Really. So many of us seek God’s will above all–even above
God.
We use him as a Magic 8-Ball, going to prayer only to figure
things out and not to worship. We treat his will like a scavenger hunt set up
by a sadistic leprechaun who sends us signs and then laughs (or rages) when we
miss them. We obsess over ourselves and our skills and our desires and our
future and call it prayer.
Stop seeking God’s will and start seeking God. Because if
you run after the Lord you will find yourself in his will.
I spend a lot of time making decisions–with no home and no
steady employment, there are a lot of decisions to be made. Want to know how I
do it?
I spend serious time in silent prayer every day. Then I live
my life.
I trust that God is either going to form my heart to desire
what he desires, or he’s going to stop me before I do something dumb, or he’s
going to fix it afterward. I try not to lose peace over confusion or
uncertainty, because I know that God delights in me. If I’m earnestly trying to
live in his will, he’s not going to punish me for getting it wrong.
It’s entirely possible that I’m going to go to my judgment
and find God standing baffled before me, wondering why on earth I thought I
ought to be homeless and unemployed for the sake of the kingdom. There’s a
reason people don’t live this way, and perhaps I’ve gotten it totally wrong and
I was really supposed to be an accountant in Idaho or something.
Still, I expect to see pleasure mixed in with the
bafflement. “Oh, but honey, well done! It was a weird life you chose, but you
tried so hard. You got it wrong, but you sure were seeking me.”
I think he delights in my efforts, however ridiculous they
might be, and I find great peace in that. I can’t mess up discernment so badly
that I ruin his plan for me, because ultimately his plan is for my holiness. If
I’m seeking him, he’ll accomplish that, whatever odd paths it might take.
So if you find yourself stressing out about figuring out
God’s will, stop seeking God’s will and start seeking God. Spend serious time
in silent prayer every day and trust that he loves you. He’ll do the rest.
Meg Hunter-Kilmer – Meg is a hobo missionary. After 2 Theology degrees from Notre Dame and 5 years as a high school religion teacher, she quit her job in 2012 to live out of her car and preach the Gospel to anyone who would listen. 50 states and 25 countries later, this seems to have been a less ridiculous decision than it initially seemed. She blogs at www.piercedhands.com
On August 22nd, the eighth day after the
Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Church celebrates
the feast of the Queenship of Mary. From
the earliest days of the Church, these two events were seen as linked
together. When Mary was given the
special gift of being assumed bodily in to heaven, it was to take her place as
Queen of Heaven. For us today, in a
world where Kings and Queens are part of fairy tales or mostly exist for
ceremonial purposes, it is hard for us to understand why the Church would
recognize Mary as the Queen of Heaven.
In order to understand it better, we must look back in to our Jewish
roots, scriptures and the early Church fathers.
Mary exists as Queen only because Jesus exists as “King of
the Jews”. The first time we hear Jesus
referred to as King is in the Gospel of St. Matthew in his nativity
accounts. St. Matthew writes with a
great knowledge of Judaism and its history.
His nativity account is flowing with references to Jesus as King of the
Jews as related to the Davidic Kingdom.
He has the Magi, the eastern kings, come and worship the new King of
Kings. This is set in David’s city,
Bethlehem. It is the Magi who kneel
down before the baby Jesus, and before Mary and call Jesus the King of the
Jews. Joseph isn’t even mentioned when
the Magi adore the new babe. The
emphasis is placed upon Jesus and Mary.
To understand this we need to look at the Jewish role of the Queen
Mother.
The Jews, like most of the other people of the Middle East,
gave special emphasis to the mother of the King as the Queen Mother. This was quite practical as most of the Kings
had numerous wives, but only one mother.
Scripture tells us that King Solomon, David’s son, had 700 wives and 300
concubines. In Jewish history the Queen
Mother had her throne right next to her son, the King. She helped him in caring for the
Kingdom. She was always especially
known as an advocate for her people. She
very often interceded for her people. In
1 Kings 2: 13-21 we hear the story of Adonijah who comes to see the Queen
Mother saying, “I have something to ask to you.” She replied, “Say
it.” So he said, “There is one favor I would ask of you. Do not refuse
me.” And she said, “Speak on.” He said, “Please ask King
Solomon, who will not refuse you, to give me Abishag the Shunamite for my
wife.” “Very well,” replied Bathsheba, “I will speak to the
king for you.” Then Bathsheba went
to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, and the king stood up to meet her
and paid her homage. Then he sat down upon his throne, and a throne was
provided for the king’s mother, who sat at his right. “There is one small
favor l would ask of you,” she said. “Do not refuse me.”
“Ask it, my mother,” the king said to her, “for I will not
refuse you. So she said, “Let
Abishag the Shunamite be given to your brother Adonijah for his wife.” Of course, the King did what his mother
asked. This was the common practice for
Queen Mothers; to sit on a throne next to their son and bring him
intercessions. This is what our Queen
Mother, Mary does today for us.
There is no doubt that the Kingship of Jesus differs from
the Kingship of David or Solomon or any of the Jewish Kings. His Kingship is founded on his death and
resurrection. It is at the cross that we
read “Jesus, the Nazorean, King of the Jews.
It was on the cross, with Mary at his foot, that Jesus shows us that His
Kingdom is based upon Mercy and pure Love.
The Queenship of Mary follows this same example, Love and Mercy. Now Jesus is enthroned in Heaven with Mary,
the Queen Mother, at His side. Together
they are dispensers of God’s Mercy and Love.
Mary, the Immaculate daughter of the Father and spouse of the Holy
Spirit sits with her son and her God, Jesus.
