’s evangelicals who have sold out on the Right, but those Catholics on the Left who have sided with a woman who is the most rabidly pro-abortion candidate to ever win a major party’s presidential nomination, as well as to a campaign who holds their very church in contempt. There is such an abundance of willing ignorance and blindness across our land today. Reason has fled and hypocrisy rules the day. What’s absent are enough people with the courage to say “Stop! Enough! What are we doing?”

All the while I ask myself: how do we go back? How do we find our way back to one another and common ground? Does common ground even exist anymore or is there only the Power of the Now?

I have seen such bile, loathing and demonic hatred spewed on social media. I’ve witnessed it in conversations among people I know personally. It is dark. It can smother you. It is void. And the only way I’ve been able to combat and even conquer it has been through sanctifying time. I plan on continuing to do so, but especially as the darkness grows in intensity next week.  I’d like to pull a few men and women I know together to do this around our backyard firepit, but if I’m unable I know that at the very least I’ll be found on my knees in my church. Better yet I’ll be found outside of my tent, either at sunset welcoming a canopy of stars as I warm myself by the fire with the ancient psalms of the Divine Office. Or at sunrise, watching the radiance of eternity spread warmth and light over Creation and drive back the darkness that threatens the soul.

_________

Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights!
Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his host!
Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars!
Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!
Let them praise the name of the LORD! For he commanded and they were created.
(from Psalm 148)

This contribution is available at http://jeffwalker.wordpress.com/2016/10/31/how-ill-spend-election-day/
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Mourning for My Maker

View From Penyghent. Looking towards Ingleborough

My family used to spend their summer holidays in our little cottage on the Yorkshire moors just below the mighty Ingleborough, which was the nearest thing I had ever seen to a mountain. I loved to watch and listen to the moorland birds. My favourite of all was the kestrel.  Kestrels were comparatively rare in those days, at least to a townie like me, so I watched it for hours hunting in the heather. I loved the peat moorland and the majestic Ingleborough towering over our little cottage. No other landscape has affected me more deeply, perhaps because it was my first love, and there’s always something special about your first love.

My First Love

One day on my beloved moors I had a strange experience as I gazed at the Windhover balancing on high. It was as if something from that landscape was reaching out to envelop me in a way that I could not put into words, so I never tried. The further the kestrel floated away on the wind the smaller it became and the more it drew me in within myself and made me ever more open and sensitive to receive the sense of Presence that raised me up above myself. I suppose this was the first natural mystical experience that I had ever had, although I did not quite know what it was at the time – I just knew I wanted more of it.  To my great disappointment, I discovered that it was even rarer than the bird that drew me out of myself. So I do not want to give the impression that my youth was strewn with natural mystical experiences, because it was not, but they did come to me frequently enough to make me wonder and pause to reflect on their meaning.

 Religious Experience and Mystical Experience

As far as I can remember my early spiritual life was composed of two parallel worlds – the world of religious experience and the world of mystical experience that had developed side by side without ever meeting in any way that enabled one to make sense of the other. The world of religious experience was specifically Catholic. It was the world of Sunday Mass and weekly confession, of days of fasting and abstinence, of special feasts and holidays. It was the world of Catholic schools, of catechism to teach me my faith and show me how to live it, of apologetics to show me how to reason around it and explain it to others; of annual retreats to set me alight in the Church with what bored me to death in the classroom.

The world of what I called my mystical experiences was not specifically Catholic at all. It was an experience that I had in common with others, other Christians of different traditions to my own, with Gnostics and Agnostics and for that matter with Atheists too.  They all seemed to have access to the same experience that I had at first thought was personal to me alone, although they all interpreted it according to their own religious or non-religious convictions. When I reflected on it, I thought it strange that I had never experienced through the practice of my Catholic faith what I had experienced on my beloved moors through my favourite music, or on those nights when I would gaze for hours at the star-studded sky, experiencing what had made me mourn for days, without knowing for what or for whom I mourned.

These two streams of experience seemed to have trickled through my early life side by side without ever converging, at least not in any way that I could understand. The priests who taught us our religion never gave the slightest hint that what I experienced had anything to do with the faith that seemed so important to them. Nor did the priest who introduced us to the romantic poets ever suggest that the sense of the numinous that inspired the poets had anything to do with our spiritual lives. Nevertheless, we were all profoundly moved and felt we could identify when the priest who taught us English read the following passage from Wordsworth’s poem composed above Tintern Abbey: –

And I have felt A presence that disturbs me with the joy
Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime of something far more deeply interfused,
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns, And the round oceans and the living air,
And the blue sky, and the mind of man……..

……Nor wilt thou then forget,
That after many wanderings, many years
Of absence, these steep woods and lofty cliffs,
And this green pastoral landscape, were to me
More dear, both for themselves and for thy sake.

When one of the students asked whether the poet’s experience through creation was one and the same as the One whom we encountered through the sacraments of the Church, the priest became defensive, warning us that such ideas could lead to Pantheism. For my own part, I had no doubt that there was something not only good but also something sacred about them. They always seemed to leave me with a deep desire to raise my horizons high above the ground and to reach for the stars. Noble desires and ambitions inspired me to do something more worthy and more spiritually fulfilling than the ordinary and commonplace pursuits that were expected of me.

St Francis of Assisi Saw Dazzling Truth

When I raised the subject with the Franciscan priest who came to give the school retreat, he gave me an answer that I would never forget. He said that when a great saint like St Francis of Assisi was filled with the Holy Spirit, his whole being was changed, transformed from within in such a way that he could see and understand truths so dazzling that they blind the rest of us. What Francis saw was that the little baby born on the first Christmas Day who died on the first Easter Day and who ascended into heaven on the first Ascension Day was the One in whom the whole world had been created from the beginning. When therefore we enter into him, we enter into a family that embraces the whole of creation to whom we relate as brothers and sisters.

This led St Francis to realise that, if everyone and everything had been created in the one he called Brother Jesus, then the whole world must be a friary. The Greek philosopher Plato said that the whole world was a prison and men and women merely prisoners. Shakespeare said that all the world was a stage and that men and women were merely players. A President of the United States said that all the world was a marketplace and men and women were merely buyers and sellers. But for Francis of Assisi, all the world was a friary, and everyone and everything within it were, therefore, brothers and sisters to one another. It is not just Brother Francis and Sister Clare then, but Brother Sun and Sister Moon, Brother Wolf and Sister Lamb, Brother Fire and Sister Water, for the whole of creation is a brotherhood and sisterhood with a common Father in whose embrace all were created from the beginning. That is why any man or woman who can be stilled for long enough by the beauty of creation or any part of it, can experience their creator if only for a brief unforgettable moment. For the profound truth is that he is harboured in every part of his creation, for he is the All in all.

God Is The All In All

But what St Francis teaches by his example, is that what is seen and experienced in these brief unforgettable moments can be seen and experienced in every moment, for the person who through daily and regular prayer enters ever more deeply into Brother Jesus. Brief mystical experiences, therefore, should never be seen as rewards for the just, but as wake-up calls for sinners. They are a call to journey onward through a consistent daily life of prayer, to enter into the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, to contemplate in, with and through him, the One who is the All in all. There, all who have not resisted his love, will experience and be drawn up and into the ecstatic bliss of endless supernatural loving, as it passes to and fro between the Father and the Son. What was once experienced briefly and partially on earth, will now be experienced continually and fully in heaven and to all eternity.

