tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73710528763202216032024-03-16T12:30:34.162-05:00On the Road to DamascusMy walk with God.Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.comBlogger237125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7371052876320221603.post-79882191674503534502023-12-06T10:35:00.000-06:002023-12-06T10:35:17.183-06:00Oath to the DeathAn African priest was praying before the Blessed Sacrament in the chapel in his small village. A gunman entered the chapel and ordered the priest to his feet.<br><p>
“Why do you kneel before a piece of bread?” the gunman asked. “Kneel before me instead.” .<br><p>
“This is not a piece of bread,” the priest responded boldly. “This is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of my Lord Jesus Christ. I will only kneel to him.” .<br><p>
The gunman laughed. “Do you actually believe that is Jesus?” he chuckled. “I will prove to you that it is just bread. When I shoot it, it will just crumble and break. It will not scream. It will not bleed. If I shoot you, you will scream and bleed and plead for your life.” .<br><p>
The priest stepped between the Blessed Sacrament and the gunman. “If you must shoot someone, shoot me instead,” the priest begged. .<br><p>
“Are you willing to die for this piece of bread?” the gunman said in disbelief. .<br><p>
“When you look at the Blessed Sacrament all you see if a piece of bread. I believe that this is Jesus himself. I believe this because he tells me it is so. I trust Jesus when he says that this is his body and his blood. I believe in my head and I trust in my heart. I love him even more than I love my own mother. He died for me. I am willing to die for him. You think the worst you can do is to take my life from me but in doing so you free me to be with him. I do not fear this. Do what you came here to do.” .<br><p>
The gunman lowered his rifle and stared at the priest. He stared quizzically for a moment. He shook his head, and turning, he walked out of the chapel and left the village. .<br><p>
In the Lord’s Prayer we ask the Lord not to lead us into temptation. In Greek, the prayer asks that we not be put to the test. The test we ask not to be put through is the test of Peter. When facing death, will we deny Christ? As bold as we believe ourselves to be, none of us knows how we will answer that question until it is put to us. If a gunman were to walk into Mass and order anyone who believes that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist to stand and be shot for their belief would you be willing to stand when simply sitting would save your life? .<br><p>
Yet, that is the statement we make when we present ourselves to receive him in Holy Communion. We don’t go to communion just to get something. The Eucharist is a Sacrament and a Sacrament begins with an oath to the death. Before we receive the Lord in the Eucharist we renew our oath to live for him and die for him if necessary. We reaffirm this oath with our “Amen” after the communion minister says, “The body of Christ.” .<br><p>
There is a desire within the Church today to give the Eucharist to as many people as possible. There are many who support, and even demand, that the Church give the Eucharist to divorced and remarried Catholics, to those who embrace a same-sex lifestyle, to those living together playing house, and those who are transgendering, just to name a few. There are even those who want to open up Holy Communion to those who are not even Catholic. These desires are founded in a false sense of love. We want to be inclusive. To share Jesus with everyone regardless of belief. This is a noble thing but one that lacks understanding of what receiving the Eucharist actually is. .<br><p>
To receive the Eucharist is to take an oath to the death that one will live for Christ and die for him if necessary. We offer our lives as collateral when we take this oath and when we willfully break this oath we forfeit that collateral. To live for Christ means to follow his commands and his teachings to the best of our ability. We believe that Jesus taught his disciples and that these teachings have been handed down to us through his Church. When someone disagrees with an official Church teaching they do not disagree with the Church. They disagree with Jesus. .<br><p>
It would be wrong for the Church to demand that anyone take an oath to the death when they either do not understand what that oath requires or they do not believe what the Church teaches. You cannot be in communion with Christ and his Church if you do not believe what they proclaim and teach. .<br><p>
The Church is currently in the middle of a three-year Eucharistic revival. This is meant to renew our love and reverence for the source and summit of our Catholic faith – Jesus in the Eucharist. This renewal has to begin with a proper understanding for what the Eucharist is and the oath we take when we receive him. We need to receive Jesus on his terms, not ours. Even the manna that came down from heaven to sustain the tribes of Israel had rules for its collection and consumption. The Eucharist is the true bread that comes down from heaven. To receive him properly is to have life within you. We eat to our condemnation every time we receive him improperly. It is false love to allow someone who is not properly disposed to receive Holy Communion. .<br><p>
We are called to love one another with the same love God has for each of us. We are called to love one another with sacrificial love. True love is not giving someone something that will do them harm. To truly love someone is to keep from them something that will do them hard regardless of how much they want or demand it. .<br><p>
Remember this the next time you present yourself to receive Holy Communion. Ask yourself, “If I had to be shot after receiving Jesus would I still be in this line?” If the answer to that question is no you shouldn’t be in that line. .<br><p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLYWxwAOeLiHBPuRhdhVx32lDbgTplckhivh9iYAIIBnhzpT-hMmZpCSxBouYbK2rpsHnM01O2f2k9r_epklVvkzcUFLCFvuk8la_9FvVadAsAzaoc5D1m5-41AkfvCJ1f4QGlVoaTMcP3oFydqafaVGwUUHWDZcwcyMAfjSeib4p0WbjsrkiS_TorpmbK/s600/gun.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLYWxwAOeLiHBPuRhdhVx32lDbgTplckhivh9iYAIIBnhzpT-hMmZpCSxBouYbK2rpsHnM01O2f2k9r_epklVvkzcUFLCFvuk8la_9FvVadAsAzaoc5D1m5-41AkfvCJ1f4QGlVoaTMcP3oFydqafaVGwUUHWDZcwcyMAfjSeib4p0WbjsrkiS_TorpmbK/s400/gun.jpeg"/></a></div>
Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7371052876320221603.post-47279825609826030922023-07-22T11:54:00.003-05:002023-07-22T12:01:38.290-05:00Conduit of GraceI am not big into crowds. Luckily my favorite grocery store is open twenty-four hours so I can do my shopping during the hours most people are curled up on the couch watching T.V. During one such visit I noticed a man and his son also doing some late-night shopping. It was easy to see that the son was autistic. One thing he liked to do was to go up to the strangers in the aisles and introduce himself. His father tried his best to keep his son away from the other shoppers.<P><P>
It wasn’t long and our paths would cross. When the son saw me, he immediately made a bee-line straight towards me. The father quickly came around the cart in a vain attempt to intercept his son. I could see the worry in his eyes. I just nodded and said it was ok.<P><P>
The boy came up to me and stuck his hand out. When I shook his hand, I understood the father’s fear. He had the grip of a bear and the hands to match. He was not only a big boy, but one with great strength. Given his mental capacity he could easily hurt someone without knowing it. I am sure the father’s fear was twofold. First, he was worried about how strangers would react to his son. People can be cruel and I am sure he had seen his share of that cruelty towards both himself and his son. He also had to be worried about what his son might do to someone less than thrilled to make his acquaintance. <P><P>
The son would take my hand and shake it. Then he would let go for a moment and then grab my hand and shake it again. He kept doing this until his father was able to guide him back to their cart. I asked him his name. It was John. I smiled and told him I was very pleased to meet him. Then I turned to his father and asked his name. He was Russ. I told Russ that he was a good father for caring for his son the way he was.<P><P>
This would be the first of several encounters I would have with Russ and John. The next time I ran into them John rushed over to shake my hand as if it were the first time. Russ quickly came over to guide his son back. The worry in his eyes went to surprise when I greeted John by his name and asked him how he was doing. His mouth hung open when I turned to him and did the same. He sheepishly looked down and told me that he did not remember my name. I assured him that it was fine; that it was he and his son who made an impact on my life.<P><P>
Recently, I took communion to a man who had just suffered a severe stroke and was recovering in a rehab facility. I saw the look of sadness in his eyes that I often see in people in his situation. There is a feeling of shame that they have to be cared for by others. This is especially common in men who have provided for the people they love their entire lives. Now they themselves need to be cared for and they feel like a burden on all those around them.<P><P>
I encouraged the man not to be downhearted. He was not useless. He was not a burden on his wife or the caretakers at the facility he was in. He did not understand that he was serving a very important purpose. People like John and this man, those who require the assistance of others, they act as conduits of God’s grace to flow to those who care for them. God is sacrificial love and love is never wasted with God. God’s favor shines down on those who care for others out of love.<P><P>
The look in the man’s eyes suddenly changed. I saw a sense of relief come into them. The man realized that his suffering had a purpose and that purpose was to bring God’s grace to the woman he loved the most in this world. This was something he could be thankful for. <P><P>
We do not suffer for suffering’s sake. Our suffering isn’t without purpose. It is if we hold on to our suffering, refusing to offer it as a gift. The devil wants us to turn our suffering inwards, to keep it as our own. Suffering is the currency of love. Money we keep in a jar under our bed has no value. The value of currency is what we choose to spend it on. The best spent money is the money used for the betterment of another. Like with any other currency, we can offer our suffering for a greater good. When we allow others to care for us in our suffering God’s favor flows through us to them. They receive a blessing for the love they show and we receive a blessing for our cooperation with God’s will.<P><P>
This is what made Christ’s passion so powerful. Jesus held none of his suffering back for himself. He offered all of his suffering for the love of us. It is through his suffering that the wages of sin were paid, death was conquered, and the blessing of everlasting life flow through him to us.<P><P>
Jesus gives us the perfect example on how to embrace our suffering with joy, offering it to God so he can use it to deliver his grace to those who care for us with love. It also gives us reason to be joyful and loving caregivers to those in need, especially those who are the most difficult to care for. Both the caretaker and the cared-for receive grace when suffering, the currency of love, is offered for the other.
<P><P>
Go and be a blessing to all those you meet today.<P><P>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7lTtOmL1aP6e8g2Iss53qzDjXitMc_zmT53oVwXFhNVqsRLL6ZpMLOgkcp4Qd_6PUAjHhdi61SHBNO1NRcHGXwHVZuPnUkrXSed_anaKRGM38jbV2vthebUqr9LNlGa7wYjKjX-MFhaVY_Ul4HywA5ZI8up2NV6evNzSN9FkZk2ZDo0jrengc2zM5xGx1/s600/Conduit.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7lTtOmL1aP6e8g2Iss53qzDjXitMc_zmT53oVwXFhNVqsRLL6ZpMLOgkcp4Qd_6PUAjHhdi61SHBNO1NRcHGXwHVZuPnUkrXSed_anaKRGM38jbV2vthebUqr9LNlGa7wYjKjX-MFhaVY_Ul4HywA5ZI8up2NV6evNzSN9FkZk2ZDo0jrengc2zM5xGx1/s400/Conduit.jpg"/></a></div>
Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7371052876320221603.post-367050774845479082023-04-10T13:32:00.000-05:002023-04-10T13:32:26.678-05:00The Reason<blockquote>“Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year for you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are, each one, to take a lamb for themselves, according to the fathers’ households, a lamb for each household. Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; in proportion to what each one should eat, you are to divide the lamb. Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to slaughter it at twilight. Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails. And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall completely burn with fire. Now you shall eat it in this way: with your garment belted around your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in a hurry—it is the LORD’S Passover. For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and fatally strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the human firstborn to animals; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the LORD. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will come upon you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.” <p>
Exodus 12: 1-13</blockquote><p><p>
The Passover is a holy Jewish holiday that remembers when God freed Israel from their slavery to Egypt. Understanding the Passover is essential to understanding the crucifixion of Jesus and the Catholic Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that followed. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is what sets Catholics apart from the rest of Christianity. If Jesus’ crucifixion truly fulfills the Jewish Passover, then the Catholic Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is essential to Christian salvation and redemption.<p>
Christ’s crucifixion not only fulfills the Jewish Passover, but it also completes the Binding of Isaac. All four of these events, the Binding of Isaac, the Passover, the Crucifixion of Jesus, and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, are all sacrifices prescribed by God for the salvation of his people. When Abraham was willing to sacrifice his first born to God, the son God promised to give him in his old age, he demonstrated the faith needed for God to carry out his plan of salvation for the world. Just as an angel held back Abraham’s hand from sacrificing Isaac, God held back the angel of death from taking the first born of anyone who observed the rubrics of the Passover. In the fullness of time, God sent his only begotten son to take the place of Isaac and those spared in the Passover, to complete the sacrifice necessary for salvation. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass makes Christ’s crucifixion present to us in real time so that we may participate in it. If we want to understand the requirements of salvation, we have to understand what a sacrifice is.<p>
A sacrifice is a religious act, by which a visible gift is offered to God by an authorized person and then destroyed in some way, so that God may be worshipped and loved. <p>
First, a visible gift is required. This is something material and tangible. The gift must be something of value. Offering a gift we hold no value in is not truly a gift. The greater the value, the greater the gift.<p>
Second, the gift must be offered up to God. The sacrifice is not so much in the gift but the offering of it. The act is more important than the gift.<p>
Third, the gift must be offered by an authorized person. God has said who is authorized to offer sacrifice on behalf of the people. In the days before Jesus the authorization to offer sacrifice was given to the sons of Aaron, the men from the tribe of Levi. Jesus is the great high priest from before time began. When he established his Church on earth, he gave the authority to offer sacrifice to those he ordained for the task. He did so through the laying on of hands and by breathing into them the Holy Spirit. Christ’s priesthood is not through a bloodline but in the line of Melchizedek, a superior priesthood to the one of the Levites. This authority has been handed down through apostolic succession and resides in the Catholic priesthood today. Jesus did not make us all priests authorized to sacrifice of the behalf of the people. The priesthood we receive at baptism is one that allows us to live a sacrificial life for Christ.<p>
Fourth, the visible gift offered to God by an authorized person must be destroyed in some way. Under the old law animals were slain and burned. Isaac would have been slain and burned. In the Passover a lamb was slain, roasted, and eaten by the people. Anything left over was burnt completely before sunrise. Christ was crucified. In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the hosts, a word meaning victim, are consumed as part of the Sacrifice. The reason why the offering is destroyed, either entirely or partially, is to acknowledge God’s supreme dominion and to worship and love him as the Lord of life and death.<p>
Under the old law, God had prescribed how the sacrifice was to be done, who was authorized to do the sacrifice, and where the sacrifice must take place. When the temple was destroyed, the Jews lost the ability to offer sacrifice to God. In rising from the dead, Jesus rebuilt the temple in himself and authorized a new priesthood to authorize sacrifice on behalf of the entire world. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass makes present to us in our time and place the one and only sacrifice of Christ on the cross at Calvary. His crucifixion is made present to us so that we may participate in it. It is only by being crucified with Christ that we can rise with him in resurrection into salvation.<p>
The angel of death did not pass over any house of any Jew who did not follow the rubrics as commanded by God regardless of how righteous they may have been. Likewise, Jesus was also very clear when he said what was required for salvation.<p><p>
<blockquote>“Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, the one who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread that came down out of heaven, not as the fathers ate and died; the one who eats this bread will live forever.”<p>
John 6: 52-58</blockquote><p><p>
Jesus did not mean this metaphorically. He did not mean this symbolically. Just as the Jews had to consume the Passover lamb, so too must we consume the Pascal Lamb of God if we do not want the angel of death to have claim to us when we die.<p>
Scripture tells us that many of those who were following Jesus found this statement to be very offensive and difficult to hear. They left Jesus that day. The Twelve did not understand what Jesus meant, but they believed in him and did not leave. Later, at the last supper, Jesus would establish the Sacrament of the Eucharist and institute the priesthood, giving his priests the authority to consecrate bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus.<p>