The book of Revelation, Chapter 12 verses 1 though 5 gives
us an apocalyptic vision of Mary as Queen of Heaven. It says, “And a great sign appeared in
heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on
her head a crown of twelve stars: And being with child, she cried
travailing in birth, and was in pain to be delivered. And there was seen
another sign in heaven: and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads, and
ten horns: and on his head seven diadems: And his tail drew the third part of
the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before
the woman who was ready to be delivered; that, when she should be delivered, he
might devour her son. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all
nations with an iron rod: and her son was taken up to God, and to his throne.” I find it interesting that she has a crown
with twelve stars. Those twelve stars
remind us of both the twelve tribes of Israel who relied upon the Queen Mother
as their intercessor before the King and of the twelve Apostles who regarded
her as the mother of Jesus and their mother.
The red dragon reminds us of how Mary, our mother and our Queen, has
always resisted the attacks of the devil and is the promise of the New Eve who
stamps her foot upon the devil’s head.
When we see Mary as the Queen of Heaven we honor her place
in God’s plan as being the mother of His son Jesus, who is fully human and
fully God. Her resounding YES and her
flesh gave flesh to the Word. She was
the new Ark of the Covenant in which the very presence of God resided. It was
because of her that our Lord and Savior were brought in to this world. She is, most definitely, BLESSED among women.
St. Pope John Paul II in his letter, Rosarium Virginis
Mariae, tells us, “Christ was raised in glory to the right hand of the Father,
while Mary herself would be raised to that same glory in the Assumption, enjoying beforehand, by a unique privilege,
the destiny reserved for all the just at the resurrection of the dead. Crowned
in glory – as she appears in the last glorious mystery – Mary shines forth
as Queen of the Angels and Saints, the anticipation and the supreme
realization of the eschatological state of the Church.”
Hopefully, some day we too, like Mary, will receive our
glorified bodies and worship God and honor Mary in heaven. Until we do, we can honor her as Queen of
Heaven and bring before her our cares and concerns so that she can intercede
for us before her son, Jesus, the King of Kings.
August 4th is the Memorial day of St. John Vianney the Cure of Ars. He was a great priest who serves as the patron Saint of all priest. In view of that, I would like to share an article from my friend Apologist Luke Haskell about the priesthood. Check it out below – Deacon Marty McIndoe
If there is a New Testament priesthood established by God, then this is one of the most important aspects of faith in our world. It would mean that there is a sacrifice that is needed for the world. This affects every human who has ever lived and all who will live in the future. The main purpose for a priest is to offer sacrifice. This may sound archaic but we must consider the fact that God does not change. If people come to the awareness that God established a New Testament priesthood, then this should have a profound effect on their faith.
As far back as you go, even to the beginning of Christianity, there is a priesthood and the Holy Mass. The early Christians were adamant about keeping a true understanding of faith. If the priesthood were a later invention, then you would see the pages of history scream out over the heresy. The Arian heresy that almost destroyed the church would have paled in comparison. The pages of history are silent because from the beginning, there was a priesthood and a Holy Mass as there still is today, 2000 years later. That in itself is a sustained miracle. “To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations.” (Eph 3:21)
It is an interesting fact that the reformer Tyndale’s translation of the Bible was condemned in England and it was burned by other Protestants. Thomas More charged Tyndale with falsely translating scripture in order to remove references to the priestly office. He was calling Tyndale out as a heretic for doing so. In Tyndale’s Bible, the word priest became senior and was changed to elder in his revised 1534 edition. The word “church” became congregation. The word “penance” became repent and the word “charity” became love. Words are powerful. Changes in words have a huge impact over time. This is the main reason why the church outlawed many protestant Bibles. There appears to have been an active process to manipulate history in order to remove the image of the priesthood God established.
The New Testament priesthood developed out of the bishopric during apostolic times. When it comes to the structure of the church, everything was not put in place as soon as Pentecost. The church had to grow in knowledge of itself and of its purpose; a mustard seed that would grow into the biggest tree. The apostles at different times, were Bishop, Deacon, and Priest. “For it is written in the book of Psalms: Let their habitation become desolate, and let there be none to dwell therein. And his bishopric let another take.” (Acts 1:20)
“Diakonos” means “servant” or “minister”. “Who also hath made us fit ministers of the new testament.” (2 Corinthians 3:6) In the beginning, these terms were fluid. The New Testament was the Holy Mass for 360 years before it was a book. The apostles were ministers of the sacraments and the Holy Mass. Paul tells us, “Let a man so account of us as of ministers of Christ, and dispensers of the mysteries of God.” (1 Cor 4:1) From the word mystery we get the word mysterion, sacramentum, sacrament. Paul being a priest is a minister of the sacraments of God.
Paul tells us, ‘For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also.” (Hb 7:12) There was both a change in priesthood that occurred in the New Covenant between God and man, and there was a change in law.
The New Testament, scripture contains both an image of a universal priesthood and the priesthood of the ordained. The universal priesthood consists of all who enter the church through a Trinitarian baptism. This is understood as the mystical body. The mystical body of Christ as a royal priesthood, is shown in scripture to be called in the Greek text, hiereus. Christ is the head of the body. “And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he may hold the primacy:” (Colossians 1:18) Those who have past on in a state of grace have not left the mystical body, but celebrate the Holy Mass with the hosts of heaven on the other side of the veil.
From Strong’s Greek concordance we define hiereús (from word 2413 /hierós, “sacred because belonging to the Temple”) – a priest. Word 2409 /hiereús(“priest”) is used in the NT: Christ is the true Temple. Those belonging to the Temple are sacred. The New Covenant sees the hiereus sacred, and belonging to the Temple.
“Priest is defined as Old English preost probably shortened from the older Germanic form represented by Old Saxon and Old High German prestar, Old Frisian prestere, all from Vulgar Latin *prester “priest,” from Late Latin presbyter “presbyter, elder,” from Greek presbyteros (see Presbyterian). An alternative theory (to account for the -eo- of the Old English word) makes it cognate with Old High German priast, prest, from Vulgar Latin *prevost “one put over others,” from Latin praepositus “person placed in charge,” from past participle of praeponere (see provost). In Old Testament sense, a translation of Hebrew kohen, Greek hiereus, Latin sacerdos.”
