Is it better to give or receive?

Some of the chatter taking place in chat rooms and forums across this planet revolve around the approaching Synod on the Family and how it will address the millions of Catholics civilly divorced and remarried outside of the Church. If we are to listen to the talking heads in the media living in fantasy world they would have us believe that the Pope is pro divorce and would change who can receive the Eucharist tomorrow if he could just convince all those old, white Bishops who are desperately clinging to their archaic beliefs of what Jesus taught. This has many conservative Catholics trembling in fear and many uncatholic Catholics giddy with anticipation. Either way there is a whole lot of shaking going on.

Rest assured the Pope is still Catholic and did not become Pope by disregarding the teaching Jesus passed on to his Church. The Pope became Pope because of the tremendous love he has for all people, including all you sinful adulterers civilly divorced and remarried, of whom I used to be. The Pope’s challenge is how to minister to those living in sin and how to get them to turn from their sin instead of turning from the Church. Those who live in sin die in sin and are not part of God’s Holy family. This is a devastating loss and weighs heavy on the Pope’s heart.

The driving factor most of the time in cases like this is because people believe they are being denied something someone else is allowed to have. They feel discriminated against and act like little kids who stomp their feet and hold their breath until they are given what they want. Civilly divorced and remarried Catholics do not feel as if they have done anything wrong and demand that they be allowed to receive the Eucharist just like everyone else. The fundamental error so many make is in the belief that they are receiving something. There is a general misconception of what a sacrament is. So what really is a sacrament and why can’t I have that little piece of bread everyone else is getting?

For those who remember their Baltimore Catechism the memorized definition of a sacrament is;

“A sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace.”

The current Catechism of the Catholic Church defines a sacrament as;

“Efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us.” CCC1127

Webster defines a sacrament as;

sacrament

[sak-ruh-muh nt] /ˈsæk rə mənt/

noun

1. Ecclesiastical. a visible sign of an inward grace, especially one of the solemn Christian rites considered to have been instituted by Jesus Christ to symbolize or confer grace: the sacraments of the Protestant churches are baptism and the Lord's Supper; the sacraments of the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches are baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, matrimony, penance, holy orders, and extreme unction.

2. (often initial capital letter). Also called Holy Sacrament. The Eucharist or Lord's Supper.

3. The consecrated elements of the Eucharist, especially the bread.

4. Something regarded as possessing a sacred character or mysterious significance.

5. A sign, token, or symbol.

6. An oath; solemn pledge.

Although definition 6 comes close it does not capture the fullness of what a sacrament originally was. Sacrament is the English translation of the Latin word “scaramentum”. Sacramentum was an oath unto death that rendered the swearer “given to the gods”. It also referred to the thing pledged as a sacred bond. It was the oath Roman soldiers took to Caesar and it was unto death. To violate or go back on your oath cost you your life. And therein is where the rub begins.

Marriage is a sacrament – an oath to the death that cannot be undone. A civil divorce cannot absolve the sacrament of marriage and anyone who moves on to another relationship or a second marriage is by definition an adulterer. This is reaffirmed by Jesus in Mathew 19. Because this is direct teaching of Jesus it is not subject to debate and not something the Church can possibly change. When someone breaks this sacramentum they forfeit that which was pledged, which in the case of marriage is your very life. If you have forfeit your life as payment for the default of your oath you are then no longer free to give it to another. This is why marriage after divorce is not possible.

The Eucharist is also a sacrament. People mistakenly believe that the Eucharist is simply something they receive. What they don’t realize is that what they are doing is giving, not receiving. They are pledging an oath to the death. When you accept the Eucharist you are entering into a covenantal relationship with Jesus. A covenantal relationship is one where Jesus gives himself fully to you and you give yourself fully to him. By eating the Eucharist you are willingly pledging to give your life to Jesus even if that requires you to die for him. When someone breaks this sacramentum they forfeit that which was pledged, which in the case of the Eucharist is your very life, just as it is for marriage. Saint Paul warns us that to eat of the Eucharist unworthily you eat unto your death.

If you are civilly divorced and remarried you have reneged on your oath to the death that you pledged when you were married. The price of this is that you forfeit your life, it no longer belongs to you. When you receive the Eucharist you again take an oath unto death. The problem here is that you are pledging something that does not belong to you. You cannot freely enter into this oath. This is the same reason that someone who has a mortal sin on their soul cannot receive the Eucharist as well. The price of a mortal sin is death and one who does not have life cannot pledge what they do not possess.

With this understanding it is easy to see that the Church is not able to change her teaching concerning this matter and that no amount of hope or prayer will lead the Pope to allow this to happen. Instead we need to concentrate on how to be loving and pastoral and guide people back to that which is right and just. Then we need to pray for the mercy of God for those who blatantly disregard the truth for their own opinions.

A Walk Through the Jungle...Part II

Now let’s look at this story through a Catholic perspective…

We are all born into a fallen race outside of a relationship with God. God has started a family, a tribe, and he wants us all to be part of it.  We know that there is nothing we can do to be worthy of this gift but God wishes to adopt us all as his children regardless.  He has provided us a path for that adoption.

First we begin with a ritual bath called a baptism. This washes away the stain of original sin and restores us to a pure state. The baptized are dressed in a white garment to signify the new child in God they have now become. Baptism cleanses our soul and leaves an indelible mark upon it, consecrating or setting us aside for the Lord.

We then set out on a path through the deep, dark jungle called life. Because we have a fallen nature and an attraction to sin it is not long before we fall into it. Sin is a word that originally means “to miss the mark” and it is any action that is displeasing to God and separates us from him. The price of sin is death and there is nothing we can do to get ourselves out of it. We need a savior.