Published on Catholic Stand

David is the author of Wisdom from the Western Isles which teaches the reader how to pray, from the very beginning to what St Teresa of Avila calls the Mystical Marriage.

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Eroticization and the unique developmental process of human persons [at In the Breaking of the Bread]

This is part 2 in a reflection on human sexuality following on part 1 which was posted May 20, 2016. In that more recent post I reflected further and reformulated an original post examining clergy sexual abuse and finding it to be only the tip of the iceberg in human society. Fr. Gilles Surprenant  Here were some titles in the original post of January 14, 2014 - Sexual abuse 1 - by clergy the tip of the iceberg

Sexual abuse is a crime against humanity

 The complex nature of the human person and sexuality 

 Sex is good, yes, but not in every instance

 Why do people pervert sex into violence?

 The beauty and power of human sexuality 

 Human sexual development requires mentoring

 Wandering away from the original design

 Exquisitely sensitive spouses or dangerous rapists

 Human development is a long and complicated process

Human development - becoming a person 

 Most of us have some "wrinkles" in our development 

This original post from January 14, 2014 on sexual abuse I re-framed as a series of reflections with a focus on our unique developmental process as human beings with particular interest in the role of the process of eroticization in our development and growth as persons. Two additional titles were added to the original 11 to reformulate a reflection on sexual abuse in terms of human development. 

 We human beings are unique in our sexuality and in many other ways
We find a broad spectrum on the human landscape

 Sexual abuse is a crime against humanity

 The complex nature of the human person and sexuality

 Sex is good, yes, but not in every instance

 Why do people pervert sex into violence?

 The beauty and power of human sexuality  

Human sexual development requires mentoring

Wandering away from the original design

Exquisitely sensitive spouses or dangerous rapists

Human development is a long and complicated process

Human development - becoming a person 

 Most of us have some "wrinkles" in our development 

  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
Human development and the role of eroticization

It would be interesting to dialogue with readers who have questions or comments on what has preceded as well as what is to follow or, for that matter, on all that is to be found in this blog. 

Human beings develop into persons over a long period of time

It is

admittedly

impossible to thoroughly understand our human nature, including our sexuality, and even less in its distorted forms, unless we acquire a more fundamental and evidence-based grasp of what we are as human beings and how we become the beings we are whether at our best or at our worst. What are the many factors that enhance our free will to live lives of purpose and integrity on the one hand or on the other hand debilitate that ability and cause us to become mere shadows of what and who we might be, shameful or even dangerous counterfeit human beings?

In beginning this series of reflections on human sexuality and development we at first looked at the horror of sexual abuse as the distortion that it obviously is and then in contrast to it we opened this exploration to the broader vista of human development. Our premise is that we are not born fully developed but develop into the people we become over many years.

There seems to be broad consensus in the human sciences and in society at large that the early years in the womb and infancy are crucial for our development as persons and that our developmental process "closes the loop" as it were by the time we enter into early adulthood. As we consider human sexuality as it is experienced in the current landscape of human society we observe much confusion and pain around sexuality and sexual activity and expression. Even the casual observer can suspect the real existence of a very complex and protracted human developmental process which takes at least 25 years to run its full course.

Human development is a process generating a broad spectrum of characters

Professional anthropologists study artifacts left behind by people who lived in the past or those of people currently alive in various places on the Earth. Those now living can also be observed in the various moments, activities, social structures and practices and anthropologists formulate theories about those they observe, about how aware they are of themselves, how they see themselves, the meaning and purpose they give to their lives, and how they understand their place in the world.

In looking at our own lives and generations, at our own societies, we observe our human capacity for complex personal development, activity, and self-awareness, our profound capacity for reflection and understanding, and our unique capacity to be aware of our faults and to be willing to correct them. On the dark side we are also capable of ignoring self-awareness, of denying our own faults, and  instead of imposing on or attempting to dominate others. The contrast between the saint and the sociopath or psychopath illustrates this wide spectrum of possible human characters and personalities.

The  natural human family composed of a husband/father and a wife/mother with children

At one end of the spectrum of human life we find that the place given to human sexuality is merely as one of many refined dimensions of life. In the loving, faithful, fruitful, and committed relationship of a wife and her husband in marriage as a partnership of equals and a community of life and love, their human sexuality manifests a broad range of expression characterized by tenderness in a variety of relational contexts: towards each other, with children, their own parents and siblings, and others. For such a couple genital sexuality is always about their fertility and power to give life while it is also always about expressing and strengthening their union as persons joined in a unique couple.

Rather than seeking or grasping for pleasure, the husband seeks to pleasure his wife, to whom he attaches himself out of appreciation and gratitude for the multiple ways in which she pours herself out for him and their children as one who gives and nourishes life. His selfless efforts in the bridal chamber are consistent with his efforts each day and all week to attend to his wife and children. He notices each person and attends to them in accord with the nature and needs of each one and in this he greatly values the observations and judgement of his wife and mother of their children.

The tenderness with which she cleaves to her husband expresses her appreciation for his presence, his efforts on her behalf and that of their family, and his consideration and attentiveness to her needs as she forgets herself in pouring out her life energy for those she loves. She values his role in their joint parenting of their children, and she senses the importance of his role as each child develops a sense of identity, of their gender, and that they are loved. 

The friendship and manifestly loving relationship of the couple is the solid foundation of their family, in which children are mentored by both a father and a mother and are supported in their individual and collective developmental processes as infants, children, adolescents, youth, and young adults living in the communal context of their own family of origin.

While explicit genital sex does not feature overly prominently in such a universe of marriage and family life; it nevertheless is ever in the background and enjoys a valuable but discrete place as the wholesome expression of the tenderness and affection bonding their parents to each other and open to them as their children. In such a family, human sexuality is appropriately protected and safeguarded by an air of privacy, mystery, responsibility, and mutual respect.

These parents are open yet guarded on sexual issues, taking care to properly form and inform their children at appropriate teaching moments, yet taking care to protect - especially in their early more vulnerable years - their children's innocence of mind, heart, and imagination. From their point of view, our modern social climate and culture is a battleground littered with casualties, with children and youth who have been violated and robbed of innocence. All the more reason do such parents see the importance of their role in doing all they can to construct a lively and loving family environment which is at the same time communally rich and personally responsible.

Sex as the currency of human transactions tends to generate "sex wars" 

If parents find themselves with an obligation to protect the innocence of their children, it is because at the opposite end of the human spectrum we find the casualties of what we could call the "sex wars": those who have suffered, often from infancy, verbal, psychological, and even sexual abuse, or who suffered deficits of loving care, of compassion, of the essentials of human respect and kindness.

Even those who have benefited from proper human care as they grew up may have suffered the lack of proper formation and mentoring that could have helped them to begin to accept and understand themselves, their sexuality in all of its dimensions, and the natural place it has in the whole realm of human relationships in all their variety and complexity. This could happen in environments where the parent or parents suffer a lack of sufficient self-awareness, autonomy, knowledge, or responsibility, and hence engage in sexual activity as a form of currency for surviving or obtaining other goods, attention, influence, of even a position of dominance. Such deficits leave human persons isolated, or poor or raw and needy, and put them at risk to employ their sexuality to grasp as a drowning person might grab a lifesaver; rather than as a way to tenderly give of themselves to the other.

