A Spoon Full of Sugar...

The Young Messiah was recently released and is the latest in bible based movies. It portrays Jesus as a seven year old boy who has not learned that he is the Son of God or what his purpose in life is yet. It has gotten great reviews and people generally seem to like the movie. Is it worth seeing?

If you have a well formed understanding of your faith and can separate fact from entertainment you will probably do ok seeing this movie. If your theology changes every time you watch something on TV you might want to avoid this movie.

This movie is well acted and well filmed and is entertaining. As a movie goes it is a good movie. As a source of Christian instruction it is horrible. It is worse than horrible. It is heresy. Heresy is any belief or opinion contrary to orthodox religious doctrine. The heresy in this movie is that Jesus did not know who he was until his mother sat him down and told him. He was just a normal human kid living a normal human life until Mary told him he was God. This is contrary to Catholic doctrine.

This movie wrestles with one of the great mysteries of Christianity, the dual nature of Jesus. Most of the popular heresies in Christian history have revolved around this subject. To begin to have some sort of understanding on this we have to first start by understanding the difference between a person and a nature.

A person is a unique entity or being. There are only three types of persons – divine, angelic, and human. A divine person is God and we have three in one, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. More correctly stated we have the Father, the Word, and the Holy Breath. From the Father came the Breath and one word was uttered – Jesus.

An angelic person is a completely spiritual being created with full knowledge to be servants and messengers of God. These are the angels and the fallen angels or the demons.

Last in the pecking order we have the human person who is an incarnated spirit. We are not spirits trapped in flesh who get released when we die. Nor do we become angels. We are spirits joined with flesh and we will have physical bodies for eternity after the final judgment.

Jesus is not a human person. Jesus is solely a divine person. When we say that Jesus is fully human and fully divine we are speaking of his nature or the essence of his being. The second person of the Trinity took on a human nature when the Word became flesh.  It is this dual nature that has confounded people since Jesus came on the scene. Something cannot be 100% one thing and 100% another. That is if we view nature as a physical substance. Think of nature to be more like light.

Imagine for a moment a room with a box in the middle of it. On the left is a bright red light. On the right is a bright blue light. When we turn on just the red light the box turns red. When we turn on just the blue light the box turns blue. When we turn on both lights an interesting thing occurs. When we view the box from the left the box is red. When we view the box from the right the box is blue. When we view the box from the middle where both lights are shinning on it equally the box is purple. The box is 100% red and 100% blue at the same time. The red light does not displace the blue light and the blue does not displace the red. They exist equally.

The red light represents Christ’s divine nature. The blue represents his human nature. There are times where Jesus’ divine nature shines through, like when he is healing or forgiving sins. There are times when Jesus’ human nature shines through, like when he laments in the garden of Gethsemane. Most of the time in scripture we see the two natures shining together.

Equally as difficult to understand is what knowledge Jesus had during his time on earth. Some believe that as a divine person he was omnipotent and had all of the same knowledge as the Father. Others believe the exact opposite; that Jesus only knew what he was taught. We can cherry pick individual scripture passages that will support either belief.

I believe that, like with his dual nature, Jesus had dual knowledge. Jesus is a divine person and knew his divinity. He and the Father were one. Jesus knew who he was, what he was, and why he was here. Yet, Jesus could not tell you whether or not it would rain the next day. When Jesus became incarnate he became like us in all things except sin. He set aside his omnipotence and was obliged to know only that which the Father revealed to him. He had to learn human things the way a human does. He was not born knowing how to speak, to feed or dress himself. He had to learn to go to the bathroom.

Think for a moment of all of the knowledge that God posses as being contained in one book. This book represents the tree of life from the story of the Garden of Eden. God told man not to open the book. We did and we fell. When Jesus became man he closed the book and handed it to his Father. Jesus then only read the pages that his Father gave him to read and not one word more. From the very beginning Jesus had the divine knowledge of who he was and only the human knowledge he learned or was given for a specific task.

The major heresy in The Young Messiah is that Jesus did not know who he was until he was told by his mother. He was also able to create and restore life at seven. It makes for a good movie but does not reflect the teaching passed down through the centuries by the Church Jesus founded.

So what is the danger in it? It’s only a movie right? Unfortunately people these days believe what they see on a screen, whether that be from the internet on a computer screen, a non-Christian documentary on the T.V., or a religious based movie on the big screen. In the days of the eleven second attention span people learn through the images that enter through the eyes. And the devil knows this all too well.

How do you get a dog to take a pill? Usually you wrap it in a piece of cheese or some peanut butter and give it to them. They swallow the pill with the prize. Satan uses this same trick with us. He takes something morally corrosive and wraps it in gooey goodness. Take a heresy and wrap it up in a good film about the god boy and people will eat it up. Wasn’t it just darling the way he made doves out of clay and brought them to life? See, he had the power to resurrect people even when he was that young. Once you get someone walking down the wrong road it becomes easy to slowly wind that road completely away from God without the wanderer ever knowing the better.

We are instructed to avoid the near occasion of sin. We are to avoid those places that make it easier for us to fall into sin. Going to a movie such as this one with a questionable understanding of your faith puts you in the near occasion of sin. It should be avoided. If you are well founded in your faith and can see this as nothing more than entertainment then by all means go enjoy.

My heart is full because the tomb is empty.

That Man is I - The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

“For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. “When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. “But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. “So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ “And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. “But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ “So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ “But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. “So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. “Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ‘Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.” – Matthew 18: 23-35

Let’s start by putting this into the proper perspective. In today’s value one talent is worth $1.25 million dollars. A denarii is worth one day’s unskilled labor. In Jesus’ day this would have amounted to about $20 in bread. The slave owed his master about $12.5 billion dollars while being owed only $2000 dollars.

