Tug of War

Often, when we think of virtue and vice we often think of them as being in a tug of war against one another. For every vice there is the opposite virtue. The opposite of cowardice is courage. The opposite of vanity is humility. In reality, a virtue is not the opposite of a vice and a virtue never competes against a vice. There is no competition when it comes to the good things of God.

Instead, what we truly have are vices competing against one another. Cowardice is not the opposite of courage, foolhardiness is. To rush in without thought or regard is just as deadly as being paralyzed with fear resulting in inaction. In this regard a virtue is actually the midway point between two competing vices.

Take gluttony for example. Overindulgence of anything, be it food or some other pleasure, is always a bad thing. Total abstinence of food or pleasure is just as deadly. Sitting right there in the middle is the virtue of temperance.  Virtues lead to eternal happiness where vices always lead to unhappiness, destruction, and death.

The Catholic Church lists out seven deadly sins alongside the seven corresponding virtues. But, if a virtue is actually the midpoint between vices there are actually fourteen deadly vices. Our fallen world lives in excess so there isn’t much stress put upon the vices of deficiency. Ironically, the vices of deficiency are most commonly seen by religious trying to live their faith in excess. The seven virtues and competing vices are:

   

Vice of Excess	Virtue	Vice of Deficiency
Lust	Chastity	Prudishness
Gluttony	Temperance	Deficiency
Greed	Generosity	Wastefulness
Sloth	Diligence	Workaholism
Wrath	Meekness	Servility
Envy	Brotherly Love	Pusillanimity
Pride	Humility	Self Loathing

In the game of tug of war for our souls the devil is pulling on both ends of the same rope. It makes no difference to him which side wins. Trying to live out the virtues keeps you morally balanced and keeps the devil in check.

Just For You

I have seen the majesty of a Pacific Ocean night

Four thousand miles from the nearest shore

Bathed in the beauty of the cosmos

The stars in the heavens more numerous

Than the grains of sand upon the beach

The brilliance of the spectacle above

Mirrored by the green glowing bioluminescence

That surrounded me adrift upon a tranquil sea 

I have stood in the shadow of the mighty mountains

As the last fleeting light of day colored the crags above

Marvelous shades of crimson, orange, and purple

As the day lost hold of the sky and slipping gently

Into the ink dark abyss of the night

Then bursting forth above the snow capped peaks

The king to rule the night – a full moon

Bathing all with its tender ashen blush 

I have walked among the giants of this earth

Mighty sequoias standing taller that most 

Of the buildings man has dared erect

Coming into their grandeur from a tiny seed

And not through the vain work of our hands 

I have awoke with the forest as the first tendrils of light

Announced the defeat of night and heralded the approaching morn

Welcoming the day with the woodland creatures , deer, raccoons, and squirrels

Busily going about their day with little regard to my presence in this place

Leaping joyfully from ground to bush to tree

Without the slightest care in the world 

I know how Adam must have felt as he opened his eyes

For the first time to behold the world God’s hand just created

I have felt the same awe and fear that must have filled him that morning

I have come to realize just how tiny I am when I stand 

In the splendor of God’s great creation

          On the ocean,

          In the brilliance of the cosmos,

          In the shadow of the mountain,

          Or among the creatures of the forest

Only there, in the silence of my heart, does God speak

“I made all of this just for you.”

On the Tongue or in the Hand? How about in your Heart instead.

While away recently at a silent retreat with my brothers in diaconate formation I had the privilege to sit across from this painting of Mother Mary by Kathy Lawrence during our meals in the dining hall. With each meal I found myself drawn even deeper into the painting. I am not one who likes images of our Lord. Not that there is anything wrong with them or because I think they are idolatry. I don’t like them because all of them are someone else’s idea of what Jesus must have looked like. When we train our minds to see Jesus in a particular image we will often fail to see him as he is in those who surround us.

Jesus cannot be in him, he is a dirty homeless bum. Jesus cannot be in him, he is a ruthless Muslim refugee only trying to do me harm. Jesus cannot be in her, she is an illegal Mexican who has come to steal my life away from me. Jesus cannot be in her, that is Mrs. Prisker for God sake!

I will say that this is now my favorite image of Jesus. Thank you Kathy Lawrence.

We live in an age where there is a debate on the proper way we should receive our Lord when we present ourselves before the Holy Eucharist. There are those who will tell you that we are not worthy to hold the Eucharist in our hands. They are dirty and not sanctified by Holy Orders. There are those who will tell you that it is more reverent to receive him on our tongues. And there are those who will tell you that there are particles of Jesus that fall to the ground when we transfer him hand to hand. These are all valid arguments, to a point, and I accept all of them. But, I am still a ‘receive in the hand’ guy. Why is that so stuck in me?