What place does human sexuality have in the emerging lives of young people?

A crucial question which acts as a "tipping point" in the human development of boys and girls into young men and women touches precisely on the place of sexuality in their consciousness. What has their experience of childhood and adolescence allowed them to understand is of greatest importance for them as human beings? Are they discovering as paramount their meaning, purpose, and dignity in life and have they begun to enjoy the freedom of will to go on giving meaning and purpose to their life by fully assuming their inherent human dignity?

In this context are they able to see, understand, accept, and responsibly assume their human sexuality as one dimension among many composing their nature as human beings? They begin to understand that human sexuality is a capacity to give of oneself to the other rather than an impulse to grab and use the other for oneself. This understanding enhances their free will to responsibly assume both their rights and duties in life and in society in view of making their personal contribution to the common good with satisfaction; while engaging in the course of living out their lives as fully as possible.

Here is the reverse side of this "tipping point". On the other hand, when people are not sufficiently formed and mentored by their parents to see, understand, accept, and appreciate their life as a good yet complex reality requiring ongoing learning and personal responsibility; they are at greater risk at a young age or later to be troubled by their human sexuality - from hormones to attractions - and by all that is to be observed in an impulsive society and culture and to be endured at the hands of others.

Even with optimum conditions in which to grow up from infancy to young adulthood, life presents us with any number of challenges to our understanding of life, the world, and society in general and to our self-understanding in particular. Whatever confusion or uncertainty assails us becomes a "hot point" or "sticking point" in our psyche and may remain with us as a problem to be solved or as a vacuum to be filled or again as a challenge to be taken up. Whatever the dynamic is in a young man's or woman's life may determine to a great extent one of the principle directions or orientations of their whole life. Our instinct of self-preservation or of survival tends to push us to resolve those issues that remain as an irritant in our psyche, in our mind or heart or spirit, or even in our physical body.

A preoccupation with illness or injury can drive a person into the medical field. Sensitivity to mental or emotional pain or confusion can drive a person into the related fields of psychiatry or psychology. An experience of emptiness or a single or series of spiritual experiences can drive a person towards related fields of religion, philanthropy, a religious vocation, pastoral ministry, or priesthood. A sense of loneliness can drive a person into some form of communal life or partnership or marriage. A good experience of family life can draw one to find a competent spouse with the complementary gifts of a mother to bear the children one would father or a father for the children one would bear as mother.

A turbulent, effervescent, and unstable culture exacerbates gender confusion

It is not difficult to find in any culture or time or place some men and women either demonstrably militant or more discretely unhappy with their traditionally assigned sexual identities or roles. We could perhaps say that our own western society and culture may perhaps be giving more prominence to gender identity issues than any preceding generations.

Gender confusion or uncertainty - affirmed more factually according to recent research - has been considered a normal but transitory and temporary phase for some children, adolescents, and even for some adults. To be more specific, it has been widely observed that children may spontaneously play "doctor" and explore one another's bodies. Adolescents may suddenly experience arousal at the sight of a same gender friend's physical features or nakedness. While a young person's sense of identity remains incomplete and fluid it can and does happen that they experience such physical arousal and corresponding emotions of attraction and affection. However, for the most part, it has been found that such experiences turn out to be temporary and fade or simply stop as youth continue to develop.

It is not difficult to understand how fluid an adolescent's self understanding may be and how volatile the changes can be in how they are aware of themselves, what that may mean to them, what place that has in their life history to this point, and what other factors may affect and change or affirm how they see, experience, and understand their own self and their life. In negotiating a labyrinth one may find many dead ends and backtrack to seek out a path that goes forward. So too in human development any number of human experiences turn out to be dead ends, accidents along the way, temporary stops but not final destinations.

It is scandalous that certain ideological stances taken by individuals and interest groups are lobbied to governments to impose on children in schools sex ed programs that are in fact propaganda designed to exploit children and youth in order to advance their social engineering agenda. Such self-interested voices seek to replace fact based and traditional understanding of human sexuality with libertarian ideologies promoting sexual exploration and experimentation without any consideration of moral, responsible, or religious principles that have been proved to be beneficial for the individual, for the family, and for society at large. These interests would want to "freeze" children and young people into "labelled" categories of sexual preference or gender rather than respect them and allow them to find their way. Most people throughout history have found their way to some degree of identification with their own gender, either to enter into marriage and family or some form of celibate living.

Developmental stages and the levels of human identity

The "Institut de Formation Humaine Intégrale de Montréal" in its formation programs adopted and has refined classic psychological theory and practice explaining the stages of development of the human person in terms of levels of identity, of which are six.

The body identity - from birth to one year of age

The identity of the doer - from one year to two and a half years

The individual identity - from two and a half to three years of age

The psychosexual identity - from three to six years of age

The psychosocial identity - from six to twelve years of age

The identity of the self - the integration of the human identity at all five previous levels into a single autonomous identity from twelve to eighteen years of age

From eighteen years of age on, the emerging personality goes through the various stages of adult human life, and much research has been done on the stages of adult life. It is very important for all to understand however that from conception to the dawn of adulthood each human being is engaged in the fundamental process of human development which unfolds as best it can. Children need support and understanding, and all those in a position to offer it need to understand that throughout these initial stages of human development the identity of the young person is fluid and in no way fixed.

The trend to redefine and "personalize" gender

The latest trend emerging from France is a whole theoretical or hypothetical philosophical discourse around human gender. The intention seems to be to call into question all that has been understood until now in human history around our gender identity as male or female. We have always known that there is a wide range of expression of "maleness" and "femaleness" among human beings and from one culture and ethnic population to another, from one century or millennium to another. These new ideologues would want to define such variations as entirely new "sexes" or "genders". There would even be some individuals who would want to claim to have "no gender" at all.

Human society seems to be unreasonably tolerant in entertaining such wild imaginings to the point of absurdity by allowing subjective feelings and imaginings to be taken as more real, substantive, and permanent than objectively known, observable, measurable, and definable facts. Only a fool would declare of no value the subjective human experience of life, but it is equally foolish to let subjective experience trump or nullify the cumulative value of our collective experience and knowledge.

Understandably, as children and adolescents experience confusion and uncertainty, it is tempting for them and for those concerned with their development, to want to find clarity to understand what they are experiencing and what is happening to them, including in their human sexuality. The logic at work in what is variously called the "gay lobby" or related movements seeks to define the human being primarily as a sexual being, giving priority to this dimension above all other characteristics and faculties that constitute the human being, the human person. In our time it is no longer unusual to hear adults encouraging young people who experience attraction to someone of their own gender to "lock themselves in" or label / identify themselves as homosexual: lesbian or gay or any of the increasingly numerous fractions of gender "à la carte".

What began some fifty years ago as an offshoot of the civil rights movement seeking to obtain for those who self identify as homosexual the kind of freedom and public recognition increasingly gained by racial or linguistic or ethnic minorities has become an audacious and ostensibly misguided quest to redefine human nature itself and the human person with sexuality as the keystone, the primary factor defining the whole. I don't think there can be any clarity in understanding what it means to be human without beginning with some understanding of the developmental process itself. Eroticization is one of the mechanisms involved in this developmental process and examining this mechanism will turn out to be very enlightening indeed.