The only place where we are given Jesus’ body to eat and his blood to drink is at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass where a priest, authorized by Jesus through his ordination, consecrates simple bread and wine into the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus our high priest in the order of Melchizedek. The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Catholic faith. This was the teaching of the Catholic Church for 1500 years.<p>
Then the devil played upon the pride of the fathers of the reformation. He convinced them that it was no longer necessary to eat the flesh of the son of man in order to have eternal life. The first thing Luther did was to remove the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and he changed the Mass from a sacrifice into a service for the instruction of the faithful. Wesley, Calvin, and Knox did similar things when they formed their new churches. Communion became nothing more than a symbolic remembrance of the last supper. The only thing required to enter heaven is a simple profession of faith in Jesus.<p>
The Jews who did not follow the rubrics given to them by God for the Passover woke the following morning to find that the first born of every creature inside their houses had been taken by the angel of death in the darkness of night. Those who refuse to consume the body and blood of Jesus can only rely on his mercy not to pass them over when he returns to judge the living and the dead at the end of this age.<p>
The Eucharist is the reason to become Catholic. The Eucharist is the reason to stay Catholic. The Eucharist is the reason to live as a Catholic.<p><p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpIfL9Rl2_KRBeyLLt0NiTP21yfbZ-0xOv71DuJFcqwNf1PTbCtCpRAjTh18pq64m43hkENDp9YLv8WwW_Rf4OC_wQ63wlLmBbVLbv82q4buZYpz3BMe5dLZKcPLFQkf6GC7qcy5M_leFT8LctbNpJ1TEh1acmOTjop7Z1tM_oF0Cg1c8p6Ic61kZEGA/s614/Eucharist.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="614" data-original-width="610" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpIfL9Rl2_KRBeyLLt0NiTP21yfbZ-0xOv71DuJFcqwNf1PTbCtCpRAjTh18pq64m43hkENDp9YLv8WwW_Rf4OC_wQ63wlLmBbVLbv82q4buZYpz3BMe5dLZKcPLFQkf6GC7qcy5M_leFT8LctbNpJ1TEh1acmOTjop7Z1tM_oF0Cg1c8p6Ic61kZEGA/s400/Eucharist.jpg"/></a></div>
Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7371052876320221603.post-8841112553310246942023-04-01T12:21:00.000-05:002023-04-01T12:21:11.535-05:00Which Cross Do You Choose?“Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, bowing down and making a request of Him. And He said to her, “What do you desire?” She said to Him, “Say that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine shall sit, one at Your right, and one at Your left.” But Jesus replied, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They said to Him, “We are able.” He said to them, “My cup you shall drink; but to sit at My right and at My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.” –<p>
Matthew 20: 20-23<p><p>
I have written on numerous occasions about the supernatural nature of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is said that the Mass is the unbloody re-presentation of Christ’s crucifixion on Calvary. The supernatural reality of the Mass is that the Mass acts as a conduit through time and space making us present at the actual crucifixion of Jesus as it happens. One would ask why God would want us present at that event. St. Paul said it best when he said that he makes up in his body that which is lacking in the crucifixion. What could possibly be lacking in Christ’s crucifixion?<p>
Quite simply, my participation in it.<p>
The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass makes present in real time the crucifixion of Jesus so that I can participate in it. But how exactly do I participate in his crucifixion? Do I stand at the foot of the cross with our Blessed Mother? Do I stand jeering with the temple priests? Do I sit casting lots with the soldiers?<p>
No, I participate by being crucified with Christ.<p>
When we think of the crucifixion, our focus is on Christ on the cross. Our focus, rightly so, is on the sacrifice being made for us. But the sacrifice does not end with Jesus. We have to look past the cross to finish the sacrifice. When Jesus said, “It is finished” we are presented with a choice.<p>
When reading scripture details matter. The Holy Spirit puts the details we read into scripture so that we can learn something from them. There were two men who were being crucified with Jesus, one to his right and one to his left. Both of these men were receiving the just punishment due for their crimes; death. We know that one of these men mocked Jesus. The other is known as the good thief, for in the end he only ask that Jesus remember him.<p>
As with Jesus bar Abbas, we are presented with a choice. On one cross we have the penitent man. On the other, a man who turns from the Lord. Both men must die for their sins but the penitent man will be with Jesus in his heavenly kingdom. The man who turns away from God goes to hell.<p>
Through our baptisms we die with Christ so that we can rise with him to eternal life. <p>
As part of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we are presented a choice. Which cross do you wish to die upon? God sends no one to hell. If we find ourselves in hell at the end of our lives here on earth it is because we have chosen to die on the cross of the thief who turned his back on God. If we want to live with Jesus in heaven for all eternity we have to choose to die on the cross of the penitent thief. We have to be willing to turn to Jesus and ask him with a humble heart to remember us even though we are deserving of death.<p>
Easter is not just about the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Easter includes the choice we have to make on how we will die; with Christ or without Christ.<p>
Which cross do you choose?<p><p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOOs5HfmdSyW9UZa-wjbetYoA7nYeO8eXyeXIn3yZVYHBkLM1qhxSlOo3tEkTTqjpRe2Qgv3MUL-8y0I4qN6ogdboRC5fQMk4nCypNU0sMkCfMcVdbBqfoWijHEYyolLxbmb51u8-hY0S4Hi01mnB_pAr8tqokc_eAlrg3dJUIgdecfFAQCTxKjEhhqA/s3840/3C.webp" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOOs5HfmdSyW9UZa-wjbetYoA7nYeO8eXyeXIn3yZVYHBkLM1qhxSlOo3tEkTTqjpRe2Qgv3MUL-8y0I4qN6ogdboRC5fQMk4nCypNU0sMkCfMcVdbBqfoWijHEYyolLxbmb51u8-hY0S4Hi01mnB_pAr8tqokc_eAlrg3dJUIgdecfFAQCTxKjEhhqA/s400/3C.webp"/></a></div>
Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7371052876320221603.post-91654706055751422402023-03-17T09:37:00.003-05:002023-03-17T09:49:18.423-05:00To Eat Meat or not to Eat Meat - That is the Question“Now He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and began praying this in regard to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you; this man went to his house justified rather than the other one; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” - Luke 18:11<p>
<p>
Once again, the Feast of St. Patrick has fallen on a Friday during Lent. In the weeks leading up to this feast, Catholics wait in hope for a dispensation from the requirement to abstain from meat on this particular Friday of Lent so that they may celebrate in the usual fashion of consuming corned beef. When those dispensations start coming out, 'holier-than-the-Pope' Catholics start voicing disagreement with their bishops about the dispensation. Like the Pharisee, they want people to know that they will still be abstaining and making the sacrifice of not enjoying all that delicious corned beef. <p>
To eat meat or not eat meat; that is the question. What is the right thing to do? As with all things in our faith, it all comes down to the inclination of the heart.<p>
We fast during Lent to strengthen our wills. When we voluntarily deny ourselves earthly pleasures, we strengthen the spirit’s ability to control the will. The more control we have over our wills, the easier it is for us to resist the temptations of the devil. We abstain from meat on Fridays because the Church offers this to God for the universal penance for sin. We remember the day our Lord died by offering a universal penance for sin by refraining from consuming that which most humans enjoy eating, which is meat. This isn’t a requirement for salvation, but a pious practice of being repentant.<p>
The requirement of abstaining from meat is not limited to just the Lenten season. It is a requirement of all Catholics every Friday of the year. Like with the St. Patrick dispensation, a general dispensation has been given for Fridays that fall outside of the season of lent. Abstaining from meat is what is required but a Catholic can eat meat on a Friday if there is a good reason to do so. Simple desire is not a very good reason to take advantage of the dispensation. <p>
<p>
The dispensation on St. Patrick’s Day, as well as every Friday that falls outside of the season of lent, comes with a requirement if you want to make use of the dispensation. If you eat meat on these days you are required to offer some other form of penance in its place. This penance has to be something you normally wouldn’t do. For example, if you pray a Rosary every day you can’t just offer your Friday Rosary as your penance. You need to do something on top of this Rosary. If you don’t pray a daily Rosary, you can offer a Rosary on Friday as your penance.<p>
The problem is, many Catholics like taking advantage of the dispensation without fulfilling the requirements of it. They eat their meat and are either unwilling or unaware that they need to offer some other form of penance. On the other end of the spectrum, there are those who think any dispensation from this practice is wrong and should not be given. The bishops differ on the subject. Some give the dispensation, some don’t. Those who are shepherd over discoes with large Irish populations usually lean to granting the dispensation.<p>
There is nothing wrong with practicing abstinence regardless of the dispensation. It is a pious practice and, if your heart urges you to observe it, by all means do so. There is no need to voice disagreement with the bishop who grants a dispensation. There is no need to look down on anyone who takes advantage of the dispensation. In doing either you become like the Pharisee who looked own on the publican.<p>
<p>
This is what the devil wants you to do. He wants you to think yourself better than the bishop or the common Catholic because you are making a greater sacrifice for God by observing a practice you are not asked to observe. When you do this, you exalt your own perceived holiness. Like with false humility, when you exalt your own holiness you are not being holy. When you do this you no longer make the sacrifice for God but for yourself.<p>
Likewise, if you take advantage of the dispensation and you don’t offer a difference penance in its place you are using the dispensation as an excuse that takes you away from God and not as something that draws you closer. You are using the dispensation as a way of getting out of an obligation you don’t want to do in the first place.<p>
This is where the inclination of the heart comes in. When we meet our obligations for love of God, they are truly a gift to him. When we meet our obligations just because they are obligations they are still gifts to God but ones that don’t have much love attached to them. When we meet our obligations because we want recognition from others they are no longer gifts to God but to ourselves. <p>
When you do something for someone you love, it is never an obligation. The deeper you love someone the more you want to give to them to show your love for them. Love of God is no different. When someone asks what the bare minimum is that they need to do and still be Catholic they are showing a very shallow love for God. The deeper your love for God the more you want to do. The more you do the deeper that love grows. There is no competition with God and he never wants you to compare the love you have for him to the love someone else is showing him. Only God knows the depth of our hearts and none of us can judge the depth of another’s heart. But that is precisely what the devil wants you to do. He separates you from God by getting you to compare yourself to another in the way the Pharisee compared himself to the publican. <p>
So, on this feast day, if you have been given the dispensation, celebrate and eat your corned beef. Just remember to do an addition penance in its place. If you haven’t been given a dispensation, honor that in love. If you are moved to observe the universal penance of abstinence, do so in a way that no one but God knows you’re doing so. What the Lord sees in private he rewards.<p>
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVpU3Q_MvXm-KXBhf69bVSvvNqOaIcyBQltIC9BLEIpR13mlyvjaLPk_s49XMfNAiwNwrfLMmn1a2nXqtcreQfYPrv6uQ_XfxXP4Bo9wawHkTrRVOMd2y6rX2MBi-NIOsIyybtc8RgKFtp5YxxGR7BduzJtMTmN_9HEu8f0wIiLRvQvycTWbtnVijeBg/s628/CBFY.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="628" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVpU3Q_MvXm-KXBhf69bVSvvNqOaIcyBQltIC9BLEIpR13mlyvjaLPk_s49XMfNAiwNwrfLMmn1a2nXqtcreQfYPrv6uQ_XfxXP4Bo9wawHkTrRVOMd2y6rX2MBi-NIOsIyybtc8RgKFtp5YxxGR7BduzJtMTmN_9HEu8f0wIiLRvQvycTWbtnVijeBg/s400/CBFY.jpg"/></a></div>Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7371052876320221603.post-9005352335560911612023-01-09T09:50:00.004-06:002023-01-09T10:02:17.885-06:00Living in a Post Judeo-Christian Age“<i>In 1787 I'm told<br>
Our founding fathers did agree<br>
To write a list of principles<br>
For keepin' people free<br>
<p>
The U.S.A. was just startin' out<br>
A whole brand-new country<br>
And so our people spelled it out<br>
The things that we should be<p>
And they put those principles down on paper and called it the Constitution, and it's been helping us run our country ever since then.</i>”<p>
The Preamble, Schoolhouse Rock, 1975<p>
If you were a kid who grew up on Saturday morning cartoons in the 70’s and 80’s you may have sung the above. If you were born in the new millennium there is a good possibility that, not only have you not heard it, but you don’t even know what it is talking about. Fewer and fewer people today can tell you when our Constitution was ratified. Fewer still can tell you the principles on which the United States was founded or why the articles and amendments of the Constitution are important. When we forget our history, we make it possible for someone to hijack our present and that is where tyranny begins. Our founding fathers would be so disappointed in what we have become that I would give odds that many of them would move back to Britain.<p>
Most people I know just don’t care about any of this stuff. They don’t see how it impacts their day-to-day lives. It has been such a long time that we have had to live with any real oppression that it is a concept we can no longer understand. We feel entitled to our freedom. We keep our liberty only as long as we are willing to fight for it. The truth of the matter is that our liberties have been slowly eroding since the beginning of the progressive movement that began in the early 1900’s. We are frogs slowly being boiled to death and we don’t have a clue. Come on in. The water is nice.<p>
It is no surprise that we are also seeing the eroding of faith-based organizations. Christianity in particular is seeing the number of practicing people decline sharply in the last twenty years. The number of people who claim no religious affiliation has been increasing incrementally year after year. This has church leaders wringing their hands, trying to find ways to bring people back to the faith. I know the Catholic Church has become as accommodating as possible to try to keep people in the pews to no avail. The pandemic has only hastened people's departure.<p>
Why?<p>
People turn to God during hard and challenging times. When times are good God is seldom thought of. Take for example the recent tragedy of Damar Hamlin. Damar was a twenty-four-year-old football player who suffered a cardiac arrest while playing in a Monday night game. While the EMT’s worked to save Damar’s life his entire team knelt around him in prayer. Everyone in that stadium that night and the entire country soon after also joined together in praying for Damar. This is a good thing but it wasn’t that long ago when another football player, Tim Tebow, was roundly mocked when he would take a knee to pray and thank God for his talent. We also saw Joe Kennedy, a high school football coach, lose his job for privately praying on the field after a game.<p>
We talk about the New Evangelization and try to find new and engaging ways to bring the Gospel of the Lord to those who have not heard it. The problem is that there are few, at least in the United States, who have never heard about Jesus. You would almost have to be living off-grid somewhere in the wilds of Alaska to not have heard at least something about Jesus. Many will listen to the stories from the bible in the same way they watch a movie like Star Wars. They are great stories but they have little relevance or impact on their day-to-day lives. <p>
Like with our Constitution, the greatness the Judeo-Christian faith brought to our world is considered common place and we reap the benefits with a sense of entitlement. As I stated in the beginning, when we forget our history, we make it possible for someone to hijack our present and that is where tyranny begins. We are seeing this happen in our society now. As we cast off the tenants of the Judeo-Christian faith, we see a world embracing untruth, chaos, and death. If left unchecked, this will lead to the destruction of our society and we will have to rebuild from the ash of what used to be.<p>
When we look at the history of man, we find that this is precisely the cycle of how things happen. God calls man from chaos. Man becomes prosperous. Man turns from God to do it on his own accord. Man returns to chaos. Man turns to God for salvation. Wash, rinse, repeat. <p>
Those who fail to learn from history and bound to repeat it. Those who do learn from history suffer from it when it is repeated.<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnR8MyvmF8cevKPvySnYz5R-1o8-SRSwJuTEVjeXuplDippdK5XJHJsV9lAV4jZRwLTB75ZLI-rgiof1WUGm8lqfyet0QYhScKpAlvkEbds89T-rR7IOf4cZImqF9EkaR82HcGB_E1v91Kta-pxXo0FZsAoJGu5wEDuY-fVC52_nAOwEBcAaF3Vr1kkw/s1280/Constitution.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnR8MyvmF8cevKPvySnYz5R-1o8-SRSwJuTEVjeXuplDippdK5XJHJsV9lAV4jZRwLTB75ZLI-rgiof1WUGm8lqfyet0QYhScKpAlvkEbds89T-rR7IOf4cZImqF9EkaR82HcGB_E1v91Kta-pxXo0FZsAoJGu5wEDuY-fVC52_nAOwEBcAaF3Vr1kkw/s400/Constitution.jpg"/></a></div>
Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7371052876320221603.post-73176729412520555232022-11-28T10:05:00.001-06:002022-11-28T10:05:53.621-06:00Keeping a Watchful EyeA ship was returning to her home port after a long deployment out to sea. The sailors manned the rails in their dress uniforms. There was an excitement in the air. They were anxious to get home to see their families they had been away from for so long.<p>
The same anxious excitement filled the crowd waiting on the dock for the ship. As it appeared on the horizon the excitement grew. The closer the ship came to shore the more frenzied the crowd became. Then came the words every sailor longs to hear upon returning from a long deployment. “Moored, shift colors”.
