April 2018

New Evangelists Monthly - April 2018

New Evangelists Monthly - April 2018

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Feast of Saint Joseph, A Man of Many Virtues

by Virginia Lieto

Suihan Sanyou ~ The Three Friends of Winter

Pauca Verba by Fr. Stephen Morris

Twitter discussion an Easter Egg

Catholicism and Adventism by Stephen Korsman

Saint Gerard Majella, Patron Saint of Pregnancy

The Koala Mom by Bonnie Way

God's Thirst

The Mission of Saint Thorlak

One more note on salvation in Christ

Catholic Deacon by Deacon Scott Dodge

God's Recital

On the Road to Damascus by Robert Collins

The Voice of the Stranger

If I Might Interject by David Wanat

Walk Through Holy Week with Jesus

Veils and Vocations by Jennifer Elia

Easter: Joyful Beginning or Disappointing Letdown?

Catholic Life In Our Times by Birgit Jones

Toys

Irish Papist by Maolsheachlann O'Ceallaigh

Catholic Authors: Pray, Listen, Then Write

joy of nine9 by Melanie Jean Juneau

As I Have Done

Creo en Dios! by Susan Stabile

Even Death Will Die

Boldly Catholic by Rick Rice

Humility: How Jesus and Saint Francis Turned My Life Upside Down

One Pearl by Victoria Clarizio

Humanae Vitae: 50 Years Later

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

Seven Ways for Husbands to Be a Part of Birth

by Mary Haseltine

Our Lowly Bodies

The Running Hail Mary by Carolyn Smith

All Fathers Are Called to Be Warriors

The Catholic Writers Guild by Dennis McGeehan

A Princess Speaks

The Frank Friar by Fr. Nicholas Blackwell

Pleasing the FatherA Spiritual Journey

Sat, 14 Apr 2018 12:00:00 EST by David Wong

Truly an extraordinary ministry: I am an EMHC and I am honored to be one

Cradling Catholic by Larry Peterson

Prayer, Answered

With Us Still by John Schroeder

On Being a Catholic Feminist

Under Thy Roof by Kirby Hoberg

Finding Rest in an Angry World

The Contemplative Catholic Convert by Rich Maffeo

Leave it at the Altar

by Tony Agnesi

Something Strange is Happening - an Alcoholic's Reflections on Holy Week

Quiet Consecration by Leslie Klinger

Make the Solution Mercy

Christ's Faithful Witness by Susan Fox

Make the Solution Mercy

Christ's Faithful Witness by Susan Fox

Giving Back Words their Original Meaning

by David Torkington

The Swinging Pendulum

Shifting My Perspective by Claire McGarry

Authority and Service in the Roman Catholic Church

In the Breaking of the Bread by Fr. Gilles Surprenant

Not so holy: How did your Lent go?

FranciscanMom by Barbara Szyszkiewicz

Entering In

Theologyisaverb by Elizabeth Reardon

Bearing fruit, making progress: latest 40 Days for Life campaign concludes

Leaven for the Loaf by Ellen Kolb

Of Mr. Milewski, Pizza, and a Laden Cross

God-Haunted Lunatic by Rick Becker

My Personal Prayer after Receiving Holy Communion

TOM PERNA by Tom Perna

Halftime Report - Lenten Scoreboard

Walking the Path by Christian Miraglia

Marriage goal #1: Getting our hubbies to heaven

Peace Garden Passage by Roxane Salonen

Christian, Pro-life Coffee Alternatives to Starbucks

by Scott Smith

St. Faustina Prayer Book for Adoration: Review

Jean M. Heimann by Jean Heimann

Life Savers: What St. Maximillian Kolbe and Franciszek Gajowniczek Taught Me About Being Saved

Martin Family Moments by Colleen Martin

No Stranger At The Door

TIME FOR REFLECTIONS

The Garden of our Soul

The Hahn Family Blog by Jim Hahn

The Sunshine and the Clouds: Five Years with Pope Francis

Justin's Corner by Justin Soutar

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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:

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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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Saint Joseph Today is the feast day of one of my favorite saints – Saint Joseph. I claim him as one of my favorites, because he was such a virtuous man; a man for anyone to emulate.

Saint Joseph, A Man of Patience

Saint Joseph exhibited patience, a virtue that seems to elude me! With patience, he quietly persevered through many trials and tribulations. For example, he didn’t seem to get flustered, or annoyed, when told to quickly take Jesus and Mary to Egypt, and to remain there for several years, before returning to his homeland. No, he patiently waited for the sign that it was safe to return.

A Man of Humility, Simplicity and Obedience

Saint Joseph, known for his humility, always placed the needs of Jesus and Mary ahead of his own. In his humility, he never lost sight of the fact that everything he had, or knew, came from God, and not of his own accord. He was a simple and obedient man, who gave the glory to God, with faithfulness and prayer. In his humility, simplicity and obedience, he showed his caring nature for Jesus and Mary.

A Man of Chastity and Purity

As to relations with Mary, Saint Joseph respected Mary’s virginity, and his relationship with her was chaste; filled with purity. He was a loving father and adoring husband. As I reflect on Saint Joseph, the man, I think I could name any virtue, and attribute that virtue to this treasured saint.

I look up to him with the same love and respect that I have for my own father, for many of the same reasons; a father’s love, courage and caring nature. So, today, I wish Saint Joseph a happy feast day! May you be feasting on the Glory of God. May perpetual light shine upon you. Saint Joseph, pray for us!

If you would like to purchase an autographed copy of my book, Adventures of Faith, Hope and Charity: Finding Patience, then click here.

This contribution is available at http://virginialieto.com/feast-of-saint-joseph-man-many-virtues/
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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Suihan Sanyou ~ The Three Friends of Winter [at Pauca Verba]

Because of their ability not only to survive but flourish through the severe East Asian winter weather, pine, bamboo and plum together symbolize steadfastness, perseverance and resilience. Pine and bamboo are evergreen, and plum can bloom in February, as I discovered in a nursery this past week where young plum trees, pots standing in snow, are already flowering.

When everything else has withered or gone dormant, these three signal hope and call us to lean into the face of adversity and challenge. Of course, the Lenten Christian may have in mind the determination of Jesus, who, in Luke's Gospel, is always on his way to Jerusalem, where he will be rejected, die for love of us and rise from the dead on the third day.

When the days drew near for him to be received up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. Luke 9:51

He went on his way through towns and villages teaching, and journeying towards Jerusalem. Luke 13:22

"Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem". Luke 13:33

On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. Luke 17:11

And when he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. Luke 19:28

Jesus passing between Samaria and Galilee by choice (he could have gone by a different route) is notable, because Samaria was unfriendly territory. We all have a winter-way, a Samaria-way to walk. Take heart, and consider the Three Friends of Winter. 

If I were president of the United States, I would personally deliver pine, bamboo and plum trees to the people of China, Japan and both Koreas - late winter signs of a tenacious and unwavering desire and committment to build a peaceful world.

This contribution is available at http://paucaverba.blogspot.com/2018/03/suihan-sanyou-three-friends-of-winter.html
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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Twitter discussion an Easter Egg [at Catholicism and Adventism]

Icon of the Resurrection

It’s a common belief that Easter is pagan. One claim is that the name is derived from Ostare or Eostre, a pagan goddess. I tweeted in response to various tweets claiming such nonsense. I had an interesting discussion with a very opinionated lady. I want to post a few notes here on how seemingly educated people are drawn into this nonsense, and how bizarre their arguments can be.

First, though, a few preliminary points:

This would affect only English and German celebrations of the Christian Passover, because only in those languages does the name of the celebration resemble Ostare/Eostre. That alone makes it a weak argument.

Ostare/Eostre never existed. The only evidence is a single quote from Venerable Bede, and no historical evidence can back it up. It was made more popular by the Brothers Grimm.

No, don’t be obtuse. By that I do not mean the actual goddess never existed as a real being. Of course she didn’t. What I mean is that nobody ever believed in her.

There is no historical evidence, apart from Bede as the primary source, that any folklore or religion included a goddess called Ostare or Eostre. The word “oester” has been found in a religious context, but it’s not even clear that it refers to a goddess. The name “Easter” simply derives from “Ostarmonath” – “Easter month” or “month of opening” when flowers (in German spring) budded and opened. That the months’ name came from a pagan goddess is doubtful, and even if it did, it’s a linguistic artifact, much like “God” and “January” are derived from a Teutonic word for a deity and a Roman god respectively.

To Twitter. I’ll look at some of the interesting claims and the peculiar reasoning.

Supposedly Easter is pagan. Everything is pagan.

Easter eggs were supposedly incorporated into Easter by 17th century Christians. Probably from paganism.

Easter eggs

That’s the first evidence of ignorance, right at the beginning of the discussion. Let’s pretend that’s true. In the 17th century, Christians were radically anti-pagan and on the defensive. Catholics were being accused of paganism by Protestants, so it’s hardly likely they would start adopting pagan practices at that time. Protestants were actively avoiding anything seemingly pagan, so they wouldn’t be doing that either.

But the date is wrong. Someone decided to write something, without knowing the facts, and then it got copied and pasted around the internet. The real facts? Eggs were used long before the 17th century. Pagan? No. There are several theories about the origin of egg usage. In Wester Christianity, they seem to date back to 200 years before the above claim, and appear to be the result of Lent ending. In Lent, traditionally eggs were excluded because of fasting. Fasting ends, people eat lots of eggs. In the East, long before that – probably derived from the Jewish practice of eating eggs as part of the mourning period after someone’s death. Jesus died, therefore eggs. Eggs stained red – this represented the blood of Christ. Chocolate eggs? Commercialism, not paganism.

The date of Easter is based on a lunar calendar. Moon = pagan. Therefore Easter is pagan.

The Jewish calendar’s derivation of Easter was based on the full moon and the discovery of ripe barley. Christians continued celebrating the Christian version of Passover to commemorate Jesus’ death. We didn’t adopt a pagan lunar cycle in order to calculate the date for Christian Passover. We adopted it from Judaism.

Yule became Christmas, Ostara became Easter

Similarity doesn’t mean one was derived from the other. Yule became Christmas could only be a potentially valid claim if Christians started celebrating Jesus’ birth only after contact with Germanic people celebrating Yule. The problem there is that Christians celebrated Jesus’ birth before the invention of Yule. Another problem there is that Yule and Christmas didn’t coincide until the king of Norway rescheduled Yule to coincide with Christmas. The local people didn’t want to get rid of their pagan customs after conversion. That doesn’t mean the Church adopted them. Jesus’ birth was already being celebrated by Christianity. And Ostara? Jesus’ death and resurrection had been celebrated as part of the Christian continuation of Passover from the beginning, and only in English and German does the name of the celebration resemble the name of a goddess for whom there is no historical evidence apart from Bede.

Then comes a whopper. This is delightful. I get asked to find Easter in the Bible.

“Here, do me a favor. Find Easter in the Bible.”

The Sacrificial Lamb – Josefa de Ayala, ca 1670

My response:

Easy. Christians believe Jesus died at Passover as our Passover lamb. We simply continued celebrating Passover in a Christian context. That’s all in the last few chapters of each of the Gospels.

Her response – an even bigger, more bizarre whopper:

“Yes, you chose that particular Biblical event to assign to what you call Easter (which I’m guessing you think is a coincidence that it comes from the name Ostara), but there is no Biblical doctrine saying to celebrate that as a holiday. Ostara is older than Passover.”

There is SO much wrong there it’s unbelievable. I’ll work backwards.

“Ostara is older than Passover.” … “you think is a coincidence that it comes from the name Ostara”

There is no evidence for Ostara. Passover began at the time Israel left Egypt, within the broad range of 1200-1500 BC.

“no Biblical doctrine saying to celebrate that as a holiday”

There is a biblical command for Israel to celebrate Passover. Jesus died at Passover as our Passover lamb. He told us to celebrate the New Covenant – “Do this in memory of me.” So Christians did so. But that is irrelevant to her. She uses a diversionary tactic. She is ignorant of the biblical instruction, and uses that ignorance to deflect from the real issue. Even if there were no instruction to celebrate Passover or Jesus as our Passover lamb, that would make no difference to the origin of the Christian celebration of it. She is just using an ill-informed statement to deflect.

“you chose that particular Biblical event to assign to what you call Easter”

I chose that particular Biblical event to assign???

Saint Polycarp

No. History shows us that:

St Polycarp, a first and second century Christian, disciple of the Apostle John, celebrated the Christian Passover related to Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Pope Anicetus, pope in the mid-2nd century, celebrated the Christian Passover related to Jesus’ death and resurrection.

St Irenaeus, 2nd century Christian, celebrated the Christian Passover related to Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Eusebius, 3rd and 4th century historian, reports on the celebration the Christian Passover related to Jesus’ death and resurrection.

1st Council of Nicaea, 4th century, resolved the controversy about the timing of the Christian Passover related to Jesus’ death and resurrection.

And so on down the centuries.

And she says I chose that particular event to assign to the celebration of Easter! As if early Christianity randomly adopted a celebration of a dubious goddess whose name sounds like “Easter” and then assigned a different reason for the celebration? Wow, just wow. Talk about a strongly opinionated ignorance of history.

Near the end, I get referred to a Wikipedia page on Christianity and paganism, along with this:

“Here’s a comprehensive read with sources, otherwise known as Historical Fact”

So far she hadn’t managed to get her capitalised “Historical Fact” right – be it about Ostara, the biblical origins of Passover’s timing, or the historical use of the Passover by Christians. Now she provides me with Wikipedia.

So, I’ll give a brief commentary on what that page claims:

First, be careful with Wikipedia. It’s not unbiased. While an article on the Hubble telescope is likely to be unbiased, an article on a controversial issue like paganism in Christianity is likely to attract people who want to discredit Christianity.

That said, it’s a fair page, but not without error.

It claims that the pagan vernal equinox celebration was Christianised as the Annunciation to Mary of Jesus’ conception by the angel Gabriel. No. The Christians had calculated, using biblical evidence, the timing of Jesus’ birth to late December. Pregnancy lasts 9 months. So, Jesus was conceived 8 months before late December, which is late March. Whether the calculations were correct is irrelevant. It was biblical interpretation that produced those dates, not paganism.

Influence on Christian thinking? Technically, that’s not paganism. Systems of reasoning and argument are not pagan principles simply because they’re used by pagans any more than recipes or sports are. The early Christians, following the Apostle John’s use of the Logos principle to describe Jesus, thought highly of Greek thinking. Not Greek gods. Not Greek religion. Greek thinking. Nothing in the Bible says “You must think like Jews forever.“

Early Christian persecution? As the article shows, Christians died for their religion. Emperors told them to worship them, or to offer sacrifices to their gods. If they did so, they weren’t killed. Christians died or went underground. Those who obeyed the emperors were repudiated. That is a real influence of paganism on Christianity – and the influence caused Christianity to, for a while, go underground because they couldn’t accept what the influence of paganism was trying to impose on them. Those with the paganism agenda like to tell us that Christians just adopted paganism. That doesn’t match up to real historical fact.

When Christianity became legal and anti-paganism laws introduced, pagan temples were destroyed. Some were converted to churches. An obelisk from Egypt was carried to Rome and is in the Vatican to this day. Did Christians celebrate their legitimacy by worshipping pagan gods? Nope. They established victory of Christianity over paganism in a visible, tangible way – remove the paganism and plant Christianity in its place. Confiscate a pagan obelisk and mount it as a sign of victory over paganism. It’s hard to believe that Christians, after years of persecution, came out of their persecution and abandoned their faith and adopted the religion of those who persecuted them.

Donkey, Boston Public Library

And this:

It’s interesting that you’re Catholic but you don’t seem to know your history, or even the etymology of the word. “Catholicism” is a Christian sect that was invented as a means to bridge the gap between Christianity and Paganism after the invasion of specifically Celtic lands

According to her, Catholic history is adopting, out of the blue, a pagan Passover, and then attributing it retrospectively to biblical events. And now Catholicism was invented after invasion of Celtic areas to bridge the gap between Christianity and Celtic paganism. That is just so ridiculous you have to laugh.

To sum up, here we have a problem of someone who has blindly adopted an opinion that suits her worldview, whose “facts” are unsupported by legitimate history. Christians have left behind writings from every century since the beginning of Christianity. Reading them leaves no doubt that, in each successive generation, Christians based their beliefs on the Bible and their own beliefs and practices, and not on paganism. There is a clear, continuous presence of one faith.  They used philosophies other than Judaism, but they reasoned it all out with the Bible, and rejected what didn’t correlate with biblical truth, and accepted what did. It’s a fascinating read. Modern Christianity is well-supported as originating in authentic Christian beliefs supported by biblical practices and biblical interpretation.

What about perversions due to commercialisation? Decorated eggs and hot cross buns may have a legitimate Christian origin, but shops filled with chocolate eggs and chocolate chickens and chocolate chip hot cross buns are a commercialisation of Christianity. Matzos may have a legitimate Jewish origin, but shops sell more of it during the Jewish Passover season. Some commercialisation is good, some is bad, none of it is pagan. At best it means we can get traditional Christian or Jewish food more easily. And shops employ people and need to make money to pay them and make a profit. Earning an income is a basic human need. At worst, it’s opportunistic greed. The former is good, the latter is bad.

The lesson here is that millions of people have fallen for fake facts, and can’t differentiate between them and real history. Real historians disagree legitimately on many things. Public perception takes those things and builds dogma out of them. Dogma held by some Christians and atheists – the word “Easter” is supposedly pagan, even though most Christians use an unrelated word derived from the Hebrew “Pesach“, and therefore the entire celebration has nothing to do with Christ. It’s hard to abandon one’s own opinions, and Twitter is not a suitable place for a proper education in real historical facts. Don’t fall for common misconceptions. Look deeper.

Further reading:

Is Easter pagan?
The Passover of the Jews
3 days and 3 nights – from when till when?

Easter FAQ … As Bereans Did
Easter History part 1 … As Bereans Did
Easter History part 2 … As Bereans Did

… by InspiringPhilosophy, YouTube

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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Saint Gerard Majella, Patron Saint of Pregnancy [at The Koala Mom]

Saint Gerard Majella pray for us (medal)I first discovered Saint Gerard Majella when I was pregnant with Jade, as I wondered what saints I could ask for intercession during my pregnancy.  It surprised me that a male saint would be a patron saint of pregnancy. Somehow I expected a woman would be better able to pray for me through this experience that only women have.

Then I read his story and put a Happy Saints image of St. Gerard along with a prayer to him in my room, where I laboured and gave birth to Jade two years ago today.

Saint Gerard Majella, Patron Saint of Pregnancy

St. Gerard’s patronage of pregnant women comes from a story in which Gerard dropped a handkerchief while visiting friends.  One of the daughters noticed this and ran to return it to him, but he told her to keep it.

Years later, when she was in childbirth and it was not going well, she remembered this handkerchief and requested her family to get it for her.  Immediately her pain went away and the child was born healthy.  Word of this spread quickly and other mothers began asking for Gerard’s intercession during their pregnancies and labours.

Saint Gerard Majella’s Life

Gerard Majella was born in Italy in 1726, the fourth child of a tailor and his wife.  His father died when he was young, so Gerard had to leave school at age 12 to work to support his family—first as a tailor and then as a servant.  He tried multiple times to join a religious order, but was refused because he looked sickly.  He persisted and was finally accepted into the new Redemptorist order.  He was so excited to be a lay brother that he did even the most menial tasks with great joy.

Gerard loved spending time before the Blessed Sacrament, but also experienced depression and doubts about his faith.  He often visited the sick and his prayers were known to bring about miracles.

Then, when Gerard was 27, he was accused of sleeping with a young woman.  The Redemptorist superior knew that Gerard had a good reputation as a prayerful, helpful young man, but he prohibited Gerard from any contact with the outside world.  Several months later, the accuser repented and admitted that she had lied about Gerard.

“Saint Gerard meditated on the crucifix. In his meditations, he realized a truth Saint Paul knew: The power of Christ shines through our human weakness. This human weakness is not the weakness of sin, but the weakness of being finite.” ~The Liguorian

Saint Gerard Majella’s Death and Canonization

Only two years later, in 1755, Gerard died from tuberculosis.  He was beatified in 1893 and canonized in 1904.  His feast day is October 16.

Today, he is a popular saint for mothers or those trying to become mothers.  One mom, who prayed to Saint Gerard Majella when doctors told her she wouldn’t have any children, founded a website dedicated to him which also contains a novena and several prayers.

This contribution is available at http://thekoalamom.com/2015/03/saint-gerard-majella/
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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God's Thirst [at The Mission of Saint Thorlak]

We are still on Objective #3 of our Missionary directives, to make people aware that our common human need to be known and loved springs from God’s thirst for us to know and love Him.  We have gone through the important theological underpinnings and are now taking one more week to ponder what this means in more practical terms.

Our needs spring from God’s thirst to be known and loved. 

God’s thirst.  

The Mission of Saint Thorlak speaks of hunger, more than thirst, but the two are intertwined, as anyone knows.  We might argue that “thirst” speaks to something more constant throughout our day, while “hunger” is something whose satisfaction lasts longer between each revisiting.   THIRST is a frequent, eager desire.  It can be both craving and physiological relief, comforting habit and momentary refreshment.  Hydration is universally marketed, and beverages make up giant portions of our social structure, from water coolers to coffee shops, from public taverns to sporting events.  Flavored, fizzy, hot or cold, thirst is something we rarely do alone or without anticipated delight.

In our Missionary conceptualization, people hunger; God thirsts.  

The two most familiar instances we hear of God’s thirst is Jesus’ quote from the Cross, “I thirst” (John 19:28) and the same phrase repeated by Mother Teresa of Calcutta in the telling of how she came to form the order of the Missionaries of Charity.  We lean more toward the second instance, reiterating Mother Teresa’s devotion as a means of recognizing God’s need as one that is as frequent and eager.

“Drinking” itself is a concept seen throughout Sacred Scripture.  We see it used as an analogy for fully entering into and partaking of an experience in Matthew 20:22 and Luke 22:42. 

“God’s thirst,” then, is His eager desire to fully partake in the experience of us.

Conceptually speaking, how does that relate to our day to day doings?  If God created us, how can He NOT experience us? 

Just as people can co-exist and observe one another without ever interacting, so too it can be that we can exist here, created by God, but never really engage with Him. 

How does one engage with God? By using the faculties we ordinarily use, for everything else that we ordinarily do.  

This is a challenging concept for a lot of people, especially those whose faculties do not ordinarily favor interaction and engagement, and also for those who rely on tangible, concrete experiences because conceptualizing abstract information is particularly difficult.  Many of us, in fact, fall into that second group, and it is for this reason we take comfort in remembering that God’s essence dwells in each of His creatures – and so, interacting with others is, in part, an interaction with God, through the indirect route of His intrinsic nature.  Put another way, the more we interact with others, the more we accumulate our experience of God’s essence. 

Interaction with others need only be on the smallest scale:

A gaze of appreciation

A glance with a nod of recognition

A brief touch on the hand

A shared moment of emotion

A greeting with a sincere sentiment

An action: Waiting until someone goes through the door you are opening, or allowing someone to go ahead of you in line, or bringing someone a small convenience item

Offering to share something you have

Listening to someone’s thoughts

Offering your thoughts on a topic

Thanking someone, in person or in writing

Complimenting someone on what they have done

Asking someone for assistance

This list could go on indefinitely.  But, how can these gestures translate into acknowledging God?  As simply as: 

A gaze of appreciation = Appreciating something in the natural environment

A glance with a nod of recognition = Nodding silently, to God, in recognition of His existence

A brief touch on the hand = As you extend your hand, remember that God imagined our hands and what we will do with them

A shared moment of emotion = Thinking during the experience, “God is with us too!”

A greeting with a sincere sentiment = Extend that same greeting, mentally, to God

An action: Waiting until someone goes through the door you are opening, or allowing someone to go ahead of you in line, or bringing someone a small convenience item = Imagining you are unable to do it for the invisible God, so you transfer the gesture to the person you can see

Offering to share something you have = Recognizing God shares all of Creation with us

Listening to someone’s thoughts = Listen on behalf of the invisible God

Offering your thoughts on a topic = Speak them to the invisible God, using the person before you as a guide

Thanking someone, in person or in writing = Giving gratitude also to God for the situation giving rise to this favor

Complimenting someone on what they have done = Simultaneously thanking God for their ability to do so

Asking someone for assistance = Allowing the invisible God to answer through that person

Are these mind-games, or tricks, or spiritual exercises?  None of the above.  These are genuine ways to engage with the invisible God, who may be invisible but is no less real.  It is an awakening of the forgotten art of practicing the Presence of God, such as that made popular by the French Carmelite 

Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection

. 

People hunger; God thirsts.  It is easier to fetch someone a cup of water than to make them a full meal.  In His wisdom and goodness, God thirsts for our company: He eagerly wishes for our acknowledgment, a little at a time, in manageably small increments.  He does not await a twelve course meal.  He asks only for a cup of ourselves, every now and again, which He drinks in full partaking and experience of our person every time we do.

Pray

: This week, let us make our prayer by greeting the invisible God in our ordinary doings.

Contemplate

: Refresh or familiarize ourselves with the thoughts of Brother Lawrence on the Presence of God.  These writings are available

here

. 

Relate

: This week, observe how easily (or with what difficulty) we may incorporate God into our ordinary interactions.