Hiereus is priest, presbyter is priest. The English word priest is different from hiereus. It is not derived phonetically nor etymologically from the word hiereus. It is derived from “Presbyteros”. From the beginning the elders, or presbyters in the church structure, were the respected and ordained leaders within the royal hiereus, or, within the body priest. The apostles assigned the leaders of the church to the presbytery. They were the ordained through the process of laying on of the hands of the bishop, starting with those who received the spirit in the upper room at Pentecost. This is the process of apostolic succession. This image fulfilled what the priesthood of Aaron and Moses did before. “Impose not hands lightly upon any man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins. Keep thyself chaste.” (1Timothy 5:22) “Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the LORD instructed through Moses.” (Numbers 27:23) There is no true atonement for sins in the sacrificing of bulls and goats in the Old Testament. The images are to show us the mystery of sacrament and how the priesthood of Christ is fulfilled in the New Testament. The types in the old, become the truth in the new. The New Testament priests are those that administer the sacraments.
Timothy was an elder in the church of one doctrine, yet he was very young. Historical documentation tells us he was a bishop of Ephesus in Turkey. Bishops are both bishops and priests who perform the sacramental office. When one is ordained, his ministry becomes sacramental. It is ordained by God through the laying on of hands of the bishop, and given special graces by the Holy Spirit.
John in Revelation tells us, “He has made us a Kingdom of priests.” Priest as in Hiereus. This is the entire mystical body inside the high Priest Jesus Christ. Peter says, “You are a chosen people a Holy Nation a Royal Priesthood.” Paul says: “That I should be the minister of Christ Jesus among the Gentiles; sanctifying the gospel of God, that the oblation of the Gentiles may be made acceptable and sanctified in the Holy Ghost. (Romans 15:16) In Paul writing to the Romans, he is writing as a priest of the church who in the sacramental office, through the Holy Spirit, sanctifies the oblation of bread and wine. Paul is describing his own ministry which he was called to by God. In the Greek, he is using a variant of the word “hiereus”.
He explains, “of the grace from God that makes him a “minister of Christ to the Gentiles in a priestly service (hierougounta=priestly work.) The bread that becomes the Eucharist through the Holy Spirit is sanctified. Paul tells us, “Is not the bread that we break, participation in the body of Christ?
Webster’s defines the word “sanctify” as to, set apart to a sacred purpose or to religious use consecrate, to free from sin : purify to impart or impute sacredness, inviolability, or respect to… to make productive of holiness or piety.
An oblation is an unbloody sacrifice. In the Old Testament the unbloody sacrifices are of bread and wine. Paul offers a consecrated, holy, unbloody, oblation through the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, for the Gentiles. Through the Holy Spirit, the priest of the mystical body, sanctified bread and wine, therefore setting it apart, consecrating it, making it holy for a holy purpose. An offering to God through Jesus Christ our high priest and mediator in the Holy of Holies, for the sins of the entire world. The holy of holies in the meeting tent represents heaven. The holies is the church. This is a prophecy of Malachy fulfilled.
“For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation: for my name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts.” (Malachi 1:11)
The Gentiles were not baptized into the church until after the cross, so this clean oblation is offered from where the sun rises to where it sets, after the cross. The Old Covenant is fulfilled in the new. In the old, God told Moses that the bread of the presence must always be placed before Him. This bread was to be eaten every Sabbath by the priests in a holy place. Three times a year the sacred bread along with consecrated wine, was brought out of the holies to the Jews. The table containing the bread and wine was raised and the priests would say, “behold God’s love for you.”
The types are fulfilled in the heavenly realities. “This is my body”. Behold Gods love for you. Christ raised this image to the covenant memorial of the cross where His glorified essence that does not conform to time, space, and matter, in the Eucharist, is present before the Father before the Father sees the sins of the world. This is called a covenant memorial. It is a covenant memorial of the crucifixion of Christ. Christ at the last supper told the first priests of His church to, “do this in memory of me.” He was saying, keep the covenant memorial of the cross before the Father for the sins of the world, like the bread of the presence was in type. Without the Holy Mass, the crucifixion is only an execution. This priesthood that was established by the apostles through God, was passed on to their disciples, and continues into our present day.
The word covenant comes from the Semitic word “berit”. It means to cut a covenant. It means an oath secured by a shedding of blood. “This is my blood of the New Covenant”…
We can see the priesthood in scripture and we can confirm it with history. St. Hegesippus (A.D. 180) records that the Apostle, St. James the Less, wore Temple vestments; and St. Polycrates of Ephesus ( A.D. 196) records that St. John the Beloved Apostle, wore a primitive Bishop’s mitre, in which he was buried. The Holy Mass is indigenous to Christianity. There is no Holy Mass without apostolic succession of the priesthood.
“The oriental liturgy, or mass, which bears the name of this apostle (James the just) is mentioned by Proclus, Patriarch of Constantinople, and by the council in Trullo, and is of venerable antiquity. St Basil, indeed, testifies that the words of the sacred invocation, in the consecration of the bread and the cup, were not committed to writing, but learned and preserved by tradition, down to the fourth century.” (Butlers Lives of The Fathers, Martyrs and Other Saints.” )
Irenaeus (died about 202) a disciple of Polycarp who was a disciple of John the apostle tells us, “For David had been appointed a priest by God, although Saul persecuted him. For all the righteous possess the sacerdotal rank. And all the apostles of the Lord are priests, who do inherit here neither lands nor houses, but serve God and the altar continually.” (Irenaeus Against Heresies Book IV, Chapter 8)
From the book titled Clement of Rome Recognitions book 6 ch 15. The author is talking about Peter and his priestly office. “and baptized them; and celebrating the Eucharist with them, he appointed, as bishop over them, Maro, who had entertained him in his house, and who was now perfect in all things; and with him he ordained twelve presbyters and deacons at the same time. He also instituted the order of widows, and arranged all the services of the Church; and charged them all to obey their bishop in all things that he should command them.”