Jubilant cheers erupted from the families as balloons flew heavenward and the band began to play. The sailors finished tying the ship to the dock and waited for that glorious announcement over the 1MC – “Liberty Call, liberty call”.<p>
Sailors flooded over the brow to the awaiting arms of their loved ones. Spouses reunited; parents snatched their children up in tight hugs. Smiles, laughter, and happy tears were all that could be seen.<p>
But one sailor could not find his wife and son as he looked throughout the crowd. His excitement quickly faded and worry took over his face as the families began to leave the dock and head for home. His family was no where to be found. They were not there. Then a fear gripped the sailor as he hurried to catch a ride to his home. <p>
As the taxi stopped in front of his house, he saw his wife’s car in the drive way. He threw a wad of bills at the driver and leapt from the car. As he approached his front door his fears changed as he grew concerned what he may find inside. He threw open the door and looked inside. <p>
His wife was in the kitchen, cooking at the stove. His son sat on the living room floor building a cabin out of Lincoln logs. His wife turned and looked at him with a big smile on her face.
“Welcome home, honey. We have been waiting for you,” his wife said with glee.<p>
A wash of relief flooded the man when he realized his family was safe. A brief glimmer of joy filled his heart to see his wife and son again. That quickly was replaced by a heavy feeling of sorrow. The other families were giddy with anticipation watching with joyful excitement from the dock for their sailors to return to them. His family simply waited at home for him.<p>
There is a difference between watching and waiting. Watching is an expression of love. It is something you actively do. The father of the prodigal son watched without ceasing for his son to return to him. Even when he was a long way off, the father saw his son and ran to meet him with a joy-filled heart. The son’s brother only waited for him and did not know that he had returned until he was told so by one of the father’s servants. Likewise, the five wise virgins watched for their master’s return and also ran to meet him with full lamps when he returned. The five foolish virgins simply waited and let their lamps run dry.<p>
Jesus wants us to be watchful for his return. He wants us to see him even when he is a far way off and run to him with joy-filled hearts. He does not want us to just sit around and wait. Like the ship, Jesus wants to be welcomed back with fan fair, balloons, and singing when he arrives. He doesn’t want to have to come and find us.<p>
The Church gives us the season of Advent to rekindle that fire in our hearts. Advent is a time where we are called from our sleep to have our anticipation renewed. We are called from our waiting to be watchful again. Advent is a time we celebrate Jesus, yesterday, today, and tomorrow. As we prepare to celebrate his nativity at Christmas, we also prepare ourselves for his return. We do this best by recognizing Christ present to us today.<p>
As Catholics, we are not called to live in the spirit of Advent only during the season of Advent. We should have the spirit of Advent in our hearts every time we come to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We start Mass by asking Jesus to come and be present with us. We are joyful at the consecration of the Eucharist because the Lord is here. We end Mass with the assured hope that he will come again. Every Catholic should come to Mass as giddy as a young child staring at all of the brightly wrapped presents under the tree on Christmas morning. Jesus gives us himself, body, blood, soul, and divinity at every Mass. It is the greatest gift that has ever been given. It is the gift of sacrificial love.<p>
Let us return to being watchful people again this Advent. Let us be prepared to run to meet the Lord when we see him approaching from far off. Let him not find us simply waiting for his return.<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwvwy8LACFh75IwIWWVdMRZhlZgbGi5ZcsyWLTJ2eUfia52Z5DWAFiKWIpZIF9r5JM4ddtHA_AnbqpRMHOfW499wFPqiCpL0G3vrwN7-K1jPtQiAwnvlcC2vya9YNu78kLx5A9gtaecSPqsfJvrdDnXNg9sBFYuZp9Q-dq_EytgAFEsEGRiL1dZqWPXA/s1009/Maranath.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="1009" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwvwy8LACFh75IwIWWVdMRZhlZgbGi5ZcsyWLTJ2eUfia52Z5DWAFiKWIpZIF9r5JM4ddtHA_AnbqpRMHOfW499wFPqiCpL0G3vrwN7-K1jPtQiAwnvlcC2vya9YNu78kLx5A9gtaecSPqsfJvrdDnXNg9sBFYuZp9Q-dq_EytgAFEsEGRiL1dZqWPXA/s400/Maranath.jpg"/></a></div>
Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7371052876320221603.post-40823026440919061412022-11-04T20:04:00.002-05:002022-11-04T20:04:28.715-05:00Why is there suffering?One of the reasons atheists give for their belief that God does not exist is that if there were a God and God were good, he would never permit evil on the earth. Likewise, people who have fallen away from God after a tragic event happens in their life often say that they cannot believe in a God that would allow their suffering. We are a very myopic people who cannot see past ourselves. We remember the past, often times better or worse than it actually was. We cannot see the future.<p>
In many ways we are like a person who is on the first chapter of the first book in a seven-book series. Something tragic happens to the protagonist and we read on in horror wondering why the author had the event happen in the first place. The author, having already written the entire series, knows why the event had to take place as written. It was part of a much bigger story and the story would not be the same without it.<p>
God exists outside of time and space. More aptly put, time and space exist inside of God. Every moment, from the very first moment of time until the very last moment of time, is the same moment for God. There is no past, present, or future. There is only now. God has written the book. He knows how the story will end. Only he can see the bigger picture. No matter how tragic an event is in our lives, it is all part of God’s great and mysterious plan.<p>
So why is suffering part of God’s plan? Suffering is the currency of love. Without suffering, love could not exist. It is said that God is love. God is not just any type of love. He is the greatest and highest form of love. God is sacrificial or agape love. Sacrificial love always puts the good of the other before self. Sacrificial love is a love freely given without condition or demand for return. There are three rules for love to exist that even God imposes open himself.<p>
The first rule for love to exist is that there has to be a lover and an object to receive that love. This is one of the reasons why God manifests himself as the Trinity of the three persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God did not create us to be the object of his perfect love. If God were dependent upon his creation to exist then there would be something greater than God and he would cease to be God. The three persons of God love each other perfectly which allows for both lover and receiver of that love in the one entirety that is God.<p>
The second rule for love to exist is that love has to be freely given. You cannot be forced to love someone. It is charity, an act done out of love, when I give money to a homeless person. It is not charity when the government forcibly takes money from me in taxes to give to a homeless person. One is done freely, the other by force.<p>
The third rule for love to exist is that there has to be a choice. Just as someone cannot be forced to love, you also cannot be forced to be loved. There is a term for love forced upon another that comes with a jail term. God placed the tree of life in the Garden of Eden to give Adam and Eve a choice so that love could exist. They had a choice to walk with God in the garden for all eternity or they could eat of the fruit of the tree of life and live mortal lives. Like Adam and Eve, we have been given the choice to live in a state of grace or a state of death. We freely choose death when we sin. Sin is taking that which God does not freely give. Sin is what is taken. Grace is what is given.<p>
Suffering is the proof of love. If love required nothing from us it would be easy to love. There really would be no choice in the matter. And without choice there is no love. The amount of love we have for another is measured in the amount we are willing to suffer for them. How much are you willing to suffer for God? Yet, there are things we suffer from that we get no choice over. How is that suffering about love when there is no choice?<p>
When we suffer for something beyond our control, like from a disease or a natural disaster, we are presented with a choice. Do we continue to love God and put our trust in him or do we abandon God and put our trust in ourselves? The best proof of love is trust and someone who truly loves God keeps their trust in him regardless of the suffering they are made to endure. <p>
Why does bad things happen in this world? We’ll just have to read the book to the end to find out. Until then we can trust that everything is part of a greater plan got does not choose to share with us now. We have a God of love who wants nothing but the best for us. If we are made to suffer for a time now it is so we can love him in perfection later.<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBrfnNVPVpCT1OkH20LygyQtjhAC-UKsiGSLwqA2o4GlvIMpR1YgEvTP3zwXBvjDWGSpGmz1_QtkAy13KZgpj5q5O7eBVI48IksfdSJSp0O2XsjD4CdMiQhbPXiRDn6kAz8SDiwGhGo97nC2mVuJwbJbe_PXE0eJQDThPqDl5YBIyocZL3wZBkXLNwIA/s710/suffer.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="710" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBrfnNVPVpCT1OkH20LygyQtjhAC-UKsiGSLwqA2o4GlvIMpR1YgEvTP3zwXBvjDWGSpGmz1_QtkAy13KZgpj5q5O7eBVI48IksfdSJSp0O2XsjD4CdMiQhbPXiRDn6kAz8SDiwGhGo97nC2mVuJwbJbe_PXE0eJQDThPqDl5YBIyocZL3wZBkXLNwIA/s400/suffer.jpeg"/></a></div>
Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7371052876320221603.post-34240038561514085842022-08-25T15:09:00.002-05:002022-09-07T07:55:14.064-05:00How May I Direct Your Call?One thing social media does not lack for is lively discussion on the validity of the Roman Catholic Church. Saying discussion is a bit of a stretch seeing most of it is nothing more than hateful, misinformed, and ignorant statements made by people who have been brought up to believe that the Roman Catholic Church is the whore of Babylon. Many of these people cannot even accept historical facts that there should be no discussion on. I try my best not to engage in these discussions because the only fruit that can come from them is my anger and frustration. Yet, I still get baited into them on occasion.<p>
As frustrating as it, reading some of the responses from Catholics trying to counter the misinformation is far worse. The RCC has done a poor job of catechizing her faithful for the past fifty or so years and it shows. <p>
One common attack on the Church is that we pray to Mary and the Saints. Because we pray to them and adorn our sacred places with statues of them we are idolaters and therefore not real Christians. I saw this attack online recently, to which I just rolled my eyes. This again, sigh. Then I read the responses from Catholics and could only shake my head in disbelief. The basic response was, “We don’t pray to Mary or the Saints. We pray to God alone. We only ask Mary and the Saints to intercede for us.”<p>
How exactly do we ask Mary and the Saints to pray for us? Oh yes, through our prayers to them.<p>
Yes, Catholics pray to Mary and the Saints. Where the difference in understanding comes is what we believe prayer to be.<p>
The highest form of worship for a Catholic is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass where the unbloodied sacrifice of Jesus on the cross at Calvary is made present to us. It is a sacrifice of thanksgiving. One of the first things Martin Luther did in founding his church was to remove this sacrifice turning it into nothing more than a service for the instruction of the faithful. Without valid orders, non-Catholic ministers cannot offer a sacrifice so all non-Catholic services are just that, services, regardless of how much they resemble a Catholic Mass. <p>
To non-Catholics, the highest form of worship is prayer. If prayer is worship then only God deserves our prayers. With this perspective it is easy to see why they believe Catholics to be idolaters. But to Catholics, prayer is something very different. Prayer is communication. First and foremost it is communication with God. Through God it is also of way of communicating with those are with God.<p>
There are four basic types of prayer.<p>
<blockquote>• Prayers of Blessing and Adoration. We praise God for his great glory. We praise God because he alone is worthy of all praise and adoration. The word ‘bless’ from the Latin ‘bene decire’ means to speak well of.<p>
• Prayers of Petition. Asking God for what we need, including forgiveness.<p>
• Prayers of Intercession. Asking God for what others need.<p>
• Prayers of Thanksgiving. We give God thanks for the many gifts he has given to us and for the things he has done.</blockquote><p>
Prayers can be mental or verbal. They can be formal or informal. Prayer can be one directional or a dialog. They are our conversations with our creator. All prayers are answered by God in accordance to his Holy Will.<p>
So, if prayer is between us and God what about praying to Mary and the Saints?<p>
To understand this you have to first understand the Catholic understanding of death. Death is not an end, it is a doorway. It is the passing from this life into the next. Souls are immortal. Death does not destroy them. When someone dies they do not disappear. They change zip codes. The ultimate resting place for all of us is either heaven or hell. Most of us destined for heaven will spend time in purgatory first.<p>
We are all one family through God. Our family on earth is referred to as the Church Militant. We are still fighting the good fight. Those in purgatory are called the Church Suffering. They are being purified or purged of their earthly attachments so they can enjoy an eternity in heaven with God and the Church Triumphant, our family who are in heaven with God.<p>
If I were facing a particularly difficult trial I could ask any of my family in the Church Militant to pray for me. This is asking for intercessory prayer. The Church Militant are not the only ones who can pray for me. The Church Triumphant can do so as well. Their intercession is very powerful and effective because they are in heaven with God. They love us perfectly and they wish for nothing more than for us to be with them in heaven.<p>
So how can we ask the Church Triumphant to intercede for us? We pray to them of course. This prayer is not worship. It is communication. Can the Saints hear our prayers to them? Yes, if God permits it. All prayers go through God. He is much like the old time telephone operators. “How can I direct your call?” “I’d like to ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to intercede for me because I need…” If our prayers are in line with God’s will and for our good he will allow the Saint prayed to to hear our prayer.<p>