Twelve billion dollars is an unpayable sum of money even for the richest person on the planet today. There was no bankruptcy back then. Failure to make good on the debt means you forfeit the collateral of that debt. The collateral for this man was not only his own life but the lives of his wife and children and their children to come. The man’s lineage for perpetuity was condemned to slavery.

But the master had compassion on the slave. Acting in mercy he forgave the slave's entire debt setting him free. He forgave an unpayable debt and restored the man to his full humanity. The redeemed slave then found the man who owed him a meager two thousand dollars and demanded payment in full. When that slave could not pay the man foreclosed on the loan and took the slave's collateral - the slave's life, as payment for the debt.

Why would a man who had just been shown an overwhelming amount of mercy then respond with so little mercy? Was it selfishness, ingratitude, or maybe pride? While meditating on this parable I was struck by the answer like taking a two by four to the head.

That man is I. I am the ungrateful slave. I have accumulated an unpayable debt to the Lord my God through the sin I commit every day. There is nothing I can do to repay what I owe. The cost of my sin is my life. God would be just if he were to foreclose on this debt and cast me into the abyss for eternity. But what does the merciful master do? He forgives. He redeems. He makes me whole.

Then what do I do? I call due every debt owed to me by those I know. I hold grudges. I stay angry. I refuse to acknowledge the existence of those I love because of something they said or did. I demand my hundred denarii and will not accept one penny less.

Mercy shall be received in the same measure that it is given. If I want to receive God’s mercy in its fullest I have to give mercy in my fullest. I need to forgive anything and everything that is in the way of my love for another. I have to let go of the hurt, hate, and fear that keep me from seeing Jesus present in every person.

What is the difference between pity and mercy? Pity is compassion extended downward to the humanity of a person, looking upon that person as being lower than myself. Mercy is compassion extended upward recognizing Christ in the person and acknowledging the dignity that person has because they were made in the image and likeness of God.

We are called to be merciful not pity filled. In this Jubilee Year of Mercy let us forgive every single denarii owed to us as we have been forgiven our ten thousand talents.

Attention KMart shoppers, we have a blue light special in aisle five.

A common occurrence in our world today is the phenomenon known as church shopping. It has become so common in fact that you can almost say that it has reached an epidemic proportion. People are desperately searching for the church that fits them the best. They are always looking for the church that has the best music, or the best pastor, shortest sermons, or best donuts and coffee after the service on Sunday. In many ways it resembles dating. When my needs aren’t met it’s time to end the relationship and take off to find the next best church.

It seems to always follow the same course. People bounce around between the different mainstream Christian religions, the Catholics, the Lutherans, the Methodists, the Presbyterians. Eventually shoppers find their way to one of the many nondenominational churches or even join one of the mega churches of our day. If they search long enough many leave altogether. They can no longer find the relevance of church in their lives.

The motivation for shopping is always the same. The shopper is looking for something for them self. They are looking for a church that makes them feel good. They are looking for a church that entertains them. They are looking for a church that they get something from. Why not? Why attend a church where you feel bored or where you don’t get fed the spiritual food you are looking for?

In other words we church shop for purely selfish reasons. It is all about me and what I can get out of it. But then church isn’t about me is it? I do not go to church to get. I go to church to give, to give worship, praise, and thanks to God. God is the reason for church, not me.

Jesus came to earth to start a church. He did not just start any church or every church. Jesus started only one church, the universal church, the Catholic Church. Jesus started the Church and then instituted her leaders – the first twelve apostles. Jesus lived with the twelve and passed on to them both his knowledge and his authority. He then sent them out to teach, baptize, and to make disciples of all nations. He didn’t tell them to write a book. He did not tell them to build a temple. He told them to teach and teach they did. They were the original magisterium and they passed on to their successors everything that Jesus had passed on to them.

All other Christian churches were founded by men who believed they knew better than the Church Christ founded. Martin Luther and John Calvin, the pioneers of the reformation, didn’t leave the Catholic Church because of the abuses and corruption. They stated very clearly that any human institution would suffer such corruption. They left because they thought their personal theologies were better than that of the Church of Christ. They mainstreamed church shopping.

When one is baptized they are adopted into the family of God. Technically speaking there is only one Sacrament of Baptism and that sacrament brings one into the body of Christ, the Church. There is no such thing as the Lutheran Sacrament of Baptism or the Methodist Sacrament of Baptism. There is only the Sacrament of Baptism instituted by Christ to confer grace. Every person who receives this sacrament is in reality baptized Catholic.

I was born into the Collins family, with the Collins identity, and the Collins genetics. I am a member of this family whether I want to be or not. My neighbors are Hispanic. They have much better food than we do and much livelier music. They laugh and hoot and seem to have much more fun than my family has. Is it possible for me to cease to be a Collins, cross the street, and become a Martinez? No, it is not. Even though I am in the Martinez house, eating the Martinez food, and dancing to the Martinez music I am still a Collins. Nothing can ever change that.

Likewise, I was baptized into the family of God, into the body of Christ which is the Church Jesus himself established. This is something that cannot be undone. It does not matter if I like the sermons in the Lutheran church or the food at the Methodist church or prefer the entertainment at the mega-church. I am Catholic and belong in the Catholic Church.

I do not go to church to get anything. I do not go to church for the music or the sermon. Church is not about me or how I feel. I go to church to give, to give God worship and praise. I go to church every Sunday and pledge my oath to Jesus in the flesh that I will live my life for him and die for him if so asked. I cannot do this in any other place but the Church Jesus created.

My relationship with the Catholic Church is one of covenant marriage. I am not in a dating relationship that I can end when I no longer am getting something out of the relationship. Marriages that stay faithful bear fruit, even through the dry times. Marriages that stay faithful do not go out in search of self fulfillment. Faithful marriages are never about the self, they are about the other. They are sacrificial. They are agape.

