The desert is calling.

I was fourteen and starting my sophomore year in high school. We were given the assignment in one of our classes to write a paper on the career we wanted to pursue after we graduated high school. Some wanted to be doctors, other veterinarians. We even had some that though a career in the military was in their future. I wanted to be a hermit. My paper was returned to me ungraded with a note to rewrite it. Hermit was not a career and no one seriously wanted to be a hermit.

Here we are thirty years later and I still find myself figuratively drawn to the desert. I have always enjoyed my solitude. Growing up it was not uncommon to find me outdoors foraging for stuff to eat. My mother would often come home from work to find me cooking up the day’s harvest. Plants and berries from the yard or nearby field, fish and crayfish from the creek; if it were edible and I could find or catch it I wouldn’t hesitate to eat it. This lead to my love of gardening and hunting I still enjoy today.

I have been all over this planet. I have dove the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and been in many countries in Asia. I have traveled through the United Kingdom from Wales to Scotland. I have never had a problem boarding a plane and coming home, that is, until I went to Alaska. I spent two weeks one mid November traveling between Anchorage to just north of Fairbanks. It averaged about eighteen below zero with over two feet of snow. At times my coworker and I were the only two people to be found for five-hundred square miles. It was the most isolated place I had ever been and I was in heaven. If I didn’t have a family at home that I dearly love I would probably be there still today.

In studying the Desert Fathers many in my class struggle to understand why anyone would choose such a lifestyle. Who in their right mind would choose to live alone? Silence is a treasure few people know the real value of. One is never truly alone if they are in communion with God. Obi Won explained God best when he tried to explain the force to Luke.

                “It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together."

God speaks to us in a small, still voice. Knowing this the devil has filled our lives with as much noise and clutter as he possibly can. Those he can’t make bad he makes busy. You can no more hear the voice of the Lord any more than you can feel the soft breeze blowing through the field when you are inside sitting in your favorite recliner watching the big game. We become so accustom to the noise that we cannot function without it. Many who have lived their entire lives in a big city find it very unnerving to spend a night in the country. It is too dark, there are no alarms or sirens, there is no bright blinking neon and what is that? Crickets chirping?

The Desert Fathers did not like the path society was following. They sought to isolate themselves from society to be alone with God. Looking at the path modern society is on it is hard to argue with their idea. This is why it is so important to find time to be alone with God. If the devil had his way we all would be swept away in the current of the culture, knowing that current ultimately flows over the falls and leads to doom. Spending time alone with God allows us to stay safely tethered to the shore as others float speedily by. This is even more important for the clergy. If they become so busy that they begin to neglect their prayer life it is only a matter of time before they begin to neglect God as well.

On the day of his ordination venerable Fulton Sheen made a resolution to spend a holy hour each day alone with God. He gave three reasons doing so. These are taken from his autobiography Treasure in Clay.

“First, the Holy Hour is not a devotion; it is a sharing in the work of redemption. Our Blessed Lord used the words "hour" and "day" in two totally different connotations in the Gospel of John. "Day" belongs to God; the "hour" belongs to evil. Seven times in the Gospel of John, the word "hour" is used, and in each instance it refers to the demonic, and to the moments when Christ is no longer in the Father's Hands, but in the hands of men. In the Garden, our Lord contrasted two "hours" - one was the evil hour "this is your hour" - with which Judas could turn out the lights of the world. In contrast, our Lord asked: "Could you not watch one hour with Me?". In other words, he asked for an hour of reparation to combat the hour of evil; an hour of victimal union with the Cross to overcome the anti-love of sin.

Secondly, the only time Our Lord asked the Apostles for anything was the night he went into his agony. Then he did not ask all of them ... perhaps because he knew he could not count on their fidelity. But at least he expected three to be faithful to him: Peter, James and John. As often in the history of the Church since that time, evil was awake, but the disciples were asleep. That is why there came out of His anguished and lonely Heart the sigh: "Could you not watch one hour with me?" Not for an hour of activity did He plead, but for an hour of companionship.

The third reason I keep up the Holy Hour is to grow more and more into his likeness. As Paul puts it: "We are transfigured into his likeness, from splendor to splendor." We become like that which we gaze upon. Looking into a sunset, the face takes on a golden glow. Looking at the Eucharistic Lord for an hour transforms the heart in a mysterious way as the face of Moses was transformed after his companionship with God on the mountain. Something happens to us similar to that which happened to the disciples at Emmaus. On Easter Sunday afternoon when the Lord met them, he asked why they were so gloomy. After spending some time in his presence, and hearing again the secret of spirituality - "The Son of Man must suffer to enter into his Glory" - their time with him ended and their "hearts were on fire."