This painting cemented it all in my head. We have such a humble and loving God that when he decided to dwell among us as one of us he came, not as a great and rich king or a mighty military leader, but as a defenseless child, a child who was incapable of doing even the simplest of things. He had to held. He had to be cuddled. He had to be changed, fed, and cared for. He had to be taught how to feed himself, use the bathroom, and even speak. The Lord, the creator of existence itself, became like us in all things except sin.

I am not worthy to receive you Lord, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed. My unworthiness does not trump his willingness. When I receive in the hand I get to do something that our Mother Mary got to do every day of his (Jesus) life – hold the creator of all things. I have a God who is so incredibly great and loving that he will not only dwell within me but allow me to hold him in the palm of my hand. That is truly awesome. My heart cannot contain the love I have. It must flow out in service to others.

On the tongue or in the hand? Neither Lord. I receive you in my heart.

The Nature of Sin

I am more than fifty pounds overweight. I have suffered with high blood pressure and gout since I was about eighteen. I am also a type two diabetic and have the beginning stages of neuropathy and vision problems related to that. I have heart disease and had a quintuple bypass at the age of forty-five. My heart was over 90% blocked. Needless to say, I am in poor shape. Sadly, I am not alone. Over 40% of the American population is in the same boat and that number grows every day. As the American lifestyle spreads throughout the world so do our health problems.

Yet, there is hope. I have found a cure. I have found a pill that reverses every disease that I suffer with. It has been medically proven to end obesity, reverse diabetes and heart disease, and even clear my blocked arteries. There are doctors screaming at the top of their lungs trying to get the news out. People in my predicament either haven’t heard, don’t believe, or choose not to accept the cure. My brother in the diaconate told me about it and I have seen this miracle work in his life. I’ve done my research. I am a believer.

What is this miracle pill you may ask? Well, it’s not really a pill. It is a whole foods, plant based diet that concentrates on starch as the primary fuel source. Whoa, hang on a minute. That’s code for vegan. Well, yes and no. A WFPB diet does qualify as a vegan diet but many vegan diets don’t qualify as a WFPB diet. It’s a square-rectangle sort of thing.

Now, I know that I have lost over half the people reading this blog. There is just no way they are willing to look at giving up eating meat and oil and fat even it is the key to having a long healthy life. They are unwilling to listen even if it means saving their life. They want their hamburgers and bacon and steaks more than they want a healthy life. The desire for something pleasurable today outweighs life in abundance tomorrow.

And that is exactly the nature of sin. Christ offers us life in abundance if we love him. What is the proof of love?

                “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” – John 14:15

So, we show our love for Jesus by following his teachings. Only the Catholic Church has the fullness of truth. Jesus passed his teachings down to his Disciples, who passed them on to their replacements, continually through time, until we end up with the Pope and the Magisterium. The Catholic Church is the pillar and bulwark of the truth today (1 Timothy 3:15). When people disagree with the Catholic Church when it comes to faith or morals they do not disagree with the Church, they disagree with Jesus.

We sin, that is, we choose to disobey one of God’s commands for one of two reasons: desire or fear. We choose to disobey God because we desire a temporary pleasure that we are not allowed or because we fear some sort of pain or suffering. Our society is not only physically obese but we are spiritually obese as well. Our society, which once claimed to be predominantly Christian, is leaving the mainstream Christian faiths for a more “spiritual”, personal relationship with Jesus. Of course that relationship is more like the one you have with a neighbor you never talk to and only occasionally wave at if you happen to see them taking out their trash.

People claim they love Jesus yet have no desire to follow his commands because, well, they are just too restrictive. I want to sleep with anyone I please, marry whomever I desire for any amount of time I deem long enough, lie, cheat, steal, and kill offspring I am not ready to care for. As a matter of fact, I don’t even want to follow the natural law and define my gender for myself solely based upon what my feelings are today. God created them man and woman in his image. Man and woman pushed God out of the picture and recreated themselves in an image of their choosing.

We are physically obese because we choose our desire to eat what we please over what we are designed to eat. We are spiritually obese because we choose to sin through desire over loving Jesus. Both types of obesity lead to death. Physical obesity leads to a poor life and mortal death. Spiritual obesity also leads to a poor life but ends with eternal death.

For some of us it takes a near death experience, like a clogged heart and a quintuple bypass, to wake us from our slumber to make the changes necessary to live. It is not too late to throw out that bacon and pick up an apple. If you are reading, this it is also not too late to start actually loving Jesus and begin following his commands. God desires obedience more than sacrifice – 1 Samuel 15. Turn to him with a contrite heart and take that first step to spiritual fitness.

A Pearl in the Making

When an irritant, such as a sharp piece of sand, works its way into an oyster it deploys a defensive mechanism where it coats the irritant with a slime-like substance called nacre. Layer after layer of this nacre is applied until the irritant is smooth and lustrous and known as a pearl. The longer this pearl remains in the oyster the larger and more beautiful it becomes. The best and most valuable pearls are formed over a very long time.

