Forgive us our trespasses...

Johnny and Billie were playing catch in the back yard on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Johnny was younger than his brother and couldn’t catch as well. Billie teased Johnny about this and Johnny grew angry. When Johnny could no longer take the teasing he threw the ball as hard as he could at his brother. The ball sailed over Billie’s head and crashed through the kitchen window. The boys ran to the front of the house in the hope that they wouldn’t be caught. The boys’ dad came out of the house and looked at the window. Shaking his head he went back into the house and nothing was ever said to either of the boys.

When the boys came down for breakfast the next morning they found the kitchen full of ladybugs. They were everywhere. They were on the walls, on the table, even crawling on their pancakes.

“Where did all of these ladybugs come from?” Johnny asked.

“They came through the broken window.” Johnny’s mother said with a grumble.

“The repair man is coming.” Johnny’s dad said calmly

Later that night Billie went into Johnny’s bedroom. “You will be doing the dishes for me tonight.” Billie said to his brother.

“I will not.” Johnny replied.

“If you don’t do the dishes for me I will tell mom and dad you broke the kitchen window.”

Johnny hung his head and went downstairs to do the dishes for his brother.

The next night Billie visited Johnny again. “Tonight you will take the trash out for me.” Billie said. Johnny knew better than to argue. He just hung his head and took out the trash.

Wednesday night Billie told Johnny to walk the dog for him. Johnny grew angry and exclaimed, “No I won’t”. He walked out of the room, went downstairs, and found his parents.

“Mom, dad, I broke the kitchen window.” Johnny said through tear filled eyes. “I am sorry.”

“We know.” Johnny’s father said. “I was in the kitchen and saw you do it.”

“So what are you going to do with me?” Johnny asked.

“Son, we love you and we forgive you for breaking the window. But it is still broken and you need to repair the damage you have caused.” Johnny’s dad said both sternly and lovingly. “The repair man is coming in the morning and it will cost five dollars to fix the window.”

“But I only have a dollar and a nickel in my piggy bank.” Johnny said dejectedly. “I know, I counted it on Sunday.”

“Go get your piggy bank and let’s have a look.” His father said with a slight grin on his face.

Johnny ran up to his room and brought his piggy bank to his father. He pulled the plug out of the belly and began to shake the bank. Five, one dollar bills spilled out onto the carpet. Johnny’s eyes got big and his mouth hung open.

“I only had a dollar and a nickel in there, I swear!” he exclaimed in disbelief.

Johnny’s father picked up the money and gave his son a hug. “I will make sure the window gets fixed in the morning.” His father said. Johnny hugged his father tight with a smile that went from ear to ear.

As Johnny ran back to his room his mother looked at his father and raised an eyebrow.

"I put the extra four dollars in there last night." His father said. "I figured he would break and admit it tonight."

 

A cornerstone in Protestant theology is “once saved, always saved”. Many believe that Jesus died once for the forgiveness of all sins, past, present, and future. Because all sins have already been forgiven there is no need to confess them and seek forgiveness once you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Any transgression they commit has already been forgiven.

Sin is any thought or word, spoken or left unspoken, or any action done or one we have failed to do that damages the relationship between one’s self and God and God’s people. When one damages this relationship a debt is incurred.

Forgiveness is a word that means “to let go”. God is love and forgiveness is a fruit of love. In his perfect love for us God is willing to let go of the debt we owe him when we sin. The key words here are “willing to”. God is “willing to” let go of our debt. It is not automatic as the once saved always saved people believe it to be. If Jesus died once for all sin (which he did) why are all sins not automatically forgiven?

Forgiveness is a fruit of love but it is also a gift given in love. For a gift to be effective the gift has to be accepted, opened, and used. If I give you a gift for your birthday and you hand it back to me and tell me you don’t want it you have not received anything. If I give you a gift and you put it in the closet without opening it you have received nothing. For my gift to you to be effective you have to accept it, open it, and use it.

Forgiveness is a gift given in love. For forgiveness to happen we have to accept it, open it, and use it. Another gift God has given us is our free will. God is willing to give us the gift of forgiveness but he also respects our right to deny this gift, to shelve this gift, and to not use this gift. The only sin God will not forgive is the sin we will not allow him to forgive. This comes in two flavors; despair and arrogance.

Despair happens when we believe that our sin is so great that even God cannot forgive it. God is willing but we cannot believe he can so the gift of forgiveness is never received. Arrogance happens when we believe that we don’t need God’s forgiveness. Instead, many times we believe that it is God who needs our forgiveness instead. In neither case is the gift of forgiveness accepted and therefore the sin is never forgiven. This is always by our choice, our will, and not by God’s. Once saved, always saved violates the principle of free will for it denies the individual the ability to reject God’s forgiveness.

Like with the broken window, although the debt of our sin is forgiven there is still damage to be repaired. When the sin only damages our relationship with God that relationship has to be repaired. God’s love for us is perfect and cannot be damaged. The real repair work is on us and our side of the relationship. This is done through penance. Penance is defined as voluntary self-punishment inflicted as an outward expression of repentance for having done wrong. It is our way of telling God our Father that we are sincerely sorry for what we have done. Penance needs to be serious enough that it stands as a deterrent to us not co commit the sin again but not so grave that it causes further harm.

In addition to causing damage to our relationship with God our sins can also cause damage to the relationships with God’s people. For example, if I lie to someone with the intent to defraud them I not only damage my relationship to God by violating the eighth commandment but I damage my relationship to the person I have lied to. I have to seek forgiveness from God but I also have to seek forgiveness from the person I have lied to.

We are called to forgive as God forgives. Indeed, we are called to forgive even if forgiveness isn’t sought by the person who harmed us. In this case forgiveness actually serves two purposes. It does release the person from the debt incurred by their action if and when they ever are willing to accept our forgiveness. When we forgive we are also released from the affects that sin can cause on us.

When someone sins against us it often creates feelings within us that generate evil intentions. We hate the person for what they have done. We hope that they will get theirs. We pray for bad things to happen to them. In the extreme we seek revenge. All of these responses have an evil intent. When we give in to evil and respond with malicious intent in our hearts we damage our relationship with God. When hate in our hearts is not released and purged it can turn into poison and affect everything we do.