“Not for an hour of activity did He plead, but for an hour of companionship.”  The Desert Fathers longed for this companionship more than anything else in the world. They were not content with just an hour. They wanted a lifetime. When you truly love someone you seek to spend every minute you can with them. Couples young in love can sit for hours on the telephone with each other without saying a word content knowing that the other is on the other end of the line.

Ask yourself, is spending an hour in silence adoring the Blessed Sacrament a joy or a burden? Do you find it rewarding or boring? Do you find time to sit in silence and listen for that small, still voice? Do you answer the Lord’s plea for companionship or do you allow the devil to reign by filling every moment with noise and distraction?

It is that time of year again.

On January 22, 1973 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that a right to privacy under the due process clause of the 14^th Amendment to our Constitution extended to woman’s decision to have an abortion, overruling the abortion laws in many states. SCOTUS did recognize that states do have an interest in the potential human being growing inside the woman and allowed states to pass laws making abortion illegal during the third trimester. This time frame was later changed in another ruling allowing states to intervene only after the fetus becomes viable around the 23^rd or 24^th week.

This is only possible because we, as a society, have never officially defined when a human life begins. Some believe that life begins at conception. Others believe that the fetus becomes a person at some undefinable moment between twenty weeks to actual birth. There are some who believe that partial birth abortions are perfectly fine. Partial birth abortion is where a fully grown baby is partially born backwards and then the spinal cord is snipped before the head is fully removed. The most disturbing group of people believe that we should be able to abort babies anywhere from twelve months to twenty-four months post partum. Yes, that means being allowed to kill a child up to two years of age.

Abortion for a Catholic is a non-negotiable. We are not allowed to participate in one. We are not allowed to support one. We are not allowed to vote for someone who openly supports this action. There are many Catholics today who ignore this. There are many who believe it is far past time for the Church to get with the program and change some of its archaic teachings.

Abortion for every American should be a non-negotiable. The American ideal is that all humans are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Our Constitution recognizes the fact that each human life is valuable and that a person cannot be deprived of their life without due process of the law. Our court system has recognized that at some point a fetus is a human life but intentionally leaves that point as vague as possible to allow as many abortions as possible.

We all can agree that a fetus becomes a human being at some point. This point has to be a definite point that applies to all fetuses and the only point that is definite is conception. Conception is the same for each and every person. Fetal viability is not. Some fetuses will survive earlier than others. The same goes for a hard time mark like the third trimester. It is wrong to say that a baby can be aborted thirty seconds before the beginning of the third trimester and not be aborted thirty seconds after the beginning of the third trimester. The same argument applies to life beginning at actual birth. Babies born one hundred days premature survive more and more with the advancement of modern medicine.

Officially defining when a human life begins ends the debate on abortion. If this country were to ratify into law that a human life begins at conception the constructional protection each human is recognized to have would immediately extend to the unborn. A person seeking an abortion would have to prove in a court of law what crime, punishable by death, an unborn baby had committed before the abortion could be granted. Short of undeniable proof that a continued pregnancy puts the mother at great risk of death or serious bodily harm, there isn’t much an unborn baby could do to warrant a death sentence.

The ramifications of officially defining when a life begins is what gets pro-lifers to start to side with the pro-choicers. If an unborn baby is a human life and has the full protection of the law any activity a mother engages in that is known to cause injury or defect to that baby could be viewed as neglect or abuse by the mother. In other words, if a mother drinks to a certain extent, smokes, uses recreational drugs, or any number of other activities that medical science has proven to be harmful to a developing human that mother could be prosecuted for a crime. Habitual offenders could be sentenced to incarceration until the baby is born. A zealous prosecutor could even move to take the child away from the mother as soon as it is born because of the neglect or abuse. The matter only gets more and more complicated when we begin to look into things like in vitro fertilization when a human is conceived outside of the womb and medically implanted, or when fertility drugs cause multiple embryos to implant at one time. Both procedures help struggling couples have a child but would be highly questionable if life begins at conception were the law of the land.

But not doing the right thing just because it is hard or complicated is never ok. Every day more humans die in this world because of our inaction and inability to make a decision. Almost 60 million babies alone in the United States have been murdered since the Roe vs Wade decision in 1973 made it legal to do so. Forty-four years it has been legal to kill children as long as you do so before they take their first breath.

As a good friend once told me, “I don’t want to make abortion illegal. I want to make it unthinkable.” Amen to that.

Every day Catholic clergy and laity pray Psalm 95 as part of our Liturgy of the Hours. In it we pray –

For forty years I have endured that generation;

I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts have gone astray,

And they do not know my ways.’

So I swore in my anger,

They shall not enter into my rest.

How much longer will God continue to endure us?

Where have all the demons gone?

First, let me say that I have never had any instruction in demonology, the study of demons or demonic belief, but I am intrigued by it. Holy Scripture mentions demons frequently and it was one of the many signs Jesus performed during his three years of public ministry. His disciples also worked the miracles of healing, resurrection, and exorcism through his authority.