Despite God’s perfect, sacrificial love for me I am sure that I am as irritating to him as a sharp piece of sand is to an oyster. God doesn’t coat me in layers of nacre but he is forming me none the less. I know I am not the man I was three years ago when I was accepted into aspirancy to be ordained a permanent deacon in the Roman Catholic Church. I am nowhere near the man I was five years ago when this journey began. I also know that I am nowhere close to the man I will be in two years, God willing, when I am ordained nor the man I will be each year after that. Formation is something that lasts right up to the beginning of purgatory.

I was about as far away from the man I am today that I could have been. I am a former fleet sailor, a salty dog, with sea water in my veins. I was a Gunner’s Mate, a dealer of death and destruction. I ate like a sailor, drank like a sailor, played like a sailor, and have a mouth of a sailor. This is something only a sailor truly understands but the stereotype wasn’t far off base back then. The nineteen year old me would have probably hated the me of today.

Reading scripture I see that I am in good company. King David would have been right at home on a warship. He was about as flawed a person as they come. But he was also a man after God’s own heart. How could a man as flawed as David be favored by God? He knew when to be humble and honestly repent. True repentance is in very short supply today. Today’s culture is more like King Saul who thought he knew what was better for God than God did.

And then we have Saint Paul. Before he went by his gentile name of Paul he was known by his Jewish name of Saul. Saul was the Pharisee of the Pharisees. He was even more Jewish than the great Jewish teacher of the law, Gamaliel. Paul’s formation began with a blinding light and Jesus asking why Paul was persecuting him. Paul went on to become the Apostle to the Gentiles and one of the greatest Christian evangelists to ever walk the planet. But he didn’t start out this way. After regaining his sight he was more or less exiled to Tarsus to undergo three years of formation.

Lord, I do not know where this road I am on is leading but I trust it is where you want me to go. Keep applying the nacre. I hope to be a pearl for you one day.

Sola, Sola, Sola

My uncle is a devout Lutheran. He loves God deeply and is on fire with the Holy Spirit. He does the good work of bringing men into a deeper love for God and to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. He recently asked me why I converted to Catholicism. The simple answer is that I came to believe that the Catholic claims were truth.

Luther founded his church on three basic principles: sola fide, sola gratia, and sola scriptura. As a Catholic I believe the first two although I understand them a bit differently. The big difference between the two faiths is with sola scriptura.

Sola Fide – By Faith

The doctrine of Sola Fide says that a person is saved through faith. This is absolutely correct. One can only be saved if he or she has faith in Jesus Christ, son of the living God. Luther changed the verse in Holy Scripture that says this by adding the word “alone” to it because it was his opinion that it should have been written that way. The Lutheran belief is that one need to do nothing more than have faith and salvation will be granted. Luther believed that no sin could separate man from God and that he could commit murder or adultery a thousand times a day and that it wouldn’t matter. This has led to the common belief that all sins are already forgiven so asking forgiveness for sin is no longer necessary. It has also led to the belief that one does not have to do any “works” to prove your faith.

Catholics agree that a person is saved through faith. Without faith one cannot obtain salvation. But scripture is also very clear that sin can still separate man from God and that sins committed after the crucifixion still need to be forgiven apart from the crucifixion. For this Jesus gave us the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He paid the price for sin but we still have to ask for that to be applied to our debt.

Think of it like this – a rich man creates a fund to pay the electric bills of everyone in his town. Catholics believe that you have to apply, or ask for, this money to be applied to your bill. Lutherans believe that your bill is automatically paid without you asking for it to be.

So, instead of believing that all we need is faith alone Catholics believe that we are saved by faith through love. Jesus said that if you love him you will follow his commands. Following his commands require works of love and obedience. Are works required for salvation? If you love Jesus and therefore are obedient to him they are.

Sola Gratia – By Grace

The doctrine of Sola Gratia says that a person is saved by grace. Again, this is absolutely correct. All salvation is granted through the grace of God and cannot be merited on our own accord. Here again Luther inserts the word “alone” to break the tie between the works that we do and the grace that we receive. No works are necessary. God will grant his grace to whoever believes in him. In reality we do the good works we do because of the grace we receive. One way to think of grace is like a supernatural glow our souls have when our wills are aligned with God’s will. When we receive God’s grace we will be doing the good works of love that he wants us to do. A good way to state the Catholic belief is:

By the grace of God, we are saved through our faith; this faith entails by its very nature, good works, always enabled by prior grace, without which this faith is dead.

