Questio Pro verum

Our Will, to Cooperate...

2011-12-20T07:42:00.001-05:00

Therefore, though it is God who takes the initiative of coming to dwell in the midst of men, and he is always the main architect of this plan, it is also true that he does not will to carry it out without our active cooperation.

The Good Shepherd

2011-12-06T11:32:00.001-05:00

“Sick, our nature demanded to be healed; fallen, to be raised up; dead, to rise again. We had lost the possession of the good; it was necessary for it to be given back to us. Closed in the darkness, it was necessary to bring us the light; captives, we awaited a Savior; prisoners, help; slaves, a liberator. Are these things minor or insignificant? Did they not move God to descend to human nature and visit it, since humanity was in so miserable and unhappy a state?” ~ St Gregory of

Rules...

2011-11-19T09:19:00.001-05:00

Christianity is not a mass of restrictions and rules, but the true path to peace, joy, life and fulfillment. If only we had more strength to trust in the God who shaped the mountains and carved out the seas, instead of trying all the time to avoid his wise law, we would find the peace we long for but search for vainly everywhere else.

~ Father John Bartunek

Lost...

2011-11-03T10:16:00.001-04:00

Dear Jesus,

Unless you make my heart more like yours, I will continue judging my neighbor just like the Pharisees. Unless you give me a deeper experience of your goodness, I will keep slipping into the wrong idea about you. I see the Pharisee in myself, Lord, and I don’t want him to win out. I want to be your ambassador, not your adversary

I was that lost coin, and you found me. I have been the lost sheep many times, and you have always come after me. Thank you, Lord. I don’t thank you as I should. I am glad you haven’t given up on me. Now please teach me to be like you, to seek and find lost coins and lost sheep, so as to repay your love to me by bringing joy to your heart

How patient you were with the stubborn, self-righteous Pharisees! Pour some of that patience into my heart, Lord. I have too short a fuse. I know I’m acting like a fool when I harp on others and become exasperated with them – as if I were perfect. Help me to think more about the good of my neighbor than the satisfaction of my own desires. Teach me to love as you love

~ Me

The Better Part...

2011-10-04T10:59:00.001-04:00

Read the Gospel of St Luke 10:38-42

“From the top of a hill the rain flows down to the valley. Just as more water collects at the bottom of the hill, so Mary, sitting in a low place at the feet of Jesus, listening to His words, receives more than Martha, standing and serving the temporal needs of her Master. Mary, loving Jesus, the one thing needed, is in port. Martha, occupying herself about many things, is still at sea.” ~ St Augustine

If Christ truly is the one Lord of life and history, the one Savior, the one Way, Truth, and Life (which he is), then it is certain that “only one” thing is needed for a fulfilling, meaningful, and fruitful life: to stay as close to him as possible at all times. When we address Christ (from our hearts) as Lord, we are acknowledging our conviction that he truly is our one thing necessary, and he will be as pleased with us for doing so as he was with Mary.

The Lord already is the one thing needed. Our task is to choose to shape our lives accordingly. Jesus doesn’t congratulate Mary because she won the spiritual lottery or had received a particularly beautiful soul from God. He praises her because she has “chosen the better part.” She chooses it. She chooses to submit to the Lord, to let him be for her what he in truth is for everyone – that one needed thing.

Once again we are confronted with this amazing truth about Christ’s Kingship: he offers the benefits of his rule to all people, but he leaves each person supremely free to accept or reject them. And the offer is not a one-time affair. Martha had chosen to busy herself with her own plans on this occasion, but you can bet she adjusted her behavior the next time the Lord came around. Mary had chosen to adore the Lord this time, but she would still be free to make the same or a different choice the next time. Every single time we choose to give Christ and his will priority in our lives, we are pleasing him and extending the borders of his Kingdom in our lives. And every single time we bring his message to others, we give them a chance to do the same.

Praise be to Jesus Christ, now & forever!

Best Friends Forever

2011-09-30T10:34:00.001-04:00

"What more do we want than to have at our side a friend so loyal that he will never desert us when we are in trouble or in difficulties, as worldly friends do?"

~ St Theresa of Avila

Read:
The Gospel according to St Luke 10:13-24

"You have given me the universe. All that I see around me, Lord, is mine, because it is yours, and you have given me your very self, and you continue to give me your very self every time I receive Holy Communion. You hold me in the palm of your hand. You, the all-powerful, all-knowing God, shower me with gifts. Thank you, Lord. Blessed by your name through all the earth”

I bear your name, and you have anointed my forehead with the sign of the cross. You have given me a mission in life, just as you gave one to the seventy-two. I am to bring the sweet aroma of your truth and love into the world where I live and work. Make me your faithful disciple, Lord, so that I can experience the joy of your victory, and so give joy to your heart”

Why do I insist on walking alone through life? You are always thinking of me, like a lover in the full, fresh bloom of love. You are interested in me, wanting to teach and guide me in all my responsibilities, activities, and relationships. You are on the edge of your seat, waiting to see how I will respond to all the blessings and opportunities for growth that you send me. Thank you, Lord”

From: "The Better Part: A Christ-Centered Resource for Personal Prayer"

Heirs...

2011-09-08T05:32:00.001-04:00

“The Father sent his Son out of his immeasurable love for us sinners. He sent him to free us from the tyrannical power of the devil, to invite us to heaven and lead us into its innermost sanctuary. He was sent to show us truth itself, to teach us how we should live, to share with us the source of all goodness, to enrich us with the treasures of his grace. Finally, he was sent to make us sons of the Father and heirs to eternal life” The Church wants us to understand that as he came once into the world in the flesh, so now, if we remove all barriers, he is ready to come to us again at any minute or hour, to make his home spiritually within us in all his grace.”

~St Charles Borromeo, Pastoral Letters

Build Your House...

2011-09-05T21:05:00.001-04:00

“My friends, in the heart of every man there is the desire for a house. Even more so in the young person's heart there is a great longing for a proper house, a stable house, one to which he cannot only return with joy, but where every guest who arrives can be joyfully welcomed. There is a yearning for a house where the daily bread is love, pardon and understanding. It is a place where the truth is the source out of which flows peace of heart. There is a longing for a house you can be proud of, where you need not be ashamed and where you never fear its loss. These longings are simply the desire for a full, happy and successful life. Do not be afraid of this desire! Do not run away from this desire! Do not be discouraged at the sight of crumbling houses, frustrated desires and faded longings. God the Creator, who inspires in young hearts an immense yearning for happiness, will not abandon you in the difficult construction of the house called life.

“My friends, this brings about a question: ‘How do we build this house?’ Jesus” encourages us to build on the rock” Building on rock means first of all to build on Christ and with Christ” In short, building on Christ means basing all your desires, aspirations, dreams, ambitions and plans on his will. It means saying to yourself, to your family, to your friends, to the whole world and, above all to Christ: "Lord, in life I wish to do nothing against you, because you know what is best for me. Only you have the words of eternal life" (cf. John 6:68). My friends, do not be afraid to lean on Christ! Long for Christ, as the foundation of your life! Enkindle within you the desire to build your life on him and for him! Because no one who depends on the crucified love of the Incarnate Word can ever lose.”

~Pope Benedict XVI

Put on your 3D Glasses

2011-07-26T10:25:00.004-04:00

Dimension: a measurable extent of some kind, such as length, breadth, depth, or height.

Recently in my life I have been faced with the task of viewing things multi- dimensionally. This quest has been handed to me in the many areas that I face on a daily basis; conversations with those around me, in looking at our created bodies, in looking at the creations of nature that we pass by without notice, in looking at our salvation history, in looking at the Church, and in our view of not only God, but of how God works and moves in our lives. EVERYTHING that God created, and I mean everything, has dimension to it. Nothing is "flat". Even our very God Himself has a tri-dimensional nature. Father, Son, & Holy Spirit.

As many of you know, I love to fish. On my last trip out I was recently in a river in search of the biggest smallmouth that I could find, but instead I found something much greater. When fishing a river we typically fish as we walk upstream, fighting the current. As I was walking along, trying to pay close attention to every little change in current and every rock that may be holding the exact fish that I was after, I got excited when we came upon a section where there were many visible objects sticking out of the water; rocks and fallen trees; strong areas of current leading to still pools (basically a visual heaven for a fish to sit and feed), but I lost that excitement when we came to a section of the river where there was a stretch of still water; a section where I could see absolutely nothing other than the still surface. I thought to myself as to why we would even be fishing in this section...I wanted to move on to 'where the action was'; a section where I could see what was going on and an area that gave me confidence in where I thought a fish should be.

So, against my judgment we continued to fish this 'dead' section which required a bit more time and work to fish and pretty soon to my surprise, a bite; a fish caught out of this 'desolate' part of the river. After fishing there for a while we walked further to the next section and I was now walking in the area where we had just fished. I began to see things that were hidden to me earlier. We walked around many rocks and boulders hidden under the surface of the water; there were different sand bars and different depths where I could feel current moving under the surface. Pretty soon a fish jumped out of the water nearby and I could see a little school of minnows swim by. You see, this area was deeper and in this deeper water it was hard to see all of the 'treasures' that were hidden beneath it's surface from a distance, but it contained much more than I imagined. The same river current was there; the same rock formations were there and in fact there were many more places for fish to live in this area of the river due to it's depth. It was dimensional beyond my comprehension at first glance. If I had acted on my first feelings, I would have walked through this area and ruined my chances at catching the fish that it contained.

Our lives are like that river. God is constantly working and moving just like that current is constantly moving and feeding life to those beings that are contained in it. There are times in our life where God isn't showing us all that He has in store for us at first glance. We must slow down and study the depths of the water and act in faith, trusting that God will show to us Himself on a deeper level; we must know that God IS at work even if we can't see Him working...we must pay closer attention to what's beneath the surface in order to find out what God may be trying to teach us. God wants us to know to Him fully...to seek Him out and seek out His truth even when we think we know what's best, or when we think we have truth already; then to our surprise, a bite, a fish. Our God and His truth is shown to us in all of His creations and when we actually take the time to look into them, we can see God at work...even in the blades of grass; in the smallest molecules of life; in the very atoms that make up our being.

It's in the dimensions of life that we grow; it's in the dimensions of God and His Church, and our understanding of that Church, that cause us to grow in our relationship with Him (1 Tim. 3:15). There is nothing created by God that is worthless or useless to us, sometimes it just requires a bit more attention to detail in order to grow and know Him better. We must let go of our own understanding and look to God in order to gain.

St. Ignatius of Loyola said, "Man is created to praise, reverence, & serve God our Lord, & by this means to save his soul. All other things on the face of the earth are created for man to help him fulfill the end for which he is created."

Thank you God for humbling me and showing to me your multiple dimensions; thank you for helping me to continue to seek you out in everything in my life. Thank you for your Church and the authority of that Church that hands down to us your Word and your Holy Spirit, for without them we would not have the opportunity to know you, to love you, & to serve you!

Praise be Jesus Christ, now and forever!

Called To Serve

2011-07-24T22:27:00.001-04:00

Another great devotional so I thought I would share...hope you enjoy.

Matthew 20: 20-28

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favor of him. And he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom." But Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?´´ They said to him, "We are able." He said to them, "You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

In an era in which catch-phrases such as “called to serve” have been overused to the point of becoming clichés, we risk forgetting how central service is to the Christian life. The minutes of our lives are consumed in an incessant cascade of apparently important and urgent things to do. Doesn’t it happen, however, that in the midst of all this we actually miss any number of opportunities to serve? Called to serve, yes, but we miss the call! And our service gets sidelined. If service to my brothers and sisters is not an ordinary element of my daily life as a Christian, I can be sure that I have succumbed to self-deception or taken a critically wrong turn somewhere.

We are called to give ourselves unreservedly to others as a continuation of Christ. “A continuation of Christ”: now, wouldn’t that make a wonderful epitaph?! For truly, if our Christian service is not a prolongation, an extension of Jesus’ love, if we are not giving him to others, if those whom we serve are not discovering him in us, then our service is simply not service. It might be empathy, but it falls short of genuine Christian service if those whom we serve do not discover Christ in us. Like John the Baptist, we must become less so that Jesus can become more in us, so that our brothers and sisters are not cheated out of encountering that Christ whom they secretly long to discover in each of us.

Resolution: Out of love for Christ, present in the least of my brothers and sisters, I will examine myself on what genuine Christian service means to me in practice, and what place it usually has in my daily life.

Like Little Children...

2011-07-14T10:59:00.001-04:00

Matthew 11:25-30

If every heart innately yearns for God (which it does), this Gospel passage ought to be prized above all others, for it teaches us the secret for satisfying that yearning. To encounter God requires only one thing. Not intellectual prowess, worldly excellence, or sophisticated achievements, but simplicity. God gives himself to those who are “mere children”, to those who are childlike. The mark of children is not innocence; most often they are quite mischievous. It is not ignorance, for they often surprise us with their insights and thoughtful questions. Nor is it helplessness, for many of them are streetwise survivors, as often seen in situations of poverty and war.

The mark of the child is trust. Children readily put their trust in those given charge over them (until that trust is violated). It is natural for children to depend on their parents, to follow unquestioningly their older siblings. They have not yet developed the average adult’s haughty air of self-sufficiency. By word and example (as for example in the Garden of Gethsemane) Jesus teaches us that intimacy with God requires trust above all. Faith is trusting that what God reveals is true; hope is trusting that what he promises will come about; love is trusting that what he asks us to do is what we should do. If we put our trust in God, and not in ourselves, we will find God.

-From "The Better Part - A Christ Centered Resource for Personal Prayer" (A Fantastic Daily Devotional)

Fundamental Awareness

2011-07-06T11:43:00.001-04:00

“The Church's fundamental function in every age and particularly in ours is to direct man's gaze, to point the awareness and experience of the whole of humanity towards the mystery of God, to help all men to be familiar with the profundity of the Redemption taking place in Christ Jesus. At the same time man's deepest sphere is involved – we mean the sphere of human hearts, consciences and events… Jesus Christ is the stable principle and fixed center of the mission that God Himself has entrusted to man. We must all share in this mission and concentrate all our forces on it, since it is more necessary than ever for modern mankind. If this mission seems to encounter greater opposition nowadays than ever before, this shows that today it is more necessary than ever and, in spite of the opposition, more awaited than ever.” Pope John Paul II, Redemptor hominis

Ecclesia Semper Reformanda

2010-05-12T17:05:00.003-04:00

"Our relationship with God the Father, through Jesus Christ His Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit, is the absolute center and purpose of faith...We are made sons and daughters of the Father, partakers of the Divine Nature. We become by grace what Christ is by nature."

"At the heart of Christianity and catechesis is not an idea but a person, the person of Jesus. He is the primary and essential object of our teaching; everything else is taught with reference to Him. Furthermore, Jesus is the primary teacher – anyone else who teaches is simply Christ’s spokesperson."

"Many people seem to think that the Church is an after-effect, an accident of history rather than something directly willed by God. Instead, the Church is an essential aspect of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, directly willed and structured by Him, endowed with the Holy Spirit, the fullness of truth and all the means of salvation. She is no mere human institution, despite the sinful human beings who comprise her in this world, but His Sacrament, Bride and very Body. She is the Kingdom of God, visible in human history, already but not yet perfected in Heaven."

~Bishop Nickless, Ecclesia Semper Reformanda, 2009

GOOD Friday!

2010-04-02T09:08:00.002-04:00

In the days preceeding today we have focused on many things that we can apply to our walks as Christians. We can reflect on three different attitudes and actions...the attitudes of Peter, John, & Judas in Jesus' last days. John's love for Jesus was shown immensely in his actions. In John 13 we see that John's love for Jesus caused him to to stay close to Jesus, so close that he could lean on the chest of Christ, not wanting to miss anything that Jesus had to offer. John's understanding may have been lacking, but his love caused him to stay close to Jesus...all the way to the foot of the cross. Peter on the other hand loves and professes his dedication to our Lord with a better understanding than the others, but fear leads to a different action...even though the desire was genuine no doubt, he hides. Judas just leaves into the night with betrayal on his mind, allowing Satan's seed to grow, even though he had not reached the point of no return, he chose not to turn from his sin and ask for forgiveness. Judas could have said to Jesus that he didn't want to go, that he wanted to stay close to his master and teacher, but he did not. He chose betrayal, despite walking with Jesus, despite the love shown to him by Christ, & despite the miracles and teachings he had witnessed...the same things that the others had witnessed. Due to sin rooted in selfishness, the despair that Judas felt lead to suicide rather than the forgiveness that he had been taught he could attain. Instead of asking what he could do for his brothers, Judas asks what he can get for handing Christ over...what could HE attain and how could HE benefit.

Jesus shows us by his act of love and service, a model by which to live...love. Jesus showed his closest friends that serving one another is love. He asked, "Do you realize what I have done for you?" When we think today about the gift that was given to us, we think about love. John 15:13 reminds us that there is no greater love than to die for someone and that's what Good Friday is all about...God's love for us in the utmost form. God has given us the sacrament of his body and blood, no ordinary meal and surely not merely a symbol...God gives us a physical presence to remain with us forever, along with the breath of his spiritual presence. God also gave to us apostles and authority in their ordination. This handing down of authority allowed a Church to form and is what allows us to even know of Jesus Christ. Without handing down the traditions that they learned from Jesus himself, we would not know of this love and the act of reconciliation would have been lost. Jesus' Eucharistic meal and the forgiveness of our sin speaks to us a common mystery: Love. In these, we are unified into Christ's love because of our acts of obedience.