We will find the process of eroticization at least a clue to why the current situation is what it is, how it has happened in our day that the trend to define oneself primarily in terms of one's sexuality has come to pass, and why our society and culture has become so obsessed with sex and sexuality.

 What is "eroticization"?

Various dictionaries don't really define the term eroticization but only repeat it in a grammatical loop, such as "to eroticize is to make erotic". Our culture has become so hypersexualized, so obsessed with all that touches on or evokes genital sexuality, that it can only go around in circles without input from other sources, such as the human sciences. Even some of these manifest signs of obsession with sex and sexual pleasure, such that other forms of pleasure have all but faded into insignificance. 

For our purposes here, let us adopt the definition employed at the I.F.H.I.M. mentioned above in the course of teaching and giving practical formation in the mechanisms of the human developmental process. In this context, eroticization is the mechanism whereby a human being from one moment to the next, from conception on but especially from birth, takes "imprints" from the outside world and connects these with its own interior sensations and processes. In Introductory Psychology there is the much quoted experiment of "Pavlov's Dogs" in which the dogs at first don't salivate upon seeing and smelling unknown foods but who later on do salivate upon seeing or smelling them after having eaten and tasted them. The initial experience of seeing, smelling, and then tasting the unknown food leaves a new "imprint" in the animal's conscious and neurological processes. 

Eroticization has taken place, that is, the pleasure principle has been activated and experienced and has left traces or pathways which from then on will tend to seek repetition. Eroticization connects the animal with the object of its pleasure, and in time, other circumstances may join in the association, such as the time of day, or the light in the room, or the color of the plate, or a particular sound, and so on. Almost anything can be caught up into an association with a particular pleasure, and the association may be intensified with use or eventually disassociated altogether through disuse.

The role of "eroticization" in becoming a human person

It is not difficult to understand how dangerous it would be not to enjoy eating or drinking. Should eating and drinking be unpleasant we would all be at risk of dying of hunger and thirst. From the very first moments of life newborns seek nourishment. Every one of the billions of cells in a living body crave the replenishing of nutrients, oxygen, and water, among other things, in order to continue all the biological processes that make up a living being.

In our day most people have seen graphic animations or other representations of how the human brain works with lightning like sparks running between the synapses and establishing connections and paths. Those physical and chemical processes correspond to the "associations" we make between the sight of a food, its fragrance, its taste, the pleasure we take from those sensations, the satisfaction that comes from taking in nourishment and drink, and the awareness we accumulate of all these factors. All of this experience further develops into desire, anticipation, and future planning for acquiring, preparing, and consuming food and drink.

The first experiences of various pleasures and the process of building on those pleasures with the development of memories and imagination grows into a cumulative experience we could call a process of eroticization. We all have a rich and increasingly long and deep experience of pleasures and these make innumerable "associations" with material objects, places, other people, sights, sounds, tastes, fragrances, and countless other factors.

A friend years ago explained to me how he had developed such a strong association between coffee and cigarettes that he could hardly have one without also taking the other. There is abundant literature about strange "sexual tastes or preferences or associations" such as with pain or particular garments and so on. Such associations may initially come about by accident or coincidence, but they may also come about by conscious intent and choice.

Human beings and societies have always understood that we are not machines with no choice but to operate as built, but living organisms with free will and the ability to "shape" our behaviors, tastes, preferences, and choices. Different ethnic populations and cultures manifest different preferences to be assigned to gender as male or female. These have been, until now, widely accepted as beneficial in helping young people to find their way to clarity of identity within themselves but also socially.

The pleasure principle certainly contributes largely to the development, health, and prosperity of the human person, but through interaction with family and wider social groups, individuals also learn to curb their desires to satisfy the pleasure appetites in favor of the good of other people in particular and of the common good in general. Morality and religion have a lot of accumulated knowledge and wisdom that assure sufficient harmony between individual personal growth and happiness and the common good of others in a great variety of groupings.

Inclinations and appetites for sexual pleasure - both the diffuse pleasure of simply being male or female with all their inherent processes and sensations and meanings and the specific experience of sexual pleasure and union - are very powerful and for this reason open up great potential for coming together on such paths as marriage and family, clan or tribe, and nation as well as for division and distress, trouble and hurt, fighting, war, and death. The potential and actual consequences of sexual union are so extreme that most if not all societies develop rules of conduct and taboos to restrain excesses for the sake of peace and cooperation. 

 Eroticization enhancing or disturbing the congruence of one's gender identity

Families and societies that take great care to watch over, protect, raise, and form their children do so in the knowledge that from birth to adulthood children and youth go through and live in progressive states of uncertainty, confusion, curiosity, delight or fear, and desire to grow and emulate their elders. So much of human life and culture has been discovered through hard lessons that there is very great advantage to learning through the experience of others. It is not necessary to constantly re-invent the wheel nor to go through all the pain that others have gone through.

Even with excellent upbringing and mentoring, young people still go through unique experiences and face unique challenges, and they must all make their own decisions and find their own way. They can choose to ignore the collective wisdom of their elders and culture but they must then accept to endure or enjoy the consequences of their choices. Those whose upbringing has faults or deficiencies may very well experience greater challenges or pain as they learn through their own mistakes.

There is wisdom in adhering to the lessons and example of mentors we admire, but it is foolish to take the risk of following ideological speculation and theorizing about artificial constructs around speculative re-definitions of human gender and sexuality. What is even more damaging than theory and thought is trying to put such speculation into practice. With how the eroticization process works there is great risk in "experimenting" with sexual practices because each erotic experience builds on others before it. It is equally possible for a person to build up wholesome sexual development or unhealthy sexual experimentation.

Catholic Christian experience and wisdom teaches that sexual union is so powerful that it is evidently designed to unify one woman and one man for life, exclusively, faithfully, generously, and lovingly. Casual sex or sexual experimentation or union without a life commitment eventually lead to breaking up and this is so painful that there is great risk that one may not recover. Even when one does recover what is lost is the original innocence and the human person's "built in" optimism and joyful outlook.

Employing one's sexual faculty outside the parameters of a chaste, exclusive, faithful, life long union of one man and one woman builds erotic associations, habits, preferences that make it increasingly difficult to enter into the eminently human and paradigmatic union of marriage and family. 

Distorted human beings - undeveloped or "petrified" persons

The more we fire those synapses, the more "beaten" the "path" in the brain, the stronger the impulse or habit becomes to repeat particular practices. Any and every use of our sexual faculty outside of marriage and family has been shown time and again to lead to excesses that lean rather to pain than to happiness, to division rather than to union, to the disintegration of family rather than its progress.

When sexual habits outside the "norm" of marriage and family proven to be the most beneficial for society become increasingly "fixed", a human being becomes hardened, distorted, or petrified. The life of marriage and family provides the ideal environment for human beings to develop more fully their sensibilities to the good and well being of others. In other words, it is in these environments that they are more likely to develop more fully as human persons. Engaging in our human appetites without restraint is dangerous for ourselves but also for others. It is true in many ways and at many levels that "it takes a village to raise a child".