We know that we are saved by grace through faith. Grace is a word that means favor and faith is a word that means trust. We are saved by a special and undeserving favor through our trust. The tribal chief is Jesus Christ, who died once for all sins. When Jesus extends his hand down to you that is grace. When you extend yours up to him that is faith. When he pulls you out of the pit of your sins you are saved.

But being saved is not enough. Every action has a consequence and the consequence of sin is death. With Jesus’ death and resurrection he conquered death but there is still a price to be paid for our sins. To redeem means to “buy back”. When Jesus spilled out his innocent, divine blood for us he redeemed our souls. He paid the price of all of the sins for the entire world for all of eternity. Jesus is the tribal chief who poured out his canteen on us to wash away the grime and restore our robe to its brilliant white. He is our savior and our redeemer.

Most non-Catholic Christians believe that once they have been saved they are always saved and that there is nothing that can happen in heaven or on earth to change that from happening. They very well could be correct but for that to happen they would have to cease their journey through life. We know that as we travel through life we are going to fall into sin over and over again. Not all sins carry the same weight. Murdering an innocent person is much more serious than stealing a pencil from your place of employment. Both are sins but one has much graver consequences than the other.

In the story there were pits of quicksand that were so deep you could not get out of them on your own. There were also pits where you could touch the bottom and manage to get out. Both pits left you wet, dirty and heavier. The pits with no bottom represent mortal sin, sin that separates man from God that will result in eternal damnation if not forgiven. The pits with bottoms represent venial sin, sins that do not result in a complete separation from God and do not carry eternal damnation if left unrepented. You are left with a partial loss of grace from God as long as you have unrepented venial sins.

Every time we commit a venial sin our soul is weighted down. If left unforgiven we can become so heavy with our sins that we can no longer function and have the joy filled, productive lives we are meant to have. Jesus did die once and paid the price of every sin but that does not mean we are automatically already forgiven for either mortal or venial sins. The “once saved” crowd believes that they are and that they do not need to ask forgiveness for anything they do after they extend their hands in faith that first time. Scripture does not support this idea.

On the night before he was to be put to death Jesus instituted the priesthood and he gave his trusted twelve disciples the authority to forgive sins. If all sins for all times were to be redeemed by his death and resurrection there would have been no reason to do this. All sins from the next day forward would have been automatically forgiven. No need for the disciples to have this authority. Jesus knew that as we continue through life we would need to be forgiven over and over again for our weakness.

The witch doctor in the story represents the Catholic priest. Through an unbroken line of succession going all the way back to Jesus himself the Catholic priest has been given the authority to forgive sins. The witch doctor carried the canteen belonging to the tribal chief and used this canteen to wash away the buildup of muck and grime from the many times of falling in the pits of quicksand. It is only through Jesus direct authority can a priest do this and not through his own folly. The priest connects heaven and earth and acts as a conduit for the healing grace of Jesus to flow to us. This is the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

We are never truly alone on this journey through life. The entire heavenly kingdom travels the path with us ready to lend assistance to us when needed. Jesus and his mother Mary are the only two humans who have ever made it through life without falling into sin. Both had extraordinary grace. We can never be like them in that regard but we can use them as the example of how we are called to live. We will be shown mercy in the way that we show mercy and we will be forgiven in the way that we forgive. Hatred is a poison that kills the soul. Forgiveness is the antidote.

A Walk Through the Jungle...Part I

Imagine for a moment that you wish to go live with a native tribe down in the Amazon jungle. You pack your bags and fly to the nearest airport. From there they transport you by boat up the river to a landing in front of a dense jungle. The entire tribe is waiting there to great you.

The tribal chief explains to you that if you want to be part of his tribe you will have to undergo a test to prove your worth. Slightly worried, you ask what the test is. All you have to do is to travel through the deep, dark jungle to the other side by yourself. Being the adventurous sort you accept the challenge.

The test begins with a ritual bathing after which they dress you in a while robe. All of the tribe wishes you luck and you are set off into the jungle alone. At first you are very nervous. The jungle is like nothing you have ever seen. There are bizarre and wonderful sounds that both delight you and scare the bejesus out of you. You continue to walk cautiously but soon become accustom to the jungle. After a while you start whistling a pleasant tune while skipping along the jungle path.

And that’s when it happens. The ground under your feet gives out and you fall head first into a pit of quicksand. The quicksand is only knee deep at first but as you try to make your way to the end of the pit you slowly begin to sink. The more you sink the more frightened you become. The more frightened you become the harder you struggle to get out. The harder you struggle the faster you sink. Now you are up to your armpits and full blown panic sets in. There is no bottom to this pit.

As you sink up to your chin you realize two things; first – there is no way you can get yourself out of this pit. Second – You are going to die alone in this jungle.

You cry out for help. You begin to sob and yell louder. Just when you start to lose all hope the tribal chief steps out of the jungle and stands at the edge of the pit. You reach up to him and cry, “Please save me.” He reaches down, taking your hand in his and pulls you out of the quicksand. You stand wet, covered in muck and more grateful than you ever have felt in your life. Your clean, white robe is filthy.

The tribal chief looks at you and shakes his head. He takes his canteen off of his belt and pours water over your head. The water washes away the muck and the grime making your robe white again. He smiles at you and tells you to beware of the quicksand. Before you get a chance to thank him he disappears back into the jungle.

You calm yourself and begin walking down the jungle path again. You try to be cautious, looking carefully at every step. You hear a monkey call to her mate in the jungle canopy far above you. You squint your eyes trying to find the monkeys and as your eyes leave the path you fall into another pit of quicksand.