When we truly forgive someone who has harmed us we “let go” of all of the built up evil inside of us. We are released and a huge weight is lifted from our hearts. Forgiving someone and letting go of all malicious intent is not the same thing as forgetting the damage done. We are not called to forgive and forget. We are called to forgive. To forgive does not mean we have to open ourselves up to have the same damage happen again.

The evil one uses our sin that is kept in darkness against us. It gives him power over us in much the same way that Billie used the broken window to get Johnny to do his chores. Once we bring our sins into the light he loses that power over us. Once Johnny told his dad what he had done Billie lost the ability to blackmail him. As a Catholic we bring our sins into the light in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We confess our sins to a priest who is acting in persona Christi capitis – in the person of Christ the head. In effect, we confess our sins straight to Christ.

Why can’t I just confess my sins directly to God? Like Johnny’s father God the Father already knows our sins. He sees all we do. We can go directly to God in an act of perfect contrition, that is, if we bring the sin completely out of the darkness of our hearts and are truly sorry for it. For most of us that is very difficult to do. It is easy to say sorry to God and not actually mean it as long as we are not held accountable for it. The sin never really leaves the darkness of our hearts. As long as it is in our hearts the evil one can use it against us.

When we confess to a priest we bring the sin into the light where it cannot be hidden. Jesus gave authority to forgive sins and that authority has been bestowed upon the priest. When the priest gives absolution it is not the man but Jesus through the man granting the forgiveness and burning the sin away in the light of his love.

In the Lord’s Prayer we pray, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” This is an extremely dangerous part of the Lord’s Prayer. We are petitioning God to only forgive us as much as the forgiveness we offer to others. Mercy will be received in the same measure it is given. If we refuse to forgive someone for a wrong committed against us, if we live with a grudge, or if we harbor evil intent towards someone we are giving God permission not to grant us his forgiveness. If I want to be forgiven for the wrongs I have done toward God I have to wipe the slate clean for everyone who has wronged me. This also violates the principle of “once saved, always saved”. If I am saved simply by my acceptance of Jesus as my Lord and Savior then it doesn’t really matter if I grant my brother forgiveness for anything he has done against me. I am forgiven. Who cares about my brother. God will forgive him as well once he accepts Jesus....

 I cannot do any of this on my own. I do not have the perfect love for my brother that God has for me. God knows this and will give me the grace I need to forgive my brother if I honestly wish to do so. All I have to do is look in my spiritual piggy bank. God will have put the five dollars in there for me to pay the repairman. God grants me the grace, the special favor, to forgive the same way he forgives. How great is our God?

Be a blessing to all you meet and allow them to be a blessing to you….and forgive, forgive, forgive.

The Glue that Binds us Together

Today I dropped my favorite coffee cup and broke the handle off of it. Hoping to restore it to its full usefulness I reached for my old standby – epoxy glue. If you have never worked with epoxy before it is a two part glue that, when mixed properly, creates a bond that is virtually unbreakable. Part A is the resin and part B is the hardener and they need to be mixed together at a 50-50 ratio. Too much of one or the other and the bond does not form as strong.

God designed marriage in the exact same fashion from the very beginning of creation. When you combine part A and part B, one man and one woman, together in a sacramental marriage a bond is formed that no man can break. Like epoxy, two part A’s combined or two part B’s combined cannot form this unbreakable bond. Only when combined in the way God designed can this unbreakable bond form.

Some of the more successful attacks the evil one uses appear to be based in logic and compassion. This is what we see when we look at the same sex marriage debate. For the most part, same sex couples just want to live their lives in peace with the person they love and are committed to and have that commitment legally recognized. This is fair, compassionate, and logical. There is a great need to have these relationships legally recognized and protected mainly because there have been great atrocities that have occurred because they were not. I have seen firsthand these atrocities occur so I stand in solidarity with same sex couples who seek to have their commitment legally recognized in the form of a civil union. This is both right and just and does not go against my faith or the teaching of the Catholic Church.

Those words will come as a surprise to many simply because the actual teaching of the Catholic Church is either not known or not correctly understood. It is true that we do not believe that same sex marriage is possible. God created marriage and designed it from the very beginning to be one man and one woman for life. At the same time this also means that the Catholic Church does not believe that divorce and remarriage is possible either. The Catholic Church does support committed relationships and people of the same sex loving one another. Indeed, we are commanded by God to love everyone and not only love them but have Agápe love for them. Agápe is the highest form of love. It is sacrificial. One is willing and many times does give up their life for another. Show me even one truly committed relationship where the people in that relationship do not have this type of love for each other.

I love my wife and children with Agápe. I love my friends and family with Agápe. I love my brother aspirants with Agápe. I will make sacrifices for them and even give up my life for them if called to do so. I am trying to love all people with Agápe but this is the hardest thing any of us can ever do. I can only be married to one of these people, my beloved wife. If I love all of these people with Agápe and I would give up my life for any of them why then can I not marry any of them? If marriage is only about love and commitment there should be nothing stopping me from doing so.

When it comes right down to it, it is all about sex. Two unmarried people, no matter their gender, who love one another and are living in a committed relationship to one another, that have not engaged in intercourse have not sinned. They are still free to receive the Sacraments if all the other conditions are met. Two unmarried people, no matter their gender, who love one another and are living in a committed relationship to one another that have engaged in intercourse have committed mortal sin. Mortal sin separates us fully from the saving grace of God and will result in our eternal death if we do not repent. This is why the Catholic Church is so animate about this subject and it applies to opposite sex couples as much as it applies to same sex couples.

Sex does not justify marriage. Sex fulfills marriage. When one man and one woman are bonded together in a Godly marriage they form a one flesh union. Even couples who cannot have children form this one flesh union. Same sex couples engaging in intercourse cannot form this one flesh union any more than mixing two part A’s or two part B’s can make epoxy work. This is by God’s design and not by man’s desire. If the marriage cannot be fulfilled with the one flesh union the marriage cannot be completed. Epoxy can only form glue when both parts are removed from their containers and mixed together to form one liquid. Marriage can only be fulfilled when one man and one woman come together in a one flesh union forming a bond that is unbreakable for life.

What the Catholic Church does and always will oppose is changing a definition God provided to one of man’s choosing solely to justify our desires. I want to marry whomever I will. I want to have sex with whomever I want. Putting desire before commandment is exactly what the evil one wants us to do. When we choose self over God we willfully separate ourselves from God and that is the end goal of the devil. God condemns no man to Hell. He finds us there by our own choosing.