But why? Why can’t I just pray to God? Scripture tells us that there is only one intercessor and that is Jesus. How can Mary of the Saints intercede for us when Jesus is the only intercessor to God? Any parent with more than one child knows how this type of intercession works. The first child asks for something he wants. He then gets his brothers and sisters to also petition mom and dad to get him that thing. The combined coercion results in the first child getting what he asked for.<p>
Jesus is the only intercessor to God, the Father. He is our greatest advocate. Mary and the Saints intercede for us by interceding to Jesus. They are in heaven with Jesus. They have his ear. What do you think will have more pull – someone asking Jesus for something or his Mother asking him something on someone’s behalf? Jesus would refuse his mother nothing and his mother would never ask him for anything that is not in accord with God’s will. God would not allow Mary to hear a prayer that is not in accord with his will.<p>
In the end, what it all comes down to is that true prayer is always offered in love. Love is never wasted with God. Love only grows the more it is shared. Love is multiplied like the loaves and the fishes every time we pray for each other. This is not limited to just the Church Militant. The love we share through prayer binds us together with our family who is in heaven. Praying to Mary, the Saints, and even the angels is not an idolatress action but one that multiplies the love of God’s family.<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqYpCMQ81RQh8t2MKiUpUl7zWgfW6uzQiS850NDCB1sW2zJHYeGXp-TJN4_7zuDeCDCNJ9LsahPkUdAu8Q1HEwt-08uSj-Rt-9EFTVH7-n78xV-yQYZuwJNOc0ynNGlvzjdXeT7BlHkLmeeKbxWBjVGNG7a8GelqaYa1291osiXd8SQPmj0HcqL6RnrQ/s900/TO.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqYpCMQ81RQh8t2MKiUpUl7zWgfW6uzQiS850NDCB1sW2zJHYeGXp-TJN4_7zuDeCDCNJ9LsahPkUdAu8Q1HEwt-08uSj-Rt-9EFTVH7-n78xV-yQYZuwJNOc0ynNGlvzjdXeT7BlHkLmeeKbxWBjVGNG7a8GelqaYa1291osiXd8SQPmj0HcqL6RnrQ/s400/TO.jpg"/></a></div>
Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7371052876320221603.post-14272876060860411202022-07-09T13:28:00.000-05:002022-07-09T13:28:52.218-05:00Weapons of WarWhy do you need a military style weapon with a high capacity magazine?<p>
<blockquote></blockquote>“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” – The Declaration of Independence <p><blockquote></blockquote>
Regardless of what militant feminist philosophy wishes us to believe about the role of the male in our society today, a man has three primary duties in life. We have a duty to God, first and foremost. We also have a duty to our country and a duty to our family. One of the duties we owe both our country and our family is that of protection. Man holds the responsibility to protect this country and our families against anyone or anything that intends to harm either. This is not some macho, misogynistic idea from a bygone era. Nor is it to say that women are incapable of playing the role of protector. Indeed, women are called to this role to even a greater degree than man, but only at the appropriate time. If the male fails in this duty, either by choice or by ability, the woman becomes the last defense of the innocent. She holds within herself a fury unmatched by any male. It is a power that is meant to be unleashed only as last resort when no other options are available.<p>
God defined the gender roles when he created both male and female. Man had two primary jobs, to till the ground and to protect creation with the primary emphasis on protecting his wife. Woman was made to be a helpmate to man. She was created to nurture. Death entered the world when man failed to protect his wife. When evil came he did not confront it. He did not attempt to stop it. He allowed the devil to tempt woman and then he blamed the woman for his sin and God for placing woman with him to begin with. The original sin was not when woman ate of the tree of life. It was when man allowed it to happen.<p>
When I was seventeen I took the following oath when I enlisted in the United States Navy –<p>
<blockquote></blockquote>“I, Robert Glenn Collins, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."<p><blockquote></blockquote>
This was the oath I took to this country before God. It was my pledge that I would give my life in defense of this land, her people, and the principles and ideals on which she was founded. I was not relieved of this oath when my contract of service was fulfilled. I took a similar oath when I became a husband, and later, a father. As such, I am obligated to give my life in defense of my wife and children. These are not just empty words for me. They are founding principles on which I live my life.<p>
A militia, rightly understood, is every able bodied person living within this country. We have been afforded the luxury of living in a country that has not had the threat of invasion from a foreign nation in hundreds of years. The most recent war fought within our borders was the civil war that ended over one hundred and fifty years ago. We have lost the concept, but not the need, for a militia.
Our founding fathers understood this better than any. The militia was indispensable during the Revolutionary War and the early days of our country while the proper military defenses were being created. The militia is just as indispensable today as it was during this country’s founding, regardless of how many people no longer believe it is necessary to have one.<p>
Case in point –<p>
In May of 2020 the United States had nation-wide rioting after the death of George Floyd. What was meant to be peaceful protests at what people believed was police brutality were stirred into violent riots by militants who wanted to go to war with the police. Over two billion dollars worth of damage was done to private, public, and government property. At least twenty-five people were killed and thousands were injured on both sides of the line. The police were greatly outnumbered. The governors of the states have use of the National Guard to deal with domestic emergencies such as hurricanes, wild fires, and protests. They were not activated to protect the people during the height of the violence but would later be brought in to surround the White House to protect the President-elect during his inauguration. The people were abandoned in their greatest hour of need and were told to flee and let insurance pay them for what was lost.<p>
We had the same type of event happen during the Rodney King riots in 1991. Like what happened in the George Floyd riots, violent protesters rioted, looted and destroyed personal and public property in Los Angeles. A group of Korean business owners came together to defend their property armed with their personally owned weapons. Their businesses went largely undamaged during the riots.<p>
Because of events like the Boston Massacre, our founding fathers understood the importance of personal defense. The right to keep and bear arms was not originally written into the Constitution. It was assumed by some that people would know and understand that as a free person they had the right to do and own anything they wanted that was not specifically made illegal by law. Some worried that the day would come that people would begin to believe their rights are granted to them by the state and then many of the rights given to us by our Creator would be infringed upon or taken away. The Constitution of the United States could not be ratified until some protection was given to these rights. The first ten amendments, or the Bill of Rights, were added to the Constitution. The amendments are listed in an order of importance. <p>
The First Amendment recognized the right to practice one’s religion first and foremost. Then it recognized the right to free speech, the right of the press, the right to peacefully assemble, and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Without these rights you cease to be a free and sovereign citizen and you become a slave subject to the ruling body. <p>
The Second Amendment recognizes that without the ability to defend one’s self any and all other rights can be stripped away from the individual. This is exactly what King George did to the colonists. When they began to protest he stripped them of their ability to defend themselves. When they continued to protest he forcibly imprisoned them and eventually had them killed. The new government of the United States was to be held in check by citizens who were able to overthrow it if it became tyranical. The Second Amendment is ignorantly and intentionally misread and misunderstood by those who want to disarm the population.<p>
<blockquote></blockquote>Amendment II<p>
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”<p><blockquote></blockquote>
The people who wish to ignore this Amendment focus on the words, “A well regulated Militia” and believe that it applies to our military. By literary rule, everything that comes before the second comma is a qualifier and can be excluded from the sentence. The sentence stands alone without these words. The amendment is quite simply, “The right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”<p>
Our founders knew that for a state to remain free it had to be protected and the ultimate responsibility for protecting it fell to the people who lived there. The first qualifier, “A well regulated Militia”, does not mean a well controlled militia. In this sense it is meant to mean a well supervised militia. The government has the responsibility to train the people on the proper use of weapons. It also has the responsibility to arm those who wish to be armed. A militia of properly trained and armed citizens can then be called to the defense of the nation in the time of crisis or need.<p>
Instead of embracing this responsibility our government has tried to get the population to believe that they are not responsible for the defense of their nation or even their own protection. Many governments, both local and federal, have done everything they can to disarm the population. They want us to believe that we are all safer if lawful citizens did not possess firearms. If only we could rid the country of weapons people of evil intent would have no call to do evil actions. The lions will lay down with the lambs and we would have a utopia of peace and prosperity. We can look to all of human history to see that this has never happened and an unarmed, docile population is always preyed upon and cast into slavery by people who hunger for power over the powerless.<p>
Why do you need a military style weapon with a high capacity magazine?<p>
Because I am a free and responsible citizen who has sworn an oath to defend and protect this country, my family, and myself against all who intend to do us harm. I cannot do that with my charm alone.<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii8JwXCH1C_E-Yh1MVR_-ZZdAklEL0FP67w-LsS-Z2ZUtDPLpsO-tnCeTBdT3iRccqIdpH8r44ufYCcSKKvbDbeuGvHUPEr_FreQZ5vYp39aDCL1sjeDHuMEy2-hnVK44GUwCukf09foKBoXIUGccHgjzL1d2I5A6VWJMjTTPIde1FE_54cZFaUDFvvQ/s600/WOW.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii8JwXCH1C_E-Yh1MVR_-ZZdAklEL0FP67w-LsS-Z2ZUtDPLpsO-tnCeTBdT3iRccqIdpH8r44ufYCcSKKvbDbeuGvHUPEr_FreQZ5vYp39aDCL1sjeDHuMEy2-hnVK44GUwCukf09foKBoXIUGccHgjzL1d2I5A6VWJMjTTPIde1FE_54cZFaUDFvvQ/s400/WOW.jpg"/></a></div>
Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7371052876320221603.post-1524766169343403062022-05-25T11:46:00.003-05:002022-05-25T12:00:16.746-05:00Burger King Catholics - The New Face of ProtestantismJesus instituted the priesthood at the last supper. He gave the keys to his kingdom on earth to St. Peter, our first Pope. He passed his authority over the Church to the Twelve when he breathed on them on Pentecost and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”<p>
He gave these first bishops the authority to bind and loosen, forgive sins, cure the sick, raise the dead, and drive out demons. They were tasked with teaching and preserving the faith that was given to them directly from Jesus. They passed this knowledge and authority on to their successors through an unbroken chain of apostolic succession to this day. Our bishops have the sole authority to govern the Church and the solemn duty to preserve and pass on the faith as Christ taught it.<p>
On October 31, 1517 Father Martin Luther, a Catholic priest, posted a list of grievances on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. It was a call for church reform centering mostly around the apparent sale of indulgences which he viewed as an abuse of power by the Church. Luther tried to change the Church from within but when he continued to push his opinion over Sacred Tradition, he was excommunicated in 1521. <p>
Luther is viewed as the father of Protestantism, the third branch of Christianity. What Luther did was uncork a bottle that was ready to explode, which substituted personal opinion over Sacred Tradition that had been taught for 1500 years. Luther lived long enough to see the same thing happen to the church he started as differing opinions began to splinter all of the Protestant churches. Today, we have over 70,000 different denominational and non-denominational churches each teaching what they to believe to be the real truth Jesus taught. This number grows every day.<p>
Meanwhile history is repeating itself in the Catholic Church. Many within the Church, both cleric and lay alike, are making demands that the Church change her teaching on a number of things. Almost all of the demands are for changes the Church has no authority or ability to change. Some examples of this are –<p>
<blockquote>• It is time for the Church to ordain women to all levels of the clergy, including women bishops, and one day, our first woman Pope.<p>
• The Church should give her blessing to all same-sex marriages.<p>
• That the Church allow those who have gotten a civil divorce to remarry within the Church.<p>
• The Church should allow those who are not in a state of grace to receive the Holy Eucharist, such as those living in adultery through civil divorce and remarriage or those who publicly declare the Church teaching on morals is wrong and support grave evils like abortion and euthanasia.<p>
• That the Church authority be handed over to the laity so that they do things like appoint who becomes a bishop through a popular vote.<p>
</blockquote>
I dub these the Burger King Catholics; people who want to call themselves Catholic but want their faith their way. They are Catholic Protestants who will lead the Church into her next schism.<p>
This is the reason why Jesus did not set up his Church as a democracy or even a democratic republic. He appointed the Twelve, gave them his authority over the Church. He entrusted to them the deposit of faith and gave them the duty and responsibility to pass this faith on as they had received it, keeping the Church true to his teachings until his return. He gave us his promise that he would be with his Church until the end of time. This is why we believe that the Church cannot fall into error when the magisterium, that is the Pope in union with the bishops, teach on faith and morals. Catholics are required to believe 100% of the Church's teaching on faith and morals. This is not up for debate or change. Those who disagree with the Church disagree with Jesus. Our opinions on these matters do not matter and where we disagree with the Church we need to realize that we are wrong and seek to understand why.<p>