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Too Apologetic: An Open Letter to a University Admissions Office [at FranciscanMom]

Author’s note: I started writing this article over three years ago. It’s been sitting in my drafts folder ever since. I have removed all identifying information about the university in question and respectfully request that any comment-box discussion does the same; I am considering forwarding this to the university administration so that they can plan future admissions events with this in mind. But as college-tour season is in full swing, this has been on my mind lately. I wanted to publish it and invite discussion.

When I take a high-school student to visit a Catholic college, I don’t expect the tour guides to genuflect at every statue in the quad. That’s just not reasonable.

It’s also not reasonable for a student tour guide at a Catholic university to stand in the chapel with a group of high-school seniors and their parents and say, “We don’t force religion on you here, except for the 2 or 3 religion classes everyone has to take.”

Why is this university apologizing, through its tour guides, for its Catholic character–a Catholic character which is evident not only in the statues on campus and religious art in the classrooms, but in its huge commitment to community service and in the presence and participation of an impressive number of Religious who are not only professors but also administrators, counselors, support staff, and (in some cases) dormitory dwellers?

Doing so weakens the very foundation upon which Catholic education is built. Excuses should never be made for offering religion classes, community-service opportunities and religious services or for encouraging students to take part in them.

Perhaps our tour guide, who was quite competent in the art of giving a tour and in her knowledge of the University, its history, and what it offers, was acting on her own when she made this statement. I certainly hope that this is the case, because I would hate to think that a university with a long history of Catholic character and community service that encompasses all the corporal and spiritual works of mercy would deliberately downplay the very character that makes the University stand out among the other institutions of higher learning in the same city.

The University’s Catholic character is to be celebrated, not swept under the chapel rug. No one expects the University to force religion down its students’ throats, but neither should you pretend that it is not an important part of both academic and community life there.

NOTE: This campus image is deliberately not from the college described in this article. Photo via Pixabay (2011), CC0 Public Domain.

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Remembering to Have the Faith of a Child [at Catholic Conundrum]

"Mom, when I say the word 'Lord', I just want to sing!  But is it OK that I don't want to be a priest?"

I smiled as my 7-year-old guy jabbered along in the car.  His thoughts move at the speed of a freight train, but at least today I could decipher some connections between sentences!

"That's fine," I assured him.  "You just need to keep that door open in case God might be calling you to that vocation.  Have you thought about becoming a deacon?" I suggested.

"No, I don't think so.  Is that bad?" he responded, obvious worry in his tone.

We dug deeper into our discussion as we journeyed along a road of pavement while examining his spiritual road to his vocation.    Suddenly , he interrupted.  "Why am I even having this conversation?  God's in charge.  He knows what's going to happen.  I don't need to worry about it!"

And, just like that, the conversation was over and comments about Rex, our rooster, topped the priority list.

I couldn't help but shake my head in amazement.  As I did, however, a revelation hit me.  His simplistic view on God's providence and plan wasn't just a naive, innocent statement.  In truth, his words held a great lesson in wisdom for me. 

Why do I worry so much?  Why can't I take on his faith and trust?  For certain, life would be a whole lot easier!

Sometimes it takes the faith of a child to remind me just how responsible I am for some of the difficulties and frustrations that intrude my own life.  The needle in the "Blame Game" points right back to me.

It's so good to know that God has given us a reset button!

Having the faith of a child - innocent, faithful and WISE. 

Thank you, God, for reminding me of this gift!

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Temple in Mystery [at Thoughts of a Young Catholic Medic]

As we continue our meditations on the Joyful mysteries, reflecting on the passages in St. Luke’s gospel, we come across today the presentation of the child Jesus in the temple of Jerusalem. Luke however tells us that the God-Man was given a name, ‘Jesus‘.(Luke 2:21). This should lead one to ask, what exactly is in a name? The answer to this thankfully is not far-fetched, for Luke tells us that this name was the name the angel had told Mary at the annunciation and so it would be wise to consider what exactly he said about this name and for the purpose of our reflection, St. Matthew helps us with this. When this Angel appeared to St. Joseph, he said of this name: ‘She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins‘.(Matthew 1:21) And so, his name signified his purpose.

It is not without reason therefore that when Divine life is born into a soul at baptism, a name is given to the new person, for he has been born again in Christ, to a new purpose.

But again, this new life is, like Christ, brought to the temple.It is important that at this point we pause to consider what is going on here, for the temple is one of the greatest symbols of the Old covenant. Many have come out, without proper understanding of the relationship between the Old and the New to paint such a picture of our most holy faith as though there was some kind of fight or dichotomy or discord between the Old and the New covenants which flowed from the One Father. The true relationship between the two is this-the former was there for the latter and the latter was the fulfillment of the former. The Old covenant was to prepare God’s people for the New, and the New accomplish what the Old had started. Christ himself said: ‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.…’. (Matthew 5:17)

The New temple-Christ, was presented to the Old Temple, and by that gesture lovingly said, ‘Thank you, you may now rest, for I have now arrived’. Because the Old was there to prepare for the New, it had to wait for the New. The Father wanted Simeon, a righteous man of the Old covenant to not die, but led by the Holy Spirit, to behold the fulfillment of God’s plan of salvation for the whole human race.(Luke 2:25-26). And when the time had come, the Holy Spirit (note: already active at that time, for he has been active since the beginning of time) led him to our Lord.

Not only Simeon, but also Anna, such that in a short time the God-man was no longer just a sole property of Mary and Joseph but of Simeon, of Anna- and indeed of all those who were in the temple to behold the new dawn, for Anna as well spoke of him to all those who were patiently waiting for the day of the rising sun. (Luke 2:36-38). So it is with the new Christian, the life of faith he has received is indeed not merely an individualistic or ‘personal’ venture, it is also and very importantly a communal one. For the life of God which he has entered is not an ‘I‘ rather he has entered the ‘WE‘ of God-who as a matter of fact exists as a Trinitarian ‘WE‘, an ‘US’. Beware my friends, for like I told you in my last article, ravenous wolves in the form of ideas have crept in to destroy the reality of FATHER, and hence of FAMILY. We should refute this doctrine in whatever form it takes. Our divine life is intimately and spiritually connected with each and every other person’s who have entered into this same COMMUNION of love with God-for it is the same Divine Life that we all share- the same Christ, and so he being like a chief cornerstone  supporting the existence of our new life in him, we are thus built into him like a House, a family, a Church-the temple that he is. When the holy apostles asked our Lord to teach them to pray, to teach the way in which they were to communicate with their Father in heaven, Our Lord told them, ‘When you pray say this: “OUR Father, who art in heaven…”.’ For Christ, when we talk to God even in the silence or privacy of our rooms and hearts, we should talk to him in the context of a we; in the context of family; in the context of the whole people of God. (Luke 11:2)

St. Paul couldn’t put it more rightly for he says: ‘You are no longer exiles, then, or aliens; the saints are your fellow citizens, you belong to God’s household.  Apostles and prophets are the foundation on which you were built, and the chief corner-stone of it is Jesus Christ himself. In him the whole fabric is bound together, as it grows into a temple, dedicated to the Lord;  in him you too are being built in with the rest, so that God may find in you a dwelling-place for his Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22). This is why St. Paul maintains that we-the Church, are the body of Christ and by consequence, that new temple of the Holy Spirit. And this has many consequences such that as he also says, ‘if one part suffers, the rest suffer with it and if one part is treated with honour, the rest also take pleasure in it’  -note that from this stems the teaching of indulgences. (Ephesians 1:22-23;  4:12,15; 5:23,29, Colossians 1:18,24, 1 Corinthians 12:12,26).