If you have been courting different fruitless spiritual relationships maybe it is time to look at the only one Jesus arranged for you. It is time to stop shopping and to come home.

Cross or Crucifix?

Catholics are often criticized for our use of the crucifix (a cross with a corpus on it). Many non-Catholic Christians believe that a simple cross is a better representation of the Christian faith. Jesus has risen and is no longer on the cross so we shouldn’t depict him still there by using a crucifix. But many of the same people who say this have no problem depicting baby Jesus in a manager in their nativity scenes. Why still show baby Jesus in the manger? He grew up you know.

Another argument against the bare cross is the fact that the cross came down at the same time Jesus did. The cross did not stand after his death. It was not up when he rose from the dead. A bare cross cannot possibly represent the risen Lord because it did not exist when he rose. It only existed before he was nailed to it. If you want to better represent a risen Christ wouldn’t an empty tomb be a better visual?

Cross or crucifix? That question is very similar to Protestant or Catholic. It is a decision only you can make for yourself. All I will try to do here is to give witness as to what they mean to me.

 

 

When I look at a cross with modern day eyes I see the symbol most commonly used to represent Christianity in the world today. When I look at a cross through historical eyes I see one of the most horrendous torture devices ever created. The cross was designed to kill a person with great pain and suffering over the longest period of time possible in the most humiliating way possible.  Every last bit of dignity was stripped from those crucified. Regardless of what the crucifix looks like, every person crucified was hung on the cross naked, including our Lord.

The cross was thought to do more than that. It was believed that anyone who died on a cross was cursed. They could not go to the god in the heavens as they did if they were burned. Likewise, they could not go to the god of the earth as they would have if they had been buried.

“If a man has committed a sin worthy of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is accursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.”  - Deuteronomy 21, 22-23

 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” – Galatians 3, 13

The cross cannot provide salvation. The cross is no more the sacrifice than the chalice used to hold the Sacred Blood is the sacrifice. An empty cross is nothing more than just that – empty. By itself it holds no value.

Now when I look at a crucifix I see something very, very different. When I look at a crucifix I see what true, sacrificial, agápe love looks like.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” – John 3, 16 – 17

If you want proof to this passage just look at a crucifix. There is nothing that happens in my life that a crucifix cannot help me with.

When I am suffering the physical pains my aging body provides I can look at a crucifix and be reminded as to what true suffering really is. My pains aren’t so bad.

When I am feeling lonely I can look at a crucifix and be reminded what real loneliness looks like. I am not so alone.

When I am feeling like all of life is against me I can look at a crucifix and see what it truly means to be hated.

When I am not feeling loved I can look at a crucifix and be instantly reminded of how much I am loved.

This is something a bare cross simply cannot do. A bare cross states for the person who wears it, “I am Christian.” Add the corpus and a crucifix states for Jesus, “I am love.” The first is a statement about who I am, the second is a statement about who God is. There is no comparison.

One of the criticisms of the movie The Passion of the Christ was that the torture of Jesus in the movie was too brutally depicted. It is heart wrenching to watch. For many, including myself, it was the first time we connected the reality of Christ’s sacrifice to our understanding of that reality. I can never look at a crucifix the same way ever again. It is also the reason why a bare cross doesn’t move me as it once did. A bare cross is to Christianity what a porterhouse steak is to the modern consumer. Both are great as long as we don’t have to see the reality of where they came. As a hunter I have a deeper appreciation of meat because I know firsthand where it comes from. As a Catholic I have a deeper love for the crucifix because I know the reality it represents.

Jesus is agape. A crucifix is the visible representation of that agape. A cross represents the Christian, the crucifix represents Christ.

 

My heart is full because the tomb was empty.

To be or not to be.

The thing that sets man apart from the animals is our ability to reason. Reason is nothing more than a mathematical equation where we plug in the variables of input from our senses, knowledge, experience, and our feelings to come to a logical conclusion. Feelings are the most subjective part of the equation and often overpower it becoming the only factor in making a decision. We often make the wrong choice solely based upon feelings even if all of the other parts of the equation point to a different outcome.

Feelings were created by God and are in and of themselves a good thing. Feelings and emotions make us who we are. But feelings can be used by the devil as weapons to get us to turn from God and sin. Some of the best arguments that support something bad are based entirely on feelings. Take gay marriage as an example. Too many people have bought into the argument that just because two people feel love for each other that they should be allowed to marry one another. This reduces the purpose of marriage down to nothing more than a response to feelings. It totally neglects the designed purpose and reason for marriage. A screwdriver makes a really good pry bar but that is not what it was designed for or its intended purpose.

The devil loves feelings. Feelings are easily manipulated and some of the strongest motivators in our lives. Satan wants us to feel. God wants us to be. When we feel we are much less likely to do. The devil wants us to feel charitable. When we feel as if we are charitable we are much less likely to do charitable things. God wants us to be charitable. The devil wants us to feel love because we will be less likely to be loving. God wants us to be love. The devil wants a feeling; God wants action.

Love is not a feeling even though we feel love. Love is an action, it is something you do. It is something you do even if you don’t have the feeling that goes with it. To love someone is to will the best for them. You do this despite how you feel at any moment in time. You can be mad at somebody. You can be hurt by them. You can feel hatred towards them. As long as you still will the best for that person you love them. When you will the best for your enemy you love them. We are commanded to love everyone. We are commanded to will the best for everyone despite how we feel about them. The devil wants us to ignore the action and concentrate on the feeling.

We fast to exercise our will. We fast to demonstrate to the devil and to ourselves that we are in control of our feelings and our wills. It is a Lenten Friday and my feelings are screaming to me that I want a fat, juicy cheeseburger. I exercise my will to say no to the intensified desire for meat on Friday. Anything exercised becomes stronger. Anything not exercised atrophies. When we don’t exercise our wills to do that which is right we become a slave to our feelings. When all we do is feel we cease to act.

