Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?

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

 

March 6, 1857 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that blacks, enslaved or free, could not be American citizens and that the federal government had no power to regulate slavery in the United States. This reduced enslaved blacks to nothing more than possessions in a country that declared its independence with the line; “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

                “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!”

 

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

“Save us, Lord; we are perishing!”

 

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

“Save us, Lord; we are perishing!”

 

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

                “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!”

 

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

                “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!”

 

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

 

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

 

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

Thy will be done.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Garden of Gethsemane

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

Luke 22, 39-46

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

                Thy kingdom come,

                Thy will be done,

                Lead us not into temptation,

                But deliver us from evil.

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

If you could see what I hear.

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

Can I get an Amen?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AMEN!

The Sacrament of Anointing

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

James 5, 14-16

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

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

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

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

                CCC 1513

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

St. Paul, Colossians 1:24

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Redemptive Suffering

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Man – Nothing?

God – Nothing.

Man – Not even eternal life?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Diaconate Update

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


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


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


Thanks be to God.

Time for a cranial-rectal extraction.

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

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

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

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

 

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

fe·tus

noun

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

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

synonyms:	embryo, unborn baby/child

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

1 lion = worldwide outrage.

23,700,000 babies = a good start?

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

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

I absolve you...

Recently I found a lump at the base of my jaw. The doctor looked it over and told me that I had a tumor in my parotid gland. He wanted to biopsy it to see if it were malignant or benign. I asked what the difference was.

A malignant tumor will kill you if left untreated. A benign tumor will not. The doctor recommended having both types of tumors removed. I asked if a benign tumor wouldn’t kill you why would someone have it removed. The doctor explained that if left untreated a benign tumor would continue to grow and would eventually become disfiguring. A benign tumor could also turn malignant at any time. It is best to remove it when it is small.

I had the tumor removed and it was benign. I am now left with a hardly noticeable scar and a divot at the base of the jaw where the tumor was removed. Praise be to God.

Like the tumor there are two types of sin – mortal and venial. Ask a priest what the difference is and he will tell you that a mortal sin will kill you, a venial sin will not. He will also agree with the doctor that both types of sin should be removed. A venial sin, if left untreated, will continue to grow and become disfiguring. A venial sin can lead to mortal sin. It is best to remove it when it is small.

“So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.” – John 20, 19-23

Jesus understood the fallen nature of man. Baptism washes away the stain of sin but man is a weak creature and will sin again. Like a tumor, sin causes the death of the soul. Someone living in sin has been separated from the full love of God by their own choosing. Jesus knew that he had to provide a way to remove this tumor and allow us to come into full communion with God in this lifetime. Full communion with God is the only path to true happiness and God wants his children to be truly happy in this life and the one to come. Jesus gave his authority to forgive sins to his disciples and the Sacrament of Reconciliation was instituted.

Priests are doctors of the soul. They have the authority of Jesus, passed down through apostolic succession, to truly forgive a person of the sins in their life. A mortal sin is one that fully separates a person from the saving grace of God. Almost all of the mainstream Protestant denominations believe in “once saved, always saved”. This basically means that Jesus died once for all sins, past, present, and future, and that once you accept him as your Lord and Savior your place in heaven is assured. In this belief there is no punishment for sins committed after your acceptance of Christ. If there is no punishment there is no reason to have the Sacrament of Reconciliation. You are free to commit any sin that so pleases you and as long as you have accepted Christ you are safe.

Does this concept work in your family? Is your baby boy free from punishment for anything he does just because he loves you and accepts you as mommy or daddy? If he is you have some long nights, gray hair, and probably an ulcer or two ahead of you come the teenage years.

It doesn’t work in God’s family either. Jesus did die once for all and redeemed all of mankind for the price of sin both past and future. But one thing that God respects above all else is the free will he gave man and the angels. He will forgive us our sins and bring us into full communion with him or he will allow us to separate ourselves through sin. It is our choice. God does not condemn anyone to hell. He finds us there. We choose hell when we choose ourselves over God.

