Where is the line???

As I left my house this morning to get my car inspected and then head to Mass I was struck by the stark reality of how lost our country is, and in some ways how lost many Catholics in our country are, how we have so many things to help us find our way and yet when it comes to the most important things we seem directionless.  Traffic as I expected was crazy and people cut each other off trying to buy the biggest television or the newest iPad.  Now I am a technology guru and enjoy the latest, greatest toys when I can afford them (which right now being in Grad schools isn't often, donations are accepted however). 

All humor aside as I was almost struck by a car in the Walmart parking lot where I needed to go to get a taillight bulb for my car to get it to pass inspection, I was driven to reflect on just where are the lines in today's world.  What are we willing to wait in line for?  I saw many people willing to wait several hours to buy a TV or a computer but rarely do I see people willing to wait 10 minutes for the Sacrament of Penance.  When Sunday Mass goes longer than an hour, people complain and leave early after Holy Communion.  As Catholics we need to realize that at Mass we receive the very Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We should be willing to wait as long as it takes and then get down on our knees (if you are able) and say "Amen" with love and conviction.

It gives one pause in today's society as to what is valued.  People instead of giving thanks and enjoying time with family and friends went to go stand in line to get the best deal on the newest thing because stores opened at 8pm yesterday.  In this culture, in this environment Catholics need to get back to the basics.  Cardinal Dolan called for this at the meeting with all bishops when they met recently.  

So in this upcoming Advent season let us reflect on how much we as Catholics have to be thankful for and how much work there is to be done.  There is the tradition of an Advent fast as well as a Lenten fast in the Eastern Rite Churches, maybe its time we take their example and fast this advent as well for conversion of heart and mind.  We are all partners in the vineyard of the Lord and should act the part. However, for us to take the Gospel out to others it needs to first take root in our own hearts and I know for myself  I find myself sometimes lacking, none of us are perfect, but I know God's grace and the Holy Spirit will make up the difference.  The call is then to interior conversion and transformation, metanoia - radical transformation and adherence to Jesus Christ.  The General Directory for Catechesis puts it this way; "Faith involves a change of life, a "metanoia", that is a profound transformation of mind and heart; it causes the believer to live that conversion.  This transformation of life manifests itself at all levels of the Christian's existence: in his interior life of adoration and acceptance of the divine will, in his action, participation in the mission of the Church, in his married and family life; in his professional life; in fulfilling economic and social responsibilities." (55)(Emphasis mine).

So the question is then where is the line?  Is it at the store, at a restaurant, at the mall?  Where is the line to see Jesus?  In the New Testament people jumped at the chance - in the Gospel on Tuesday Zacchaeus runs ahead and climbs a tree just so he can see Jesus over the crowds and yet in many of our Churches pews are barely occupied the echo of emptiness rings of the stone walls.  Where is the line to see Jesus?  The call is being made, the Holy Spirit knocks on the door to your heart, Jesus seeks your answer.  Will you wait in line to see Jesus?
(I know its not Christmas yet but this song speaks great truth)

Rejoice: Christ is still the King!! Unite and be witnesses of the Gospel

"That they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.  The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom thou hast given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory which thou hast given me in thy love for me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father, the world has not known thee, but I have known thee; and these know that thou hast sent me.  I made known to them thy name, and I will make it known, that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." John 17:21-26

Christ is still the king and we must stand together united in opposition not to a party or a person but to evil.  To those things, people and institutions that take innocent human life, redefine marriage, corrupt the morals of your young people and culture in general.
Catholics we need to be a witness even more of Christ the King!!!  It is time to stand up, to unite and show this country what being Catholic is all about - it is not a rule, or a commandment but it is about a person, Jesus Christ who is love - Deus Caritas est (God is Love).  Are we witnessing to that in everything that we do, from home, to the pews in church, to the classroom, to the workplace, to the store (and the store parking lots), to the roadways (I am guilty here just ask anybody who has driven with me), to every single encounter we have with every single person no matter the circumstances.

The order is tall no doubt, but with the grace of God all things are possible.  The Church right now has a united leadership and all Catholics need to unite behind our Bishops.  Catholics who are lukewarm, unsure,  or cafeteria Catholics need to see Catholics who are fired up, joy filled and joyful; witnessing to the love of God in their lives.  Families (of all sizes) living, breathing, and witnessing good family virtues (not just values).  The world will listen to authentic witnesses,  the Church has seen it time and time again starting with the Apostolic Fathers right through to today with Saints such as St. Josemaria and Mother Teresa, Blessed John Paul II just to name a few. 