We live in an age of disobedience where all authority is to be ignored. My truth is the correct truth for me. All things revolve around me and my opinion. Where my opinion differs from that of the Church my opinion takes precedence. I am not willing to accept a truth contrary to my belief.<p>
After the miracle of the feeding of the five-thousand through the multiplication of the loaves and fish Jesus gave his teaching on the bread of life and told the people that they had to eat his flesh and drink his blood if they wanted to have everlasting life. This teaching was hard for the people to accept and they left him in great numbers. He let them go, Love is always a choice.<p>
Many of the teachings that Jesus gives us through the Church are equally hard for people to accept. Those who walk away from the Church walk away from Jesus in the same way as those who walked away over his teaching on the bread of life. We should not wring our hands and worry about the increasing spaces in our pews. Instead, we need to hold close to the truth and live our faith boldly and joyfully.<p>
Where can we go, Lord. You have the words of eternal life.<p><p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYaSShYMqnpHj8Rf7P0cz62k6mQ0t2YOnQoomLZkgP1qY53wBOlJP3YSux3gbuU1vGNl-pIGbOChWRI14yKQOP5CdTwQfGDU9aeECgK2GUNJYgr1Ra8c3Ocanl0Lub501kQogHER-IDxaIVqzVBzyBVo-kk8pJ4HN0e643bBH1lYo-L8VmQmH3OtUiUQ/s332/BKHIYW2.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="332" data-original-width="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYaSShYMqnpHj8Rf7P0cz62k6mQ0t2YOnQoomLZkgP1qY53wBOlJP3YSux3gbuU1vGNl-pIGbOChWRI14yKQOP5CdTwQfGDU9aeECgK2GUNJYgr1Ra8c3Ocanl0Lub501kQogHER-IDxaIVqzVBzyBVo-kk8pJ4HN0e643bBH1lYo-L8VmQmH3OtUiUQ/s400/BKHIYW2.jpg"/></a></div>Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7371052876320221603.post-34312010116906595142022-02-15T10:55:00.000-06:002022-02-15T10:55:15.897-06:00HALT!After his baptism, before his public ministry began, Jesus went out into the desert for forty days to pray and fast. At the end of that time, he found himself tired, hungry, and weak. It was then the devil came to tempt him. Why did the devil tempt our Lord? <p>
God had a plan for the salvation and redemption of man. It was through sacrificial love. Suffering is the currency of love. Love can never be forced. For God to save us through love there had to be a choice. Jesus knew that the path to salvation was to take on the punishment for all sin and the punishment for sin is suffering and death. For Love to take on this punishment for us he had to have an alternative. The temptations of the devil gave him that alternative. Jesus could have accepted the devil’s invitation to worship him and have reign over all of the earth under the devil’s authority. Jesus chose suffering and death out of love for us instead.<p>
Jesus allowed the devil to tempt him so as to teach us how to respond to temptation when we are also tried by the devil. How Jesus responded is very important to understand.<p>
In the first temptation the devil temps Jesus to turn rocks into bread and to satisfy his immense hunger. Jesus responded by telling the devil that man does not live on bread alone but through every word that comes from God. The Gospel of John starts by telling us that the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word came down from heaven and dwelt among us. Jesus answers the first temptation by reminding the devil that he is God.<p>
In the second temptation the devil took Jesus to the top of the temple and dared him to jump off, for if he is truly the Son of God the angels would catch him and allow no harm to come to him. Jesus counted by reminding him that it is written in scripture that you shall not put your God to the test. In the first temptation Jesus reminded the devil that he was God and in this answer he is telling the devil that he cannot tempt him.<p>
In the last temptation the devil takes Jesus to a high mountain and offers Jesus all of the kingdoms of this world if only he would kneel and worship the devil. Jesus counters by quoting the scripture passage that says you shall worship and serve God alone. Being God, it was the devil who was to worship Jesus, who is the rightful king over all in heaven and earth. With that, the devil left him.<p>
Ask any soldier when the best time to attack an enemy is and they will tell you it is when they are at their weakest. The devil is the most cunning of enemies. We are at our most vulnerable to temptation when we are weak. We are at our weakest when we are Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired.<p>
H.A.L.T. This should be a warning to us that the enemy is prowling, hoping to capitalize on an opportunity to get us to stray from God. It should be a warning to us that it is time to call for reinforcements. When we find ourselves hungry, angry, lonely, or tired we need to Stop what we are doing, Drop to our knees (even if only in our hearts), and Pray. We pray to God for his grace to make it through the trial. We can pray to our Blessed Mother for intercession to her son on our behalf. We can pray to St. Michael and our guardian angels for protection and assistance in fighting our temptations. We can pray to the Communion of Saints for their intercessions and strength. The important thing to realize that we are weak and seek the help that is available to us through our faith.<p>
When we are weak we are made strong through the grace of God.<p>
<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEit1azVpy-M-NIQZPe72Zkt1ggnChm8cc8199ywLh3DjT-lObIGqZ7q4YHFyVIYj-7wWsSCHV9RYTjk734HmT3YOp72TtQtgArDO3wyXOxXB8I81hZlZlC5924PugHH610ZbEWskKzUUMdHHFG-eOSEzDJ7qiiImYY_kLQ6AL42uqMdbqic0rzwkG13Cg=s805" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="805" data-original-width="793" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEit1azVpy-M-NIQZPe72Zkt1ggnChm8cc8199ywLh3DjT-lObIGqZ7q4YHFyVIYj-7wWsSCHV9RYTjk734HmT3YOp72TtQtgArDO3wyXOxXB8I81hZlZlC5924PugHH610ZbEWskKzUUMdHHFG-eOSEzDJ7qiiImYY_kLQ6AL42uqMdbqic0rzwkG13Cg=s400"/></a></div>
Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7371052876320221603.post-90716327640243005692022-01-30T16:05:00.003-06:002022-01-30T16:20:24.788-06:00Life does not begin at conception.“Life begins at conception.”<P><BR>
This has been the stance of the Church and prolife groups since the beginning. Yet, this sentence isn’t entirely true. Something not entirely true is 100% false.<P><BR>
<blockquote>"Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
And before you were born I consecrated you;
I have appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah 1: 4-5</blockquote><P><BR>
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. That is because each and every one of us has existed in the mind of God since the beginning of existence itself. We are not just a thought or a dream to God. We are as real in his mind as we are on earth and as real as we will be in heaven.<P><BR>
Life does not begin at conception. Life manifests itself at conception. Conception is that point in time where a supernatural life in the mind of God is made manifest when it is joined with its physical form on earth. That life undergoes nine months of development and then it is born. The baby grows to adulthood and then dies. The body and soul are separated for a time and after the final judgement are reunited and proceed to their eternal home, heaven or hell. This is the typical order of progression.<P><BR>
For the last two-thousand years people have wondered when Jesus will return to usher in the new heaven and the new earth. Many have tried to predict the date. Many more look to the current times and believe the end is right around the corner. I believe the end will come once every person alive in the mind of God has been made manifest, that is, has been conceived here on earth.<P><BR>
The devil has done everything in his power to get us to walk away from this awesome gift of co-creating immortal life with God. Once all of the lives in the mind of God have been conceived God can then perfect all of creation and usher in the new heaven and the new earth. The devil is the ruler of this earth. When the new age comes to be he will be cast back into hell for all eternity. The devil has everything to lose when we cooperate with God’s plan for life.<P><BR>
The Pope has taken a lot of heat lately for saying Catholic parents need to return to having children. He was especially beat up for saying that pets should not be considered as children. He said that parents who have few or no children are acting selfishly because they are choosing their lifestyle over creating new life with God. The world sees it differently. The devil has convinced the world that it selfish to have many children, that having many children is a drain on natural resources. Sadly, far too many Catholics have bought this lie from the father of lies.<P><BR>
The family is the nucleus of society. When the family is small, society is weak. A weak society is easily manipulated by those who hunger to dominate others. Those dominated become slaves, losing their individual freedoms, liberties, and choices, eventually losing even their own identities as children of God.<P><BR>
A life that has existed since the beginning of time manifests itself at conception. Conception is that moment in time where God shares with us someone he has intimately known since creation began. Our greatest duty, therefore, is to care for this life God has shared with us. Justice without mercy will be shown to those who willfully destroy this life so precious to him.<P><BR>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEguPYQNinusIAk-821TMVwSSpr7jrT2XEE2_rlBAkl_scivb0rkrIto-FYgyG5ndQ7PWkSlUQY_XWtmUH0Lp6BZE4-3P1NW5Q8z9EPxCO81SAMvvyTPgEbPADxg_QTl3QZt0v4vwlN1nTz7SfJ1Vm2AqievSM1fiIV3BoHCxmwuQSczWGPoaM30kiSByQ=s640" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEguPYQNinusIAk-821TMVwSSpr7jrT2XEE2_rlBAkl_scivb0rkrIto-FYgyG5ndQ7PWkSlUQY_XWtmUH0Lp6BZE4-3P1NW5Q8z9EPxCO81SAMvvyTPgEbPADxg_QTl3QZt0v4vwlN1nTz7SfJ1Vm2AqievSM1fiIV3BoHCxmwuQSczWGPoaM30kiSByQ=s400"/></a></div>
Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7371052876320221603.post-63233622018747808972021-12-21T12:24:00.000-06:002021-12-21T12:24:02.592-06:00A Picture and a Thousand WordsWhen my wife and I were dating, and things started to get serious, I took her home to meet my family. They wasted no time in breaking out the family photo albums and began to dissect my life picture by picture. There were the cute baby pictures, pictures of the major accomplishments, and more embarrassing photos than I knew existed. One by one my wife got little glimpses into the life of the man she was growing deeper in love with.
<P>
Each picture had a story behind it, containing details one could never learn from the picture itself. My family spent hours reminiscing, sharing their memories of good times and bad. By the end of the day my wife had gotten a good look at the person I was and how I grew into the person I currently am. The photos, however good, were not enough to do this. It was only with my family’s memories of the events that a proper understanding could be obtained.
<p>
The bible is the photo album of salvation history. The words on the page create the images in the mind that the stories are meant to convey. The album begins with creation itself and follows the journey of mankind through the fall to its salvation and redemption. As with my family, God’s family has reminisced about these stories throughout time. The Jewish oral tradition has meticulously passed down the stories of the Old Testament from one generation to the next. Likewise, the Catholic Church has done the same with both the Old and New Testaments through her Sacred Oral Tradition. Holy Scripture and Sacred Oral Tradition make up the deposit of faith that defines what Catholics believe and why. It is only through the written word and the Sacred Oral Tradition that a complete and accurate understanding of salvation history can be obtained. The story is incomplete and misunderstood if either is missing.
<p>
Catholic oral tradition was successfully used to combat the Luther heresies. When Luther decided to cast aside 1500 years of Church teaching to begin his own ecclesial community based upon his personal opinion he did away with Sacred Tradition. He kept only the photo album which he could explain in any way he saw fit to support his opinions. He made the claim that anyone, inspired by the Holy Spirit, could come to the correct understanding of Holy Scripture. That, after all, is what the Jews believed about the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament.
<p>
Two things would have happened if what Luther claimed were true. The first is that everyone, divinely inspired, would come to the same understanding as what was taught by the Church for 1500 years. Holy Scripture itself says this in 1 Timothy 3:15 –
<p>
<blockquote>“…the church (through her magisterium) is the pillar and bulwark of the truth.”</blockquote>
<p>
Second, if everyone can come to the correct understanding of Holy Scripture for themselves, we would not have, at last count, over 70,000 different versions of the truth proclaimed by the various denominational and nondenominational Christian churches throughout the world. We all would share the same truth and have the same understanding of what the photos in the photo album mean.
<p>
Luther was dubbed the father of the reformation. Revolution would be a more accurate word. If we were to call Luther for what he is truly the father of it would be Christian moral relativism. When he taught that every person could define what the bible means for themselves, he opened the doors for everyone to define what is right and wrong for themselves. The Church ceased to be the pillar and bulwark of the truth, as the bible says, and truth became a matter of person opinion. Now the tens of thousands of churches that exist throughout the world cannot even agree on something as simple and straightforward as the Ten Commandments.
<P>
The Church is the pillar and bulwark of the truth, as scripture says it is. It is not just any church or every church but the Church that Jesus himself began. As the creed says that Church is, “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.” It is not just anyone or everyone in that Church, but it is those to whom the authority has been given to lead the Church. That is the Magisterium. The Magisterium is the Pope in union with the bishops and they have been given the duty and responsibility to pass on to us the unchanged teachings of Jesus. When someone disagrees with the Church, they don’t disagree with just the Church, but they disagree with Christ himself.
<P>
The bible is a photo album and as such it does not contain everything that has come to pass. Scripture itself tells us this in John 21:25 –
<P>
<blockquote>“But there are also many other things which Jesus did, which, if they were written in detail, I expect that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.”</blockquote>
<P>
Scripture contains everything we need to know about salvation but scripture alone it not enough to properly understand it. We need both Holy Scripture and Sacred Oral Tradition to get a complete understanding of who Jesus is and the relationship he has with his Church.