This contribution is available at http://www.mission-of-saint-thorlak.com/mission-activities/missionary-thought-for-the-week-of-march-5-2018-gods-thirst
Copyright is retained by the contributing author (follow above link for info on this piece).

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One more note on salvation in Christ [at Catholic Deacon]

Addressing the recent letter from the Holy See's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) to Catholic Bishops "On Certain Aspects of Christian Salvation,"

Placuit Deo

, I dealt only with one of the two ways, according to the letter, that salvation in Christ Jesus is distorted.

The two ways the CDF identified as distorting salvation in and through Christ, used with proper caveats and as a kind of doctrinal short-hand, are "Pelagian" and "Gnostic." In both my initial post and the follow-up, I wrote about what the CDF referred to as the Pelagian distortion. This morning, while praying the Office of Readings (something I usually only do during Lent), the second reading was from St Ambrose's treatise "On Flight from the World." I am sure both the title of Ambrose's piece and having

Placuit Deo

fresh in mind, I detected at least a hint, or a tendency, towards the Gnostic distortion.

According to

Placuit Deo

, the Gnostic distortion of the Christian understanding of salvation holds that true liberation, true salvation, occurs when one's "spirit" or "soul" is freed from the body and from material reality, both of which are viewed as coarse and constricting. Like the secular aspect of the Pelagian distortion, the Gnostic distortion has a secular variant as well as many religious variants, including "Christian" ones. The fundamental issue with a Gnostic understanding of salvation is that it dismisses the importance of Christ's bodily resurrection, the fruit of which is the Christian belief that Christ will return and raise us from the dead.

The Resurrection of Christ, by Jacopo Tintoretto, 1565

As St Paul noted towards the end of his First Letter to the Corinthians when correcting a very distorted understanding of the resurrection that had come to be accepted among the Christians of ancient Corinth, Christ's resurrection is the foundation of Christian faith:

But if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then empty [too] is our preaching; empty, too, your faith. Then we are also false witnesses to God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all (1 Cor 15:12-19)

While Ambrose's theology, on the whole, is fairly well-balanced, even in the excerpt provided for the Office of Readings on the Second Saturday of Lent, there is this passage, which is the kind people easily distort:

Let us take refuge from this world. You can do this in spirit, even if you are kept here in the body. You can at the same time be here and present to the Lord...

Since God is our refuge, God who is in heaven and above the heavens, we must take refuge from this world in that place where there is peace, where there is rest from toil, where we can celebrate the great sabbath...

Is the Lord, by his Holy Spirit, not present in the world? Is he not present, by virtue of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, in you? Is God not at one and the same time immanent and transcendent? Christ is the concrete universal.

I also recently finished Rowan Willams's treatment of Cyril of Alexandria in his book

The Wound of Knowledge

. Of course, it was Cyril who was serious about the idea of the Christian Gnostic, which, at least in some respects, has something to recommend it. I prefer Bernard Häring's

The Christian Existentialist

, which prioritizes the imminent over the transcendent without doing away with the transcendent, the concrete over the abstract, etc.

For better and for worse, Platonism and Gnosticism, over which Platonism had a large influence, were and remain part and parcel of Christian theology. St Augustine, for example, while he forsook Manicheanism, held fast to Platonism. This is why Augustine viewed sexual relations even between spouses, when in engaged for enjoyment, what the Church, since

Humanae Vitae

, has recognized as the "unitive" dimension of conjugal relations, was merely a remedy for concupiscence and a safeguard against the greater sin of adultery.

Anyway, now I feel like I've done

Placuit Deo

blogging justice, which, at least according to many, is no justice at all.

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God's Recital [at On the Road to Damascus]

Susan was a six year old ballerina. She worked hard for weeks and now was on stage for her first recital. She wanted nothing more than for her daddy to see her dance but he was away on business. He had hoped to make it home but with flight delays due to bad weather it didn’t look good.

Susan stood on stage with the other little girls as she scanned the audience. Her eyes desperately darted about looking for her father but he was nowhere to be found. Her heart began to sink as the music started. Then she saw his smile. He was sitting front row center. He had made it and she was filled with joy.

My older children were brought into a life of faith when they were older. It is not something they grew up with. They are now rebellious teens and question the things they have been taught. They are not sure if they believe or if they don’t or really what they believe. Mass is something they do only because it is required.

I have struggled with that. During Mass we make a few oaths that we will live for Christ and die for him if necessary. Whether we realize it or not we swear our eternal lives as part of these oaths. Yet many, including my children, don’t have the slightest clue what they are actually doing or committing their lives to. We come to watch other people sing. We take communion. We get donuts afterwards if the youngest is good. Really, there is nothing to get excited about.

There are days that this really bothers me. Why require them to go and take a half hearted oath they do not understand? There are times where I just throw up my hands and say fine – stay home. That is exactly what I did when I got confirmed. I left the church. That wasn’t God’s plan for my life and he continually beckoned for me to return home for over a decade. Eventually my ears were opened and I heard his voice. Can I trust God to do the same with my children?

Mass is the single greatest event in human history, second only to the incarnation. In each and every Mass heaven is connected to earth and we are allowed to stand at the foot of the cross during the sacrifice of our Lord with all of the angels and saints that have ever existed and who ever will. We cannot see this supernatural reality happening around us in our fallen nature but it is happening none the less. If we could see this reality there is no other place we would ever want to be. I get to make up for what is lacking in Jesus’ crucifixion. What possibly could be lacking? Quite simply, my participation. That is what Mass does. It allows me to participate in the greatest sacrifice of all time. I get to stand at the foot of the cross with Mary.

Susan so desperately wanted her father to see her dance. She worked hard trying to get the moves just right. It was something extremely important to her and she wanted to share that experience. Mass is that for me. I don’t require my children to attend Mass because I am a mean dad. I don’t have the misconception that they will suddenly be filled with the Holy Spirit and commit their lives to God. I do it because I know it is the most beautiful and important thing we can ever experience on this side of heaven and I want to share in the beauty with them. I am less, my family is less when they aren’t there with us.

Lord, I will get them there. The rest is up to you. Help me to open their hearts to your beauty and love.

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The Voice of the Stranger [at If I Might Interject]

That the confusion exists is not disputed. The question is who determines what causes it and leads us out of it. Many Catholics argue that to end confusion, we should listen to what they say, and not listening to them is seen as “proof” that the one opposed is causing the confusion. But we would be foolish to accept the word of just any individual—no matter how appealing their words might seem to us.

If we would be faithful Catholics, we need to recognize that we do have designated shepherds who lead the flock. Jesus, of course, is the Good Shepherd who leads us. But He has made clear that certain people have authority to teach in His name (Matthew 16:19, 18:18) and has made clear that rejecting them is rejecting Him (Matthew 18:17, Luke 10:16). When there is a conflict between what the Church says and what critics of the Church say, the voice to follow is the voice of the magisterium, not the voice of the critic.

This sounds alien to 21st century sensibilities. We pride ourselves on being rational individuals and what we see must be true. From that, whatever does not match our perception must be wrong. We then argue that when the Church does not match our views, the Church must be in error. But that view is incompatible with what we must believe.

In his Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius of Loyola listed some attitudes faithful Catholics must have. One of them is vital, but easily misinterpreted in modern times:

The modern misinterpretation thinks this means that even if the Church should teach error, we need to follow it—and it offends people. But this isn’t what it means. What this means is: If we think something is “white” but the Church says it is “black,” we must trust the Church and realize that our own perception must be

false

. If we rely on our perception and deny the statement of the Church, then we are in error, no matter how sure of our senses we are. Unfortunately, people tend to confuse the

teaching

 of the Popes with things that do not involve Papal authority. So, when a Pope gives an interview or a homily, there can be imprecision. There can be things where a Pope thinks he remembers something but has to go back later and check. These are not teachings. A Pope can make a mistake here and not be heterodox

The magisterium determines what is the proper interpretation of Scripture and Tradition and applies them to the needs of the time. The needs of the time may require a greater emphasis on mercy or a greater emphasis on discipline. But we don’t have one without the other, and an increased emphasis on one is not a contradiction or a betrayal.

This is why, when I encounter those who claim that a Pope is in error, or heretical or some sort of lost shepherd, I keep away. They claim to know the real truth about what the Church is supposed to believe. But in showing a (probably unintended) rejection of God protecting His Church, I can see that they do not speak with the voice of the Shepherd not His vicar. So I flee their voice as the sheep flee the voice of the stranger. No matter what the past reputation of the critic in defending the Church, the fact that they are questioning that teaching authority now shows that we cannot use them as helps to understanding the faith until they abandon the view that their perception takes precedence over what the Church says.

The teaching authority of the Church is the Pope and the bishops in communion with him. It is not the individual blogger, priest, bishop, or cardinal who chooses to take a position apart from that teaching authority. Whether it’s the language of worship, how we receive the Eucharist, how we interpret Amoris Lætitia, or other topics, the one who tries to downplay or undermine what the magisterium today teaches is the one who is the stranger’s voice.

Our Lord tells us that the one who does not go through the gate is a robber (John 10:1) and He is the gate (John 10:7). It seems to me reasonable to conclude that the one who seeks to teach the faithful to oppose those in authority (the magisterium) is that robber. They might be malicious or they might have good intentions. But if they reject what the Pope does instead of accepting the Church saying something is “black” where they think they see “white,” they cannot be considered speaking with the Shepherd’s voice

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Walk Through Holy Week with Jesus [at Veils and Vocations]

Holy Week is a busy time in the Church, it is also the best time to live the faith and experience the catechism first hand.  The eight days of Holy Week from Palm Sunday to Easter are  packed with opportunities to follow Jesus on His journey to Jerusalem, Passion, and  miraculous resurrection.  

Holy Monday-- The day after Jesus arrived in Jerusalem to the sound of crowds cheering Him,
He went up to the temple. However, He did not go to teach and pray.  He came to overturn the
 money changers tables and sweep clean those who offended God.

On Monday,clear out your temple. Our diocese has Reconciliation Monday this day and every
 church is open from 4pm to 8pm for confession.  This is a great blessing for sure.

Not everyone will have that opportunity, but if you can, go to confession. Even if you can’t get to confession, there is cleaning that can be done.  Get your home in order for the great season of Easter.

Purge the clutter. Do away with useless distractions.  Find ways to come into Easter cleaner,
lighter, and more open so you can be filled with the grace of His Resurrection.

Holy Tuesday-- Before Jesus cleaned the Temple, he cursed the fig tree.  On Tuesday, while
 heading back into the city, Peter saw how the tree had died and marveled at the authority and
 power of Christ.  Through mere words, He could give and take life.

Jesus replies, “Have faith in God. Amen I say to you, whoever says to this mountain,
‘Arise, and hurl thyself into the sea.’ and does not waiver in his heart, but believes that
whatever he says will be done, it shall be done for him.”

Today, read Mark 11:12-14, 20-26 with your children.  Eat dried figs as a snack, too.

What are the mountains in your life?   Set aside a time for intense prayer for what seems
impossible. For nothing is impossible with God!  If you have the opportunity, attend the
Chrism Mass with your family and thank God for our priests and the sacraments.

Holy Wednesday-- Halfway through Holy Week! This is called a day of silence because there  is nothing in scripture about what Jesus did this day.  We do know that He went to Bethany to spend time with Mary and Martha.  The night before, Mary anointed Him with perfumed oil.  

This is a perfect day to read all the parables that Jesus preached on His last visit to the
Temple.  (You can find them in Mark 12). Then take some time to write out Easter cards for
family and friends. Or send out those emails to loved ones that you keep meaning to write.
Invite over a friend or relative for tea and a chat. Take the time to remember those important
to you in prayerful love.

Holy Thursday-- My beautiful friend, Jessica, who writes at Shower of Roses, introduced me  to liturgical teas.  So, for several years, on Holy Thursday my children and I have read through Mark 14. Then, we eat special foods that connect with the story.  Below is a list of what we usually have on the table for our tea:

Palms on the road-- In years past, I have made heart of Palm salad, and eaten the
 whole thing myself. In an effort to economize and simplify, I now just put the palms
 from Palm Sunday in a pretty vase as a centerpiece.

Costly Oil--I fill a shallow bowl with olive oil and flavor it with Italian seasoning, garlic,
 and a little onion powder. As a child, this is what we put on bread, never butter,
 of course that was only if there was no tomato sauce left to sop up.

Unleavened bread blessed and broken-- We are use broken pieces of Matzo crackers,
 but have also used pitas cut into wedges.

The Blessing Cup--I make a special wine spritzer that is mostly grape juice and water
 with a very little bit of red wine. The wine and water represent the blood and water
 that flowed from Christ's side.

Mount of Olives--A pile of olives. Any kind will do.

Garden of Gethsemane-- Dried figs

Sleepy Apostles--Sleepytime ©  tea

Thirty Pieces of Silver-- A bowl with thirty dimes that will then be donated to   Mary's Meals. We have also used rice crackers, slices of carrots, and slices of string  cheese.

Judas' kiss--Strawberries

The Cock Crowed Twice--We have used rotisserie chicken, chicken salad,
 and mini chicken pot pies.

Peter's Tears--Salted sunflower seeds.  

Cloud of Heaven--Garlic mashed potatoes, and yes, I use instant potatoes.
 I simply sauteed some garlic in oil and mix it in. The key is simplicity.

Holy Thursday Mass is a beautiful celebration of the creation of not only the Mass but the
priesthood.  If you are able, attend Mass. Even better, volunteer to have your feet washed.
Then stay after Mass to pray in silence as Jesus prayed in the garden.

Good Friday-- This is the day that Jesus suffered and died.  The earth quaked and the veil of  the Temple was torn in two.  Take the time to walk the Stations of the Cross at your parish or  an outdoor station garden.  Physically walking from station to station changes the experience  and takes you on the journey that redeemed the world.

This is a day of fasting and prayer.  Keep meals simple and try to avoid unnecessary activity.
 Spend time before the empty tabernacle. The emptiness and extinguished flame is striking.
 Stop and contemplate what would have happened if that were the end. 

What would life be like without Our Risen LORD?

 It is easy to take the Eucharist for granted, today is the day to remember that it is a great gift.

Holy Saturday--This is a day of waiting, expectancy, and ordinary life continuing. Just as the
 apostles kept the Sabbath as they did every Saturday, we continue with our lives.  There are
 preparations to be done, but today is not Easter. Keep Easter decorations away until AFTER
 vigil Mass.

Easter Sunday--Alleluia! He is Risen! Sing and rejoice.  Belt out the Alleluia at Mass or sing it
 together as a family if you assisted at Vigil Mass. Remember to  thank God for our Risen 
Savior. Amid the egg hunts and jelly beans, remember to tell everyone the Good News. He is
 risen! He is risen, indeed!

Oh, and don’t forget, Easter lasts 50 days!  While the rest of the world is packing away all
 the pink bunnies, we are just getting started celebrating.

Do you have any Holy Week traditions to share?

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Easter: Joyful Beginning or Disappointing Letdown? [at Catholic Life In Our Times]

In our flawed human existence, we often experience a letdown after major holidays (holy days). The buildup leading to the event, in this case Easter, has been fruit-filled and intense. We may have ramped up one, or all, of the three expressions of faith during the Lenten season – sacrifice, prayer, and alms-giving.

Perhaps, this year, we were even moderately successful in creating ourselves anew in anticipation of His rising. Even if we were less than successful, awareness and anticipation insinuated their way into our lives.

Triduum

With the Triduum, our efforts intensified. Our God is a forgiving God, given to second and endless chances – right up until the moment of our death. Holy Thursday brought the delight of sharing, in our small way, in the elation and wonder of that first Holy Mass. Of the institution of priesthood and Eucharist. And the command to go out, mercifully, and serve others.

Then came the somber, exquisite pain of Good Friday. The empty tabernacle left us feeling desolate and mournful. An entrance and recessional of silence only emphasized that this day was like no other.

No Mass – how could that be? The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, readily available 364 days of the year, was taken from us. Yet, the nourishment of His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity sustained us still, having been reserved the night before.

Saturday, the anticipation became palatable. The Vigil Mass, the candle light (His Light) leading us toward hope as it brightened with each succeeding participant. Readings, telling and thorough, guided us toward the tomorrow of Easter joy. Yet still, we waited.

Easter Joy

The bells ringing, Gloria triumphantly singing, and Alleluias resounding on Easter morning all called us Home. The parish church, whether a cathedral or modest country chapel, was resplendent in festive flowers, white vestments, love-filled faces, and joyful hearts. The springing of hope was resounding and rose to the rafters. The long anticipated Resurrection had come. He has risen! He is alive!

As our Easter Joy spilled into the afternoon, family and friends gathered. An atmosphere of celebration was in the air. Souls, cleansed from confession and nourished by the Eucharist, exulted in an atmosphere of joy. Prayers and meals shared, we were reunited with coveted pleasures formerly sacrificed.

The Letdown

So why is there now a letdown? Our human experience leads us down this path because we are weak. Lent holds us accountable. It reminds us, day after penitent day, that there is something magnificent coming. Because we know it has an end, we feel a false sense of finality. This, too, shall end and we will once again take up our earthly pleasures.

Is this the righteous mindset? The tomb is empty but our resolve should not be. The true test comes from maintaining what Lent has taught us. The cross is still a reality. Eucharist still brings us to the foot of that bloody sacrifice – at each and every celebration of Mass. Sin is still real, relevant.

Lent As a Stepping Stone

Flying without the net, the accountability of the Lenten season of penitence, alms-giving, and prayer leads us to temptation. Our earthly vessels need the reminder. Easter is not over; it is a season that gives us the opportunity to mold Lenten habits more firmly into our lives. Our spiritual duty is to avoid falling back into old habits – to move forward and seek more.

Living Easter Joy

That extra scripture reading, that prayer life more fully developed, and those small mortifications performed in the name of love need to be nurtured. Each year’s Lent should be a stepping stone toward sainthood as we train for more spiritual endurance. With each subsequent Lent, we become stronger and stronger soldiers for Christ – the Church Militant. Together with the Church Suffering and the Church Triumphant (the Community of Saints), we are tasked with developing a stronger Church – through our combined prayer.

The Easter Octave is the perfect time to hone our spiritual skills. Taking advantage of the opportunity of turning Lenten sacrifice into holy habit will reap much fruit. In turn, our lives will joyfully march toward the holiness so vaunted by God Our Father and Jesus Our Brother. The Holy Spirit whispers encouragement if only we will heed it.

Living Easter Joy, while maintaining our Lenten growth, is well worth the effort. Growing in faith is the only way to prevent the stagnation on the other side of the spiritual coin.

“But they that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31

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Toys [at Irish Papist]

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Toys [at Irish Papist]

This morning, I happened to attend a Mass alongside a large crowd of schoolboys and schoolgirls, all of whom were there in preparation for their First Communions or Confirmations. As they streamed into the pews, I was put in mind of William Blake's lines: 'Twas on a Holy Thursday, their innocent faces clean, The children walking two and two in red and blue and green. Grey-headed beadles walked before with wands as white as snow,
Till into the high dome of Paul's they like Thames' waters flow O what a multitude they seemed, these flowers of London town, Seated in companies they sit with radiance all their own; The hum of multitudes was there but multitudes of lambs,
Thousands of little boys and girls raising their innocent hands. I don't want to get too sentimental. I know that children can be little brats, even downright bad sometimes. (I remember from being a child myself.)

And yet, I couldn't help feeling sentimental and tender. The funny thing is, looking at children doesn't just make me feel sentimental about children. It makes me feel sentimental about everybody. It makes me remember that everybody was a child once, and that-- in a sense-- everybody is still a child. We may guffaw at talk about "the inner child", but there's surely a lot of truth to the idea.
Indeed, it's even sadder when "the inner child" is gone, or suppressed. When you look at the eagerness, wonder, and artlessness of children, it seems almost heartbreaking that so many grown-ups are (apparently) cynical, apathetic, sardonic, and defensive. What happened to them? Where did the wonder go? How much hurt and disappointment is it buried beneath? Why did those things have to be lost? Look at the photograph below. I've posted it here before. I got it from the website TV Tropes. It was used there as an illustration of something that is accidentally scary-- the idea being that the girl would get the creeps once she saw this picture. But that's not why it captured my imagination. The little girl is just so adorable-- so enthusiastic, so happy, so unabashed in her enthusiasm and happiness. This picture makes my heart melt-- not just for the little girl, but for the human race.

I'm an irritable person, easily annoyed by my fellow human beings-- even by things which cause me no harm and which are not even morally objectionable, such as a banal remark or a vacant grin. I'm trying to overcome this, and I think I'm making some progress.
Strangely enough, I feel most charitable towards my fellow human beings when I see them as pathetic-- and I mean "pathetic" in its most literal sense. I feel most charitable towards my fellow human beings when I'm most conscious of the pathos of the human condition. Then my irritation tends to evaporate, and I feel towards everybody as one might feel towards a terminally ill patient, or somebody who has been recently bereaved. Or a child. Personal slights cease to sting, and one's ego seems not overcome but irrelevant.
I've asked myself-- is this Christian charity? Or is it just sentimentality? Then again, is sentimentality always a bad thing?
There is a passage in G.K. Chesterton's Manalive which describes a very similar mood, or perhaps the very same one. In this extract, two of the characters have broken into a house and one of them is burgling it:
After another glance round, my housebreaker plucked the walnut doors open and rummaged inside. He found nothing there, apparently, except an extremely handsome cut-glass decanter, containing what looked like port. Somehow the sight of the thief returning with this ridiculous little luxury in his hand woke within me once more all the revelation and revulsion I had felt above. "`Don't do it!' I cried quite incoherently, `Santa Claus—'

"`Ah,' said the burglar, as he put the decanter on the table and stood looking at me, `you've thought about that, too.'

"`I can't express a millionth part of what I've thought of,' I cried, `but it's something like this… oh, can't you see it? Why are children not afraid of Santa Claus, though he comes like a thief in the night? He is permitted secrecy, trespass, almost treachery—because there are more toys where he has been. What should we feel if there were less? Down what chimney from hell would come the goblin that should take away the children's balls and dolls while they slept? Could a Greek tragedy be more gray and cruel than that daybreak and awakening? Dog-stealer, horse-stealer, man-stealer—can you think of anything so base as a toy-stealer?'

"The burglar, as if absently, took a large revolver from his pocket and laid it on the table beside the decanter, but still kept his blue reflective eyes fixed on my face.

"`Man!' I said, `all stealing is toy-stealing. That's why it's really wrong. The goods of the unhappy children of men should be really respected because of their worthlessness. I know Naboth's vineyard is as painted as Noah's Ark. I know Nathan's ewe-lamb is really a woolly baa-lamb on a wooden stand. That is why I could not take them away. I did not mind so much, as long as I thought of men's things as their valuables; but I dare not put a hand upon their vanities.'

"After a moment I added abruptly, `Only saints and sages ought to be robbed. They may be stripped and pillaged; but not the poor little worldly people of the things that are their poor little pride.'

"He set out two wineglasses from the cupboard, filled them both, and lifted one of them with a salutation towards his lips.