 

 



 

My heart is full because the tomb is empty.

An Old Testament Poem in a New Testament Era

In diaconate formation we are studying the Psalms. We learned that a psalm is a Hebrew poem that is still used to this day as a way to pray and worship. We borrow this concept in our own Liturgy of the Hours that we pray throughout the day. A psalm can take on one of five forms:

Praise/Hymns

Laments

Thanksgiving

Royal

Wisdom

The assignment for this class was to pick one of these five forms and write our own psalm. I thought I would share mine with you.

A Song of Exuberance

For the director of music. With 6 string lire, harmonica, and jaw harp.

1 My soul delights; my heart bursts with joy

   My happiness knows no end; ecstasy wells up within me

   For my God is a risen God, great King conquering over death

2 He has shattered my fetters of sin; liberated me from the netherworld

   Paid my ransom with his own blood; his life he poured out for me

   He bought me back from my tormenter; he forgave the debt

3 He restores my soul; my life he makes anew

   He picks me up from out of the dirt and calls me friend

   His mercy is never ending; his love endures for all generations

4 Come then, let us sing praise and worship

   Striking joyfully the timbrel and harp

   Filling his courts with songs of thanksgiving

5 Sing with gladness to the Lord our God

   Fall before him with honor and homage

   And bless his Holy name

6 Know that the Lord is God; King of all creation

   For he is our God and we are his people

   Molded from dust in his image

7 I will love the Lord with my entire being

   Singing joyful praise and offering thanksgiving

   All the days of my life

Voters, lend me your ear.

It is a leap year. What makes a leap year special? It is the year in which Americans choose who will be their leader for the next four years. That’s right; it is election time once again. We will hear over and over that voting is a civic duty and that we must vote to be responsible citizens. That begs the question; how is a faithful Catholic to vote?

I will not tell anyone whom they should vote for. That is a decision each person has to make for them self. What determines who gets your vote varies greatly from one person to another. Some vote a straight party ticket. Some will never vote for anyone in a particular party no matter how much they agree with the person just because of the party affiliation. Some are single issue people who vote for candidates based upon their support or opposition of a particular issue.

Far too many Catholics compartmentalize their faith in order to vote for the candidate of their choice. There are certain issues that are central to our faith that should be non-negotiable to every Catholic. The big three that I will discuss are abortion/euthanasia, religious freedom, and defense of traditional marriage.

Catholics cannot support any candidate who has publically supported the murder of another, whether that is a baby in the womb, someone at the end of their life, or someone who wishes to end their life because they are suffering with a terminal illness. Many candidates try to sidestep this issue by claiming to be personally opposed to abortion and euthanasia while publically supporting it because it is the will of their constituency. This is not an acceptable compromise. We cannot judge a person’s heart. We can only judge their actions.

Catholics also cannot support any candidate who has publically supported restrictions on religious freedoms. Every politician supports an individual’s right to worship in their homes or houses of worship. Many do not want us to live our faith openly in the public square. There have been several laws enacted in recent years that attempt to force Catholics to do things against their conscience and the teachings of their faith, such as forcing Catholic employers to provide contraceptives and sterilization procedures to their employees.

The latest battlefield in this arena is the defense of traditional marriage. Every society has the right to define for itself what it considers marriage. What society does not have the right to do is to force that definition upon faith communities. For a Catholic, marriage was created and defined by God and reaffirmed by Jesus. We cannot choose to believe it to be something different and still call ourselves Catholic. If we do not stand in opposition of the State dictating to the Church how she must view marriages we will see the Church persecuted as never before. It will start with us being labeled as discriminatory because we will not marry same sex couples. We will lose our tax exempt status and associated faith organizations, like hospitals and schools, will be forced to close their doors.  Finally they will come for the Church proper and we will see our clergy jailed for refusal to comply.

We have already seen these activities begin. Catholic Relief Services in Illinois was forced to get out of the adoption business because they refused to allow same sex couples to adopt. LGBT groups saw this as a huge win for their civil rights movement while Catholics viewed it as an intrusion into their right to live their faith in the public square. Ultimately, it was the children who would have been adopted into a traditional family who have been harmed the most. We can only expect these types of infringements to grow if candidates who support traditional family values aren’t representing us. No Catholic, in good conscience, can support a candidate who is against traditional marriage and traditional family values.

So what is a Catholic voter to do? The first thing is to get informed. This is more important for the Catholic voter than any other. We need to be true to our faith and our entire way of life hangs in the balance. We need to know not only what the candidates say they believe but how they have voted on these issues in the public forum. Judge actions, not words. The ones who are pro-Catholic should get our full support. The ones who violate even one of the non-negotiables cannot get any of our support. I may like you as a person but if you openly support murdering children you will never get my vote.

What happens if both choices violate the non-negotiables? I have heard many solutions to this question –

1: Vote for the least evil. You are still supporting evil by your vote.

2: Vote for the person who will do the least amount of harm. They will still be doing harm.

3: Vote for the person who will do the most good. A thousand good acts do not justify a single evil act.

4: Don’t vote. You won’t be supporting any evil but you have no right to complain with what you get.

5: Write in a vote. Virtually the same thing as not voting at all.

I actually do not accept premise number 4. You don’t lose your right to complain just because you didn’t vote. Again, voting for an evil is still supporting an evil. If we only have two candidates and both publically support abortion, a Catholic nonnegotiable, you cannot vote for either.

This is where I think our Amish friends are on to something. They almost never vote in the big elections because they cannot support any of the candidates at that level and be true to their faith. Instead, they concentrate their efforts by only voting locally for those candidates who most closely reflect their values. In this way they are the more likely to have a reasonable government close to them. Sensible government percolates up, not trickles down.