The only sin that God will not forgive is the sin we do not ask forgiveness for. Again, God respects our free will. If we choose to retain our sins he will allow us to retain them and then bear the punishment for those sins. If the sins are mortal we have fully separated ourselves from God and the punishment for those sins is death and an eternity in hell. Venial sin does not fully separate us from God but does severely restrict the saving grace God will give us. If you die with a mortal sin on your soul you go to hell. If you die with a venial sin on your soul you go to purgatory when you are purged or perfected and the sin you have is burned away like the chaff of wheat.

God wants us in full communion with him and he is ready to pour out saving grace to us. He has provided us a way to restore our soul or wipe the slate clean so to speak. We can receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, better known as confession, and be healed.

Why do I have to confess my sins to a priest? Can’t I just go to God directly? The simple answer is that Jesus told us to do so. If it weren’t necessary he wouldn’t have gave that authority to man to begin with. If we could simply go to Jesus with our sins that would have been the instruction he left. Tell my children to pray to me privately and forgiveness will be theirs. But that isn’t want he said. He gave his disciples the authority to bind or loose sins and then he instructed them to tell people to confess their sins to each other.

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed.” James 5, 16

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is one of the two sacraments of healing. We can confess our sins to a priest who stands in the place of Jesus. They act as a conduit connecting heaven and earth allowing the healing forgiveness of Jesus to flow down and restore our broken relationship with God. The priest can do this because he has been given the authority to do so by Jesus through the apostolic succession of the bishops. No other man or woman has been given this authority. This makes the priest the only doctor who can remove the cancer eating away at our souls. Tumors should be removed as soon as they exist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation is one of the greatest treasures the Catholic Church has.

Holy Orders

“When the hour had come, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves;  for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”  And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.” – Luke 22, 14-20

“So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.” – John 20, 19-23

Jesus is the Great High Priest. He came to establish his Church here on earth. Knowing he was to return to the Father Jesus handed down his authority to his chosen twelve apostles. They were to continue his ministry and teaching making disciples of all nations. He laid hands on them and breathed on them, passing on to them the Holy Spirit and all authority he had received from his Father in heaven. He appointed one to be head of all, not to rule them but to serve them.

“And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” – Matthew 16, 17-19

The word in the original Greek was “petros” meaning “rock”. "Peter" was more of a title than a name. Simon the Rock. It was the faith of Peter after Pentecost that Jesus built his Church upon. Ironically, about fifteen feet below the teaching chair of the Pope in the Vatican you will find the grave of St. Peter. Upon his bones rests the head of Christ’s Church on earth. The Church is quite literally built upon Simon the Rock. Upon this Rock I will build my Church.

To Jews numbers had specific meanings. Seven means to swear or take an oath. Forty means to test. Any time you see the number twelve in the bible it refers to government; the twelve tribes of Israel, the twelve judges, the twelve apostles. When Jesus chose twelve to be his inner circle disciples he was establishing the governmental leadership for his church. Jesus handed his authority down to them and they in turn handed their authority over to replacements before their deaths. Thus was established the hierarchy of Church leadership.

When we hear the word “hierarchy” we think chain of command. The Pope controls the bishops who control the priests, etc. This isn’t exactly how the hierarchy of the Church works. The word hierarchy has its roots in, you guessed it – Greek. Hierarchy = ιεραρχίας which is the combination of the Greek words ιερό σκοπό which when translated means “Holy Orders”. Heir-Archy = Holy-Orders. Holy Orders and Holy Matrimony make up the Sacraments of Service and are directed towards the salvation of others. People who receive the Sacrament of Matrimony are called to serve their spouses and children with the primary responsibility to get their families to heaven. Men who receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders are called to serve all of the people of their parishes, Catholic or not, with the primary goal of getting them to heaven.

There are three different types of holy orders in the Catholic Church. They should not be looked upon as levels or ranks like what we have in the military. A General in the army can order around any private on any base he visits. A bishop cannot order around any priest anywhere he goes. The Catholic hierarchy is not a chain of command in that fashion.