So today, let us focus on imitating Christ's charity to our brothers and sisters and his perfect obedience to our Father. Think about what his cross actually means to us as Christians, the ability to attain forgiveness and redemption. I pray that God will give all of us the love of John, that we may be by Christ's side always even if death is a possible result. I pray that in our times of fear, just as Peter feared, that we may not give in and that we embrace Jesus and his teachings to their fullest. I pray that we may shed any similarities of Judas, that we may think of others before ourselves and that we may recognize our sinfulness and ask for forgiveness. That we may take what we've learned from Christ and not only remember, but apply them to our lives, that we may say to Jesus, "Lord, I want to stay with you always."

I hope you all have a great Easter and that you all remain in what we are celebrating on Sunday, amidst the eggs and bunnies.

Babbling

2010-02-24T10:41:00.002-05:00

Based on Matthew 6:7-15

"Friends do not talk at each other; they talk to each other. This simple truth, confirmed by our own experience of friendship, lies at the heart of Christ's teaching on prayer. Talk to God, Jesus instructs his disciples when giving them the 'Our Father'. Talk to him, as to a friend, and not at him. In today's Gospel passage, Jesus warns his disciples against babbling their prayers like the pagans. Why do they babble, believing they will be heard because of their many words? Because they do not know their gods. They enjoy no real relationship with them. So the pagans speak at their gods. They babble, throwing their words up to the heavens hoping that some of them might find a receptive ear. Jesus is right. This is not prayer, but rather hopeless chatter. We sons and daughters of the Father do not babble in prayer, for we know to whom we pray. Christ has shown us the Father. We know his truth. We know his love. We know his power. Therefore, when at prayer, we speak to the Father as to a friend. The Our Father reveals what this conversation should look like - the union of two wills, one divine and the other human, in mutual desire. What wonder! In Christian faith and hope, the creature speaks to the Creator - in love." ~ Father Aquinas Guilbeau

Heavenly Father, perfect our faith, so that knowing you we may speak to you and with you in love. May the Lord's Prayer form our every prayer to you.

Magnificat - Feb. 23, 2010

I posted this because I sometimes find myself babbling without realizing it. I think we all get used to 'the way we pray', often repeating the same words to God...maybe at dinner, or in the evening before bed. This is great, as long as my heart is behind every word, but I find myself less focused on the fact that I am talking to the world's creator and that every word is with purpose, and that God is listening to each one of them. I may ask God to send his angels to watch over my household as we sleep every night, but am I focused on who I am talking to and focused on believing that my prayers will be heard; or are the words just coming out due to a habitual prayer? Praying the Lord's Prayer can have the same affect I guess...most of us learned the Lord's Prayer at an early age and so it can become babble if we don't meditate on what the words actually speak and focus on the fact that we're repeating a prayer that our Lord Jesus used to teach his disciples when teaching on prayer, the verbal communication to our God.

How simple, yet how much does that prayer contain! Glory & honor to God, recognition and belief in prophecy and fulfillment, a submission of ourselves to God's perfect will, asking for the bread of life daily, asking for forgiveness while reminding ourselves of how we should forgive others in all things, and asking him to help us in fighting temptation and evil. Wow...those are some things to grab on to in prayer!

Rununciation for the Bridegroom

2010-02-20T10:54:00.003-05:00

Well the time of Fasting, Prayer, and giving is here again. I was reading in the Lenten Magnificat for this year, and yesterday's read was more than touching to my heart, so I thought I would share...enjoy!

This reflection is based on Matthew 9:14-15
"Then came to him the disciples of John, saying: Why do we and the Pharisees, fast often, but your disciples do not fast? And Jesus said to them: Can the children of the bridegroom mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they shall fast."

"The days will come when the Bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they shall will fast." Has that day come for us? Not that our Lord has vanished from our lives; certainly not, and yet perhaps we pray less now than in the past, or are more indulgent in worldliness, less concerned for pleasing God. The beginning of Lent is a time to recover an essential focus on Jesus Christ. Practices of self-denial can be helpful in this effort, but if we ask why, it is not primarily as penitential acts in reparation for past sins. Rather, mortification should be viewed as a means of self-emptying, turning attention away from ourselves so that our soul may open to God. A sacrifice of any kind loses its greater purpose without a motive to draw closer to Christ. We should discover that in fasting and renunciations we want more prayer in our lives. The pattern is a sign of grace. Our Lord finds greater desire for himself when a soul is less preoccupied with its own needs, and so he invites that soul to deeper intimacy. Let us remember also that in offering up sacrifices we help filter graces of conversion through the Church to souls in spiritual danger. This in itself is a profound reason to keep firm our resolve to make this year a fervent lent. ~Father Donald Haggerty

Loving Father, help me to be generous in renouncing myself during these holy days of Lent, and let my sacrifices be for the good of souls in need of grace. To God the Father, through Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Magnificat USA LLC, NY, 2010
www.magnificat.com

Hope you enjoyed...this really hit home with me, it's so easy for me to get caught up doing the day so to speak and not focusing on Jesus in my everyday activities. To do all things through Christ...

The Day Has Come!

2009-12-25T09:40:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas!

I thought I'd share from the Magnificat, a daily devotion that we have been using during the season of Advent. It really touched me this morning and I hope it does the same for you. May you all have a great birthday celebration today!

"For all of human history people have been searching for God. The search has expressed itself in the worship of imaginary gods who jealously grasped at power; it has expressed itself in the philosophical idea of an impersonal god who is remote and distant; it has expressed itself in the human attempt at power and self-glorification. And what do we find today? We find that God does not grasp for power, but empties himself of it in order to express his true authority, which springs from love. We find that God does not want to watch us from a distance but instead has become flesh, i.e., a member of our family. And who are those who recognize this unexpected presence of God in our midst? Not the prideful and powerful, but those who humble acknowledgment of their weakness leads them to beg for a Savior and joyfully welcome him in the gloriously lowly way he has chosen to come. In Jesus, the Word has become flesh, God has revealed himself to the simple-hearted. And blessed are we who celebrate this day as the greatest discovery of all time - the discovery that God, for whom we groped in the darkness, has pierced the darkness with his humanity and has found us. May all who have walked in darkness today welcome the light: Jesus Christ, Emmanuel."

Reflection based on Luke 2:1-14
Father Richard Veras

Loving Father increase my faith in the incarnation of your Son, increase my awareness of how this has changed human history and my personal history, and increase my recognition of his divine and human presence as he pierces the darkness of this world today and every day.

Getting Prepared!

2009-12-15T11:25:00.002-05:00

Preparation and Christmas go together like flour and water. We prepare our homes with trees and decorations; we shop for days or months to make sure we're prepared for an evening around the tree; we prepare for family meals and gatherings; we prepare for travel, plays and parties; but one question I have to ask myself is am I taking the time to prepare my heart for what brings us all together in the first place? As many of you may know, it is the season of Advent. Advent starts a new liturgical year, but it's also a time of preparation of our souls, a preparation to make us worthy to celebrate the coming of our lord. This season of advent should be used to prepare ourselves spiritually so that we may truly honor Christ with our celebration on Christmas, the celebration of the birth of our savior, the Word made flesh. As we celebrate, we also stay focused on what his birth gave to us, his presence with us today in the Eucharist and Holy Scripture, and his future coming in glory! Christ's birth gave us all of these things so in celebrating his birth, we celebrate the gifts he gave.

Are we preparing our minds to stay focused on the one we celebrate? Are we preparing our families to properly celebrate God's son, our savior? Are we being consumed by every marketing plot and every care of the department stores or are we staying focused on being a faithful servant while in the midst of all the shopping? Are we teaching our children more about Santa and presents or about Christ and the gift of salvation? We can tell alot about ourselves, and how we are treating this season, all in how our children are expressing their excitement. I know, I know children will be children, and I'm not saying that we should expect our children to ignore the fact that they get to open presents on Christmas morning, but is that all they are looking forward to? Our children go to birthday parties of their friends throughout the year and they get excited, but why are they excited, they aren't the one's getting the gifts? They are excited because they get to go play games with their friends and eat special treats with their friends...they are excited about the celebration and the fellowship. Sure, the gift giving is a part of it, but we use these moments to teach our children that giving to someone is a great joy. It's more about the celebration of that person and their birth and that's why we give gifts. Well, this is Christmas, the best birthday party of all...our children should be excited about celebrating Jesus' birthday with their families, not more excited about Santa and his gifts. Are we spending time helping the kids get their lists for Santa ready, but only mentioning Jesus when we see a nativity? Are we taking time in every day during advent to talk about what our savior means to us? The answer to this question can tell us alot about how we are influencing our children during the season of advent...are we preparing them for the birth of our savior or the fun fat guy with toys? I don't mean to sound as if shopping and gift giving aren't important because they are, but it's why we shop and why we give gifts that's important. It's the celebration of our everlasting life that brings about that joy unmeasurable!

There are many ways to help our families grow in the right direction and that's what advent is for...building a foundation in our children and in ourselves, but I find myself getting lost in the fuss, trying to get from one store to another and trying to make sure I've completed the lists. Advent should bring about peace and humility and I should take this time to ready myself to answer the call of service (Gal 5:13). How can I serve God and those around me? Christ's coming began with a call to serve. Mary answered yes to this calling of service and took on the greatest responsibility anyone could ever take on, other than the saving mission of our lord. So I'm forced to ask myself, "Am I serving as Mary served?" The name 'Ebed, or "servant" in Hebrew, was used in speaking of an important servant to the king, someone of great trust and honor. This title then given to people who held this seat in relation to God...someone given a specific task or mission like Moses (Exodus 14:31; Num 12:7), Elijah (1 Kgs 18:36), David (2 Sam 3:18; 1 Kgs 11:34), and several of the prophets (Amos 3:7; Jer 25:4). If I focus on serving, I stay focused on God. As we serve one another, we are serving Christ, and as we humble ourselves we are given grace from God (1 Pet 5:5) and I don't know about you but, I am in much need of God's grace in my life. So I ask, what's my task, what's my mission during advent and throughout this season? The answer is simple...to know, to love, and to serve...because as I serve God, I begin to know God better; and as I begin to know God better, I begin to love God more. The more I love God, the more I want to know and serve him and the cycle starts all over again.

Our savior's birth brought about an everlasting change to the world, unifying us with our neighbors and strangers alike, but the greatest unity is that between us and our lord. It's this unity to our lord that calls our soul to serve...like it or not, right or wrong, people are generally "nicer" around this time of year. That's not to say that you won't find a scrooge here and there, but overall there is "Christmas in the air". I think we would all agree with an emphatic yes that we should be the same year round, but the thought still rests in the back of our minds that we all are not. We are creatures of habit and unfortunately our habits tend to be more displeasing to God than pleasing...or at least in my life they are. It is for this very reason that Advent exists, to help us start this upcoming year with better habits and an increased devotion to God. It's here, a time to start the habit of daily self examination, so that we can be prepared for the coming of Christ...not only celebrating his birth, but his presence here today and tomorrow. We use advent as a time to call out to the lord, asking for his grace and mercy, so that we may be worthy to recognize His voice when He calls and receive Him when He comes.

Pray for me that I use this season of advent preparing myself and my family for the coming of the lord...that I may present the best of myself and my family as we greet our savior this year at Christmas.

...we wait together, we long together, we pray together in unity. "Come, lord Jesus, bring us your salvation!"

All Saints Day

2009-11-01T01:44:00.002-04:00

As we approached our fun filled evenings of family, food, and fun I wanted to share a bit...

As we look around us, we see nothing but orange and black, candies of all kinds, pumpkins and skulls, and a costume for any character imaginable...our fine retailers using every marketing opportunity to sell us another product, but there is more than these things. How can we as Christians grow in our faith and help our children to do the same amidst the ghosts and goblins? The answer is simple...celebrate and remember.

This time of year can be used to focus on our mortality and our need to prepare ourselves to one day see our God's face. From dust we came and to dust we will return, but our salvation is eternal, our focus is beyond this earth and should be beyond these earthly things. November 1st is the feast day of All Saints Day, a day set forth to honour and remember all of the saints that have gone on before us. Remembering the men and women, known and unknown, that died for the sake of Christ and remembering those close to us who are with our Lord in heaven.

Why November? In early Christianity, ceremonies were held to commemorate a martyr's death, usually, at the place of martyrdom. In the 4th century, around the time of the compilation of scripture into a bible, surrounding dioceses began to share these ceremonies and started sharing relics of saints with one another to further promote unity in the Christian Church. This can be found in an invitation from St. Basil of Caesarea, in the year 397, to the bishops of the province of Pontus (a people that were also addressed by St. Peter's 1st epistle among others). Anyway, quite often people suffered their martyrdom at the same time which further let to a combined commemoration.

During the persecution of the Church by Diocletian, one of the most evil roman emperors to persecute early Christians, the number of martyrs who died were many and there was no way that a commemoration could be assigned to individuals. The Church still felt that it was important to venerate every martyr for Christ however, so they created one day to honour all. First, traces can be found in Antioch on the Sunday after Pentecost and we also find traces in a sermon that St. Ephrem gave around 373 and in the 74th sermon given by St. John Chrysostom in the year 407 as well. Originally commemoration of martyrs and St. John the Baptist took place on a special day, but then many other saints were added as the process of canonization was established. The time frame was during the time of Easter, and also in May to commemorate the apostles, but when Gregory the 3rd (8th century) consecrated a chapel in the Basilica of St. Peter to all of the saints, he set the anniversary for Nov.1 and then Gregory the 4th expanded that celebration throughout the rest of the Church in the 9th century.

So now in 2009, about 1,200 years later, we can take a break from the candy and costumes and remember why this day came about. Saints are those who are in heaven right now and we all have someone who we have lost, that we believe is with Jesus in heaven. So take time to focus on the work that God did in their lives and how they were used for His kingdom. Take the time to teach your kids about just one of the many saints God has used in history...there are thousands to pick from. I heard an interesting perspective while at Mass this evening. The lives of these great men, women and children, who we honour, can benefit us a great deal. We have a 'cloud of witnesses'', working for God as perfect beings, to view as our spiritual mentors. We must remember that these great saints aren't saints because of what they did, but because of what they allowed God to do in them. Just as history teaches us of war and of invention, it also teaches us of the greatness of God shown forth in mere humans and if we humble ourselves to that, we can allow God to work in us...so that we may be saints one day.

God Bless and Happy All Saints Day!

Almighty and Everlasting God, who dost enkindle the flame of Thy love in the hearts of the saints,
grant unto us the same faith and power of love; that, as we rejoice in their triumphs
we may profit by their examples, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Faustina's Diary

2009-08-15T09:55:00.001-04:00

O Holy Trinity, Eternal God, my spirit is drowned in Your beauty. The ages are as nothing in Your sight. You are always the same. Oh, how great is Your majesty. Jesus, why do You conceal Your majesty, why have You left Your heavenly throne and dwelt among us? The Lord answered me, My daughter, love has brought Me here, and love keeps Me here. My daughter, if you knew what great merit and reward is earned by one act of pure love for Me, you would die of joy. I am saying this that you may constantly unite yourself with Me through love, for this is the goal of the life of your soul. This act is an act of the will. Know that a pure soul is humble. When you lower and empty yourself before My majesty, I then pursue you with My graces and make use of My omnipotence to exalt you.

Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, 576

† Jesus I trust in You †

Psalm 34

2009-07-22T10:01:00.003-04:00

Hello All! I recently picked up an incredible book titled Praying the Psalms with the Early Christians written by Mike Aquilina & Christopher Baily. This book takes over thirty of David's Psalms and gives us words from our Church fathers concerning these psalms. Some of these writings come before our canon of scripture was organized into a bible. They come from letters and sermons…the dates are sometimes uncertain, but are close enough for simple historical placement. Mike and Christopher also give us rough sketches of these early saints' lives in the back of the book as well. I suggest that you all go pick up a copy of this book, it's a great way to meditate on the psalms of David. The best way to see the early Christian Church is through the writings of it. I think we sometimes forget that people continued writing after the authors of the bible and these writings are very powerful and these early Christians were being led by the Holy Spirit…I hope you enjoy!

Psalm 34:

The superscription puts this psalm in context: it was composed at a time when David had to use all his cleverness and even deviousness just to stay alive. Yet David knew that ultimately it was never his own strategy that saved him, and in these difficult circumstances, he sings one of the most memorable hymns of praise to God in the whole Bible.

A Psalm of David, when he feigned madness before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.

"I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and be glad.

O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!

I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.

Look to him, and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed.

This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of his troubles.

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.

O taste and see that the Lord is good! Happy is the man who takes refuge in him!

O fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no want!

The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who see the Lord lack no good thing.

Come, O sons, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

What man is there who desires life, and covets many days, that he may enjoy good?

Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit.

Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and his ears toward their cry.

The face of the Lord is against evildoers, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and delivers them out of their troubles.

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.

Evil shall slay the wicked; and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.

The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned."

Taste and See…

The famous words, "O taste and see that the Lord is good" inevitably led the early Christians to meditate on the Eucharist. Here three great Christian writers examine what it means to "taste and see.":

"After this, you hear the chanter inviting you with a sacred melody to the Communion of the holy mysteries and saying, "O taste and see that the Lord is good." Do not leave the judgment to your bodily taste, no, but to unflattering faith; for they who taste are bidden to taste, not bread and wine, but the long-prophesied Body and Blood of Christ.