Be a blessing to all you meet and allow them to be a blessing to you.

Alone in my Iniquity

The Lord called out to me

"Serve me" he said

But I threw in my lot

With murders and prostitutes

So he left me alone in my iniquity

 

Then the Lord called out a second time

"Serve me" he said

But I chose to stay

With thieves and adulterers

So he left me alone in my iniquity

And my iniquity left me alone

In a state of financial ruin

Living in the shadow of death

In despair and depression

Then the Lord called out to me a third time

"Serve me" he said

This time I said yes

So he forgave my iniquity

Restored my life

Brought me back from the brink of death

Gave me a joy I have never known

Now I call out

To murders and prostitutes

Thieves and adulterers

Those in despair and depression

The Lord will forgive your iniquity

And restore your life

All it takes is a "yes"

My God, my God, why have thou forsaken me?

Reading sacred scripture without a guide is the equivalent of touring a foreign country you have never been to before in your life alone. You can hit the main attractions just fine but you will always miss the hidden gems only the locals know about. Reading the scriptures without knowing who wrote them, to whom they were written, the style of writing, and the reason they were written leaves the reader to interpret the actual meaning of the writing for themselves. More often than not this will lead one to an improper or wrong interpretation and a misunderstanding of what the passage was meant to convey.

There are many people who believe that they do not need any instruction when they read sacred scripture. They believe that the Holy Spirit will inspire them to the correct and intended meaning. While this can happen if it happened in every occasion we would have only one Church unified in the meaning of scripture. Instead, we have over 40,000 different flavors of Christianity all divided based upon their interpretation of scripture and the doctrine it teaches.

Most sacred scripture is polyvalent, meaning it is deep with meaning and has a number of different aspects or principles that can be learned by it. There are some that, for a Catholic, only has one specific meaning or interpretation. We rely on the magisterium to teach us the true meaning of sacred scripture so that all Catholics everywhere hold the same meaning and truth in their hearts. We are the Universal Church. The word catholic comes from the Latin word catholicus which comes from the Greek word καθολικός (katholikos), which means “Universal”. This comes from the Greek phrase καθόλου (katholou), which combines the words “about” and “whole” and means “according to the whole”. This is straight out of sacred scripture, but that is a discussion for another day.

When one does not know the author, the reason, and the culture behind the text the real meaning of the scripture is often missed or misunderstood. Take for example sacred scripture readings about Jesus’ crucifixion. There is a common belief that Jesus, in a moment of his full human nature, felt totally abandoned by our Father because he utters the words, “My God, my God, why have thou forsaken me?” If all you knew were the words of this text you would naturally come to this conclusion. You could not be further from the truth behind this scripture with that conclusion.

Jesus was a rabbi (a word that actually means “doctor” when translated to Latin). He was a devout Jew who both obeyed and fulfilled the Law. Jews of Jesus’ time (and many still today) prayed the Psalms. Indeed, they had them memorized to the point of knowing them forwards and backwards without thought. If you are Christian and I started, “Our Father, who art in heaven…” you could join in and continue the prayer with me without thinking about it. If you belong to any of the main stream Christian religions and I started with, “I believe in one God….” You could join in and finish the creed with me without thought. This is how the Psalms were and are to the Jews.

Like with our Liturgy of the Hours Jews prayed these Psalms at set periods throughout the day. One of these set periods was the ninth hour or 3:00 in the afternoon. Sacred scripture tells us that at about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” Jesus was not crying out from abandonment. As a devout Jew he was crying out in prayer. What did the Jews pray at the set points in the day? They prayed the Psalms.

Psalm 22

¹ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from saving me,
    so far from my cries of anguish?
² My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
    by night, but I find no rest.

³ Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
    you are the one Israel praises.
⁴ In you our ancestors put their trust;
    they trusted and you delivered them.
⁵ To you they cried out and were saved;
    in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

⁶ But I am a worm and not a man,
    scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
⁷ All who see me mock me;
    they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
⁸ “He trusts in the Lord,” they say,
    “let the Lord rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
    since he delights in him.”

⁹ Yet you brought me out of the womb;
    you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.
¹⁰ From birth I was cast on you;
    from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

¹¹ Do not be far from me,
    for trouble is near
    and there is no one to help.

¹² Many bulls surround me;
    strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
¹³ Roaring lions that tear their prey
    open their mouths wide against me.
¹⁴ I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
    it has melted within me.
¹⁵ My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
    and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
    you lay me in the dust of death.

¹⁶ Dogs surround me,
    a pack of villains encircles me;
    they pierce my hands and my feet.
¹⁷ All my bones are on display;
    people stare and gloat over me.
¹⁸ They divide my clothes among them
    and cast lots for my garment.

¹⁹ But you, Lord, do not be far from me.
    You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
²⁰ Deliver me from the sword,
    my precious life from the power of the dogs.
²¹ Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
    save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

²² I will declare your name to my people;
    in the assembly I will praise you.
²³ You who fear the Lord, praise him!
    All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
    Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
²⁴ For he has not despised or scorned
    the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
    but has listened to his cry for help.

²⁵ From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
    before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.
²⁶ The poor will eat and be satisfied;
    those who seek the Lord will praise him—
    may your hearts live forever!

²⁷ All the ends of the earth
    will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
    will bow down before him,
²⁸ for dominion belongs to the Lord
    and he rules over the nations.

²⁹ All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
    all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
    those who cannot keep themselves alive.
³⁰ Posterity will serve him;
    future generations will be told about the Lord.
³¹ They will proclaim his righteousness,
    declaring to a people yet unborn:
    He has done it

Jesus was not only praying at the ninth hour but he was praying the Psalm that foretold of the crucifixion and resurrection. For the Jews present they would have immediately recognized this Psalm and had been able to recite it with him. And then, while looking up at him on the cross and reciting the words of the Psalm they would have seen the Psalm fulfilled as they prayed and many of them would have realized then and there exactly what they had just done.

I believe the word of this would have spread like wild fire and was the driving factor behind the conversion of thousands at a time after the Church was established at Pentecost.

But if you just read this passage in scripture with no instruction on the background on the culture at the time it was written you would have come away seeing a broken Jesus feeling left and abandon by the very person who asked him to go through with this to begin with. How can anyone be filled with anything but sadness when left with this interpretation? How can anyone be anything but profoundly moved and filled with love and hope when you learn the true meaning behind the text?

Ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ – Saint Jerome.

Knowing scripture means knowing more than just the text as it is written. To know scripture is to know the world behind the text, the world of the text, and the world in front of the text. Any less and scripture is nothing more than a great collection of stories.

The Walking Dead

Zombies have replaced vampires as the cult favorite de jour. Movies, TV shows and even commercials about zombies are too numerous to count. But is a zombie apocalypse really possible?

The honest answer is yes. It is not only possible but we have been living in one for two-thousand years.

“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. “He 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. “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. “This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.” – John 6, 52-58

 

The people following Jesus hoping for a free lunch began to leave him. Eat Jesus? Is this guy crazy? That is cannibalism and I will have no part in it. What did Jesus do? Knowing the people did not understand what he had just told them stopped them and told them he was only speaking symbolically. He meant metaphorically eat him, not actually eat him.

“Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble?” – John 6, 60-61

A metaphor is difficult and people cannot listen to it? Symbolism can cause you to stumble? The act of eating a piece of bread that symbolizes the body of Jesus is so difficult to comprehend that Jesus even asks his twelve if they will leave him because of it.

The truth Catholics believe is that Jesus was not speaking metaphorically. He actually meant that we must eat his body and drink his blood if we wish to have eternal life within us. He did not reveal how this would happen until the night before his death.

“While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.” – Matthew 26, 26-28

On the night he was betrayed Jesus gave us the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. The Eucharist is the actual body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus himself. He did this to fulfill a promise he makes to the twelve to be with us until the end of the age. In his resurrected body, before he ascended to the Father, Jesus could only be in one physical place at a time. After his ascension back into the eternalness of time he could then descend back into the Eucharist any place or time it is consecrated. In this way and in a very real sense, Jesus is with us, body, blood, soul, and divinity until the end of the age.

Those who partake in the Eucharist worthily consume the flesh of the son of man. We eat his flesh and drink his blood and we have life within us as he promised. Those who don’t are the walking dead, the zombies among us. The eat and eat and eat their symbolic bread but are never truly filled. They hunger and are never satisfied.

The Eucharist is the source and summit of the entire Catholic faith. If Jesus were only speaking to us in a metaphor and only wanted us to symbolically eat his flesh our entire faith would be a fruitless lie.

And what would a post on zombies be without some actual zombie apocalypse video? Watch until the end. This is a great expression of our faith.
 

 

Zombie Apocalypse

 

 

Be a blessing to all you meet and allow them to be a blessing to you.

Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?

“When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” – Matthew 8, 23-27

 

March 6, 1857 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that blacks, enslaved or free, could not be American citizens and that the federal government had no power to regulate slavery in the United States. This reduced enslaved blacks to nothing more than possessions in a country that declared its independence with the line; “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.”

                “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!”

 

May 10, 1893 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the tomato was a vegetable, not a fruit, and therefore could be taxed as a vegetable.

“Save us, Lord; we are perishing!”

 

June 26, 1963 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that immoral sexual activity was protected by a person’s right to privacy, striking down sodomy laws in fourteen states.

“Save us, Lord; we are perishing!”

 

January 22, 1973 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that a person had the right to an abortion until viability and thus we started to murder the most innocent and helpless humans among us by the millions.

                “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!”

 

June 26, 2015 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that people of the same sex had the right to be married, changing the traditional definition of marriage that we have had since the beginning with Adam and Eve.

                “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!”

 

                “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?”

 

I have read the end of the book. Spoiler alert – Jesus is triumphant in the end, even against stupid Supreme Court rulings. So have no fear and live your life in joyful witness to the glory of God. Don’t change as the culture changes around you and stay true to the teachings our Lord has given to us and maintained through his Church for the last two-thousand years.

 

Be a blessing to all you meet and allow them to be a blessing to you.

Thy will be done.

For fifty years my mother has said that her religion was Buddhist. She is now faced with making end of life decisions. When she was recently admitted into her care facility she was asked her religion. She said that she had always claimed she was Buddhist but she was raised Lutheran and was Lutheran deep down.  She light heartedly joked that she was a Buddhist Lutheran and took the best from each religion. We believe that at the time of death Jesus is his own advocate. I trust in the great mercy of God and hope that when my mother stands before the Lord he will burn away all her doubt and only her love for him will remain. This is why we pray for our sick, needy, and dead. The root of pray is love and love is never wasted with God. He will use our love as a conduit in which he can deliver grace. Like a beacon in the night, this grace is there to guide us home to his side.

My mother opened the door to me to minister to her. When she said that she was still Lutheran she let me know that she still had a desire to have a relationship with Jesus. The biggest thing she needed was a reintroduction to him. She is not Catholic so I will not have a priest come and anoint her. I wish to respect her faith at whatever level she has it. Instead, I went to the Lutheran church where I was raised and asked the pastor if she would visit with my mother. God will take it from there.

The Lutheran pastor I met with was a woman. She listened respectfully as I explained the family dynamic when it comes to religion. Catholic, Lutheran, fundamentalist, agnostic, Buddhist – we cover a large gambit of beliefs and it is hard to minister to all equally. She told me that she used to be Catholic but had to switch religions because the Catholic Church wouldn’t let her be a priest. She felt called to be a minister so the Lutheran church is where she wound up.

I have nothing but respect for this woman and am grateful to her for ministering to my mother at the time of her greatest need. There has been no greater time in history when the various Christian faiths have needed each other more. Christianity as a whole is under attack by the evil one more than ever before. It may be just what is needed to have us join into one universal Church once again.

Yet, something this woman said stuck in my head and continued to bother me. She was originally Catholic. She claimed to believe in a faith that states it has the fullness of truth. Later she would leave this faith for a faith that she used to believe did not have the fullness of truth solely because the Church would not allow her to do a particular function. If she were truly Catholic to begin with she would understand why she isn’t allowed to be a priest or she would seek to understand why. She is in good company. Martin Luther – father of the Lutheran church did the exact same thing.

How many Catholics leave the faith every year for the same reason? How many leave because they believe the Church won’t allow them to do something they feel they have the right to do? How many leave because the Church is wrong on this teaching or that teaching? How many leave because they believe they know better?