Sola Scriptura – Scripture Alone

Thus brings us to the probably the biggest issue that separated Catholics from non-Catholic Christians. One of Luther’s doctrines is sola scriptura or scripture alone. Catholics believe in the three legged stool of sacred Scripture, sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium. Until Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press c. 1440 the Christian faith was passed on orally. The common people generally did not know how to read and books were expensive. The faith was passed on by the bishops who passed on faithfully that which they had received from their bishops who received it from their bishops who received it, going back to the beginning, from the mouth of Jesus. The Magisterium is made up of the Pope (the head bishop) in union with all of the bishops. Through apostolic succession the Magisterium is the sole authority of the Catholic faith.

Sacred Tradition did not support Luther’s theology so one of the things he had to do when he broke away was throw out 1500 years of Catholic teaching so he could teach his opinion instead. He did this by instituting the doctrine of Sola Scriptura. Sola Scriptura states that we do not need sacred Tradition, we only need that which is written in the bible. So what does the bible have to say about that?

“I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God. Follow what is written in Holy Scripture, the pillar and bulwark of the truth.”

1 Timothy 3: 14-15

Anyone familiar with this verse knows that is not what is says. The actual scripture says –

“…you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth.”

It is not scripture that is the pillar and bulwark of the truth, it is the Church. Holy Scripture says that Holy Scripture is not the pillar of God’s truth, the Church is. Luther threw out 1500 years of the Church so he could interpret scripture to support his differing opinion. If the Church is the pillar of truth and Luther disagrees with the Church…

This is where I started to believe the Catholic claims.

God's Recital

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Catholic Guide to the Triduum

Thanks to Jonathan Teixeira and Melissa Keating at The Focus Blog for putting this together.
http://focus.org/blog

To Have and to Hold

It was a beautiful Saturday in June. The Church was full. A man and woman stood in front of them all and exchanged their vows. The priest announced them, man and wife. When the pictures were taken the man walked out of the Church, got into a car with his girlfriend, and the two sped off to dinner together.

All of us would look upon that man with distain. How could he treat his marriage vows so flippantly? Did they actually mean anything to him? Few of us realize how much of that man is in so many of us.

One facet of a Sacrament is it is an oath to the death. In marriage, the couple exchange vows promising to be faithful to each other until the natural death of one of the two. What these vows do is to define their relationship. A Sacrament is a covenant. A covenant is an agreement where you give your full self in return of another’s full self until death of one of the two parties. This is why there is no such thing as a Catholic divorce. A contract is an exchange of goods or services for an agreed upon period of time. Far too many marriages these days are contractual instead of covenantal.

Every Sacrament has this aspect to it. In the Sacrament of Confirmation a person stands before the entire Church and makes a declaration of faith. You make vows to God that you will the live the faith faithfully. Does this sound like a marriage? Well, that is pretty much what it is. In the Sacrament you define the terms of the covenant. You are my God and I am your son or daughter. When we receive the Sacrament of Confirmation we agree to certain duties and responsibilities which include things like attending Mass every Sunday and other holy days of obligation, making a confession at least once a year, abstaining from meat on Fridays or offering another penance on Fridays outside of Lent, and following a proper fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Many who receive this Sacrament never darken the doorstep of a Church again until they want either the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony or a funeral. Others do attend Mass on occasion but put as much work into this marriage as they would if they were attending a time share meeting in Florida.

The Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist isn’t about receiving communion. Yes, we do receive the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ when we present ourselves at communion but this Sacrament is also a covenant. It too is an oath to the death that comes with duties and responsibilities. In it we receive our Lord but we also give ourselves to him. When we receive the Eucharist we are taking a vow to live for Jesus and die for him if necessary. How do you show Jesus you love him? It is not by doing good works or by being nice to people. You show your love for him by obeying his commands. Jesus passed his teachings on to his disciples, who passed them on to their replacements. This continued through the centuries until the teachings were handed down to the bishops who currently serve the Church today.

We live at a time when rebellion to authority is common place. There are many who receive the Eucharist who can’t wait until they get to the Narthex to tell you the ways the Catholic Church is wrong and needs to change. If Church teachings are handed down from Jesus then they aren’t disagreeing with the Church, they are disagreeing with Jesus. If you love me you will follow my commands. Sorry Jesus, you are out of date and need to change these commands to be compatible with our times.

So we look with disdain on the man who leaves his new wife at the reception and goes off with his girlfriend to dinner. We concentrate more on the splinter in his eye over the plank in ours. When you don’t see a Sacrament for what it truly is it is easy to overlook our own vows. When you start treating the Sacraments as the oaths to the death they really are you begin to see the beauty each covenant brings and draw ever nearer to Jesus.

Kumbaya

I once worked with a man who often confused words and their meanings. One night he told us a story about a man in Minnesota who lost both of his arms at the elbows in a concubine. Imagine the look of horror on our faces, and not for the reason he thought it was there.  Finally, someone asked him if he knew what a concubine was. He said yes, it was that green tractor that harvests corn.