Your mind immediately goes into panic and you call out for help once again. This time help doesn’t come. You yell over and over as you slowly sink into the pit. As you sink up past your waist you can feel bottom under your feet and you’re able to walk over to the edge of the pit and climb out. You are once again wet and covered in muck and grime but you are alive.

You walk even more cautiously than you did the last time. It does not matter how cautious you try to be, every time you take your eyes off of the path you find yourself in another pit of quicksand. Each time you sink to a different level. Sometimes you sink up to your neck. Other times you sink only to your knees. Every time you call for help no help comes but you are able to climb out of the pits and continue on your way.

Each time you fall into the quicksand you find that you get out just a little bit dirtier, a little bit heavier with the water and the muck. It is starting to become harder and harder to walk down the path. You find yourself just trudging along barely able to move. You get so heavy that you can’t even stand anymore. You slowly crawl along the path, weary and ready to give up.

Just when you have given up all hope and reach your breaking point you crawl into a small clearing in the jungle. Sitting on a log in the clearing is the tribal witch doctor. You labor over to him and take a seat next to him. You tell him that you cannot go any further and you are ready to give up. He looks you up and down and smiles. Then he begins to laugh. He explains to you that every member of the tribe had to journey the same path you had just taken, even the tribal chief. Every member of the tribe fell into the same pits you had. Each had to be saved the first time. Each became weighted down with the grime from the other pits to the point they could no longer move. He tells you that the only two people who ever made it through the jungle without falling into the quicksand was the tribal chief and his mother.

The witch doctor tells you that you were never really alone on this journey. The entire tribe stood in the jungle watching, ready to lend assistance if it were really needed. He pulls a canteen that you recognize as belonging to the tribal chief from his belt and he begins to wash the dirt and grime off of your robe. As the mud and muck trickles away the white of the robe starts to shine through. With the burden of the extra weight removed you now feel energized. The witch doctor puts his arm around you and walks you out of the jungle where the entire tribe is waiting to welcome you to the tribe with a big feast. You have never been happier in your entire life.

Sciptural Ping Pong

Are you saved?

This is a question that all Christians should be able to answer with an astounding, “Yes!”

 

Can you tell me how you are saved? This is where answers can really vary.

As an ex-Lutheran and fluent speaker of Evangeliceese I can tell you that I am saved by grace through faith. Most Protestants would add the word “alone” to the end of that sentence. I am saved by faith “alone”. In making this statement they would be both absolutely correct and absolutely wrong at the same time. How can someone be both right and wrong at the same time? The answer is actually quite easy.

First, I want to begin by defining two subjects that we will be discussing at length so that we can start with the same understanding. The first is the difference between “ordinary” and “extraordinary”. For the sake of this discussion ordinary means the regular way something is done. Extraordinary will be the exception to that rule. For example; the ordinary minister for the distribution of Holy Communion is a bishop, priest or deacon. If the ordinary ministers are not available or there is a great need an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion can be employed. An EMOC is a specially trained lay person who has been given the authority by the bishop to distribute Holy Communion. Extraordinary ministers are not to be used when there are sufficient ordinary ministers present. The Sacrament of Baptism is very similar. The ordinary minister for the Sacrament of Baptism is a bishop, priest or deacon but in an emergency, especially when there is a reasonable fear of death, an extraordinary minister can administer baptism when done in the correct form. This is the exception to the rule and an untrained lay person should never be going around baptizing people.

The Sacrament of Anointing is different. The ordinary minister of this sacrament is only a bishop or a priest (not a deacon) and there is no exception to this rule. There is no extraordinary minister for the Sacrament of Anointing. If a bishop or priest is not present anointing cannot take place.

The second subject to be defined is the word “works” for it is on this word and this word alone that the entire debate hinges.

It was a requirement for the people of Israel (commonly known as the Jews) to gather once a year in the Temple for sacrifice. Not every Israelite could make this journey. There were also times in Jewish history where they were exiled and not able to make it to the Temple. A sect of the Jews called the Pharisees, now the modern day rabbinical Jews, developed a way to be Jewish without the Temple. They called for a strict adherence to the 613 Commandments of the Law handed down to Israel by God through Moses – Mosaic Law. This Law required that certain “works” be done as part of its structure and this is where the game of scriptural ping pong between Protestants and Catholics begins.

The scriptural verse that the Protestant argument for faith alone hinges upon is Ephesians, Chapter 2, verses 8 and 9; “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

In this verse Saint Paul is making reference to the “works of the law”. He is saying that we cannot save ourselves by strictly keeping the 613 commandments of Mosaic Law and performing the works it requires. Salvation is a gift, or grace, given to man by God and that there is nothing we can do to warrant this salvation. In this understanding the Protestants are absolutely correct.

The Catholic understanding of “works” is slightly different. We believe that the “works of love” are essential to our salvation and not the “works of the law”. Our definition of how we are saved is more completely stated as, “I am saved by grace through faith working through love.” How do we get to this idea?

Let’s start with John, chapter 15, verses 1 and 2; “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”

Fruit here are the works of love.

Follow this with the parable of the Talents in Matthew, chapter 25, verses 14 - 30. The servant who took his master’s talents and used them was rewarded but the one who hid them and did nothing was cast out.

Then we can read John, chapter 2, verses 14 through 26; Faith and Works

     “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

      But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”

The works Saint John is speaking of in this passage are the works of love, not the works of the law.