"`Don't do it!' I cried. `It might be the last bottle of some rotten vintage or other. The master of this house may be quite proud of it. Don't you see there's something sacred in the silliness of such things?' The Catholic poet Coventry Patmore, who Chesterton often quoted approvingly, is even more eloquent on this theme in his poem "The Toys". I am utterly unable to read this poem without being reduced to tears: My little Son, who look'd from thoughtful eyes And moved and spoke in quiet grown-up wise,
Having my law the seventh time disobey'd, I struck him, and dismiss'd With hard words and unkiss'd, His Mother, who was patient, being dead. Then, fearing lest his grief should hinder sleep,
I visited his bed,
But found him slumbering deep,
With darken'd eyelids, and their lashes yet
From his late sobbing wet.
And I, with moan,
Kissing away his tears, left others of my own;
For, on a table drawn beside his head,
He had put, within his reach,
A box of counters and a red-vein'd stone,
A piece of glass abraded by the beach
And six or seven shells,
A bottle with bluebells
And two French copper coins, ranged there with careful art,
To comfort his sad heart.
So when that night I pray'd
To God, I wept, and said:
Ah, when at last we lie with tranced breath,
Not vexing Thee in death,
And Thou rememberest of what toys
We made our joys,
How weakly understood
Thy great commanded good,
Then, fatherly not less
Than I whom Thou hast moulded from the clay, Thou'lt leave Thy wrath, and say,
"I will be sorry for their childishness."  I'm also reminded of a touching passage in Steven Covey's The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, in which he describes a mistake he made in raising his daughter: One day I returned home to my little girl's third-year birthday party to find her in the corner of the front room, defiantly clutching all of her presents, unwilling to let the other children play with them. The first thing I noticed was several parents in the room witnessing this selfish display. I was embarrassed, and doubly so because at the time I was teaching university classes in human relations. And I knew, or at least felt, the expectation of these parents....  After unsuccessfully cajoling the girl, he forces her to share, which in retrospect he comes to regret:  I've learned that once children gain a sense of real possession, they share very naturally, freely, and spontaneously. Perhaps a sense of possessing needs to come before a sense of genuine sharing. Many people who give mechanically or refuse to give and share in their marriages and families may never have experienced what it means to possess themselves, their own sense of identity and self-worth.  Whatever you think of gurus such as Steven Covey (and my own opinion of them is not very high), the image of the little girl clutching her toys to herself is quite affecting. I agree with Covey's reasoning in this instance. I took part in a correspondence some years ago, in the letters page of the Irish Catholic newspaper, on the subject of charity gifts. One writer had suggested that, instead of receiving gifts for Christmas, donations to charity should be made in the children's name, to teach them to give rather than to receive. I think this is a terrible idea, and I said so. I recalled my pleasure in Christmas gifts as a child, a pleasure that has never gone away but still lingers with me. I honestly don't think it was greed or materialism. When I remember Christmas toys as a child, I'm flooded with feelings of gratitude-- they seemed like a symbol of grace, something given out of pure love, something given especially to me. The thought of getting some certificate telling me a charitable bequest had been given in my name would, I'm sure, have rankled with me to this day. Kids can be encouraged to be charitable at any time of the year. Why deprive them of their toys at Christmas?
Recently, I've been remembering one Christmas where I made a park bench out of lollipop sticks, using a kit I'd received just for this purpose. When I remember this, I feel bathed in tenderness, and gratitude, and a desire to be generous myself. Looking back, I realize that it was the love represented by such gifts that really mattered to me. Do we ever really want anything except love, even at our most cynical?
One of the priests in UCD, in one homily, said that it was very important to truly believe that God loves us, because then we would be ready to love others, secure in that knowledge.
All this sounds like I am suggesting that "to understand all is to forgive all", or that "everybody is fighting a battle you know nothing about", or some such sentiment of universal tolerance.
Well, I'm definitely not saying that. I think this is exactly the sort of decadent thinking which leads to liberal Christianity-- the inability to condemn, the inability to say "no", the withering away of righteous anger and indignation.
When I think of the people I know who have made a misery of their own lives and the lives of others, the image of the child clinging to its toys is no less applicable. The same applies in a wider social and cultural context. Ireland is on the threshold of legalizing abortion, in great part because several generations of Ireland's great and good have been beguiled by the flashy toys of Progress and Liberation and Rebellion. The fact that there is something pathetic about this, once again in that literal sense of pathos, doesn't make it any less lamentable.
Sometimes we have to sternly warn the child to drop its toys, to get rid of them. In some circumstances, even prising them its fingers might be warranted.
But here's the thing....I think we should always strive to do so with a certain regret, a certain pity. Our anger should be righteous anger, not vindictive anger, or the anger of a bruised ego.
It's interesting that, in the gospels, Jesus seems to alternate between pity and anger, even towards his own disciples. "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing!" In this blog post, I've used the image of toys, but what does it represent? Well, I suppose it represents a few different things. The toys might be the trifles that we comfort and console ourselves with, which are charged with a tremendous, child-like pathos when seen in perspective-- like the toys in the Manalive excerpt, or the Coventry Patmore poem. Or the toys might be the equivalent of a toy on Christmas Day, an image of the pure gratuitousness of God's love, or the gestures and symbols which mean so much in the economy of love. Or the toys might be sins, idols, things fetishized as good far beyond their deserving, things which come to be preferred to God.
In any case, musing upon this theme fills me with a resolution to be more patient, kind, and generous when it comes to the faults of others. Whether I live up to this resolution is another matter entirely.

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Catholic Authors: Pray, Listen, Then Write [at joy of nine9]

Some Catholic authors write as if they belong to a Church Beleaguered, not the Church Triumphant.  Articles tend to be either defensive or angry attacks against adversaries.  Many religious writers retreat, focusing only on like-minded souls, writing for a small, mutual admiration society. The rest are tempted to quit when it seems like the world is wearing a spiritual blindfold. In an online conversation with me, Victor S. E. Moubarak articulated the dilemma of Christian writers today:

Many Christian are busily writing their blogs daily wondering who is visiting them, or whether their efforts are having any effect on anyone. We all write for different reasons.  Some genuinely want to put some positives out there in a negative and dark internet full of bile and cynicism. Others write for pure vanity. Whilst others wonder whether to bother to continue writing or whether they should just give it up. The latter would be a pity because it would turn off yet another of the little lights of hope that shine in a dark internet that mirrors today’s secular society. (To read Victor’s books and blog click here.)

Catholic writers have a Divine Mandate to share the Good News with our society. Jesus commanded us to, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).  Yet, it is not just our duty to share the Gospel, it is our joy. How can we remain silent when we have been crucified with Christ and Christ lives in us (Galatians 2:19,20)?  A new convert often grasps this truth immediately.  A few years ago, a brilliant young friend called himself an atheist but he was searching for answers, for truth. When I asked what he had read on spirituality and Christianity he simply replied, “The library”.  One day, while I was praying with others for a few moments before a meeting, my friend suddenly started to laugh. Our eyes popped open in surprise. This quiet, subdued fellow was beaming as he exclaimed,

God is real. He exists. I can’t believe it. Why did I not see something all around me, in my face? I feel this energy flowing between everyone in this room and connecting to me as well, like electrical currents, like invisible cords. I want to jump up and down and start yelling on the top of my voice that God exists and He is right here.

Only an authentic presence of God in that room could have revealed the truth of the Mystical Body of Christ to a young man.  Catholic writers can also be instruments of spiritual transformation in their readers when the Holy Spirit permeates our words.

Communicate With Respect

Social media has taught us the power of words. One lie or the words of one bullying tweet can go viral, enraging or misleading thousands, if not millions of readers. Even truth, if expressed with arrogance can instigate similar chaos. Words matter. Tone matters. Our message can be lost when we are not prayerful disciples, writing with the heart of a servant.

Decades ago, I read an insight by Jean Vanier, the founder of L’Arche, which impacted me so strongly I  have never forgotten it: “You can be right. You can be dead right and bring death to everyone around you.”  Writers have the ability to destroy as well as the ability to educate, heal, and lift up. We must learn how to communicate and engage with our adversaries in a spirit of mutual respect because everyone is a child of God, whether they know it or not. It is God who converts and convicts; we are simply called to tell our stories and share our perspective. We must witness in love, without sinning against those who have yet to experience the joy of the Eucharist or a deep relationship with their Heavenly Mother.

Listen, and Then Write

If Catholic writers want to be effective agents of change, addressing large issues like world peace, abortion and the state of the Church with articles which will touch hearts and move secular mountains, we have to break out of our Church microcosm and listen to the rumblings in the world and in the wider Body of Christ. Most of all, we must become in sync with God and with what He wants to do in and through us. It is time to start writing like children of God, people who only write what their Heavenly Father tells them to write. Only then will our words be imbued with power, the kind of power which will actually affect hearts and stimulate action. David Torkington (a Catholic Stand columnist and the author of ‘Wisdom from the Christian Mystics – How to Pray the Christian Way’) states:

there is only one way forward for the serious searcher who wishes to be transformed into Christ in this life, and that is, in the words of St Teresa of Avila, “There is only one way to perfection and that is to pray. If anyone points in another direction then they are deceiving you.”

I would add there is only one way forward for the Catholic writer and that is to pray first and then write. But how can we listen and obey God?

The answer to our dilemma is the opposite of what you might think. Relax. Give up striving. Surrender to His love and let it saturate every cell of your body, soul, and mind. Then allow His love to flow through you as you write. It ends up being a long journey to such carefree lifestyle because pride and ego get in the way. Yet the process is so simple it seems complicated to our adult, logical minds. No wonder Jesus says,

“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3)

A relationship with the living God is child’s play and is not dependent on striving. Listen to this exchange between my young children:

One afternoon, I was making dinner, standing at the counter with my back to our three youngest children. Grace and Daniel were lounging around the kitchen table, with three-year-old Rebecca perched like a little elf on a high stool, happily swinging her legs.

Simply making conversation, Grace who was eight, asked Rebecca,“ Who’s your favorite, mum or dad?”

Rebecca replied, “Both!”

Still facing the counter, I looked over my shoulder and intruded on their conversation, I commented, “Smart answer, Rebecca.”

Rebecca was not done, though. “But she’s not my real mum, Mary is.”

Grace rolled her eyes, slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand and said incredulously, “Where does she get this stuff?”

I tried to explain as simply as I could, “Well, the Holy Spirit is in her heart and she listens to His voice.”

Rebecca jumped right back into the discussion and chanted in a sing-song, lilting voice, “That’s right. God the Father in my heart. Baby Jesus in my heart. Holy Spirit in my heart. Mother Mary in my heart but I still like mum and dad the best!”

Grace rolled her eyes and plunked her head down on the table with a loud sigh, “Where does she get this stuff?”

This three-year-old received this stuff right from the heart of God. If adults received this sort of “stuff” in prayer, they would consider it a rare gift, profound revelation. Yet this child of three simply received infused contemplative insights with ease, right from the source of all truth because she was open and relaxed in the presence of God.  If a mere child can listen to God, there is hope for Catholic writers who pray, humble themselves before the Father and truly listen, expecting their Heavenly Father to give them the Bread of Life, the words of life, not stones.

Reaching Out

Initially, when I first stepped outside of my little blog to write for other sites, I wrote for secular and Protestant sites and felt I had to hide my Catholicism. When I finally wrote about my Catholic faith, I was immediately grilled and interrogated by shocked readers and co-authors. Yet God had His own agenda and through the moderator, a process of forgiveness and unity began. Of course, the site decided to simply ignore my Catholicism and centre on my love of God.

When I discovered Catholic sites and was accepted as a writer, I was thrilled to finally be free to write about my faith without filters. I felt as if I was defending my faith in my territory, surrounded and protected by other Catholic writers.

Protestant vs. Catholic Articles

Sometimes Catholics view other Christians as their adversaries, rather than their separated brethren.  Part of this divide is rooted in how we express ourselves. Sometimes we get lazy and slip into Church lingo, writing in a foreign language which other Christians, never mind unbelievers, do not understand. The challenge is to witness to the validity of our Catholic spirituality with a mature love, without ridiculing our Protestant brothers and sisters, using universal terms when possible.

To complicate the difficulty of reaching across the divide, Protestants insist the Bible alone is the inspired Word of God, demanding every spiritual opinion and conclusion be backed by biblical authority. In an attempt to purify the Church during the Reformation, Protestants discarded thousands of years of teaching, wisdom, and revelations. They are closed to Catholic references to tradition in their writing. However, since the definitive books of the Bible were not decided until after 300 AD, Catholics understand the Holy Spirit taught man through tradition, as well as Holy Scripture. Even scripture tells us to uphold tradition:

Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours. (2 Thessalonians 2:15)

I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold fast to the traditions, just as I handed them on to you. (1 Corinthians 11:2)

But these verses quoted arrogantly in arguments based on sophistry only served to strengthen my protestant position before I converted to Catholicism. My heart and mind were only transformed by a combination of Holy Spirit inspired books and the direct intervention of God, not by man’s mental gymnastics.

Protestants and the secular world desperately need to hear the perspective of Catholics on pressing issues, especially on the sanctity of human life. However, most religious authors write in a small niche, read mainly by fellow Catholics and perhaps a few other critics we would secretly love to block. However, it is Lent, a time to repent, to make a 180-degree turnaround and to start writing in sync with our Lord Jesus Christ. It is time to fulfill our Divine Mandate with joy.

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As I Have Done [at Creo en Dios!]

Today is Holy Thursday, the day on which we commemorate the Last Supper – the Passover meal that Jesus shared with his friends on the night before he was crucified.

Tonight, many of us will attend the beginning of the Triduum liturgy: the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper. During that Mass, two related things will happen. First, we will hear St. Paul’s account of the institution of the Eucharist. In his first letter to the Corinthians, he will pass on to the people of Corinth what he “received from that Lord,” that

the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

But it is clear that “Do this in remembrance of me,” is not satisfied simply by listening to the priest recite these words each week during the Eucharistic Prayer, followed by our receipt of the Eucharist.   During the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper we will also listen and then participate in a reenactment of the scene in John’s Gospel where Jesus washes the feet of his disciples.

John’s Gospel contains no account of the institution of the Eucharist, as do the synoptic Gospels and Paul. Instead, Jesus washes his disciples’s feet, a menial act that would normally be performed by a slave. And, just as he says in the reading we hear from Paul, “Do this in memory of me,” he says here, “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” Jesus says, I am your servant; in my memory, be a servant to each other.

The command in John’s Gospel is a challenging one. It instructs us that “do this in memory of me” is not satisfied solely by our Eucharistic celebration at Mass, as important as that is. Rather, we are asked to follow Jesus’ model in how we live and interact with all of our brothers and sisters.

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Even Death Will Die [at Boldly Catholic]

Lent... a time to reflect on the fact that we do all die.

Easter... a time to remember and rejoice in the knowledge that even death will die.

"Death, be not proud, though the whole world fear you
Mighty and dreadful you may seem
but death, be not proud, for your pride has failed you
You will not kill me.

Though you may dwell in plague and poison,
you’re a slave to fate and desperate men;
So death, if your sleep be the gate to heaven,
Why your confidence—
when you will be no more?
You will be no more, you will be no more;
even death will die.

Death, be not proud.
Even death will die."

~Audrey Assad

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Humility: How Jesus and Saint Francis Turned My Life Upside Down [at One Pearl]

humilityWhat is true humility? Our culture tells us not to be doormats, not to let others walk all over us. Christ tells us to turn the other cheek and to rejoice in the face of persecution.  

On day twenty-three of Rediscover Jesus, Matthew Kelly, after hinting at the radical surrender that Jesus call us to, says in a more blatant way that he actually wants to turn our entire lives upside down. Jesus never wants us to get comfortable or complacent, so he likes to shake things up once in a while! More than anything, he loves turning upside down the world’s values, our plans and how we relate to one another. In other words, he wants to humble us, he wants the last to be first, and the first to be last.

Saint Francis: Walking on his hands towards humility

Since I was in a Franciscan community, it is only natural that Jesus taught me his version of radical humility through Saint Francis. Francis literally had his life turned upside down.

A turning point for Francis was his encounter with the leper. Francis described this experience in his Testament: “while I was in sin, it seemed very bitter to me to see lepers. And the Lord himself led me among them and I had mercy upon them. And when I left them that which seemed bitter to me was changed into sweetness of soul and body; and afterward I lingered a little and left the world.”

After meeting the Leper, Francis retreated to an isolated cave to repent for his life of sin and seek the Lord’s will for his life. In the literal darkness of a cave, Francis came face to face with the darkness in his heart. In this cave Francis was forced “to look at the truth in himself.” (Brunette, 32) G.K. Chesterton, in his biography of St. Francis, which happens to be the first one I read, paints a vivid picture of the complete change in perspective that took place in Francis during this time. “The man who went into the cave was not the same man who came out again…He looked at the world as differently from other men as if he had come out of that dark hole ”

He goes on to describe what might be the result of looking at the world upside down. Everything would look like it is hanging from the sky and buildings that seem so strong and steady suddenly seem fragile. In short, by looking at the world from this perspective, one realizes how dependent the world is on God – that He literally holds everything in existence.

What does Saint Francis say about humility?

In his admonitions to his brothers he wrote, ‘What a man is in God’s eyes, that he is and nothing more’ Humility means accepting the truth of who God is and who I am. How do we avoid despair at our littleness and weakness before God? Because Jesus made himself weak and little first. Francis recognized that in the incarnation Christ had made himself the lowest and humblest of all. Therefore, the further Francis descended the closer he came to Christ. He could never outdo Christ, who was always lower and more humble!

As I have grown closer to Christ, especially through meditating on the gospels, I have been continually blown away by his radical humility, which he calls us to imitate. Jesus, who is the all powerful, omnipotent God, emptied himself.  He “grew in knowledge and wisdom.”  He came as a little baby who knew nothing!  This is the reason He came: “the Son of God came down from the height of his Father’s bosom to our lowly estate so that our Lord and Teacher might teach humility in both word and example”(LM 2:1).

humilityJesus came down and looked up

The moment, the “pearl” that opened my eyes, that turned everything I thought I knew about Christ upside down, is found in the story of the woman caught in adultery. I always imagine this scene as it is shown in The Passion. The woman is on the ground and Jesus lifts her up. So when I read the scripture passage carefully I was SHOCKED.

“…Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus looked up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”  She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again.”

Jesus is on the ground! He looks up at each one of us and says I do not condemn you, no matter what you have done, I do not condemn you! Click To Tweet The Cantata of Love, a commentary on the Song of Songs says: “His love made him so small that he sees his beloved high about him: ‘Here I am,” the Lord says, ‘among you as one who serves you.’ Master and Lord, to be sure, but at the feet of his people…The ascent of love is, in the last analysis, accomplished by him.”

This ascent is the ascent of the cross. And this is where facing my weakness and poverty leads me- to the feet of Jesus once again, to the foot of the cross. By fixing my gaze on the cross I am saved from drowning in self-pity. I see how poor, how weak, how humiliated Jesus was willing to become for me and am given the strength to return the same sacrifice to him.

To see ourselves as we are before the cross: this is humility.  To see that we are the cause of His wounds, yet the object of His mercy and love: this is humility. To see how little we are at the foot of the cross: this is humility.

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Humanae Vitae: 50 Years Later [at Plot Line and Sinker (Ellen Gable, Author)]

HV50 Man CannotMy latest article for Catholic Mom:

In July of 1968,  I was a carefree nine-year-old enjoying summer vacation, still playing with dolls and pretending that I was the mother of ten children. I don’t remember watching news or hearing anyone talk about Humanae Vitae.

But I do recall my parents and their friends that summer having these sorts of conversations: “What does the pope expect we should do? Have 15 kids? Or not have sex? No way. We’re using birth control.” I didn’t think much about it except that in my naïve mindset, I didn’t know what sex or birth control were, but I remember thinking, shouldn’t moms and dads want to have lots of children?

Me at the age of nine, summer of ’68.

In 1968 and with many of the faithful expecting and hoping that the Church would “change” its teaching on artificial contraception, Blessed Pope Paul VI issued his encyclical, Humanae Vitae (On Human Life) which confirmed and proclaimed the 2000-year consistent teaching of the Church that artificial methods of contraception were immoral.

Within two days, dissident theologians led by Father Charles Curran issued this statement: “Spouses may responsibly decide according to their conscience that artificial contraception in some circumstances is permissible and indeed necessary to preserve and foster the value and sacredness of marriage,” thereby, leaving it up to individual Catholic couples’ “conscience” to decide. The problem was there was no indication from dissidents as to how couples should form their consciences (nor, in my opinion, did the dissidents care). Two months after HV, the “Winnipeg Statement” was issued by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops stating that “those who cannot accept the teaching should not be considered shut off from the Catholic Church, and that individuals can in good conscience use contraception as long as they have made an honest attempt to accept the difficult directives of the encyclical.”

While many of the faithful were only focusing on their own personal situations, Pope Paul VI was warning the faithful that going against natural law and the 2000-year teaching of the Church would bring a “general lowering of moral standards.” (HV 17) Welcome to the world in which we live.

Fifty years later, I’m more mature. I understand that there are many good and serious reasons to postpone or prevent pregnancy. In fact, I’ve lived through serious situations that necessitated avoiding pregnancy. But I also believe that there are so many good reasons NOT to dissent from Church teaching on this issue.

Blessed Pope Paul VI affirmed the Church’s teachings but he also gave an alternative and moral option: Natural Family Planning, which in the ’60s was becoming more and more effective.

Blessed Pope Paul VI said (HV 17) that we needed to “consider how easily this course of action could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards. Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to understand that human beings—and especially the young, who are so exposed to temptation—need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law.”

I remember as a teenager in the late ’70s when I heard of a young man and woman moving in together. I wasn’t surprised. I wasn’t shocked. In fact, in the ten years or so since I had heard the conversations between my parents and their friends, three things had become normalized: cohabitation, premarital sex, and contraception. In my formative years, I was taught by society that if everyone agrees something is okay, then it’s okay. Thus, I regarded a man and woman moving in together as simply an option rather than a moral choice.

Blessed Pope Paul VI went on to include another, very important, consequence for accepting contraception.

One “effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection.” (HV 17)

Well, we need only look to the recent scandals that have come to light in Hollywood and in other areas where men in power have been preying on young women. Why do large numbers of Christians and Catholics believe it’s completely acceptable to read the Fifty Shades books and to see the movies (and many defending their actions)? It is precisely because women themselves don’t reverence their own bodies. If they are contracepting (statistically, most Christians and Catholics use contraception openly), if they aren’t reverencing their own bodies, why should they expect their spouses to do so?

The sad effect in all of this is that the widespread dissent to Humanae Vitae and our society’s rejection of objective truth sent me in the wrong direction to the point that, when I began dating my husband in 1979, I was pro-choice, pro-premarital sex, and pro-contraception. I thank God every day that he gently led me back to the faith of my youth and to the truths of these beautiful teachings on sex and marriage.

Blessed Pope Paul VI was, indeed, a prophet. One need only look at the state of our world 50 years later to see that there is a general lowering of morals. Paul VI knew that the “Birth control commission” set up by his predecessor, Saint John XXIII, recommended that the Church “change” her stance on artificial contraception. However, guided by the Holy Spirit, he wrote Humanae Vitae. He probably suspected that his encyclical reiterating and confirming the Church’s 2000-year teaching on natural law would not be met with cheers and applause. We do need incentives to keep the moral law; otherwise, there are consequences.

I, for one, am grateful that Blessed Pope Paul VI embraced his mission to confirm and spread the truth. Now, we can clearly see his prophecies have come true — the morals of our world have changed greatly since 1968.

I’m 50 years older, but 50 years wiser. And very thankful to the Church for reaffirming the truth amidst pressures.

Copyright 2018 Ellen Gable Hrkach

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Seven Ways for Husbands to Be a Part of Birth

One of my favorite ways to be a support in the birth room is by helping the father to have an involved role in the birth of his baby. I think it's really important that the members of the birth team, whether it be doctor, midwife, doula, nurse, or other support, never interfere in the healthy relationship between man and wife as they meet that wrinkly-faced embodiment of their love. To the extent that the mother is comfortable, of course, it's an amazing thing to witness a man claim his fatherhood and honor the work of his wife in an intentional and hands on way. What a powerful witness to the sacrament of marriage it can be to have a husband involved in birth.

In fact, Pope St. John Paul said this when talking about the birth of a child,

"

In this mutual influence which will be revealed to the outside world following the birth of the child, the father does not have a direct part to play. But he should be responsibly committed to providing attention and support throughout the pregnancy and, if possible, at the moment of birth."  (Letter to Families, 16)
That's my guy. The reality is, though, that many men have no idea what that means in a practical sense. That's one of the reasons I have a whole chapter on fathers and birth in my book. For many in this culture of ours, their experience of pregnancy, birth, and even being around a baby begins when their own wife becomes pregnant for the first time! Now, of course, every man is different and personalities and temperaments differ and relationships between husbands and wives differ. So there is not one-size-fits-all when talking about how a husband should support his wife and baby during birth. Every relationship is different and that will, of course be reflected in their birth as well. But as much as is possible, given a healthy marriage,* we can encourage fathers to be involved in birth in some way that best fits their unique temperament and marriage and which will then strengthen not only his relationship with his child but his marriage as well.
So what are some of the ways that a husband can provide his wife with that "attention and support" before and during birth?

1. Prayer

The prayers of a husband over his wife and unborn baby are especially powerful. As that child grows in his wife's womb, he can develop a relationship with that baby and bless his wife and baby with holy water every day. He can pray over her in his own words or with pre-written prayers. He can initiate novenas, a daily prayer for the health and birth of the baby, the Rosary, or any number of ways to draw from God's grace for his wife and baby during pregnancy. If a priest or deacon is not available, he can even perform the official

rite of blessing of a mother before birth

and/or

the blessing of a child in the womb

for his wife and baby! One very powerful way he can spiritually support his wife is through some sort of fasting. How powerful it is when a husband makes the choice to enter into the trial that pregnancy and birth can be for his wife and unite with her spiritually through his own self-denial! Perhaps in some mystical sense, he can even take on some of that pain and suffering for himself.

During the birth itself there are also a myriad of ways he can pray with and over his wife and baby. Whether it's through spontaneous prayer during the birth, praying

words of Scripture over her

, a memorized prayer like the Rosary or a Divine Mercy Chaplet, perhaps through a litany of saints, or his own words of prayer whispered in the quiet of his heart, those prayers of a husband have authority and strength like no other.

2. Physical support

During pregnancy and birth a husband's physical support can be a huge help to his wife and baby. In pregnancy, he can take over chores that she can no longer do, help with nesting, offer himself in the form of massages, foot rubs, and making healthy (or not so healthy ;) meals, or send her to nap while he takes over with older kids. When it comes to birth, his physical strength can be a huge help to a mom in labor. Whether it's through providing counter pressure on her back or doing strong hip squeezes or taking her weight and holding her while she sways through a contraction. Husbands are especially helpful for those because they often have more physical strength than the doula or midwife and often a wife feels more comfortable with that anyway. Maybe his physical support is just through simple head rubs or a massage during labor or before a cesarean. For some men that want to be very involved, sometimes their physical support means that they're the ones catching the baby or cutting the cord. In whatever way is best for his wife, he can offer his very body during labor to support his wife and baby.

3. The "Behind the Scenes" Guy

Very often fathers are really good at "behind the scenes" labor and birth support. They're the designated "tub guy" or making sure the tank is full, or are or doing last minute tasks like arranging childcare or taking care of getting bags into the car. For many women, those things are just as important to their being able to feel safe and supported during birth as others!