After considering what Holy Scripture says about this, the question is rightly asked- what is the Christian without the Church? A stone not part of a building and without foundation, for St. Paul says ‘the Church is the pillar and foundation of the truth’ (1 Timothy 3:15), he also becomes a branch cut off from a tree and without roots. This means he lacks the constant supply of stability and life that comes with this and he would soon die. The devil knows this and so has successfully lured many into believing that they can be Christians alone and by themselves, that the faith they possess is ultimately personal to them and they do not need others, worse the Church. They therefore become vulnerable to the attacks of the evil one because because they have cut themselves off. And know this, the attacks of this age come in the form of ideas.

Finally, dear friends, brothers and sisters, we turn to Mary, Mother of the new temple which is Christ, and by extension, Mother of all of us who have been built into his ‘Templeness’. We turn to her today because Simeon, led by the Spirit, turned to her while giving the prophecy about the Christ Child-the last exercise of prophecy by the Old I can say. For Simeon led by the Spirit, something was to happen to Mary that had a connection with Jesus’ mission. This strange thing that was also to happen to her had to do with the many.  For he first of all prophesied about Christ to Mary saying- this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, a sign to be spoken against,-and then about Mary –and behold a sword shall pierce your own soul also so that the secret thoughts of many will be laid bare.(Luke 2:34-35). I do not yet fully understand the gravity of this prophecy for each time I read it I am immediately made aware of its depth, but what is enough to say for now is that Our Lady has some share in the suffering that was to bring about the birth, growth, and fulfillment of purpose for the Christ Child and so for us too as that same Christ child’s life is born in us. May she be support us with her prayers and motherly guidance. Amen!!!

                                                                                                        image from http://www.mostholyrosary.com

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Scripture and Grace [at The Catholic Spiritual Life]

Scripture is a grace, in a sense the first grace.  And Scripture is necessary for us to keep alive our awareness of grace.

Mary reads the Bible and receives the Holy Spirit

The monastic tradition chants Psalms “antiphonally.”  That means that one half of the group sings a verse while the other half listens, and then the second half sings and the first half listens, back and forth.  It’s a splendid metaphor, and more than a metaphor, for grace.  When we listen, we see that God’s Word – and God’s grace – comes to us from the outside.  Scripture is something we receive, something we did not make.  But when we sing, we show that God’s Word – and God’s grace – becomes part of us.  It becomes my word.  The Psalms are not supposed to remain outside of me, but to become my own prayer.

Grace begins outside of us: it is God’s work, not ours.  But grace means that we are transformed.  It becomes our work.  It becomes us.  God’s Word speaks to us from the outside, but it is meant to become our own word, our own understanding.

Scripture is a metaphor, and more than a metaphor, for grace.

***

But so too, Scripture is a guardian of grace.

Because grace does not begin with us, because grace is God’s initiative, and a totally free initiative, it is unexpected.  Grace doesn’t fit into our plans.  It certainly doesn’t fit into our natural way of thinking.  We can craft whole theologies of how we would expect our relationship with God to work – and it will almost always leave out grace, because grace, by definition, is not part of our plan, not part of our view of things.

Scripture is the inspired Word of God.  It is not just inerrant; it’s not just that everything that it says happens to be okay.  It’s that God himself – God’s Holy Spirit – moves the human authors to see and say things they would not say on their own.  They say it in their way – it is, again, they who say it; God’s Word becomes their own word; our “reading from the letter from James,” for example, is how we receive “the Word of the Lord, thanks be to God” – and yet it is a word that does not begin with them.

Indeed, the Word is Christ: he is the Word they speak.  And he is grace; grace is conformity with him, becoming as he is, through his Father giving us new birth into his divine sonship.  And the Word is inspired by the Holy Spirit, he who is grace, he whose presence transforms us, and we call it grace.  Grace and Scripture go hand in hand.

***

Here’s my punchline: when we forget Scripture, we forget grace.  I shouldn’t complain about homilies.  But here are the two things I most notice about homilies.  (I’ll get to complaining about lay people in a moment.)  First, very few homilies are Biblical.  Sometimes there’s one verse here or there taken out of context, but rarely does the homily dig into what the Bible is saying.  Second, even fewer homilies are about grace.  To listen to most Catholic homilies, you would think that we were deists, who believe that God made the world and then left it behind.  (Deists can say many nice things about how we ought to behave – they can even say we ought to worship God – and so too do many of our deist homilies.)

Now, these two problems, forgetting the Bible and forgetting grace, go hand in hand.  Or put it the other way: because grace is unexpected, of course we’re going to forget about grace if we don’t listen to the inspired authors.  Of course we’re going to make up some alternate theology, in which there is no grace.

Again, many of these grace-less theologies are very nice; in many ways you might call them “orthodox.”  I heard a homily the other day from a very nice priest.  His starting point was a line in the Gospel: “no one who lights a lamp conceals it.”  He came up with this whole nice thing about how we ought to let our little light shine for all to see.  Nothing heterodox about that.

But he barely scratched the surface of Scripture, ignored all of the readings except one convenient line, which he wasn’t even interpreting very directly, and he had nothing whatsoever to say about what God does in us.  His little light was a light without grace – a light, it appeared, that we create ourselves.

And of course it was!  Because without listening to God’s word we never expect the amazing things God does.  Deists can tell other people about their deist God, light their little lights and witness to their absent God.  But Catholics ought to be talking about the vastly better plan, the plan of grace, which is revealed to us in Scripture.

***

Well, of course this isn’t only true of homilies, it’s true of all of our lives.  If we don’t read Scripture, if we don’t meditate on Scripture and let Scripture shape our thinking, we’re bound to craft our own little alternate pseudo-Catholic theology, in which God does nothing.

Let Scripture surprise you with grace.

How has Scripture surprised you?

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When the Sign of the cross said "Thank You, Lord!" [at A Moment From De Sales]

While watching the summer Olympics in Rio, we felt the excitement of the many athletics winning events and getting a prized gold, silver or bronze medal. But every once in a while, an unknown athlete spirited to the front carried by the wild, enthusiastic cheering crowds. And suddenly we witnessed the surprised face of a flabbergasted, but happy and totally astonished unexpected winner.  With TV cameras beaming in on a joyous face, we saw a hastily made sign of the cross.  It’s true.  It was the sign of the cross done before millions of world watchers.

Yes, it was hurried, but deliberately done.  And it said to all who watched--that gratitude for this victory belonged first to God.  It was  the particular athlete’s way of showing humble gratitude to God for helping with the victory.  Doesn’t Scripture say: "When we humble ourselves before God the more favor we get from God?”

Now we know that God didn’t actually run that race or swim in that particular lane, but this tiny, action reminds us of how God fits into the daily routine of our lives-all of our personal lives--even “athletes going for the gold.”

God made us to enjoy and God appreciates all we do.  It’s God’s way of rekindling those precious Garden moments with Adam and Eve--walking closely with them in the “cool of the evening.”