Exorcist was a respected trade at the time of Christ. Exorcists attempted to cast out demons by fear. They kept lists of demons names; a guarded trade secret. An exorcist would try to scare the demon away by invoking the name of a greater demon. Jesus cast out demons through his authority over all creation. The priests of the temple did not understand this and believed he cast out demons because he was the greatest of all demons.

“Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”

And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. “If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? “If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. “Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.” – Matthew 12, 22 - 29

We read in the Book of Revelation that Satan, through his disobedience, fell to earth. When he fell from heaven he took a third of the heavenly host with him. Catholic tradition holds that there are three hierarchies of angels each with three separate orders or choirs: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels.

“Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.” – Revelation 12, 3 - 4

Let’s think about this for a moment. When Satan fell from heaven he took a third of the other angels with him. If we take this at its word what could be possible? Another Catholic tradition holds that each person is assigned a guardian angel to help him or her get to heaven. These guardian angels come from the general angel choir. It is unknown if a guardian angel only has one person to watch over or has multiple. If we make the assumption that being a created person an angel cannot be omnipresent, that is in all places at all times. If a guardian angel is present with each human who is living there would have to be at least six billion guardian angels in existence at this time. Guardian angel is only a segment of the angel choir and if you consider the other choirs is would be reasonable to believe there to be billions of angels in existence at any moment in time. For argument sake let’s put that number at a firm ten billion.

If this number is anywhere close to accurate and it is true that Satan took a third of the heavenly host with him in his fall there would have to be at least five billion demons present at any point in time. Let that number sink in for a moment.

Demonic influence seemed to be very prevalent throughout Holy Scripture. Today it seems to be thought of as nothing more than a gimmick for television, movies, or to sell costumes. Society doesn’t take it as a reality. Even the possessions written about in the bible are explained away as what we now know as mental disorders. All Jesus really did was cure someone of a mental sickness, not free them from demonic influence.

Jesus sure believed in them. He commanded them out by his ultimate authority. He forbad them to speak or utter his name. The demons we compelled to comply. They had no choice. It is too bad Jesus didn’t have a PhD in psychiatry. Think of the good he could have done had he understood the human mind a bit better.

The Catholic Church still believes in demons, even if some priests and laity do not. They hold a conference every year to help train priests and lay people in the art of spiritual warfare. Exorcism is a ministry of mercy. What good does it do to make sure a person has food, clothing, and drink when the temple of their body is host to the unclean? We must care for all parts of a person, both physical and spiritual.

I believe demons roam freely among us. Because of our disbelief they no longer have need to hide. As the prayer to St Michael says, "who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls."

An image is worth a thousand words

The Road to Emmaus

And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad.

 One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. “But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. “Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.”

 And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

 And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther. But they urged Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.” So He went in to stay with them. When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them.  

 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.” They began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.”  -

 Luke 24, 13-35

I have never been a big fan of pictures or images of Jesus. It’s not that I think it is idolatry. Idolatry is something you pray to. An icon is something you pray through. I like crucifixes. Unless you get to the larger ones the image on the cross is pretty vague. I know that it represents Jesus without it trying to show what he looks like.


No, the reason I don’t like pictures of our Lord is firmly rooted in the above story from sacred scripture. The disciples of this story were not just some people who followed Jesus here and there during his ministry. Catholic tradition believes that Cleopas was the brother to Saint Joseph, Jesus’ foster father. These were Jesus’ earthly aunt and uncle. These are people who would have known Jesus from his birth. Yet they were unable to “see” him for who he was after the resurrection.


The problem I have with every picture or image of our Lord is that it is someone else’s idea of what Jesus looked like. There were no photohuts or Polaroid cameras back in the day so the best we have are what other people imagine him to look like. If you look at an image long enough that is what you train yourself to see. Then when you see the real thing you may not recognize it because you are looking for that image you have been trained to see.


Jesus concealed his image from his aunt and uncle to see what they would say about him without knowing it was him. As Christians, we believe that each and every human being was made in the image and likeness of our creator. Jesus is in every one of us. He conceals himself in the gardener, the lawyer, and the homeless guy on the street corner. He is concealed in the ones we love and the ones we can’t stand to be around.

I do not want to train my mind to only see Jesus when he looks like that painting of him that hung in every room of the church I grew up in. I want to train my mind to see Jesus in everyone I look at. Cleopas surely would have acted differently if he had known it was Jesus walking on the road with him towards Emmaus.

How would you treat that homeless person or the punk with sagging pants if they looked like the image you associate most with Christ? We all would act much differently towards people if we could see the Christ within them.


Stop seeing what your mind is telling you is before you and yearn to see the hidden reality within.

Experience of a Lifetime!