The first level of Holy Orders is the deacon. A deacon’s ministry is three fold. As the minister of the Word he is the herald of the Gospel and peaches and teaches in the name of the Church. As a minister of Sacrament, deacons baptize, lead the faithful in prayer, witness marriages, and conduct wake and funeral services. As a minister of Charity, deacons are leaders in identifying the needs of others, then marshals the Church's resources to try and meet those needs. Deacons are also dedicated to work toward eliminating the injustices or inequities that cause such needs. For more information on the deacon please read my previous blogpost: What is a deacon?

The second level of Holy Orders is the priest. All priests are first ordained as deacons and remain deacons for the rest of their life. In addition to their responsibilities as a deacon they have priestly responsibility to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and distribute the sacraments of reconciliation and healing. They can be assigned to a parish or a religious community or they can serve in some other administrative or executive role within the Church. When assigned to a parish the priest is actually the stand in for the bishop. Because the bishop cannot be at every parish every day the parish priest represents the bishop when saying Mass and conferring the sacraments.

The third level of Holy Orders is the bishop. When Jesus ordained his twelve disciples he made them bishops. When they handed that authority over to their replacements they ordained new bishops. As the Church grew so did the need for bishops. New bishops were ordained to fill the need. The Catholic Church has an unbroken line of succession going all the way back to Jesus himself. This is what is known as apostolic succession. The bishop is both the head deacon and the head priest and is responsible for all souls within his diocese. Authority to teach, preach and distribute the sacraments come from the bishop and the bishop is the only one who can distribute the Sacrament of Confirmation.  

Peter was the first Pope, a word simply meaning “Father”. The Pope is the head of all bishops but this does not mean that he rules over them. He is called to serve and lead them. The bishops in union with the Pope is known as the magisterium and is tasked with the responsibility to teach what Christ handed down and to ensure what is taught by his Church stays true to what he taught.

As with all Sacraments, Holy Orders are an oath to the death. Like with baptism, when a man is ordained his soul is indelibly marked for eternity. Once ordained, always ordained even if one goes astray. Just as you cannot unbaptized someone you cannot unordain someone of their Holy Orders. Their faculties can be removed but the indelible mark on their soul is there forever. For a man to be ordained and then teach something contrary to what Jesus taught, or in other words something against the official Church teaching, that would cause the man to renege on his oath and cause him to fall into mortal sin. All who accept Holy Orders are bound by their oath to be obedient to the teachings of Jesus even when they don't personally understand the teaching.

Because they are shepherds to Jesus' flock a great responsibility is placed upon them. Extraordinary grace is granted to them to help them through their ministry. Pray for your clergy. They are the frontline foot soldiers against the evil one and darkness engulfing our world.

Until death do us part.

Marriage is the oldest of all of the sacraments. It was instituted by God in the twilight of the sixth day of creation.

“Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.

The man said,
            “This is now bone of my bones,
            And flesh of my flesh;
            She shall be called Woman,
            Because she was taken out of Man.”

For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.” – Genesis 2, 18-24.

God authored marriage and therefore is the ultimate authority as to what marriage is, who it is between, and how long it lasts. Man has never been good at acknowledging or respecting God’s authority in anything. Changes to God’s plan started with Moses, the law giver. Moses’ people turned their backs on the law and demanded the ability to divorce. Moses eventually gave in to the pressure and allowed his people to divorce. The type of divorce Moses allowed is not the same as how we define divorce today. Read my previous blog post for a deeper dive into biblical divorce – Biblical Divorce.

When tested by the Pharisees, Jesus reaffirmed God’s definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman for life. The people preferred their definition over God’s and made themselves the ultimate authority on what marriage is, who it can be between, and for how long it lasts.

“Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” – Matthew 19, 3-9.

God defines marriage as being between one man and one woman for life. Marriage is called to be open to life – procreative, one flesh union. Two becomes three in unity. The family is the foundation of all society and marriage is intended to furnish the stable base where all human interaction starts. We are all called to be brothers and sisters living together in love.

This definition is too restrictive for man to follow. We have taken it upon ourselves to continue in the footsteps of the people of Moses and redefine what marriage is. We have three basic kinds of marriage among Christian people today.