Um, no Wade…

The truth of the matter is that words do have meanings despite how we choose to use them. You would never hear a doctor say that he was going to perform an appendectomy if he were going to remove your tonsils. You would never ask a mechanic to fix your drive shaft if your car wasn’t stopping properly.

Take the word communion as an example. From a general religious understanding it is a communal meal shared with all present. Most Christian faiths celebrate some sort of communion where all are invited to partake in the community meal representing the Last Supper. Catholics in particular are often criticized for only allowing only Catholics in a state of Grace to present themselves for communion. How is this considered communion if the entire community present is not invited to partake?

If we break the word down into its parts we get “com – union”. The deeper sense of the word means “with – union” or “in union with”. Receiving Catholic communion isn’t simply the getting the bread and wine that represents the Last Supper. Catholic communion is a Sacrament, which, when traced to its original is “an oath to the death”. When one presents himself for communion how is he taking an oath to the death?

When I present myself for communion (actually the reception of the Holy Eucharist) I am making a public statement, and renewing my oath to the death, that I am in union with the Catholic Church and all of her teachings, that I will live my life for Jesus and die for him if necessary. If I do not live up to this oath I forfeit that which I gave as collateral for this Sacrament, namely my eternal life. It would be intellectually dishonest for someone who doesn’t hold the Catholic faith to present themself to receive the Eucharist and take this oath. They are not in union with the Roman Catholic Church.

Likewise, Catholics are barred from receiving communion from another faith tradition for the exact same reason. That faith community may very well view it as nothing more than a communal meal all are invited to share but to a Catholic it is a public affirmation of being in union with that faith. We are not in union with that faith so we must not partake in that communion.

Unfortunately we live in an age where more and more Catholics stand at Mass and utter the creed, “I believe in one God…” but then only make it as far as the Narthex before they are willing to say, “But the Church is wrong on (insert any number of issues)”. There is no shortage of Catholics who say that the Church needs to change Her teachings to get with the times. You cannot possibly be in union with the Church when you believe that the Church is wrong. If you are not in union with the Church you cannot honestly take an oath to the death stating that you are.

We are required by our faith to believe and accept all of the Church’s teaching on faith and morals even if we do not understand them. When you disagree with a Church teaching you disagree with Christ directly. To say that the Church is wrong in the matters of faith and morals is to say that Jesus is wrong. To say that Jesus is wrong is to cease to be Catholic.

The Triple Lindy

Thornton Melon was a first generation son of an Italian tailor. He did poorly in school and went into his father’s line of work. Through hard work he became a giant in the corporate business world. When his son tells him that he is going to drop out of college because he was not doing well Thornton enrolls as a freshman to go through the process with his son.

One of the first classes Thornton has is in business administration where he immediately butts heads with the Dean of the business school. Dr. Barbay teaches text book business administration that no longer coincides with the reality of how business is actually run. The students pay more attention to Thornton than to the professor. The movie, of course, is Rodney Dangerfield’s 1986 comedy Back to School.

You cannot teach something to someone that you are not immersed in yourself. Reading a cook book does not make one a gourmet chef any more than owning a piano makes one a pianist. Real teachers live in the subject they teach.

Many main stream non-Catholic faith traditions hold fast to the sola scriptura belief, the belief that only the things in the bible are important. But Jesus didn’t write a book. In fact, the only time that the bible says Jesus wrote anything it was in the dirt and never seen by anyone but him. Life as a Christian probably would be so much easier if he had written down exactly what his teachings were in a way we wouldn’t argue over them. But Jesus knew that you couldn’t teach what you are not immersed in.

So Jesus didn’t write a book. Jesus lived with the Twelve. They traveled everywhere together. Jesus did the majority of his teaching, not in the temple, not in a synagogue, and not on a mountain top. Jesus did the majority of his teaching on the road as he and the Twelve walked from place to place. The Twelve were immersed at every moment with the teaching of the Master.

After Jesus ascended to heaven the Twelve did likewise and immersed their disciples into the teachings they had received. They didn’t sit down and write the New Testament. They saw no need to record, in written form, their way of life. They lived the New Testament and they brought converts to the faith by the example of their lives.

History is often lost to the sands of time if it is not recorded for posterity. Only after they realized that Jesus probably wasn’t going to come again in their lifetimes and seeing their end in sight did they start to write down their witness. But that did not change greatly how the faith was passed on. It was still passed on by immersion. For almost 1500 years the faith was handed down, not in book form, but by Sacred Tradition. The Church lived their faith. It wasn’t until the invention of the printing press in c.1440 that the concept of the bible in book form, available to the masses, was even possible.