Then I heard the Lord’s Prayer over and over in my mind. More importantly I heard the petition “THY WILL BE DONE” emphasized. Every Christian religion on this planet will teach daily about how we are to imitate Jesus. Which part of Jesus’ life are we called to imitate? Are we to imitate the kind and gentle Jesus who never said an ill word and wouldn’t even kill a spider in the bathtub? Are we called to imitate the Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount and feed the poor? I kind of like the Jesus just starting in his ministry and turn water into wine. How popular would you be at a party? If we could only pick one part of Jesus’ life to imitate it would have to be Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night he was betrayed.

The Garden of Gethsemane

      “And He came out and proceeded as was His custom to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him. When He arrived at the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground. When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow, and said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

Luke 22, 39-46

This by far is the hardest Jesus to imitate. It requires us to put aside what we want, our desires, and do that which is pleasing to God. The dogma and Traditions of the Catholic Church are not there simply because a bunch of old white men wanted to maintain their power and status. Power and status are things that have been abused by some in the Church but the dogma and Traditions we have come from Jesus himself. Failure to understand why or accept it as truth is not justification to choose our own wills over God’s.

                Thy kingdom come,

                Thy will be done,

                Lead us not into temptation,

                But deliver us from evil.

Be a blessing to all you meet and allow them to be a blessing to you.

If you could see what I hear.

In 1982 a movie came out that starred Marc Singer portraying the life of a blind musician named Tom Sullivan. It was a light-hearted romantic comedy called “If You Could See What I Hear”. There are many places where I envy the blind. They can’t judge a person by the color of their skin. When they fall in love they don’t do so solely based on physical appearance. The sighted sometimes miss experiencing the full beauty of something because we are limited to only what we can see.

When we attend Mass we offer God worship and sacrifice together with our fellow parishioners, visitors, and the celebrants. It is our family gathering, our little corner of heaven. For God it is so much more. God is eternal, meaning he exists outside of time. A more correct statement is that God is existence and time dwells within him. There is no yesterday, today, or tomorrow with God. There is only the “now”. There are no 8:30am, 10:00am, 11:30am, 1:00pm, or 4:30pm Masses for God. There is only Mass (note – singular).

The Catholic Mass is unique. It is not a new sacrifice. It is not an additional sacrifice. It is commonly said that it is the bloodless representation of the one and only sacrifice Jesus made once for all. The Mass is a time machine joining all Masses, every Mass that ever was and every Mass that will ever be, to the original Mass, the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus on the cross at Calvary. If we could see with our eyes the invisible reality that is actually taking place we would see all of the angels and saints and every person who ever celebrated a Mass gathered at Calvary surrounding our Lord. We are joined with our loved ones who preceded us in this life as well as those who have yet to be born. When I attend Mass I am supernaturally joined with not only my grandparents and their grandparents but I am also joined with my grandchildren and their grandchildren. If eyes could only see the majesty of the reality that surrounds us.

God does not hear a billion individual Masses. God hears Mass offered by billions at one time. Close your eyes and listen with the ears of your heart. When you hear billions of people say, “Amen” all at the same time it will shake you to your core. To hear all of God’s creation proclaim “I believe…” in one voice will give you a new understanding of what the Universal Church really is. If you could see what I hear you would begin to understand just how truly powerful the Mass really is.

 

If you had known me, you would have known my Father also...

“Excuse me brother but do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?”

You may have heard this question asked if you have spent any time around our Evangelical kinsmen. By personal relationship they actually mean private relationship. As Catholics we know that personal relationship really is supposed to be a public relationship. The love of Jesus is not supposed to be confined to our hearts and our homes. We are to take him wherever we go and not be ashamed to show our relationship with him in all that we do.

As Catholics we are lucky. We have much more than just a personal relationship with Jesus. We have an intimate relationship with him. He gives us his complete self and we take him fully into our being each and every time we receive the Eucharist in Holy Communion. You cannot get any more intimate than that. If we allow Jesus to work within us we become lanterns carrying the light of his love to every person we encounter. You can’t get any more public than that. That should be exactly what he wants us to do but…

Adult Catholics in first world nations are falling away from the faith at an increasing pace. Many church-shop protestant religions or end up at one of the modern mega churches. Over time they even fall away from these as they no longer see the relevance of church in their lives. We aren’t doing much better with the youth, many of whom we won’t see again after they leave the church on their confirmation day until they are ready for the big celebration wedding. Finding a young adult with an active faith life through and after college is about as hard as finding a couple happily married to each other for over thirty years.

So if what we have is so great why do so many walk away from it?

I think a large part of the problem comes down to just one word – “about”. It is the difference between “knowing” and “knowing about” Jesus. “Knowing about” someone indicates that you have a trivial knowledge of them. “Knowing” someone indicates an intimate knowledge. I know about Adolf Hitler, Steve Jobs, and Mother Theresa. I can tell you when they were born, where they lived, and how they died. I can tell you why each of these people are significant in human history. I do not know any of them. I have no real personal connection to them. They are just people in the history book.

I think this is where the Catholic Church has greatly failed in our instruction of the faithful, especially our children. We have done a fabulous job of telling the faithful about Jesus. We sit our children in religious education classes and CCD and tell them about who Jesus was and what he did in his ministry. They learn how great he is and what he means to our Church. I think far too many of our teachers instruct instead of introduce. You can’t possibly expect anyone to develop a personal and intimate relationship with someone they only know about.

Jesus is my friend, my brother, my savior, my Lord, and my God. I want to introduce you to him so that you may come to know him and be his friend too. What does it take to be a friend to anyone? A friendship is very difficult to maintain with someone you never see and you never speak to.

If you want to be a friend to someone you have to spend time with them. If you want to have Jesus as a friend you have to spend time with him as well. The absolutely best place to spend time with Jesus is Sunday Mass where you get to hold him in your hands and take him completely into your being. There is no way to get any closer to Christ than this. How would you feel if you threw a party that was very important to you and your friends never showed up? Sunday Mass is that party for the Lord and he does miss you when you are not there.

The closer you are to someone the more time you want to spend with that person. Young love is proof to this. Young lovers can sit for hours doing nothing more than just gaze into each other’s eyes. As Jesus becomes a closer friend you will find yourself wanting to spend more time with him as well. For those with the option daily Mass is a great way to spend time with our Lord. Eucharistic adoration is another. Sitting in the actual presence, body, blood, soul, and divinity is a very powerful thing if you allow it to be.