So dear voter, educate yourself and decide wisely who will represent you. You way of life depends on it.

Here is a Presidential voter’s guide put together by the Illinois Family Institute for the Illinois Primary. It offers valuable information for voters in any state.

Jesus saves!

It was the storm of the century. Hurricane winds pounded the coast as the torrential rains fell. The waters crested their banks and began their march toward the houses. An old Evangelical sat on his porch watching the approaching waters. Soon his house was surrounded and the muddy waters kept rising. A rescue boat came by and beckoned for the man to climb onboard.

“God provides. Jesus is my salvation.” He calmly said and refused to board the rescue boat.

As the flood waters got higher the man was forced to retreat to the second story of the house. Looking out his bedroom window another rescue boat tried to get the man to leave.

“God provides. Jesus is my salvation.” He again stated defiantly.

The waters did not stop and the man had to climb upon his roof to keep from being swept away. This time a helicopter descended and a billowing voice called to him over a loud speaker. “Climb on board. We’re here to save you.”

“Only Jesus saves!” The man screamed back as he shook his fist at the helicopter.

And with that his house buckled and was washed away by the enraged waters. The man was lost amid the destruction. In the blink of an eye the man stood before Jesus in heaven. The man was dumbfounded. “Lord, I had unshakable faith. Why didn’t you save me?”

Jesus looked at the man a bit bewildered. “I sent two boats and a helicopter. What more should I have done?”

This is a popular anti-Catholic meme that is floating around Face Book that demonstrates this same kind of thought. It is a great illustration on how something can be 100% factually correct and completely wrong at the same time. It is 100% factually correct that only Jesus can save us. Where it goes wrong is how Jesus goes about doing this.

Jesus was a tekton, a trade craftsman. English commonly translates tekton as carpenter. As a craftsman Jesus used many tools to do his job. He used hammers, saws, canons, and many other tools to build what he built. When he goes about the job of saving man he also uses tools to accomplish this. Jesus gave us things to make it easier to live a holy life. Let’s examine each claim of this meme.

Only Jesus saves, not a priest.

Correctly stated, Jesus saves through a priest. Jesus lived with and taught the twelve for three years. At the last supper he taught them how to offer sacrifice in his name. Between the resurrection and Pentecost he continued their instruction and passed on to them his divine authority to do things like forgive sins, consecrate the Holy Eucharist, and cast out demons. A priest cannot do any of these things on his own authority or through his own name any more than I can come to your house and demand that you let me in, in the name of the FBI. The FBI has not given me that authority and therefore I cannot not act with their power. The twelve were deputized and given a badge to act in the name and authority of Jesus by Jesus. Jesus acts through a priest to provide the things that will assist us in living a holy life.

Only Jesus saves, not Mary.

Once again, 100% correct. Mary is not God. She is the mother of God and the best example of what a human person can be. She was the first Christian, conceived without original sin, the new Eve. Catholics do not worship Mary. We venerate her and give her, her proper place as the queen of heaven, as stated in the Book of Revelations. Jesus said ask and it shall be given, knock and the door will be opened. If he is willing to do this for us how much more so will he do this for his mother, the only sinless human person, and one who never denied or lost faith in her son? Behold your mother. Jesus gave us his mother as the example on how to live and her intercession to him on our behalf is second to none.

Only Jesus saves, not Baptism.

Yup, no argument there. Baptism alone cannot save you just as much as not being baptized sends you directly to Hell. Neither is correct. Baptism is the first Sacrament of Initiation and the doorway to all of the other Sacraments. A sacrament is an efficacious sign of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is 'dispensed' to us. In other words, baptism is a tool used by Jesus to give us grace to live a holy life. A holy life leads to salvation; it is not salvation in and of itself. Baptism cleanses us, puts an indelible mark on our souls, and brings us into God’s family as an adopted child.

Only Jesus saves, not good works.

That is correct. There is noting salvific about works of any kind. Heaven will be filled with people who did not do a single good work. Take the repentant thief as an example. His faith alone was rewarded with paradise. Yet, there are many, many passages in the bible where we are told that it is not only expected but commanded that we do good works if we truly love Jesus. Obedience is more pleasing to God than even sacrifice. Jesus commanded us to love our neighbor, feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, give shelter to the homeless, visit the sick and imprisoned, and to bury the dead. These are good works and we have been commanded to do them. He also went on to tell us that anyone who does not do these things will be separated out with the goats at the end of time. If we truly love Jesus we will naturally do the good works that he has commanded us to do.

Only Jesus saves, not a church.

Spoiler alert – there will be many who attended church services faithfully their entire lives in Hell at the completion of time. In 1820 the whaling ship Essex was sunk by a sperm whale. The crew escaped to the lifeboats and spent the next ninety-five days at sea. Just because they made it into a lifeboat did not mean that they survived. The crew lived off of the bodies of five of their shipmates who died. When those bodies were not sufficient they drew lots on who would be sacrificed so the rest may live. Seven of the crew were cannibalized to save the rest. Just because you are physically in a church does not mean you will be saved.

Yet, Jesus did start the Church. With a little understanding of Jewish culture and the significance of the number twelve this becomes very clearly evident from Holy Scripture. Jesus did not just start any church or every church; he started only one Church, the Catholic Church. This has nothing to do with religion. It is a historical fact. He started the Church because he wanted us to be all one body, one family. That body is his Church. We are many parts but we are all one body. Jesus uses the Church as a tool to lead lost sheep to a saving knowledge of his love.

Only Jesus saves, not the Pope.