Then in 1517, a Catholic monk revolting from the Church, threw out Sacred Tradition, and introduced the world to the concept of sola scriptura –scripture alone. This allowed him to translate the newly printed bible in a way that proof texted his opinions over the teachings that have been handed down for a millennium and a half. Even in his own lifetime scholars of Luther used his own argument of sola scriptura against him by arguing that he was also wrong and that their opinion was correct. This has spawned the nearly 40,000 different denominations of Christian faith that all teach something different as the whole truth.

The Catholic Church, both Eastern and Western, still maintain their immersion in both Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, passed down to the faithful through the authoritative teaching office of the Church known as the Magisterium.

This is the “Triple Lindy” of our faith, Scripture – Tradition – Apostolic Succession.

I am Negan

In the last two seasons of the Walking Dead we have seen the survivors at Alexandria, the Kingdom, and Hilltop trying to break free from Negan and the Saviors. After a virus wipes out civilization Negan formed a group called the Saviors to restore order to a chaotic world. He requires total obedience to him and forces the communities he conquers to provide him with the majority of the food they raise and the goods they scavenge. He forces compliance through great brutality that he sees is as tragic but lovingly necessary.

We live during a time when the culture believes that real freedom is having the ability to do anything you want any time you wish to do it. Murdering a developing baby in the womb is a choice. The culture demands that we all accept a different definition of marriage and now goes as far as to tell us a person has a right to choose for themselves what biological gender they wish to be. This isn’t true freedom. It is slavery to our passions. It is slavery just as much as the survivors on the Walking Dead are slaves to Negan.

Take smoking as an example. No one takes up smoking because it is the right thing to do. People take up smoking because it gives them pleasure. They get a high when they breathe in that nicotine rich smoke. But soon they become a slave to that pleasure. They become addicted, a slave to smoking. Eventually the cigarette dictates when they must go and have a smoke, when they must leave a party, a family event, their job. Those bound by the heaviest chains find it even difficult to travel if they can’t get their fix at the required intervals. This is slavery to a passion.

We as Catholics fast during Lent to strengthen our will power. The only real freedom any of us have is the ability to say no. Yes, sin is pleasurable. It can be as addicting as smoking. Having the ability to say no to that pleasure is liberating. Come, enjoy the freedom of having sex with someone desirable and cheat on your wife. NO! Come, enjoy the freedom of cheating your neighbor out of his goods. NO! Come and abort the baby growing within you so you can continue the freedom of a care free life. NO!

No is the only real freedom we have. The “Thou shall nots” in the Ten Commandments do not restrict freedoms. They make one more free. “Thou shall not commit adultery” does not take away your freedom from having sex with anyone you find desirable. It liberates you to be able to fully love your spouse and not be a slave to animalist desire. Let a river run free and many times it will be anorexic, shallow, and lacking. Restrict its flow and the river will team with life. God gives us restrictions so that we can have life and have it more abundantly.

Fasting is an exercise that increases our ability to say No. The more we fast the easier it is for us to liberate ourselves from the chains of slavery to self pleasure and sin. This liberation is never easy. Just ask a two pack a day smoker or the survivors in the Walking Dead. The more we can say no to ourselves the easier it becomes. The craving for a cigarette may never go away but the ability to get past the craving without falling slave to it becomes easier the more we do it. No should be one of the most important words we have at our disposal. Practice using it more.

Breathe

“Father,
may everything we do
begin with your inspiration
and continue with your saving help
Let our work always find its origin in you
And through you reach completion.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.”

The modern definition of inspiration is the drawing in of breath. A more exact meaning is to breathe into something. The Greek word used for Holy Spirit in Holy Scripture is  pneuma.  Pneuma deals with the movement of air. It is also translated as wind or breath. Anywhere in Holy Scripture you see the word wind or spirit you can substitute breath, as in the breath of God. It really gives scripture a new feel when read this way.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 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.” – Genesis 1: 1 -2

“But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused his breath to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.” – Genesis 8:1

“And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing breath, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Breath and began to speak with other tongues, as the Breath was giving them utterance.” – Acts 2: 2-4

There are two parts to breathing, inhalation and exhalation. We breathe in, we breathe out. Kids often threaten their parents with holding their breath until they turn blue. If they hold their breath long enough they will pass out and begin to breathe normally again. The opposite of inspire is expire, to breathe out of the lungs.

When God inspires us, that is, when he breathes into us his Holy Spirit we must expire this breath for breathing to be complete. We cannot hold it in. It is not ours to keep. God fills us with his spirit so we may accomplish his will. He gives us talents and gifts to serve him and our fellow man but he also fills us with the breath we need to do this. We do not get inspiration to serve ourselves. Inspiration is always given for the service of others.