While things did not turn out the way we had hope and prayed.  Our salvation does not turn on an election.  Our salvation is in the Lord and our hope is in Him alone.  Everyone at the day of judgement will be called on to give an account of their lives and what will you say?  We lost the election so I gave up?  No, you say our nation had a setback in civil authority but God still reigns and I still sought in every aspect of my life to witness to You Jesus, who is Lord of all.

Will things be more difficult for awhile, probably, but take heart we are not yet in a Colosseum with lions.  However, if today's equivalent is called for, be prepared to embrace it with open arms. While martyrdom is not a pretty thought, we are called to martyrdom by dying to ourselves everday of our lives.  And if more is called for stand firm and know that Jesus is standing right there with you and your witness, your sacrifice no matter how big or small, will be just that a witness to our nation and the world.   Remember 1 Peter 3:15, "But in your hearts reverence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence."

This started out as Facebook post but just go too long, in closing I leave you with some verses from St. Paul, "So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter." 2 Thessalonians 2:15

(From Today's first reading)
My beloved, obedient as you have always been,
not only when I am present but all the more now when I am absent,
work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
For God is the one who, for his good purpose,
works in you both to desire and to work.
Do everything without grumbling or questioning,
that you may be blameless and innocent,
children of God without blemish
in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,
among whom you shine like lights in the world,
as you hold on to the word of life,
so that my boast for the day of Christ may be
that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
But, even if I am poured out as a libation
upon the sacrificial service of your faith,
I rejoice and share my joy with all of you.
In the same way you also should rejoice and share your joy with me.
Philippians 2:12-18

May God Bless you and may God Bless America

P.S. I know its early but remember that Advent and Christmas are right around the corner, meditate on all God has done for us in the Incarnation and through His Paschal Mystery.

 

Rejoice for God is with us
Rejoice, Immanuel!
Rejoice and sound those trumpets
Rejoice and ring those bells
Rejoice to the King of Glory
And again we say rejoice
He is the Wonderful Counselor
The Prince of Peace

Seven Upward | St. Paul Center For Biblical Theology

A great blog post by Dr. Scott Hahn on the importance of number seven in the bible and salvation history.  While you are the St. Paul Center page check out all the great resources that are there in the way of Bible Studies, Audio Courses and talks and a wealth of information in our library

Seven Upward | St. Paul Center For Biblical Theology

http://www.salvationhistory.com/

Worth Living For – Worth Fighting For – Worth Dying For

The answer to the above title is Jesus Christ.  He is worth living, fighting and dying for.   This past weekend I saw the movie, “Greater Glory” about the Mexican Cristero War or La Cristiada and it was one of the timeliest and best movies I have seen in recent memory.  I recommend first off that everyone Catholic or not go and see this movie.  Freedom in our country is being assaulted and this movie is about fighting for religious freedom.  It is about living, fighting and dying for our faith.  While I am not advocating that an armed revolt is the answer by any means, civil disobedience if it comes to that is a valid and effective form of protest against a government that is trying to define religious freedom simply as the right to worship.  In the sense that while you are in your church celebrating mass or a service that is ok but take one step out and that freedom is restricted.  While this has not occurred to that degree yet, the current health care law, the Affordable Care Act better known as Obamacare, and the HHS mandate set the precedent for the government to do this is in the future.  As the movie showed the restrictions did not start out very oppressive but grew after the first were accepted by a majority of the population without protest.  Catholics everywhere need to support, live, fight and defend the faith that they believe.  You may be a Catholic who goes to church on Sunday, prays and lives a good life, and God Bless you, my prayers are with you, but now there is the siren call to do more.  If we do not show unity in defense of this egregious attack on liberty, it will not end there.  Cardinal George in February of 2012 stated, “At the present moment, Catholics in this country are facing challenges to our institutional existence and our mission that we thought would never arise here. … The laws that used to protect us are now being used to weaken and destroy us, and this quite deliberately.”  Let your voice be heard in any way you can.  Through letters, emails, phone calls, protests.  Whatever your ability it is time to act.