The other requirement for a close friendship is communications. One of the most common reasons a marriage fails today is because husbands and wives stop communicating with each other. When the conversation stops people start to grow apart. Sooner or later you don’t know each other. If you want to have Jesus as a close friend you have to converse with him. This comes in the form of prayer.

                “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” – 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18

The more you pray the closer you will become to Jesus. But communications is a two way street. You also have to be willing to listen when Jesus talks back. He speaks to us through a small, still voice during the times our hearts are at rest. The devil knows this and fills our lives with as much noise and distraction as possible. When you can’t hear Jesus talking to you, you stop talking to Jesus and you begin to drift apart. Eventually he becomes somebody you used to know and now only know about.

Our religious education classes, CCD, RCIA, and other formation programs shouldn’t start and end in a classroom. They should start in the sanctuary with an introduction to Jesus the person. We need to bring people to know Jesus first and then teach about him. When you know you often want to know about. If you start with knowing about often times you no longer want to spend the time to get to know. When you don’t know it is hard to find the relevance in your life. This is where more and more people fall away from the faith.

 

“Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father…” – John 14, 9

Be a blessing to everyone you meet and let them be a blessing to you.

Can I get an Amen?

I have completed the series on the Sacraments and how they are “oaths to the death” in the original Latin understanding of the word. Can I get an amen? Oops, I guess I am not completely done with oaths yet.

Have you ever wondered what the word “amen” means? Having been raised Protestant it was always used at the end of a prayer and I always assumed that it meant “I am done.” Dear Lord, please give me what I want (grant me…). I am done (amen!). In some of our more colorful denominations it is often used as an affirmation. The Lord God is great! Can I get an AMEN?

Yet we see it used many times in the New Testament to begin a sentence, many times by Jesus himself when he is officially teaching. “Amen, amen I say to you…” In some translations of the bible we see it translated as “Truly, truly I say to you…” So used in that fashion it can’t be a conclusion to a prayer or an affirmation to a statement. So what does amen actually mean?

Hebrew is a vocabulary deficient language, which means they do not have a lot of words to explain things. Many Hebrew words hold deep meaning. The number seven, for instance, was a number that held great significance. It was used to swear an oath, something sacred. Old Testament Israelites wouldn’t say, “I swear to you…” they would say, “I seven you…”

Amen is also an oath used in much the same fashion that the word/number seven was used. It was an oath that was meant to convey that what was going to be said next was the absolute truth or that you believe what was just said was the absolute truth. “Amen, amen I say to you…” was the way that Jesus said, “Listen up people. What I am about to say I swear to you is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” Anything said after “amen, amen” that wasn’t truth was a lie and you reneged on your oath. We have seen through this series on the sacraments how reneging on an oath brings death upon yourself.

Likewise, when you say amen at the end of a prayer in Mass you are swearing an oath that you agree with the words of the prayer. When said at the end of the creed you are swearing an oath that you believe that the creed is absolutely 100% true and that you will live by the words of that creed. How many times do you say “amen” as part of the Mass? How many times do you swear an oath to the death and don’t realize what you have vowed to do? To leave the Mass and live contrary to the oaths you just took causes you to renege on those oaths and the collateral pledged is your very life. For this reason Jesus teaches us in Holy Scripture that is it better not to swear an oath than to fail to live up to one.

Pay attention to your actions and the words you use. Words have meanings and actions have consequences. Pay attention during Mass and ask yourself if you truly believe what you are saying is 100% true. Would you put your life on it? If you have said “Amen” that is exactly what you have done.

Thanks to Father Seraiah for the use of his blog as reference material on this oath.

Be a blessing to all you meet and allow them to be a blessing to you.

AMEN!

The Sacrament of Anointing

“Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

James 5, 14-16

God created man perfect, without illness or suffering. When man turned from God in our sin death and suffering entered the world. God, in his great mercy, provided ways in which we can heal both body and soul. These are the sacraments of healing. The first of the two is the Sacrament of Reconciliation and is responsible for healing the soul and restoring man to God’s sanctifying grace. The second sacrament of healing is the Anointing of the Sick. This sacrament heals the body.

The Anointing of the Sick is not intended to physically heal the anointed, although it can and has throughout Christian history. The primary intention of the Anointing of the Sick is to strengthen those who are being tried by illness. As part of the rite of the anointing of the sick we beg the Lord that the sick person recover his health if it is conducive to his salvation.

Over the centuries the Anointing of the Sick was conferred more exclusively on those closer to death. It became known as “Extreme Unction” or “The Last Rites”.  The Apostolic Constitution Sacram unctionem infirmorum, following upon the Second Vatican Council, established that henceforth, in the Roman Rite, the following be observed:

“The sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is given to those who are seriously ill by anointing them on the forehead and hands with duly blessed oil—pressed from olives or from other plants—saying, only once: “Through this holy anointing may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit. May the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up.”

                CCC 1513

The Anointing of the Sick is no longer reserved mainly for those who are close to the point of death. It is a sacrament for anyone who has grave illness due to sickness or old age. Anyone who is in danger of death should be encouraged to receive this sacrament. Like the Sacrament of Reconciliation the Sacrament of Anointing can be conferred more than once, whenever it is needed. It is not a one-time sacrament like Baptism or Confirmation. If the anointed recovers their health and then grows sick again at some point in the future that person may undergo the anointing again.

When I was undergoing my heart surgeries in 2014 I received the sacrament the first time just before my angiogram. I received it a second time three weeks later just before I went in for my open heart bypass. The priest was there to anoint me a third time the day after the surgery. What did the sacrament do for me?

The purpose of the sacrament is to strengthen those being tried by illness. I had every reason to be worried about my heart surgery. I had a wife and five children whose lives depended on the outcome. My youngest was just five months old. Instead of being worried I was oddly at peace, more so than I have been at any point in my life. I put my trust in God, that he would not only take care of me but that he would provide for my family if I were to be called home to him. I was indeed strengthened by the sacrament. I was also physically healed, much faster than what is typical for this type of surgery. The sacrament did exactly what it was intended to do.

“Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church…”

The Greek word for “elder” is “presbyter” from which we derive the word “priest”. Jesus passed his authority to heal on to the twelve who passed it to their replacements through apostolic succession. Holy Scripture calls for this sacrament to be administered by the elders, the presbyters, the priests. Only a bishop or a priest can anoint the sick. This is not a sacrament that can be administered by a deacon or a lay minister.