I remember with my third birth

having a ridiculously detailed handwritten "labor list" for my husband once I went into labor. Listed in chronological order were all the things I was hoping he would take care of behind the scenes...things like setting up a sound machine outside the older kids' door, wiping counters, filling up the tub, making orange juice for during and after labor. They sound trivial now but knowing that those little things were being taken care of meant that I didn't have to worry about it and that made me feel safer and able to enter into the work of labor without distraction. Plus, it empowered

him

 to know what he could do to take care of me.

4. Comfort Measures

A husband is usually the one in the birth room who knows his wife best. He can talk with her beforehand about her how she thinks she will be most supported and comforted during the birth, no matter what kind of birth it is. He knows that she'll be more comfortable if the lights are off or if it's quieter or if certain music is playing. He knows that she'll want her favorite warm socks or that certain smells will irritate her or that he's going to have to keep the nurse's chatting to a minimum. He knows that she *hates* having her feet touched but loves having her hair brushed. He can be the one bringing her a glass of juice for energy, drawing the bath, fixing the delicious meal afterward, helping her in the shower. While obviously preferences and wishes can change during labor and birth, a husband can avail himself and seek to serve his wife and baby in ways little or big as that baby is born.

5. Encouragement and Empowerment

Another very powerful way that husbands can very practically help in the birth room is through verbal encouragement and a confident presence. If he believes she can do this very hard thing, than she is much more able to believe it herself, especially when things get very difficult, the fears rise, and the doubt is strong. He can be a powerful strength for her to draw from, voicing how beautiful she is, how strong she is, and what a great job she is doing. Not only is this powerful for

her

 but it is important for

him

to be remembering these truths and recognizing how amazing his wife truly is. When his wife reaches that point in labor that almost every woman experiences of

"I can't do this anymore"

he can be the one encouraging her and speaking truth to her heart that he believes in her strength and that "

yes, you can

."

6. Advocating for His Wife and Baby

A father's voice is especially poignant when it comes to advocating for birth plan choices and care for their baby. His natural role as husband and father is to protect his wife and baby especially when they are most vulnerable. A woman in labor or during a cesarean should never have to worry about fighting for her rights or advocating for her desires for birth to be respected. The husband can and should protect his wife and baby by knowing their plans for the birth, advocating for her and the baby, and making sure their wishes are respected. If a nurse isn't working well with mom or a doctor not respecting something that was previously agreed upon, he can be the one to approach the nurse's station and request a new nurse or be assertive with the provider. In fact, while a doula can help remind them of what their plans were and empower them to know their rights and talk through decisions, she can not speak for them to the staff. But a father can and (sometimes as unfortunate as this is) his voice and authority is often more respected by staff than even the mother's.

7. Learning About Birth and Making Choices

Of course, in order to advocate for his wife and baby and the birth that they want, he has to be informed and learn about birth and all the choices out there. A husband can and should attend any birth classes with the wife so they're receiving the same information and can process it together. He can attend appointments as he is able to have a share in the growth and health of his baby and learn more about what his wife is experiencing and concerns she has. He can read books (

I know a good one

;) and learn about birth itself as well as ways in which he can support his wife during her unique pregnancy and birth. He can inform himself of the many many choices when it comes to birth and their baby, the risks and benefits of different choices, and talk through them with his wife so that they can come up with a birth plan together. At the very least, even if he is not super into birth classes and books and understanding all the whys, he can know what her plan is and ensure that it is followed as best as possible.

Obviously, like I alluded to above, all of these ways should be tempered to the unique personality of both husband and wife. A woman in labor may not want her husband even close to touching her but may want him actively involved in prayer. Another may not care at all whether he's involved in making choices as long as

he's

the one holding her all through labor and doesn't dare leave her side. And he should, of course, respect whatever way works best for his wife and baby. He should view himself as the servant of both, her support and rock, available and willing to serve in whatever way she needs as she does the work of bringing their baby into the world.

*Of course, if a relationship is unhealthy, in turmoil, or for some reason the husband cannot or should not be present for the birth, that must be respected. If a husband cannot be there because of awful circumstances such as death or deployment, the Body of Christ can and should step up and help in whatever way makes sense for that situation to alleviate *some* of that burden on the mother.

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Our Lowly Bodies [at The Running Hail Mary]

I have a friend who, when embarrassed by her special needs daughter in public, later complained to her husband about how she felt.  Her husband lovingly chastised her to "stop right there" - did she think she was better than her daughter? This story struck me, and has stayed with me for years.  What a loving and wise father and husband.  This happened well before my daughter was even a twinkle in my eye.  It helped develop how I view the world. 

Proverbs 14:31:

"Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him."

      SInce my daughter was born, I feel like I've been fighting for her dignity since the maternity ward.  How dare that woman from records say "I'm sorry" when learning of her diagnosis?  Since she was born, I have been on the offensive - "you WILL love my child! look at how beautiful!" It hurts me, on behalf of her and those like her, when people think her condition is undesirable. The vanity of this world is so strange. So, I have been walking around uselessly injured, unbeknownst to those who hurt me.  My kids have a saying. "That sounds like a 'you' problem, Mom." Praying for a charitable heart, the truth of that becomes clearer and clearer. I cannot dictate to another how they deal with an unexpected circumstance. But I want to. Pray for me.  

     Yesterday was World Down Syndrome Day.  I don't reject the notion of having a day to celebrate our "special" kids and advertise how remarkable they are.  I love it.  What I take umbrage at is that we need to show the world, justify, in a sense, their humanity.  I happen to have a child with DS, but it could be ANY anomaly, any disease, any condition that is atypical...every one of our children is fully human. Worthwhile. Necessary. 

     Because DS is a repeat of the 21st chromosome, March 21st was chosen to be World Down Syndrome Day.  Because of 3/21, I went in search of Holy Scripture, any book, to see what each ch.3, verse 21 had to say.  Some were irrelevant to my purpose (I'm not fully sure what my purpose was, other than to find something that applied to where I am right now), but didn't Philippians 3:21 come up:

Philippians 3: 

"And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."

     To me, this verse proves that we are all broken, on a level playing field, equal to the guy next to us.  We all have lowly bodies.  We are a fallen people.  We all have sin, and vanity and pride and bad hearts and TBIs and bum legs and failed kidneys and anxiety and depression and cancer, or any malady.  

     One day all of our bodies will stop.  Our bodies are not who we are.  We will be freed the bonds of this plane, and we'll each have our transfiguration moments, of a sort, when we will be seen as we truly are, and we hope, with grace and mercy, go to Heaven where we will be free of ailments.  

     Are diagnoses that are genetically detectable before birth any different? I would argue that these pure souls will touch God's face LONG before the rest of us. 

     Are they to be mourned? Or do we serve Our Lord, Creator of each one of us, who knew us before He formed us, when we delight in the gift of every child He sees fit to send us, for us to care for as our own.... 

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All Fathers Are Called to Be Warriors [at The Catholic Writers Guild]

This is the first in what will be a monthly post on parenting children with disabilities. Up front, I want to get out of the way any idea that I plan to sugarcoat the challenge, hence the use of the word disability and not the more PC term Special Needs. I will in later articles use that term and others, but to begin with, let’s meet the situation head-on.

A child with mental, physical, or emotional issues can, in reality, require more care than any loving parent or family can provide on their own. It all depends on the severity of the condition. Something as basic as bathing can be unsafe for one person to do because of the danger of injury to both the child and the caregiver.

But before we explore that and other issues, I want to answer why articles on caring for a disabled child are even appropriate for the Catholic Writers Guild blog.

All Guild members state they agree with the mission statement of the Guild, which proclaims that we are loyal to the Magisterial teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. A fundamental teaching of the Church is that we are pro-life and there is a preferential choice given to protect the most vulnerable. Those would include the child in the womb, the elderly, and those who live with physical, mental, and emotional problems that make daily living a challenge. Because of this, as a Catholic writer, I feel it is incumbent on me to address the situation.

Why me? First, for those who do not know, I am the father of eight children, with four of my sons dealing with significant challenges. Two have Asperger’s syndrome. The third nearly died at age one due to a three-hour grand mal seizure; his cognitive abilities were damaged by this incident. The forth has a learning disability and is legally blind in one eye and also deals with Tourette’s syndrome. So I can speak from personal experience as a parent on this issue.
I also worked professionally for thirty-four years with persons living with developmental disabilities and mental illnesses. I can draw on that experience to give suggestions and also cautions in making decisions.

What do I hope to achieve by writing these articles? First, I hope I am able to help other parents who are trying to help their children. I will admit I do not have all the answers, but by broaching the topic maybe others will be able to offer their insight. Second, and in my mind the more important issue, is to give a clarion call to all who read these blogs of the danger faced by those living with disabilities in our society. The suggestions that abortion or euthanasia is the humane answer to keep persons with disabilities from suffering is so brazenly discussed that refuting it will soon be Politically Incorrect. This is an issue that impacts everyone alive today, because you are one slip and fall away from becoming disabled yourself.

Since it was mentioned, let’s discuss the suffering the pro-death sect assumes is felt by those with disabilities. Point-blank, it’s a crock. I have known hundreds of individuals with a wide array of diagnoses. In their day-to-day life, they are in no more pain than the rest of humanity. To be sure, they do feel pain, as any other person, when they are made fun of, ridiculed, or worse, protected to the point of not being able to live as they wish to.

That last point is one I will stress often: the tendency to suffocate the disabled with kindness, or, to put it in a different frame, to refuse to allow the disabled to take a risk, to fail, and to try again. The right to risk is fundamental to having freedom. Without it, life is a pale shadow of what it can be. Besides, failure is a good teacher if one is open to learning.

A common misconception is that the learning-disabled are stupid. Trust me, that is totally wrong. I have known persons whose IQs measured below 20 who knew how to manipulate situations and people as skillfully as any James Bond villain. Learning is possible. It requires the right combination of motivation (why should I learn this?), patience (many attempts may need to be tried), and the proper approach (not all learn the same way).

Now seems to be the time to also sound an important warning: Do not take the advice of experts as gospel. Persons with lots of letters after their name are experts in a subject, NOT a person. You are the expert on your family member. Use the subject experts for advice, but filter it through your daily experience living with your family member.

My job as a father is to provide the necessities of life, food, clothing, shelter, and love, to protect my children and their mother, and to do what is necessary when the world endangers my family. At times I may have to be a barrier; at other times I may have to go on the attack (legally and morally). With children not dealing with handicaps, the workload eases after eighteen or so years as the kids gain independence. But with children dealing with developmental disabilities, the time frame is much longer and possibly lasts a lifetime. Of course, the ultimate goal is for all of us to get to heaven.

One more vital point, the reality of a Church teaching that is too often neglected in today’s world. We are all living in the middle of a battlefield. It is unlike the killing fields of Cambodia or Nineveh but no less lethal. Satan and his army are arrayed against God and His angels. Each time he causes one of us to choose against God, he marks another victory. As the head of our family, we answer the call of duty by showing the way that leads to eternal life.

This requires a warrior’s mindset, where you are prepared to lay down your life down for your wife and children. If that sounds extreme, look about in our world and see the carnage wreaked by fatherless homes. Many of the children diagnosed with emotional disabilities are in that state because of AWOL fathers.

It is well past time to change that. The content of these articles will encourage the reader to work to bring about that change, not just for the most vulnerable but for all.

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A Princess Speaks [at The Frank Friar]

The Happiest Place on Earth

Recently, I attend the RE Congress in Anaheim, California.  The religious education congress was organized by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.  I was asked to attend by my province’s vocation director several months ahead of the event.  After looking at the map, I realized I was going to be only two miles away from Disneyland.  It was at this moment that I hatched a plan.

Uncle of the Year?

I started to save my pennies and dimes preparing for the day when I would visit Disneyland.  Let’s just say a ticket into the happiest place on earth is not cheap.  Now, why did I want to go to Disneyland?  It was not for myself, but I was on a mission for another.  Who?  My two nieces.  I knew my nieces would probably never be able to visit that place, and they are at the princess stage of their lives.  My nieces are about 4 and 2 years of age and they love everything and the Disney Princesses.  Therefore, my mission was clear, I had to get video of the princesses for my nieces!

They Knew their Names

While in the Disneyland park I visited with three of the princesses:  Cinderella, Ariel, and Snow White.  I showed each princess a picture of my nieces and ask if I could record a video of them greeting my nieces.  Each (as per Disney policy) said yes.  After acquiring my prize, I quickly sent them to my brother and sister-in-law.  The following day I was called by my eldest niece, via her dad, in order that she could say thank you to me.  My brother informed me through that call that my eldest niece could not believe that her fellow princesses KNEW HER NAME!  All day she was thinking and pondering about how these princesses knew her name, as my brother told me. 

Our Name is Spoken

Yes, after this phone call, my heart melted with such joy.  I cannot provide much for my nieces, but this is a memory I hope that they will not forget for years.  However, my niece’s experience got me thinking.  God speaks our name (Isaiah 43:2).  Yet, how often do we forget that?  I do lot of work in youth and young adult ministry, and I bring this truth up regularly.  When I share this wisdom, I am usually greeted with a stare that whispers the phrase ‘So What.’  Then I remind my listener that our God, is not just a God of love, but is love (1 John 4:16).  Thus, when God spoke each of our names, God spoke it in love, and that love brought us into being.  From before we were born, we existed in and for love, not because of what we do, but simply because of who we are:  God’s Children.

Our Foundation

We see the evil and darkness that resides in us, but those chains around our hearts no longer have the last word.  Christ has the last word, because he is the Word.  Being the Word of God, he was given over to us in love, so we may live in the Divine love for all eternity.  Our foundation of love, which was formed before our birth, by God, who held our names in his most loving heart.  Love is the way that Christ himself has given to us to walk down.  It is this way of love, guided by the Spirit, that allows us to arrive at our final resting place, a room, Christ has prepared for us (John 14:3).  This profound life of love, is an experience we are called to ponder on every day, with the littleness of a child, as my niece herself did in a way.  However, it is not a princess that speaks our name, but Our Father, who art in heaven, whose own name is meant to be hallowed.  We can keep hallowed Our Father sacred name, because God first made our own names sacred. 

A soul enkindled with love is a gentle, meek, humble, and patient soul.  ~~ St. John of the Cross

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Pleasing the FatherA Spiritual Journey [at Sat, 14 Apr 2018 12:00:00 EST]

        When a sinner turns to God and repents of his sins, the whole heaven rejoices. We can please God even more by offering ourselves as projects for him to work on. By letting him shape and mold us any way he wishes, we give him his greatest joy! And we too should rejoice that God, our Father, is happy with us, his children.

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Truly an extraordinary ministry: I am an EMHC and I am honored to be one [at Cradling Catholic]

EMHCs and Holy Communion           flickr/Utah Knights

By Larry Peterson

I wish to clarify something right away. I am NOT a Eucharistic Minister. I am an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion (EMHC). Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion is the proper term for the people involved in this ministry. The term, “Eucharist” is never to be in their title. That term is reserved for the priest alone. (see Redemptionis Sacramentum).

I have been involved in many ministries over the years and have been an EMHC for 23 years. For me, nothing can compare to being an EMHC. It is all about Jesus, the person receiving Jesus, and you being the one who has brought them together. It does not get any better than that.

I rarely miss a visit to my homebound friends. As of this writing, I visit nine (9) every Sunday. Five of them are in their nineties. Honestly, it makes my day. Ironically, it makes their day too, (and sometime their week)  because they hardly see anyone during the week except home-health aides and folks like that.  All I come with is a smile, a church bulletin, maybe a prayer card and, of course, their BEST FRIEND.

I have a journaling book, and in the back, I have compiled names of people I have brought Holy Communion to over the years. I want to share a few of these folks with you. These are Catholic people who have lived their Catholic lives to the best of their ability. Many of them were children during the Great Depression and lived through World War II and into the 21st century. Like my friend, George B.

George was in the U.S. Navy and stationed in London in 1940 during the Blitzkrieg. He survived that, came home and wound up at Pearl Harbor. He was there on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked. He and a Marine corporal manned a 50 caliber machine gun and shot down two Japanese Zeroes. The two of them then proceeded to pull men out of the burning water near the USS Arizona.

After the war, he was in the circus for over 20 years. George died several years ago at the age of 97. I loved his stories. He was a walking history book, and he would get all animated when he was telling you about his adventures. I brought him Communion every Sunday for more than two years. What an honor that was.

There was Anne S. She was 90 and would be dressed to the “T” every Sunday when I arrived. She would ask, “Why does God keep me here, Larry?”

“Anne,” I would say. “He needs Prayer Warriors. That’s what you are, and that’s why you are here. There are many souls in Purgatory. They need your help.”

She would always smile and point to her Rosary and her prayer books on the table next to her. She would point to them and say, “Yes, I know. I do keep busy.” Recruiting “prayer warriors” is an important part of what I do. Anne has been gone for five years.

And my little pal, Scotty Walker. He was a St. Jude baby because of a tumor on his brain stem. That was in 1977 when he was only two years old. He was now 25. Only 4 feet, 4 inches tall; he started his own lawn service when he was about 17.

Scotty wore a big straw hat, and his nose would be just above the lawn mower handle as he pushed it along. At the same time, he was studying for his GED. He worked his tail off until he could not any longer. I brought him Communion every Sunday during the last two years of his life. He died in 2002 when he was 27.

I have been blessed to be part of this ministry. I have seven people who received their Viaticum from me. It was not planned that way—it just happened. I pray to each of them all the time. I have on my list over 40 people who have passed on, including both my wives (one died in 2003 and the other in 2017).

I would suggest you look into being part of this ministry.  You get to leave the church with Jesus in your pocket and then, just you and He, get to go visiting His homebound or hospitalized people. It is a beautiful thing.

copyright©Larry Peterson 2018

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Prayer, Answered [at With Us Still]

One thing I noticed that’s different about me on Good Friday this year, compared to last, is that my heart is filled with wonder regarding the conversion story of Andrew Klavan.

Quite a read, for Good Friday…

I’ve never met the man, Andrew – my brother in Christ. This past year, however, I had occasion to read his story, The Great Good Thing – subtitled, ‘A Secular Jew Comes To Faith In Christ’. It’s an amazing tale, on many different levels, perhaps the most striking of which is that this novelist and screenwriter experienced his conversion almost entirely through unauthorized channels.

His spiritual journey didn’t involve the testimony of a friend, the witness of a spouse or family member. It didn’t include formal instruction in the church – no clergy, in fact, until after his newborn faith in Christ was a done deal. Still somehow, God found a way to touch Andrew’s heart…to convince him of a Divine Presence at work in the world…and ultimately, to move him into communion with the Body of Christ.

How does such a thing happen?

Perhaps I shouldn’t be amazed, given the faith I profess in a God who chooses to dwell among us. A God who freely empties himself, accepting even death…death on a cross. In point of fact, God is routinely amazing. I just tend to be a bit slow on the uptake, I guess.

I was reminded of Andrew Klavan’s astonishing story today, as I prepared to take part in the church’s annual celebration of the Lord’s Passion. The liturgy includes a lengthy and beautiful series of Solemn Intercessions. We start off praying for ourselves (naturally)…and for those who are soon to be received into the Body of Christ. But then, the field-of-vision widens: We offer petitions for the unity of Christians…for the Jewish people…for those who do not believe in Christ…and then, right near the end, for those who do not believe in God.

It’s a beautiful sequence – and it’s nice to be able to put a face on one of the (answered) petitions this year. At the same time, I am moved to wonder: Were our prayers necessary for Andrew’s conversion? Were they effective? The more I meditate on these questions, the more I realize that it’s actually my heart that’s being changed by the repetition of these Solemn Intercessions each spring. It’s my eyes that are being opened – helping me to see a God who’s so much bigger than I can possibly imagine. God, constantly at work in the world…at work in the cosmos…chipping away at our divisions, at our hardness of heart.

God, dying – and rising – so that we might live.

How, indeed, does such a thing happen?

Let us pause now…to recall that we are in the presence of the Holy & Merciful One.

IHS

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On Being a Catholic Feminist [at Under Thy Roof]

I am a Catholic Feminist. But that last word is really redundant.

I am a Catholic Feminist because I cannot be Catholic without being Feminist. If by Feminist it is meant that one believes in the dignity and worth of women as equal to men, than of course I am a Feminist. To be otherwise would make me a bad Catholic. Really.

The Catholic Church is the first institution that believed I am worthwhile purely because I am a human being.

In every other instance my personal worth is based on what I can offer or how I can be used.

Every. Other. Instance.

I have been asked to choose between my fertility or a career.

My health or my finances.

My intellect or my integrity.

The Catholic Church teaches that "the person represents the ultimate end of society" (CCC 1929) and that "the equality of men rests essentially on their dignity as persons and the rights that flow from it" (CCC 1935). To demand these impossible choices within our own personhood, especially as broadly as our society does, is immoral and demeaning. These demands, still, fall disproportionately on women. When it comes to calling a spade a spade, I'm still going to bet on the Catholic Church before government or society.

But there are those who say "the Church hates women" and that I cannot possibly be a woman in the Church without being "complicit in your own oppression". This assertion normally centers around just three issues: abortion, contraception, and women priests. Abortion and contraception I believe fall under the false choices (typically fertility vs. career) listed above. So let's talk about women priests for a second.

I wrote an

outline of my thoughts on this matter a while ago

, but here is the gist of why I think the issue of female ordination should not determine whether or not the Church respects women. I think to say that women are not respected unless any of them can be priests is about the most disrespectful thing one can say about the lay state.

Think about it. By that same token, married people are not respected in the Church. Men over 40 are not respected. The mentally ill and the uneducated are not respected. Children are not respected

The list becomes quite lengthy.

To make ordination the basis of respect means that we would have to erase all the different states present within the Church, and within life. It is true that the life of laity has not always been best cared for or nurtured, but only a fool would argue that the lay state is not important to the Church! It is from the laity that our children are born, nurtured, and educated. The laity who carry out so many corporeal and spiritual works of mercy. Who are absolutely essential to the very breath of the Church.

Women in particular make up a disproportionate number of the laity that are so necessary to the life of the Church. If you have never read

JPII's Letter to Women

you are missing out on some of the most beautiful writing of praise for the state of womanhood.

"Thank you, every woman, for the simple fact of being a woman! Through the insight which is so much a part of your womanhood you enrich the world's understanding and help to make human relations more honest and authentic."

(

Letter to Women)

I am at home within the Catholic Church.

I am empowered.

I am free.

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

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Finding Rest in an Angry World [at The Contemplative Catholic Convert]

Hatred plays sinister tricks in our mind. Sinister and self-destructive. It reduces us to a position of great weakness, yet all the while seducing us to think we are powerful.

Two Bible texts come immediately to my mind, the first from the second psalm:

“Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!”

Human history sadly demonstrates how often the political, judicial, educational, and the average-citizen all get fed up with obeying the Creator’s rules.

But notice the Creator’s response: “He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger and terrify them in His fury, saying [to His Anointed – Jesus] You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’”

It ought to be a fearful thing to know God scoffs at you and me when we live as if He is blind and deaf to our rebellion. It ought to be a fearful thing, but it is too often not. Look at the daily news and form your own opinion.

The second text is from John’s gospel. Jesus and His disciples are in the Garden at Gethsemane. It is night. Here’s what happened in chapter 18: “Judas then, having received the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. So, Jesus . . . said to them, “Whom do you seek?” They answered Him, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He *said to them, “I am He.” . . . So, when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground. Therefore He again asked them, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.”

This scene has always amazed me. When the Lord of Creation responded, “I am” (the Greek text omits the pronoun, ‘He’), the soldiers and mob there to arrest Jesus fell backward to the dirt. The way the text describes it, it was if a mighty, unseen hand supernaturally cast them to the ground.

I like to think if I’d been knocked off my feet like that, I’d have bought the proverbial clue and fled as fast as I could. But hatred blinds us to truth – even to overpowering and supernatural truth. And so, when the mob got back to their feet, they took Him into custody.

It should not require special knowledge to look at our country – even the world as it lies engulfed in hatred -- and see a repeating pattern. It should not require special insight, but that’s what appears to be necessary. Good is now called evil. Evil is called good. Darkness is substituted for light, and bitter for sweet. It is almost as if a supernatural deluding influence has settled across the globe, leading spiritually blind, deaf, and heart-hardened men and women further into the pit of darkness.

And we can expect it to only grow worse. Here is what the Scriptures say about that point: “Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness." (2 Thessalonians 2)

So, what is my point?

If you’re caught up in the anger and hatred that simmers here, boils there, metastasizing like a cancer in nearly every place – then come out from among them and be separate. Hatred will blind us – even those who are children of God through the blood of Jesus – hatred will blind us to God’s truths.

Turn off the non-stop news channels. Take a permanent sabbatical from the demonic influences that seep into your heart and into your home through that doorway. Turn your focus instead to the one who is Love itself. Listen at His feet. Spend quiet time with His Scriptures. Devote yourself anew to prayer. Refuse to permit anger to overtake your words and your thoughts and your actions. It will take practice to do such things. Don’t be discouraged by failure. Keep doing the right things. There is no other way to restore peace in your heart and to your home than to stay in His light.

In a world undulating with trouble and anger and wrath, God promises you will find rest for your souls in Him.

This contribution is available at http://thecontemplativecatholicconvert.blogspot.com/2018/03/finding-rest-in-angry-world.html
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Leave it at the Altar

Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Today, as many of us get ready to go off to Easter mass we are heavily burdened. Easter, the most joyous day of the year, seems to be tainted by the burdens we are carrying.

A friend who was just diagnosed with stage four cancer.

Another Easter passes and we are still estranged from a loved one that we haven’t spoken to in several years, and can’t remember why.