We can then finish with Matthew, chapter 25, verses 31 – 46; The Judgment

      “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

      “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

      “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ “Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

What these passages mean to a Catholic is that faith opens the door of salvation to us. We must then prove our faith by doing as commanded and performing the “works of love” for our fellow man and for Jesus by proxy. If we take our faith and do nothing with it we will be separated with the goats during the final judgment.

So who is right? As with many things with the Christian religion the answer is “both and” and not “either or”.

All throughout scripture we see many miracles take place solely based upon the faith of those involved. We see the sick healed, the blind given sight, the lame made to walk and people brought back to life who were dead. We even see one very specific instance where someone was given his salvation because of his faith alone. This is Dismiss, the good thief on the cross next to Jesus. Can God grant salvation based on faith alone? Of course, he is God and can do whatever he wishes to do. The rules were made for man and do not apply to God. The God who created all things certainly has it within his power to grant salvation based on faith alone. He also has it within his power to grant salvation to those without faith if he so wishes. These are examples of the extraordinary way God grants salvation. We are called to live by the ordinary means, not the extraordinary.

The word “faith” in Greek can also be translated as “trust”. If we trust in God we will do as he commands us to. In 1 Samuel 15 we learn that obedience is more pleasing to God than even sacrifice. God has commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves. He has commanded us to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, house the homeless, clothe the naked, care for the sick, visit those in prison and bury the dead. These are the works of love that prove our faith, our trust, in God. It is these things we will be judged on at the completion of time. I suspect we will have to answer two questions when we stand before the throne of God; Do you love me? Did you follow my commandments?

If we live strictly by “faith alone” we would have to answer yes to the first question and no to the second. When we do we are left to rely on God’s mercy and extraordinary means of granting salvation. When we can honestly answer yes to both we can be absolutely assured of God’s mercy and love and salvation he promised through the ordinary means. With the eternal resting place of our soul in question shooting for the extraordinary is a gamble none of us should take.

Here is a test each of us should take every day:

Am I Saved?

1: Do you love God with your whole heart, soul, strength, and mind?

2: Do you love your neighbor as yourself?

3: Have you fed the hungry?

4: Have you given drink to the thirsty?

5: Have you clothed the naked?

6: Did you give shelter to the homeless?

7: Did you care for the sick?

8: Did you visit those in prison?

9: Did you bury the dead?

10: Will you send me a dollar?

Questions 1 and 2 are nonnegotiable. If you’re not doing these start now.

Questions 3 – 9 we are not called to do all of the time. God will call upon us to do each of these when there is a need. It is our job to recognize when that need is present and answer when called. If we are the servants we are called to be we will do many of these things without even realizing it. Always be prepared to do a work of love.

Question 10 – Hey, you can’t blame a guy for trying.

Works of any kind without faith are non-salvific. Faith without works of love is disobedient. Obedience is more pleasing to God than even sacrifice.

May the blessings of God be with you and may you be a blessing to all whom you meet.

Just a note to say...

I was listening to my favorite Catholic radio program on the way home from work last night. A commercial came on where the lady speaking told of one of the things her daughter was doing for Lent. She was leaving little affirmations on Post-it notes for people to find. She had left one on her mother’s computer that simply said, “#Pray” to remind her mother that Lent was a time for increased prayer. She was leaving Post-its inside of the hymnals at church that would say “Smile, God loves you.” Just little messages to brighten someone’s day.

 

 

The commercial reminded me that Lent isn’t just a time to give something up but it is a call to do more. More does not have to be a lot or a big thing. Small things done with love are great things and it takes very little to make someone feel loved.

 

I was reminded of when I was five. My mother put little notes like these in my lunch every day. They were just little ways to let me know that she loved me or she missed me. Sometimes they were funny drawing to give me a chuckle. My wife will put notes like these in my lunch now. It doesn’t matter if I am five or forty-five, opening my lunch and finding one of these gems always puts a smile on my face. How much did it take them to do this? The tiny effort made an everlasting impact in my memory.

 

About a year ago my daughter was approaching the teen years and was struggling to find her identity. I wanted to let her know that she was special to me and that I loved her so I got a bunch of blank note cards and wrote something small but positive in each one; you are special, you are loved, you are beautiful; little words of encouragement to brighten her day. Each night for a month on my way to bed I placed one of these cards topped with a Hersey Kiss on her desk in her bedroom. I did the same for my wife.

Both my girls woke to a morning “kiss” and a note of love. My daughter is a tough one. She hates hugs and only uses the “L” word in relationship to pizza or boy bands. She would never admit that the notes made her feel good. Each morning she would leave for school and the note would be gone. They never appeared in any of the trash cans and would later be found saved in a box on her desk.

 

 

Small things done with love are great things.

 

The  first month passed. I let the habit slip and soon it was forgotten. Hearing the commercial on the radio reminded me of the impact such a small thing can have. I think it is time to revive this labor of love and include all of my children. They will still remember the little notes long after I am gone and perhaps one day will leave notes for their children.

 

There is absolutely no reason why I can't do as the daughter in the commercial did and brighten the days of total strangers. I am now armed with a Sharpie and a stack of Post-it notes. I will also leave random affirmations for people to find. I challenge every reader who sees this to do the same. Together we can spread some much needed happiness and love.

 

Do I really have to give something up for Lent?

With Lent almost upon us it is time again to start thinking about what I will give up this year. But why should I have to give up anything? Why do we celebrate Lent every year?

 It’s all about the suffering right? God likes it when we suffer. The more I suffer the more it shows that I love God. And then I look at my crucifix and I see what true suffering is all about. How does my giving up diet coke for forty days really compare to that?