A body that has no breath within it is dead. Likewise, a person without the Holy Spirit is also dead. We receive the Holy Spirit at our baptisms when God breathes into us our new life in Christ. We rise from the font of baptism as a baby emerging from the womb. As we suck in that first breath of our new life the Spirit of God fills our lungs anew. And like the baby just from the womb there is little more we can do but breathe. We must learn to use this new spirit within us. We must continue to grow in faith until we are mature enough to use this breath for the purpose God gave it to us. Baptism is not just a onetime event where we get pictures with a man in funny robes and then go home, have some cake, and return to our lives lived the same way. We have just received God’s Holy Breath and have been made into new creatures with new life.

                “Father, may everything we do begin with your inspiration,”

Breath into us Lord your Holy Breath,

                “and continue with your saving help”

Lead us and guide us throughout this day,

                “Let our work find its origin with you”

Not my will but yours be done,

                “and through you reach completion.”

Use me, Lord, as an instrument of your will.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Breathe in – breathe out – repeat.

The Death of a Culture through the Culture of Death - Part III

“But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world, and they who are allied with him experience it.” – Wisdom 2: 24

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned –“ – Romans 5:12

What does the devil have to be envious of from us? He is an immortal angel so much above us. But God shared with man something we did not share with the angels. God shared creation with man. We co-create with God new life. God gives the flesh an immortal soul so man, woman, and God create new immortal souls. Husband, wife, and child share the same type of connection as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Angels are created through the same love we are and share love but do not have the type of special union a sacramental marriage has.

The devil is envious of this. So much so that he rebelled from God and fell from grace. Now he spends eternity trying to destroy that which God created and he was not part of. He has attacked God’s creation at every level. Contraception gets us to walk away from our special gift of procreation. New Saints aren’t made. Abortion gets us to murder the children that do get created. The marital act went from being about unification and procreation to being a selfish act of pleasure. Marriages have become sterile and have gone from a sacramental covenant to a contract were each person gets something from the other for a designated period of time. When each no longer get what they want the marriage dissolves and they move on to another contract with another person.

As time feminized the man the role of father was trivialized and diminished. More and more the empowered woman took on the role of both mother and father. You cannot pass on what you do not have so children became less and less formed as they grew older. The model family that God designed began to decay to a bunch of single parent households where kids are often left to fend for themselves while the sole parent works to barely pay the bills.

The family, not the individual, is the primary building block of society. As the family decayed the society quickly followed. Things that were once taboo became common place as all boundaries were pushed. There was a time where you wouldn’t see a toilet on TV and married couples slept in different beds. Today you can easily see what could be considered soft porn during family hour. We have grown numb to it. In generations past people used to court another, that is, date someone with the intention to marry. Today there are apps that allow someone to swipe left or right in order to find a stranger to hook up with for the night.

When I was a teen our video games were Pacman, Pole Position, and Super Mario Bros. The most violent they got was having an animated ape throw barrels at Luigi or Mario stomping on a turtle. Our cartoons always had a coyote getting blown up but never dying. Today nine out of ten video games involve realistic killing, stealing, or other morally questionable conduct. You can’t play for very long before you are steeped in vulgarity, even from the kids as young as eight.

We have trivialized the father, masculinized the woman, feminized the male, destroyed tradional marriage, glorified violence, made women objects of pleasure, and instilled a culture of death. We have drilled into our kids a sense of entitlement to any and everything they could possibly want, including the ability to choose a gender to identify with. Few things are off limits and then we are surprised and shocked when a person has a fit of rage and does something tragic like shoot up a school. What is the big deal? Twenty-two people were shot and killed in the city of Chicago yesterday and no one cared. Over 3500 babies were murdered through abortion on the same day. No national outrage. No candlelight vigils. No sobbing teens on the nightly news demanding someone do something to stop the senseless violence. Just 3500 Americans who have been denied a voice because they didn’t have one to cry out for help with.

America is at a crossroad. When we have a city leveled by a hurricane, a tornado, or a wildfire we don’t sit back and wring our hands and say, “Why oh why? Why us, oh why us???” Americans come together, roll up our sleeves and get to the work of rebuilding that which was lost. That is exactly what we need to do now. Rebuild.

Our society is in shambles and if we are to rebuild we need to start with the primary building block, the family. Men need to reclaim their manhood. They need to accept the job of father. We need to accept that, although man and woman are equal partners in raising the next generation, there are two distinct genders with unique and required roles that one cannot do completely for the other. This is by design from a loving God or evolution. Take your pick. I am Christian so I recognize that God has designed us and without him we fail. If you are an atheist who believes strictly in evolution and you get to the same point so be it.

Pope Paul VI said four things would happen if contraception use became wide spread:

1: There would be an increase to marital infidelity.

Marriage has gone from a lifetime covenant to a limited time contract. Husbands and wives can easily cheat on each other without fear of pregnancy. Divorce among first time couples is well over fifty percent. We have entered an age where people care more about the hook-up, even with a complete stranger, than finding a spouse they will be with forever. It is rare for kids these days to graduate high school in an intact, non-blended family.