We experience the anger and resentment of a marriage gone badly, and the loneliness of sitting in the pew alone.

The fear of what life will be like when the Alzheimer’s takes my husband from me.

Sometimes it seems that these burdens are just too big to handle.

In Psalm 55 we read, “Cast your care upon the LORD, who will give you support. He will never allow the righteous to stumble.”

Today, Easter Sunday, is the best day of the year to cast your fears, burdens, pain, anger, resentment, to the Lord. It’s time to “let go, and Let God.”

It’s time to leave it at the altar! It is time to release these feelings to a God who will never allow us to stubble. It’s time to unburden ourselves of these problems that eat away at us.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”   2 Timothy 1:7

Today, as you approach the altar to receive communion, what problem are you going to leave at the altar? Why not pray a prayer of release, asking God to take these burdens from you and bring you peace.

Lord, I release all of my problem to you, burdens that I can’t handle myself. I lay my fears, pain, anger, resentment at the foot of the cross.

My fear of losing a loved one…I leave at the altar.

The anger I feel from being wrongfully accused….I leave at the altar.

The resentment of being passed over for a promotion at work….I leave at the altar.

The pain that makes even getting out of bed difficult….I leave at the altar.

Today, at mass, let’s let go and let God. Let’s lay our burdens at the foot of the cross. Take my heart, loving Father as I put it on your altar. I put all my burdens in your loving care.

Do this, and watch what happens!

Have a blessed and Happy Easter, my friends.

This contribution is available at http://tonyagnesi.com/2018/03/leave-it-at-the-altar-2/
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Something Strange is Happening - an Alcoholic's Reflections on Holy Week [at Quiet Consecration]

I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell.

--from an ancient homily given in the 2nd Century on Holy Saturday

On May the 3rd, in the year 1992, I was held prisoner in hell.  On May the 4th, in the year 1992, I was released from prison.  I have not returned to my cell since that day, though I am acutely aware that my cell sits there waiting for me.

I have come close.  I have walked up to the entrance.  I have peered inside.  I have sometimes pretended in my head that living in that cell was not so bad.  I have even pretended, at times, that it was not a cell at all but a lavish bedroom in a beautiful spa with a great view from a large window.

To my great relief, my Guardian Angel has always put an arm around my shoulder and gently turned me back from that cell.  The voices of other prisoners released from a similar prison have resounded in my head and I have heard them say, "Call me.  I will help you".

None of this is because I am wonderful.  It is not because I am Saint Leslie of Modesto.  It is not by choice that I entered that cell when I took my first drink at 17 and it was not my choice to leave that cell. My entry was the result of being physically allergic to a substance the majority of the world drinks with impunity.  My imprisonment was the result of a spiritual and mental illness that allowed my physical allergy to take over my life.  As one celebrated person who is like me put it, "when I drink, my shoulders come off my ears". 

People who take issue with the idea of Alcoholism being a disease usually do so because they have no idea what the disease actually is - and because they are tired of people claiming alcoholism and using it as an excuse for bad behavior.  Most people think a hard drinker - someone who got drunk a lot and even had some bad stuff happen as a result of drinking a lot - is an alcoholic.  They are not.  They are never going to be able to understand someone like me and they will go out of their way to try and convince me that I am wrong about myself.  They will use the phrase "choice" a lot - usually in terms of themselves - and declare that it is a 'choice' and so not a disease. 

I have even heard otherwise intelligent people declare that alcoholism is not a disease because 'you do it to yourself'.

I understand their frustration.  They are ignorant and sometimes they are pretty ugly towards people like me as a result of their ignorance.   However, I do choose to believe their ugliness and arrogance is simply because they cannot conceive of a life of bondage to alcohol.  They cannot understand the person - like me - who resolves again and again to not drink alcohol only to find themselves drunk by noon.  They cannot conceive of a situation where we are not using our disease as an excuse but as an explanation, not asking for special treatment when we commit a crime but for an understanding that we really did not plan to kill that family of five, or punch our husband in the face, or run down the street naked screaming that someone is after us when we were all alone in our own house.

When they are  hostile and angry (which they often are - especially on social media) I suspect it is because they have been damaged by someone like me.  A father or a mother or a sister or a lover or a brother has let them down.  They have been given the message that somehow they are to blame - that the person 'chose' alcohol over them and so that means they are unlovable or unworthy at the most and at the least there is something lacking about them that would make the 'choice' to drink more attractive to the person they love.  I get it.  Their feelings are hurt.  Daddy chose Jack Daniels instead of the Father/Daughter Dance.  Sorry, gang, but that stuff stings and it takes a lot more than "Alcoholism is a disease, it is not your fault" to get over that kind of hurt.

I also suspect the super hostile are often on the front lines of the war - they are the police officers, the fire fighters, the EMTs and the nurses dealing with someone like me over and over again.  They are tired of the crying children, the anxious parents, the smelly, violent patient they have to put in four point restraints.   They are exhausted by us...and so they hate us...because they clean us up and we look them STRAIGHT in the eye and we say, "Yes, Sir/Ma'am.  I will not do that again". 

When I read the ancient Homily, written during a time when there was no Bible as we know it today, I see the miracle of my own redemption.  I had nothing to do with my release.  For whatever reason, I responded to the command to arise from sleep and walk out of that cell.  I did not choose to do it, that much I know, but why that day?  Why that morning?  What was different about May 4th (besides the fact that it is Star Wars day and I am a HUGE fan)?

I believe with my whole heart and soul that what happened for me was the prayers of a loving mother allowed for the fires of the Sacramental graces I had received - at Baptism, at Confirmation and through the reception of Jesus Christ Himself in The Eucharist - to suddenly flame up.  Because of that, I HEARD the voice.  I responded to the command.  I left the cell and I was not even aware of it.

That morning, when I came to, I did not plan on staying sober.  I remember that much.  All I wanted to do that day was find that old guy in that meeting who had been mean to me and prove to him that I could sit there opposite him, that he could not kick me out.  I had no intention of staying sober.  My intention was to show him he could not get rid of me.

Whatever the reason, I am very aware of the miracle that is my life.  I sit here this morning, feeling so sad for the men and women who hate people like me.  I get it, and I will not change their minds, but I hold them in prayer.  If they feel that kind of hatred towards someone with a disease, can you imagine what kind of heartbreak they have seen? 

This week, this Holy Week, I know something strange is happening.  This week I get to participate in an ancient and wonderful ritual.  I get to watch people come into full initiation with the Church founded by God.  I get to stand with others and worship God in the manner He deemed necessary.

And I get to do it sober.

This contribution is available at http://quietconsecration.blogspot.com/2018/03/something-strange-is-happening.html
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Ireland, Save the 8th Amendment

by Susan Fox

Someone is missing. 

In 1969, a 22-year-old pregnant and

unmarried woman began a legal struggle that would culminate in the ignoble U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, legalising abortion. 

Claiming she was too poor to travel to any of the six states* where abortion was legal, Norma McCovey, aka Jane Roe, sought the right to terminate her third pregnancy. 

Norma never had an abortion, and her child — adopted in 1970 —  would be 48 years old today.

But since then, 60 million Americans have lost their lives to abortion. That is more than 46 times the number of lives lost in every U.S. War since the American Revolution (1.309 million). And what about their missing descendants?  Geneticists have found 800 million men living today descended from 11 Asian men, including Genghis Khan.

Someone is indeed missing.

In the United States in 2016 and 2017, money almost stopped changing hands. Money velocity is at its lowest level since the Great Depression.** Money needs people to move it around.  

But many are missing.

That’s why  U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan supported immigration in the bi-partisan budget signed into law Nov 2, 2015. American businesses need labor! Since 1973, 60 million potential labourers have been killed in the United States. 

People over 65 years are expected to outnumber children for the first time in U.S. history in the next two decades. This is a drag on the economy. Economic growth is a function of an expanding labor force and rising productivity. (Source: Wall Street Journal)

In 2016, we almost saw the collapse of the global economy as China’s one-child policy created plunging world commodity prices. China practiced forced abortion and sterilisation for 37 years! Workers in Africa, happy with their new found, middle-class-status, committed suicide when China stopped buying their country’s natural resources. There went the jobs! 

The good times rolled. Sure they did. In Africa, they rolled and then they rolled right on by.  

Face it, one nation’s abortion law affects the entire world. 

In 1983, the Irish saw that U.S. citizens were stripped of their right to life by their own courts. So — with great foresight — they passed the 8th Amendment.

It guarantees the equal right to life of the unborn child and its mother. “The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.”

No court can overturn it. No elected legislature can change it. Tens of thousands of Irish citizens under the age of 45 are alive today thanks to the 8th Amendment. 

Now in May, Ireland is considering the overthrow of its own life protecting law. The inconvenience of traveling to England for an abortion is their excuse. Ireland is not a tolerant place for unwed mothers, they say, citing one extreme case where a young mother and child died in the street while she was giving birth. Irish Health Minister Simon Harris accuses Ireland of being “cold, uncaring, neglectful” because it prohibits abortion.

Ireland actually has the best maternal healthcare and one of the lowest maternal death rates in the world.  “So abortion campaigners are focused on smashing Ireland’s laws because they know pro-lifers the world over can look to Ireland as a real, proven example of why abortion is never necessary,” Niamh Uí Bhriain,  a spokeswoman for the Life Institute in Ireland, told Breitbart News in an interview. 

U.S. billionaire George Soros, whose investment strategy is to destroy economies, societies and their currencies so he can profit in a downturn, has a well funded plan to legalise abortion in Ireland, according to documents leaked from his Open Society Foundations, according to Breitbart News. 

The leaked documents say that the Soros’ foundation created a three-year-program to “reverse the tide of fetal personhood laws and constitutional amendments” and to generate “a robust set of organisations advancing and defending sexual and reproductive rights.” 

These documents show that Soros viewed the legalisation of same sex marriage in Ireland in 2015  as providing an excellent opportunity to advance the pro-abortion agenda against Amendment 8. 

One hundred thousand Irish rallied to the cause against abortion on March 12, 2018. Uí Bhriain said that these crowds in Dublin city centre demonstrated that a sleeping giant has been awakened, according to LifeNews.com. "These huge numbers are a rising of the people against the media and political elites and against the powerful international abortion industry who have poured millions into a campaign attacking out pro-life laws. Ireland is at a defining point in our history, and we are challenging the people to reject the abortion industry and to demand a better answer for mothers and babies," she said. "Abortion has no place in a compassionate and progressive society." 

I strongly  sympathise with the plight of young girls and women caught in an unexpected pregnancy. I have looked into their sorrowful faces when they leave the abortion clinic. But isn’t the proper solution mercy? Should a child lose its life because we as a society are unwilling to show compassion to its mother? 

In the U.S., the abortion rate is declining. In part, it is because we have massively more crisis pregnancy centres than abortion clinics.*** As soon as I volunteered to witness outside an abortion clinic, I found out the crisis pregnancy centre — loaded with available resources for housing, jobs and medical care — was right across the street. 

Norma McCorvey regretted causing the death

of 60 million Americans. She was in a medical waiting room, "When I noticed a fetal development poster. The progression was so obvious, the eyes were so sweet. It hurt my heart, just looking at them.  I kept seeing the picture of that tiny, 10-week-old embryo, and I said to myself, that's a baby! It's as if blinders just fell off my eyes. Abortion wasn't about 'products of conception.' It wasn't about 'missed periods.' It was about children being killed in their mother's wombs! All those years I was wrong.  Working in an abortion clinic, I was wrong. No more of this first trimester, second trimester, third trimester stuff. Abortion—at any point—was wrong. It was so clear. Painfully clear."

She became a fiery opponent of abortion in every case. 

“I am Roe no more,” she said. 

Norma realised somebody is missing.

Please vote to save the 8th Amendment.

*Alaska, California, Hawaii, New York, Oregon, and Washington

 **Money Velocity is the number of times one dollar is spent to buy goods and services per unit of time. It is at 1.43 at the end of the fourth quarter of 2017. It bottomed out at 1.15 during the Great Depression.

This contribution is available at http://christsfaithfulwitness.blogspot.co.at/2018/03/someone-is-missing.html
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The Catholic Church Deeply Cares About Principled Philosophy

"If anyone loves righteousness, her labor are virtues; for she teaches self-control and prudence, justice and courage.”(Wisdom 8:7) by Susan Fox
Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903) had his finger on the pulse of modern civilisation when he wrote the Encyclical Aeterni Patris on the Restoration of Christian Philosophy in 1879. 

After the Protestant Reformation, philosophy dived into a host of “ism’s” based on nominalism, a doctrine that universals or general ideas are mere names without any corresponding reality; only particular objects exist. That made it impossible for the Catholic Church to forge a relationship with most secular philosophy.

This wasn’t the glory days of the Middle Ages when a Catholic realist, St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), used the logic of Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) to present revealed and created truth in a coherent manner. Such scholasticism reached its highest point under Aquinas, but it became closed in on itself. It could not address the hot new materialism that rose alongside the Reformation. Men wanted to take apart the universe and study it. They couldn’t do that with scholasticism.

"Whoso turns his attention to the bitter strifes of these days and seeks a reason for the troubles that vex public and private life must come to the conclusion that a fruitful case of the evils which now afflict…us lies in this: that false conclusions concerning divine and human things, which originated in the schools of philosophy, have now crept into all the orders of the State, and have been accepted by the common consent of the masses. For since it is in the very nature of man to follow the guide of reason in his actions, if his intellect sins at all, his will soon follows," Pope Leo wrote.

And in a very determined manner, Pope Leo recalled St. Thomas Aquinas, who “like the sun…heated the world with the warmth of his virtues and filled it with the splendour of his teaching.”

Pope Leo was right to be alarmed.

The word virtue was slipping from the English vocabulary. A search online shows that the use of the word “virtue” has declined dramatically since 1800 from 0.016 percent of English words used to 0.00279 percent in 2008, according to the Ngram Viewer.

And why should we care? “Be all that you can be!” we sing. But we rarely reflect what that requires — living virtuously. Virtue raises the level of existence of the human person. By living virtuously, man reaches his ultimate potential. “The virtuous person is in such a way that, from the innermost tendency of his being, he realises the good through his actions,” said Catholic philosopher Josef Pieper in The Christian Idea of Man.

And so Pope Leo begged, cajoled and encouraged modern philosophers to a practical reform of philosophy, “aimed at restoring the renowned teaching of Thomas Aquinas and winning it back to its ancient beauty.”

One year after Pope Leo died, Pieper was born (1904-1997). He answered the call of the Holy Father, giving us a beautiful new Thomism. Among his great works were The Four Cardinal Virtues: Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, Temperance; Living the Truth; and The Christian Idea of Man.

More recently, Rev. Dr. Francis John Selman gave us the thoughtful basic introduction to St. Thomas Aquinas in Aquinas 101.

Both men answer the question, which began with Aristotle, “What is virtue?”

Fr. Selman dives right in with Aquinas, who defines a virtue as an act consistent with reason. The habit of virtue that perfects the powers of the soul and disposes it to do good is acquired by repeatedly choosing a good action, according to St Thomas. Fr. Selman — mimicking Aquinas — addresses three kinds of virtue: moral (justice, temperance and fortitude); intellectual (prudence, understanding and wisdom); and theological (faith, hope and charity).

But it is Josef Pieper who restores Aquinas to his ancient beauty in a manner attractive to modern times using Scripture. He begins his description of virtue by describing the Christian exemplar for man with one word: “Christ.”

Original man created in God’s image lived original innocence before the Fall, but an even more beautiful image of man emerged from the dust and ashes of Original Sin, and that is the Face of Jesus Christ. God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. In doing so, He endowed us with an unfailing moral compass, the Incarnate God, Jesus Christ Himself “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matt 5:48)

But how many of us have seen and observed the actions of Our Heavenly Father, who is invisible? Jesus said, “My Father goes on working, and so do I.” (John 5:17) When have we seen the Father working? When has He come to the office carrying a briefcase, or tilled a field accompanied by angels?

But we know Him! We recognise His perfection in the life, death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.“The Son is

the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” (Col 1:15)

That is our moral compass. The norms of Christianity are contained in the four gospels especially in the Sermon on the Mount, which all describe the words, teaching, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This is God’s thinking, not ours! The first will be last and the last first? Love your enemies? Pick up your cross? If you even look at a woman or man lustfully, you have already committed adultery in your heart? Marriage is an unbreakable bond? What, no divorce? From our perspective, God thinks like an alien. But that’s the way we are called to think and act as well. That is the redeemed image of man, and Pieper lays it out for us in seven theses.

Let’s categorise them according to steps on a staircase. Pieper begins with the theological virtues, which Fr Selman said, are for “reaching and uniting us with our last end, which is God.” Faith, hope and charity are the only virtues which cannot be acquired naturally. They need God’s grace.

A Christian, Pieper says, is a person, who in his faith is aware of the reality of the Trinity. We are created to know, love and serve God. Love begins with knowing. The next step is hope. We look forward in hope to embracing God in eternal life. The third step is love. We actually see and serve the Person of Jesus Christ in everyone we meet. This love for God and man offers us a supernatural form of seeing and is stronger than natural love. No virtue is possible without charity.

The fourth step is prudence. The Christian lives in reality. He will not allow his will to dictate to him without reference to the truth of the situation. This is exactly what Pope Leo was talking about — modern man does not live like that. He tries to create his own truth, to be his own god. His life is turned inside out following every selfish whim. So we see people choosing to change their sex through surgery and hormone

treatment, and using plastic surgery to turn themselves into an alien or a lizard goddess. These are imprudent actions, not based on the reality of who is man?

The fifth step is the virtue of justice, the Christian living in truth with the other. The practice of justice is required of people living in community. It can almost be said that the individual (though he is the only one who can be virtuous) is not responsible so much as the “we,” the social whole, the people.

In the sixth step of Pieper’s theses, the Christian is ready to suffer death — if necessary — for the truth and the

realisation of justice for himself and the other. This is courage or fortitude. It is especially exemplified in the lives of the martyrs.

The seventh step is moderation, also known as temperance. The Christian does not allow his desire for pleasure, possessions and enjoyment to become destructive to his own person.

These seven steps, the three theological virtues, which unite us to God, and the four cardinal virtues, (prudence, justice,

temperance and fortitude), have actually faded from the mind and imagination of modern man, Pieper asserts. It is the same alarm sounded by Pope Leo in 1879.

Fr. Selman is more practical when writing about Aquinas. I am glad to have read his text as it is very precise, but Pieper is the one who speaks Vatican Two-ese. Before Vatican II, we had — dare I say boring? — official Church text in many of our documents. After Vatican II, everything was enriched by Scripture. Pieper seems to have adopted this practice.

Fr. Selman calls the cardinal virtues the hinges of the door. One enters the house by the door— by the four cardinal virtues. The theological virtues come at the end. They are the last step, leading us to our end, God Himself, in Fr. Selman’s exegesis.

But Pieper argues passionately that the “first and most distinctive virtue of the Christian is the supernatural love of God and neighbor.” And therefore the theological virtues are of a higher order than the four cardinal virtues, which are rooted in the theological virtues.

I like both approaches. Pieper enlarges my understanding. But Fr. Selman is coming at the issue from the point of view of spiritual direction. In dealing with a soul, a priest — like a good carpenter — might oil the hinges on the door before he enters the house, so he begins working with the cardinal virtues. But if his goal is to get the soul to heaven, he will have to tinker with the theological virtues, which unite us with God, our last end.

This characterises Fr. Selman’s approach:

As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men, but chosen and precious in God’s sight, you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: “See, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.(1Peter 2:4-6)

Which is the most important virtue? One really can’t have any virtue at all without having them all. But prudence directs all the cardinal virtues. The good accords with reality. Prudence allows us to choose the good based on real contact with objective reality. A woman decides her unborn child is a “blob of cells.” This untruth allows her to commit an abortion, an action imprudent, unjust, cowardly and intemperate. She is not in contact with objective reality. Many women, who have had an abortion, have subsequently suffered mental health issues.

That makes Prudence critically important. Pieper found that

psychology confirms the necessity of an objective viewpoint for a healthy mind.

"The idealist ethics of the last century has largely forgotten and denied the determination of morality by reality,” Pieper wrote in Living the Truth, “But ethical realism receives very significant corroboration from the fact that modern psychology, beginning from an entirely different starting point, and influenced especially by the discoveries of psychiatry, emphatically declares that objectivity is one of the most important prerequisites of psychic health."

However, prudence requires the other moral virtues because the passions can blind the judgement of reason. And there is no virtue without charity.

“Everything in moderation.” Unfortunately, moderation or temperance has become the characteristic Christian virtue in popular thinking, according to Pieper. Moderation implies that man’s lower powers rebel against his spirit because of original sin, but modern liberalism has hollowed out this virtue and made Christianity emblematic of only this most private virtue, moderation. So Pieper says that moderation as popularly understood is overvalued, has given a negative meaning to passion and sensuality and must be considered to be the last of the four cardinal virtues, not the first.

While I personally find temperance (moderation) important on the road to holy happiness, the fact is that the world has minimalized Christianity to such an extent that we do need to emphasise more “manly” virtues like courage, perhaps by writing about the lives of the martyrs.

Passion is actually a neutral concept. It is neither evil nor good. Fr. Selman has a beautiful passage on passion, which he defines as emotion. He says when the body is moved by the soul in any strong emotion, we speak of being white with fear or radiant with joy. “The emotions are movements of our sensitive appetites when we apprehend things as good or evil.” A normal person is repulsed by evil, and attracted by good. Many philosophies in the world, like Stoicism and Buddhism, have sought to control the emotions by achieving a state of invulnerability. But Catholicism asks us to sanctify our senses and passions, not to deny them.

In 2001, as my mother lay dying of kidney failure and sepsis, she lost her sight. To the hospital, I brought a bouquet of herbs from my garden —rosemary, thyme, parsley, chive flowers, basil. Her sense of smell was still acute, and while blind for the first time in her 82 years, she did not fail to deeply appreciate the scent of those greens. She had lived a good Catholic life, and had deeply appreciated all that life offered. She did not deny her senses, she let God purify them. At the end of her life I watched her deep appreciation of living herbs when she could not even see them. It didn’t matter.

Pieper says the words “sensuality,” “passion,” “drive,” “desire” now have negative connotations because of the overvaluation of the virtue of moderation in the modern world. St. Thomas understands them to be all the stirrings of our faculty of sense and desire: i.e. love, hate, desire, pleasure, sadness, fear, anger. The Church Doctor — interested in everything — offers us remedies against pain and sadness. There are many kinds of pleasure (a form of rest from sadness) — tears, the sympathy of friends, contemplating the truth, having a good nap and taking a hot bath.

I have tried all these remedies, but I remember one sadness I had consistently for three days, which seemed to have no cause. I went grocery shopping across the street from a Catholic Church. As I loaded my groceries into the car, I looked up at the Church, and I said (to Jesus in the Holy Eucharist), “Hi, Jesus!” Suddenly my sadness ended. I was at peace.

It is comforting to think that St. Thomas found nothing intrinsically wrong in the emotions. They are only good or bad as they come under reason and the command of the human will in an act of virtue, Fr. Selman said. Without the reins of reason, the emotions can become a runaway wild horse. When not directed by reason (prudence), they cause disturbance. But in St. Thomas’ view we cannot have virtue without emotion because we are joyful when we act well and sorrowful when we do wrong.

The greatest evil is not physical pain, Fr. Selman said. It is guilt. What harms the soul is worse than what harms the body. “Thus not to think that evil is evil is a greater evil than any sorrow or pain, because this springs from a lack of judgement and right reason. To be deprived of these is an evil, because rationality constitutes the good of human nature. Thus repentance, like pity, is always a good sorrow,” Fr. Selman said.

And that is why Pope Leo was so insistently alarmed by the direction secular philosophy was taking. Besides losing the focus on objective reality as a basis for virtue, modern philosophy has almost erased discussion of the virtues. People realise their full potential made in the image and likeness of God by practicing virtue. Virtue is to imitate the beauty of the Incarnate God, who lived on earth 33 years and gave us His Church to lead us to Him in faith, hope and charity.

By grace enkindling these theological virtues, we are made sharers of Divine Nature, Fr. Selman reminds us, as wood shares in fire when it is set alight.
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." (Philippians 4:8)

If you enjoyed this, you might also like Truth or Consequences? A Dark Churning Blindness Engulfed Humanity. It was Called Nominalism

Bibliography

Pieper, Josef. The Christian Idea of Man. Translated by Dan Farrelly. South Bend, Indiana: St. Augustine’s Press, 2011.

Pieper, Josef. Living the Truth. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1989. 

Selman, Francis. Aquinas101. Notre Dame, Indiana: Ave Maria Press, 2007.

This contribution is available at http://christsfaithfulwitness.blogspot.co.at/2018/03/heat-world-with-warmth-of-virtue.html
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Giving Back Words their Original Meaning

The local Charismatic group were celebrating  forty years since their foundation and were preparing a special Mass for that purpose. The readings, the psalms and the prayers had all been chosen to echo the overall theme of asking God to give his love to all those present and to the whole world that would be lost without it. The visiting preacher came straight to the point.

“Why waste your time praying for God to pour out his love. Whether you pray for it or not, his love has been sent, is being sent and will continue to be sent whether you pray for it or not. Why not save your breathe to cool your porridge, or rather save your breathe to pray that we will be given the knowledge and the  strength to take whatever steps are necessary in our lives to receive that love, no matter what the cost. Our spiritual lives and our ultimate well-being and destiny depends upon it.”