Ah yes. How often we hear this especially in today’s world of social media and around the clock news coverage. Non-Catholics so often mistake the reverence Catholics hold for the Pope as worship. Like with Mary, we do not worship the Pope but we do hold him in a place of honor because he sits in the Chair of Peter. Simon bar Jonah, the Rock, is the man whose faith Christ built his Church upon. Jesus appointed Peter the first “pope”, the leader of the twelve in his absence. Peter was to lead and guide, not rule over, the early Church. Why does the Church need a visible head? Well, we have one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Catholic Church that teaches the same truth in every one of its parishes and 30,000 plus Protestant churches that cannot agree upon what is true. The Pope in union with his bishops make up the Magisterium. The primary responsibility of the Magisterium is to ensure that the truths that Jesus taught the twelve are handed down exactly as he taught them. The Pope is the visible face of the invisible Christ. It is through the authority passed down to him from Jesus that the Pope acts.

If this meme represented the Catholic understanding of salvation it would say:

Jesus saves through….

through the priesthood.

through Mary.

through Baptism.

through good works.

through the Church.

through the Pope.

Jesus saves through the tools that he gave us to use to live a holy life.

“Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming. And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him. And as these were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not realizing what he was saying. While he was saying this, a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!” And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen.” Luke 9: 28-36

My heart is full because the tomb is empty.

Time to break out the hoes.

This is truly an exciting time of year. The hazy shades of winter are slowly losing its grip and the day is returning to full splendor. The snow is retreating and soon the first signs of green will start to emerge. My mailbox has already beginning to fill with seed catalogs filled with pictures of produce in every color of the rainbow. I have loved these catalogs since I was a small boy and their arrival fuels my urges to dig in the dirt. There is something so satisfying about being able to grow your own yummy, nutritious food from a small seed.

We are also in the season of Lent where we prepare our hearts to receive the greatest miracle ever granted. For me Holy Week is the greatest week of the year. My emotions run high as we re-present the Passion of our Lord, standing in the congregation while everyone yells, “CRUCIFY HIM!” I have never been able to take part in that portion of the service. It takes all my strength to keep tears from flowing down my cheeks.

Then on Good Friday Jesus is gone, body committed to the ground. I have never experienced such utter loneliness as what I feel when I am in a Catholic Church and the tabernacle is empty. Last year my parish did a Tenebrae service. In this service the last seven things Christ said on the cross are read. After each reading a candle is extinguished. At the end you are left in total darkness, alone, as Christ would have been in the tomb. You will never experience the feeling of such loss except in Hell.

Holy week concludes on the Easter vigil where the year’s catechumens and candidates are baptized, confirmed, and brought as new members into the family of God. It is the single greatest celebration that mankind has ever experienced. Darkness is vanquished and Light returns to the Church. Christ is risen. Christ is risen indeed! Imagine the torment you would feel if you misplaced your new born. Now imagine the joy you would feel when you found her again. Holy Week is like that for me but infinitesimally greater.

In part of the Easter Vigil the catechumens (unbaptized) are baptized. They become a new creation, an adopted child of God. Their sins are wiped clean and they begin anew. All of the faithful gathered also renew their baptismal vows.

In baptism God tills the fertile soil of our hearts. In each of us he plants a single seed. The seed is then germinated by the waters of baptism and we are given the command to be fruitful and multiply. It becomes our responsibility to tend to this seed, to nurture it, and help it grow. If we do our part that seed will grow to a strong plant and produce much fruit. Each fruit is full of hundreds seeds waiting to be spread to other catechumens and the light of God’s love will spread.

But how we care for that plant is up to us. Many neglect it. Many more let it die. They become infertile soil incapable of growing the love God has for each of us. But with God there is always hope. If those who fall away can see the abundance a fruitful garden can yield they can come to long for what that garden produces. This is where the real work of ministry, of tending the garden, begins. It is up to us to help the fallen away fix their infertile soil and then replant the seed of everlasting life.

Most of us are quite content living in our own garden. The abundant fruit is not shared with anyone and begins to rot on the ground. Rotting fruit attracts every sort of evil that will take over the garden and eventually destroy it. We are given an abundance to share with those who lack real fruit. This is the true meaning behind Jesus’ sermon on the sheep and the goats. Sheep share their abundance bringing new sheep into the flock. Goats do not and are cast aside. Goats need not the Shepherd for they have their reward.

Use this period of Lent, the lengthening of days, to tend to your garden so it may be fruitful and multiple bringing many sheep into God’s Holy flock.

My heart is full because the tomb is empty.

Puzzling Pachyderm

Five blind men heard that the circus was coming to town and they thought they would go down and see an elephant. They approached the elephant at the same time, side by side.

The first man grabbed the elephant by the trunk and after feeling it declared, “An elephant is like a big fire hose.”

The second man got a hold of the elephant by the ear and after feeling it disagreed with the first man. “An elephant is alike a large tropical leaf.”

The third man wrapped his arms around the elephant’s leg. It didn’t feel anything like a fire hose or a large leaf. “No, an elephant is like a mighty oak tree.”

The fourth man ran into the side of the elephant. He extended his arms as wide and as high as they could go. “To me an elephant feels like a rough brick wall.”

The fifth man only felt the elephant’s tail. He couldn’t understand what the other men were talking about. “An elephant is like a long rope.”

The five blind men began to bicker with each other over which one was right. The elephant trainer stood back taking in the whole sight. He just silently shook his head. “An elephant looks like, well, an elephant.”

We are like these blind men when we cherry pick passages out of Holy Scripture and use them to form our own beliefs as to what the bible actually is trying to tell us. We can latch on to one passage that leads us to believe that we are saved by only our faith. We can read another and believe that our faith is dead if we don’t perform works of love. One may read a passage and come away believing that anyone who isn’t baptized cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. Another may believe that they can cast out demons by simply using the name of Jesus.