<p><p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNEzwtbIPCHLGg7NAOgra2wl56vXT_qAP9nS6C7OPTo5fSOzFXRd_hka_uHOQGlmnc-abtboBsYw7bbJurik29WRK2ITWW0P6ufd5dI51i38LUCmzS7lKn0xF2V5smRUpG6Y6xewGCY18rl_7q1Fu3bpkTUL-nKbsOLCQo1FWKPJbHkuPJa58z4H4TeQ=s625" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNEzwtbIPCHLGg7NAOgra2wl56vXT_qAP9nS6C7OPTo5fSOzFXRd_hka_uHOQGlmnc-abtboBsYw7bbJurik29WRK2ITWW0P6ufd5dI51i38LUCmzS7lKn0xF2V5smRUpG6Y6xewGCY18rl_7q1Fu3bpkTUL-nKbsOLCQo1FWKPJbHkuPJa58z4H4TeQ=s400"/></a></div>
Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7371052876320221603.post-42033578789811197442021-11-01T15:29:00.002-05:002021-11-01T15:29:48.675-05:00God's Great PuzzleLeaving Mass this weekend I found a white envelope sitting under the windshield wiper on my car. I knew without looking what it was. It was a letter from someone concerned for the salvation of my soul.<P>
The letter begins –
<blockquote>“My Catholic friend;
I’m writing you today concerning Roman Catholicism. I have studied the Holy Bible for over 34 years now. I feel compelled to share my findings here with you in a letter.”</blockquote>
What follows is no less than eight pages of scripture passages, single spaced in 8 font, telling me how the Catholic Church got it all wrong. Of course, the letter is anonymous. There is no return address and no means offered if I wanted to learn more. The person claimed to have a wealth of information gleaned from decades of study but didn’t want to talk to me directly about it<P>
.
I am reminded of a scene from the Rodney Dangerfield movie, “Back to School.” Thornton Melon had an assignment to do a book report on Kurt Vonnegut. Thornton didn’t understand the book so he hired Kurt Vonnegut himself to write the report on what the book was about. He received a failing grade on the paper because, as the teacher put it, “Whoever wrote the paper didn’t know the first thing about Kurt Vonnegut.”<P>
The New Testament of the bible was written by those in the Catholic Church. The Catholic bible, from which all non-Catholic bibles have their source, was compiled by the Catholic Church. The Church has read, preached, and taught on the scriptures for the last two-thousand years. To say that it is the authority on what it wrote, compiled, and taught on for two millennia should go unquestioned. But, if we need to quote scripture about who has the authority we need to look no further than 1 Timothy 3:15 –<P>
<blockquote>“…but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one should act in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”</blockquote>
The Church is the pillar and support of the truth, not scripture. I will always take two-thousand years of authority stemming from the very beginning over a thirty-four-year independent study any day.<P>
The bible is God’s great puzzle. Each verse of scripture is a piece in that puzzle. The pieces fit together only one way. One must look at all of the pieces in relation to the whole to see the complete picture portrayed. Looking at pieces individually or in small groups can easily lead one astray as to what the pieces truly mean.<P>
The devil is one of the greatest scripture scholars. He was there when most of it took place. He is very cunning in getting people to look at an individual piece of the puzzle or a group of pieces and see in them something other than their true intended meaning. You can find a scripture verse to support just about any ideology. Scripture has been used and continues to be used to justify great evils. <P>
A common non-Catholic Christian believe is that a person can read the bible and be inspired and guided to it’s true meaning by the spirit. If this were true, we would not have over forty-thousand different understandings of the bible. The statement is partially true, however. A person can read the bible and be guided by a spirit. That does not mean it is the Holy Spirit doing the guiding. The person who wrote me the letter most certainly has been led astray by a spirit other than the Holy Spirit.
<P>
Despite popular belief, Catholics are encouraged to read their bibles. They are encouraged to meditate on what they read. We even have a special way of doing this called Lexio Divina. Catholics are encouraged to study the bible alone and in groups. They are read the bible and have the Gospel proclaimed to them at every Mass, along with practical instruction from the clergy on how what was read applies to our lives today.<P>
What a Catholic should not do is to try and interpret the bible for themselves, as the letter writer did. We have the Magisterium whose duty it is to give us the authoritative interpretation of what scripture means. Authority given to the Church by Jesus himself. It is ok to be inspired by scripture as long as the inspiration does not contradict official Church teaching. Where a contradiction occurs, we are to always accept what the Church teaches over personal opinion.<P>
The bible is God’s great puzzle. It’s true beauty can only be seen by looking at it as a whole and not microfocus on any individual piece.<P>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTQrH_WOEHxa9gtWh1X4rWr3_AaOrF4fH0LxMQ8hM_XAnQzHnMB6KfEG6fdKgdsql4RRwng_2xxwtwohx-k7_HnyV9dURDHdn_RkSU9tEGQQZ-k2QZjKqYh91ZR6kI2en0WVkVN1JREY6c/s2048/bible-puzzle-with-cross.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="1491" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTQrH_WOEHxa9gtWh1X4rWr3_AaOrF4fH0LxMQ8hM_XAnQzHnMB6KfEG6fdKgdsql4RRwng_2xxwtwohx-k7_HnyV9dURDHdn_RkSU9tEGQQZ-k2QZjKqYh91ZR6kI2en0WVkVN1JREY6c/s400/bible-puzzle-with-cross.jpg"/></a></div>
Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7371052876320221603.post-12268722434942123482021-10-16T11:41:00.000-05:002021-10-16T11:41:17.104-05:00I Hold the Whole World in my HandsThere is one God.<P>
With three distinct and individual persons; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.<P>
The Father begot the Son and the Holy Spirit precedes from the Father and the Son.<P>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCil36yxTpz-EPbkbLiHBTlNMAKlu-C3F22F_NuiQ6LwQDVPHWSrZ5jeAUvBgHFYpTYjYGc91pmLsrapmbq6u5XpAD4SM9CbsRMLGuQi-JQH_qFpKFAylsk4ZHxrUJnNwcMB9wJO25Y-lG/s609/trinity.gif" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="609" data-original-width="608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCil36yxTpz-EPbkbLiHBTlNMAKlu-C3F22F_NuiQ6LwQDVPHWSrZ5jeAUvBgHFYpTYjYGc91pmLsrapmbq6u5XpAD4SM9CbsRMLGuQi-JQH_qFpKFAylsk4ZHxrUJnNwcMB9wJO25Y-lG/s400/trinity.gif"/></a></div><P>
All existence resides within God. Heaven, hell, purgatory, and the entire timeline of existence exists fully within God. For God, every moment of existence is now. Every place in existence is here.<P>
All creation was created for Jesus. All was created through Jesus. He is before all else that is.<P>
The Eucharist is Jesus. It is his body, blood, soul, and divinity. The Eucharist is true presence of Christ. Jesus, being God, has the fullness of all existence within him. Everything that has ever been created, exists now, or will come into creation, every person who has lived, lives now, or will live in the future, and every moment of time from the beginning until the end all exists within Jesus Christ.<P>
When I hold the Eucharist, I literally hold all of existence in my hands. I hold every moment of time, every person, and everything that has or will be created, including myself. When I consume the Eucharist I am taking into my finite body the infinite.<P>
Too great a mystery for my feeble mind to fully comprehend, yet all things are possible for God.<P>
And my sorrow deeps for those who snatch the Eucharist from my hands as if it were nothing more than a Ritz cracker.<P>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKQkX4KQe79Y25fcAk-3C8T2lrqlvUS3H0N6REl4alKZGrjaqEV5b-lF-iPUhcSrfPONgoa7ViRfQ6PCdXa03lt1qorGbU2mKypv07SaOsQp5Vffj-XXK14OHgqPrANPn6FV1CfIsEnE9-/s900/world.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="900" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKQkX4KQe79Y25fcAk-3C8T2lrqlvUS3H0N6REl4alKZGrjaqEV5b-lF-iPUhcSrfPONgoa7ViRfQ6PCdXa03lt1qorGbU2mKypv07SaOsQp5Vffj-XXK14OHgqPrANPn6FV1CfIsEnE9-/s400/world.jpg"/></a></div>Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7371052876320221603.post-49522358922245488092021-08-07T11:28:00.008-05:002021-08-07T11:33:27.921-05:00Novus Ordo or TLMOn July 16, 2021, Pope Francis issued <i>Traditionis Custodes</i>, a motu proprio on the use of the Roman Liturgy prior to the reform of 1970. Motu proprio is Latin for “on his own impulse”. <i>Traditionis Custodes</i> reversed the motu proprio <i>Summorum Pontificum</i> issued by Pope Benedict XVI on July 7, 2007.<br><p>
In short, <i>Summorum Pontificum</i> gave priests the permission to say the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) privately and pastors the permission to say it publicly if the need were present and for pastoral reasons. Traditionis Custodes gave the local ordinary (bishop) the sole ability to grant permission for the TLM to be offered, by whom, where, and when.<br><p>
What <i>Traditionis Custodes</i> did not do is say that the TLM can no longer be offered. It can still be offered as a valid Mass as long as the local ordinary approves it. This has caused quite a stir among all Catholic circles. Some agree with the Pope, some do not. Some think it was the right move at the wrong time and others feel it wasn’t necessary at all.<br><p>
Supporters of the TLM think that it is a more reverent Mass. It is mysterious, largely due to it being in a dead language few understand and even fewer speak correctly. The Novus Ordo feels common place, said in a common language. There is no doubt that it has caused many to lose the wonder of Mass. It is just my opinion, but I think if people actually understood and believed who they are standing before at Mass we would see some vastly different choices in things like clothing options and demeaner.<br><p>
Both Masses are beautiful when done correctly amid reverent people whose hearts are full of love for God. Both Masses do the exact same thing; make present the supernatural reality of Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary. Because of this one is not better nor more valid than the other. They are different methods of transporting us to the exact same moment and location in time. In the end, that is the only thing that truly matters; that we are standing at the foot of the cross worshiping God with all creation.<br><p>
So, what are we to do amid all the hubbub? Allow me to string some scriptural thoughts together and see where it leads us.<br><p>
First let us look at the story of Naaman, commander of the army of King Aram from 2 Kings 5. Naaman had leprosy. He went to the prophet Elisha to be cured. Elisha instructed Naaman to go wash himself in the Jordan seven times and he would be cured. Naaman was furious because he expected that he would have to go off and do some great thing. Instead, he was told to go bath in a specific place.<br><p>
God does not want us to always do great things. Sometimes it is the little things he wants us to do. We want to do great things so that we may think ourselves great. God prefers those who are humble over those who think themselves great.<br><p>
On to 1 Samuel 15. Here we find the disobedience of King Saul. Samuel tells Saul that God prefers obedience over sacrifice. In fact, if we could be truly obedient to God there would be no need for sacrifice. Sacrifice is only needed due to our disobedience.<br><p>
Lastly, let us look at Matthew 16: 18 and 19. You are Peter and upon this rock I shall build my Church. It is the passage where Jesus makes Peter the first Pope and gives him the authority to lead his Church. Pope Francis, as the successor to Peter, has the authority of Christ to lead the Church.<br><p>
The ordinary form of worship of the Latin rite Catholic Church (Roman Catholic) is the Novus Ordo Mass. The TLM is retained as the extraordinary form of worship. Those who defiantly choose to participate in a TLM without the permission of their bishop put their desires above the instruction of the Church. To take that which God does not freely offer is the definition of sin. People who put their desires before that of the Church stand with people like Luther, Knox, and Calvin, who thought their opinion out-weighed that of the Church and her leadership to whom Christ has given all authority. The devil loves to use holy things to separate people from God by making them think their disobedience is actually a holy thing.<br><p>
We live in rebellious times where everyone makes themselves their own President, Congress, judge, jury, and yes, even their own pope. Rightful authority is dismissed the instant it does not align with one’s opinion on a matter. God desires obedience over sacrifice. Jesus tells his disciples that if they love him they will follow his commands. He gave his authority to lead the Church to them and promised to be with us until the end of time. Those who oppose the rightful authority of the Church do not just oppose the Pope but oppose Christ himself. There is no reverence in disobeying Jesus no matter how reverently one does it.<br><p><br><p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7CrePgCR6knmecyJFnyu_qoOmFFzBgd82IqeRQjCyU0l2U8_zGcZLBXv3w0hNFdzK_HGpDjcM8mqzRJKH6lpjjqJTEYrFpjIAd45QJSq8RC9Q6iSyVVpRS0wv_8xT8UIifvVW_sBfuejZ/s1036/Pope.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="610" data-original-width="1036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7CrePgCR6knmecyJFnyu_qoOmFFzBgd82IqeRQjCyU0l2U8_zGcZLBXv3w0hNFdzK_HGpDjcM8mqzRJKH6lpjjqJTEYrFpjIAd45QJSq8RC9Q6iSyVVpRS0wv_8xT8UIifvVW_sBfuejZ/s400/Pope.jpg"/></a></div>Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7371052876320221603.post-82070954103287816122021-08-01T11:53:00.002-05:002021-08-01T11:53:28.584-05:00Over All LinesThe Navy has a particular way that it ties its ships to the pier. This is done so the ship will be secure no matter what the sea state is. They use six lines (ropes) to do this.<br><p>
Lines one and six go straight to the pier from the front and back of the ship respectively. These lines are of the largest diameter rope as they have the most important job. Lines two and four angle backwards to keep the ship from moving forwards and lines three and five angle forward to keep the ship from moving backwards. The six lines hold the ship fast to the pier and there is never any fear of the ship coming loose and floating away.<br><p>
Now think of your soul as a ship and Christ the pier. The more lines you have tethering you to Jesus the more secure and stronger your faith will be. This biggest lines, line one and six, is the Mass and your participation in it. These are two separate things as one can attend Mass but never really participate in it. The greater your participation the bigger and stronger these lines become.<br><p>
Lines two through five are the assisting lines. These lines assist and augment lines one and six. Lines two and four is our private prayer life. Line two is our formal prayer life – saying formal prayers like the ‘Our Father’, the Angelus, private devotions like the Rosary or the Divine Mercy Chaplet, or praying the Liturgy of the Hours. Our formal prayers are always combined with others saying the same prayers and presented as one universal prayer to the Father. These prayers, when heard in the supernatural, are powerful. Line four is our informal prayer life. This is the time we spend speaking to Jesus from our hearts. This is where we thank him for our blessing and share with him what is on our minds. This is where we spend time in silent reflection giving Jesus an opportunity to speak to us. God speaks to us through a still, small voice so it is important to carve out some time, no matter how short, to spend some quiet time each day listening for God’s voice in our lives. Eucharistic Adoration gives us that opportunity to sit with our Lord in silence and have a dialog with him.<br><p>
But coming to Mass and saying your prayers are not enough. One does not make music simply by knowing how to play an instrument. The instrument must be played to make music. Saint James tells us that faith, without works, is truly dead. Our works, then, are also lines that tie us to Christ. Jesus gave us a new command to follow; to love one another as he has loved us. The way we begin to love one another is to first recognize the dignity inherent to every person. Dignity is God’s thumbprint on the human soul. It is not enough just to throw material things at people’s material needs. The primary need of every person, regardless of how rich or poor they may be, is love. To truly love someone is to will their good. We begin to love another when we see them as a person with dignity, who deserves our respect, and then by treating them in the way we want Jesus to treat us. Lines three and five are our works and deeds. These lines secure us to Christ and allow Christ to work through us in all we say and do. The stronger these lines and the more we allow Jesus to work through us, the greater our faith becomes.<br><p>