From the very beginning the great spiritual writers have all been at one in insisting that we cannot love God as he would wish, until we have learnt how to receive Christ’s ever-present free-flowing love into our hearts. This enables our frail and feeble  love to be suffused and surcharged with  Christ’s love; to be taken up by him  firstly into his own mystical body, and thence into his mystical loving of our common Father.

In order to understand how this mystical  process begins and how we can continue to maintain it, come hell or high water, let us go to the very first time that the outpouring of Christ’s love was announced by St Peter on the first Pentecost day. The crowd were predominantly Jews who knew that the spiritual Tsunami that Peter was announcing had in fact been promised by their own Prophets with the coming of the Messiah. Once Peter convinced them that their Messiah had indeed come, and his mystical love was being poured out there and then, the question was how to receive this love that would change their lives? The answer is as important  for us now as it was  for them, for the love they received is being poured out now at every moment and to the end of time. Peter told them that only one thing is necessary, but this  response must be continual until it becomes commensurate with our whole lives and every moment of our lives. This, and its consequences, would be explained in far greater detail by the great mystical writers in subsequent centuries.

An ancient Chinese sage was asked, if he could do but one thing to change the world, what would it be? He answered that he would give back to words their original meaning. That is what I want to do for the word that St Peter used to teach his listeners how to receive the continuous outpouring  of God’s love on that first Pentecost day. He simply told them to repent. The word has become so weather-worn with overuse that our eyes glaze over at the mere mention of it. I must therefore try to  give back to this word its original meaning, so that, if put into practice, it can do for us what it did for the first Christians.

It meant they had to turn away continually  from the world in which were  living, where self-seeking, self-indulgence and self-absorption was the norm, to be filled with the love of Jesus. But its precise meaning was even more telling, for in Hebrew and Aramaic the language that Jesus spoke and preached in,  there was no word for someone who had repented, but only for someone who was continually repenting, every day and every moment  of their lives.

An ancient Jewish Rabbi used to tell his students that they must repent at the moment of death. When he was asked how they were to know when that moment had arrived, he told them that he could not – that is why they must repent at every moment. In other words, the day offered to God at the beginning of every  morning has to be offered again and again throughout the day, not so much in words, but in and through all that is said and done, at home, work, recreation, through good times and  bad. Simone Weil the Jewish Philosopher once said that a person is no more than the quality of their endeavour. It is the quality of our daily endeavour to keep trying to turn and be open to receive God’s love in all we say and do, that embodies the quality of our continual repentance. This determines the quality of the love that we are able to receive in return. This continual repentance enabled the first Christians to follow Christ’s call to take up  their daily cross and follow him,  making their whole life a sacred sacrificial offering to God.

Although this profound and mystical giving and receiving took place every day and every moment of the day for the first Christians who had learnt from the example of Christ’s own daily spirituality, that was not all. For it took place liturgically at Mass too each Sunday by the whole community.

I was first inspired to  take part in the mystical spirituality that Jesus lived and handed on to the first Christians by my mother. It was not so much by what she said, but by what she did. When our family went to Mass each Sunday, I saw her totally absorbed in what I took all too easily for granted. My selfishness during the previous week meant that I had little to offer. Frankly I had done little if anything to say, no to self, and yes to God. What sacrifices had I made to turn to God and away from self? Even if I had known the meaning of the word repentance, the very idea of continually turning to God would have been meaningless to me. Ironically, whilst I was lost in self  my mother was offering a thousand and one acts of  self-sacrifice for others, most particularly for  her family, as she repented continually in all she said and did during the previous week. This meant that she received to the measure of her giving.

Without any formal theological education, she discovered for herself that the Mass is not only a sacrifice, the place where we offer ourselves, in, with and through Christ to the Father, but something more. It is also a sacred sacrificial meal where we receive the love that is endlessly pouring out, onto and into all who are open to receive it, through daily sacrificial giving.  It was here that she received the help and strength she needed to go on repenting, go on carrying her daily cross by selflessly giving in the forthcoming week for the family that she loved so much. Each day she reminded herself of this, her sacred priestly calling, by making  the morning offering that she taught to me, as her Recusant  ancestors had done for hundreds of years before her. If ever I forgot to say mine she would remind me of the words of  the Curé d’Ars who  would say, “All that we do without offering it to God, is wasted.” And he was right, but it has taken me a long time to learn what she was trying to teach me!

If anyone is tempted to think that this is a recipe for an austere joyless spirituality then they have never tried it. It was firstly the spirituality of Jesus himself, who despite all he had gone through and was about to go through, called himself a man of joy who wanted to share the joy that he received with those who would follow his ‘way’. You can read this  for yourself in the famous discourse at the Last Supper in St John’s Gospel. For the ‘way’ of selfless giving is also the way of joyful receiving. Whenever you meet someone who genuinely  embodies the faith in their daily lives, you will always meet a man or a woman of deep joy whose very presence brings joy to all who meet them. Joy is one of the first signs that the love of God has finally found a home where joylessness reigned before.

So don’t waste any further time asking God to send his love; save your breathe to cool your porridge, or better still to devoting your life to trying to receive it. If you have been a bit wishy-washy so far during Lent, now is the time to make one final  effort during this Holy Week. It will help to make Easter all the more  joyful For it is in giving that we receive and what we receive at Mass on Easter day will depend on what we have been trying to  give during Holy Week.

The themes in this article are developed in David Torkington’s latest book  Wisdom from the Christian Mystics

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The Swinging Pendulum [at Shifting My Perspective]

When the Lord saw how great the wickedness of human beings was on earth, and how every desire that their heart conceived was always nothing but evil, the Lord regretted making human beings on the earth, and his heart was grieved.      Genesis 6:5-6

3.29.18 with word overlayMason suffered a deep disappointment last week, so deep he went to a dark and angry place because of it. We all just backed off and gave him his space to work through it.

After he did, he pulled up a chair at the middle island and said, “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I get so upset.”

“I do,” I said, and pulled out a piece of paper and a marker to explain.

I drew a horizontal line across the whole page, with one vertical line bisecting it in the middle. Then I explained, “This horizontal line is the whole gamut of emotions. This vertical line is the center of the spectrum. All positive emotions are to the right of it, all negative to the left.

“We all jump off from the vertical line and swing either right or left, tethered to the center post with a rope. We have no choice about the swinging; life is in charge of that. But we do get to decide how long our rope is. As far as we swing into the positive emotions is as far as we swing into the negative emotions.

“You, Mason, live life to the fullest; so your rope is long. When you’re happy, you’re not just happy: You’re elated. So when your rope swings the other way, you don’t get disappointed: You get devastated. The only way to avoid devastation is to pull your rope shorter. But then you’ll only reach happy on the other side. You’ll be robbing yourself of elation.

“So you have two decisions to make: How long do you want your rope? And how fast do you swing back when things don’t go your way?”

I believe God faced the same decisions back in the days of Noah. The people he’d created using all the love in his heart were wicked and evil. When he realized they were rejecting him, His elation over creating them swung to devastation. In his grief, he chose to destroy them.

After the flood, he vowed never to do so again. He chose to keep his rope long and still love people deeply; but he also chose to quickly swing back to forgiveness when our bad actions pierce his heart through.

That’s what Mason, and all of the rest of us, need to aspire to. We were created to live on the extreme side of love, and feel everything deeply. When people’s actions plunge us into hurt and devastation, w’ere supposed to quickly swing back to forgiveness too.

To remind us of this, God sent his only begotten Son. Jesus spent his days on earth loving deeply, and inspiring others to do the same. Yet when the pendulum swung the other way, and rejection nailed him to a tree, he chose to swing quickly back to forgiveness, and forgave us all.

Here’s wishing you all complete elation this Easter!

Questions for Reflection:

     * How long do I want my emotional rope to be?

     * How quickly do I swing to forgiveness when others hurt me?

This contribution is available at http://shiftingmyperspective.com/2018/03/29/the-swinging-pendulum/
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Authority and Service as we are called to live them in the Roman Catholic Church

QUESTION:   Does it make sense for lay people to offer spiritual direction and to even become spiritual fathers / mothers to clergymen?

Of course, it is God's intention that we live our lives in freedom and with generosity in the service of divine love. No one is obliged to make particular choices and Saint Francis de Sales advised a woman to diligently seek out the spiritual director in whom she would find the direction she needed and her soul desired under the conduct of the Holy Spirit.

Still, in the kingdom of God each order has its proper place in cooperation with divine grace.

Some ordained priests can not only hear confession and grant absolution, but they also have natural gifts, formation, and supernatural charisms to enable them to also offer psychotherapy and the direction of souls; some are even medical doctors, such that they can do it all.

In the normal course of life, however, God wants each domain to bring its proper activity with its properly competent, trained, experienced, and supervised service provider.

When as a priest I have health issues I must seek out a competent medical doctor as well as pray to God.

When I have trouble with my muscles or joints in addition to prayer I must seek out a physiotherapist.

When I have a moral struggle I must go to confession, preferably to the same confessor, but not necessarily when it is impossible or too difficult to do so on a regular basis.

When I struggle with some form of compulsion or psychological difficulty or blockage or various kinds of interior resistance or recurring emotional difficulties, then it is necessary that I confess to a priest, but it is also necessary that I seek out the counsel of a trained therapist; who has the training and dedication to pay attention to what I share and help me discover deeper understanding about the complex workings of the human psyche in general and of my own self in particular, with all my personal, family, and communal history. In addition, these professionals are responsible to seek out and receive ongoing professional formation and to offer their service under supervision so that they are accountable in the service they provide.

All of this has been proven to be true and effective and it is recognized by our Church as a way of offering and seeking healing and growth that is not only approved but given and blessed by Almighty God.

QUESTION:   In fact the INTERNAL FORUM has always been the privileged field of the church. That is the reason we could be so much convinced that there is a strong link to be a spiritual father with the sacrament of confession. That link is strengthened by the confessional secrets.

The internal forum concerns matters of morality and the human will in our struggle to conform ourselves with the divine law and with the will of God. It is true that the confessional relationship between the confessor and the penitent expressed and symbolized by the "seal of confession" is the privileged place given to us by Christ for the exercise and formation of the human conscience of the believer who is a baptized Roman Catholic.

However, there are other dimensions of our life for which we desire and seek our confidentiality and are able to find it. We also find it with doctors, lawyers, notaries, and other professionals. Whenever these breach their obligation to maintain confidentiality there are sanctions imposed on them by their professional associations.

Nonetheless, I believe and our Church does too, that God offers us more abundant opportunities for personal growth in more diverse professional relationships of help and service within which we can also receive God's help and the healing grace and guidance of the Holy Spirit. This is because in the Church there is at work a harmony of cooperation between the hierarchical gifts (by the ordained) and the charismatic gifts (by all the faithful), and it is the Holy Spirit who maintains the harmony in all of these in accord with the will of the Father and the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

That is why a priest can go regularly to his father confessor, and in addition, as he has need for it, he can also go to a therapist for additional help with complicated struggles in his emotions, or psyche, or self-understanding; just as he also goes to a medical doctor or physiotherapist or surgeon for their very specific services.

I can witness to you that at least on many occasions I have been blessed by God through people who were not priests. Of course, I have had incredible experiences of God's presence and power to heal and forgive through priests in confession since my childhood.

Confession was insufficient to help me overcome certain struggles and in the course of therapy with a religious sister who was a psychotherapist I receive incredible help. First, however, for two years I found myself blocked and could make no progress, but she very patiently continued with me until one day, as I waited to see her, the Lord showed me interiorly that when she would open the door to me it would be He, Jesus, who would receive me and care for me.

That amazing grace allowed me to open my spirit to her in trust, not so much trust in her, but trust in Jesus my Lord and Saviour, who for reasons He alone knew wanted to touch my life through the caring spirit and competencies of this religious sister who was also a trained and supervised psychotherapist.

From that point on, now that I could trust her (Jesus in her), I made incredible progress and learned so much more about myself and the interior working of my own spirit and became able to make great strides in caring for myself. As time went by and I faced more difficult challenges, I ran up against new walls deeper within my spirit, within my human psyche, and once again I needed the assistance of a trained therapist.

That is why when I became a resident in a formation and therapeutic program I was so eager to trust the therapist into whose care I was being entrusted. From the very beginning I learned a great deal about myself. The more I opened myself to the therapist, the more he could have insight into me, and so the more he was able to offer insightful help and guidance, and I experienced profound growth and healing.

This therapeutic relationship went hand in hand with the spiritual direction I received from the wonderful woman spiritual director, with the confessor I saw regularly, and with all the other services in which I participated. The Holy Spirit was orchestrating all of those services in order to demonstrate the power and effectiveness of his love for me and the other residents through the different members of the body of Christ dedicated there to our service.

QUESTION:   Jesus Christ himself had private talks with the twelve that he could not disclose to the outsiders! He explained to them for example that in order to chase away some evil spirits they have to fast and pray.

We as priests also have this as members of the Presbyterium and in the privileged relationship we have with our proper bishop and with his officers who are our direct supervisors and superiors. This privileged relationship we enjoy as priests does not preclude or prevent or block or forbid all of the other possibilities we enjoy as I have been describing them above....

QUESTION:   In the Acts of the apostles you know the episode of a certain Simon who wanted to have the same power as the apostles.... To this day simony – the buying or selling of ecclesiastical privileges continues to be strongly condemned by the Church as an act "latae sententiae"... which is the severest excommunication reserved for judgement by the Holy See.

I believe that evoking the evil intentioned Simon in the Acts of the Apostles here is a quotation out of context which has nothing to do with our current dialogue about the role of the laity in spiritual direction and is, I believe, only confusing to bring into our discussion in this way.

That man Simon had an evil desire and thirst for power and this is a thing against which God has spoken very strongly in the Old Testament. Such evil desires open the door to Satan and his demons, which is why God denounces such practices and desires so strongly. This has absolutely nothing to do with a priest benefiting from the services of a doctor, or therapist, or teacher, or professor, of even a lay spiritual director. I cannot denounce this insinuation more vehemently, my brother.

QUESTION:   If then spiritual direction is no longer under the powers of the church let's call that counselling and guidance and not spiritual direction. Otherwise we reinforce a tendency to stir up confusion in our modern society. The role of the priest in our society is becoming more and more overlooked!

It is true that even today some people seem to think that only the ordained clergy are "under the powers of the Church", which is not the case. We are all of us subject to the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ in accord with the will of the Father, the lay people no less than the ordained.

Counselling is a technical term that can only properly apply to a person who has been properly trained, tested, and is supervised to offer a service of counselling. Therapy is also a technical term that is sometimes used interchangeably with counselling but actually brings a little more than counselling.

The counsellor accompanies a person and helps them understand what is happening within them, so that they can conduct themselves with more insight and wisdom through self knowledge and understanding. The therapist can bring a person further through specific strategies to remove obstacles or learn to go around them or to undo "knots" that have tied up our inner processes of life.

Spiritual direction is separate from these two services and activities and has its own very specific objective which is the discernment of the will of God, the presence of God, and the action of God in our lives. It also considers our efforts to align ourselves with God in obedience to his will, to pay loving attention to his presence, and to work together with God under his direction in order to bring about his will in the world.

QUESTION:   Unfortunately this is our sad reality in our parishes where lay people want to take over the role of priests....  Priests have experienced on their own body the consequences of this permissive situation. Lay people think that there are no privileged rights for consecrated people. Whatever these are doing, those can do it too!

There are many sides and dimensions to the church situations which you evoke with this statement.

There is of course the specific role of the priests, as of the bishop, but there are also the roles of the laity. The first role of a priest is to operate as an agent of the mercy of God to build, repair, and maintain bridges of charitable relations within the parish community.

Like Saint Paul, the priest must be willing to endure the cross in order to become all things for all people in order to help them come to Christ and to love one another. He must help them overcome obstacles to understanding, to mutual help, to kindness towards all, to charity in every situation.

When the priest experiences difficulties with people, which is inevitable, he must not take any of it personally, but continue to love people, and when he must point out the teaching of Christ and the Church, he must do so in a dispassionate way, with great kindness, and never using the law as a "club" or instrument of discipline by way of authority through a show of strength. Only in exceptional circumstances and when everything else has been tried are we to resort to the strength of authority, as Jesus only did against the religious leaders BECAUSE they were preventing ordinary people from coming to Him, from experiencing the love and mercy of God.

So we are called to accept to be crucified, in little ways but also in big ways, in the course of our service to the Body of Christ. We are to lead by example in demonstrating the primary principle of charity, after the example of Jesus, who accepted to suffer in order to reveal the true nature of the love and mercy of God. So, as you say, we are called to experience these troubles in our body and well as in our spirit and emotions or psyche.

The thought or desire or appetite for "privileged rights" is a dangerous trap for clergy. Jesus made it very clear that those who wish to be first must accept to be last and servant or slave of all, of everyone, including those whom we find most difficult.

It is true that both the consecrated and the ordained are privileged, but only in a supernatural way, not in natural ways. We have a place reserved for us personally on the back of Jesus' Cross, which is empty and waiting for us. Some saints have called the back of Jesus' Cross the "marriage bed" between the soul and the Beloved who is the Lord Jesus, because it is in that "place" that we experience the intimacy of the marriage relationship between God and the human soul. It is an intimacy more profound than that of Marriage, but Marriage is God's special image and expression of the intimacy the Holy Trinity offers to human souls.

However, when the ordained and the consecrated expect, want, or seek to enjoy in the natural sphere a status of privilege because of their station or role, then they fall into the danger of careerism and clericalism, setting themselves up as separate from the "ordinary laity" and, in this way, superior to them. Much evil has entered into the Church through these dangers, and each step in this direction takes us far away from the Son of God who "came to serve, not to be served".

QUESTION:   According to Canon law, the ordinary minister of Holy Eucharist is a male ordained person. But now things are changing: you will see the activity of extraordinary ministers of the Holy Eucharist as something automatic, not even a basic formation ad hoc! I have seen a lay person doing a transfer of the Holy Eucharist on Holy Thursday, and yet the priest in charge was there! Where is the Church of Christ heading?

What you describe can be an abuse, but it is not necessarily that these lay people are guilty of bad conscience. Most often it is the instability in the availability of priests that over time leads to such a situation. In fact, the Church of Montreal has procedures to avoid such abuses and to gently correct them whenever they occur.

First, when a new priest arrives, he must spend himself generously as a servant of charity and unity in peace. As he observes practices that may be wrong or at least could make room for greater excellence in justice, truth, devotion, and charity; he must take note of these things and bring them to the Lord in prayer.

Second, he must resist the temptation to do violence to the people by imposing authoritative changes, because to do so would express condemnation of people's motives which are usually good, and he would fail to acknowledge with gratitude the service they have been trying to render for the glory of God.

Third, the priest must do his best to express gratitude to all those who offer service and encourage all who come to persevere in their walk of faith with the Lord and in the exercise of charity to one another.

Fourth, in the natural course of time and in ways that do not do violence to people, the priest walks with them and offers gentle leadership through the instruments of collaboration already in place, such as liturgy committee or parish pastoral council, and fabrique, and gradually leads by example, by leadership of prayer, and by bringing teaching and instruction.

An excellent example of a practice undertaken by a newly ordained priest after only two years – a priest who became the youngest bishop in Canada ten years later – was the leadership he offered, with the approval and the support of his pastor, to the liturgy committee. He proposed to them that what would please God and would be for the good of the faithful would be for them, the liturgy committee, to respond to the Pope's call to strive for excellence in the Liturgy.

He proposed that at their regular meetings they slowly read through together the GIRM - General Introduction to the Roman Missal - and that they take notes as they read and discuss it. Their objective would be to examine the excellence of the way they participate together in the Liturgy and to see what they could do to increase that excellence, either be dropping practices that take away from the excellence of the Liturgy, or by correcting errors, or by slowly adding pieces that may be missing.

By proceeding this way, the priests did not need to intervene with "shows of authority" because the lay people themselves saw what needed to be corrected and the priests could then lead them in a discussion of strategies for making the corrections in ways that would not offend anyone but would win the enthusiasm of everyone to do their best for the glory of God and the good of souls and the growth of the Church.

Fifth, regarding the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion or of the Holy Eucharist, as it is also for Lectors, it is the domain and responsibility of the pastor to oversee the selection, formation, encouragement, continuing formation, and mandating of competent members of the faithful to undertake these liturgical ministries for a limited time. 

He can walk with them until a relationship is established and, at an appropriate time, meet them for an informal interview to establish a simple file for each one. Then he can call them all to formation sessions and explain the difference between Ordinary and Extraordinary Ministers. 

He can help them discern whether to continue, he can call others after proper screening, and give them all a mandate at a Sunday Liturgy for a limited period of time, such as one year or two or, at most, three years. They are to understand that the mandate may or may not be reviewed through a process of discernment and consensus.

We have to remember that the first Holy Week, the Son of God accepted to allow his Body to be tortured and his Precious Blood to be spilled all over the earth, in order to demonstrate the true nature of the divine and merciful love of the Father. That violence continues to be done to the Body and Blood of Christ through the ignorance of both clergy and laity, but Jesus continues to allow this in order to continue to demonstrate the true nature of the divine love and mercy of God.

Love requires us to show the utmost love and reverence to Jesus in his Body and Blood as well as in the least of these his brothers and sisters. However, it is divine love that continues to move Jesus to expose himself to abuse at our hands, and we cannot – nor should be attempt – to prevent Him from doing so; as Peter once tried to prevent Jesus from going to Jerusalem to be killed.

Every situation is in God's eyes an opportunity to meet Him, to learn about Him, to be touched by his love, to grow in faith and trust, and for all of us to love one another, and to strive together for excellence under the supreme guidance of the law of love, which is also the "law of the gift" of ourselves in imitation of God who is constantly pouring himself out for us. We must become like Him if we are ever to enter into his presence in eternity, and it is a grace and gift for us to have time here on Earth to correct ourselves and to grow in love.

QUESTION:   If we go back in the history of the Church we will find that these errors have been addressed by competent authorities to avoid confusion in the Church.... I think that this is a sensitive subject to be handled seriously. This is all that I am saying here in my humble view of things... May God bless you.

I quite agree with you, dear brother priest, but as you can see above, the Church cannot tolerate that we, the clergy, go about these serious matters like the religious leaders in Jesus' day who flexed the muscles of their authority but showed no love, no compassion, no kindness, no patience, no tender mercy towards the people, but were only concerned with their own status, their own privileges, their own perfection, their own superiority. They thought nothing about the good of souls.

May you also continue, dear brother priest, to enjoy the blessing of God by continuing to walk in his ways, and may you too, dear reader, enjoy this same blessing of walking in the ways of the Lord!

Authority and Service in the Roman Catholic Church [at In the Breaking of the Bread]

                Pax + Caritas, Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Montreal

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Not so holy: How did your Lent go? [at FranciscanMom]

March has been a busy month — all the more so because I’ve been getting ready for what I’m calling “Crazy April.”

Monday morning, bright and early, I’m headed to the airport so I can travel to Cincinnati and represent Today’s Catholic Teacher magazine at the NCEA convention and help host a banquet for the Innovations in Catholic Education Awards.

(Related: I had to buy a fancy dress. And shoes that, I hope, will allow me to stand for the better part of the day on a trade-show floor and walk a few blocks each way to the hotel. Tendonitis in both feet and an old stress fracture in one isn’t a good combination when this is on the agenda.)

After four days of travel this week, I’ll have about 10 days at home before I drive to Worcester, MA, for editorial meetings for the magazine.

So I’ve been prescheduling as much content as I can at CatholicMom.com and CatholicTeacher.com, working on final edits for the coming summer issue, and, well, generally neglecting things around the house. On Wednesday it occurred to me that while I’d finished most of the work projects, I had no Easter-basket treats for my family and no idea what I’d be serving for Easter Sunday dinner.

Meanwhile, in the course of my routine correspondence with the authors I work with in both of my jobs, I’ve been getting some variation on the theme of, “How was your Lent?” I’ve even been editing articles along that line.

When you work in Catholic media, you can’t help being bombarded, this time of year, with recaps of people’s holy Lents. And, well, my Lent hasn’t been so very holy. It’s not that I’m not keeping my eyes on my own paper, so much that other people’s papers are being shoved right under my eyes in the course of my job.

I bought this beautiful Lenten spiritual workbook, Above All, from Take Up and Read. I haven’t touched it in weeks. If I’ve completed 1/5 of it, that’s a lot. I just haven’t made the time.

I did manage to give up espresso beverages … whoop-de-do.

But honestly, it’s all been about time management. I love the work I get to do: I have terrific and supportive colleagues at both my jobs, and the writers I work with are wonderful. I call many of them my friends, and I look forward to meeting several more of them this summer at the Catholic Writers Guild Conference. My problem is, in an occupation where there is always new content to prepare, I can get swamped under that and let it spill over into the time I should be allotting for other things.

So I’m packing my copy of When the Timer Dings, and a blank bullet journal, into my tote bag for the airplane trip. I find that when I’m in a different place, I can get out of my head and think more creatively. I have some daydreaming to do about my goals and wishes for next year’s magazines, but I need to do some daydreaming about the way I manage my time (or, more accurately, don’t manage it.)

Lent this year just hasn’t been so holy. Beating myself up about it isn’t going to help. So while the business trips I’m taking this April are taking me way out of my comfort zone (and my comfortable sweatpants) I’m beginning to feel grateful for the opportunity to reboot the way I schedule my work.