Times does to language in the long run what alcohol does quickly – it slurs words. The word ‘Christmas’ is an example of this. The word is a slur or contraction of Christ’s Mass. Mass of course is the Catholic worship service of God and Christ’s Mass is where we come together to offer the Thanksgiving Sacrifice and celebrate the birth of our Lord. Time has further shortened ‘Christmas’ to ‘Xmas’. ‘X’ comes from the Greek Xi, or Chi, and is used to abbreviate the work Christ.

For a Christian, Christmas is supposed to be about the birth of Jesus, the second greatest event in human history. The creator of everything hung up his divinity, took on human flesh, and became one of us to dwell with us and show us through his example how to live in right relationship with God and each other. He did not choose to come forth as a mighty king demanding worship, but as a tiny, fragile baby born in a cave. In the beginning God said let there be light and it was good. Then the Light chose to dwell among us and we, in our great arrogance, have tried to snuff that light out so we can live in darkness.

Christmas is a time to celebrate the Light coming into the world. Christmas is a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Christmas begins with Christ and ends with Mass. Without Jesus this season becomes nothing more than a time of greed and commercialism. People all around the globe, not only children, are excited to see what they will get and many get disappointed when the gifts received don’t match expectation. All over this country there are long lasting grudges between family members over something as small as not receiving a Christmas card from the other. Christmas is a time where we celebrate the birth of the baby God and trample over each other trying to get to the deals on Black Friday.

Today I enjoyed looking at the many posts on Facebook of the way many churches have decorated their sanctuaries to prepare for the coming of the light. Let us prepare Him room so he finds a warm resting place in our hearts and no longer has to lay his head in a manger. Then I came across one that utterly upset me. It was from the Heartland Community Church in Rockford, Illinois. Heartland is the largest non-denominational church in the area and has a large following.

“Experience something more this year at a Heartland Christmas!

Great music, videos, sound, lights, and a whole lot of Christmas cheer. No tickets needed…”

Music, videos, sound, lights, and Christmas cheer. All we had was beautiful worship of Jesus. No wonder so many are leaving the conventional faith traditions for Heartland. Nowhere in their post did the word ‘Jesus’ appear. In fact this wasn’t even referred to as worship.

“Come to one or all of our 7 experiences this year!”

Worship is about giving to another. Experience is about receiving for the self. Being Christian in today’s age has become more about experience than worship. There is nothing more than Christ in Christmas and all of the great music, videos, sounds, lights, cheer, and all the presents in the world are meaningless if the birthday boy isn’t front and center. If you take Christ out of Christmas you are left with ‘mas’, which in many languages means ‘more’. Without Christ in Christmas you are left wanting more.

Did Christmas morning find you talking about what you got or what you gave? Did you have a great experience or a beautiful worship?

Run, Forrest, Run!

The thing I dreaded most in boot camp was the very first PT test we had to take. I wasn’t worried too much about the pushups or the sit ups. I feared the run. I have never been a runner. I have a long torso and shorter legs and am about as graceful as an albatross on ice skates when I run. I have never had any endurance for running so I avoid doing so whenever possible. The first run we had to do in boot camp was a mile and a half in nine and a half minutes. It was done in formation at a controlled pace.

Our company recruit chief petty officer was Seaman Recruit Brewer from Louisville, Kentucky. He was a man I admired, respected, and thought of as a friend. He gave a speech to the company the night before we were to take the PT test. He told how he would be disappointed with anyone not passing the test. This made me fear the test that much more because I did not want to disappoint this man.

I did ok the first couple laps but then the fatigue and pain set in. I wanted more than anything to quit, to move to the side with the other men who weren’t up to the task. At the back of the company was Seaman Recruit Brewer. He was yelling at the company to keep going, to keep up the pace, not to stop. A few others joined him as we ran. This motivated me to keep going, to push on through the searing pain in my side. My moaning and groaning got increasingly louder with each lap. Those around me tried to quiet my screams fearing one of the instructors would pull me out of the group and fail me. None did.

Brewer’s motivation continued the entire run. We had about ten guys who dropped out unable to finish. I was not among them. Although I screamed in agony over half the run I never quit. I never fell back or out of pace with the company. When I crossed the finish line all of the pain I suffered suddenly vanished and I was awash in a happiness and joy I had never felt before. I didn’t stop running. I couldn’t believe I had made it.

As a Catholic, I pray for the dead. I believe in purgatory. Heaven is the final place for the perfected. Hell is the final place for the condemned. Purgatory is the place where those who will warrant heaven, but are not completely perfected, go to be perfected. If I were to die right now I would die in right relation with the Lord. This means, that as far as I know, I do not have any mortal sins I have not been forgiven of. I do have a laundry list of venial sins racked up. I am not even close to being in a perfected state. I need a period in the fire of God’s love to burn away all that is not perfect within me. Then, and only then, I will be able to see God for what he actually is – perfect love.