Wait a minute!  Surely, God loves all equally and the same–athletes and non- athletes alike.  We understand His love puts everyone on this earth--and our creation is the first gift for which to be thankful.  Everything else follows from that initial first gift.

The second gift is everything else we do - like swimming, cycling, playing the piano or enjoying a good novel.  The purpose of this extra contribution like a beautiful singing voice--is to praise God.  Now, as simple as that statement is, it isn’t always clear to us.

We like to take credit for all the good things that happen to us, and give God the “blame” for all the bad things.  Yet it only takes a small action- like the sign of the cross- to tell the world “God deserves credit too.”  God is not interested in a medal, a victory parade or any other fanfare.  God only desires some modest respect for His love for each of us.

Like that athlete, we too can easily recall from where our successes and gifts flow. When we do, we can unassumingly utter a “Thank You” with this added plea “Lord, Help me in  those times when I don’t finish first.”  With these few words, God is praised and we live humbly  in His favor!

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We Cannot Live Lives Of Spiritual Arrogance And Cowardice [at Boldly Catholic]

Who do you look up to?  Who inspires you?  In the following homily, delivered yesterday at our parish by one of our dynamic deacons, we are challenged to be bolder in the faith while paradoxically being as humble as the tax collector in the Gospel reading.

Rev Mr Mark R Mueller – Homily 23 Oct 2016

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Sir 35:12-14, 16-18; Psalms 34:2-3, 17-18, 19, 23; 2 Tm 4:6-8, 16-18; Lk 18:9-14

What is a hero? A hero is defined as a person who, in the face of danger and adversity, and from a position of weakness, displays courage and the will for self-sacrifice. Last Sunday at the Vatican, Pope Francis added seven names to the roles of canonized saints. A Canon in latin is a measuring stick. A canonized saint is someone whose life the Church has measured and recognized as a model for the Christian faithful. They are people who should be venerated based on a life of heroic virtue lived in the imitation of Christ and there is evidence of at least two miracles after death. These miracles are proof that this Saint, a holy one, is alive in heaven interceding for us with God. Physical death does not stop heroes from being heroes.

For me, the Saints are a constant source of inspiration. I love to read about their lives. Who needs Superman, Batman, Captain America or any of the other “made-up” superheroes when we have the saints? What can one of these “made-up” superheroes do for us? The Saints, living heroes standing in Heaven, intercede for us in the presence of the greatest superhero of all time; our Lord, Jesus. The Saints share in Christ's glory (John 17:22) and are partakers in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Please let no one accuse you of praying to the dead when asking for the intercession of a Saint. You are not! The saints are truly, fully, and completely alive in heaven. This our faith! To celebrate the saints is to fully celebrate the eternal life promised by our Lord. Each of these Saints stand in heaven having as St Paul describes today in the second reading, “competed well”; having “finished the race” and “kept the faith” and now “wear the crown of righteousness”. Our Church in every home should celebrate the lives of the saints as proof that we can live heroically in the imitation of Christ and inspire a life of truth steeped in humility and courage. Here are the superheroes canonized last Sunday:

Argentine “gaucho priest, St Jose Gabriel del Rosario Brochero who traveled thousands of miles riding a donkey to minister to the poor and the sick. He willingly sacrificed all to humbly serve Christ in the most vulnerable wherever they could be found.

St Jose Sanchez del Rio, a 14-year-old Mexican boy who was martyred for refusing to renounce his faith during the Cristero War of the 1920s. On February 10, 1928, St. Jose was tortured in a very brutal way – the skin of the soles of his feet were sheared off by a knife. He was then forced to walk on salt, through the entire town, even walking up stone steps, to the cemetery where he would eventually be shot and buried. Although in extreme pain, the young saint refused to give in to his captor’s requests to deny Christ and spare his life. His response was, “Long live Christ the King”. A handwritten note addressed to his mother found on his dead body read: “I promise that in heaven I will prepare a place for all of you. Your José dies defending the Catholic faith for the love of Christ the King and Our Lady of Guadalupe”. The movie “For Greater Glory” depicts the martyrdom of this humble and courageous young teenager.

St Salomone Leclerq, was executed after refusing to renounce his faith at the height of the French Revolution. Humility, knowing God is greater than all, would not allow him to deny love itself, God.

Both St Jose and St Salomone were murdered by political systems that would not accept the truth.

The French Carmelite writer and mystic, St Elizabeth of the Holy Trinity, humbly and courageously abandoned all to live a life in prayer.

St Manuel Gonzalez Garcia, a Spanish bishop, spent his life devoted to Eucharistic adoration and spreading this devotion to a world greatly in need of Christ.

St Ludovico Pavoni, the founder of the Sons of Mary Immaculate, humbly dedicated his life to the vocational and spiritual education of the poor and hearing impaired. He once wrote: “If I would be born a thousand times; a thousand times I would be a priest”.

Finally there is St Alfonso Maria Fusco, founder of the Congregation of Sisters that established homes for abandoned children. 

The lives of these Saints are consistently marked by humility. They stand not with arrogant pride but in unpretentiousness, acknowledging that God alone is the author of all good. Their humility avoids inordinate ambition or pride, because they know that everything; all goodness, all strength, and life itself has no other source than that of the Lord. They live heroically, facing adversity from a position of weakness, displaying courage and a will for self-sacrifice. 

Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax CollectorHow does this happen? God’s love and grace transforms those who like the tax collector in the Gospel today “stand off at a distance, in humility, not even raising their eyes to heaven but beat their breast and pray, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner”. Humility is a choice and takes sacrifice. We must empty ourselves of our own selfishness to be filled with God. Humility takes courage to say “no” to a world that admires pride in self and views humility as weakness.

Pope Benedict wrote that "Love without truth is blind”. Therefore the humble cling to the only truth, God. The humble live as Paul in the second reading today describes; knowing that the Lord stands by them and gives them strength, so that the proclamation, the truth of the Gospel, might be proclaimed heroically and all might hear it.” Humility enables us, compels us, to proclaim the Gospel. Love with truth is seeing things rightly. The world has been and will be transformed by such humility, such courage. For example, what would happen in this election if every Catholic in this nation would, humbly filled with God’s strength and courage, say to both political parties that life from the very second of conception to the last moment is precious and must be protected? There can be no compromise. How long would abortion remain a plank in any political party’s platform if we vote Christ? I would guess, not very long!

In a few weeks there is an opportunity to proclaim the Gospel in a very public way. We do not walk into the voting booth by ourselves. We do it in Christ and with Christ. “If one's faith does not impact on one's whole life, including one's political and social responsibilities, then it is not authentic faith; it is a sham, a counterfeit."

You did not see these seven Saints canonized last Sunday doing anything less than humbly submitting to the will of God in their lives and then having the courage to live out their Christian identity for all the world to see. 

The point of the Gospel today and the witness of these seven Saints is that we cannot live lives of spiritual arrogance and cowardice. We cannot live in an attitude of superiority like that of the Pharisee in the Gospel. We cannot simply say we are Catholic and then fail to live out our faith. I cannot privately believe one thing and live out something else. How can I do so and in good conscience say I love God? The spiritually arrogant say; “I need not do anything else” and fool themselves that this is somehow enough. They resist sacrifice. They refuse to live a life of courage. They are not propelled by love but by self-interest. As the Lord says today; “they will not be justified”. Love without truth is a slow acting poison that robs us of sight. We cannot see clearly and this often leads to death. Not just our own but also the death of so many other innocents. Are you living the arrogant life of the Pharisee or in humility before God like the tax collector? Do you have the courage to humbly stand before the world, trusting in God alone, and live heroically?