Hippolytus of Rome (170 – 235 AD) When a deacon is to be ordained, he is chosen after the fashion of those things said above, the bishop alone in like manner imposing his hands upon him as we have prescribed. In the ordaining of a deacon, this is the reason why the bishop alone is to impose his hands upon him: he is not ordained to the priesthood, but to serve the bishop and to fulfill the bishop’s command. He has no part in the council of the clergy, but is to attend to his own duties and is to acquaint the bishop with such matters as are needful. . . .On a presbyter, however, let the presbyters impose their hands because of the common and like Spirit of the clergy. Even so, the presbyter has only the power to receive [the Spirit], and not the power to give [the Spirit]. That is why a presbyter does not ordain the clergy; for at the ordaining of a presbyter, he but seals while the bishop ordains (The Apostolic Tradition 9 [A.D. 215]).
We must not deny facts. We must build on facts in order to establish a clearer image of truth that has been lost to most of our world. Scripture through proper exegesis shows us a Priesthood established by God through the apostles. If there is a priesthood established by God then there is a sacrifice that is worthy of God that the priesthood has been ordained to offer. The early history of the church confirms this priesthood and shows us the growth of the priesthood established. All those who have been given a Trinitarian baptism are part of the Royal Priesthood who are called to the wedding feast of the Lamb in the Holy Mass. Many modern Christians have received a valid Trinitarian baptism, but do not participate in what that baptism calls us to. It will always come down to faith though. The great doctor of the church Thomas Aquinas said, “with faith, no explanation is necessary. Without faith, no explanation is possible.”
“Christ our true pasch (Passover Lamb) has been sacrificed. Let us keep the feast. (1 Cor 5:7)
Every Holy Mass, heard with devotion, produces in our souls marvelous effects, abundant spiritual and material graces which we, ourselves, do not know…It is easier for the earth to exist without the sun than without the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass!” St. Padre Pio
Luke Haskell is a Catholic Apologist and can be found on Facebook and LinkedIn
1969: WITH GOD ALL
THINGS ARE POSSIBLE – by Deacon Marty McIndoe
1969 was a very special year of great accomplishments. Today, July 20th, we celebrate the
50th anniversary of man walking on the moon. That same year the New York Mets won the
World Series and Casey Stengel began calling them the “Miracle Mets”. In 1969 the huge Boeing 747 was first
introduced. The extremely fast French Concorde jet also debuted then. In 1969 the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am the
epitome of the American muscle car was introduced. The Woodstock Rock festival brought in an
estimated 350,000 to 500,000 people. In
October 1969 the first communication was sent over the ARPANET, the predecessor
to our INTERNET. And most
miraculously, the average cost of a house was under $5,000.00 and a brand new
Toyota Corona cost $1,950.00 and a gallon of gasoline was 35 cents. I personally had a lot of great achievements
that year. In 1969 I graduated from
college with a Bachelors degree in Scientific Management – Computer Science and
ten days later I married my beautiful wife Martha. Within three months of my marriage I enlisted
in the U.S. Army. All three of those
events changed my life for the better and I still reap the fruits of those
events.
1969 also had a lot of sad events. Members of a Cult let by Charles Manson
brutally killed five innocent people.
Senator Edward Kennedy had his Chappaquiddick Affair in 1969. That year an accidental explosion on the US
Enterprise killed 27 people. Abbey Road
would be the last album the Beatles would do together and 1969 became the last
year they toured together. During 1969
the Vietnam War continued to grow and the US began the Draft. In 1969 Richard Nixon became President of the
United States. The “Troubles” in
Northern Ireland escalated as British Troops used extreme force. In Mississippi, Hurricane Camille hit hard
killing 248 people. Australian light
aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne sliced the destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in half
killing 82 of her crew. !969 became a
year of rising inflation worldwide.
Throughout the years good things happen as well as bad. It is just a fact of life. There is one good thing in 1969 that I would
like to look at. For the first time in
history, man was able to walk on the moon.
Apollo 11 was certainly a remarkable task. Buzz Aldrin, Mike Collins and Neil Armstrong
took off in a ten foot by 12 foot 913 pound capsule made out of aluminum, steel
and titanium that was attached to a 363 foot tall Saturn V rocket. That rocket weighed over 6.5 million pounds
and had three stages. It was 58 feet
taller than the Statue of Liberty. The
Rocket carried the capsule as well as the Lunar Module. The Lunar Module could hold two people. Once they reached the moon, Mike Collins
remained in the capsule while Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong went to the
surface of the moon in the Lunar Module.
Neil Armstrong was the first man to set his foot upon the moon. He said, ”That’s one small step for man, one
giant leap for mankind.”
Just before the Lunar Module landed, there was some serious
concern. First the computers that were
to do the landing began acting up so they shut them down and decided to land
with manual controls. All of this used
up extra fuel and the low fuel light came on.
They were able to successfully land the Module. Many years later, when Armstrong was visiting
troops, one of the troops asked, “Mr. Armstrong, weren’t you nervous flying
over the moon with all those rocks and craters, knowing that you only had a few
seconds of fuel left?’ Armstrong
grinned at the young soldier. “Well,
young man, Everyone knows that when the fuel gauge says empty, there’s always a
gallon or two left at the bottom of the tank.”
I love to see the human spirit respond to such difficult tasks. The moon landing was a cooperative effort
that included over 400,000 people. Neil
Armstrong was right in saying that his step was small but mankind’s step was
huge. The whole world cheered the event
and the common cry was, “WE did it!”
What is really amazing is that we accomplished this mission
over 50 years ago. The on board
computer, which was state of the art at the time, is weaker than the computers
that we carry around in our pockets on our smart phones. I truly believe that man can accomplish great
things, through the help of God. Many
people in the Space program had a deep relationship to God and I am sure that
there were a lot of prayers for the mission.