After all, Lent isn’t the only season of the liturgical year in which you can grow in holiness. Maybe with improved time management, I’ll be better able to nurture my spiritual life during the Easter season and beyond.

How did your Lent go? If it wasn’t so holy, what can you do about that during the Easter season?

Created in Canva. All rights reserved.

Copyright 2018 Barb Szyszkiewicz
Product links in this post are Amazon

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Entering In [at Theologyisaverb]

Since I was small child, springtime has always been a celebration of life. This I found especially true in the South where tulips, irises, and lilies make their way early on through winter’s barren landscape.  And always so anxious to see this sight, I all too neglected to stop and befittingly reflect on the season left behind. Easter too, as a young Southern Baptist, also entailed this liturgically forward press towards life. Though perhaps not intentionally, it had become for many a celebration of the risen Christ, without the full look back at the steps that had brought us there. Amidst the shopping for the perfect Easter dress, coloring eggs, and the plan for dinner there were ample days left bereft of the journey our savior walked.

While these same observations could be made of any of us at a given time, there is within the Catholic faith the graced gift and provision of Holy Week that allows us to enter in. It is the invitation to enter into not only the celebration of life but also into the sacred mystery of Christ’s death. From the swaying of branches and cheers of “Hosanna!” on Palm Sunday to Easter we are beckoned to walk beside, and accompany Jesus on the journey ahead. From humble students of the suffering servant and participants in the first Eucharist, we are summoned to share in his anguish in the garden and keep watch. For, the enemies are pressing in and the time draws near when His sacrifice will be for all the world to see.

This incomparable spotless lamb, this gift of a Father’s love given so that we may come to know what love truly is, entreats our response. For, how can we ever truly comprehend or appreciate our redemption if we deny ourselves this time with Jesus on the way to the cross? Or the repose with Mary and John at the sight of God’s only son, crucified and suspended by the weight of the world? To do so is a privilege, one bought and paid for over two thousand centuries ago, and yet a sacred journey that we are each year implored to once again enter into.

Today as an adult, I not only joyously await the liveliness and celebration of Easter but indeed Holy Week itself. In fact, I have come to truly cherish the quiet time spent in church in anticipation before each Triduum Mass. Here I mentally walk through each liturgical motion and its significance as I pause to consider the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior. Such a incredible faith tradition we have where Christ’s presence can so fully be experienced! Please accept this gracious invitation to participate in the Triduum, from Holy Thursday, Good Friday to Easter Vigil.

Reflect:

Am I merely walking through the motions of this Lenten season? Is my gaze so fixed on the Resurrection that I am failing to enter into the mystery of Christ’s Passion and death?

Peace,

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Bearing fruit, making progress: latest 40 Days for Life campaign concludes [at Leaven for the Loaf]

A portion of this post is adapted from remarks I delivered at the closing rally for 40 Days for Life in Manchester, New Hampshire.

This has been one of those 40 Days for Life campaigns that I refuse to call a “Spring” campaign. Too darn cold and snowy. So what did we have for the closing rally? Temps in the mid-forties, and a forecast of rain. Spring rain! How good that sounded.

The winter/spring 2018 40 Days for Life campaign in Manchester, NH draws to a close with prayer. All photos in this post by Ellen Kolb.

I was blessed during this campaign to be able to participate in campaigns in Concord and Greenland as well as Manchester. Manchester’s sort of home base, and I’m grateful to campaign coordinator Sheila and her team. Traveling was good, though. I saw 40 Days for Life through fresh eyes as I visited different towns.

Sheila D. led the Manchester, NH campaign. She’s a volunteer, as are her colleagues on the leadership team.

One of the things I love about 40 Days for Life is its presence in so many cities at the same time. If I was praying at 7 a.m. in Manchester, even with just one other person, I knew we were praying and witnessing in solidarity with many other people.

We have good days – a conversation with a woman considering abortion, a “save,” maybe just a smile from a passerby – and bad days when we feel “what’s the point?” When that happens, remember that peaceful, consistent pro-life witness during 40 Days for Life is touching people not involved with the facility outside which we stand. The neighbors see us. So do the driver of the school bus rumbling down Pennacook Street, and the woman walking to the Rite-Aid on the corner, and the guy sweeping the streets. There’s no telling when or where or how peaceful witness will bear fruit.

We all know that it’s not bearing fruit at the State House at the moment. March was a discouraging month, legislatively. It would be easy for me to focus on that. Culture is about more than politics, though.

This was brought home to me at a recent hearing in Concord, where I met someone just getting started in pro-life work. At the same hearing was an old friend who’s been in the vineyard with me, so to speak, for about 30 years. The three of us got to talking. My new friend asked us if New Hampshire had made any pro-life progress over the years.

I felt like a know-it-all fifth grader. Ooh! Ooh! I know this one! I got ready to launch into a sixty-second rant about how terrible our laws are relative to the right to life. As I drew breath to start, though, my old friend said, “oh yes, definitely.” Knocked me right off my soapbox. New friend and I exclaimed at the same time, “what do you mean?”

My old friend then laid down a bit of truth that put politics in its place. “Thirty years ago, there were seven crisis pregnancy centers in the state. Now, there are 30 places, pro-life places, where women can go.”

Think about that. Thirty places. And they’re not just about crisis pregnancies, either. For example, what does every center publish on its wish list for donations? Toddler-size diapers and training pants. So much for only caring about babies until they’re born. And for moms and dads, many centers offer parenting classes and assistance with job-hunting. Some places offer housing for pregnant and parenting women who would otherwise be homeless.

Each of the 30 places began with one person seeing a need. It takes a team to open and sustain a pro-life project, but each one starts with a single person with compassion and vision. Think of that next time you’re in prayer, alone, wondering if you can make a difference. Yes, you can.

We begin laying the groundwork for the Fall campaign today. Let’s spread the news. If you have pro-life friends, if you’re in a service group or prayer circle, if you have a podcast, if you are part of any pro-life organization that needs a speaker, invite someone on the 40 Days for Life leadership team. I’m saying this without consulting any of them, but I feel safe in saying that they would welcome the chance to tell more people about what 40 Days for Life is about.

I want those team leaders to get so many speaking engagements that they can’t keep up. Let them get mad at me for putting them in that predicament. It’ll be worth it.

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Of Mr. Milewski, Pizza, and a Laden Cross [at God-Haunted Lunatic]

There are two memories I associate with Steven Milewski, my childhood chum. One is his dad, a taciturn man who worked the night shift and was rarely around when I was over at Steven’s house. Sometimes on the weekend, I’d be present when the man arrived home midmorning, bedraggled, weary, downcast. There’d be brief nods and greetings, and then a barely discernible shift in household atmosphere as the blue-collar warrior trudged upstairs for his daytime repose. Steven and I would keep playing army men or whatever, but we’d do it quieter, much quieter. No more grenades and explosions. No more total war on the hardwood floor.

Then, one night, and I’m not sure the occasion, Mr. Milewski took me and Steven out for pizza. It was the first time I remember indulging in that glorious riot of cheese and grease and meat – an epicurean epiphany. The setting was ideal: A local Jersey joint down by the Raritan, complete with red-checkered tablecloths, poor lighting, and boppy music on the jukebox. We ordered root beer – a treat! – but I had to be instructed in how to pick up the slices with my hands.

That first bite, that first bite! It burned the roof of my mouth, but the mingling of flavors and the Zenlike texture of yielding toppings on crunchy crust were well worth it. Maybe Mr. Milewski smiled when he saw my reaction, but probably not. Regardless, I now think back with great appreciation that this hardworking family man gave up a precious night off to treat his son, and I’m so grateful that I got to tag along. Offering hospitality as a shift worker is always challenging; receiving such is always an honor.

My second Milewski memory is the big wooden crucifix that hung in the main entry way of Steven’s house. Although I usually came in through the rear door since our backyards abutted, I’d still pass by the crucifix as I followed Steven up to his room. It was scary, to tell the truth, something utterly foreign in my staid, unadorned Presbyterian experience – much more foreign than pizza. At some point, I got up the courage to look at it more closely: The wooden Jesus, I could see, was actually nailed to the wooden cross. It wasn’t a one-piece molded affair – like the crucifixes on our plastic rosaries. No, this was an actual man affixed to an actual gibbet. I could see the three little tacks. “Why do you have Jesus on your cross?” I remember asking Steven later in his room. He shrugged – he didn’t know. He was Polish and Catholic and that’s just what they did.

Steven might not have been equipped to properly catechize his Protestant neighbor, but the image and implications of his family’s entry-way crucifix have stayed with me ever since. Now that I’m a Catholic myself, I’m particularly cognizant of those nails – the fact that the suffering Savior could’ve been pried free of his torture; that the corpus could’ve been removed to reveal a less disturbing empty cross. But empty crosses are not enough for us. “We preach Christ crucified,” Paul wrote to the Corinthians. It’s a baseline that all Christians must embrace, as Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon insisted: “So Paul…put his foot down, and said, in effect, ‘Whatever others may do, we preach Christ crucified; we dare not, we cannot, and we will not alter the great subject matter of our preaching, Jesus Christ, and him crucified.’”

It’s what the Milewskis silently preached with their family crucifix. It’s what my family now preaches with ours. It’s what you preach with yours. And we pray for the grace to practice what we preach.
__________________________

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My Personal Prayer after Receiving Holy Communion [at TOM PERNA]

Over the last twelve years, my understanding of the Holy Eucharist has developed and changed drastically from the many preceding years. Most importantly, I learned that the Holy Mass is about giving thanksgiving to God rather than me getting something specific out of it. I also learned that each time we go to Mass we are renewing the Covenant that Christ established for us in Luke 22…the Mass is covenant renewal!

I think many of us have the wrong idea about Mass when we say – I didn’t get anything out of Mass, the homily was boring, I didn’t receive anything for this week, or the message wasn’t good. Where do these questions and attitudes stem from?

I think they come from the perspective that Mass should give us something instead of us giving back our thanksgiving to God, because as I stated above already – Going to Mass is us giving thanks to God, not about us getting something from God. Furthermore, I also think these attitudes stem from our view of what church is according to many non-Catholic circles these days. We are saturated with the big stadium, non-denominational gospel message, which seems to be about what God is going to give you to help you get through the week (I once lived next door to two girls in Austin who told me this is why they go to church).

The reason I am writing about this today is because tomorrow we celebrate Holy Thursday and the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. The night we commemorate Jesus giving us his Body and his Blood in the Holy Eucharist. Furthermore, this subject has been on my heart for some time now and I have wanted to write about it, because once I learned that Holy Mass was about thanksgiving and not about receiving something, my prayer after receiving Holy Communion also changed.

For years, after receiving Holy Communion, I would return to my pew and begin this litany of petitions of things that I wanted God to answer for me – family, friends, my own wants and needs, prayers for the sick, for the dead, etc. Don’t get me wrong – prayers of petition are important, there’s a reason we ask the Blessed Mother and all the Saints to pray with us, but I thought to myself at one point – is after receiving Holy Communion the best time for me to ask for all these prayers or it is about giving thanksgiving to God for allowing me to receive his Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist?

Although the second stanza of my personal prayer asks for petitions from the Angels and Saints in Heaven, I simply ask that I may be drawn into a deeper and more profound relationship with the Holy Eucharist. It’s not about asking for my particular petitions, but about falling more in love with Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. Furthermore, my disposition is directed and focused on the Eucharist, not on my individual petitions. At this time in the Mass, it’s all about Jesus in the Eucharist!

I first “wrote” this prayer about 5-6 years ago in my head, although it has developed a bit since that time. Today is actually the first time I typed it out “on paper”, if you can believe it. If you are familiar with St. Thomas Aquinas’ Prayer After Mass, you will see some of his elements in my prayer.

Sign of the Cross

O Lord Jesus Christ, I give you praise and thanksgiving for allowing me to receive your Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, in this Holy Eucharist today. I pray that this Holy Eucharist is not a condemnation on my soul but will give me the grace and strength to live a life of heroic virtue. I ask for the intercession of Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament to pray for me and to always lead me closer to this Sacrament of All Sacraments.

I pray to the Angels, who have perpetually adored you for all eternity, for their prayers and constant intercession which may lead me closer to you in this holy Sacrament. I also ask that the Saints in heaven, who once received you in this Holy Eucharist here on earth, and are now in your Heavenly presence, for their prayers and intercessions.

 Hail Mary…

 Amen.  

May we all grow closer and fall more in love with Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist.

Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament…Pray for Us. 

Our Lady of the Host by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres

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Halftime Report - Lenten Scoreboard [at Walking the Path]

THE REPORT

Lenten sports fan's this report if for you. Close in-depth interviews with the players, assessments of the game and maybe for you statistics hounds some numbers. Yes the game is Lent and you are the player. But first let's hear from Chris who is struggling this Lent.

"So I see that you are struggling in this game what seems to be the problem?"

"Well, my game plan was to give up snacking between meals on Fridays, refrain from judging those I dislike and anyone else that I may encounter including drivers on my daily commute, pray the Divine Chaplet every night and just be a better person more dedicated to Christ."

"The first quarter was an immediate struggle I see."

"Yes, it was. I caved the first Friday as I am weak in the secondary. It was just after dinner and I had been doing well all day when an I was looking for a hole and I found it. Wham there it was or I should say there I was reaching for snacks. Yes, I thought about my intentions, but being a sinner it was easy to justify that reach and soom I was eating. But, did I feel guilty about it. "

"Any adjustments then?"

"Well, my coach God has all the strategy. It just seems that I lack the willpower to ask him during these temptations."

What about judging? It seems that you are faced with that opponent all throughout the game.

"Oh yeah. That one I find myself just about ready to give in and there is this little voice that says, "Do you really have to say anything?" Sometimes it works especially at work, but other times I like to get on my high horse and let it fly. You see I  like to make people believe that I am better than others."

"And the commute? We see there were some slips."

"I guess I can make the excuse that I drive on Southern California freeways so I am entitled to an occasional outburst, but this is a real test. The enemy is everywhere."

"We see that you have had some victories in this area as you actually prayed for the drivers who almost hit you or cut you off. That is after you unleashed some words that we cannot repeat here. But here we see that headset was working so there was good communication."

"Lets go to the second quarter. It seems that you started well with the nightly Divine Chaplet, but tapered off. What seemed to be the problem?

" I was tired after a long work week and really did not have it in me to take the shot. But at least I have 70 percent accuracy."

"We see that you did make an adjustment by attending the Stations of the Cross. How did that go?"

"Making adjustments mid-game is not easy. It was a different strategy. You see I had remembered a Catholic talk show host talking about not getting down when things don't seem to work and do something different, so I decided to try the Stations.  I even met and talked to a friend who I had not seen in months."

"So they we have it the Lenten halftime report. Tune in a couple of weeks for the post game show as we break down the strategy, the stats, and interview the key players."

This contribution is available at http://walkingthepathtoholiness.blogspot.com/2018/03/halftime-report-lenten-scoreboard.html
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Marriage goal

“Marriage is to help married people sanctify themselves and others. For this reason they receive a special grace in the sacrament which Jesus Christ instituted. Those who are called to the married state will, with the grace of God, find within their state everything they need to be holy.” – Saint Jose Maria Escriva

https://pixabay.com/en/the-altar-church-wedding-bride-1955675/

In the beginning, I really didn’t understand the implications. Like so many, as a young woman who was still more of a girl inside, looking for my soul mate seemed more about just not wanting to be alone, and feeling a call toward being a wife, a mother, and achieving career goals.

Marriage did seem a natural trajectory, but I didn’t give the longview a long thought. I didn’t realize that marriage wasn’t just about having someone with whom to share this life, experience the joys of having children, and growing old in grace. I didn’t really see how marriage is even more about helping each other get to heaven.

No, back then, when I was 19, going on 20, I couldn’t have really grasped this.

Troy and Roxane Salonen, Aug. 16, 1988 (Troy’s 20th birthday)

It’s only been through time, and many trials, that this deeper understanding of marriage has become known to my heart, but I feel compelled — rather urgently actually — to share, because if you happen to be in a struggling marriage, this idea could help save it — and you both.

I want to be honest, though, so you’ll understand how we got here, and how hard it has been. My husband and I began our lives together with a lot of deficits, and a lot of hurdles. It haunted me a bit in the months leading up to our wedding day: How would we be different than the many marriages who didn’t make it? And could we possibly overcome our deficiencies?

Our “courting” was filled with drama. Our beginning wasn’t what I’d call a healthy start. We were running from our pasts and into one another’s arms. The relationship was more co-dependent and competitive than calm and clear.

And yet there was something there — something that endured numerous break-ups, and led us to the altar of our Lord.

As the storms rolled in, and our unhealed pasts worked themselves out in not always grace-filled ways, we faced, more than once, the prospect of becoming another statistic of divorce. In moments, it seemed utterly impossible that our marriage would survive the torrents.

It was painful. It was confusing. It was heart-breaking. And yet, something held us together. Somehow, little by little, tiny bits of hope sprang forth, and despite the odds, we hung onto those tiny droplets for dear life, allowing them to be our anchors, small as they were.

Roxane and Troy Salonen, August 2017 (25th anniversary trip to the Pacific Northwest – Friday Harbor, Wash.)

It led to us celebrating 25 years of marriage last summer, and pushing forward to improve our marriage day by day.

I don’t know that what we’re studying right now as our Lenten commitment will bear fruit. I don’t know that we’ll ever become one of the “exceptional” couples.

This concept still seems so far off. But if we don’t know what it looks like, we can’t ever reach it, so at 49, we’re studying how a truly abundant marriage works, thinking that maybe we’ll find something to absorb that will in time bless our journey and others we encounter.

What I know for sure is this. Grace is real, and God kept his promise that he made to us when we made our promise to one another — even when we strayed from the commitment, thinking it impossible. God didn’t give up even when we did. God just kept being God, and stayed present, and held us together somehow.

And I think, for me at least, one of the concepts that has helped above all has been this profound realization that marriage isn’t just about having a companion in life, but helping our spouse get to heaven. The more I viewed marriage this way, the less burdened and disappointed I felt in the daily journey. Surprisingly, I learned it wasn’t all about me. It was about finding myself held firstly by Him, serving and loving Him in response, and helping lead my husband further into His grasp through that renewed relationship.

From there, I’ve come to realize, most humbly, that in helping lead my hubby to heaven, he’s been helping lead me there just as much. For in his weaknesses, I’ve confronted my own, and in so doing, I’ve been called to more. In facing this brokenness that my marriage has revealed, God has picked me up and helped mend me, so that I could become more fit for the kingdom someday, too.

So, it’s really not about having it all here on earth, though sometimes, we can stand back and see the beauty of what we’ve helped bring forth together here, and find it very worthwhile.

The Salonen 7, Lake Itasca, circa 2012

It’s more about leading this whole crew, in all our imperfections, toward the eternal bliss that awaits. When we can see that our bumbling about together has meaning, everything changes.

So dear ones, if you are in a place that feels daunting, hang on. If you feel compelled to give up, read Leila Miller’s “Primal Loss,” stories from adult children of divorce, and think through what giving up could mean. Don’t surrender to the world based on a temporary situation. God’s grace is unfathomable. Trust in Him to perform miracles.

And know that the sacrament of marriage is powerful — beyond understanding. Indeed, it can, against all earthly odds, lead us, and our spouse, to heaven.

Q4U: When has the sacramental grace of marriage changed your life?

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As Christians, we just can't afford to support Starbucks any longer. They actively oppose all our most cherished values. Not only that, the Starbucks logo has demonic origins. 

An article I recently wrote about the Starbucks logo got a huge amount of attention. I was really surprised by the reaction - I thought most people already knew to avoid Starbucks. I remember one person commented on Facebook: "I know plenty of seminarians that drink Starbucks!"

One lady emailed me a really important question after reading the article ...

What now??

Starbucks presents a problem for all of us coffee-lovers. If drinking Starbucks means that we are supporting something evil, where else can we go for delicious, over-priced coffee? What now?! 
Thankfully, there are some good options out there. And maybe not so over-priced, too! 
Wondering about Fair Trade options? Pro-Life coffee options? Or what about your local coffee shops? I address each of these below and also provide my own Christian rating for the different coffee chains and providers.
For starters, everybody on the following list - GRADE: A/A+.

The Not-Naughty Coffee List 

First off, there's ...

Mystic Monk Coffee

I have enjoyed Mystic Monk many times, myself. My wife is a big fan, too. 
In a mountain valley in Wyoming, a small group of Carmelite Monks were looking for a way to support their growing community. After much discernment and prayer, the monks had the inspiration to start roasting coffee and selling the beans online.  The first samples were roasted on a cast-iron skillet in the monastery kitchen and in 2007, Mystic Monk Coffee was born.[1]

Here's the link to their Dark Roast Arabica, as well as one of their flavored versions, Royal Rum Pecan (I like both, even if the Starbucks folks would look down their nose at flavored coffee, haha):

Many of the monks' coffees are marked "Fair Trade," as well. The monks also have a Cherry Hot Chocolate and a new "Pascha Java" for Easter.

Abbey Roast Catholic Coffee

The Benedictine Monks of Our Lady of Guadalupe Monastery in New Mexico are happy to offer you 100% Gourmet Arabica Coffee carefully roasted in small batches in order to bring out the unique qualities of some of the best selected coffee. 
This is how the monks describe their coffee:

Our prized, direct trade, Brazilian gourmet coffee is harvested from a small family-owned plantation located in the mountains of Nova Friburgo, Brazil, and was awarded first prize in the Rio de Janeiro Specialty Coffee Competition for quality. We are the exclusive importers of this acclaimed coffee. 

Our hope is to offer you an exceptionally high quality, freshly roasted, coffee. All proceeds contribute to the expansion of our Monastery in order to receive the many vocations knocking on our doors.

We are most grateful for your purchase which greatly helps to support our growing monastic community. May God bless you eternally!

It seems that all of monks' beans come direct from the producer in Brazil. This kind of direct partnership is one of the requirements for a Fair Trade designation. In fact, many of their roasts are certified "fair trade." 
Here are some of their options:

Lifeboat, a Pro-Life Coffee Company 

Called the "Official Coffee of the People Who Love Life," Lifeboat Coffee was founded on three amazing principles:
1. All human life is sacred, beautiful and deserving of protection from natural conception until natural death. No exceptions & no compromise. 2. Our coffees must be ethically sourced, sustainable and of superior quality and taste. 3. We'll give 10% of every purchase* back to YOUR favorite life-affirming charity. 
John Lillis, the founder of Lifeboat Pro-Life Coffee, is the father of seven children and is affectionately called "The Skipper." John is himself a survivor of abortion, as his mother was a teenage victim of rape. He was born on August 30, 1967, just months after the California legislature passed the Therapeutic Abortion Act. Though abandoned as a newborn in a San Francisco hospital, he was eventually put into a foster home and adopted.  
John also recently opened "America's first exclusively pro-life coffee shop" on January 22, 2017 - a significant date - at 7th and Dunlap in Phoenix, Arizona. 
Check out Lifeboat's full line of pro-life coffees at their website. 

River Road Coffees

Here's a local Louisiana favorite! River Road supports most all of the ministries I know of in our area. They provide free coffee for our Men of the Immaculata Catholic men's conference, as well as Catholic Community Radio. 
John Melancon started this family business over twenty years ago. River Road is the first certified organic locally-owned coffee roaster in the Baton Rouge area. They even have an “emergency hotline” that you can call in the event of an unexpected coffee emergency - such as when the Starbucks logo starts staring back at you. They will go out of their way to rush-deliver a new batch or emergency supplies if needed.[3]
My wife and I usually drink their French Roast, the "dark" roast option. You can visit River Road Coffees online here.

What About Other Major Coffee Chains? 

Nationally-speaking, Dunkin Donuts is the most prolific coffee shop chain after Starbucks. Check out this map of the biggest coffee shop chains. The map show the most common coffee shop in the given county. Not surprisingly, the two largest chains are Starbucks (574 counties) and Dunkin Donuts (399 counties), followed by Tim Hortons, Caribou, and The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.[4]

So what about Dunkin' Donuts? Is it as nefariously anti-Christian as Starbucks?

Is Dunkin' Donuts Pro-Life? Respectful of Christian values?

I grew up a big fan of Dunkin' Donuts. My grandparents lived on Cape Code in Massachusetts. Every morning, my Grandpa would have a cup of Dunkin' Donuts coffee and a cake donut. For me, there's still no better way to drink a cup of coffee ... except for any coffee that I drink with my wife. 

So, please let Dunkin' Donuts be not-evil! 

What's the verdict?

Not good. 

In 2015, a Dunkin' Donuts press release announced the following:[6]

We feel strongly about women’s health and want to stand in solidarity with the millions of women across the country who deserve the right to choose. That’s why we’re giving one Dunkin’ Donuts customer a complimentary abortion, which will be performed by a licensed physician in one of our more than 8,000 U.S. locations.

We’ll be taking all measures to ensure the environment will be sterile and completely safe for the procedure... In addition, the patient will receive a free egg and cheese sandwich and a medium coffee.