It is often celebrated in conjunction of the Sacrament of Reconciliation first and followed by the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Within these three sacraments a person is healed both body and soul and brought into full communion with God. At that moment we are as perfect as we can be as mortal men.

A sacrament is a conduit through which God provides grace. The first grace of this sacrament is the strengthening, peace and courage one receives to face the difficulties of the illness. It is meant to strengthen us against attacks and temptations of the evil one who wishes to use the illness to turn us to despair and anguish in the face of possible death. Instead of trusting in the Lord we are filled with doubt and once filled with doubt we begin to rely on ourselves over the saving power of God.

“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.”

St. Paul, Colossians 1:24

 

What could possibly be lacking in the suffering of Christ? Quite simply – our participation. Another grace of this sacrament is that we are allowed to unite the suffering of our illness to the sanctifying suffering of Jesus which allows us to share in his redemptive work for the entire body of Christ – the Church.

“An ecclesial grace. The sick who receive this sacrament, “by freely uniting themselves to the passion and death of Christ,” “contribute to the good of the People of God.” By celebrating this sacrament the Church, in the communion of saints, intercedes for the benefit of the sick person, and he, for his part, though the grace of this sacrament, contributes to the sanctification of the Church and to the good of all men for whom the Church suffers and offers herself through Christ to God the Father.” – CCC1522

This is where the sacrament as an oath to the death comes into play. When one “receives” this sacrament they are freely uniting themselves to the passion and death of Christ. We are swearing an oath that we trust in God to do his will in our lives, whether that means that he will physically heal us of our illness or use that illness for the greater good of his Church and his people. Just because someone is not physically healed of their illness it doesn’t mean that God did not give that person grace or that the prayers for that person were in vein. Love is never wasted with God.

We renege on this oath when we lose our faith and turn to despair, anguish in our suffering, or fear death. When I was going through my heart surgery my wife was bothered somewhat by how calm I seemed to be with everything. I asked her what the worst possible thing that could happen with the surgery. She said I could die. No. The worst thing that could happen is that I live another thirty or more years.

When I received the Anointing of the Sick I was taking an oath to the death that I trusted God no matter what the outcome may be. I was assured as part of the anointing that my sins were forgiven and if I did not survive the surgery I would be in heaven with My Lord. No more pain, no more suffering. Only perfect love. If living was the worst thing that could happen what did I have to fear?

My wife, on the other hand, was not anointed and did not take the same oath I did. She had every reason to worry and fear the unknown ahead.

The other way that one can renege on this oath is when they turn their back on God if they were not healed in the way they believed they should be. When the sick get sicker and believe that the sacrament did nothing for them. They are not truly putting their trust in God but wanting their will instead of his.

Blessed is the man who can face his death with happiness and joy, trusting in the Lord, his mercy and infinite love. The kingdom of heaven shall be his. Cursed is the man who desperately clings to his life because he fears the unknown. The eternal darkness shall consume him.

In addition to the Sacrament of Anointing, the Church offers those who are about to leave this life the Eucharist as viaticum, or the Last Sacrament of the Christian, Viaticum has a Latin root meaning “food for the journey”. Viaticum is not part of the Anointing of the Sick and therefore can be administered by a deacon or an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion. The Eucharist is the perfect food for those who are passing from this life into the next. In addition to, “The Body of Christ” the following is added when the Eucharist is given as viaticum, “May the Lord Jesus Christ protect you and lead you to eternal life.”

A bit of trivia on the Sacrament of Anointing – a person receiving the anointing has their palms anointed with oil. When a bishop or priest is anointed the back of their hands are anointed instead. This is done in respect to the chrism oil that was used to anoint their palms when they were ordained as a priest.

Redemptive Suffering

My mother is at the end of her life. She smoked menthols for fifty-two years and that has decimated her lungs. She has emphysema and chronic obstructed pulmonary disease (COPD). Her lungs are only functioning at around 10%. She is slowly suffocating to death. Death by suffocation is what effectively happens to a person when they are crucified. It is a slow, painful, and an extremely scary way to die.

This is wrapping up a life of suffering for my mother. Included on her resume is being impaled on a picket fence, being thrown from a car at seventy miles an hour, surviving both uterine cancer and leukemia, losing two fingers in a punch press, suffering a major head injury in a fall that required brain surgery that had her in a coma for twenty-eight days, and a variety of other things. My mother is a survivor, but a survivor who is running out of time.

Why was my mother made to suffer? If God is all powerful and all loving why would he permit those he claims to love suffer? Why doesn’t he just put an end to it? This is one of the most asked questions by Christians and one of the numerous excuses an atheist uses to support his disbelief.

One of the most common answers to this question is that God allows suffering to bring about the greater good, whether or not we can see or even understand what that good may be. That answer is of little comfort to those who are suffering or to those who have lost someone close to them.

Suffering was not God’s plan for mankind. God made man perfect, in a perfect home, without pain, hunger, or suffering. When man voluntarily turned from God and sinned suffering and death were the consequences. It wasn’t God’s doing but our own. Still, if God is all powerful he could end suffering anytime he chooses. Why doesn’t he do so? The answer is love.

If you want to know what real, true love - Agápe, looks like just look at a crucifix.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” – John 3:16

Jesus suffered immensely and died an agonizing death on the cross for the love of us. If God suffered so greatly for us how can we complain when we are made to suffer for him? Why is there suffering in this world? It is so that love can exist. Things given for free have little value to the recipient. For love to freely exist and have meaning there has to be other choices.

Think of the nineteen year old starlet who marries the ninety year old billionaire. She tells the world that she married him because of she loves him and would have done so even if he were the poorest man in the world. In reality the starlet couldn’t have possibly loved the man because he gave her everything her heart desired at no cost to herself. God allows suffering so that we can love him. If he gave us everything with no cost we couldn’t possibly love him. We demonstrate our love for him when we accept our suffering and do not turn away from him. When someone who is suffering turns their back on the Lord they don’t love him.

God - If there was nothing in it for you would you still love me?

Man – Nothing?

God – Nothing.

Man – Not even eternal life?

God – Nothing. Not eternal life. Not pleasure. Nothing.

Man – Yes, you are my God. I love you.

At least that is what God desperately wants to hear from us. But like so many who gathered for a free meal during Jesus ministry when he offers himself as true food and true drink we leave disappointed. Many abandon God at the first twinges of suffering. If there really was a God he wouldn’t let me suffer like this.