The mission commander, Buzz Aldrin, described the mission as “part of
God’s eternal plan for man”. Aldrin
was an ordained Presbyterian elder and decided that he wanted to take communion
to the moon. When he first spoke to NASA
about this they were reluctant to allow it because Madalyn Murray O’Hair, the
famous Atheist, had brought a lawsuit against NASA for reading from the bible
during Apollo 8. But Aldrin insisted and
was given permission, but he was told to keep it quiet. He brought with him bread, wine and a small
chalice. He pulled out the Chalice and
bread and wine and announced over the radio, “This is the LM pilot. I would
like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and
wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the
past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way.” He then silently read John 15:5, “I am the
vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, and I in him, will bear much
fruit; for you can do nothing without me.”
After that he performed the Presbyterian ritual over the bread and wine.
It is interesting that Pope Paul VI was watching the lunar
landing from the Vatican Observatory going between the televised version and
the Observatory Telescope. He greeted
and blessed the astronauts in English: “Here,
from His Observatory at Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, Pope Paul the Sixth is
speaking to you astronauts. Honour,
greetings and blessings to you, conquerors of the Moon, pale lamp of our nights
and (our) dreams! Bring to her, with your living presence, the voice of the
spirit, a hymn to God, our Creator and our Father. We are close to you, with our good wishes and
with our prayers. Together with the whole Catholic Church, Pope (Paul) the
Sixth salutes you.” The pope later met
the Apollo 11 astronauts and their wives at the Vatican.
Buzz Aldrin took a small part of the bible with him to the
moon. Later, in Apollo 12, the full
bible was brought there. Many people are
unaware of the faith of the people in this program. I personally feel that it is their faith and
prayers that made the mission successful.
As Buzz Aldrin read (from John 15:5), “I am the vine, you are the
branches. Whoever remains in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit; for you
can do nothing without me.”
We are a child of God and He calls us to live out that call,
to be his son or daughter. We should be
different from those who don’t know or follow God. We should be empowered by our relationship
with God. So often we are not. We, as mere humans, seem to want to settle
for less than God has given us. We are
often anxious and afraid and weak and seem to lack direction in our lives. We claim to be “saved” but more often than
not, we are lost. While writing these
words I can’t help but to think about the Apostles right after Jesus ascended
to heaven, leaving them on their own for the first time in three years. They too were lost and afraid and weak and
lacked direction. But, they did what
Jesus told them. They went up in to the
Upper Room and prayed. Perhaps their
going in to the Upper Room was a way of hiding from the authorities that they
were afraid of. But it was in the Upper
Room that they came together as a community, along with the Blessed Virgin
Mary, and prayed. They prayed for nine
days (our first novena) and something very powerful, something very
life-changing happened. The Holy Spirit
fell upon them. They received what Jesus
had promised them. It changed them
permanently. It empowered them. It gave them strength and power and
direction.
That same Holy Spirit has been given to us to so that we
might be empowered and strengthened and given direction. It is what can help us to live fully as a son
or daughter of God. That same Holy
Spirit gives us so many gifts and fruits to make our lives empowered by God so
that we can be the person that God has called us to be. We just need to be open to that Spirit and
ASK it to empower us and to work within us.
The Spirit has been given to us in Baptism and Confirmation but so often
it just lies dormant within us waiting for us to learn about its power and ask
to be open to and to be filled with its power.
One of the best ways to learn about the Spirit and to really desire the
Spirit to be at work in our lives is by going to a Life in the Spirit
Seminar. These are offered in many
parishes around the world. Another great
way is to experience the video series, The Wild Goose by Father Dave
Pavonka. This is available for purchase
as DVD or Blueray. You can also watch it
on Youtube. Both of these are great
tools to opening ourselves to the power of the Holy Spirit. The scriptures and our Catechism also tell us
a great deal about the Holy Spirit. I
would like to share a few scriptures with you to hopefully make you desire a
better openness to the Holy Spirit.
In John 14: 16 Jesus tells us, “I will ask the Father, and
he will give you another helper who will be with you forever. That
helper is the Spirit of Truth.”. In verse
26 Jesus says, “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my
name, will teach you everything and make you remember all that I have told you.”
St. Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians (1:17-20) says, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation,
so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be
enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the
riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power
for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty
strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and
seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms…”
St. Paul also adds in Ephesians 3: 16-20, “I
pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power
through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts
through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may
have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and
high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses
knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now
to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,
according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the
church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
Besides POWER, the Spirit gives us many fruits. Catholic
tradition follows the Vulgate version of Galatians in listing 12 fruits: charity, joy, peace, patience,
benignity (kindness), goodness, longanimity (generosity), mildness
(gentleness), faith, modesty, continency (self-control), and chastity.
The Spirit also gives us many gifts. We traditionally talk about the seven gifts
of the Holy Spirit. In the Book of
Isaiah 11:2-3, the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are described. In the passage the
gifts are considered ones that the Messiah would have possessed. Through Jesus,
we also receive the Gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Wisdom helps us recognize the importance of others
and the importance of keeping God central in our lives.
Understanding is the ability to comprehend the
meaning of God’s message.
Knowledge is the ability to think about and explore
God’s revelation, and also to recognize there are mysteries of faith beyond us.
Counsel is the ability to see the best way to follow
God’s plan when we have choices that relate to him.
Fortitude is the courage to do what one knows is
right.
Piety helps us pray to God in true devotion.
Fear of the Lord is the feeling of amazement before
God, who is all-present, and whose friendship we do not want to lose.
The Spirit also gives us other gifts, sometimes known as
Charisms which St. Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, tells us are
given for the building up of the whole Church.
These include, the word gifts
of wisdom, knowledge, prophecy, preaching and teaching. There also are Gifts of powerincluding healing, miracles and exorcism. There are also service gifts such as pastoral care, alms giving, leadership and
administration. Further gifts included the
prayer gifts like intercessory
prayer, singing in tongues, being filled and guided by the Spirit, and to
contemplate and worship God.