Spiritual humility means that we understand that life given to God in courage is the only life worth living. It is the understanding that the closer we draw to Christ the more humble we become. The more humble we become, the more we depend on God alone. The more we depend on God alone, the more we see His grace. The more we see His grace, the more we grow in love. The more we love God, the more we love what God loves, whom God loves, and with the passion that God loves.

Look at Christ on the cross, there is humility, there is courage, there is sacrifice and unyielding love. There is love which is truth! In receiving the Eucharist may we be filled with Jesus who is the embodiment of heroic love lived out publicly. In the Eucharist, may our Lord grant us all the strength of humility and the courage of a Saint to live heroically!

Sound, basic, reasoned and faithful theological encouragement.

Go forth boldly fellow Catholics, fellow Christians... and Lord, may that begin with me.

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What is the cup of God's wrath? How does it differ from the chastisement of God's children? [at Washed, Sanctified and Justified]

Protestants say that God the Father poured out the Cup of His wrath upon His beloved Son. Its hard for me to believe and it seems unbibilical. Scripture says:
Nahum 1:2
God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; the Lord revengeth, and is furious; the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. But maybe if we study the difference between the wrath of God and the chastisement of God's children, we will see what is that cup which Jesus drank and which the Apostles shared and that cup which is the called, "the cup of God's wrath".

Scripture says that God reserves His wrath towards His enemies.

First, as we see in Nahum, the wrath of God is reserved for God's enemies. Also:
John 3:35-36 - King James Version (KJV)
35 The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.
36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

The wrath of God is reserved for those who do not believe the Son of God.
Ephesians 5:6
Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

Jesus is known for obedience and thus, the wrath of God was not poured out on Him.
Romans 5:19<
For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

And those who follow Christ are recognized by their obedience to Christ. Therefore they also shall not be the object of God's wrath.
Romans 6:16
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

This pattern is followed throughout Scripture. Whereever the wrath of God is mentioned, it is directed at those who mock God and disobey His commands:
Ezra 8:22
For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.

2 Chronicles 36:16
But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets,until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy.

So, what cup did Jesus drink and the Apostles shared?
Matthew 20:21-23 - King James Version (KJV)
21 And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.
22 But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.
23 And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.

If it was the cup of God's wrath, then Jesus and the Apostles would be counted amongst God's enemies. I think that has been established. However, both Jesus and the Apostles suffered for the sake of God's Kingdom. Scripture says:
Hebrews 2:10
For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

Surprisingly, the Scripture says that Jesus was made perfect through suffering.
Acts 5:41
And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

And the Apostles rejoiced when they suffered for Christ.
Romans 8:17
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

And we are all appointed to suffer with Christ, if we believe in Him. If we don't suffer, we are bastard children:
Hebrews 12:7-9 - King James Version (KJV)
7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

There is a difference in both forms of suffering. Those who suffer God's wrath and those who suffer God's chastisement do not suffer the same thing.

In both forms of suffering there is pain and frequently, death. However, I can't find in the suffering of God's wrath, any indication of a resurrection. And that is the difference between the suffering of God's wrath and in suffering as God's children in imitation of Christ.

Christ suffered death in order to rise again. Christ suffered this death in order to give us an example to follow.

This is why, the suffering which Christ suffered can't be described as the Cup of God's wrath. 
Romans 14:9
For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.

2 Corinthians 5:14
For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:

And this is the Catholic Doctrine which fits the Scriptures perfectly:

616 It is love "to the end" that confers on Christ's sacrifice its value as redemption and reparation, as atonement and satisfaction. He knew and loved us all when he offered his life. Now "the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died." No man, not even the holiest, was ever able to take on himself the sins of all men and offer himself as a sacrifice for all. The existence in Christ of the divine person of the Son, who at once surpasses and embraces all human persons, and constitutes himself as the Head of all mankind, makes possible his redemptive sacrifice for all.

All who live in Christ must first die in Christ:
Romans 6:8
Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

562 Christ's disciples are to conform themselves to him until he is formed in them (cf. Gal 4:19). "For this reason we, who have been made like to him, who have died with him and risen with him, are taken up into the mysteries of his life, until we reign together with him" (LG 7 § 4).

So, this Protestant doctrine also contradicts the Word of God.

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You've Got Your Hands Full! [at Little Douglings]

With my up-sized family, I am a magnet for comments of the reproductive nature. "So, are you done?" as though I relish the opportunity to discuss my fertility choices with random strangers, or the most popular: "You've got your hands full!" 

I'm usually not bothered by the comments. Many are said with pure intentions. I remember asking a woman who had five children at the time if she wanted more. She seemed to hesitate at first, perhaps a little tired of the question, and responded that she was simply trying to be open to God's will - I assured her that someday I hoped to have twelve and she seemed to appreciate that my question arose from a place of excitement and admiration rather than judgement.

The crazy thing about the "hands full" comment, is that it now invokes a little sadness in me. After giving birth to three babies in three years, I was delighted to discover I was expecting yet again. At three months along, I had my first appointment with my midwives. They were unable to find a heartbeat. They assured me I needn't worry, as it was possible it was still a little early for the doppler to detect, but when I went home, I started to bleed. 

An ultrasound at the ER confirmed my greatest fear. My little one was gone.

My world was shattered, every part of me saturated with grief. It took me a long time to feel like myself again.

I wasn't grieving the idea of someone, or the hope of a future life with a "potential someone". I knew that I had been carrying someone distinct and irreplaceable. I had already fallen in love with her and knew that even if we would be blessed with another child, a new baby would never replace the one I had just lost.

I remember accepting that my baby was made for heaven and I named her Judah Mary. Only two years later I lost another child, Francis Joseph. My heart was broken, but losing him helped me look into the possibility that there was something I could do to prevent future losses. From that pregnancy on, I was supported by progesterone supplementation. 

In spite of that support there were pregnancies that couldn't be saved.
Each loss incited more pain than I can faithfully express. One child I held in the palm of my hand. I told her I loved her and said goodbye.

The pregnancies that followed my losses were very difficult emotionally. I worried more for their well being. I sometimes felt like my womb was a tomb and prayed with all my heart that I would be able to see life emerge. I had rainbow babies. Twins that would never have been if their sibling had survived. And I saw God's goodness prevail following periods of intense sorrow. 

I can now boast that Heaven holds five of my babies. They were all offered the Baptism of Desire. They all have names. My other eleven children know the names of their saintly siblings and they know they will meet them someday.

I try to respond with a smile when I am informed that I have my hands full, but inside, all I can think is:

Not full enough. Not nearly.

This month we remember those who have suffered the cross of pregnancy and/or infant loss. Know that your precious little ones are a perfect reflection of the love of you and your spouse before the face of God. May you understand the power of their prayers on your behalf. May the angels hold your little ones until the day you are called home - when your children will run to greet you, throwing themselves into your arms. Then your hands will indeed be full.

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