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” – Matthew 16, 24 & 25

“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.” – St. Paul, Colossians 1:24

What could possibly be lacking in the suffering of Christ? Quite simply – our participation.

The Catholic Church believes in redemptive suffering. The suffering of Jesus redeems not only us but suffering itself and opens up the possibility that we can share in his redemptive work when we bear our suffering with the dignity he bore his for us. When we offer up our suffering to him, no matter how insignificant our suffering may be, we share in his redemption of all mankind. The root of suffering is divine love and love is never wasted with God.

My father bore suffering better than anyone I have ever met. By the time he was forty-two he was completely disabled with debilitating rheumatoid arthritis and crippling heart disease. As the arthritis ate away at his joints day to day tasks went from difficult, to painful, to impossible to perform. Eventually things progressed to a point that he could do little more than sit in his favorite chair and watch his beloved Cubbies play baseball.

And yet, through it all, it was hard to tell how much this man suffered. He always seemed in a good mood, ready to put a smile on someone’s face, give them a good laugh, and he made sure they knew just how special they were, especially to him. He talked to everyone, children and old folks alike, always with genuine love in his voice. He was missed by every doctor, nurse or care taker who got the privilege to care for him.

He bore his suffering with love and love is never wasted with God. This is how we are called to bear our suffering - with dignity. We are not called to do this alone. Even Christ could not bear his cross alone. Simon of Cyrene helped Jesus carry his cross when he was too weak to do so himself. Jesus now stands by our side to help us when we are too weak to bear our crosses. All we have to do is be humble enough to ask for help.

Jesus come to my assistance. Lord make haste to help me. In you I put my trust, my life, and my love.

Please pray for peace and comfort for my mother and our family as we face the difficult time ahead.

Diaconate Update

Well, I made it through the preaspirancy classes over the summer and went before the Diaconate Review Board on Friday, August 7th, 2015. I was officially accepted into the aspirancy. The four guys that I went through ministry formation with who also applied to the diaconate were accepted as well. We'll be together for at least another two years now.


The aspirancy is two years of classes. Then we will go before the diaconate review board again. If we make it past that review we will be installed as candidates and go through another two years of formation and classes.


Five years of classes and formation. It seems like such a long time. My military contract was only four years. Of course, when it is something you love the time can fly by.


Thanks be to God.

Time for a cranial-rectal extraction.

Dr. Walter Palmer has become the most hated man in the world. Dr. Palmer is the Minnesota dentist who killed Cecil the lion during a hunt in Zimbabwe last week. Dr. Palmer is a big game hunter who has killed bear, including a polar bear, and other big game animals. The hate for him was immediate. Protestors gathered outside of his business to show their disgust, leaving stuffed animals at the door and even going as far as to dress their children up as lions. One man left a sign on his door that read, “Rot in Hell”. Protestors are even targeting his home. Police are on the scene, not to protect the doctor, who, as they put it, “Can fend for himself”, but to ensure the safety of the people gathering due to the increased traffic. All of this outrage and vitriol over one lion.

This story effectively knocked the recent Planned Parenthood story out of the news cycle. David Daleiden, a pro-life activist with the Center of Medical Progress, conducted a three year investigation into the selling of fetal organs from abortions provided by Planned Parenthood. Mr. Daleiden has more than ten separate videos of leading Planned Parenthood doctors talking about the price to buy aborted fetal organs. In one video Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s Medical Directors’ Council President, Dr. Mary Gatter was heard haggling over the price to obtain these aborted fetal body parts. She started by suggesting $75 a specimen. Dr. Gatter didn’t want to lowball the amount she charged and was heard in one video stating, “Let me figure out what others are getting, and if this is in the ballpark, then it’s fine, if it’s still low, then we can bump it up. I want a Lamborghini.”

In almost all of the mainstream news media Planned Parenthood has been portrayed as an innocent victim of an extremist anti-abortion zealot. Even the President of the United States has referred to Davis Daleidan and the Center of Medical Progress as “extremists on the right”.

“There is ample reason to think that this is the tried-and-true tactic from some extremists on the right to edit this video and selectively release an edited version of the video that grossly distorts the position of the person who is actually speaking on the video.”  - Josh Earnest , White House Press Secretary.

 

The above statement was issued by the White House before any investigation into wrongdoing by either side was made.

fe·tus

noun

fetus; plural noun: fetuses; noun: foetus; plural noun: foetuses

1. an unborn offspring of a mammal, in particular an unborn human baby more than eight weeks after conception.

synonyms:	embryo, unborn baby/child

We in America have not officially defined when life begins but science has long defined a life as beginning at conception. If life begins at conception and a fetus is an “unborn human baby” then abortion is nothing short of murder. Even if you cannot accept a “fetus” as a “human life” there is no denying that a fetus will develop into a living human if left to develop naturally.

According to the best statistic we have available, at the time this post was written;

637, 820 babies have been aborted this year in the United States.

191,410 babies have been aborted by Planned Parenthood this year.

23,700,000 babies have been aborted worldwide this year.

30,616 babies have been aborted after 16 weeks gestation in the United States this year.

58, 129,690 babies have been aborted in the United States since abortion became legal in 1973.

6,828,758 babies have been aborted by Planned Parenthood since 1970.

1,343,401,400 babies have been aborted worldwide since 1980.

 

One lion in Africa was killed by a Minnesota Dentist and the world is outraged with some people calling for nothing short of his crucifixion.

One prolife group in California catches a major abortion provider admitting on video that they are selling body parts of murdered human babies for money and the group is referred to as right wing extremists by the head executor of the United States, someone who took an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States to the best of his ability. The Constitution of the United States protects all humans within the borders of the United States and her territories, that is, with the exception of the most vulnerable humans among us, the unborn.

1 lion = worldwide outrage.

23,700,000 babies = a good start?

The devil is beside himself with joy at how far he has gotten God’s children to fall. What will it take for us to wake up and get our priorities straight? Another flood? A global pandemic greatly reducing our population? The second coming? We are more worried about what man made climate change will do in 500 years than we are about murdering our children by the millions today. Maybe that is the solution - kill the babies now and there will be less people to cause climate change tomorrow.

To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven. There will be a time to reap what we have sown. God have mercy on us for we know not what we have done.