These lists of gifts and fruits and charisms are only some
of the things that the Holy Spirit can do for us and through us. His power is amazing. Looking at what the Spirit can do for us
helps us to see how the Spirit can and will empower us to be God’s
children. Be open to God’s Holy
Spirit. Learn about the Spirit. Invoke the Holy Spirit in all that you
do. Become alive in the Holy Spirit. It is God’s precious gift to us. It empowers us to be His children.
Prayer to the Holy Spirit for Universal Renewal
Holy Spirit,
fulfill in us the work begun by Jesus.
Let our prayer on behalf of the whole world
be fruitful and unwavering.
Hasten the time when each of us
will attain a genuine spiritual life.
Enliven our work that it may reach all human beings,
all who have been redeemed
by the Blood of Christ and all His inheritance.
Take away our natural presumption
and uplift us with a holy humility,
with reverence for God and selfless courage.
Let no vain attachment impede the work of our state in life,
nor personal interest divert us from the demands of justice.
May no scheming on our part reduce love
to our own petty dimensions.
May all be noble in us; the quest and the respect for truth,
and the willingness to sacrifice even to the cross and death.
And may all be accomplished
in accord with the final prayer
of the Son to His heavenly Father
and in accord with the grace
that Father and Son give
through You, the Spirit of love,
to the Church and to her institutions,
to every soul and to all peoples.
Amen.
On this 75th anniversary of D-Day I felt I should
write about it. I have shared some of
this before, but I think that it is needed now.
War is a terrible thing. It
brings out the worst in humanity. It
also brings out the best. World War II
was a terrible and destructive war but it also showed that humanity can, and
will, stand up against tyranny and evil.
Jesus told us that “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down
his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
This was lived out every day of World War II and one of the greatest
examples of this is the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France beginning on June 6,
1944. The Allied forces lost almost
10,000 soldiers during that invasion. It
was the beginning of the end of the Nazi terrorism and the pure evil that they
had spread. If any war could be
considered necessary, this one certainly could.
Freedom fought back against tyranny and goodness fought back against
evil. The darkness of the Nazi regime
was overcome by the light of the Allied forces.
Proudly, the United States stood tall in bringing forth the light.
D- Day has affected us all in many ways. I realized how much it affected me when my
wife and I traveled to France and visited the beaches of Normandy where D-Day
happened. My birth father was one of the
many soldiers who landed at the beaches of Normandy and lived through that to
continue to fight the Nazis in Europe. I
certainly am proud of him for that.
While standing on the beach there and hearing our guide tell us of the
large loss of so many soldiers there, my wife turned to me and said, “Just
think about this; if your father had been killed here that day, you would never
had been born”. It was a most sobering
experience. I thought about those almost
ten thousand men who lost their lives on those beaches and mourned for them and
then mourned for all those children that they were never able to bring forth. My father had two brothers in that war. One of them, Carl was killed while trying to
free Italy from the Nazis. He was only
eighteen years old. He is still buried
in Italy. His other brother, Milo, lost
his leg while fighting the Nazis. My
father suffered from “Shell shock” which is what we now call Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD). War is terrible and does terrible things to
people, yet our soldiers go out in to the midst of this hell, willing to give
all for the sake of freedom.
Europe is free today because of the fighting of the Allied
Forces. When we were in Normandy we saw
the honor and respect and gratitude the French people have for Americans. There are so many memorials there showing
this. We also saw it in Rome where there
are a number of plaques and monuments honoring American forces for setting them
free. We, as Americans, should be very
proud of what our soldiers did in WWII.
We should continue to be proud of them for all of the many wars and
conflicts that have occurred since then and before then. I pray that someday war may cease, but until
then a strong military is needed. We
need to support our soldiers. I am a
Vietnam War Era veteran. It was a hard
time to be an Army soldier then. The
Vietnam War was very unpopular and unfortunately people took it out on the
soldiers. Fortunately, this no longer
seems to be the case.
As I said, we need to support our soldiers. We can do this in so many ways. We can always thank them for their service
when we see them. We can pick up their
food or bar tab. I have done this so
many times and find it so uplifting, some of the best money I ever spent. We can work with and support soldier and
veteran’s groups. I work with and
support a local group, Boots on the Ground of Long Island. It is definitely one of the best around. Since I am a Roman Catholic deacon, I also
offer spiritual counseling to some veterans who are suffering from PTSD. They have seen and done things in the war
that no one should ever see or do. They
carry this home with them and it affects them tremendously. Sometimes all they need (besides professional
counseling) is a friend to share lunch or a beer with and to lend an ear and
caring mind. Our soldiers do so much for
us; we need to do for them.
Lastly, as strange as it might sound, we need to celebrate our soldiers. Going to Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day and Fourth of July parades is one way of doing this. Recognizing their accomplishments is also so important. Take time to visit a soldier’s museum or monument. Say a prayer for them. Just today I saw a video from CBS News showing a 97 year old veteran of D-Day, who parachutes out of plane to the field where he landed on D-Day. Check it out here (short commercial before) https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tom-rice-d-day-anniversary-97-year-old-paratrooper-jump-2019-06-05/ . This is quite a way to celebrate. Remember, we are called to thank and celebrate the men and women who did so much for us. God bless America.
War is an absolutely terrible thing and should be avoided
whenever possible. Unfortunately it
isn’t always possible to avoid. Freedom
is a very special gift that needs to be upheld.
Often the only way to do this is to fight for it and to have a strong
military to defend it. The United States
has been so instrumental in winning freedom and protecting freedom, not only
within its own boundaries, but also in foreign lands. It has been a strong military that allows
that. Technology certainly plays an
important role in a strong military but at the heart of our strength is the
individual soldier. Armed Forces Day is
a day for us to stop and honor those who are serving our country in the five
different branches of the Armed Forces.
We are honoring our own brothers and sisters, sons and daughters and
neighbors. These are people who have
volunteered to serve their country (us) and to fight and even perhaps to die
for us. They most certainly follow Jesus’
words where He said, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down
his life for his friends.”