The answer is it doesn’t. There is no amount of suffering I can endure that even comes close to that of Jesus’ suffering. God is neither happy that I suffer nor impressed when I do. Suffering was not his plan for creation. He made us perfect and placed us in paradise with only one little condition – obey the one rule - do not eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge. When we fell to temptation we fell from grace and suffering was the consequence. Suffering is an everyday occurrence and not the reason for this season of Lent.

Lent is a time of preparation for the celebration of the greatest miracle of all time – the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, son of God, for the salvation and redemption of all who love him. Lent is a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving that begins forty days before Easter Sunday. Giving up something is fasting – voluntarily denying ourselves of something pleasurable. So why do we do this?

One of the first words a child masters is the word – mine. That toy is mine. That food is mine. It denotes ownership of an object. Most adults never grow out of this stage, in fact this is the driving force in many adult lives. He who dies with the most stuff wins.

 

 But true Christians know that everything we have comes from God. It is his and we are just called upon to be stewards of it. What can I offer to God that he didn’t give to me first? It is like me buying myself a birthday gift and then giving it to my five year old son to give to me on my birthday. He is so proud of the gift he got for his daddy.

The one thing that I have that is mine and that God respects is my free will. God loves me so much and respects my free will to the point that he is willing to allow me to spend eternity in hell if that is my desire. When we fast we exercise our free will. When we give up something pleasurable through the temptation and offer it up to God we truly offer a gift that pleases him. He is not impressed with our suffering but he is pleased with our self-disciple and denial, to show our love for him.

If my fast is a token fast, that is, giving up something I don’t normally do anyway I am not really showing love to God. If my fast is great but I do it as a show for everyone I am not really trying to please God. I am hoping for the adoration of those around me. I have my reward whether anyone even notices or not. Our fasts don’t have to be great to be a gift. Small fasts done with love are great gifts to the Lord. They are also not something reserved only for Lent. We should fast from something every day and offer it up to the Lord. It doesn’t have to be the same thing day after day. It could be giving up that extra cookie or spending an hour you normally would be watching TV in prayer instead. Married people can refrain from the marriage act and offer it as a fast. Any fast done with love is a great fast.

Our free will is like our muscles. If we do not exercise it, it becomes weak. It can become so weak that it can no longer function and you find that you cannot resist temptation. The devil loves spiritual couch potatoes. They are easy to manipulate and to turn from the Lord. The devil hates spiritual gym rats who exercise their free will daily. They can look even the hardest temptation in the eye with a chuckle.

Let us use this Lent as a springboard to get off our spiritual couches and exercise our free wills. Privately give up something meaningful and offer it as a gift of love to our Lord. When Easter is here and our feast has ended let us continue to offer up something small every day and keep our free will muscle in tip top shape.

Do we really still need a Pope and a Magisterium?

I am a gun guy. I have enjoyed shooting and teaching others to shoot for over thirty years now. There are many factors that go into being able to hit the target accurately. Proper breathing and trigger control are important but if I do not have a good sight picture I will miss every time. Even being just a tenth of an inch off can cause me to miss by eighteen inches or more at just twenty-five yards. Shooting old school with iron sights there are three parts that make up the sight picture – target, front sight, rear sight. All three must be lined up properly for the bullet to have any chance of accuracy.

The human eye cannot concentrate on three things at one time so all focus it set on the front sight. It is placed on the target where I want the bullet to go and then the rear sight is brought into alignment. If I do everything right my bullet will fly true along the path I have selected.

 

Our spiritual life can be thought of in much the same manner. Our target is heaven. Jesus is our focus, our front sight. Our rear sight is our religious instruction. The bullet is our life and the path it follows is our faith.

The devil will do anything he can to keep us from hitting our target. One of his tricks is to get us to turn our focus off of Jesus. If we do not have Jesus as our front sight, our focus, we have no chance of hitting our target of heaven. The devil can also succeed by moving the rear sight. Even if moved just a little it could cause us to miss the target entirely. Remember, the rear sight is our religious instruction.

Catholics believe that the Catholic Church has the fullness of Christian truth. We believe that the teachings we have come directly from Jesus, handed down through time by the successors of the original twelve disciples. Jesus taught the twelve who taught their disciples and so on.

In the mid-fifteen hundreds there was a Catholic priest who did not agree with everything the Church was doing. You know him as Martin Luther, father of the Lutheran church and Protestantism. Martin Luther was absolutely correct in pointing out the abuses of power the Catholic Church was committing. It was necessary in stopping the abuses. He was absolutely wrong to use it as an opportunity to stray from Church teaching and introduce his opinion as doctrine.

Luther removed books from the canon of scripture that he thought were there in error and he wanted to exclude others because they did not support his way of thinking. He went further by adding things to scripture that he thought were missing, most notably one word that created the Lutheran motto – "Sola Scriptura” - Scripture Alone. It was Luther’s way to throw out fifteen-hundred years of Catholic Tradition and teaching and make the bible the sole source of instruction, which he could interpret in a way that suited him. When Luther was asked why he had added the word “alone” to a particular phrase in the bible he answered that Luther did it and that should be justification enough.

 

Probably the most destructive thing Luther did was when he changed the Mass from a sacrifice to an instruction of the faithful. He changed the Mass from being centered and about Jesus to being centered and about the congregation. It ceased being a Mass and became nothing more than a service with some nice bible instruction in it.

What Luther did was open the door for anyone to interpret Holy Scripture anyway they saw fit to support any idea that may have had. As a result we have over 40,000 different protestant churches each teaching their own flavor of the truth. This greatly amuses the devil. All it took was a small nudge to the sights to get humanity off target.