So when you approach, do not come with your wrists extended or your fingers spread; but make your left hand a throne for the right, for your right hand is to receive a King. And having hollowed your palm, receive the Body of Christ, saying over it, "amen." So then, after having carefully hallowed your eyes your eyes by the touch of the holy Body, partake of it. Make sure you do not lose any of it, for whatever you lose is obviously as much a loss as if you lost an arm or a leg.

For tell me, if anyone gave you grains of gold, would you not hold them with all carefulness, making sure you did not lose a single one of them? Then will you not be all the more careful to make sure that not a crumb falls from you of what is more precious than gold and precious stones?

Then after you have partaken of the Body of Christ, draw near also to the cup of his Blood. Do not stretch out your hands, but bend and saying with an air of worship and reverence, "amen," hallow yourself by partaking also of the Blood of Christ. And while the moisture is still upon your lips, touch it with your hands, and hallow your eyes and brow and the other organs of sense. Then wait for the prayer, and give thanks to God, who has accounted you worthy of such great mysteries.

Hold fast these traditions undefiled, and keep yourselves free from offense. Do not separate yourselves from the Communion; do not deprive yourselves, through the pollution of sins, of these holy and spiritual mysteries. And may the God of peace sanctify you holy; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved whole without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. To whom be glory and honor and might, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and world without end. Amen." - St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures

"O taste and see that the Lord is good!" You will not taste, and you say, "Is it pleasant?" What does "Pleasant" mean? If you have tasted, let us see it in your fruit, not just in your words, as if you bore only leaves, lest you should deserve to wither as the fig tree was withered by the curse of God (see Matt. 21:19).

"Taste," he says, "and see that the Lord is good." Taste and see: you shall see if you have tasted. But how do you prove it to someone who does not taste? Whatever you say in praise of the pleasantness of the name of God is mere words: taste is another thing. Even the ungodly hear the words of his praise, but only the saints taste how sweet it is.

And what does a man do who knows how sweet the name of God is, and wishes to reveal and show it to someone, and finds no one to whom he can reveal it? For there is no need to reveal it to the saints, because they themselves taste it and know, but the ungodly cannot know what they will not taste….I know how sweet it is, but only to those who have tasted." - St. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms

"I am covetous of God's bounty; and as He is never slack in giving, so I am never weary in receiving. The more I drink, the more I thirst. For I have read the song of the psalmist: "O taste and see that the Lord is good." Every good thing that we have is a tasting of the Lord. When I fancy myself to have finished the book virtue, I shall then only be at the beginning. " - St. Jerome, Letters

St. Cyril of Jerusalem (c.313-386): began his years as bishop under a cloud of suspicion. During the fourth century, the arian heresy dominated the churches intermittently, as arian emperors rose and fell. Cyril was appointed to office during an arian regime, and was consecrated by and arian bishop. As a result, many faithful church men were wary of him; and yet the arians knew he was not one of theirs. Thus, he was marginalized by both parties. Indeed, he was exiled from his see three times, one once for eleven years! A local council delegated St Gregory of Nyssa to travel to Jerusalem to investigate Cyril. Gregory vindicated Cyril, affirming his fidelity to the true faith. Cyril took part in the Council of Constantinople (380), where again his orthodoxy was confirmed. Cyril is best known for his catechetical lectures, a series of basic instruction for new converts to Christianity. In these he provides an in-depth course in Christian doctrine and practice, including the sacraments (especially baptism, Eucharist, and confirmation, but also penance), the moral life, prayer, and a step-by-step guide to the Mass.

St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430): is one of the most influential thinkers in all human history. His influence extends to many fields of endeavor. In literature he perfected the genres of memoir and autobiography. During his lifetime, he was considered one of the top rhetoricians in the world, and he is still counted among the great prose stylists in the Latin language. His City of God laid the foundation for mainstream political thought for than a millennium. He was warm, witty, winsome, and a brilliant preacher. He was a prize-winning poet. He wrote an influential set of rules that are still observed in monasteries. He developed definitive refutations of several heresies and helped the Church to welcome home the stray sheep. He was adept at Neoplatonic philosophy and demonstrated how it might be used well as a handmaid for Christian theology.

Augustine's life represents a classic form of the conversion story. Born in North Africa to a Catholic mother and a Pagan father, he fell into mischief and then serious sin. He took up with a concubine and had a son out of wedlock. He achieved great worldly success while dabbling in the esoteric religion of the Manicheans - who preached a spiritual mishmash of Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism. Through all of Augustine's wanderings, his mother, Monica, prayed for him. When he took a teaching position in Rome, she followed him there, even though he tried to ditch her by leaving at night. Eventually both mother and son ended up in Milan, where they were influenced by the bishop St. Ambrose. Ambrose helped Augustine through his remaining difficulties, instructed him, and baptized him. Augustine and some of his friends - along with his son and mother - set up a semi-monastic community in northern Italy. After Monica's death, Augustine returned to North Africa, where he was pressed into service of the Church. As bishop he was involved in many important events, and was active (for example) in the synods that definitely established the canon of the New Testament. He was bishop for thirty-four years. He died as the barbarian Vandals were laying siege to his city.

St. Jerome (c.347-420): was raised in a Christian family in Stridon (In modern Croatia). In his teens he went to Rome for literary studies in the classics, and there he experienced a call to deeper Christian commitment. He and several friends decided to live an ascetical life in common. After a time, Jerome traveled eastward to Syria, for a while settling as a hermit in the desert. He attended the Council of Constantinople (380) as an advisor and then returned to Rome, where he was soon drafted into service as secretary Pope St. Damasus I. In Rome a growing number of small communities of women were living the religious life. Jerome directed many of them in their piety and studies. After the Pope's death, Jerome went east again, and many of those women ascetics followed him. He established monasteries in Bethlehem and set to writing and translating in earnest. He overhauled the popular Latin translation of the Bible (the Vulgate); he even learned Hebrew in order to fine-tune the Old Testament. He wrote voluminously. He most famous for his Biblical commentaries, but he also produced letters of spiritual direction, books of apologetics, and the first encyclopedia of Christian biography as well as important works combating heresy.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Praying-the-Psalms-with-the-Early-Christians/Mike-Aquilina/e/9781593251550/?itm=1

From the book "Praying the Psalms with the Early Christians: Ancient songs for modern hearts"

Written by Mike Aquilina & Christopher Bailey

Published by The Word Among Us Press

Scripture texts used are taken from the Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition

The Faithful

2009-07-14T22:24:00.002-04:00

Twenty years after the close of the Second Vatican Council (II Vat.Council, Vat. II etc.), in 1987, the bishops met in a synod to discuss the role of the laity or lay faithful in the Church. This synod of bishops was based on the teachings of Vat.II. After the synod, the bishops requested that Pope John Paul II summarize the discussions that took place. The following is based on the first 16 pages of his response. Christifideles Laici:

The Vineyard…

One may ask, "Who are the lay faithful?" or, "What does it mean to be laity in the Church and what are my roles in the Church and in the world?" "How do I fit in and how do I carry out my role?" Pope John Paul first used Matthew's gospel to compare us to the laborers in the vineyard, called by Christ. "For the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard" (Mt 20:1-2).

This vineyard we are called to labor is the world in which we live in. (Mt 13:38) This vineyard is to be "transformed according to the plan of God in view of the final coming of the Kingdom of God." We tend to think that only pastors and clergy are to answer this call, but everyone is called. St. Gregory the Great speaks some powerful words to us, "Keep watch over your manner of life, dear people, and make sure that you are indeed the Lord's laborers. Each person should take into account what he does and consider if he is laboring in the vineyard of the Lord."

A few verses later in Matthew chapter 20 we see that idleness should not be tolerated. 'Why do you stand here idle all day?' They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You too go into the vineyard'" (Mt 20:6-7). John Paul II says, "The voice of the Lord clearly resounds in the depths of each of Christ's followers who, through faith and the sacraments of Christian initiation, is made like to Jesus Christ, is incorporated as a living member in the Church, and has an active part in her mission of salvation." II Vatican Council reminds us: "…For faith throws a new light on all things and makes known the full ideal to which God has called each individual, and thus guides the mind towards solutions which are fully human."

To labor in the vineyard we must rely on the Holy Spirit for our renewal and we get just that. When we answer the call to holiness, we attain renewal on a constant basis. Our youth must learn this call and this renewal because they are our future and the future of the Church. "We must collaborate with our bishops, priests, and nuns actively in service; actively participate in the Liturgy; proclaim the truth of Sacred Scriptures and catechesis; and there are a multitude of services/tasks entrusted and available to the lay faithful." We are told of something to be mindful of however. We cannot let the temptation of being so engrained in Church services and tasks cause us to fail in our responsibilities in the world that we live. We must maintain our responsibilities without separation of living the gospel.

We should not be discouraged. It's easy to allow our minds to lead us into a hopeless way of thinking…that all of it is just too much and we just can't do it. John Paul says, "Keep a watchful eye on this our world, with its problems and values, its unrest and hopes, its defeats and triumphs. This then, is the vineyard; this is the field in which the faithful are called to fulfill their mission. In everyday life there often exist contradictions in the exercise of human freedom, where there is found side by side and at times closely intertwined, evil and good, injustice and justice, anguish and hope." But, we have faith and the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us in our daily lives. Through that faith in the Holy Spirit, we will get clear answers as to the direction we are to go. St Augustine says, "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.".

We, as humans, get our dignity because we are created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26). The online bible on newadvent.org gives some great study notes on that particular verse: Let us make man to our image…This image of God in man, is not in the body, but in the soul; which is a spiritual substance. endued with understanding and free will. God speaks here in the plural number, to insinuate the plurality of persons in the Deity". Back to our dignity, think of what we are faced with in the vineyard. Think of the humiliating and degrading forms of "manipulation" that mold our minds to slavery…slavery to a stronger ideology, economic power, political and inhumane systems, scientific technocracy or the major influx of mass-media.

I love what John Paul stresses here though, "But the sacredness of the human person cannot be obliterated no matter how often it is devalued and violated because it has it's unshakable foundation in God as Creator and Father…" We have dignity because of something greater than all of the above mentioned enslavements. He then goes on to say, "…A person is not at all a "thing" or an "object" to be used, but primarily a responsible "subject," one endowed with conscience and freedom; called to live responsibly in society and history; and oriented towards spiritual and religious values."

We are to use our dignity in the strength of humanism. We do this through our participation and educating our youth as to this call of holiness. We participate in our families, in academics, we educate ourselves on different cultures, participation in social areas, and in political areas of life. "…creators of a new, more humane culture—is a requirement both for the individual and for peoples as a whole."

John Paul points out that war, terrorism, and violence manifests conflict in humanity daily, like never before. Humanity is trying to play God, emulating the building of their own "tower of Babel". This only brings about oppression, confusion, and struggle in our day to day lives. In turn, leading to the destruction of family life. But we can't lose sight of those millions of people who have dedicated their lives to promoting peace and justice. "Blessed are the peacemakers" (Mt 5:9). Today, right now, we must find our hope in Christ and His intervention for humanity. Because of Christ we are able to hope and we are able to labor in the vineyard. "Jesus Christ himself, is the "good news" and the bearer of joy that the Church announces each day, and to whom the Church bears testimony before all people. The lay faithful have an essential and irreplaceable role in this announcement."

So, the lay faithful are laborers? Yes, but Scripture gives us more insight into the Mystery of the People of God. We are laborers in the vineyard, but we are also a part of the vineyard. Jesus says, "I am the vine, you are the branches" (Jn 15:5). "The vine is the figure and symbol not only of the People of God, but of Jesus himself. He is the vine and we, his disciples, are the branches. He is the "true vine," to which the branches are engrafted to have life (Jn l[5]:1)." II Vatican Council reminds us, "Christ is the true vine who gives life and fruitfulness to the branches, that is, to us. Through the Church we abide in Christ, without whom we can do nothing (Jn 15:1-5)."

Born of Water...

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (Jn 3:5).

Baptism plays an extremely important role in who we are and in our holiness. We all know that baptism cleanses us from original sin and we also know that we are instructed to be baptized, but what does it mean for us right now? We see that we are the branches of a life giving vine, which is the source of our fruitfulness, Jesus. Our incorporation into Jesus through baptism is the source of being a Christian in the mystery of the Church. This baptism not only washes us clean, but makes us a new creation (Gal 6:15; 2 Cor 5:17) in Christ who, through grace, gives us life. "Baptism regenerates us in the life of the Son of God; unites us to Christ and to his Body, the Church; anoints us in the Holy Spirit, making us spiritual temples." ~ John Paul II

"You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased" (Lk 3:22).

Baptism gives us an association to Christ and through His redemption we are children of adoption (Gal 4:4-7) and brothers or sisters of Him. "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren" (Rom 8:29). The Holy Spirit is used to make us Children of God and members of Christ's Body. St. Paul speaks of this to the people of Corinth, "For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body" (1 Cor 12:13), so that he can say to the lay faithful: "Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it" (1 Cor 12:27);

Peter defines the baptized as "living stones" founded on Christ, the "corner stone," and destined to "be raised up into a spiritual building" (1 Pt 2:5). II Vatican Council says, "By regeneration and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the baptized are consecrated into a spiritual house." The Holy Spirit "anoints" the baptized, giving us an inerasable character (2 Cor 1:21-22), and making us as a spiritual temple, that is, he fills this temple with the holy presence of God as a result of each person's being united and likened to Jesus Christ. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord" (Lk 4:18-19; cf. Is 61:1-2).

Through the grace and dignity given to us through Baptism we participate in the threefold mission of Christ as Priest, Prophet and King. St. Augustine offers for Psalm 26, "David was anointed king. In those days only a king and a priest were anointed. These two persons prefigured the one and only priest and king who was to come, Christ (the name "Christ" means "anointed"). We share in that priestly mission that took Christ to a cross and He left us the Eucharist for us to enter into full communion with that sacrifice, His Body and Blood. We share in that mission of the "great prophet" risen up (Lk 7:16, Acts 2:17-21). Because we belong to Christ, who is Lord and King, we share in his kingly mission and are called by him to spread that Kingdom in history.

"Our participation in this mission of Christ as Priest, Prophet and King finds its source in the anointing of Baptism, its further development in Confirmation and its realization and dynamic sustenance in the Holy Eucharist. Each individual is one of the many who form the one Body of the Lord." ~ John Paul II "A chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people" (1 Pt 2:9).

Ok, there is a mission, but how do we as individuals fit into it…how do we fulfill our part? We all receive one dignity from baptism, but this one dignity takes on a manner of life which sets us apart, while not bringing about a separation from the religious orders carried out by men and women in the Church. The II Vatican Council has described this manner of life as the "secular character": "The secular character is properly and particularly that of the lay faithful." John Paul says, "To understand properly the lay faithful's position in the Church in a complete, adequate and specific manner it is necessary to come to a deeper theological understanding of their secular character in light of God's plan of salvation and in the context of the mystery of the Church". Pope Paul VI said, "The Church has an authentic secular dimension, inherent to her inner nature and mission, which is deeply rooted in the mystery of the Word Incarnate, and which is realized in different forms through her members".

We live in the world even if we are not of it (Jn 17:16). We are sent to continue the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, which "by its very nature concerns the salvation of humanity, and also involves the renewal of the whole temporal order." All of us, as members of the Church, are sharers in this secular dimension but in different ways. We, the lay faithful, attain our own manner of realization and function, which, according to the Council, is "properly and particularly" ours. This manner is expressed by "secular character." Our individual place in life is the place where we receive our call from God. Our mission is a doable mission as humans. Vatican II said, "The lay faithful live in the world, that is, in every one of the secular professions and occupations. They live in the ordinary circumstances of family and social life, from which the very fabric of their existence is woven." We study, we work, we form relationships as friends, professionals, members of society, cultures, etc. This way of life is not just some useless situation we've been placed in. We must remember that Christ accepted His mission as a human, like us in all things with the exception of sin. Christ's mission certainly wasn't an easy one, but He did it and He did it as a human. Vatican II says it well, "The Word made flesh willed to share in human fellowship.... He sanctified those human ties,. especially family ones, from which social relationships arise, willingly submitting himself to the laws of his country. He chose to lead the life of an ordinary craftsman of his own time and place."

So we don't need to lose sight of our position in the world. Baptism didn't take us away from the world. "So, brethren, in whatever state each was called, there let him remain with God" (1 Cor 7:24). Just the opposite, God gives us our call to holiness while we are in the world and He takes into account our position and the talents He has blessed us with. The lay faithful "are called by God so that they, led by the spirit of the Gospel, might contribute to the sanctification of the world, as from within like leaven, by fulfilling their own particular duties. Thus, especially in this way of life, resplendent in faith, hope and charity they manifest Christ to others." (II Vat.)