Faith is worth living, standing up and declaring your faith, living what you believe is necessary.  Catholics and all Christians can no longer play lip service to their faith.  There must be life in what we believe and we must show it by our prayer and our actions.  If we are not living our faith in our every action, our every breath then we cannot effectively evangelize or convince others including the government that we take our religious liberty seriously.  What we believe must be reflected in our prayer and vice versa (Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi), and this needs to be translated into the way we live our lives.  By every breath we breathe we must speak the Truth of Christ.

Faith is worth fighting for, it is worth rallying, protesting, engaging in acts of civil disobedience.  While acts of this kind will probably be far less tolerated than the “occupy movement” was, if necessary and if the call is made then we must be prepared to live and defend what we stand for as Christians.  Catholic means universal and all need to be united in this fight to defend religious freedom.

Faith is worth dying for, while this may seem extreme, it may not be far off and is already occurring overseas in staggering numbers.  Cardinal George of Chicago reflected on this in 2010 stating, “I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square.”  This statement is telling and if you look at the direction we are heading as a country and as Catholics.  They are set on a divergent path.  As St. Boniface and Blessed José Sánchez del Río laid down their lives for the faith, giving us the example for the future, I pray it does not come to that but I do not see our government backing down, more they have seemingly dug in for the long haul, established their trenches for the coming battle.

We must be outspoken, bold, and walk tall for our faith.  Heads held high we must live what we profess, fight for what we believe and freely lay down our lives every day for what it means to be Christian.  Make no mistake what is being perpetrated is a great evil and “evil must be opposed.” 

Now to show my geeky Star Trek side but there was a great quote I must include because of its relevance:

“Vedek Yassim: Can’t you see what is happening to you? You’re becoming an apologist for them, a defender of evil. What will it take to make you act, Kira, to stop accepting them, and start fighting back?
Major Kira: Vedek - you just don’t understand.
Vedek Yassim: You are right, I don’t. Maybe tomorrow... we will both understand.” (Star Trek Deep Space Nine, 1993)

“Major Kira: People can find a way to justify any action, no matter how evil.

Ziyal: You think my father is evil?
Major Kira: I think - you can’t judge people by what they think or say... only by what they do.” (Star Trek Deep Space Nine, 1993)

And to end with a quote from a martyr whose life and death we celebrate today:

"Let us continue the fight on the day of the Lord. The days of anguish and of tribulation have overtaken us; if God so wills, 'let us die for the holy laws of our fathers,' so that we may deserve to obtain an eternal inheritance with them." -St. Boniface (Borrowed from Facebook Apostles)

Catechism, Apologetics and Catholic Product Reviews: The New Evangelization Inside the family

This is a great and simple blog that emphasizes the role of the familyin Evangelization.  If we want to make a real success with the New Evangelization in the United States the family must be at the center of this missionary mandate.  The family has many different aspects and in the coming weeks I hope to expand on the role of family in evangelization


Catechism, Apologetics and Catholic Product Reviews: The New Evangelization Inside the family: A few years ago I was listening to some program or reading a book about evangelizing within the Church and I discovered that it had never oc...

Infinite Love

Love, something that is misunderstood in today’s day in age.  As I mentioned in my last post about unconditional love, the complete self-donating love that springs from God is missing.  The question is why?  Let me offer some reflection.  Our world places a premium on the material, the immediate, and the physical.  Absent from this is the Spiritual, delayed gratification, fasting, and those things that are supernatural.  We seek to replace God’s love with love of the world and worldly things. 

God’s love is so deep, a complete abyss of love that we can never reach the bottom.  Our hearts so thirst and cry out for this love.  There is nothing else that can fill this gap in our hearts.  There is an inscription written on our hearts when we were created by God, and this is the longing, the calling of our hearts for God.  We must seek God with all our hearts; seek His love for us, because "God is Love" (1 Jn 4:8) and love is his first gift, containing all others. "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Rom 5:5) (CCC 733)  This is a love that excludes no one; everyone is welcome at the table of the Lord.  If we look to our hearts we know this to be true, when we fill it with things of the world, it may be full for a short period but each day it needs to be refilled.  God fills that hole with His love till it overflows and explodes out of us.  God’s love explodes out of us in our works.  When we know the love of God deep in our hearts we cannot help but do the works of mercy. 