Ships that are not secured to the pier drift aimlessly at sea. Many wash up on the rocks and are lost. How securely are you tied to the pier of Christ?<br><p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisJD_FChhyin6MnmfYaP1aaz59df_2d-KA63co4YkKtTSiztCve3_7oRtPI5K1yCYmq5oIV_wpaUcm5C2TLjjHCZ-0Kpak8dU6-X50cR1qHDvCrC343l0y5H1evcqd1g1uxNr7NlSFj-Re/s2048/Lines.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="1361" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisJD_FChhyin6MnmfYaP1aaz59df_2d-KA63co4YkKtTSiztCve3_7oRtPI5K1yCYmq5oIV_wpaUcm5C2TLjjHCZ-0Kpak8dU6-X50cR1qHDvCrC343l0y5H1evcqd1g1uxNr7NlSFj-Re/s400/Lines.jpg"/></a></div>Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7371052876320221603.post-38490937899671332442021-06-06T17:00:00.000-05:002021-06-06T17:00:51.648-05:00A Need for LeadershipThe word sacrament comes from the Latin word sacramentum. A sacramentum was an oath sworn to the gods in an act of consecration. It was also the oath to the death a Roman soldier took to the emperor. <br><P>
The Church defines a Sacrament as, “Sacraments are outward signs of inward grace, instituted by Christ and conferred by the Church for our sanctification." <br><P>
One facet of the Sacraments is the oath to the death. We simply do not receive a Sacrament. Before we receive a Sacrament, we offer the Lord an oath to the death. The collateral we offer for these oaths are our very lives. If we violate our oath, we forfeit our life and we enter a state of mortal sin. If we do not repent of this sin and receive forgiveness for it before we die we will spend eternity in hell.<br><P>
This is why a civilly divorced and remarried Catholic cannot receive the Holy Eucharist. In the marriage vows Catholics take an oath until death do us part. The collateral on that oath is their lives. When they divorce and remarried they forfeit this collateral, meaning they no longer have it to offer as collateral on any other Sacrament, such as receiving the Holy Eucharist.<br><P>
When we present ourselves at communion, we are taking an oath to live for Christ and die for him if necessary. The minister of communion holds up the Eucharist and says the words, “The Body of Christ.” Our response is, “Amen.” We say this before receiving our Lord. This is where we take our oath to the death.<br><P>
As a deacon, I am an ordinary minister of Holy Communion. I get to see a lot of interesting situations of people receiving. There are two that are common and that I would like to comment on.<br><P>
We have many husbands and wives who present themselves together to receive communion. This is a beautiful statement of love when they do this. I will always give communion to the husband first and then to his wife. I have had a few times where the husband refuses to receive before his wife. He loves his wife so much that he wants her to receive Jesus before he does. This is well intentioned, but misguided.<br><P>
Likewise, we have many families who come up to receive together. In almost every case the father of the family allows the children and his wife to receive before he does. Again, this is also well intentioned, but misguided.<br><P>
When we come up to receive our Lord in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist we begin by pledging an oath to the death that we will live for Christ and die for him if necessary. This is a place where husbands and fathers need to lead their family, not follow. They need to show their families that this oath is something they should do.<br><P>
It is commonly said that a husband’s or a father’s job is to get his wife and family to heaven. He does this by leading them, not pushing them. If terrorists were to take over a Mass and begin executing anyone who would not deny our Lord, a husband or father would be expected to lead the way and be an example to his wife and children how to die a good Christian death. What kind of husband or father would he be if he pushed his wife or children out to be executed before he is? It is not chauvinistic or womanizing in any way for a husband to lead his family. In reality it is just the opposite. It is the most loving thing he can do for them.<br><P>
Authentic male leadership has been lost in our culture in this age. The evil one has convinced us that we must be equal in function in order to be equal in worth. This simply is not the case. Our worth in the eyes of God is not tied to our function. If we wish to honor him we need to learn to honor the function that he made us for.<br><P>
If our culture is going to survive we need to restore males to the proper place of leadership within the family. The father is the head of the family. The evil one has destroyed the family by removing its head, the father. Every body that has been beheaded has no life within it. It is time for men to step up and lead in the way that Jesus did. Men need to lead through love and self-sacrifice for the other.<br><P>
Husbands and fathers, lead your family to the Eucharist. Communion is not a buffet line where you allow your family to get fed first. You are taking an oath that you are presenting your life to cover. Show your family what that means and how to honor that oath.<br><P>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKC81WKAeFebWGezpDmZOVIPSrORkaO1xoyylufPoTtY-qDA0Br7FeTVTC0JiJVidz42jMjdgaL32Ad3CcAkwud3GaTuJAWbFtueD7qeNoho4ipkNFeVwbo_rs4iKpKOqMYSA7Vis-qVda/s1280/FM.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="762" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKC81WKAeFebWGezpDmZOVIPSrORkaO1xoyylufPoTtY-qDA0Br7FeTVTC0JiJVidz42jMjdgaL32Ad3CcAkwud3GaTuJAWbFtueD7qeNoho4ipkNFeVwbo_rs4iKpKOqMYSA7Vis-qVda/s320/FM.jpg"/></a></div>Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7371052876320221603.post-67857388024392126672021-04-04T17:19:00.000-05:002021-04-04T17:19:12.524-05:00Little Details MatterThere is a rule in screen writing that you never put in a detail that won’t be used later. James Bond movies are famous for this. Early on in every James Bond movie Q gives James the exact secret gadgets he will need to get out of a life and death situation later in the movie. These gadgets are never reused in any movie that follow.<p><br>
Scripture is full of details that are often overlooked or are viewed simply as descriptions that have little importance later in the story. One such example is in the story of the raising of Lazarus. We are told that Lazarus was dead and in the tomb for four days. His sisters did not want the tomb opened because there would have been a stench by this time. This was to let us know that he has truly dead and not merely near death. <p><br>
This scene in the story always reminds me of an Irish wake. The old tale goes that they would lay the body of a dead Irishman out on the table in his home for three days. People would come to visit but the main purpose was to make sure the person had really died and not had succumb to lead poisoning that leached into the beer from the pewter tanks it was stored in. It is probably nothing more than a wives’ tale but even wives’ tales have a grain of truth to them. I wonder how many Irishmen sat up in their coffins during their funerals. <p><br>
One of the details in the story of Lazarus that is easily overlooked is the fact that Lazarus stumbles out of his tomb still wrapped securely in his burial cloths when Jesus beckons to him from outside. His sisters had to rush to his aid to free him from these cloths. Like a good Bond movie, this detail was not put into the story just to help us paint a mental picture of the scene. It points out a greater reality later in the story. <p><br>
Fast forward to Easter Sunday. Peter and John enter the tomb where Jesus was laid on Good Friday. Scripture tells us that they saw the burial wrappings laying there and the cloth that covered Jesus’ head rolled up in another place. This is another place in scripture where the actual Greek text gives us a more complete understanding of what the disciples saw. <p><br>
The burial cloth of Jesus was not just simply laying there as if it were taken off, folded up, and placed on the stone. It was laying there as if it were deflated, as if the body of Jesus simply disappeared from being. This is where the details of Lazarus’ resurrection become important. <p><br>
If Jesus simply rose from the dead, he would have been still wrapped in his burial linens the way Lazarus was. The women who came to anoint Jesus on Sunday morning would have found him wrapped snug as a bug in a rug and would have to had freed our risen Lord. But that is not what was found. <p><br>
The details we are given in scripture would indicate that the bloody and bruised body of our crucified Lord was transformed into his glorified body when he returned from the dead. His earthly body became no more when he took on his glorified body. <p><br>
There are many who believe that the Shroud of Turin is the actual burial cloth spoken about in scripture. I am one of these people. The more science honestly studies the shroud the more it appears to be the genuine article. The image on the shroud is believed to be a 3D hologram of a man that fits the description of what Christ would have looked like when wrapped in his burial cloth. It is a photo negative just like the negatives we used to develop pictures from before the age of the cell phone camera. Scientists cannot explain how the image on the shroud was created and the best scientific guess right now is that the image was created by a blast of intense light that burned the image on the upper parts of the fibers that make up the cloth. <p><br>
For those with unshakable faith, signs and wonders are not needed. For those without faith there is not a sign or wonder good enough to remove doubt. For those of us somewhere in the middle, we are given signs and wonders so that we may come to believe and have our faith grow. <p><br>
My heart is full because the tomb is empty.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqz0E-pFOUbKzSjAAhfRdQVEl6awGT_0RRZyk9BRZj6sa7DJJRRyqfXmpnCWoQnimZb4aDgBE3PatyTaWp_uGi_TeldlC2yppnXPD225hRjWXrxigdlIK8zCd00uxk3T-zBUl9IWOrTVWb/s2048/shroud.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="1075" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqz0E-pFOUbKzSjAAhfRdQVEl6awGT_0RRZyk9BRZj6sa7DJJRRyqfXmpnCWoQnimZb4aDgBE3PatyTaWp_uGi_TeldlC2yppnXPD225hRjWXrxigdlIK8zCd00uxk3T-zBUl9IWOrTVWb/s400/shroud.jpeg"/></a></div>
Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7371052876320221603.post-18299727037086267802021-03-31T14:52:00.000-05:002021-03-31T14:52:04.176-05:00Supernatural RealityMy heart yearned to see the supernatural reality that I was part of. Then one day it happened, like a fog dissipating in the early morning light. Darkness slowly gave way to shadows as the world began to come alive. My senses heightened. My anticipation I could hardly contain.<br><p>
I stood behind the Table of Sacrifice dressed in gold. The priest stood before the table. Not a priest or any priest, but every priest who had been ordained throughout all of time. They occupied the same space and the same time, both individually and together as a unity.<br><p>
To their left and to their right stood the deacons. Not a deacon or the deacon, but every deacon who has ever been ordained. Like the priest, they occupied the same space and the same time, individually and together as a unity. It was with them I stood.<br><p>
We were at the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving, the Mass. Not a Mass or any Mass but every Mass that has ever been said throughout all time, all happening at the same time in the same space.<br><p>
As the supernatural reality came into focus my body began to tremble when it was revealed to me what I was a part of. The supernatural reality was superimposed on the veiled reality and everything appeared as two and as one.<br><p>
In the altar I saw a hill and from the hill extended the tree of life. Hanging from the tree was the Christ, bloody, bruised, naked, and gasping for every breath he took. Before the tree, in the priest, I saw Jesus himself, glorified as he was during the transfiguration. His eyes were affixed heavenward as he offered that sacrifice of himself for all of humanity.<br><p>
I looked right and left. Superimposed in the deacons I saw the angels of the heavenly court who assist Jesus with this sacrifice. Their wings spread wide as the deacons’ heads were bowed. Surrounding the altar was all of God’s creation, all of the heavenly hosts, and every person who has ever been created. I saw my family, those who passed long before I was born, and my heirs who would not be born until long after I pass. All gathered together in this time at this place. Calvary.<br><p>
Then I did something I never have before. I looked down. Under the altar, beneath the cross there was a large hole. I crept to the edge and looked inside. It was the gateway to the abyss, to the very heart of hell itself. In the center of the abyss was a large throne and sitting on the throne was Lucifer. Surrounding him were the souls of the damned, those condemned to spend all eternity in the lake of fire.<br><p>
Their hands were raised towards heaven and they cried in loud voices, “Lord, lord, save us!”<br><p>
The Christ looked down from the cross and his eyes filled with tears. “You I do not know,” he said with a labored and agonizing breath.<br><p>
“Through Him, with Him and in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, almighty Father, for ever and ever.” I looked up and the priests were raising the Body and Blood of our Lord to heaven. <br><p>
Jesus’ hands and gaze were raised towards heaven. “Father, I offer myself as sacrifice for the salvation and redemption of our creation. Let my blood wipe away all transgression and restore unity between us and humanity for ever more.”<br><p>
With that, I heard all of creation, all of the heavenly hosts, and all of humanity throughout all time all proclaim in one great crescendo, “AMEN!” <br><p>
The earth shook and Christ on the cross said, “It is finished.” His head fell limp and he breathed no more.<br><p>
From the abyss came shrieks and wailing. The devil cried out in a loud voice as his defeat became final.<br><p>
The veil was drawn over my eyes once more and all I could see was the priest and the altar and the Mass I was part of. As the priest raised the host in the Epiclesis, I could hear Jesus speaking directly to me.<br><p>
“I did not give you this for you to keep for yourself. Give witness to others as to what you have seen and to draw as many back as you can. All will be at this. Those who are not at the altar or in the congregation will be in the abyss. It is for them I weep. It is not too late but the time is coming when repentance will no longer be possible.”<br><p>
If more people understood the supernatural side of our Mass there would not be an open space in any Church throughout the world. I have the honor of standing where heaven touches the earth, in front of the cross, every time I get to assist as Mass. One day we all will get to see this reality with unveiled eyes. If you want to be looking at Jesus and not up at him come to love him now while you are given a chance. To know and love Jesus makes you want to repent of ever offending him through sin.<br><p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFzZXPMXNsG_1Nb_HXEI9S67ep-qXHT7OwCOo2LEzsMIPGxpGVRdJM1Y1ynpm9R4wHdxv0ZVj1DLOOmY_RBDHUR6nVFPxczvVsHGp6f9WpIQIGJlE6C9BLr6pcnwCiQ0rbtGOmwKVPi5Gm/s954/Christian+-+Cruci+fixion-Ascension.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="954" data-original-width="668" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFzZXPMXNsG_1Nb_HXEI9S67ep-qXHT7OwCOo2LEzsMIPGxpGVRdJM1Y1ynpm9R4wHdxv0ZVj1DLOOmY_RBDHUR6nVFPxczvVsHGp6f9WpIQIGJlE6C9BLr6pcnwCiQ0rbtGOmwKVPi5Gm/s400/Christian+-+Cruci+fixion-Ascension.jpg"/></a></div>
Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7371052876320221603.post-66783781807853335642021-02-19T14:33:00.000-06:002021-02-19T14:33:29.902-06:00Casting StonesJanuary 20, 2021. For only the second time in this country’s history a Catholic was sworn in as our President. This happened amid cheers of joy by one half of our country and vile hatred by the other. As I watched the events leading up to this I couldn’t help but be filled with shame and disgust. We are the United States of America. We were the shining city on the hill other countries looked towards to see what freedom looks like. What they saw from us the past few months was a bunch of children throwing temper tantrums led by a President that acted more like a school yard bully than the leader of the most powerful nation this planet has ever seen.