"The secular character of the lay faithful is not therefore to be defined only in a sociological sense, but most especially in a theological sense. The term secular must be understood in light of the act of God the creator and redeemer, who has handed over the world to women and men, so that they may participate in the work of creation, free from the influence of sin and sanctify themselves in marriage or the celibate life, in a family, in a profession, and in the various activities of society." ~Synod of Bishops 1987

"Holiness is the greatest testimony of the dignity conferred on a disciple of Christ. This call to holiness is precisely the basic charge entrusted to all the sons and daughters of the Church. Not a simple moral exhortation but an undeniable requirement arising from the mystery of the Church: she is the choice vine whose branches live and grow with the same holy and life-giving energies that come from Christ; she is the Mystical Body whose members share in the same life of holiness of the Head who is Christ; she is the Beloved Spouse of the Lord Jesus who delivered himself up for her sanctification (Eph 5:25). The Spirit that sanctified the human nature of Jesus in Mary's virginal womb (Lk 1:35) is the same Spirit that is abiding and working in the Church to communicate to her the holiness of the Son of God." ~ John Paul II

The synod states that, "All the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity; All of Christ's followers are invited and bound to pursue holiness and the perfect fulfillment of their own state of life". Since Christians are re-clothed in Christ Jesus and refreshed by his Spirit, they are "holy." They therefore have the ability to manifest this holiness and the responsibility to bear witness to it in all that they do. As Christians, we are to live "as is fitting among saints" (Eph 5:3); "To be holy in all conduct" (1 Pt 1:15); to follow and imitate Jesus Christ in embracing the Beatitudes; in listening and meditating on the Word of God; in our participation in the liturgical and sacramental life of the Church; in personal prayer; in family or in community; in the hunger and thirst for justice; in the practice of the commandment of love in all circumstances of life and service to the brethren, especially the least, the poor and the suffering.

So, how does this call to holiness affect us and how do we live it today? The Synod of Bishops sums it up very well for us…"Therefore, to respond to their vocation, the lay faithful must see their daily activities as an occasion to join themselves to God, fulfill his will, serve other people and lead them to communion with God in Christ." Our fruitfulness and our growth depends on our remaining united to the vine. "As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing" (Jn 15:4-5).

Christ The King

2009-06-30T17:46:00.002-04:00

Hello to those of you who read this...no matter how few the number...hehehe.

It's been a while since I've posted, but I wanted to share some great info I was blessed enough to listen in on. At church we have a men's meeting on the first Wednesday evening of every month and a few months ago our "guest speaker" was Jim McCullough. Jim shared some amazing insight into what he had been studying, concerning Christ our king and His kingdom. He shares with us what our Church fathers understood about the many parables on the kingdom, resourcing sermons by Msgr. Ronald Knox as well as other sources.

Jesus used the phrase "The kingdom of God" (of heaven, in Matthew) all the time, particularly in many of His parables, but references to it get scarce after the Gospels. The kingdom is referred to around 140 times in the Gospels, but only 33 times in the whole rest of the New Testament.

When we first look at the parables we must remember that Jesus was announcing this kingdom while engaging with Pharisees, lawyers, & scribes. These stories must relate to these men even while proposing something different or new. Many were left puzzled...the Pharisees and the Jewish people in general had accepted ideas about the kingdom of God and Jim outlines what those understandings were, at the same time giving us Jesus' take on the kingdom and then showing how these parables can relate to us, the church. So, get your bibles out and get ready for some interesting stuff!
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Parable: The Sower - Matthew 13:1-9
Pharisee Understanding of the Messiah: The Messiah will be a victorious king
Jesus: Odd choice of a non-military figure as the protagonist of the parable. Rather He says that the Messiah is more like a planter of seeds, sowing indiscriminately everywhere, apparently uselessly, but confident of a good harvest.

Jesus then gives explanation of why He teaches in parables. In the Old testament we see that God brings the Israelites along gradually rather than overwhelming them.

So Jesus speaks in a way that invites thoughtful engagement. A parable, rather like a work of art, if approached with an open mind and good will, can gradually unfold into deeper meanings that bring new insights and a new way of seeing reality. Or, if approached with a closed mind and ill-will, they will begin the process of exposing both of those to open sight...Perhaps that will begin to wake them up!

Era of the Church: Jesus' explanation to the disciples of the four different responses to the Gospel teachings of the Church. 1. No faith at all, the Gospel rejected; 2. Shallow faith, unable to deal with opposition; 3. Faith choked by worldly concerns, never really maturing; 4. Faith that grows and matures and is fruitful in widely varying amounts.
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Parable: Mustard seed & Leaven worked into three measures of flour. - Matthew 13:31-33
Pharisee Understanding of the kingdom: The immense kingdom will be imposed, all at once, by the Lord's fiat.
Jesus: Odd choice of kind of seed and amount of flour. The kingdom will have a tiny beginning, but with much work will permeate a great mass and cause it to rise. It will be like a little seed and end up large enough for the 'birds of the air' (Gentile Nations-Daniel 4) to nest in it. It will have a pungent punch or strong flavor like mustard...
Era of the Church: In our personal spiritual journeys, small beginnings, over the years, will grow surprisingly large, and un-believers may flock to us and join us (or we provide shelter, a church home for them). A small religious practice with steady application (e.g. 15 minutes of bible study each day or daily morning and evening prayer time) will slowly permeate us with life and raise us up. Also, individually, we patiently work on evangelizing the world around us.
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Parable: The Fig Tree - Luke 13:6-9
Pharisee Understanding: There is a fixed time for the arrival of the kingdom.
Jesus: The "gardener" may intervene, fertilize the unproductive fig, and give it another chance to produce fruit. This is a mercy, because the arrival of the kingdom will not be good for the unproductive fig.
Era of the Church: "Delay" in bringing judgment, as we see it, God is trying to bring everyone to repentance and salvation. Therefore, we must be patient with God's plan and thankful for His mercies. We may need such a "delay" as do our loved ones and our enemies...pray constantly for those who need His mercy. We all need second chances, but our chances eventually "run out".
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Parable: Seed growing secretly by itself - Mark 4:26-28
Pharisee Understanding: The Lord will establish the kingdom openly, quickly, & completely.
Jesus: From sowing to harvest God rises and sleeps (appearing unconcerned) and the world appears to go on normally as the kingdom slowly matures. It's growth is mostly unseen and not understood by those watching it from the outside.
Era of the Church: Our lives go on in a very ordinary way. Despite our lack of understanding of how it all works, God is supplying our spiritual growth and bringing it into full maturity. Parallel to the Leaven: here the emphasis is upon (invisible) grace ('he knows not how') producing maturity; good intentions, followed by repentance, & then charitable works. Full of virtue, so ready for the harvest. - Gregory the great.
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Parable: Wicked Vineyard Workers - Luke 20:9-16
Pharisee Understanding: The Messiah will vindicate the Jews
Jesus: Just as you have previously rejected the prophets, you will reject and kill the son, and the vineyard will be given to those who will produce the fruit that God expects.
Era of the Church: With this example before us, (and with all the help Christ provides) we will have even less excuse not to do the works the Father expects. For the Father has now sent US the law, prophets, writings, and finally Christ - and if we reject these with hardened hearts, He will look to others to produce his fruit.
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Parable: Wheat & Weeds Together + The Dragnet - Matthew 13:25-30, Matthew 13:47-54
Pharisee Understanding: The kingdom will consist of only the righteous.
Jesus: The kingdom will grow over time consisting of good and bad mixed in, and will only be separated in the end. Or, alternatively, the kingdom will have both valuable and worthless fish, and only at the end will they be sorted out by angels.
Era of the Church: Don't be surprised in seeing evil men involved in the Church. The dragnet hauls in, not just fish, but every kind of thing (Greek) like trash, etc. It attracts sinners of all types, but they are in the place where they have the best chance at being changed by God and by the fruits we bare for Him. Some men are evil, but it is not our mission to weed them out and burn - God will not be fooled. Hence the Church's discipline tends to be mild and forgiving, and thus the Church has often had trouble with the human impulse to form groups of "only the perfect". On a personal level, we have too many planks in our own eyes to tend to the splinters we see in others. The weeds in our own spiritual lives, we repent of, and pray for others. It is important to note that these are a general statements, elsewhere Jesus gives specific instructions for dealing with manifest grave evil, and lays heavy responsibility on the Bishops in the Church...[their authority is very important.]
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Parable: Shepherd seeking the lost sheep + Woman seeking the lost coin - Luke 15:1-10
Pharisee Understanding: We work hard to bring worthy sorts of converts into the kingdom.
Jesus: You do travel long distances to do that, but do not skip over the lost and the little ones along the way. Heaven rejoices at one sinner doing penance and righting themselves with God. Another great point to note: Angels in Heaven rejoice at earthly obedience to God. Why would the saints in Heaven be any different in their concern for us?
Era of the Church: We need to have preferential optin for the least, the last, & the lost. Rejoice with Heaven when one is brought back into the fold. We, as a people of God, hurt together and we rejoice together.
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Parable: Treasure in the field + The pearl of great price - Matthew 13:44-45
Pharisee Understanding: The kingdom will be a brute fact, inclusive of all Jews and converts to Judaism and with sovereignty over everything.
Jesus: The question is not, what is the treasure, but who is the man seeking? The kingdom is a treasure that must be discovered and dug out, or as a pearl that must be sought out. This kingdom will cost me all...I give my life. I re-hide the treasure in the world, and only I know exactly where it is or is not. Jesus pays the price for the entire world, not only the treasure or those in the kingdom. Knox's interpretation or take on it...
Era of the Church: Our relationships with Christ and His Body the Church is the most precious thing that there is. When we find it (or it becomes alive for us) we rejoice! We will give up everything else for this! This pearl is one of the gates into the New Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven! The value of this may remain hidden or obscure to the rest of the world.
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Parable: The Prodigal Son - Luke 15:11-32
Pharisee Understanding: We, the keepers of the Law, please the Lord and will inherit the kingdom.
Jesus: Pharisees trained by the Old Testament to see the younger brother as vindicated. Jesus says, "Alright older brother, let's say you do keep the law, but how about the lost, the Gentiles without hope? The Father loves them too. Will you?"
Era of the Church: In the Church there must be no resentment over returning sinners - are you envious that they 'got to sin' and you did not? Perhaps only those of us without sin at all should cast stones...
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Parable: Dives and Lazarus - Luke 16:19-31
Pharisee Understanding: Successful/wealthy law keepers have an edge toward being a part of the kingdom.
Jesus: ...names the poor man with a specific name. No, it is easier for a rope (Aramaic translation) to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom (even the apostles find this hard). Remember, I raised Lazarus and you Pharisees and chief priests still doubted. You just added him to the list of troublemakers that you wanted to kill. [John 12]
Era of the Church: Earthly riches in our lives make it hard for us to focus on God and our mission for him. Not to say that blessings are bad, but if our blessings aren't being used to benefit the kingdom, they are hendering our relationship with God. A rope through the eye of a needle really puts it into perspective...even Christ raising a man from the dead couldn't convince some of His teachings.
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Parable: The Wedding Feast - Matthew 22:1-14
Pharisee Understanding: We are invited to the banquet, it is for us.
Jesus: This is true, you are invited, but will not accept the invitation when the time draws. Your rejection of me as your king will lead to the destruction of Jerusalem. Others will be invited and will come to the wedding banquet. They will be invited by a new set of servants, the Apostles. Note, the "one" without a wedding garment may be Judas. Jesus already knows his un-faithfullness.
Era of the Church: The gates of hell will not prevail against the Church. The Church will prevail against the pretensions, un-faithfullness, & falseness of those who only appear to do the will of the Father. The will of our Father includes prayer, fasting, almsgiving, & works of mercy.

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Parable: 10 Virgins, 5 with oil for their lamps - Matthew 25:1-13
Pharisee Understanding: We will be ready for the kingdom
Jesus: On the contrary, my friends. Everyone will be caught sleeping when the Messiah comes. And when that happens, what you will need will be oil; oil for "illumination" (as baptism was sometimes called), oil for anointing, the oil that makes the Messiah a Christos or Anointed One. Look for it now - it will be too late then!
Era of the Church: Nor will we Christians know the day nor the hour, either of Christ's return or of our own going (generally speaking - some saints have been told the hour of their death). We must be sure to have our anointing with us, while alive, at all times. Watchfulness while we are awake is required in order for us to be prepared while sleeping. Origen said that our lamp is faith, oil is works. Those with only faith and no works or fruit will be excluded...that is having dead faith.
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Parable: The Good Samaritan - Luke 10:29-37
Pharisee Understanding: The kingdom will crown the work of the temple and priesthood, and the Messiah will be a great king in the likes of David.
Jesus: It's odd the choice of 'bad guys' when He is talking to the lawyer. Also in the choice of 'good guy'. Temple worship cannot help stripped and wounded humankind. The ironic chioce of a Samaritan as the rescuer should indicate you will suspect the Messiah's ancestry/birth, home place, and His religion. After all, you have called me a Samaritan and said I was possessed by demons. [John 8:48] Yet, I will rescue wounded mankind and I will use earthly things to care for the wounded as well...inns, innkeepers, oil, donkeys, etc...
Era of the Church: No matter what misapprehensions others may have about your ancestry, ethnicity or religious beliefs, be a neighbor and assist in doing God's will for others when you are called. Bring the wounded and the robbed and the beaten and stripped to the Church, intercede for them, donate to the innkeeper for them.
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The Pharisees teaching and understanding of the kingdom was so ingrained into the people that even the Apostles, as the Ascension is ready to take place, say: "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" He tells them that the time for the full implementation of the kingdom is not for them to know. After this they 'retreat' and prepare for 9 days, and then begin to preach the kingdom. Note that some uses of the phrase imply that we are currently in the kingdom of God and some imply that it is still to be inherited.

The basic idea is this: with Jesus' resurrection and the events of Pentecost, the Kingdom of God had arrived already, now on earth, in power. But, the kingdom in its complete fullness awaits Jesus' return in glory, the resurrection of our bodies and the re-creation of a new heaven and earth.

The victory has been won, so we can go forward in confidence. Yet we will have many tribulations because in this interim period - our path to resurrected glory is the same one Jesus took-through the cross-until He comes again.

Christians did just that-despite the hard road and heavy crosses, they evangelized and lived with confidence, already experiencing and living the life of the kingdom of God. But how was this interim period described? Is it the same thing as living in what Jesus called 'My Church'? Is the Church the same thing as the kingdom? But to simply call the Church the kingdom implies a fullness that is not yet apparent.

Here is how the Catholic Catechism describes the relationship between the Kingdom of God and the Church: The kingdom of heaven was inaugurated on earth by Christ. "This kingdom shone out before men in the word, in the works and in the presence of Christ" (LG 5). The Church is the seed and beginning of this kingdom. Her keys are entrusted to Peter. CCC567

So how did this seed get started? It fell on good ground, died and was buried, then rose to new life. And the fruitfullness of that seed is the Church. What do we call the Church? The Body of Christ. So where Jesus proclaimed the kingdom, the Apostles proclaimed Jesus, the beginning and continuing source of life and the final fullfillment of the kingdom.

So what about the parables?

The Catholic Catechism says this about the parables: "Jesus and the presence of the kingdom in this world are secretly at the heart of the parables. One must enter the kingdom, that is, become a disciple of Christ, in order to 'know the secrets' of the kingdom of heaven." CCC546

To live in the kingdom is to live in Christ Jesus. "In Christ" or "In Him" occurs 120 times over the rest of the New Testament, along with implications such as John's 'He is the vine and we are the branches' comparison, etc...

Thanks alot to you who actually read this and thanks to Jim McCullough for sharing his talk!

Footnotes:

1. Knox was the son of an Anglican bishop and converted to Catholicism after becoming an Anglican priest. He was a brilliant student at Oxford, a writer of mysteries, translator of the Bible into modern English. A large collection of his sermons has been put together by Ignatius Press: Pastoral and Occasional Sermons.

2. These are rough figures, quickly taken from using the fine search engine for the Revised Standard Version you can find here: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/r/rsv/

3. "In the era of the Church" means, in the time between the resurrection and the 2^nd Coming, where those who are living "in Christ" are already living in the Kingdom of God, insofar as they are living members of His Body.

4. The Knights of Columbus sponsor the best search engine I have found for the Catechism: http://www.kofc.org/publications/cis/catechism/index.cfm

Surprise!

2009-03-27T09:57:00.002-04:00

Thought I'd share...

Friday, March 27, 2009
By: Fr. Joseph, MIC
Readings: Wis 2:1, 12-22; Jn 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

"When the Messiah comes, no one will know where He is from." Jn 7:27

A young man was living a very dangerous lifestyle — you know, the party life including drugs, alcohol, and sex outside of marriage. Then, one day, he had a dream that he was struck by lightning. He woke up in tears and phoned his mother, saying, "Mama, please come and get me. I want to come home." He wanted forgiveness. He wanted to live right by God.His mother was surprised by the conversion of her son who had languished in the dark, dead-end corridors of a dangerous lifestyle. She had prayed for him, but she was still surprised by the grace of his conversion.

As God did with this young man, He often surprises us by grace. In today's Gospel, the people of Jesus' home region of Galilee were surprised that He claimed to be the Savior of the world. Let's listen in on their conversation. They might be saying, "How can this man claim to be special? He's the son of Joseph the carpenter. How can He, this man we know, be the Son of the living God?" These people were not open to the surprises of God's grace that visited them in the Divine Person of Jesus Christ.

What about us? Do we think that we already know it all when it comes to the spiritual life? Do we have the eyes of faith to recognize God's visitation in our lives? Let's put away our preconceptions about Jesus and how He can act in our lives. Let's humble ourselves before Him — and give Him permission to surprise us this Lenten season. This attitude of heart will lead us to deeper conversion in the ways of the Gospel.

O Lord, grant me clarity of vision and humility, so I will not miss the surprises that You have planned for me this Lent. May I be attentive every day to the wonders of Your love. Amen.