Yet God can see the entire picture, a beautiful tapestry, the magnificent masterpiece of art. God doesn’t see just the fire hose, the tropical plant, the tree, the brick wall, or the rope. God sees the elephant. Jesus took on flesh so that he could teach us how to see the elephant as well. He instructed his church on how to understand the bible. It is only through the lens of the Church can we see and understand the bible for what it is. Without the guidance of the Church we are just grasping at parts of the whole.

You have dirt on your forehead.

“You have dirt on your forehead.”

I remember saying this to the Catholics who came to work after receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday. How little I understood what that mark meant.

Ash Wednesday begins the Christian season of Lent. Lent is the forty days before Easter and signifies the forty days Jesus spent fasting in the desert before he began his public ministry. The word lent comes from an Old English word meaning lengthening, as in the days are lengthening and the rebirth of spring is coming. That is what Easter is – a rebirth. Death has been conquered and we are all reborn in Christ’s resurrection.

Lent is a time for fasting, alms giving, and penance. In ancient times Christians would put on sackcloth and ashes as a sign for all to see that they were being penitent. Out of this tradition many Christians today start the season of Lent by having a cross of ashes traced on their foreheads with the words;

“Remember man, you are dust and to dust you will return.” Or,

“Repent and believe in the Gospel.”

Lent is a time for fasting. We do not fast because God likes it when we suffer. God does not want us to suffer nor is he impressed when we do. We fast to show God our love for him and to strengthen our wills. Everything I have belongs to God. I am just a steward of these things for him. The only thing that is truly mine is my free will. When I deny myself something pleasurable I exercise that free will. The devil hates it when we exercise because exercise makes us stronger to resist temptation. Satan loves spiritual couch potatoes.

Lent is also a time for alms giving – giving to the poor. If we are fasting we have extra we can offer to those who do not have these pleasures. We are to be more charitable during this season, giving not only money and food to those in need but our time as well. We can give alms by serving those not as fortunate as ourselves.

Most importantly, Lent is a time of penance. We are to look at our lives and be consciously aware of where we fail in our love for our Lord. We are to pray more and seek reconciliation. It is this purpose that the second person of God took on flesh and became the man known as Jesus of Nazareth. In his perfect love for us he offered up his divine blood as the payment for death brought on by sin.

Lent is our time in the desert, to prepare for the greatest gift of love ever given. When an important guest is coming we clean the house for them. During Lent we clean our souls to prepare for the arrival of the most important guest who will ever visit. We prepare to receive the risen Lord on Easter Sunday.

My heart is full because the tomb is empty.

So today I have dirt on my forehead as an outward sign to all that I am a Christian and that the season to prepare for Jesus is at hand.

“Jesus said to his disciples:
“Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms,
do not blow a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
to win the praise of others.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

“When you pray,
do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
so that others may see them.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you pray, go to your inner room,
close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

“When you fast,
do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance,
so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast,
anoint your head and wash your face,
so that you may not appear to be fasting,
except to your Father who is hidden.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.” – Matthew 6, 16-18

Missed it by that much...

ἁμαρτάνω – hamartanó, a Greek verb used in archery meaning to miss the mark. It is more commonly known as the word “sin”. Our target in life is to have a perfect, communal relationship with God. When we sin we miss the mark or, we do something that damages that relationship with God. In essence, we fail.

When God made man he made him perfect. He wanted for nothing. He didn’t hunger. He didn’t thirst. God gave him dominion over all of the beasts of the land, the birds of the air, and the fish in the sea. It was man’s responsibility to care for the garden.

In the center of the garden God planted the tree of life or the tree of knowledge. God gave man only one rule – don’t eat from this tree. If man ate from this tree he would surely die. Satan tempted man and got him to eat from the tree. Death entered the world and man did die. This was the original sin.

God is omnipotent, he knows all. If he knows all he knew man would fail and eat from the tree. If he knew man would fail why would he plant the tree in the garden in the first place? Surprisingly, God planted the tree so that love could exist. For love to exist there has to be a choice. Love cannot be forced on anyone and you cannot force anyone to love you in return. If God provided for every need of man, man couldn’t possibly love God in return. As long as there is a choice love can exist. Do I love God and show that love for him by being obedient or do I choose my desires over God?

The root of all sin is selfishness, taking for the self. The sin of Eve was the sin of greed. I want for myself that which God does not wish to give. How many ways do we commit this same sin today? In vitro fertilization, consulting physics, reading horoscopes, Ouija boards, and the like are all examples of where we are trying to take for ourselves that which God does not wish to give. I want a baby and can’t get pregnant. I want to know what tomorrow will bring. I want to talk to a departed loved one. We commit this sin when we turn to extraordinary means when ordinary means don’t work or aren’t available.

There are two types of sin – mortal and venial. Mortal sin will kill you, venial sin will not. Mortal sin is a sin so great that it completely destroys your relationship with God. Venial sin damages that relationship but does not sever it completely. Put into a medical analogy; mortal sin is a cancer that will leave you dead. Venial sin is a sore on the skin. Think of how lepers were described in the bible. They were unclean people with sores covering their body. Body parts would rot off and fall away. They were cast out of society. Even their families wouldn’t have anything to do with them.

Only God can forgive sins. Despite the beliefs of some of our non-Catholic brothers this is not an automatic thing. Jesus did die for our sins and the divine blood he shed paid the price of death for all humans who would accept him. Accept him as what? Accept him as Lord and savior. You see, we are all slaves, δοῦλος, doulos in Greek. We all have a master. None of us created ourselves and therefore we do not have rights to our bodies or souls. Through sin death entered the world and Satan became our master. Jesus paid that ransom with his own blood and bought us back from the devil. Redeem means to buy back.