<p>
<br>
What is happening now bothers me more than all of the shenanigans of the past election. President Biden is a baptized Catholic who attends Mass regularly. He holds beliefs that are contrary to Catholic teaching. His stance on abortion was all the reason I needed not to vote for him for President.
<p>
<br>
Everywhere I turn I see a growing demand by other Catholics that he be stripped of his Catholic identity. People demand that his bishop deny him communion while many others call for his excommunication altogether. To all of you who feel this way I only have one thing to say:
<p>
<br>
Let he without sin cast the first stone.
<p>
<br>
Every single one of us is a sinner. Every single one of us falls short of the glory of God. Cafeteria Catholic is a popular expression. It refers to any Catholic who picks and chooses which of the Church’s teachings they wish to follow. How many of those calling for President Biden’s excommunication cohabitate, masturbate, or use birth control? How many follow every Church teaching all of the time? How many are receiving the Eucharist unworthily themselves?
<p>
<br>
Many will cite Matthew 18: 15-18:
<p>
<br>
<blockquote>“Now if your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that on the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter be confirmed. And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, he is to be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”
</blockquote>
<p>
<br>
If we applied this fairly we would have a much smaller Church. We would have to kick out my friend who has decided that her reproductive right to contraception is none of the Church’s business. We would have to kick out my son who has decided to cohabitate because, “How else do you figure out if you are compatible for marriage?” We would have to kick out every Cafeteria Catholic who chooses their own desires over the teachings of the Church.
<p>
<br>
I do not want President Biden excommunicated. I don’t want to see his bishop deny him communion. All that does is create scandal and controversy we really do not need right now, as a Church and as a country. I pray that President Biden come to the realization that his actions are contrary to the Church’s teachings and voluntarily refrain from receiving our Lord in the Eucharist.
<p>
<br>
But make no mistake, President Biden is Catholic. He became Catholic the day he was baptized. I want him at Mass listening to the Word. One day he may even hear it. As Catholics, our job is to pray for him and for every single Catholic; that God replace our stony hearts with natural hearts that turn to him in love and repentance. President Biden will have to answer to God for those things he has not repented of, as will I, you, and every person who has ever existed. He does not answer to me.
<p>
<br>
Let he who has no sin cast the first stone. I don’t see our Blessed Mother with a rock in her hand so please drop yours as well.
<p>
<br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmXsylk-nio24OhiIAVZIVzZZw8yvz2rITnUgFllCHS17DgDKiIJiLKNVsAcZqtZAeFuJr93B8IacOAOcMXR2-jwyJ0QKTs0LWsX-DF2N7Pf5Zbl4av63CWwsxJcB8tOoPS2XfvCzHY_7r/s761/stone.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="761" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmXsylk-nio24OhiIAVZIVzZZw8yvz2rITnUgFllCHS17DgDKiIJiLKNVsAcZqtZAeFuJr93B8IacOAOcMXR2-jwyJ0QKTs0LWsX-DF2N7Pf5Zbl4av63CWwsxJcB8tOoPS2XfvCzHY_7r/s400/stone.jpg"/></a></div>
Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7371052876320221603.post-37137465028843310932020-10-27T15:53:00.000-05:002020-10-27T15:53:15.778-05:00Be a Bean<p>By now many of us has heard the inspirational story of eggs,
potatoes, and coffee beans. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this story
allow me to summarize it for you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">An egg, a potato, and some coffee beans are all put into
some boiling water. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When the egg was placed into the water it was fragile. A
thin shell was all that protected its liquid center. When it came out of the
water it had become hard on the inside.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When the potato went into the water it was strong and hard
but after a short while it softened and became easily mashed.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The coffee was unique. The coffee changed the water and
created something new.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The moral of this story is that the adversities we face in
life are like the boiling water. It will change us if we allow it to.
Adversities can either make us hard or soft. Instead of allowing hard times to
change us we can choose to change the times instead.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That lesson is very important but I think there is even a
greater lesson to be learned from this story.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">How did the coffee beans change the water?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We live in an age where civil discourse has gone the way of the
rotary telephone and photo huts. He who screams the loudest for the longest
period of time wins the argument. We try to change hearts and minds with
threats, name calling, lies, demands, intolerance, and all other forms of
verbal abuse and bullying. When that fails we protest, boycott, riot, loot, and
destroy. We attempt to change hearts and minds in the same way the boiling
water changes the egg and the potato.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The only thing the coffee beans did to change the water was
to allow that which was good within them to come out. When the goodness inside
the beans came out and entered the water it changed the water to something that
was equally as good. This doesn’t happen in an instant. The beans had to sit in
the water for a while. The longer the beans sat in the water the more the water
became like the beans.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And so it should be with us as well. Don’t counter hate with
hate or yelling with louder yelling. Instead allow the goodness within you to
come out. Love conquers hate. Compassion counters hostility. Love and time can
heal the wounds that run so deep between us.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When faced with the lack of civility that surrounds us remember
the coffee bean and allow our goodness to conquer the hate.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja4OQ-4gaxrGStuXFyy5Pzu-F6eX6mUb86DdJnH913A4O1ve0i_s03wV7m6Ireg1lAJzFEHtlEoL7xlR4pUQ6iuKHgB-kHyB_94TakLV5tVL0NoqNwS7DJ3uKvg6ZIV0cKi-yzWzEr3p8M/s350/beans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="350" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja4OQ-4gaxrGStuXFyy5Pzu-F6eX6mUb86DdJnH913A4O1ve0i_s03wV7m6Ireg1lAJzFEHtlEoL7xlR4pUQ6iuKHgB-kHyB_94TakLV5tVL0NoqNwS7DJ3uKvg6ZIV0cKi-yzWzEr3p8M/w400-h400/beans.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7371052876320221603.post-10220649732079910952020-10-16T21:21:00.001-05:002020-10-16T21:21:40.745-05:00Mrs. Pritzker<p> I once had the pleasure of listening to a priest tell a
story from his childhood. He told about growing up in the city where he and the
other neighborhood boys would gather to play a game of stickball. It never
failed that the ball would be hit over the fence into the yard belonging to
Mrs. Pritzker. Mrs. Pritzker would torment the young boys and would keep the
balls that would land in her yard. She was one of those people you would cross
a busy street for just to avoid walking past her house. The boys loathed Mrs.
Pritzker.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Later in life this boy would go on to discern the
priesthood. He learned that we all are created in the image and likeness of God
and that Jesus lives in every single person. One day at Mass when the priest
elevated the host he saw the face of Mrs. Pritzker superimposed on the host. In
his heart he heard the voice of Jesus.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“You say you love me. Do you love me even when I look like
this?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Do you hate another person? Do you hate Trump or Pelosi or anyone
in our political circus? Are you holding a grudge against a family member or
another person who you believe wronged you? Do you celebrate when someone gets
theirs? These things bar the gates of heaven from being opened to you. Either
you learn to let go of the hate and the grudges in this life or you will carry
them over to the next life where you will spend as long as it takes in
purgatory to do so. If you refuse to let go of the hate in your heart it will
become an all consuming fire in hell.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hate in this world is like shackles that bind us in slavery to the
devil. It blinds us so that we cannot see Jesus in another. No one wants to
hurt someone they love. It is easy to hurt those we hate. This is why we are
called to love one another. We are called to be merciful. Scripture tells us
that we will receive mercy in the same measure that we give mercy. If you want
to receive the full measure of God’s mercy you have to begin by giving the full
measure of your mercy. You must learn to let go of the hate and the grudges
that keep us from loving freely as God does.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We cannot begin to solve the troubles of our society until we can
look at one another through the eyes of love instead of hate. If we loved those
who looked differently from us we wouldn’t treat them differently. If we looked
upon all people with love we would not tolerate injustice to any of them. If we
truly loved our neighbor we wouldn’t let things like race, religion, sexual
preference, or the voting letter behind our names separate us into groups. The
devil wants to separate us into groups and then pit those groups against one
another. God wants us all to be one family putting the other before ourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Can you put the needs of someone you despise before yourself? That
is what God requires us to do.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #111111; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“I give you a new command: </span><strong style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Love one another</span></strong><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">. Just as I have
loved you, you are also to love one another</span></i><span style="background: white; color: #111111; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">.” –
John 3:34</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #111111; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhigeWTr9ch2i6fj7fLhS3f3d6upTWFtZoCzuJ1PbWtT9rRErfB9SU824kaUYfysW4lQ0j3GO4sP510smLv2huY3iSqxy1KIk_xAfI9yMqVEb47s_gMwjz6er-p6Uv4QI8gHwRQDq_BEupC/s533/Love.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="533" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhigeWTr9ch2i6fj7fLhS3f3d6upTWFtZoCzuJ1PbWtT9rRErfB9SU824kaUYfysW4lQ0j3GO4sP510smLv2huY3iSqxy1KIk_xAfI9yMqVEb47s_gMwjz6er-p6Uv4QI8gHwRQDq_BEupC/w400-h300/Love.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="background: white; color: #111111; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span><p></p>Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7371052876320221603.post-52789991911300787262020-10-03T13:52:00.001-05:002020-10-03T13:52:26.082-05:00The Parable of the Two Sons<p> <span style="font-size: 16pt;">What is your
opinion? That is the way Jesus begins our Gospel today. We all have our own
opinions on what it means to be a disciple of Christ. We all hear the same
Gospel and we all decide for ourselves how we put that into practice in our own
lives. What we don’t have and what we have never had is Jesus standing up here
giving us his opinion of our efforts.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The chief
priests and elders also had their own opinions on what it meant to be in
relationship with the one true God. Their opinions were based upon their
education and their experience which led them to a strict dedication to the
law, not the law maker. Unlike us, they did have Jesus standing before them.
And as we heard he let them know in no uncertain terms what he thought of their
efforts.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In his
rabbinic style Jesus starts off with the parable of the two sons. The first
eventually goes off and does as his father asks him to after he has a change of
mind. The second says yes with his lips but then goes off and does as he
pleases. Jesus is very critical of those who only say yes with their lips and
refuse to change their minds. This was the point he was trying to make with
this parable, the importance of changing one’s mind. The word used in Greek is
metanoia and from that we get the word repentance. John the Baptist came
preaching repentance. Jesus followed teaching that repentance is the only way
to eternal life.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Imagine how
that message was received by the chief priests and elders. No one would have
been surprised if repentance were preached to just the tax collectors and
prostitutes. But these were men who have studied the Law and had dedicated
their entire lives to the practice of their faith. Now they were being told to
change their minds; that sinners were getting into the kingdom of heaven before
them. As the first reading goes, “That’s not fair.” But then, we don’t have a
God of fairness. We have a God of love. Jesus didn’t come to say what made the
people feel good, but what they needed to hear. Love is love even when it is
hard to accept.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jesus loved
these people and he only wanted what was best for them. He didn’t tell them to
stop what they were doing or to do something differently. He was simply trying
to point out that even when they thought they were doing what God wanted that they
not become complacent in doing it. He knew that in their complacency they began
to exalt the law over the Law maker and to view the people around them as
problems to be solved and not as people to be served. In doing this, love
became a precept of the law and not the very heart and reason for it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This parable
is no easier for us to hear today. Still, Jesus is not here to tell us what
makes us feel good but what we need to hear in order to have a deeper
relationship with him. His voice echoes through the scriptures challenging us
in our complacency, just as he challenged the chief priests and elders. This is
not meant to be an insult to us, nor does it mean that everything we are doing
is wrong. He is calling out to us through love alone.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In whatever
we are doing, no matter how much we think we are doing what God wants, we must never
grow self-satisfied or complacent. Rather, we must constantly resolve to never
cease changing our minds, to never stop repenting, until that moment comes when
we have the mind of Christ. Only then can we be one with him.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ2vXCHKtMoiGL-ZseGquAH139f1jBtqW8BQ1wcPiAtpIF9ZP57yFnJJJaGUAnduOoVoeVEK-Z8kYVmZGlL9GuqMMsfn_krQTbS88jG62RarLX7wgayVKyXtlNqrUUMaQLRwl_6noHX_vK/s528/sons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="528" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ2vXCHKtMoiGL-ZseGquAH139f1jBtqW8BQ1wcPiAtpIF9ZP57yFnJJJaGUAnduOoVoeVEK-Z8kYVmZGlL9GuqMMsfn_krQTbS88jG62RarLX7wgayVKyXtlNqrUUMaQLRwl_6noHX_vK/w400-h300/sons.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><p></p>Deacon Robert Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455168169715254689noreply@blogger.com0