† Jesus I trust in You †

Maria Faustina

2009-03-19T20:23:00.006-04:00

From the diary of Saint Faustina:

Jesus, fortify the powers of my soul that the enemy gain nothing. Without You, I am weakness itself. What am I without Your grace if not an abyss of my own misery? Misery is my possession (Diary, 1630).

Although my misery is great, and my offenses are many, I trust in Your mercy, because You are the God of mercy; and, from time immemorial, it has never been heard of, nor do heaven or earth remember, that a soul trusting in Your mercy has been disappointed (Diary, 1730).

† Jesus I trust in You †

For those of you who don't know...

Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska was born in Poland in the year of 1905. She was born to a poor and religious family of peasants, the third of ten children. From a young age she stood out because of her love of prayer, work, obedience, and also her sensitivity to the poor. At the age of sixteen she left home and went to work as a housekeeper in order to find the means of supporting herself and of helping her parents.

She was given a vision of the Suffering Christ and was called to become a part of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in 1925 and she then took the name Sister Mary Faustina. She lived in the Congregation for thirteen years and lived in several religious houses. Externally nothing revealed her rich mystical interior life. She zealously performed her tasks and faithfully observed the rule of religious life.

It is the mystery of the Mercy of God which she contemplated in the word of God as well as in the everyday activities of her life that forms the basis of her spirituality. The process of contemplating and getting to know the mystery of God's mercy helped develop within Sr. Mary Faustina the attitude of child-like trust in God as well as mercy toward the neighbors. "O my Jesus, each of Your saints reflects one of Your virtues; I desire to reflect Your compassionate heart, full of mercy; I want to glorify it. Let Your mercy, O Jesus, be impressed upon my heart and soul like a seal, and this will be my badge in this and the future life" (Diary 1242).

The years she had spent at the convent were filled with many extraordinary gifts, such as: revelations, visions, hidden stigmata, participation in the Passion of the Lord, & the gift of prophecy to name a few. In spite of being so richly endowed with extraordinary graces, Sr. Mary Faustina knew that they do not in fact constitute sanctity. In her Diary she wrote: "Neither graces, nor revelations, nor raptures, nor gifts granted to a soul make it perfect, but rather the intimate union of the soul with God. These gifts are merely ornaments of the soul, but constitute neither its essence nor its perfection. My sanctity and perfection consist in the close union of my will with the will of God" (Diary 1107).

Misunderstood and persecuted by many of her fellow nuns, Sister led a hidden life of humility, suffering and prayer. The Lord Jesus chose Sr. Mary Faustina as the Apostle and "Secretary" of His Mercy, so that she could tell the world more about His great message. "In the Old Covenant — He said to her —I sent prophets wielding thunderbolts to My people. Today I am sending you with My mercy to the people of the whole world. I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My Merciful Heart" (Diary 1588).

I write today to share pieces of her diary. Jesus instructed Sister Faustina to write everything that He told her. In it, she recorded faithfully all of the Lord Jesus' wishes and also described the encounters between her soul and Him. "Secretary of My most profound mystery — the Lord Jesus said to Sr. Faustina — know that your task is to write down everything that I make known to you about My mercy, for the benefit of those who by reading these things will be comforted in their souls and will have the courage to approach Me" (Diary 1693).

Sister Mary Faustina, consumed by tuberculosis and by innumerable sufferings which she accepted as a voluntary sacrifice for sinners, died in Krakow at the age of just thirty three on October 5, 1938 with a reputation for spiritual maturity and a mystical union with God.

I hope when you read this you get as much from it as I did. Pray for me as I pray for you!

Thanks to the Vatican website and to faustina.org for words and information...

Recovering The Essential

2009-03-01T07:30:00.002-05:00

From the pages of the Lenten Magnificat...

Sunday, March 1st:

Fasting can reduce our sense of well being, lower our energy, and make it so that we are able to get less done, or have to suffer more to get it done. How can this be good? Besides all that can and must be said about voluntary sharing in the sufferings of Christ, fasting is also about recovering an awareness of the essential. As a young man I spent two years living without much money in a poor city in a third world country, where I was often sick. I gained something through this poverty. Having been able to do less, it made me more aware of what was truly necessary in life, "Repent, and believe in the gospel." Fortified by his fasting against the human tendency to lose track of the essential, he urgently sets before us the one necessary thing: reconciliation with our merciful Father. Knowing what is essential, we know how to choose and are helped in our freedom. May we accept to join him in that lenten wilderness of fasting, embracing its poverty, to return to the essential.

Reflection based on Mark 1:12-15
Father Vincent Nagle, F.S.C.B.

Father, my mind and heart are barraged with solicitations, Show me what to choose, show me the essential by showing me your Son, who gives me reconciliation with you.

Today's suggested penance: Spend ten minutes reading the Bible.

The Loving Gaze of Jesus

2009-02-28T07:30:00.001-05:00

From the pages of the Lenten Magnificat...

Saturday, February 28th:

The Gospel account of the call of Saint Matthew is brief and yet profound in its implications. "Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, 'Follow me.'" Jesus finds Matthew (Levi) immersed in his sinful occupation, absorbed by the obsession that binds him to worldly concerns and obstructs the light of God from his life. Matthew has allowed himself to be defined by the exercise of power and the lust for material gain. His own identity is obscured, and his dignity shrouded. And those who judge persons solely by the standards of the present age - the Pharisees and their scribes - are unable to recognize that "tax collectors and sinners" are human persons made for God and capable of repentance and redemption by the power of God. How does Jesus engage this situation? First of all, he "sees" Matthew. What must have been contained in this transcendent, compassionate gaze that penetrated the darkness of Matthew's life! Here was the empowering and forgiving love of God, taking in all the misery and reawakening all the possibility of Matthew's life. And the gaze of God radiated from human eyes, the eyes of Jesus of Nazareth, the God who came among us - "I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners."

Reflection based on Luke 5:27-32
John Janaro

Dear Jesus, grant us the grace to experience the compassion with which you look upon us, that we might hear your call and follow your will.

Today's suggested penance: Visit and elderly person.

What If We Fasted From Complaining?

2009-02-27T07:30:00.001-05:00

From the pages of the Lenten Magnificat...

Friday, February 27th:

However we decide to observe the lenten fast, it ought to keep us mindful of Christ's forty days in the desert. The point is not to see how much we can give up. The goal is not victory in some spiritual athletic contest. The practices of Lent should help us draw nearer to our Lord. If chosen, there is nothing quite as insistent a reminder over the course of a day as a bit of hunger. The times when we feel like snacking can become opportunities for spending a moment with Jesus in the desert while we are renewing our offering. One of my favorite forms of fasting, however, can occur even during a full meal. To follow our Lord's advice for lenten practices as fully as possible, we are supposed to comb our hair and wash our face and not let the left hand know what the right hand is doing. We can also choose to fast from our favorite complaints! this might mean coming to the table with some conversation topics prepared - things that will build up and not tear down - in imitation of the sacred conversation that Jesus heard from Mary and Joseph at the holy family's table. The charity possible through a kind word or an edifying story might just be the thing to please God as our lenten fast.

Reflection based on Matthew 9:14-15
Father Joseph W. Koterski, s.j.

Blessed Lord, we do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Today's suggested penance: Skip a meal or part of one.

Faith Is Not a Feeling, It Is an Awareness

2009-02-26T07:30:00.000-05:00

From the pages of the Lenten Magnificat...

Thursday, February 26:

"If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." Each year on Good Friday throughout the world Catholics and other Christians join in the tradition of commemorating the Way of the Cross. Where I live, several hundred of us walk the way of the cross through the heart of the city, a capital city where hundreds of thousands work downtown in government and financial offices, and where so many carry their daily crosses, often dreadfully alone. The drama of the twenty-first century is this, that the ever-present and loving God has nothing to do with life, with our daily struggles. Christ's relationship with the world is the cross; it is the sign of absolute love and companionship that didn't remain in death but is present. Often our cross is to simply let him in, to bear our burdens with us. What more intimate way possible to be with Him; the Christ who begs for the heart of man; the heart of man which begs for Christ. This is the witness of the Christian in the world - the certainty of a Presence (not an absence), that God is with us. This certainty converted Europe in the first centuries and it still converts hearts today.

Reflection based on Luke 9:22-25

Holly Peterson

Jesus, let me say yes to you today, not because I feel you but because I know you are with me.

Today's suggested penance: Offer your day for the intentions of another person whose name you keep in mind all day.

Trumpets And Dust

2009-02-25T07:30:00.002-05:00

From the pages of the Lenten Magnificat...

Ash Wednesday:

"Brothers" said Bernanrd of Clairvaux to his quarreling monks, "there are more enjoyable ways of going to hell." That's a good reminder for us all, especially during Lent. We're not to blow trumpets before us as we pray, says Jesus. We're not to pull long faces to let everyone know of the anguish of our fasting. We're not to set ourselves on stage, play acting at holiness to win the approval of men. If we do, we will have our "reward" already, dust that it is: empty praise, empty self-esteem, and empty bellies. Debauchery and gluttony would at least be more lively. But there's one audience we find it almost impossible not to play for. When we give alms, Jesus warns us, we're not to let our left hand know what our right hand is doing. Now Jesus knew well that most of us give alms only to let that left hand know, and every other member besides. But it will do us no good to be modest before others if we are shameless before ourselves. Let us then retreat into the closet of our hearts. In such a place, filled with sinful longings and resentments and selfishness, we should find it hard to be vain. In that dusty place, we may find more than vanity. We may find God's forgiveness.

Reflection based on Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Anthony Esolen

Father let not my piety be my snare. Let my sin be ever before my eyes, that I may rely wholly on your goodness, and never my own: through Christ our Lord, amen.

Today's suggested penance: Spend fifteen minutes or more praying the holy name of Jesus.

The Preparation

2009-02-24T09:41:00.014-05:00

Well, it's the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday; the first of forty days of fasting, reflection, daily meditation, sacrifice, and prayer before our celebration in the resurrection of our Lord, Easter. As I enter into this lenten season, it's so easy to lose sight of what I need to be focusing on during these forty days, but it can also be easy to get back on the right track if I simply choose to do so.

Forty days can be a long time and it can seem irrelevant so I look into scripture and see that forty days is a significant number in preparation. Noah and his family spent forty days on the ark in preparation for a new world, Moses spent forty days on Mount Sinai in preparation of a new covenant between God and man and the laws that would govern His people, Jonah gives the people of Ninevah forty days of repentance to prepare them for reconciliation with God, and in the New Testament we see that Jesus spent forty days in the desert filled with prayer and fasting to prepare the start of His ministry.

I read a beginning meditation in the Lenten Magnificat (a forty day devotional written particularly for the season of lent) that posed a rhetorical question to which it answers, "How does Jesus resist the temptations of the devil? He is not relying on moral strength or trying hard to adhere to a code of ethics. It is Jesus' unwavering love, trust, and affection for his Father which renders the devil and his temptations powerless."

I want to spend the next forty days reconciling myself to our Father, preparing myself for a great celebration of Christ conquering sin and death and giving me eternal life through His body and His blood. I want that same unwavering love, trust, and affection for our Father God. I want my sacrifices to please God and my fasting to keep me focused on His great mercies in my life, the sacrifice made for me through His Son, Jesus. I want my Easter celebration to be truly a celebration of victory over sin and not a vain gathering or an excuse to eat a bunch of food, without realizing why we're rejoicing in the first place. Christ suffered and died to redeem us all...to give us an everlasting life with him!

I pray that during this season of lent I will maintain focus while fasting from the things in my life that distract me from God's love and teaching, I pray that I may be strengthened in my sacrifices and that I can enter into the celebration of Easter with a stronger knowledge of the love God has for me, despite my shortcomings, and I pray that my fasting will help lead me to shedding the sin in my life that hinders my relationship with Jesus Christ.

I will be posting daily devotions from the Magnificat so that all of us who read and fast together may grow stronger together as Christians, so that we may be one as the Father and Christ are one!

Thanks for reading and as always, pray for me as I pray for you!

Cloud Of Witnesses

2009-02-10T13:23:00.003-05:00

I recently read what a friend of mine wrote on the subject of our friends and family members and what happens to them after they "die". It is as follows,

"We don't teach our children that the deceased are watching over them. Heaven is happiness, worship, peace...not looking down wishing they were with us. There are not holes in the floor of heaven and there are no tears falling down. But we do teach them that they will be reunited with them one day if they love, follow, obey, worship and give their life to Jesus." -Anonymous Friend

I don't question this friend's devotion to God, nor do I question the sincerity of this person's writing, but what I did question was how they and thousands of others came to this conclusion...Where does this teaching come from?

I will say this, Heaven is happiness, full of worship, filled with peace, and probably a lot more greatness than our human comprehension is capable of. I also agree that no one in Heaven is wishing they could be human again, nor do I believe that they miss us. I would firmly agree that there are no tears falling down either, but take a look at what I found. As usual, this topic has thousands of years of teaching attached to it and the following beliefs have been questioned and proven over and over...

The following contains many scriptures that talk about this subject as well as many quotes from great Christians. The following doctrine has been believed by Christians from the time of Christ for over 2000 years. As for being "reunited" with our loved ones, we were never "un-united". I lost my brother about 5 years ago and I believe that he is in heaven as I type. I believe that he prays for me and my family each and every day, as do many other saints in heaven. I believe he is aware of me and my life and God gave him and my family an eternal bond that will last for all of eternity. Christ not only gave us forgiveness, but He also conquered and defeated death too! I hope you'll read this and I pray that the Holy Spirit will be the only influence on you as you read...not me or anyone else.

The below paragraph is from a website called newadvent.org...it's a site that gives an encyclopedia of what the Catholic Church believes, other topics and the many saints' lifestories.

"The communion of saints is the spiritual solidarity which binds together the faithful on earth, the souls in purgatory, and the saints in heaven in the organic unity of the same mystical body under Christ its head, and in a constant interchange of supernatural offices. The participants in that solidarity are called saints by reason of their destination and of their partaking of the fruits of the Redemption (1 Corinthians 1:2 — Greek Text). The damned are thus excluded from the communion of saints. The living, even if they do not belong to the body of the true Church, share in it according to the measure of their union with Christ and with the soul of the Church."....

Look in Matt. 13:52, "He said unto them: Therefore every scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven, is like to a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure new things and old." In the New-Testament period the scribes were the professional interpreters of the Law in the Jewish synagogues.

Look at Matt. 22:28-33, "At the resurrection therefore, whose wife of the seven shall she be? For they all had her. And Jesus answering, said to them: You err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they shall neither marry nor be married, but shall be as the angels of God in heaven. And concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken by God, saying to you: I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead but of the living. And the multitudes hearing it were in admiration at his doctrine."

Then look at Luke 15:8-10, "Or what woman having ten groats, if she lose one groat, doth not light a candle and sweep the house and seek diligently until she find it? And when she hath found it, call together her friends and neighbors, saying: Rejoice with me, because I have found the groat which I had lost. So I say to you, there shall be joy before the angels of God upon one sinner doing penance.

Look in Hebrews 12:1, "And therefore we also having so great a cloud of witnesses over our head, laying aside every weight and sin which surrounds us, let us run by patience to the fight proposed to us."

Look at Luke 20:36-38, "Neither can they die any more for they are equal to the angels and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. Now that the dead rise again, Moses also showed at the bush, when he called the Lord: The God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. For he is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all live to him."

We see in 1 Corinthians 12 that Paul is explaining that we all have different roles in the body of Christ, but we are all still the body of Christ, a part of the same eternal kingdom. One might say that Paul is only speaking of those of us on earth, but if that's the case then those in heaven aren't a part of the kingdom of God. That would lead me to the question...are we a part of the same kingdom of God that Moses is or better yet, Paul?

We find in scripture that angels carry out the works of God and do His service, just as God uses us on earth to carry out His works and to do His service as well. We pray for one another, we help one another, we rejoice for one another, and we protect one another all because of the grace and authority of God which is given to us. We see that Luke tells us that the angels rejoice in our penance or the reconciliation of our sins, which would mean that they would have to be aware of us and our actions. Luke also tells us that those worthy of the kingdom are equal to angels. These aren't verses pulled out of context, they are in reference to those that have left this world and about the unity of God's kingdom in heaven and on earth, with Christ as our head. I ask, why would God stop using His people for His service once they become perfect beings or saints in heaven? Wouldn't they be more "useable" now that they are perfect beings and do not have to contend with the flesh or sinfulness? We are encouraged to pray for one another on this earth and are encouraged to serve one another...why would the prayer stop and the service stop when we get closer to God in heaven? It wouldn't make sense for it to and it doesn't. There are thousands of saints in heaven who still serve God and who pray for us on earth; and those saints have many different roles just as we do.

I then thought that there must be something in scripture that would have led to my friend's thought on the subject, but where does it say in scripture that they stop serving God and praying for us? It doesn't, in fact we see the opposite teaching. We are taught to be unified; to be slaves to one another; we are taught that if one member of the body suffers, then all members suffer; we are told to pray as we see Jesus pray for His deciples. As the faithful of God we are all a part of the same kingdom and family either on earth or in heaven; and we see in scripture that our God is the God of the living, not of the dead. We are the living just as those in heaven are the living, so I ask where it says in scripture that those that enter into heaven STOP serving God through prayer and acts of service? We are all one...unified as the children of God and we continue His work in His eternal kingdom! This type of teaching isn't my own, it's been taught for 2000 years. So for over 1500 years, Christians believed in this communion with the saints, with those that have entered heaven. There has also been the belief that those saints continue to pray for people on earth and those saints continue to carry out acts of service for God, with each saint having individual purpose just as we do on earth.