We have three special days every year to celebrate our
soldiers. This Saturday, May 18th
is Armed Forces Day. On this day we
honor all who presently serve our country within the five branches of the
Military; The Army, The Air Force, the Navy, the Marine Corp and the Coast
Guard. At the end of this month we will
have Memorial Day when we honor all those soldiers who have given their life
for their country. In November we have
Veteran’s Day. That is the day that we
honor all who have served their country.
I am very proud to be a United States Vietnam War Era Veteran. I enlisted back in 1969, right after
finishing college. For me, it was a way
for me to show my love for the country that has given me so much. It was an honor to serve, even though it was
an unpopular war. I work with a number
of young war veterans (from the Middle Eastern wars) who suffer from PTSD, but
all of them tell me that it was an honor for them to serve their country. This week we should honor all those who
currently serve.
Armed Forces Day was first announced on August 21, 1949 to
declare one day to celebrate all of the five branches of the military. This stemmed from the unification of all
military branches under one agency, the Department of Defense. In a speech announcing the creation of the
day, President Truman “praised the work of the military services at home
and across the seas.” He said, “It is vital to the security of the
nation and to the establishment of a desirable peace.” The first official Armed Forces Day took
place on May 20, 1950, and was themed “Teamed for Defense.” In honor of the
special day, B-36 Bombers flew over state capitals, a march was led by more
than 10,000 veterans and troops in Washington, D.C., and over 33,000 people
participated in a New York City parade. In
1961, John F. Kennedy declared Armed Forces Day a national holiday. It’s
celebrated on the third Saturday of every May.
An excerpt taken from an article written in the New York
Post on May 17, 1952, sums up Armed Forces Day’s utmost importance, “It is our
most earnest hope that those who are in positions of peril, that those who have
made exceptional sacrifices, yes, and those who are afflicted with plain
drudgery and boredom, may somehow know that we hold them in exceptional esteem.
Perhaps if we are a little more conscious of our debt of honored affection they
may be a little more aware of how much we think of them.” In 1963 President John F. Kennedy said, “Our
Servicemen and women are serving throughout the world as guardians of
peace–many of them away from their homes, their friends and their families.
They are visible evidence of our determination to meet any threat to the peace
with measured strength and high resolve. They are also evidence of a harsh but
inescapable truth–that the survival of freedom requires great cost and
commitment, and great personal sacrifice.”
On Armed Forces Day 2018, President Donald Trump said, “On
Armed Forces Day, we pay tribute to the extraordinary men and women who serve
our Nation with valor and distinction in all branches of the military.
This annual observance honors their steadfast service in preserving our
Nation’s peace, preserving our freedom, and defending our founding principles. Throughout our history, in times of war and
peace, our service members have served with bravery, skill, and unwavering
devotion to duty. There is no fighting force that rivals that of the
United States military. The precious liberties all Americans enjoy are
possible because, every day and without exception, our Armed Forces
relentlessly and tirelessly carry out the critical mission of protecting our
country, our freedoms, and our way of life.”
He continued, “On this day, and every day, we owe a debt of gratitude to
our service members stationed at home and those deployed around the
world. All across America, we enjoy the blessings of liberty because our
Nation’s finest men and women willingly accept the call to service. We
proudly salute our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen, and
recognize the families who serve alongside them for their courage and
commitment.”
What is a good way to honor them? That certainly varies from individual to
individual. For me, whenever I see a
soldier in uniform I thank them for their service. Whenever possible I try to do little things
like pick up their check in a restaurant or offer to sit down with them and
have a coffee or a beer together. I go
out of my way (it took a while for my wife to get used to this) to go and try
to talk to a soldier. All of this
usually brings a smile from the soldier, and certainly makes me feel good. I also try to go to our local airport to
welcome home soldiers when I know one is scheduled to come in. I support and work with a local Long Island
group called Boots on the Ground who sends out care packages oversees to the
soldiers. One of my ministries is to
meet with soldiers who are suffering from PTSD. I make sure that they go to a trained
therapist, but I also meet with them for coffee and breakfast and lunch and
spend time talking with them. There are
so many out there who are hurting and even contemplating suicide. You would be surprised how just spending a
little time with them, can help them (and it makes me feel good). I also pray every day for our soldiers. I believe strongly in the power of
prayer. This is something everyone can
do.
So this Saturday and all next week (and basically every day
after), let us honor our soldiers and thank God for them and ask Him to protect
them. God is good.
Catholic Prayers for our soldiers:
Priest (or leader): Let us pray for our brothers and
sisters as they go forth with courage and determination to face the forces of
violence, weapons of destruction and hearts filled with hate.
RESPONSE: THROUGH THE DARKNESS BRING US TO THE
LIGHT.
Deacon or Reader:
For our Commander-In-Chief, President N.N., and our political and military
leaders that they may tirelessly seek peaceful settlements to international
disputes; we pray to the Lord:
That the Lord may preserve the members of our Army, Navy,
Marines, Coast Guard and Air Force from all harm; we pray to the Lord:
That even in war, we may keep clearly before us the defense
of all human rights, especially the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness; we pray to the Lord:
That the families, relatives and friends of our military
members may be strengthened in this time of concern and anxiety; we pray to the
Lord:
That the Lord may help families with men and women in the
armed forces to cope with daily challenges in the absence of their loved ones;
we pray to the Lord:
That our homeland will be preserved from violence and
terrorism; we pray to the Lord:
That the nations of the world will seek to work together in
harmony and peace; we pray to the Lord:
That the hearts of all men and women will be moved to pursue
true peace and justice; we pray to the Lord:
That violence may be overcome by peace; that weapons of
destruction be transformed into tools of justice, and hate give way to true
charity; we pray to the Lord:
That grateful for and inspired by those veterans who have
given their lives for our country we may bravely face the challenges ahead; we
pray to the Lord:
Priest (or leader): Lord God, Almighty Father,
creator of mankind and author of peace,
as we are ever mindful of the cost paid for the liberty we possess,
we ask you to bless the members of our armed forces.