As deep cries out to deep so our heart cries out for God and when it is not filled with Him we are not fulfilled.  This is seen so often in today’s world where love is a finite concept.  Love is not finite but infinite.  If you have ever read the: Chronicles of Narnia the end of the last book ends with the children running in Aslan’s land and the call is this, Farther up and deeper in.  As they run farther up and deeper in the land grows larger and this is the analogy for God’s love.  The farther we delve into the depth of God’s love the bigger it gets, it is infinite.  This is where all love springs from, the complete and infinite love of God.  The constant sharing of Trinity, The Father begetting the Son and between the love of the two of them they spirate the Holy Spirit, the breath of God that comes to dwell in all of us.

We need to learn to pray to God in love.  God's love has no bounds, neither should our prayer. (see note 52) Praying "our" Father opens to us the dimensions of his love revealed in Christ: praying with and for all who do not yet know him, so that Christ may "gather into one the children of God."  (CCC 2793)

The Word became flesh so that thus we might know God's love: "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him." (1 Jn 4:9) "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (Jn 3:16)(CCC 458)

Unconditional Love

Unconditional love, something that our culture today does not understand but is what we  need, what we are all called to.  Love without expectations, without conditions, without preconceived ideas or notions.  Our hearts were made for this kind of love that is first and foremost found in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The Trinity, the eternal communion of love.  This is where love begins and ends.  As St. Augustine says, “our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you.”  Love itself is an act of affection but not in the reductionist sense that we see it today.  Love today is used (abused) in many ways.  Love is misused to say I love pizza or I love my car.  This is such a simply basest view.  You may strongly like these things but you don’t really love them and share a deep interpersonal connect with the pizza or car.  Love in the sense of unconditional, agape love grows out of our first and foremost our love for God and our deep personal relationship that we have with him.  Love is putting yourself last and others first, your wellbeing behind the wellbeing of others.  True love is a self-donating love the complete giving of self to God and if your vocation is to marriage then the complete giving of yourself to your spouse, always seeking their wellbeing over your own.  And in the supreme act of love, the marital act of self-giving sexual intercourse that then leads to the two becoming one and sometimes producing a third.  As the old line goes, love so real that in nine months you have to give it a name. 

Our culture has lost its love and in losing love it has lost its guiding light, it has lost God.  Our culture has become an ugly place where the relativistic concepts of the person as product and the usability of everything and everybody are rampant.  The dignity of the human person and that each individual is unique, unrepeatable and created by God.  Only in discovering the beauty of God, His creation, His plan and His unconditional love can we recover it for ourselves.  Our selfishness threatens to overtake us as a culture, everything is me first.  People are trampled and shoved out of the way for mere material items, but is there ever a line to see Jesus.  Are our adoration chapels so packed that they cannot fit any more people in them?  Do people make time for Church or do they live for Jesus. 

There is no doubt that this is not the easy route, this is not the easy way out but it is what each of us are called to; follow Jesus, to live his call of unconditional love because only in His heart will we find our rest.  There was never a promise that it would be easy, never a promise of a smooth road.  When you take the road less traveled it is fraught with bumps and holes but Jesus promises to walk with us and aid us.  We must persevere in love, unconditional love that knows no end.  The more we love the more we grow in holiness, the more we grow closer to Jesus, adhering to his Most Sacred Heart. 

As Catholics, as Christians we hold the light of love in our souls, when we receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.  There is no act of love more unconditional than Jesus Christ humbling himself, coming down to us under the auspices of bread and wine and giving us Himself so that we might have eternal life, supernatural grace.  The more we frequent the Sacraments, the more we grow in grace and truth.  The more our souls are nourished by the source of life Himself.  It is then the inward beauty that bursts forth in love and charity.  The act of unconditional love explodes from our very soul because it can no longer be contained.  “Beauty grows in you to the extent that love grows, because charity itself is the soul's beauty.” (St. Augustine)

People may say such a thing does not exist, that it is human nature to be selfish, serving yourself first and others second.  But it is when we love unconditional, giving completely of ourselves in self-donation to another person that we are the most human, that we fulfill our vocation as men and women created by God.  Our world struggles under the weight of many problems but none more pressing than the loss of beauty, of holiness of unconditional love.

And just in case you were wondering what unconditional love looks like, I have provided a few images…

“  Behold The Heart  

        that has loved so much,  

               and been so little loved in return.” 

-Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque   

Is it easy, no; Is it our calling, the answer to the deepest desire of our hearts.  Yes.  

As always Sacred Scripture says it best:

"Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."  1 Corinthians 13:4-13