These quotes below are from some very important men who helped in maintaining our Christian faith and these are only a few:

St. Cyril AD350:

In 350 A.D., St. Cyril wrote a remarkable and exquisitely detailed description of the Mass, which clearly corresponds with today's Mass. In it we find this beautiful statement on the family of God which we all belong to, and which even today we pray for in every Mass:

":.. upon completion of the spiritual Sacrifice, the bloodless worship, over that propitiatory victim, we call upon God for the common peace of the Churches, for the welfare of the world, for kings, for soldiers and allies, for the sick, for the afflicted, and in summary, we all pray and offer this Sacrifice for all who are in need. Then we make mention also of those who have already fallen asleep: first, the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, that through their prayers and supplications God would receive our petition; next, we make mention also of the holy fathers and bishops who have already fallen asleep, and, to put it simply, of all among us who have already fallen asleep; for we believe that it will be of very great benefit to the souls of those for whom the petition is carried up, while this holy and most solemn Sacrifice is laid out."

Hermas AD80:

"[The Shepherd said:] 'But those who are weak and slothful in prayer, hesitate to ask anything from the Lord; but the Lord is full of compassion, and gives without fail to all who ask him. But you, [Hermas,] having been strengthened by the holy angel [you saw], and having obtained from him such intercession, and not being slothful, why do not you ask of the Lord understanding, and receive it from him?'" (The Shepherd 3:5:4 [A.D. 80]).

St. Clement of Alexandria AD208:

"In this way is he [the true Christian] always pure for prayer. He also prays in the society of angels, as being already of angelic rank, and he is never out of their holy keeping; and though he pray alone, he has the choir of the saints standing with him [in prayer]" (Miscellanies 7:12 [A.D. 208]).

Origen AD233:

"But not the high priest [Christ] alone prays for those who pray sincerely, but also the angels . . . as also the souls of the saints who have already fallen asleep" (Prayer 11 [A.D. 233]).

St. Cyprian of Carthage AD253:

"Let us remember one another in concord and unanimity. Let us on both sides [of death] always pray for one another. Let us relieve burdens and afflictions by mutual love, that if one of us, by the swiftness of divine condescension, shall go hence first, our love may continue in the presence of the Lord, and our prayers for our brethren and sisters not cease in the presence of the Father's mercy" (Letters 56[60]:5 [A.D. 253]).

St. John Chrysostom AD392:

"He that wears the purple [i.e., a royal man] . . . stands begging of the saints to be his patrons with God, and he that wears a diadem begs the tentmaker [Paul] and the fisherman [Peter] as patrons, even though they be dead" (Homilies on Second Corinthians 26 [A.D. 392]). "When you perceive that God is chastening you, fly not to his enemies . . . but to his friends, the martyrs, the saints, and those who were pleasing to him, and who have great power [in God]" (Orations 8:6 [A.D. 396]).

St. Jerome AD406:

"You say in your book that while we live we are able to pray for each other, but afterwards when we have died, the prayer of no person for another can be heard. . . . But if the apostles and martyrs while still in the body can pray for others, at a time when they ought still be solicitous about themselves, how much more will they do so after their crowns, victories, and triumphs?" (Against Vigilantius 6 [A.D. 406]).

St. Augustine AD400:

"A Christian people celebrates together in religious solemnity the memorials of the martyrs, both to encourage their being imitated and so that it can share in their merits and be aided by their prayers" (Against Faustus the Manichean [A.D. 400])...."At the Lord's table we do not commemorate martyrs in the same way that we do others who rest in peace so as to pray for them, but rather that they may pray for us that we may follow in their footsteps" (Homilies on John 84 [A.D. 416]).

I Hope you got this far and I hope you got something out of it...I know I did the first time read this type of stuff! When I read these quotes (there are hundreds more); in all of their variety, coming from different men, of different times, and of different regions I couldn't help but believe the validity of these teachings as oppose to listening to what someone interpreted 1500/1800/2000 years later.

As always, please pray for me as I pray for you!

To Know You...

2009-01-08T09:20:00.004-05:00

I was recently asked the question, "What does it mean to 'know thyself' ?".

At first glance this question can seem rather vague and futile...maybe a "smarter than thou" type of question, intended to send your brain into a merry-go-round of thought with no real benefit to gain. This couldn't be more far from the truth, but still as this question rolled over and over in my head, I was led to ask myself another question, "How can knowing myself deeper give me a better understanding of God and better yet, how can that better understanding give me a better relationship with Him?". We want to "deny ourselves" and "rid ourselves of the flesh" that binds us to sin, right? So, wouldn't simply knowing Him more, automatically cause us to do those things? I don't need to know me, I only need to know Him.

Well, in order to deny ourselves, we must first know ourselves; and to rid ourselves of of the flesh, we must first have a knowledge of the flesh. I used to think, "Boy, if I would just read more scripture and pray more, I would get into a better relationship with God and all of these hardships would be easier to deal with." I'm certainly not saying that those things aren't very important to our relationship with God, but I'm just saying that it's like putting the cart before the horse in a sense. No matter how much scripture I read and how much I prayed, I still did not feel my relationship with God growing that much. It's always good to refresh what I've learned, but I wanted more...much more. I wanted that, 'when you were a child hearing "bible stories" for the first time, kind of growth'. God certainly speaks to us through the Church, scripture, and through prayer and we definitely need to continue to fertilize the crops that have been planted for years, but we also need to continue to plant new crops as well...that's what growth is, expansion of your being; of your mind, body, and soul. Problem is that I'm not always able to hear, and if I can't hear, I gain nothing.

We're an interesting species, all made as one being composed of mind, body, and soul; yet we are all so different in our own right. We all have individuality, but are called to be unified with each other. Paul tells us that we are to be "slaves to one another" (Gal. 5:13). This slavery is really our true freedom because this service to others not only brings us together, but also brings us into a closer relationship with God. Jesus prays specifically for His apostles, that they may be one as He and the Father are one (John 17:11). That entire chapter in John is so amazing and truly shows us the human care and concern Jesus had for His apostles..."I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but for them whom thou hast given me..." (John 17:9). While Jesus prays for the apostles specifically and prays that they would be unified, He also knows of the individuality of each apostle. Each apostle, chosen by God and given to Christ, had his own weakness and failures...Peter denies Christ, Judas betrays Christ, and Thomas doubts Christ. I find myself following in these same sinful footsteps at times. We all have our own individual vices and we all need to be dealt with in a different fashion so-to-speak. Me knowing me better, gives me some insight into the way the Holy Spirit speaks to me when I'm reading scripture or praying or talking to someone at work. It allows the growth to start because now I'm hearing the Holy Spirit throughout my day. When I want to better my relationship with someone, I have to spend time with that someone.

I used to have a big problem when I read scripture, and I've spoken with others that have had or have the same problem. It's sometimes hard to find direction in bible study when studying alone...where do I go in the bible and what is God trying to speak to me...where do I begin and what do I take with me when I'm done? I would like to say it's always easy to hear the Holy Spirit, but I haven't found too many people who can say that it is. My weaknesses, fears, desires, and personality traits play a part in all aspects of my life; meaning that even though the Holy Spirit gives life to the scriptures, my humanity is still there. It's so easy to allow those things to get in the way of what is truly divine and holy from scripture. I'm left asking, "Am I seeing through the eyes of God or is my vision clouded by my own perspectives, fear, desires, etc.?" This doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit isn't at work, it means that the Holy Spirit has to work within my weaknesses, fears, and desires; because this human nature is a part of who we are. This is where the writings of the Church fathers really come into play. The more I "hang out" with the Holy Spirit throughout my day, the more I learn about the grace in my life through my shortcomings and the easier my study becomes. I can now, not only hear the Holy Spirit better when I'm praying and reading scripture, but the Holy Spirit also brings forth much understanding of myself in the numerous writings of the Church fathers as well...there is 2000 years of great teaching and we should want to dive into all of it because it continues growth in our minds, bodies, and souls and growth in our relationship to God.

We, as Christians, have more Church history and more avenues to further our relationship with God than one could possibly retain. Some of these same men who were "good enough" to have helped in compiling our bible should be "good enough" to read as well. As I deal with my shortcomings daily; read of the shortcomings in the lives of the saints and how they overcame them; read the teachings that have been handed down and been proven by those saints; study the scriptures with not only great faith, but also with a carnal understanding of the time and culture as well; pray for others throughout my day; carry out small acts of service; and take the time to just quietly adore Christ I notice that it becomes easier to hear the Holy Spirit. I notice that everything else falls into place.

Gaining a better relationship with God requires me to actually spend time with God. It's hard to spend time doing these things, but it's necessary because I just don't grow by sitting down and reading a few scripture verses and saying a few prayers; just as a 12 year old doesn't grow by constantly reading books for toddlers. When we were studying something in school, we learned about that particular subject each and everyday and then spent time outside of that class studying the same subject, and then we took tests to judge our growth. Why is my faith and my relationship with God any less important...better yet, shouldn't it be more. I am constantly reminded of the story in Luke when, after His ressurection, Christ opened up the scriptures to Emmaus and Cleophas and really gave them the scriptural teaching of their life I would imagine...but when did they "know" Him? "...how they knew Him in the breaking of the bread...", the Eucharist. A meal with Christ, of Christ. (Luke 24:13-35) These scriptures weren't something new and these men had heard those scriptures many times before (I'm sure this burning in their hearts was a new thing), but after spending time with Jesus, walking with Him, and then coming into full communion with Him, they knew Him.

God wants of me a change of heart, to find strength in Him and the many gifts He has given to me, to trust in Him when fears are taking over, to desire Him and what is of Him, to spend time with Him throughout the day, to use the Church as Peter and Paul taught us, as the pillar and foundation of truth, to come to His table and enter into full communion with Him...these things lead me to a closer relationship with God each and everyday. We were created to love, serve, and know God and this is a good way to get to know Him...by facing our weakness and fear head on. This opens our hearts and preps us for change and allows the Holy Spirit to speak to me more clearly in my daily life; we are more aware of the grace of God in our success and it then becomes easier to hear. I often focus on the things in my life that I have no control over, all the while neglecting the things in my life that I know can be changed. To know myself is to know my shortcomings, and the consciousness of those shortcomings causes me to hear the Holy Spirit and see just how great God's grace truly is, even in the midst of them.

Thanks for reading and I hope others get as much from reading this as I did in writing it. I ask that you pray for me as I pray for you.

The New Ark...

2008-12-10T10:23:00.003-05:00

It's Christmas time and I don't know about you, but I know I'm way behind on my Christmas shopping. You would think I would be used to it by now, considering I'm behind every year. I love this time of year though...the lights, the salvation army bells, the celebration, the time with family (which I cherish more and more as I grow older), the food, the looks on the faces of young and old while opening the gifts we've given, but most importantly the Christmas story and the preparation we go through in this advent season...the new beginning we're starting. The new beginning that Christ brought to us.

This celebration of the birth of our Savior, and the means by which he became our savior, stems from some very exciting events which hold deep meaning. The birth of Christ was the beginning of our salvation, but this savior had been prophesied about for many years prior and I've recently found some great info about this covenant God was making with man and a few ways the Holy Spirit connects prophesy and fulfillment. In some of my past blogs, we've seen the typology between the Old and the New...this one will be no different. When we read in Luke's gospel about Gabriel's visitation to Mary and about Mary's visitation to her cousin Elizabeth, we get a good understanding of the start of our salvation and the savior to be born, but there is sooooo much more to it. Luke's gospel has a few underlying aspects that I'd never really known about...things of which a knowledgeable Jew who knew the Jewish scriptures would have understood at the time. Typology is throughout scripture and we see many great saints use it throughout the New Testament. These studies and findings don't distract from Christ, but rather give us the full pool of the Holy Spirit and God...not just the shallow end. The fulfillment of prophesy and parallels in scripture connect us with our creator even more and helps us to understand the earliest of Christians even more!

Typology: We all understand that the Old Testament is filled with history...stories of people and events. A Type is a person, a thing, or an action, having its own independent and absolute existence, but at the same time intended by God to prefigure a future person, thing, or action. You could say that God was teaching the people of the Old about ingredients and then teaching the people of the New how to make a meal using those ingredients...our meal, Jesus Christ.

The early Christians understood that the Old Testament contained types, types that were fulfilled in the New. St. Augustine said (5th century), "the Old Testament is the New concealed, but the New Testament is the Old revealed". St. Irenaeus said (2nd century) that the Old is "...a prophesy of things to come". In Romans 5:14 - "Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come"

A few other examples. Look at the Israelites enslaved under the Pharaoh in Egypt. Egypt=type of the world, Pharaoh=type of the devil, and slavery =type of sin, & Moses =type of Christ, raised up from the midst of his own people to rescue them. We know that God became man, like us in all things except sin and Christ rescues us from sin and death, just as Moses brought his people out of slavery. (Deut. 18:15, 18; John 1:11, 17). We dig deeper...Look in John 3:14-15, "And Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting".

In John 3:5, Jesus tells us that we must be born again of water & Spirit (be baptized) and that if we are not we will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. In Luke 3:21 we learn that the spirit, in the form of a dove, came down upon Jesus when he was being baptized...by "water and Spirit". It's funny how the Israelites were saved from Egypt, saved from slavery, and Pharaoh then formed into a new nation...they went down into the water of the Red Sea, the Spirit hovered over their heads in the form of a cloud.

Spirit over the waters....hmm. Look in Genesis 1:1...the world was empty and void and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters...from the waters rose land, and the dust from which we were made. Through "water and Spirit" God creates anew. In 1 Peter 3:20, Peter tells us that Noah and his family were saved by water, which we know washed away the filth of the earth, but he then tells us that the water that saves us doesn't wash away filth of the body, but purges the conscience from sin. Don't forget about the dove that hovered over Noah and confirmed God's promise... Paul of course knows that Moses and the exodus from Egypt are true history and he wanted his brethren to be knowledgeable of that, but the exodus is also a type...a type of Christian baptism and salvation.

In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul tells us that the people in the desert drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, Christ. In verse 6 he starts to tell us to heed the examples of sin set before us and to stay away from these evils that were a figure to us as well. We see Peter comparing God's saving of Noah to teach about baptism, In Colossians 2:11 Paul speaks of circumcision foreshadowing baptism, and in the first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 5:7 we see that Christ is our Passover Lamb. There are many more examples of biblical typology throughout scripture, but that's not my intention for writing this blog, but it is important to understand typology when reading the Bible and is important when reading about the birth of Jesus Christ to a Virgin.

The Ark of the Old Covenant: As children we all learned about the Ark of the Old Covenant. It was held in the Tabernacle, in the wilderness of Sinai. God expressed that he would dwell in the midst of His people. He chose to do this in a very special way. In Exodus 25 we see God giving specific and detailed instructions as to the proper way to construct the Ark. To be placed in the Ark was a golden jar holding the manna sent from Heaven, Aaron's rod which budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant (Deut. & Hebrews). On the top of the Ark was to be the mercy seat and two golden cherubim who dwell in heaven. Moses finished making the Ark, the tabernacle, and then the glory cloud of the Lord (the Shekinah Glory) covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-35; Num. 9:18, 22).

 Stephen Ray gives a great explanation of this covering: "The verb "to cover" or "overshadow" and the metaphor "cloud" are used in a special way in the Bible. They represent the presence and glory of God. The spirit of God covered or "overshadowed" the Ark and the tabernacle and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.  The Greek word for "overshadow" (ἐπισκιάζω or episkiazein) in Exodus 40 is rarely used in the Greek Old Testament. The Holy Spirit chooses his words carefully. Here it is used of the presence of God overshadowing the Ark. The same Shekinah glory cloud also filled the Temple of Solomon (2 Chron 7:1-3)."

What does all of that mean for the New Testament and what does that have to do with the birth of Christ? The same Greek word for "overshadow" is used by Gabriel when he tells Mary that the Holy Spirit will overshadow her and she will bear Christ. The result of this overshadowing is the presence of God in the womb of Mary, like the presence of God dwelling in the Ark in the tabernacle. Do you think the Holy Spirit chose to use the rarely used Greek word ἐπισκιάζω in both places without a reason?

When reading Luke's gospel, like most of the New Testament, we must think like a Jew or have an understanding of the Old Testament, its types and symbols. Luke is giving us a parallel between the Old Testament Ark, as the dwelling place of God, and Mary as the new dwelling place of God...the Word made flesh. Just as God chose a perfect dwelling for Himself in the Old, wouldn't He prepare such a place for His only Son to dwell before birth? I mean, after all, the items in the Ark were objects...very important objects, but objects just the same. This new covenant was Himself made flesh, in a human form to save the world, while fulfilling every little prophesy. Imagine how concerned God would be to prepare a perfect and flawless Ark that would carry the Word of God made flesh…the Second Person of the Trinity. Luke gives us more, yet again. Carefully woven into the story of Mary are other typologies of great importance. We'll see how awesome the Holy Spirit is and how the Holy Spirit challenges us to exercise our brains and our hearts when reading scripture.