There are not 40,000 “truths”.  Jesus said, “I am the truth, the way and the life.” The only truth is that which Jesus taught his disciples. As Catholics we have the Magisterium. The Magisterium is the Pope in communion with all of his bishops and is the teaching arm of the Church. They have the responsibility to ensure that we receive the teaching that Jesus gave to his disciples. They have the responsibility to ensure this teaching stays true to the teaching of Christ and that it is not corrupted by any person or group of people over time. In short, it is their responsibility to ensure that we keep our sights properly aligned.

Other Christian religions cannot make this claim, in fact, they claim that they do not need such a thing. They say that the bible is self-interpreting and each person can come to the correct meaning on their own. That works so well that we have seen churches split in half when their two ministers can’t agree on what the bible says among themselves.

So do we really need a Pope and a Magisterium? I for one am extremely grateful that we have them.

How Old is Your Church?

If you are a Lutheran, your religion was founded by Martin Luther, an ex- monk of the Catholic Church, in the year 1517.

If you belong to the Church of England, your religion was founded by King Henry VIII in the year 1534 because the Pope would not grant him a second annulment with the right to remarry.

If you are a Presbyterian, your religion was founded by John Knox in Scotland in the year 1560.

If you are a Congregationalist, your religion was originated by Robert Brown in Holland in 1582.

If you are a Baptist, you owe the tenets of your religion to John Smyth, who launched it in Amsterdam in 1605.

If you are of the Dutch Reformed church, you recognize Michaelis Jones as founder, because he originated your religion in New York in 1628.

If you are a Protestant Episcopalian, your religion was an offshoot of the Church of England founded by Samuel Seabury in the American colonies in the 17th century.

If you are a Methodist, your religion was launched by John and Charles Wesley in England in 1744.

If you are a Unitarian, Theophilus Lindley founded your church in London in 1774.

If you are a Mormon (Latter Day Saints), Joseph Smith started your religion in Palmyra, N.Y., in 1829.

If you worship with the Salvation Army, your sect began with William Booth in London in 1865.

If you are a Christian Scientist, you look to 1879 as the year in which your religion was born and to Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy as its founder.

If you belong to one of the religious organizations known as 'Church of the Nazarene," "Pentecostal Gospel." "Holiness Church," "Pilgrim Holiness Church," "Jehovah's Witnesses," your religion is one of the hundreds of new sects founded by men within the past century.

If you are Catholic, you know that your religion was founded in the year 33 by Jesus Christ the Son of God, and it is still the same Church today.

 

Borrowed from EWTN

An Angel Weeps

An Angel Weeps

A tiny life is growing inside her
so fragile from the start
developing fingers and toes
pretty blue eyes and a nose
fighting for her life with
each of her tiny heartbeats


All her mother can think about
is how cold those stirrups are
as she lays on the table and waits
for the doctor to remove this inconvenience


In a corner an angel waits
to take Heaven’s newest resident
home in her loving arms
and she weeps

Lord, I pray to you today for those innocents without a voice. I pray for the aborted, the miscarried, the stillborn. Bring these innocents into your heavenly kingdom and let them know your love. Have mercy on the mother's who have aborted for they know not what they do. And have mercy on us all for allowing such a travesty to occur.


Watch over those at the March for Life who peaceably demonstrate against the legalization of child sacrifice. Turn the hearts of those who believe it is right to be able to murder the most helpless among us. Send your favor to the parents who have embraced life and have openly accepted your call to co-create.


Through Christ, your son, my Lord.


Amen


42 years is too long. Let's end legal abortion now.


An unborn baby is a life to be celebrated, not a burden to be terminated.

Mass needs more crying babies.

Across the sanctuary a baby is crying. A few pews over a little boy is sitting on his mother’s lap playing with a stuffed animal. In the cry room a toddler is screaming. My six-month old is busily making raspberry noises as loud as she can. Those close to us smile because it is just too cute. Yet, there are others in the congregation who are annoyed at one end and very upset at the other by the disturbances these babies cause. I used to sympathize with them and even stopped attending Mass for a while when my youngest son started getting rambunctious and the parish we were in didn’t have a cry room. I thought it wrong to disturb those who come to worship when my kid couldn’t sit quietly like a little doll. Then I learned about the true power behind a baby’s voice.

God shared with man something he did not share with the angels – the ability to co-create a life. Man and woman come together to form one flesh, a baby, in which God incarnates a soul. God, man and woman work together to create a new mortal being with an immortal soul. This so enraged the devil that he willfully separated himself from God and fell from heaven. He has made it his sole purpose to separate God from his beloved mankind.

He started by tempting man, introducing sin into God’s perfect creation. Death entered the world and man fell from God’s grace. We were separated from our heavenly Father by a great chasm, one no man could ever bridge. Only a sinless man could ever be considered worthy of inheriting God’s kingdom, his royal nature. Only divine blood held enough worth to pay the ransom of death and free man from eternal imprisonment. In his infinite love for his children the Father sent the Son, the Word, to be incarnate and become like us in all things except sin.

Jesus is fully human and was subject to temptation as all of us are. Not born with original sin, he did not have the attraction to sin that we suffer with. I believe the devil tempted Jesus relentlessly. If he could have gotten Jesus to sin Jesus would not have been worthy to bridge the chasm. But perfection cannot sin against itself. Jesus is also fully divine and by his death and resurrection he became our salvation. His royal blood spilled for us paid our ransom and he became our redemption. The path to paradise was restored.