When we pray for the dead we pray for those in purgatory. Prayers are offered in love and love is never wasted with God. We become like what Seaman Recruit Brewer was for me; motivation to continue to the fulfillment of the race. Those in purgatory can hear our prayers. They provide strength and inspiration to continue with the perfection. To let go of those stubborn attachments to sin we all have in our lives.  There are many who, through no fault of their own, have no one who is praying for them. They run the race alone and the temptation to quit is great.

Pray for the dead. Your act of love hastens the “time” in purgatory. A perfected person is a Saint living in heaven with God. There they can repay the love you showed them by intercessing directly to Jesus on your behalf. It is the goal of every person to get those they love to heaven. We do it on this side of heaven through our prayers for the ones who have gone before and those who have successfully finished the race do it on that side of heaven for us.

Love is great that way.

Be a Gift

There are few things more magical to a young child than waking up on Christmas morning. Indeed, the entire Christmas season is a special time of year. Twinkly lights adorn homes looking like gingerbread houses blinking in the night. Evergreen and cinnamon hang heavily in the air as we watch Frosty, and Rudolph, and Ralphy dream of his Red Rider range model. Children wake at a brisk 6:00am with the energy to put an atomic weapon to shame. They rouse comatose parents who swear they just closed their eyes moments earlier. Then comes the mad dash to the tree and all of the brightly wrapped boxes Santa delivered earlier that night. In the corner sits a Red Rider and Ralphy would be over the moon.

Tis the gift giving season. Once upon a time you used to be able to tell a lot about a person by the way they wrapped a present. If you really cared you took a little more time to do the gift up right. You used heavy paper carefully folded. Just the right amount of tape held the paper in place. The whole package would be wrapped with a ribbon and bow and there would be a neatly printed name tag. Proper gift wrapping is an art form quickly going the way of the rotary telephone. People lack the time and patience needed to give a beautifully wrapped gift. Wrapping paper seems to get thinner every year and now to make things even faster and more convenient you can just plop your present into a gift bag. No muss, no fuss, no problem.

Sadly, far too many people are taking the same approach when they come to worship God. They fail to see themselves as the gift they truly are and are wrapping themselves as such. They believe that God doesn’t care how they dress and all that matters is that they show up. It is the thought that counts after all. This is either complacency or arrogance. Neither is a good thing.

We worship God because he alone is worthy of our worship. We worship God because we love him. He is worthy of more than a present plopped into a gift bag. God is worthy of the extra time it takes to clean up, to put on nicer clothes, to prepare ourselves to be in his presence. When we go to worship we are going to profess our love in front of the creator of all existence. We are not running down to the mega-mart for a loaf of bread.

When we wrap a gift we are putting forth an extension of the love we hold for the recipient. The more we care for that person the more time and care we should take in the wrapping. You wouldn’t present the love of your life with a ring wadded up in dirty newspaper and you shouldn’t present the gift of your love to the Lord in shorts and flip flops.

This does not mean that you have to come dressed in a three pice suit or formal ball gown, not there is anything wrong in dressing that way. It is not so much the clothes you wear as the preparation you put into it. My children have given me gifts wrapped in brown paper bags or newspaper that they are so proud of. It wasn’t that the wrapping was special but the love they put into wrapping it themselves. When we take the time to present ourselves properly to our creator he notices the love we have for him and love is never wasted with God.

You are a gift to God. Show him the love you have for him and wrap yourself just a bit better this advent season.

World Religions Study - Week Three Assignment - Judaism

Judaism is a religion rich with history and tradition. It centers more on the right way to live for God than in a belief/faith of him. They are God’s chosen people, whom he made covenant with and dwelt among. God gifted the Jews with the Torah, handed down through Moses, to instruct them on how to be in right relationship with God. They are favored by God when they keep covenant fidelity and allowed to suffer when they don’t. They are a people who know what it means to suffer. Throughout their history they have faced slavery, conquest, exile, persecution, and attempts at extinction. The world has done everything it can to destroy God’s chosen people. Yet, through everything God remembers the covenant he made with the tribes of Israel and favors them to this day.

Judaism and Christianity have shared roots in Israel. The waters of our faiths flow from the same source through different branches. Jews are Israel by heritage, Christians through adoption. Many modern Christians have put the emphasis on the faith/belief in Jesus over the instruction on how to have a right relationship with him. Catholicism combines much of the richness and tradition of the Jewish religion with our faith in Jesus. We are a people of the temple who still offer sacrifice. We have our official prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours. We believe the Christian Scriptures are the fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures just as we believe that Jesus is the living fulfillment of the Torah. One does not abrogate the other, it is fulfilled by it and therefore both are necessary. A fulfillment of something that is unimportant is an unimportant fulfillment. Jesus is important to us therefore the Law has to be important to us. How we understand the Law is what has changed.