We know that Joshua led the people into the Promised Land after Moses' death. Joshua established the Ark in Shiloh, it remained for over two hundred years. During the time of war with the Philistines, 4,000 Israelites were killed which led them to act in fear, disobeying God. They removed the Ark from the temple and carried it to the front lines of the battle. Their disobedience led to the death of 30,000 men and the Ark was taken by the Philistines. Later on in chapter 5& 6 we see problems that led the Philistines to send the Ark back to Israel.

This is where it gets really interesting...The Ark arrived into the hill country of Judea. In 2 Samuel 6, David goes to retrieve the Ark from Cariathiarium and took 30,000 men with him. In verse 5 we see all of Israel playing music of praise to God, but one man decided to touch the Ark, Oza, son of Abinadab and was struck dead. This brought forth fear in David..."And David was afraid of the Lord that day, saying: How shall the ark of the Lord come to me?" 2 Samuel 6:9 David then left the Ark in the hill country for three months. After hearing of the blessings of God, because of the ark, we see that David went to get the ark...dressed as a priest he danced, praised, & leapt before the ark and all of Israel shouted for joy! David then took the ark to Jerusalem.

Now lets jump into the New Testament, back to Luke's gospel. It's believed by many historians and theologians that Luke must have sat and talked with Mary in order for him to be able to record key parts of her story...another word from Stephen Ray, "Maybe it was even Mary that helped instruct the gentile Luke to understand the Old Testament and may have even helped him understand these types and parallels."

In Luke 1:30 we see the angel telling Mary to “Fear Not”, be cause he knew the fear that she had. Also In Luke 1:39 we see that Mary went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judea. She goes to visit Elizabeth and at the moment Mary's voice reached the ears of Elizabeth, the infant in her womb leaped for joy and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Look at what Elizabeth says after being filled with the Holy Spirit, "And she cried out with a loud voice and said: Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me that the mother of my lord should come to me? For behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy." Luke 1:42-44

This is a great paragraph, filled with Old Testament references. Mary goes to the hill country of Judea. A bit of geographical info, Elizabeth lived in Ein Kerem and Abu Ghosh is where the Ark was carried...they are not too far away from each other. Point being is that Mary and the Ark were likely on a journey to the same hill country of Judea. Look at David's word's, "Who am I that the Ark of the Lord should come to me?" Elizabeth says almost the exact same words about Mary, "Who am I that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?" Does the Holy Spirit do these things by chance or is the Holy Spirit using Luke to draw us back to the Old Testament...such as Paul & Peter showing us a parallel in the scriptures.

Look also how David approached the Ark, he shouted out and danced and leapt in front of the Ark. David was also wearing an ephod, a priest's clothing. When Mary, approaches Elizabeth John the Baptist, who was from the priestly line of Aaron, leapt. Both instances are way too similar...Elizabeth being filled with the Holy Spirit shouted out with a loud voice asking what allowed her the honor of being visited by the mother of our Lord and savior, and the infant of a priestly blood line leapt at the sound of Her voice. David, filled with the Spirit shouted out and danced in the presence of the Ark , singing praises to God...which is exactly what Mary did after Elizabeth's words, she gave all glory to God (Luke 1:46).

Also look at the time frame that the Ark of the Old Covenant remained in the house of Obed-edom...three months. In the New Testament we see that Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months. Is this by chance? I would have to agree with the many saints and theologians, over the past 2,000 years, that have said there are too many parallels to credit chance. Look at the fact that the place that housed the Ark for three months was blessed and we see in Luke that Elizabeth uses the word "blessed" three times and one would believe that their home was certainly blessed by the presence of Mary and the Lord within her womb. The greetings are paralleled as well...when the Ark was returned back to Israel, they greeted her with shouts of joy and when Elizabeth, being filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke of and honored Mary, and she did so by crying out in a loud voice. Another interesting fact is that the word for the cry of Elizabeth's greeting is another rare Greek word. Old Testament liturgical ceremonies that were focused on the ark used the same word. In the Old, this ark was a great thing given by God and treated as such. Anyway, Luke again uses an uncommon word borrowed from the Old Testament...a word any practicing Jew would understand. Was the Holy Spirit using Luke to grab the attention of jewish listeners? I believe so...

So, the Ark has made it back to its home and is taken to Jerusalem where God's presence and glory is revealed in the temple (2 Sam 6:12; 1 Ki 8:9-11). We see in Luke 1:56 Mary returns home and eventually ends up in Jerusalem where she presents Jesus to God in the Temple in Luke 2:22, then she and Joseph receive a revelation or prophesy from Simeon of Christ's greatness and those that He would lift up in Israel....Luke 2:29.

 Another interesting side note we can find is that the "Magnificat", or Mary's prayer in Luke 1:46-55, is based upon the prayer of Hannah found in 1 Samuel 2:1-10. Obviously Mary was knowledgeable of Jewish Scripture.  To see the things that the saints and many biblical scholars have found over the past 2,000 years, they had to acknowledge the depth of Scripture, the Jewish nature of the Bible, and the use of biblical typology. This example set before me has opened my eyes and lifted confusion about many events and scriptures.

Sorry, I drift...so, we know that God instructed His people of Israel to listen to Him and to follow Him. We know how important of a role this ark of the Covenant played in the relationship between God and His people. God's spiritual presence was in and around the ark. This ark wasn't to be taken lightly. Using typology and seeing how the writers of scripture used it and how the early Church also understood it, we find out that there is so much that God gives to us. These things give us a better understanding of God and His Son to increase a better relationship with Him. We were created for three things and three things alone; to Love Him, To serve Him, and to know Him. Mary, acting as the Ark of the New Covenant, allows God's perfect will to be on earth as it was in heaven, and gives us God's presense not only spiritually, but physically as well.

Look at the items placed into the ark:
In Deuteronomy 10:3-5 we see God telling Moses to place the tablets of the Ten Commandments, given directly to Moses from the Hand of God, inside. Theses commandments should always be at the heart of their worship. In Hebrews 9:4 we see that two more things were a part of the contents of the Ark...a golden jar holding the manna from heaven and Aaron's rod which budded. I think we can again, all agree that each of these things had a great significance and should remain with the people of Israel and in the presence of God which was in the ark. So, in the ark we have the law written in stone - in Mary's womb we have the word made flesh, given to her directly from God by the power of the Holy Spirit; also in the ark, the urn of manna come down from heaven, while eating it still only gave temporary life - in Mary's womb is the Bread of Life come down from heaven, while eating it gives us everlasting life; last, there is the rod of Aaron, proof of the true priesthood - Mary's womb, the true high priest.

Jesus, the High Priest, is our brother and He gave His mother to John while on the cross and gave John to His mother (John 19:26-27). If you study Hebrew kingship, look how important a king’s mother is and her role concerning the kingdom. She always has a throne at the king’s right side (1 Kings 2:19-20), she was there to support the king and the king's mother had his ear. She is called Gebirah or Queen Mother...you can read about their roles in the books of Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, & 2 Chronicles. Combine the system of historical Hebrew kingships with the kingship of Christ (which was in succession in the house of David) and the New Testament Scriptures concerning Mary. How important would Jesus, the king of kings who sits on the throne of David forever, view His mother? How should His followers view her? Her crowning by God gives her a royal seat and her bearing our savior in her womb, being named “O’ favored one” or “Full of Grace” (Luke 1:28) shows the grace of God being poured into every aspect of her life. She is blessed and every nation shall call her that henceforth (Luke 1:48).

The early Church:

Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296 – 373) was the main defender of the deity of Christ against the 2nd century heretics. He wrote: "… To whom among all creatures shall I compare you, O Virgin? You are greater than them all O (Ark of the) Covenant, clothed with purity instead of gold! You are the Ark in which is found the golden vessel containing the true manna, that is, the flesh in which Divinity resides." Homily of the Papyrus of Turin.

St. Gregory the Wonderworker (c. 213 – c. 270) an early Christian teacher wrote: "Let us chant the melody which has been taught us by the inspired harp of David, and say, "Arise, O Lord, into Thy rest; Thou, and the Ark of Thy sanctuary." For the holy Virgin is in truth an Ark, wrought with gold both within and without, that has received the whole treasury of the sanctuary.

St. Proclus (died 446 or 447)
“Let the woman haste hither, for the woman shows not the tree of death, but brings forth the tree of life: the virgins...the mothers also, for the Virgin Mother has amended the tree of disobedience by the tree of life. The female sex is no longer in execration, for it has obtained whereby it shall surpass even the angels in glory. Eve has been healed...and Mary is venerated (adored), because she has become mother and handmaid, cloud and chamber, and ark of the Lord....For this cause let us say to her: Blessed art thou amongst women, who alone hast healed the grief of Eve; who alone hast borne the world’s price” (Orat.iv.and v. In Natal. Dom. P.G. Tom. 65, p.710) (Blessed Virgin, p. 58).

St. Ephrem (c. 306-373)
“With the rib that was drawn out of Adam, the wicked one drew out the heart of Adam. There arose from the rib [i.e., Mary], a hidden power which cut off Satan as Dagon. For in that ark, a book was hidden that cried and proclaimed the Conqueror. There was then a mystery revealed, in that Dagon was brought low in his own place of refuge. The accomplishment came after the type, in that the wicked one was brought low wherein he trusted....Fulfilled was the mystery. Blessed is He who by the true Lamb redeemed us, and destroyed our destroyer as He did Dagon” (S. Ephrem, Rhythm iii, On the Nativity, Morris, p.20) (Blessed Virgin, p. 66).

St. Hippolytus (c. 170-c. 236)
“At that time, the Savior coming from the Virgin, the Ark, brought forth His own Body into the world from that Ark, which was gilded with pure gold within by the Word, and without by the Holy Ghost; so that the truth was shown forth, and the Ark was manifested....And the Savior came into the world bearing the incorruptible Ark, that is to say His own body” (S. Hippolytus, In Dan.vi., Patr. Gr., Tom. 10, p. 648) (Blessed Virgin, p. 77).

St. Ambrose (c. 339-397)
“The prophet David danced before the Ark. Now what else should we say the Ark was but holy Mary? The Ark bore within it the tables of the Testament, but Mary bore the Heir of the same Testament itself. The former contained in it the Law, the latter the Gospel. The one had the voice of God, the other His Word. The Ark, indeed, was radiant within and without with the glitter of gold, but holy Mary shone within and without with the splendor of virginity. The one was adorned with earthly gold, the other with heavenly” (Serm. xlii. 6, Int. Opp., S. Ambrosii) (Blessed Virgin, p. 77).

St. Cyril (315-387?)
“The Ark would be the type and image of Christ : for if we look back to the way of the Incarnation of the Only-begotten, we shall see that it is in the temple of the Virgin, as in an ark that the Word of God took up His abode. For in Him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, as the Scripture saith. But the testimonies in the ark were the word of God, and the wood of it was imperishable, and with pure and choicest gold was it beautified within and without” (St. Cyril, De ador. In Spir. Et Verit, p. 293, St. Maximus of Turin and other Fathers apply the Ark of the Covenant to the Blessed Virgin Mary) (Blessed Virgin, p. 76).

St. Athanasius (c. 296-373)
“Be mindful of us, most holy virgin, who after childbirth didst remain virgin; and grant to us for these small words great gifts from the riches of they graces, O thou full of grace. Accept them as though they were true and adequate praises in they honor; and if there is in them any virtue and any praise, we offer them as a hymn from ourselves and from all creatures to thee, full of grace, Lady, Queen, Mistress, Mother of God, and Ark of sanctification” (Orat. In Deip. Annuntiat, nn. 13, 14. Int. Opp. S. Athanasii) (Blessed Virgin, p. 80).

St Dionysius (died 264)
“Not in a servant did He dwell, but in His holy tabernacle not made with hands, which is Mary the Mother of God” (Ib. ad Quoest. vii.) In calling Mary σκηνλχειροποιη ο, Saint Dionysius implies that she was of an election and origin altogether singular and exceptional. The word occurs three times in the New Testament (Mark xiv. 58, 2 Cor. v. 1, Col. Ii. 11), and in each case denotes what is of singular and divine origin. See also Heb. ix. 11, 24) (Blessed Virgin, p. 81).

Stephen Ray really sparked this study and I used a lot of his writings, you can get his books on Barnes & Noble’s website. He is a fascinating author and really knows how to word the teachings that have been handed down for 2,000 years! What he writes about has been taught and understood as the Church began and then flourished.

Note:
If you wonder why words are expressed with their greek root or translation, all the while seeing the importance of reading the scriptures like a jew; it’s important to know that 250 BC the Jews translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek. It was called the Septuagint and it was the primary Bible used by the Apostles and the early Church.

Thanks for reading and I hope you got as much from this as I did…We celebrate Christ our savior and His birth at this time of year and I just wanted to write what a great role Mary was/is in being Christ's (and our) Queen Mother, who prays for us to our God and was filled with God's grace and accepted Christ before anyone else on Earth...without ever seeing His face.

I pray that all who read this will have a great Christmas and that we may always stay mindful of why we celebrate this season. In the name of the Father, Jesus His Son, & the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Who needs a Pope?

2008-11-04T15:23:00.008-05:00

One of the first problems I had with the Catholic Faith was the idea of one man being the authority of Christianity on earth. What gives him the right? Where does his authority come from and why is it justified? Why does over 1/2 of Christianity and 1/6 of the earth's population adhere to this authority on earth?

I first needed to find out who Catholics believe the first pope to be...Peter the Apostle. Over the past 5 or 6 years I've really learned how faith and reason do go together and one shouldn't go without the other. I used to read scripture kind of one sided...not really taking the time out to study geographical and cultural customs of the time. When scripture was written, it was written under Holy Inspiration, but another factor does play into it...it was written through the hands of men who were of certain customs and traditions. This plays a huge part in the scriptures and what the writer may have chosen to elaborate on or not elaborate on...and in the meanings of phrases or words. And we know that typology is used throughout scripture as well.

One of the first scriptures I looked at was Matthew 16:16-19 - "Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answering said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father in heaven. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth. it shall be loosed also in heaven."

I read it and can understand that something is going on, but what exactly? This is where reason comes into play. As always I'm now asking more why and what questions...Why did Christ change Peter's name and what does his new name mean? What does it mean to be given keys to a kingdom? How does this kingdom go along with other mentions of a kingdom in the New Testament?

In scripture the changing of a name by God seems to have a pretty significant meaning. In Genesis 17 God changes Abram's name to Abraham in creating a covenant with him and giving to him and his ancestries nations and kingdoms. The name Peter (Kepha), in the aramaic language that Jesus spoke, has one meaning: Rock. This translates in to the Greek Petra (feminine) and then into Petros (masculine) and then into the english form Peter. Peter is Rock. And upon this rock Christ will build his church...In 1 Cor 3 Paul is telling the people of Corinth that the foundation of our Faith is Christ and we are the building. In Ephesians 2:19 Paul tells the people of Ephesus that they are the body or building that is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ as the Corner-Stone. So, the foundation of our faith chose a Rock to build His church on and Paul taught that we, the church, are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ as the chief cornerstone. So what makes Peter different than any o the other apostles?

Given the keys...What prophet talked about keys? One in particular comes to mind. I look in Isaiah 22:20 (about 250 years after the covenant with David) and see that Eliacim will have the steward's key of the house of David upon his shoulder and this gives to him great power..."and he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open." Later on in the same chapter we see that this possession of power is temporary, but we read in Luke 1 that Jesus is given, by God, the throne of David His father and that this kingdom will last forever. The steward's keys represented exclusive dominion and the office of royal stewardship was successive in Israel. So, Christ was named the King of Israel and His kingdom would last forever...fulfilling the Davidic covenant that The throne of David will last forever. This is a problem because Christ wouldn't be on the earth forever. So how can this be?

Christ gives Peter and Peter alone keys to the kingdom...the same keys that God gave to Jesus. Then Jesus tells him that the gates of Hell will not prevail against the Church and that Peter now had the power to bind and loose and that authority would be honored in heaven. Now, reason comes in again...Jesus and His apostles followed Jewish customs and traditions. The stewardship or holding of keys is successive. So, Jews would certainly know their history and would know that the office would last forever by succession. We also see in scripture that Christ is called Rabbai. M. Vincent (a protestant scholar) explains, "No other terms were in more constant use in Rabbinic canon-law than those of binding and loosing. They represented the legislative and judicial powers of the Rabbinic office." Aramaic scholar George Lamsa writes, "'He has the key', means he can declare certain things to be lawful and others unlawful; that is to bind or to loose, or to prohibit or to permit, or to forgive."

Let's go even deeper with the Aramaic translation (again the language that Jesus was speaking) in Luke 22:31-32, "And the Lord said: Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you (plural), that he might sift you (plural) like wheat, but I have prayed for thee (singular), that thy faith fail not: and thou (singular) being once converted, confirm thy brethren." Yet again Christ is separating Peter from the others and is praying that the Rock will be able to support and guide his fellow brethren. This perfectly exemplifies the way the Catholic Pope's primacy and authority relates with his collegiality with the other Bishops...because we must first remember that in Catholicism the Pope is a Bishop, the Bishop of Rome, who is head of the all the other Catholic Bishops on earth.

Let's go even farther... In John 21:15-17: Here Christ tells Peter to Tend and to feed His sheep 3 times (kinda interesting that Peter denied Christ 3 times)...the same flock that Christ is the Shepherd of. Reason, yet again, needs to be used here because it's important to know that the Jews would understand, according to contemporary usage, that the words "feed" and "tend" meant to teach, govern, and rule...as a shepherd governs a flock of lambs. (See Ezekiel 34:23 where God talks of raising up David to feed his flock.)