Because God loves us and gave us a free will he respects that will above all else. Even though he paid the price for us he will not force us to leave our master to be his slave if we do not wish to. This is why we have to accept him, accept him as our new Lord and master. Likewise, God is willing to forgive us our sins but he will not force his forgiveness on to us. We have to seek it. We have to ask for it. We have to accept it when it is given. If we never ask for forgiveness he will not give it to us and the wage for sin is death. We go back to being slaves of the devil. At the end of time the devil will rule in hell and all who are his slaves will be cast into hell with him. Do you wish to spend eternity in friendship with God in heaven or slaves to the devil in hell? That is a choice only you can make.

So how does forgiveness work? That’s what we will explore next.

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

Under Attack

The evil one both hates and loves ordained men. He hates the ones who truly serve God and loves the ones he can corrupt. We were warned about this when we were in the pre-aspirancy to the diaconate. The men in the formation classes ahead of mine and ordained friends I have talked to all attest to this being true. The devil and his minions love to attack these men because they either hope to discourage them away from their vocations or they wish to corrupt them into being bad servants. A bad shepherd corrupts the entire flock.

I knew that this would be something I would have to contend with at some point. I did not expect to have to wage this war so soon. Satan is a cunning, sneaky master of deceit. He is the father of lies and extremely skillful at his craft. I came very close to walking away from the diaconate over our holiday break before I recognized his handiwork. Now that I am aware of what his manipulation feels like I know that I have felt it for as long as I have also felt God’s call to serve.

A good friend could sense the struggle I was having and gave me a call. He reminded me that the devil doesn’t attack those he already has. He also doesn’t attack those who have no influence over others. Those who can do him the most damage get the worst attacks. If I were being attacked it must mean I am doing something right or stand to be an adversary in the future. He was an encouraging light for a soul in the shadows.

Now that I know what Satan’s hand in my life feels like I can look back and see the effects he has over me. I can clearly see now that the moment he got what he was trying to accomplish his presence would live me as quickly as it came to me. It is eerie when you can feel the darkness suddenly leave you. Now that I can recognize it I can try to do a better job at combating it. At least I hope I can. May God be my shield and sword.

I cannot imagine how badly some of our holy men and women get attacked. There is a growing darkness in this world feeding hate. Satan is sowing the seeds of deceit, hate, and chaos and his garden is growing rapidly.

Pray for your bishops, priests, deacons, and those who have chosen religious life. Pray for our Pope. Pray for them to be holy men and women for they do battle with evil every day.

“Strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.” – Matthew 26: 31.

Father, send down the Holy Spirit unto those you have called to inspire and guide them to always be good and holy people who will lead your people closer to you.

St. Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God,
cast into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen

And please pray for me and my brothers in diaconate formation; that we may stay strong and not give into the attacks that await us.

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

Let's Talk About Sex Baby...

A friend asked a group of people if they thought he were gay by choice or by birth. Everyone in the group, being sympathetic to his struggle, told him he has born that way and to be proud. For me the source of his same sex attraction does not matter. His real choice is in how he responds to it. Having same sex attraction is not a sin. Acting on it is. Having a strong desire for something does not justify embracing the desire and it does not matter if you were born with the desire or if it developed from an experience.

There is a perceived notion by some that the Catholic Church hates people with same sex attraction. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Because every human is fallen every human has been given a cross they have to bear in this life. The Church does not hate someone just because of the cross they have been given to bear. In fact the Church is more like Simon the Cyrene, the man who helped Jesus carry his cross to Calvary. The Church is made up of sinners, each with their own crosses. The Church loves sinners and stands ready to help every sinner bear their cross in this life. There is no cross the Church is not ready to help a sinner carry. One needs only to ask.

The root of the problem with same sex attraction is when one uses their desires as justification to engage in sexual activity. God created sex to be part of a fruitful marriage. Its first purpose is procreative. Pro-creative = For-creation= to bring about new life. The second purpose of sex is to strengthen the bond between husband and wife. The family is the foundation of all society. Family is the rock that human interaction is built upon. Destroy the family and you destroy society.

Sex was never intended to be about personal pleasure. The road to heaven is selflessness – giving to another. The road to hell is selfishness – taking for one’s self. When sex is done for selfish pleasure it leads towards hell. It does not glorify God or honor his design and intent.

Any sex done outside of the bonds of one man, one woman marriage is therefore sinful. It does not matter if it is between people of the same sex, unmarried people of the opposite sex, those cohabitating, or even masturbation. Even sex between married couples that intentionally ends in a way that is not open to life is sinful.

I have a theory that the forbidden fruit mentioned in the first book of the bible was actually sex. Adam and Eve were naked and innocent and did not know each other. The devil tempted Eve into having sex with him and she in turn then had sex with Adam. Their eyes were opened and they were ashamed. The union with the devil could have possibly conceived Cain and this is how evil entered into human nature. Adam’s greatest sin was in not protecting his wife in the garden. This is just something to ponder.

Sex is serious stuff simply because sex is holy. It is through the act of sex that man was given something the angels weren’t. God shared with man the ability to create life. The devil cannot create life, he can only corrupt it. That is something he has been doing since Adam and Eve were placed in the garden. The devil has convinced man that sex is for personal gratification. He has gotten us to sacrifice our children to him. He has gotten us to believe that contraception is a good thing. Contra-ception = against conception = to stop life. Contraception has led to sterile, fruitless marriages.  It has weakened the bonds of marriage to the point that many no longer find a reason to be married. People now come together for what they can get for the self and not what they can give to the other. Once they stop getting it is time to move on. This in turn has destroyed the family. Once the foundation of a house has been destroyed the house falls. Society is in a death spiral. Most of the civilized world is below replacement rate – the rate of birth needed to just break even in the population. There are places in Europe where entire towns have closed simply because there is no one left to maintain them.

Through all of this the devil is laughing.

Death came into this world through selfishness in a garden.

Life was restored to the world through a garden by a celibate man born of a virgin woman.

Sex is holy and should only be used as it was designed.

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