The devil had failed in keeping the path between God and man closed. Now his only option is to get man to willfully separate himself from God just as he and the other fallen angels had done. As the father of lies this has been an easy venture and he has spent all of human existence convincing people that God does not exist. He muddies the path to God so people get lost along the way and wonder unknowingly in the wrong direction. He has gotten cultures to sacrifice their children to him under assumed names and purposes. Even today we sacrifice our children to the gods of convenience, time and desire. We don’t look upon it as murder of a human but a woman’s choice, her right, to do as she pleases. Human sacrifice is human sacrifice despite whatever name we call it or justification we give it. This greatly pleases the devil.

In as much as getting a man to willfully deny God pleases the devil I believe he has found something that pleases him even more. The devil is jealous of man because of his ability to participate in creation and bring forth new life. What could be more pleasing to satan than to get man to walk away from this great honor we have been given? Before the invention of artificial birth control when a woman had sex with a man she did so at the risk of her own life. Death of the mother during and through pregnancy was common. A woman who accepted this risk gave her entire self over to the man she had sex with. It was the self-sacrifice the marital act was supposed to be. If the woman got pregnant a real man would take responsibility for her and his child.

After the invention of artificial birth control sex was no longer about sacrifice. It was about pleasure and recreation. Pope Paul VI wrote an encyclical issued on July 25^th, 1968 called Humanae Vitae “Of Human Life” re-affirming the teaching of the Catholic Church regarding married love, responsible parenthood and the continued rejection of artificial birth control. In it he made four predictions of what would happen if the use of artificial birth control became widespread:

1: The widespread use of contraception would lead to conjugal infidelity and the general lowering of morality.

2: Man will lose respect for the woman and no longer care for her physical and psychological equilibrium and will come to the point of considering her as a mere instrument of selfish enjoyment and no longer as his respected and beloved companion.

3: The widespread acceptance of contraception would place a dangerous weapon in the hands of those public authorities who take no heed of moral exigencies.

4: Contraception would lead man to think that he had unlimited dominion over his own body.

One does not have to look too far to see how right Pope Paul VI was when he wrote Humanae Vitae. If there is any hope that our culture will survive studying and enacting the teaching of Humanae Vitae in our personal lives is the first, the greatest step we can take. It would restore marriage and family back to the proper place they are meant to be.

With the invention of artificial birth control the devil gave us the ability to say no to God’s plan of co-creation of new life. He then concentrated on turning us self-centered, it’s all about me and what I want right now. Sex was no longer a sacrifice, a gift of value freely given to a beloved. Sex was all about one’s self and one’s own pleasure. This greatly slowed the rate at which new life was born.

Then the devil went back to work on convincing us humans to sacrifice our children to him. He couldn’t stop all pregnancy so now he had to concentrate on ending as many as he could. On January 22^nd, 1973 the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed the unlimited domain of a woman over her own body by allowing her to terminate a pregnancy in the first trimester – Roe vs Wade – the case that made abortion legal. It did so based upon the fact that this country has never officially defined when a human life actually begins. The court did not recognize a life beginning at conception so limited the state’s right to regulate abortion only after a fetus is considered viable outside of the mother, around 26 – 28 weeks.

And so it became legal for a woman to end a growing life inside her and we began to sacrifice our children to the gods of convenience, time and desire ever since. Over 57,500,000 babies have lost their lives in the United States alone since abortion was made legal in 1973.

The voice of a baby is painful to the devil’s ears. It reminds him of the gift God gave man in co-creation. Every whine, every cry and especially every laugh a baby makes is a reminder to the devil of where he has failed and love has succeeded. A baby crying at Mass is not a disturbance, it is a song of joy and praise to heaven above. Be thankful for those crying babies and the families who have said yes to God’s great plan. Without them there will be no Church in twenty, thirty or forty years. When you see parents at Mass with four, five, six or more children struggling to keep chaos from ensuing thank them for their willingness to say yes to God and accept life as it has been given to them. They really need to hear it.

Please join the pro-life movement and those participating in the March for Life in Washington, D.C. on January 22^nd in praying that we come to our senses and put an end to the legal murder of the most innocent among us.

An unborn baby is a life to be celebrated, not a burden to be terminated.

What is Agápe?

At a management seminar I once attended the instructor had everyone in the class tie air filled balloons around our ankles with a one foot piece of string. He then told us that anyone who still had an inflated balloon attached to their ankle at the end of two minutes would win the exercise. The second he yelled to begin the room became a frenzy of foot stomping people desperately trying to flatten another’s balloon without having theirs flattened in the process. Within a minute there were no inflated balloons to be found as those who could not keep their balloon safe ganged up on the few who remained.

The instructor gathered the class together and asked, “What did you have to do to win the exercise?”

“Keep our balloon from being popped.” someone answered.

“And who told you to pop the other balloons?” he then asked.

We all stood around giving each other dumb looks. We could all have been winners if we had done nothing more than stood still for two minutes. Given the competitive nature with which we have been raised it was not enough to just have an un-popped balloon – we had to pop as many as we could in the process. In order to be successful we had to make others fail.

This is often the same approach we take with God. We try to make ourselves look better by making others look worse. We try to justify our shortcomings by comparing ourselves to those who have much greater shortcomings, at least in our eyes.

“The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ “  - Luke, Chapter 18, Verses 11 and 12

We silently echo the words of that tax collector in our minds as the bells ring during the presentation of the Sacred Blood immediately following the consecration of the Holy Eucharist during Mass.

“God, be merciful unto me, the sinner!” – Luke, Chapter 18, Verse 13

The truth of the matter is that there is no competition in God’s eyes. He loves Mother Teresa the same as he loves Adolph Hitler. God IS love, and not just any type of love, but agápe.