Christianity did not abrogate Judaism. It did not end the covenant God made with Israel. For me, if Catholicism did not have Jesus Judaism would be the only other possible choice as a religion. We believe that they are the only people God chose for his own and made an everlasting covenant with. 

Knowing your history is essential in understanding your identity today. We should not look at Judaism as an “outside” religion but more as a brother with whom we have a shared history.

B'Shalom - In peace

God said - man answered

God said, “Do not eat of the fruit of the tree of good and evil.”

Man said, “No, we will eat whatever we please.”

God said, “I am your God. You will have no other gods before me.”

Man said, “No, we will worship whomever we please.”

God said, “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.”

Man said, “No, we will use it as another day to make money.”

God said, “Honor your mother and your father.”

Man said, “No, they are not the boss of me.”

God said, “Do not kill.”

Man said, “No, we will make that a woman’s choice.”

God said, “Do not commit adultery.”

Man said, “No, we will sleep with whom we please.”

God said, “Do not covet your brother’s possessions.”

Man said, “No, it is not fair that he have more than I.”

God said, “Love your neighbor as I have loved you.”

Man said, “No, my neighbor is different from me. I will hate him.”

God said,” I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”

Man said, “No, we define truth for ourselves. We will live our lives our way.”

And then man removed God from the public square and from public discourse. Man decided that he was god and that God no longer mattered.

Soon man will cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken us?”

Who would like a Skittle?

There has been a lot of hubbub bantered about lately about the United States taking in refugees from war torn countries. One of our candidates for president has advocated for building a wall on our southern border to keep the undesirables out. The same man has used an old analogy about a bowl of candy in regards to the middle east refugees.

As his version of the analogy says the refugees are like a bowl of Skittles. In the bowl of one hundred Skittles there are one or two that are poisonous. If you eat one you will die. Who is brave enough to grab a handful and munch away?

He is correct in as much as there is no perfect way to check every refugee to ensure he or she is a peace loving person who wishes us no harm. People who wish to kill us are going to slip through and innocent Americans will die as a result. We are much safer as a nation if we do not allow any refugees into our country.

It is easy to hate a group of people when you don’t have to look at the person. Instead of Skittles imagine one hundred starving children. These children will die if you do not come to their aid and give them food to live on. One of those children will grow up to be an Adolf Hitler and be responsible for the death of tens of millions of people. Do you allow one hundred children to starve to death in order to save the tens of millions?

A leader of a country has to put the good of the country as first priority. The people have to be protected. The needs of the many out weight the needs of the few or the one. We must do whatever is necessary to protect the tens of the millions from the one. This argument sounds as logically sound as the bowl of Skittles argument and it is just as wrong.

It is never just or acceptable to use an evil act to stop an evil act. The good intent does not negate the evil of the act. For a Christian who honestly follows the teachings of Jesus it is never permissible to allow the ninety-nine to die to prevent the one from doing evil. It isn’t even permissible to allow the one to die to stop the one from doing future evil.

Jesus gave us the corporal works of mercy. As his disciples, we have been told to feed the poor, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, give shelter to the homeless, visit the sick and imprisoned, and bury the dead. Jesus did not say to do these things only for those who wish you well. Jesus said to do these things for all in need, friend and enemy alike.

                “Whatever you have done for the least of these you have done for me.” – Matthew 25:45

Do you think Jesus will be accepting of the excuse that we did not provide for the refugees in their time of need simply because there were men with evil intent among them? Would Jesus have eaten the poisoned skittle? A quick glance at a crucifix gives us the definitive answer.

                “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” – Matthew 16:24

If we are true followers of Jesus we have to be willing to eat the poisoned skittle as well. We have to care for all those in need regardless of the intent in their hearts or the actions they have done. If we are to be a moral and just nation, we must recognize the importance and dignity of the individual. A society begins with the individual, not a group. Even a mass murderer has dignity that must be respected.

Jesus prayed for his persecutors and told us to do likewise. He told us to care for all life. Christians throughout this land have a mandate to care for those in need, including our enemies hiding among the innocent or posing as refugees. We have the duty to care for those in need outside of our borders and have been given the means to do so.  If we fail in this mission we will receive justice instead of mercy when we stand accountable before the throne of the Lord.

Do not go gently into that good night.

I sat watching the bonfire with my family. As my children were busily roasting marshmallows my mind began to wonder. A pop in the fire sent embers flying into the night sky. As I watched them rise on the breeze my inner voice spoke up.

“Do you get the point?” came the question in my mind.

“No, Lord,” my thoughts replied. “If you have a point to make please use a sledge hammer as I am quite dense.”

Whack!

Darkness cannot exist where there is light for the light overcomes the dark. In God we have perfect light. When we reside in God we reside in a place where darkness cannot be. Darkness cannot overcome the light, it retreats from it. Darkness can only exist where once there was light if light fails to shine.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28: 19 – 20

Another pop; more embers sent skyward.