The first is the civil marriage. It is a marriage defined and performed by the state. Thanks to a recent Supreme Court ruling who can be married in the United States is now open. No longer is marriage strictly between one man and one woman. Same sex marriages are now recognized. It is still between one person and one person but the door has been opened to legalize polygamy and multiple marriages in the near future. Civil marriage is a contractual marriage. A contract is the free exchange of goods and/or services for an amount of time. They are not lifelong. A civil marriage can last for a lifetime, and many of them do, but they can be terminated at any point in time by a simple divorce. The divorced pair are then able to marry someone else without restriction. Sadly, in a recent poll, this is the type of marriage over 56% of Catholics support. There are groups within the Church who are demanding that the Church get with the times and accept this as the definition of marriage. She is in the same position that Moses was after the exodus.

The second type of marriage is the blessed marriage. This is a marriage that is fully recognized and approved of by the Church, which for one reason or another does not rise to the level of a sacramental marriage. One of the elements of a sacramental marriage is missing and therefore this type of marriage does not receive the full measure of sacramental grace that is received when one is in a sacramental marriage. This often happens when a Catholic marries without the proper form or matter or marries someone who is not baptized or of another faith. A couple can have their marriage blessed by the Church only if some element that keeps the marriage from being considered sacramental is missing and there is nothing that can keep it from becoming sacramental exists. A Catholic woman who marries an unbaptized man can have her marriage blessed. A Catholic woman who marries a divorced man cannot. An unbaptized man can always become baptized. A divorced man can never really become “unmarried” as we see a marriage being for life. If the divorced man’s wife dies he then becomes free to marry again and then that marriage can be blessed and even become sacramental.

The reason a person should have their non-sacramental marriage blessed is so they can receive the other sacraments. A couple who has a blessed marriage can receive the Eucharist (if the requirements to do so are met). They can receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation and Healing. Those living in an unblessed civil marriage cannot receive these sacraments.

The third type of marriage is the sacramental marriage. This is the type of marriage all Catholics who are called to the vocation of marriage are called to. Marriage is one of the three sacraments that are universally accepted as a sacrament among the mainstream Christian religions. The main difference between the Protestant sacrament and the Catholic sacrament is that Protestants can divorce and end the marriage. For a Catholic a marriage is for life.

This series on the sacraments centers on how they are “oaths until the death”. The Catholic Sacrament of Marriage is probably the easiest of the sacraments to see how this principle applies. Catholics believe that marriage is between one man and one woman, open to the creation of new life, for as long as both people are alive. A Catholic marriage is a covenantal marriage, not a contractual marriage. A covenant is the total giving of one’s self for the total receiving of another for life. The only thing that can end a covenant is the death of one who has entered into it.

The Baltimore Catechism defined a sacrament as, “an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace." This is the main difference between a blessed marriage and a sacramental marriage. God gives grace to couples living marriage as he defined it, not as man defined it. There is nothing we cannot accomplish with the grace of God. A sacramental marriage living with the grace of God is a good and holy thing that all marriage should be modeled after.

If you are an American Christian do not fret over the recent Supreme Court ruling considering the definition of marriage. Man has been trying to redefine marriage since the time of Moses. It only deals with a civil marriage. For a Catholic, marriage is so much more. For us, marriage was instituted and defined by God, the ultimate authority in all things. Supreme Court justices come and go and their rulings change with time. God is eternal and his love for us never changes.

What we do with our bodies we do with our spirits

One thing that always upsets me is when I see the disrespect of our Lord by those who claim to love him the most. This is especially apparent twice a year – between May and June as the weather turns warmer and again in the fall as football season ramps up. Yes, I am going to rant about clothing.

If I had any ability to draw I would have made a cartoon picture of Jesus on the cross. Standing in front of him would be a guy in shorts, T-shirt, and flip-flops looking up at him. The caption would read, “I did this for you and that is the best you can do when you come to see me?”

I can hear the sighs and see the eye rolls already. I have it heard it before, “God doesn’t care what I wear to Church. He is just happy that I came.” The arrogance in that statement never fails to astound me. The Creator of everything that is, was, and ever will be is happy just because I could carve out forty-five minutes of my time to come see Him in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Of course, I sat there bored out of my gourd and annoyed because the homily went over five minutes. Why can’t the priest have some respect for my time? Doesn’t he know I have more important things to do today? I know I was ten minutes late and left right after communion but I put forth the effort. That’s all that matters, right?