The English language is at a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to the word love. We have one word that has been given a dozen different meanings. I love my wife. I love my pet squirrel. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. One word, many different meanings.

In Greek, the language of the New Testament, there are many different words for love that each has specific meanings. One is Éros from which we get words like erotic. It refers to a physical love of an intimate nature. Another is Phillia from which we get words like Philadelphia, city of brotherly love. That is exactly what type of love Phillia is – brotherly love, affectionate regard or friendship.

The last word for love that I will talk about is Agápe. This is an unconditional, sacrificial type of love that does not hope to be returned. It is the kind of love that is placed before all else. To better understand the New Testament try substituting the word sacrifice where you see the word love.

God is love – God is sacrifice – God is agápe. God has power, God has knowledge, but God IS love.

Let’s look at probably the most used passage at any Christian wedding and substitute the word sacrifice for the word love:

“Sacrifice is patient, sacrifice is kind and is not jealous; sacrifice does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” – 1 Corinthians, Chapter 13, Verses 4 - 7

That is the kind of love God has for each and every one of his creation, his children. That is the kind of love that we are called to have for each other. It is definitely the kind of love that is needed to have a successful marriage or to be a good parent and it is the reason why there is no competition with God. He loves us all the same, unconditionally, sacrificially, agápe. We cannot get him to love us more by getting him to love someone else less. He loves us all completely and wholly.

If I want to find favor with God I do so not by competing with, but by serving my fellow man. I am called to be the one who sacrifices my balloon so that you can win the exercise. If we all were willing to sacrifice for each other we all win together.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” – Luke, Chapter 10, Verse 27

This is what agápe means.

Technology is the devil's folly.

Technology increases our efficiency, productivity and brings us closer as a people. At least that is what we are meant to believe. Like with every good lie there is some truth to that statement but in reality technology is nothing more than a brilliantly disguised tool of the devil. We are meant to believe that we are more efficient, more productive and closer as a people but closely examine your own life and you will find that this is not close to being true.

Let’s look at one piece of technology that none of us can live without – the telephone. Back when it became popular every house had one. It was found in a centralized location mounted to a wall or on the counter and you had as much mobility as far as you could stretch the two foot cord. The first innovation was to create a longer cord, some long enough that you could stretch them all the way into another room. Then we went cordless allowing the user free roam of the entire house.

When you wanted to talk to someone you called their house and hoped that they would answer. If they didn’t you hoped that someone else would so you could leave a message. Out of necessity the answering machine was invented so you would never miss a call again. Land lines gave way to cell phones so you could get a call no matter where you were. This was done all in the name of efficiency, productivity but mostly convenience.

When I entered the work force there were no such things as cell phones. I went to work, did my job and came home. Work was work - home was home. The two did not cross. Work had a phone in case there was an emergency but it hardly ever interrupted my work. Today I carry a cell phone for work and am accessible twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, even on Christmas Eve. I even can do all of my emails directly from my phone.  I never really leave work and if I leave my phone on my desk because I need a break I usually come back to a bunch of voice mails and texts from people worried something happened to me because I did not answer the first seventeen times they called. It has become easy for anyone to call me anytime for any reason no matter what I am doing.

But telephones have shrunk the world and brought us closer together. I no longer have to take a couple hours of my time and go visit my mother. I can now give her a quick five minute phone call once a month to let her know I care. How efficient is that? Even conversations are becoming things of the past.  I can type out a few words in a short sentence and send a text. I don’t even have to use words.  I can use emoticons and cute text abbreviation. RUOKJ?

We  have a world of people addicted to their phones, many of who could not function without them. Several people I know even carry two or three phones with them at all times. They are constantly jumping from one to the other. Try having a conversation with someone today that isn’t interrupted by a call or text message. We have become a distracted people. I sat at a red light one day as nine cars made a left hand turn in front of me. Out of the nine cars, seven of the people were either on a call or were trying to text while making the turn. It has gotten so bad that we even have to sadly announce before each Mass, “Out of respect of our liturgy please turn off all cell phones or set them to vibrate now.” And even then it is not a rare occurrence when someone’s goofy ringtone goes off in the middle of Mass. I was even present when a priest’s cell phone rang right at the end of the service.

A distracted people is exactly what the devil wants us to be. He wants us to pay attention to anything other than what is really important. He loves it when instead of actually visiting with family all we do is check out their Face Book page to see what’s new in their lives. He is tickled pink that the very things that were suppose to make out lives more efficient, productive and bring us closer together has filled our lives with so much noise that we don’t have the time for anything or anyone. I would volunteer at the soup kitchen but I just don’t have the time. Hey, I made it to Easter Mass what more do you expect? I know I was ten minutes late and complained about not finding a seat but I made it for communion. I would have stayed until the end but I had other places I had to be…

One of the best things a family can do is to eat an evening meal together. Very few families actually do this anymore. Our lives have become so efficient from the technology that no one has the time. Even when they do many times the family members sit in silence as they thumb away at a tiny keyboard on some electronic gizmo. Time and experiences are no longer shared. If I want to know how my daughter’s day went I have an easier time finding out by looking at Face Book.

In many ways I envy the Amish. They have their own issues but they still eat together as a family and gather as a community. Their focus is on work, family and prayer and not on what Miley Cyrus did today or who wore what where. I secretly hope that a massive solar flare comes one day and makes them the technologically superior people.

I am an engineer and a father of five in the modern world. I won’t be trading my cell phone for a horse and black hat anytime soon.  But I can recognize the hand of the devil at work and do my best to keep my priorities where they should be. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions but if I did I would resolve to live the next year as simply as I could, actually caring for those around me and using the tools of the devil as little as possible.