“Do you get the point?”

As Christians we are like the embers of a fire. We have been sent forth to take the light into the darkness. Even the darkest night gives way to the faintest ember. Every ember has the ability to start a new fire if it finds its way to a favorable location, a location ready to burn. A single ember, burning hot enough, has the ability of setting the world on fire.

No ember burns brighter than the fire that created it. Although thousands of embers are sent skyward, few produce other fires. This does not stop the fire from making embers. Nor does it stop the embers from burning brightly in the darkness.

Likewise, we will not be able to bring every person we meet to a saving knowledge of Jesus. That should not deter us from burning brightly with the love of God. We are called to be the embers in the night. We are called to leave the fire and bring light into the darkness. When we find that we are no longer burning brightly we can return to the fire and be filled with new life.

Go forth little ember. Burn defiantly in the night giving evidence that the fire still blazes and the light has not left this world.

A Masterpiece of your Hands

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Guardian

In 2006 the movie The Guardian was released. It was a movie about the Coast Guard legendary rescue swimmer Ben Randall passing the torch to the next generation. Ben holds all of the Coast Guard’s speed records for swimming as well as most lives saved in the ocean. The class he instructs wonder how many people he has saved. One heard it was two-hundred, another heard three-hundred. No one knows for sure.

Near the end of the movie Jake Fischer, the man who replaces Randall, asks Randall what his true number was. Randall answers, “Twenty-two.” Fischer was taken aback for he expected a much higher number.

“Twenty-two is the number of people I lost, Jake. The only number I keep track of,” Ben Randall says soberly.

When we are baptized we take on the roles of priest, prophet, and king and are given the mission to bring people to a saving knowledge of Jesus. That is what evangelization does, brings people to a saving knowledge of Jesus.

There are a bunch of Christians that believe they do not need a religion or a church. For them the only thing they need is Christ and Christ alone. They do not utilize the tools Jesus gave us to live our lives in an upright fashion or to complete our mission as priest, prophet, and king. Jesus does not want a billion individual relationships. Jesus wants a family. The trinity is a family and Jesus brings us into that family. God wants the same thing every other parent wants – his children to get along and love one another other sacrificially.

There is an idea that when we die we will stand alone before Jesus and we will be judged on all of the things we have done wrong in our lives. In reality we will be judged on our fruits, the good and the bad. Jesus will tell us what our true number is, the number of people we brought to a saving knowledge of Christ in the way we lived our lives. We do not stand before the judge alone. We stand with every person we helped get to heaven. They are the true fruit of our labor.

For those who have a relationship with Jesus alone, their numbers will be small. They will stand alone in judgment. Those who have embraced their true mission as priest, prophet, and king will stand with the family of God, not alone but united with the Kingdom of Heaven.

“Save the ones you can Jake. The rest, you've got to let go.”

Breath of God

The word used in Holy Scripture for Holy Spirit is pneuma. It is also translated as wind. Wind and Holy Spirit are interchangeable when we read Holy Scripture. In some translations you will read:

The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.  - Genesis 1:2

In other translations Spirit of God or Holy Spirit will be translated as a mighty wind.

Pneuma has another translation that I prefer over spirit or wind. It is breath. The Holy Spirit is the Breath of God.

The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Breath of God was moving over the surface of the waters.

And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like the Breath of God, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. - Acts 2:2

What happens when you pass your breath across your vocal cords? Sound is created. If you use your mouth to manipulate this sound words can be formed. In a metaphorical sense what happens when God passes his Holy Breath across his vocal cords?

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. – John 1: 1-4

From the Father came forth the Holy Breath and he uttered one Word – Jesus.

Father  → Holy Breath → Word ­→ All Creation

Wind is the movement of air. Movement is the action of the substance. The substance of wind is air, therefore, we can think of air as being the very Breath of God.

Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. -  Genesis 2:7

God breathed into man the Holy Spirit, the pneuma. As long as I have breath within me I have life. When I cease to take in breath I die.

Pneuma = Wind = Breath = Holy Spirit = Life

I am surrounded by and filled with the Breath of God. I can use this Breath to give God all glory, honor, and praise due to him and give blessings to all of his creation. Or, I can use the Breath of God within me to curse, chastise, belittle, or complain. All of these are bore on the Breath of God put within me by God himself.

Words have power. They are more than just mere utterances. Words have power because they are formed and carried by the Breath of God. Bad words can wound deeper than arrows flung by a toxophilite.  At the same time words can heal better than the most skilled doctor. Choose your words wisely. Recognize the power that carries them forth. Honor God in the way that you use his Holy Breath.

Light in the Darkness

As the saying goes, “You have to fight fire with fire.”

Yet,

You cannot fight hate by being hateful.

You cannot fight intolerance by being intolerant.

You cannot fight discrimination by discriminating.

You cannot fight violence with violence.