C.S. Lewis said it best in the Screwtape Letters when he said what we do with our bodies we do with our souls. We do Catholic aerobics (sit, stand, kneel, bow, genuflect, cross ourselves) precisely for this reason. We show respect with our bodies so we can show respect with our spirits. Why do we come to Mass? Simply because God is deserves our worship. He is king of all creation and our salvation and redemption. Nothing or no one is more worthy or more deserving of our worship, love, and respect. If nothing or no one is more worthy then nothing or no one is more worthy of our best. God surely deserves better than a T-shirt, swim trunks, and flip-flops. We are going to be in the presence of the greatest King ever to rule the earth, not to a barbeque on the beach.

Likewise, when fall rolls around we will start to see our favorite football jerseys be worn in pride to Mass. Whom do we venerate when we wear our jerseys to church, Jesus or good ol’ #4 (Brett Favre of the Green Bay Packers, who is a god to many north of the cheddar curtain). Having pride in the home team has its place. That place is not the Mass. The Mass is time to love, adore, and worship the Lord alone.

And that is where I think the problem firmly falls. I think there is a general misunderstanding of what the Mass actually is. Many of our Catholic brethren have gone the Martin Luther route and see Mass as nothing more than a prayer service, an instruction of the faithful. Mass is no longer a sacrifice.

In reality, Mass is a time machine where heaven and earth come together as one and we are mystically transported back to the foot of the cross at Calvary to be with all the angels and every soul who has or will ever live to participate in the crucifixion of Jesus the Christ. The priest acts as the conduit merging all of these plains of existence and times into a single act. The Mass is not the same sacrifice repeated. It is the one sacrifice that we are joined to each and every time we participate in it.

If you could stand before Jesus on the cross on the day he was sacrificed would you show up in a T-Shirts and shorts or a football jersey or would you choose to dress a bit better? Well, each and every time you participate in the Mass you are doing just that – you are standing before Jesus on the cross on the day he was crucified. Just because you cannot see the angels and saints surrounding you does not mean they are not there. Just like with faith you have to believe what eyes cannot see.

“Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.” When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said also, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.”  - Exodus 3, 1-6.

When Moses came before the Lord the Lord made Moses remove his sandals because he was on Holy Ground. Likewise, when you come before the Lord in the Mass you are also on Holy Ground. It has been consecrated and set aside for the Lord. To come before the Lord without regard to the way you dress is disrespectful at the very least, most likely sinful at best, and probably idolatrous in the extreme. You shall have no other gods before me, even Brett Favre.

Ask yourself this question; if the clothing worn to Mass doesn’t matter how would you feel if the priest ditched his itchy Roman robes for shorts and sandals? How would you feel if he walked out to do a wedding in a Green Bay Packers football jersey? What if he showed up to baptize your baby in flannel and cowboy boots? Most would be downright furious if this happened to them. Sadly, some would only be upset because their pictures would be ruined but most would view this as a gross disrespect to their special day. Every day is a special day to the Lord.

Clothing is an extension of the soul. It is the visible representation of how important an event is to you. If the Bishop was going to be at Mass you wouldn’t wear your shorts and T-shirt. If the Pope was coming by you wouldn’t wear your Michael Jordan jersey. If you were going to meet the President of the United States you wouldn’t do so looking like a hobo. You would have respect for the office these men hold even if you had no respect for these men as men.

Yet all of these men fail to compare to He whom we come to worship during Mass. I get to hold the creator of everything in my hands during Mass. I get to enthrone my King, my Salvation and Redemption and my life with my body. I get the greatest honor a lowly creature like me could ever have.

The devil wants us to be disrespectful. He wants us to be callous and unaware of the Lord. Once he is successful in separating us in the small the important is easier to get us to turn from. Once the devil gets us to think that the Lord doesn’t care for things like how we dress for Mass it becomes easier for him to convince us that God doesn’t care about the important things like abortion or same sex marriage.

It is time we revive “Sunday Best” and start showing our respect for our Lord when we gather to celebrate the sacrifice of the Mass.