A complimentary abortion and a breakfast sandwich??? Not only is this offer blatantly immoral, it trivializes the trauma of abortion by serving it alongside a breakfast sandwich. 
*** UPDATE*** Thankfully, this crazy story appears to have been satire written in poor taste. The article, as well as the "press release," came from ClickHole, which is associated with the parody newspaper, The Onion. 
Shame on ClickHole, nevertheless, for trivializing abortion in this way.
I'm so relieved to hear that Dunkin' Donuts has been spared this black mark. Not guilty!
In fact, many Christians have actually turned to Dunkin' Donuts in the wake of the "Great Starbucks Christmas Coffee Cup Controversy of 2015," along with the rest of Starbucks' "basket of deplorables."
2ndVote has nothing to report, good or bad, regarding Dunkin' Donuts stance on life issues. 
Dunkin' Donuts does appear to support traditional family values. Sort of. Dunkin' Donuts didn't fare too well in a 2008 study by PlanetOut which purports to quantify "gay-friendliness." 
Along with Wal-Mart and Exxon-Mobil, Dunkin' Donuts was called one of the least gay-friendly companies in America, which, at least according to PlanetOut's metrics, is a plus in my book. Bravo and Apple were among the most gay-friendly companies - not exactly "good company" to be in. 
To score well in PlanetOut's study, a company needed to feature a sufficient amount of gay people in their advertisements. In other words, to score well, a company would need to actively promote the normalization of gay culture. 
Dunkin' Donuts passes, but only for being neutral. For a lack of positive support of life and family values, Dunkin Donuts gets a ...
DUNKIN' DONUTS - GRADE: C+

Is Tim Hortons Pro-Life? Respectful of Christian values?

Tim Hortons is known for promoting local participation in sports and family values. Based on the cultural war skirmishes described below, it appears the company is trying to stay neutral, despite often siding with traditional and Christian values. 

In 2017, Tim Hortons ran a commercial entitled "Perfect Pairings" which featured the food combinations of several couples, including a mother-daughter, sisters, and two gay men. LifeSiteNews described this as yet another attempt to normalize homosexuality. 

Despite advocating for this distorted version of "inclusion," more often than not, it seems Tim Hortons has been criticized by the gay community. 

Tim Hortons came under fire for donating 250 cups of free coffee in 2009 for a "Marriage and Family Day" in Rhode Island hosted by the National Organization for Marriage, a great supporter of traditional marriage.  The company stated the sponsorship was a violation of the company's policy not to sponsor events "representing religious groups, political affiliates, or lobby groups."

Management in Ontario was forced to apologize in 2011 after kicking out a lesbian couple from one of their restaurants after they were found making out. 

Back in June 2014, A Tim Hortons in Columbus, Ohio served as 

the site of a rally

 co-sponsored by

Planned Parenthood

and the Democratic Women's Caucus. 

When asked whether this indicated Tim Hortons' support of Planned Parenthood, the company responded with the following: 

“Our Coffee Truck was at an event in Columbus that supported women in business. During this event there happened to be pro-life protestors on the site at the same time. I would like to stress that these two events are unrelated and that Tim Hortons has no direct involvement in this event.”

Though this is mostly corporate-talk, it does seem like Tim Hortons responded by distancing itself from Planned Parenthood. Not great, but not bad.

So what's the bottom-line?

Let's say this, Tim Hortons is a far cry from Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts, which proudly display their support of evil. They're not bad, especially for a Canadian company.

TIM HORTONS - GRADE: C+

Is Caribou Coffee Pro-Life? Respectful of Christian values?

If you're from the north central part of the country, especially around Minnesota, you might be wondering about the stance of Caribou coffee on abortion, traditional marriage, and Christian values.

As recently as 2017, Caribou Coffee partners with Susan G. Komen, which continues to fund Planned Parenthood programs, according to 2nd Vote.

Basically, a positive for HRC is a negative for a Christian. 

The HRC dinged Caribou Coffee for its lack of "organizational LGBT cultural competency (diversity trainings, resources or accountability measures)" - that's a plus here. However, Caribou Coffee also received no negative points for "engages in action that would undermine the goal of LGBT equality," as well as positive points for providing health care for gay partners and "medically necessary" transgender care - these are minuses here.  

While a score of 85 on the HRC index is definitely too high, it appears that Caribou Coffee is currently striving for higher ratings. Back in 2012, Caribou Coffee only scored a 15. Clearly, Caribou Coffee is on the wrong trajectory.

Lastly and bit more anecdotally, it appears that Caribou Coffee supported a gay pride event in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2008, as described by Dr. Michael Brown. Ironically, when asked to sponsor a pro-family event, Lauren Mihhajlov, Director of Brand Marketing at Caribou Coffee, stated that the company couldn't include a sponsorship of the family event due to their continued attempts to be more inclusive.

CARIBOU COFFEE - GRADE: D

What About My Local Coffee Shops?

In Louisiana, we have plenty of Starbucks-alternative coffee shops. But what if you live somewhere that's not so friendly to Christians? What if you live where things like this happen?
Did you hear about this incident at Seattle's Bedlam Coffee shop? 

According to PJ Media, the owner of the coffee shop did the following:[5]

As way of a brief refresher, while taking a break and enjoying some coffee at Seattle's Bedlam Coffee, a group of Christians were accosted by Ben Borgman, the co-owner of the shop. Prior to their coffee break, the group had been peacefully distributing pro-life literature around the city. Upon discovering their identity, Borgman angrily demanded that they leave. When the group politely asked why, the shop owner became angrier and accused them of spreading hate.

Holding up a pamphlet that he found outside of the shop, he cussed at them, refused to engage in dialogue, and then uttered a vile blasphemy against Jesus while forcing them to leave. The pro-life group politely left while attempting to share the gospel with the man. It needs to be noted that they were not distributing pamphlets inside the coffee shop, nor were they proselytizing -- until they were being kicked out, that is. The fact is, the coffee shop owner was responding to who they are, not what they were doing.

Unfortunately, some hailed this crazy coffee shop owner as a hero. 

How do I find out if my coffee shop is Pro-Abortion or Anti-Christian?

Whether your local coffee shop is pro-life or pro-abortion, anti-Christians, etc. can sometimes be difficult to determine. While Starbucks is a more blatant example, ascertaining a company's evil and insidious quotient can be tricky, especially if they're concealing their actions.  
Life Decisions International does provide a list of all companies who donate money to Planned Parenthood, America's largest abortion provider. 
The best way to find out? Ask. Please ask your local shops! 
And please let me know! I'll post what you find right here, the good, the bad, and the ugly. 
Please share and comment!

[1] From the Mystic Monk website: https://www.mysticmonkcoffee.com/ [2] From the Abbey Roast website: https://www.abbeyroast.com/ [3] From the River Road Coffees website: https://www.riverroadcoffees.com/ [4] "Mapped: The largest coffee chains in the US" at Matador network. [5] Read more about the angry coffee shop owner's rampage here. [6] Dunkin' Donuts' complimentary abortion and breakfast sandwich.
Read more at: Catholic Coffee Alternatives from A Catholic Life. Read more about Lifeboat coffee here.

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St. Faustina Prayer Book for Adoration: Review [at Jean M. Heimann]

Image: St. Faustina Prayer Book for Adoration by Susan Tassone

St. Faustina Prayer Book for Adoration by Susan Tassone has been released just in time for Holy Week and Divine Mercy Sunday, during the holiest season of the year when we seek to draw closer to Our Lord to transform our lives and surrender our hearts to His Divine Mercy.

Eucharistic adoration is that precious time of quiet communion that we spend with our Lord, gazing upon His Face, while sharing our innermost thoughts and feelings with Him and listening to His voice. In her diary, St. Faustina describes adoration as “heaven on earth.”

In St. Faustina Prayer Book for Adoration, St. Faustina acts as our spiritual director by teaching us through her advice, actions, and devotions how to encounter Jesus more intimately and deeply during adoration. As a contemplative nun, St. Faustina spent much of her time in adoration, praying before the Blessed Sacrament. In fact, adoration was her life. It was at the heart of her spirituality, her personal life, and her mission.

Author Susan Tassone presents us with a well-organized, comprehensive book on St. Faustina’s many modes of adoration. St. Faustina discovered and developed unique ways to adore the Lord. In the St. Faustina Prayer Book for Adoration Tassone invites us to join St. Faustina in: adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, adoration with the Holy Spirit and the Holy Trinity, adoration with Mary, the perfect adorer, adoration of the crucified Jesus, adoration during times of suffering, in praying her very own prayers, silent adoration without words, adoration with four saints devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, private adoration after receiving Holy Communion, adoration with the angels, adoration with the saints, prayers for priests and religious, adoration for the dying and the holy souls in purgatory, spiritual adoration at home, and prayers for special intentions.

I have used the St. Faustina Prayer Book for Adoration both in the Eucharistic adoration chapel and at home and have enjoyed reading it in both settings, finding it very inspiring and helpful in keeping my focus on Jesus. Today, when I was in the adoration chapel, I re-read the chapter entitled “Adoration of the Crucified Jesus” and contemplated one of St. Faustina’s favorite devotions – the Stations of the Cross. Each of St. Faustina’s fourteen stations contains beautiful prayers and quotes, and moving meditations. This chapter also contains Pope John Paul II’s poignant Way of the Cross, which incorporates specific scenes from Scripture and ends with a fifteenth station: Jesus rises from the dead.

St. Faustina Prayer Book for Adoration is an extraordinary and outstanding book that is a classic for our times when Eucharistic adoration is so essential to our relationship with Jesus, our peace of mind, and peace in our world today. It is a powerful spiritual manual that will help the reader emulate a great saint in the way she loved the Lord – with all her heart, mind, and soul.

This contribution is available at http://www.jeanmheimann.com/2018/03/st-faustina-prayer-book-for-adoration-review/
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Life Savers: What St. Maximillian Kolbe and Franciszek Gajowniczek Taught Me About Being Saved [at Martin Family Moments]

I have strong devotion to St. Maximillian Kolbe.  

I first heard of him in middle school, when my parents became Third Order Franciscans with the Franciscans of the Immaculate.  The friars here use media and radio to evangelize, imitating the way of St. Maximillian Kolbe.  I found the life story of St. Max (may I call him that?) absolutely fascinating.  I even named one of my sons after him.  He just has a way of being in my life, even in his death.  

~

There was a priest, Fr. James McCurry, who used to visit our Cape Cod home often.  He would drink tea in my parent's kitchen and keep us laughing from his stories until way too late into the night.  I grew very close to him and he even concelebrated our wedding mass.  His love for St. Max was strong. He received the Kolbe Award a few years ago, and the reporter told his story (source):

 Father McCurry, during his funny yet profound remarks upon receiving the award, told of his encounter with Pope John Paul II at the canonization of St. Maximilian in 1982. He asked the Holy Father if he would pray that we might all be as consecrated to Mary as St. Maximilian was. 

The Pope did not hear him at first and said, “huh?” 

Speaking more loudly, the question then prompted a smile on the Holy Father’s face. He pointed to Father McCurry and said, “You do that!”  

Taking this as a papal command, Father McCurry did do it as the long-time president of the Militia Immaculata (founded by St. Maximillian Kolbe in 1917). 

~

When I was sixteen, my mom and Fr. McCurry were involved with getting Franciszek Gajowniczek, the man whose life was saved by St. Maximillian Kolbe in Auschwitz, to come to our parish to speak.  He was 93 and it ended up being his last public appearance.  

Knowing he was older and unable to go up and down stairs easily, my mom had him and his wife stay in their master bedroom on the first floor.  She planned an elaborate polish meal for him and he got misty-eyed as he saw his favorite traditional polish dishes.  My mom even tucked him into bed like a child and kissed him on the cheek! 

 When they left the next day, she stripped the bed and saved the sheets, fully believing that they will be relics one day when Mr. Gajowniczek is canonized.  Why would HE be canonized, you might be asking?  Because he spent the 53 years of his life after being saved by St. Max in dedication to him.  When he had returned home at the end of the war, and discovered his two sons had been killed, he was heartbroken.  He didn't know why his life had been spared while theirs had not, and he felt that perhaps it was because the world needed to hear the message of St. Maximillian Kolbe.   

So that became his mission.  He traveled the world to talk about the amazing saint, and the faith and love for God in his own life was palpable.  "The gift of life", he said during his visit, "is what energizes me to travel around the world".

His life was saved...and so he spent it trying to repay the debt.  It makes sense, doesn't it?  I'm sure we would do the same.

~

And yet....

Jesus has saved our lives as well.  

He literally died on a cross so that we could have eternal life.

How do we repay him?  Do we even thank him daily...weekly...monthly?  Do we try to spread the message of his love and mercy with all we encounter?

I had never thought of it this way until this year's Easter homily.  I *knew* He died for us but I never felt that He saved my life, you know?  Our priest used a different story to make the same point and it's a message I won't soon forget.  Jesus stepped in to save us!  I hope to be more like Franciszek Gajowniczek, feeling indebted with gratitude for the gift of my life, and letting others know the goodness of God.

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No Stranger At The Door [at TIME FOR REFLECTIONS]

“ … and there we were both standing at the doorway of the Church,” said Father Ignatius, “and then he asked me if I could spare a cup of coffee. I didn’t think he drank coffee. What do you think he drank anyway?”

“St Peter?” asked Father Donald.

“Yes … St Peter,” repeated Father Ignatius, “what do you think he drank? Surely not coffee. It hadn’t been discovered then! When he was alive on earth.”

“Oh … boiled fish water, I shouldn’t wonder,” laughed Father Donald, “must have tasted really horrible I should think!”

“And then …” continued Father Ignatius after a short pause, “and then, as if by magic, we were here in my office. I was sitting at my desk, like now, and he sat in the very armchair where you’re sitting in!”

Father Donald looked around him in the armchair and said nothing. Father Ignatius continued.

“St Peter sat just where you’re sitting Donald. He looked just like we’ve seen him portrayed in the movies. Tall guy and well set. With a beard and wearing a brown tunic … and sandals. I remember distinctly the sandals. Big man, he was … I wouldn’t wish to be on the wrong side of an argument with him. He was here in this office.

“He asked what I thought of him.

“I mumbled the usual things we’ve been taught in seminary … Loyal follower of Christ, leader of the Disciples, Head of the Church … That sort of thing!

“He smiled and picked up a biscuit … he preferred the chocolate covered ones and commented that they tasted different to the ones he was used to in them days … That’s exactly what he said … in them days!”

Father Donald raised an eyebrow and smiled, whilst Father Ignatius went on.

“Then he asked me to be honest. Not repeat what I’d been taught. What did I really think of him?”

Father Donald smiled once more and said nothing.

“Well …” Father Ignatius went on, “I hesitated of course … it’s quite a shock seeing St Peter face to face and being asked such a direct question.

“I said that some theologians consider him to be a bit irresolute of character … Tends to speak first, sometimes acts quickly, yet … a bit hesitant when the chips are down!”

“Wow …” said Father Donald, “did he hit you for saying that? He has a bit of a temper our St Peter you know.”

“No … he remained calm,” replied Father Ignatius, “He said ‘I don’t care about what theologians think … what do they know? I’m asking for your opinion Ignatius!’ He called me Ignatius … so he knew full well who I was. Then he asked me if I had any more of those brown covered biscuits.

“I gave him the whole packet of chocolate biscuits which somehow I had here in my desk; and then I said that I sympathized with his predicament and how he’d been portrayed by some theologians. He was and I’m sure he still is very loyal to Christ. He spoke first because of his confidence and beliefs in our Lord.

“He hesitated a little when he jumped into the lake and tried to walk on water. But anyone would have done that … Jesus had asked him to come to Him … so at least he did show real Faith by jumping into the water … but his Faith faltered … understandable really!

“And that’s when St Peter sat a little forward in the armchair and calmly said to me … ‘Quite the diplomat aren’t you Ignatius?’ I remember distinctly those words … and they were not said in a complimentary way either. He asked me to go on … what did I really and honestly think of him.

“So I swallowed hard Donald … I knew what he wanted me to say but I was too scared to say it. He nodded gently to encourage me …

“And very quietly I mumbled that he had denied Christ three times …

“He looked me straight in the eye and all gentleness seemed to have gone from his face. He waved his hand gently at me, still holding a half-eaten chocolate biscuit, as if to reprimand me … you know, as we do with our finger when we point at a little child, and then he said, ‘After over two thousand years you people still hold that against me! And you call yourselves forgiving Christians … The Lord Himself forgave me with His knowledgeable look full of love and pity for me. But you Christians still bring this matter up …

“And it’s the same with Thomas … Whenever I meet him he says that the only thing that people remember about him is his doubting, and they can’t relate anything else he did after that.

“Well let me tell you something clever Ignatius that you are’ … That’s what St Peter called me, Donald. ‘Clever Ignatius that you are'.

“Let me tell you something … Have you ever considered what would have happened if I did not deny our Lord? I would have most probably been taken by the crowd and hung from the nearest tree …

“They were horrible they were … and angry and wild. Those same people who pretended to love Him, whom He had healed and taught over the years suddenly became very wild. They became angry, almost feral … And of course I was scared. They were probably scared too, you know. They had to act this way because acting any differently would have resulted in them being hanged too!

“And by denying Christ, the Son of our God, I unwittingly set in course the chain of events which followed. Jesus knew exactly why I had to deny Him at the time of His capture.

“After His Resurrection, when He appeared to us on the shore of the lake as we were fishing; it was the third time Jesus appeared to us after He was raised from death … We had just eaten together, and Jesus asked me three times if I loved Him. And every time I said yes He asked me to take care of His lambs and His sheep!’ ”

After a short silence Father Donald asked “What happened then Ignatius? When St Peter told you that?”

Father Ignatius replied.

“Well, he finished eating his biscuit and then he asked me whether I thought I had done a good job of looking after Our Lord’s lambs and sheep …

“Before I could answer … I just woke up!”

“That’s quite a dream …” said Father Donald, “and quite a message from St Peter.

“Christ knew precisely why Peter had to be spared at the time of His capture … in order to lead the Disciples and the Church!”

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The Garden of our Soul [at The Hahn Family Blog]

Wednesday of Holy Week

I recently gave a parish mission and one of the topics covered confession with special emphasis on the value of frequent confession. While studying in preparation I discovered this wonderful quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

1863 Venial sin weakens charity; it manifests a disordered affection for created goods; it impedes the soul's progress in the exercise of the virtues and the practice of the moral good; it merits temporal punishment. Deliberate and unrepented venial sin disposes us little by little to commit mortal sin. However venial sin does not break the covenant with God. With God's grace it is humanly reparable. "Venial sin does not deprive the sinner of sanctifying grace, friendship with God, charity, and consequently eternal happiness."

This quote helped me to realize what venial sin does to me. It helped me realize the value of frequent confession. If I put off confession for too long, my goodwill becomes "

impeded

" and I become disposed "

little by little to commit mortal sin

."

I liken this to a garden. Our souls are gardens, virtues are the fruit bearing plants, and the weeds are sin. If I we are careful to keep watch over our souls (garden) we can remove the weeds when they are small and easy to remove. At the same time we must feed and water the plants. We must foster growth in the virtues and be sure they receive enough sun (Son). When we neglect the soul for too long, the weeds (sins) have a chance to take root and they become more and more difficult to remove. Long periods of neglect make it nearly impossible to distinguish the plants from the weeds. Yet we must never despair. Even if our garden has long been neglected and the soil become hard and the thorns overgrown, Christ can help us to start again. It may be more difficult than when we first began but it is possible to cultivate a beautiful garden (soul) no matter how neglected it may be.

In today's Gospel we are given a picture of what a soul looks like that is falling to neglect. We see a man whose "little" sins are more and more disposing him to commit the ultimate sin; to betray the Son of Man.

Judas, no doubt began with a good heart. Surely Jesus had a great love for Judas to choose him as a close follower. Yet Judas allowed himself to be overrun by his love for money even to the point of seeing the hidden value in the apparent "waste" of the expensive nard. As Bishop Fulton J. Sheen once said, "[Judas]

knows the price of everything and the value of nothing

." His growing greed impeded his growth in Christ. By saying

yes

to himself each time he took a little from the "

money bag

" he found that he could not say

no

to himself when the ultimate temptation came but instead said, "

What will you give me if I deliver him to you

?"

Let us therefore run to Christ and confess often even those little things before they become unmanageable and take root. Otherwise we too may be more and more disposed to betray Our Friend with a kiss.

FROM THE SAINTS - "

While he is in the flesh, man cannot help but have at least some light sins. But do not despise these sins which we call "light": if you take them for light when you weigh them, tremble when you count them. A number of light objects makes a great mass; a number of drops fills a river; a number of grains makes a heap. What then is our hope? Above all, confession."

- Saint Augustine

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The Sunshine and the Clouds: Five Years with Pope Francis [at Justin's Corner]

Today we celebrate the fifth anniversary of Pope Francis's election to the papacy. I recall five years ago watching EWTN's live broadcast of the conclave proceedings in Rome, where on a cold and rainy late winter evening, white smoke poured forth from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel and we were all surprised by the cardinals' choice of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina. His simple faith and humility, charity and joy, his ability to communicate profound truths in accessible contemporary language, and the fidelity of his personal lifestyle to the Gospel of Christ immediately won our affection and esteem. With his extrovert personality and his emphasis on God's unfailing mercy, Francis promptly established himself as a charismatic leader of the universal church in the mold of John Paul II, drawing the attention and admiration of a vast global non-Catholic audience, elevating public interest in the church, and encouraging many fallen-away Catholics to return to their spiritual home.

Unfortunately, within the past five years since his accession to the Chair of Saint Peter, dark clouds of doubt, misunderstanding, suspicion, error, and confusion have gathered within the church to dim the blazing light of Pope Francis, leading an increasing number of good and faithful Catholics to view him as incompetent or even heretical. Some doubt his ability to govern the church effectively in these difficult times. Others misunderstand the meaning of his words and actions, viewing him as somehow "too liberal". Yet others suspect that Francis secretly intends to lead the church away from the deposit of faith. Still others erroneously believe that Francis has openly broken with the magisterial teaching of his predecessors by imposing heretical moral doctrines on the universal church. And finally, widely varying and conflicting interpretations and applications of the pontiff's words and actions across the worldwide church have left tens of millions of Catholics confused as to what Pope Francis really wants in terms of church policy and pastoral practice.

Many Catholics are blaming Pope Francis himself for this situation, claiming that his ambiguity, vagueness, and laxity with regard to church doctrine and practice is the source of the misunderstanding and confusion clouding his pontificate, and that his failure to clarify doctrine and set strict boundaries for pastoral practice is allowing the situation to continue, thus endangering the salvation of many souls. Francis' beautiful and lengthy post-synodal apostolic exhortation

Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love)

serves as the central proof of this thesis. As I've been observing this papacy develop and unfold during the past few years via Catholic and secular media coverage, paying attention on the one hand to the tremendous controversy surrounding this signature document and on the other hand to the actual words and deeds of Pope Francis--who, like all popes before him, is capable of making certain kinds of mistakes and may rightly be criticized for them--it has occurred to me that, in all fairness, the real source of the controversy is not Francis himself, but rather those Catholic dissidents (a.k.a. heretics), anti-Catholic organizations and pressure groups, and secular journalists and media pundits who are manipulating Francis's papacy with their own agenda in mind.

For an obvious example of this, those heretics and immoral activists (including some bishops) who for many years have been pushing the church to admit to Holy Communion divorced and remarried couples who are willfully living in mortal sin have interpreted certain passages of 

Amoris Laetitia

as finally granting that long desired permission, and that this is what Pope Francis actually wants. The secular media has jumped on this and proclaimed it to the ends of the earth as gospel truth. By doing so, these pressure groups and their mouthpieces in the secular media have not only missed the real point of

Amoris Laetitia

and of Francis' papacy in general, but they have generated clouds of confusion and controversy to obscure his pontificate, calling into question his personal holiness and casting doubt on his intentions and his leadership in the minds of many faithful Catholics.

Those who accuse Pope Francis of doctrinal ambiguity and pastoral vagueness should re-read the full text of his opening address at the Synod on the Family in October of 2015. In that address, he beautifully spelled out perennial church teaching on the family and warned the bishops against numerous temptations to which they had been subject during their previous two weeks of discussion, including the temptation "to ignore the deposit of faith" in the development of pastoral practice. The ideas that Francis is out to change timeless doctrines of the Catholic faith, and that

Amoris Laetitia

is meant to be interpreted heretically, authorizing heretofore forbidden pastoral practices that violate Catholic moral teaching, are ridiculous. These ideas are concoctions of the aforesaid pressure groups and journalists who want the church to conform to their own agenda. They, not Francis, are responsible for the confusion regarding Francis' pontificate and the direction in which he is really trying to lead the church. From this perspective, it is entirely understandable why the growing chorus of calls for doctrinal and pastoral clarification addressed to Francis by well-meaning lay folk, priests, bishops, and cardinals have been met with a deafening silence. Why should the pope spend time and energy clarifying what he himself did not confuse?

Divine mercy is the proper hermeneutic for understanding Francis' papacy. He knows that we human beings are all sinners, so through his words and actions, he is reaching out to everyone and inviting everyone to experience God's mercy in their own lives, in whatever situation they find themselves in, through repentance and conversion. He wants pastors to go to the peripheries of their local churches and of human society and find creative ways to bring people who have fallen into the darkness of sin back into the light of God's grace. This is exactly what a Jewish rabbi named Jesus of Nazareth did two thousand years ago, and His ministry too was fraught with controversy as the religious leaders of his time made false accusations against him. Ultimately, however, Christ was vindicated--and eventually, Pope Francis will be vindicated as well.

Copyright © 2018 Justin D. Soutar. All rights reserved.

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