These scriptures show us Christ's preparing Peter before His death and His command to Peter after His resurrection. Scripture is filled with other "little" details as to Peter's seniority...We see in John 20 that when John and Peter ran to the tomb, we are specifically told that John arrived first but did not go in and waited for Peter who went in first.

Of the 12 apostles, Peter is mentioned by name most often in scripture, 195 times. John being next at 29 times. When the 12 are listed by name (Matt. 10:2-5, Mark 3:16-19, Luke 6:14-17, Acts 1:13), Peter's name is always first and Judas Iscariot is always last. In Acts 1:13-26 Peter leads the other apostles in choosing Matthias as successor to Judas and in Acts 2:14 he leads the apostles in preaching on the day of Pentecost. Peter performs the first Pentecost miracle in Acts 3 and in chapter 4 he speaks in the name of all the apostles and the Church before the Sanhedrin for trial. Peter is the one in chapter 10 that recieved the revelation of God concerning Gentiles being accepted into the Church and in chapter 11 he's the first to welcome them. At the council of Jerusalem, it's Peter's authority and dogmatic pronouncement that is accepted and causes all disputes to cease in chapter 15. After Paul's conversion he visits Peter to have his teachings confirmed in Galations 1:18. Back in Acts chapter 5, it's Peter who handles the case of Ananias and Saphira and he tells them that by lying to him they have lied to the Holy Spirit.

Through all of this we see that the keys of the kingdom were something to behold and gave a great responsibility to the key holder. We see that Peter's authority abounds in scripture and we see that the apostles saw the need to have successors like Matthias...similar to Paul finding Timothy and then telling him to go and find other's that could be trusted to teach. Telling him to hold true to the traditions that had been handed down, not only through written letter , but also by word of mouth. Succession is needed to maintain the kingdom. Because of this need for succession, there has been someone in that seat that Peter held for over 2000 years to date.

So the answers to my questions had been found...Christ gave Peter the right, the Pope's authority comes from Jesus Himself by the power of the Holy Spirit through apostolic succession, it's justified throughout scripture and throughout hundreds of writings from the Church Fathers for the past 2000 years, & so many follow this authority because it was the only Christian authority on earth, after Christ's death & resurrection, until the 16th century when men like Luther and Calvin decided that they had a better plan than God did for over 1500 years. Now there are around 33,000 different Christian denominations other than Catholicism out there who all argue on what Christians should believe and they all believe that they have the correct doctrine. There are more Baptist sub-denominations than I have teeth in my head. Where's the unity that Christ expressed He wished us to have...to be one, as He and the Father are one.

Thanks to Dr Scott Hahn & to many Church Fathers for defending the faith for thousands of years. Thanks to Stephen Ray for writing a great book titled "Upon this Rock" which also helped point me along in finding these answers that have been around for thousands of years.

Vincent's quote: M. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Teastament, (grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1887, 1990), 1:96

Lamsa's Quote: George M. Lamsa, Old Testament Light (New York, NY: Harper)

Before The Bible

2008-10-08T10:16:00.012-04:00

What is the bible? We, as Christians, read it and quote it and it's easy to just say that it's the Word of God, but we all know that it didn't appear to us as a gift from God in the same manner that the tablets were given to Moses. It's a gift alright, but with much more "meat" to it.

Wikipedia says: "The bible refers to respective collections of religious writings of Judaism & of Christianity."

Webster says: a) the sacred scriptures of Christians comprising the Old Testament and the New Testament. b) the sacred scriptures of some other religion (as Judaism).

The definitions make it seem so simple...but early Christianity shows us that it took a great deal of discussion, understanding, knowledge, prayer, and an open heart to the Holy Spirit to compile the book we have in our homes. It also didn't happen over night, hundreds of years of apostolic teaching and tradition went into it.

Bible: The name is derived from the Greek expression biblia (the books). In the Latin of the Middle Ages, the neuter plural for biblia gradually came to be regarded as a feminine singular noun. The singular form of the word passed to western languages..."The Book". In the time of Christ, the Jews had sacred books, which were different from one another in subject, style, & origin. They regarded all of these writings with a character that separated them from all other writings, they have a Divine Authority from God. Their belief was confirmed by Christ and by His apostles. We see this in their teaching and as they used them as a foundation of their doctrine. The books were handed down to the Christian Church as the written record of Divine revelation before the coming of Christ...to give us the Old Testament. These were written mostly in Hebrew, gradually within the nine centuries which preceded the Christian era.

The truths of Christian revelation were given to the apostles either by Jesus Himself or by the Holy Spirit. They constitute what is called the Deposit of Faith. Some of the truths were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and were handed down to us in what is called the New Testament...written originally to individual Churches or people, completed around 100AD. We say some of the truths because we can't limit the understanding of the works and truths of Christ to the pages of a book (John 21:25). St. Augustine says, "We are not to believe that in respect of space the world could not contain them...but that by the capacity of the readers they could not be comprehended."

When? Back to the topic of time of this compilation. The scriptures of the Hebrews were being used by the apostles and being referenced by Christ as we see in the New Testament, but there was no New Testament...it was being written. The Pauline epistles were circulating in collected form by the end of the first century AD. St. Justin Martyr (130-165AD) mentions the "memoirs of the apostles". A four gospel canon was stated by St. Irenaeus (160AD) and there have been writings found, dating to the early 200's, that list "New Testament" books. There was however, some debate over what books were accepted as Divinely written, but most of the major writings were accepted by almost all Christians by the middle of the 2nd century. St. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria (328-373AD), gave a list of exactly the same books that would become the New Testament canon...he actually used the word "canonized" (kanonizomena) in speaking of them. Pope Damasus I proclaimed an important New Testament canon in the Roman synod of 374 and he commissioned the Latin Vulgate in 383AD. Needless to say that the New Testament was official by the 4th century.

Why? "Why" seems to face me alot when it comes to my faith...it always has. As the Church grew, it faced many groups of heretics who tried to use scripture for their own gratification...some out of sheer ignorance and some for greed and power. Either way, the Church had it's hands full with people trying to teach something different than that of Christ and His apostles. What's so important about these early saints who defended our faith? It was these saints that were used by the Holy Spirit in preserving our faith that is alive today. They used the apostolic tradition that had been handed down to them from Peter and the apostles to "etch in stone" the doctrines of our faith. The synods of Bishops and the councils that have taken place throughout history have not created what we believe, but displayed it for those who may try to doubt it. Hence the reason for things like the Nicene Creed...this creed was written in the 4th century not to create a belief, but to confirm it and finalize it. For this reason we still profess this in unity each and every week from the time it was written to now:

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of Being with the Father. Through Him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation He came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit He was born of the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered, died, and was buried. On the third day He rose again in fulfillment of the scriptures; He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father. With the Father and the Son He is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Most Christians believe in the Trinity; God the Father, Jesus His Son, & The Holy Spirit and would also state that they are equal in divinity, yet in three persons right? I ask you to find that doctrine in scripture. The doctrine that defines the Trinity as 1 God divided into three persons, yet remaining to be 1 God, with equal divinity. I'll save you some time and trouble...you can't because it's not found in scripture. The Trinity is certainly named in scripture, but the doctrine that we as Christians believe in is not found in the bible. It was given to the apostles through the Holy Spirit by Divine revelation and from the teachings of Jesus...handed down, tested by non-believers, then defined to end argument on what the true Church teaches and taught.

The creed from the late 300's doesn't create the doctrine of our belief in the Holy Trinity, it states it once and for all. It was believed from the time of Christ. We must remember that we are the Church of God with Jesus at the head, and by the power of the Holy Spirit produced scripture that was written through the early Church...not a Church produced from the bible. Paul tells Timothy and the Thessalonians to hold true to the traditions handed down, not only by written letter, but by word of mouth as well and then to find and entrust faithful men to carry on these traditions. (2 Thess. 2:15, 2 Tim. 2:2)

So, history shows that we didn't have a "bible" until 300 or 400 years after Christ's death and resurrection...so what did the early Church do for that time? We see that they wrote letters and gave sermons. We can see from Acts and many other scriptures that they saw the need for structure and maintaining a structure (Acts 1:23), having authority on earth (Matt. 16:19) and exercising it (Acts 5:4). We also see, from Paul, that not everything was written down.

Who? So who did they teach? Did those faithful men write anything? As I asked this question, I found more answers than I ever thought I would find. If you look throughout Christian history, you'll find writings that teach us so much about the Church after Acts, after the Gospels and how people understood the traditions that were handed to them by written letter and by word of mouth. Read some of the greats like St. Augustine (4th century), St. Ambrose (4th century), St. Athanasius (4th century), St. Ignatius (1st/2nd century)(appointed to Antioch by Peter), St. Polycarp (1st/2nd century)(Apostle of John), St. Irenaeus (2nd century), St. Clement of Rome (4th Pope, some writings indicate he was ordained by Peter), St. Justin Martyr (2nd century), and the list goes on and on. These men wrote against heresy and defended the faith until they died...most were martyred.

What can we learn from these men? I've found so much information about how they worshipped and you start to see how going to a Catholic Mass is extremely the same, which makes sense, it was designed that way. Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom, told him that what he bound on earth would be bound in heaven and what he loosed on earth would be loosed in heaven. He also told Peter to tend His sheep, Peter did that and then entrusted that responsibility to a faithful man and told him to do the same. Jesus appeared to the disciples, breathed on them the Holy Spirit, and gave them the authority to forgive or retain the sins of the flock (John 20:23). This authority, only made possible by the power of the Holy Spirit, was handed down and entrusted to the faithful for the past 2000 years in the Catholic Church. The Church will never contradict scripture and scripture will not contradict the Church. The true word of God is alive in the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that inspired the scriptures, & the same Holy Spirit that inspires the Church.

You find that the great theologians expound on the things they were taught and give a deeper explanation of our faith. These men were the continuation of the Church that Jesus started, these men were the early Church that gave us what we call a bible, these men were the Church and remember what Paul tells us, "The Church is the Pillar and foundation of truth." 1 Tim. 3:15

Hail Mary?

2008-10-02T14:38:00.006-04:00

The rosary is uplifting on so many plateaus, but what does it mean to say the rosary and why is it important? I've heard many times, "Yea, that's cool and all, but I can pray on my own thanks.". I myself have not given enough time to pray this wonderful devotion, but I'm seeing that I need to change that. For those of you who might be reading that don't know what the rosary consists of, it's easy to understand and you can go to this site for a detailed outline of the mysteries, etc.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. amen.

Hail Mary:

Where does this well known term come from...I know, you may be thinking that it came from the great Roger Staubach; the Dallas Cowboy's hall of fame quarterback who actually coined the phrase as a type of passing play, but as great as he was he didn't author the term...it stems from something much greater. The angel of God, Gabriel greeted Mary in this way saying, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women." (Luke 1:28) There is so much we can learn from this and Dr. Scott Hahn probably does one of the best jobs of walking us through. The following contains some writing from Dr. Hahn and what many early Church fathers before him have taught.

The angel uses a word - variously translated hail or rejoice - that the prophets used to foretell the joy of the people at the Messiah's coming (Joel 2:23-24; Zechariah 9:9). In fact, the angel's announcement seems to be drawn almost word for word from a prophesy of Zephaniah (3:14-18). I'll place the words drawn from Luke in parenthesis and the words that are not are from Zephaniah:

"Shout for joy (Hail), O daughter Zion (favored one)! The King of Israel, the Lord (The Lord) is in your midst (is with you)...Fear not, O Zion (Do not be afraid, Mary)...Your God is in your midst (You will conceive in your womb), a mighty saviour (...Son of the Most High).

The angel tells Mary that her Son will be "Son Of the Most High" and will be given "the throne of David His Father." In fact, the angel's words we hear echoes of God's covenant with David (2 Samuel 7:12-16; Psalm 89:4-5; 27-30). God swore that David's son would be "a son to Me." God also swore that David's son would rule on his throne forever. The angel promises that Mary's Son will be seated on "the throne of David his father...forever."

It gets deeper, Mary asked how she, as a virgin, will conceive the child promised by the angel. The angel replies: "For nothing will be impossible for God" (Luke 1:37). An angel spoke almost these same words to Abraham's wife, Sarah, when she laughed at the notion that in her old age she would bear the son that God had promised to Abraham (Gen. 18:14). Luke shows us that Mary, too, is being called to bear the son of God's covenant promise. Mary's response to the angel takes up the story of still another barren woman who found favor with God - Hannah the mother of Samuel (1 Samuel 1:11, 19-20). In presenting herself as "the handmaid of the Lord", she recalls the oath of Hannah - who pleaded with God for a son, vowing to consecrate him to the Lord. Three times Hannah described herself as the Lord's "handmaid" (1 Samuel 1:11, 16, 18).

The historical events, and the manner in which these events are written about, communicate far more than factual info. They reveal the existence of a plan of salvation that God is working out in human history. The reason for the careful use of quotes and allusions to Israel's past is to reveal that unity between the Old and New Testaments - to show what happens to Mary is a continuation and culmination of what has gone before. This is how Jesus taught his apostles to read the Old Testament. He referred to Jonah (Matt 12:39-41), Solomon (Matt 12:42), the temple (John 2:19), and the brazen serpent (John 3:14) as types or signs that prefigured Him. On the first Easter night He said that, "Everything written about Me in the Law of Moses, and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled." (Luke 24:44-45).

In the writings of the prophets and psalmists, often we find typological readings of earlier events, deployed to prepare Israel for it's coming savior. Isaiah spoke of a new creation (Isaiah 65:17) and a new exodus (11:10, 15-16; 43:16-22; 51:9-11). He and others, Ezekiel and Jeremiah, spoke of the coming of a new Davidic sheperd-king and the restoration of the kingdom (Isaiah 9:1-7; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Ezekiel 16:59-63; 34:24-30; 37:23-28). Jesus was the new Adam, the first born of a new creation (Romans 5:14; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22, 45-49). His Cross and Resurrection mark a new exodus (Luke 9:31; 1 Corinthians 10:1-4). His Church is the new Jerusalem and the new kingdom of David (Galatians 4:26; Acts 1:6-9; 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6).

The second part of this prayer, "...and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus." is taken from Luke's gospel as well. (Luke 1:42). This entire situation is interesting to me because of how Mary's own family reacts to her visit. "And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. And she cried out with a loud voice and said: Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy."

This was a cousin of Mary's...I don't know if I've ever been greeted at any family member's house in this way. As if it were an honor for me to grace them with my visit. The great part about it is the fact that this is not Elizabeth's feeling, this is the Holy Spirit at work here. It was the sound of Mary's voice that caused the infant to leap for joy...and notice the separation that is spoken, "Blessed art thou among women AND blessed is the fruit of thy womb (Jesus)..."

So to speak the words that Mary is Blessed is to speak as the Holy Spirit spoke through Elizabeth in scripture but, the cool thing is how Mary responded to Elizabeth's words, immediately directing us to how great God is. (Similar to how she directed the people at the wedding in Cana, to follow the instructions that her son gives them.) Mary, in Luke, tells us that from that moment forward all nations will call her blessed. Jesus gives His mother to John at the foot of the cross and gives "the one whom he loved" to His mother. John was to honor her as if she were his mother and she was to treat John as if he were her son.

There are also many early Church fathers who write with a great honor of Mary...which only makes sense. If we are to look at Christ as our brother (John 20:17), look to his disciples for teaching (2 Thess. 2:15, 2 Tim. 2:2), treat the scriptures as the Word of God, and use the Church as the pillar and foundation of truth (1 Tim. 3:15) then shouldn't we have a great honor for Jesus' mother just as it shows in all of the above.

To say "Hail Mary" has much more meaning and roots than ever imagined by me.

Seeking...

2008-10-02T13:16:00.007-04:00

Today I've been really drawn to reflect on the rosary...what do these prayers repeated actually do or achieve for us? Why the repetition? Why the beads? I've found that in order to answer questions concerning our faith, it is never just a quick answer that satisfies my spirit. As I start to answer one question, it leads me to many more. Since my conversion to the Catholic Faith I've found so much deep rooted history about our Christian faith...it's mind boggling really, some great history and some bad, but boggling still the same.

As a child I often wondered about the gap of space between the "end" of the Bible and life as we know it today. As I grew older I, like most young teens, stopped concerning myself with my faith and started to concern myself with "my life". The cool thing about God is that He is always there and when you get enough humility to listen to Him, good things happen. My good thing happened...I started to seek truth, truth on God's terms and not my own.

That's the problem with us, we want God to come to us and change for us and make us feel all warm and fuzzy inside 100% of the time. God doesn't change for us, we are to change for God and come to Him on His terms and that's what I did. I learned that my terms only led me to confusion and no confidence in what I was supposed to believe in. I guess a good comparison would be to go with the old saying that, an apple is still an apple no matter how you slice it...truth is truth. Paul says in his first letter to Timothy that the pillar and foundation of truth is the Church. (1 Timothy 3:15)

I found truth and I continue to pursue it in the deep rooted history that has been laid out before us. using both holy scripture and apostolic tradition, through which the Holy Spirit works through today.

This blog is me seeking truth and taking the truth that I find and writing it down...or typing it down. In my next post, I'm going to type out the answers to some questions I've had today and some interesting things I find along the way.