2: There would be a general lowering of moral standards.

We live at a time when moral relativism rules the day. Few believe there is one standard given to us from above for all to follow. The question no longer is, “Is that moral?” The question now is, “Am I good (by my standards)” Things like cheating and lying are no longer viewed as wrong but as expected. I am going to cheat on this test. If you catch me you can’t do anything about it. Everyone does it so it must be ok.

3: There would be a loss of respect for women.

All you have to do to see this is listen to just about any rap song. Pornography addiction is epidemic, even among women and girls. Girls as young as eight are sending naked pictures of themselves through social media. Now we have had a flood of women in Hollywierd who have come out with stories of abuse. Women who aspire to traditional roles like motherhood are often chastised and attacked even by those women who claim to be fighting for the betterment of women.

4: Governments would use contraception to forcibly intervene in citizens' sexual relationships.

This is easier to see in places like China, India, or Japan where people are punished, forcibly sterilized, and sometimes even executed for violating the country’s child birth policies. Luckily we have not had these types of things happen in the United States, yet.

For an old, white, celibate, Italian man I think he pretty much hit the nail on the head. Hopefully it is not too late to reverse the damage that has been done but it will take everyone to embrace life to counter the culture of death that has destroyed our culture. We cannot do this secretly in the privacy of our own homes. We must become a living witness to the truth and stand up for life wherever it is threatened or robbed. Don’t allow yourself to be fooled into believing the lie that death is better than a low standard life. One of those is permanent. There is always hope that the other can improve.

If we want to end the culture of death we have to embrace life from conception to natural death and restore the dignity that is due to every person.

The Death of a Culture through the Culture of Death Part II

The sexual revolution gave birth to the modern feminist movement, although it really wasn’t about feminism at all. A real feminist movement would have exulted the virtues and beauty of women. What we got instead was the masculinization of women and the feminizing of masculinity. The woman power moment measured its worth against that of the male. They demanded to do everything a man did, wear what a man does, and yes, even have sex like a man, with no attachment.

At the same time they tried to reduce the role of men as much as possible. Even today we see the more radical of this group call for the total abortion of male babies. It is in a man’s nature that where we don’t perceive a need for us we will step back. As more and more women stepped up and demanded to be treated as totally equal to a man more and more men stepped aside. This included the role of father and head of the family.

Then on January 22, 1973 the Supreme Court of the United States handed down a decision that would result in the murder of over sixty million Americans; a number that grows by the thousands each and every day. That was of course the historic Roe v Wade case on the legality of abortion. SCOTUS did not rule that a woman had a right to an abortion, nor did she have complete control and say over her body. What SCOTUS said was that we, as a society, have never officially stated when a life begins so they cannot say that a fetus is a life. If it is not in law that a fetus is a human life they cannot rule that it cannot be terminated. They did say that the state does have an interest in that fetus and may restrict abortions at some point, generally around the third trimester. If we, as a society, define by law when a life begins the abortion debate becomes null and void. The murder of the most innocent among us will continue until we are brave and sane enough to define by law when a human life begins.

Christians believe in a triune God, that is, one God consisting of three persons. These distinct persons are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. At the very heart of God is agape. Agape is sacrificial love. It is the total giving of one’s self for another without expectation of anything in return. It is the truest sense of love. It is love perfected. It is through this love that all creation came into being and because of this love that God took on flesh and became like us to die for our salvation and redemption.

When perfect love is shared perfectly it wants to create and create is what God did. God made man in his own image and seeing God is a family he made man into a family. The family is also modeled in the triune fashion – father, mother, and child. At the heart of every family is God and at the heart of God is sacrificial love. At the nucleus of every family is agape. To quote and correct Obi Wan Kenobi agape surrounds us. It penetrates us. It binds all creation together. To quote a woman I met on a flight once, agape is what occupies the space between atoms and between the particles of atoms.

God created father and mother to be equal in authority but different in function. The tie that binds a husband and wife together is supposed to be sacrificial love. It was designed to be the total giving of one to the other without the expectation of something returned. This is called a covenant and lasts until one of the two dies. The love between father and mother is so strong that it manifests itself as a new creation that you have to give a name to – children. Father and mother then pass along the attributes unique to their gender and purpose, infused with agape, to create the next generation.

Marriage was designed by God with two purposes. The first is unification. Agape between husband and wife unifies them as a one flesh creation. The two become one that no one is allowed to separate. The second purpose of a marriage is procreative. This union of man and wife brings about the next generation. We join with God to co-create new life so that we can fill heaven with Saints. That is the meaning of life in a nutshell.

So the pill led to feminism and feminism led to mass shooting. Time to fill in the missing pieces.

Next up – Romans 5:12 and the reason why there is so much hate in the world today.