You cannot fight injustice with revenge.

You cannot fight racism by being racist.

You cannot fight a fire by adding more fuel to it.

You cannot fight evil with evil. When evil is returned for evil you don’t have less of it, you have evil squared.

Only love can counter hate.

Only love can counter intolerance.

Only love can counter discrimination.

Only love can counter violence.

Only love can counter racism.

Only love can counter evil.

Darkness wins when no light shines. Darkness cannot suppress even the smallest candle.

Do you want to end the hate, the intolerance, the discrimination, the violence and the racism in America and the world? Do you want to end the evil brother commits against brother?

Then it is time to stand in solidarity with one another, not separation. It is time to stand in love with one another, not in hate.

I am the candle standing defiantly in the windy night. I know I do not stand alone. Stand with me and together our light can chase away the darkness.

When your brother extends a slap in hate extend your hand in love. When he curses you bless him. Return his injustice with mercy and his words of racism with words of praise.

Do not allow your heart to be poisoned by his hate but allow his heart to be healed by love. Love is truly the only thing that will heal our world. If we cannot learn to live with love for one another we will surly die alone in our hate.

 

 

 

...and to the Republic for which it stands, [words omitted], with liberty and justice for all....

It becomes easy to demand change for something when we do not understand its origin or why it came into being. After every mass shooting we see the knee jerk reaction to ban guns and do away with the Second Amendment to our Constitution. No one needs military styled weapons for hunting, home defense, or recreation. In that regard they would be absolutely correct. But the Second Amendment does not protect weapons used for hunting, home defense, or recreation. The Second Amendment protects the firearms used by the ordinary citizen to defend against our God given rights from being abused or taken away by a tyrannical government. That purpose has not changed and when Government tries to infringe upon that right they have broken the pact they made with the people and by definition have become tyrannical.

We see a like argument going on with our Pledge of Allegiance to this country. Since 1954 atheists have fought the battle to remove the words “under God” from the Pledge arguing everything from inclusivity to the separation of church and state. Memes abound on social media encouraging people to return to the pledge as it was originally written before “under God” was added to it. It becomes easy to demand change to something when we do not know its origin. The pledge we say today has actually been changed many times. Atheists would never want to go back to the pledge as it was originally written.

The original Pledge of Allegiance, now known as the Old Pledge was created by Colonel George Balch and was;

                We give our heads and hearts to God and our country; one country, one language, one flag!

It was later changed to the “formula of allegiance” and was recited as;

I pledge allegiance to my flag, and the republic for which it stands. I pledge my head and my heart to God and my country. One country, one language and one flag^[

Along came Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister and Christian socialist. Bellamy did not like Balch’s pledge believing it was too juvenile and lacking dignity. He authored his pledge in 1892 and it read;

I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

This became known as the “New Pledge”. Notice, there is no mention to God in this version. There is also no mention to the United States of America either. “My flag” was changed to “The Flag of the United States” in 1923. It wasn’t until 1942 that the Pledge of Allegiance was officially recognized by Congress as our pledge.

In 1948 Louis Albert Brown initiated the addition of the words “under God” to be added to the pledge. President Lincoln had included these words in his Gettysburg address. In 1951 the Knights of Columbus also began to include these words when they recited the pledge. They began to petition the government to officially include these words into our National Pledge.

In 1954 President Eisenhower urged Congress to make the change in response to the growing Communist threat in that day. Congress did and “under God” has been in our pledge ever since.

It begs the question; are we still one nation under God? We have done everything we can to remove God from the public square. Children can’t pray in schools anymore. It is becoming harder to find a graduation ceremony with a blessing in it. Church attendance is in a steady decline and lines outside a confessional are short to nonexistent. For far too many people the only time the name of God is involved is at that magical moment in a place designed for slumber. We have gone from having a personal relationship with God to having a private relationship with him to having a long distance relationship where we send him a card at Christmas. Has God become irrelevant?

You could question if we are still one nation. This country has not been this far divided since the Civil War. Politics, abortion, religion, gun rights, global warming, all sources of the great divide. Red state, blue state, conservative, liberal. Everything we do separates us from our brother. Neither side is completely right and neither side is completely wrong but neither side is willing to work with the other for the real common good. Is man-made, man controllable, global warming a real thing? Probably not but drinking and breathing toxins are no good for anyone either. We all have a common interest in taking care of this planet. We should be able to work together to do so, not divide and fight each other.

A house divided cannot stand. The devil loves division and does everything he can to get us to separate ourselves. We either find a way to live together or we will die alone. God bless America, he shed his grace on thee. How long do you think God will continue to shed his grace on America when we have deported him from our borders and evicted him from our hearts?

Forty years I endured this generation. They are a people whose hearts go astray and they do not know my ways. So I swore in my anger they shall not enter into my rest. – Psalm 95

Our forty years is about over.