Give them courage, hope and strength.
May they ever experience your firm support, gentle love and compassionate
healing.
Be their power and protector, leading them from darkness to light.
To you be all glory, honor and praise, now and forever.
In the RCIA
program, the period following the reception in to the Church is known as a
period of Mystagogy. Mystagogy is a time
where the mysteries of the Church are revealed to the new Catholics. It is revealed through their experience of
the Sacraments and through all that the Church offers them. Although teaching is involved, experience and
sharing about that experience is the way the mysteries are revealed. The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults
(Chicago, 1988) manual states: “. The purpose of the mystagogy is to enable the
newly baptized to draw from their sacramental experience a new sense of the
faith, the Church, and the world”. As a
leader in the RCIA program in my parish, I try to encourage our Neophytes to
experience as much as they can, the resources that the Church offers them. Truly, I believe that this is good for all
the people of the Church as well.
Those who
have gone through the RCIA program have experienced at Easter NEW LIFE. They are, in a spiritual sense, born
anew. I have truly seen, throughout the
years, a big change in them. They are
more alive in the faith. We established
Catholics have also been enlivened by experiencing all that Lent and Easter has
given us. Our faith should truly be
renewed. I believe that a period of
mystagogy is appropriate for us too. We
need to experience all that the Church offers us, and there is so much. We are constantly called to grow in our faith
by using the sacraments and other tools that the Church gives us. When we grow in our faith we become more of
who God wants us to be. When we do that,
we become happier, more fulfilled and more at peace. We can grow in our experience of all that
the Holy Spirit gives us by receiving the Spirit’s gifts and fruits. Literally, we can set the world on fire.
I would like
to share some of my thoughts on how to do this.
I thought that I would do this in a list format. Sometimes it is good to have a list of some
of the things that the Church can offer to us so that we can grow in our
faith. Here is a list (certainly not a
full one) of things that will help us to grow in our faith:
TWELVE STEPS TO HELP US GROW IN OUR
FAITH
1 – Go to
mass at least every Sunday. The mass
is the Summit and Source of our faith.
In the mass we hear God’s Word proclaimed and explained and we receive
the most precious gift of His Body and Blood.
We pray together and experience community and are sent forth. I attend daily mass because I believe it can
do more for me than anything else.
2 – Pray. When you are in Love with someone,
communication is a natural expression of that Love and a way that Love can
grow. Prayer is communication with God. There are so many ways to pray. I love praying the Liturgy of the Hours. It is now so easy to do and so available by
placing an app on your smart phone. I
use the ibreviary app. It is a no cost
app. Try it out, you will be glad that
you do. I would suggest at least praying
Morning prayer and Evening prayer.
I also like
to use what I call “gut” prayer. This is
totally spontaneous and can be done at any time. It comes from deep within us, our “gut”. Sometimes my gut prayer is filled with praise
and thanksgiving. Often it is filled
with “why me God?” And “why are you
allowing this to happen?” It is a
prayer of honesty and truth and feelings.
3 – Eucharistic
Adoration. This is also a form of
prayer, but it goes beyond regular prayer.
It is a time to adore the Lord as he is present to us in His Risen Body
in the Eucharist. It is certainly a time
for prayers of thanksgiving and praise but can also be a time for prayers of
supplication. I go to Eucharistic
Adoration at least once a week.
4 – The
Sacrament of Reconciliation. St.
Paul tells us that we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All means all. Christians too sin. Even the Pope goes to confession. There is no doubt that when I do something
that I know is wrong, or more often, fail to do something I know that I should
have done, I immediately ask for God’s forgiveness. However, it is very freeing to regularly
confess our sins to a priest and to hear him give us God’s forgiveness.
5 – The
Rosary. I love praying the
rosary. I try to do it every day. In the rosary you can meditate on the
mysteries of God’s touch to mankind. The
rosary is meant to be a meditative prayer where we literally focus on many of
the stories from the scriptures about our salvation. I look at it as a mini-course on God’s love
and action.
6 – The
Bible. The Bible is a special gift
that the Church has given to the world.
In it we hear God’s Word and receive direction and support for our
lives. Every liturgy that the Church
does has at least one reading from the Bible.
We should listen closely to it at every liturgy but it also should have
a special place in our homes. The Catholic
Church has given us the Bible and it is up to the Catholic Church to help us
understand it. I highly recommend using
a Catholic study guide; My favorite is The Word Among us. Going to a good Catholic Bible study is
great (stay away from Protestant ones as they can misinterpret the Bible). There are many online resources to help us
(see last page).
7 – Charity
and Service. Every Christian is
called to be a person of action. We are
called to feed the poor, heal the sick, visit the lonely and those in prisons
etc. Every parish has some sort of
ministry to help us do that. Check it
out and become involved. Put your faith
in to action.
8 – The
Blessed Virgin Mary. The Lord
literally gave His mother to us to help us in our journey towards Him. Since the very beginnings of the Church Mary
has been held in high esteem and has helped the Church and all Christians in
many ways. It is good to learn about
Mary and to ask her intercession in your life.
She loves you as her own son or daughter.
9 – The
Saints. The Saints were all ordinary
people just like you and me. They
struggled with the same things we struggled with and they were able to grow so
close to Jesus and follow Him that the Church assures us that they are in
heaven. They intercede for us in prayer
and they love it when we ask them to do so.
Try to learn as much as you can about the Saints and learn from them how
to follow the Lord.
10 – Go
on a Retreat. A retreat is simply a
time set aside for you to get away from the normal distractions in life and to
draw closer to the Love that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have for you. Some retreats have themes, and some are
simply quiet time with the Lord. Try
one, you will love it.
11 – Visit
Holy Sites. Throughout the world
there are places that one would consider a Holy Site. It might be one because of its history and
what happened there, or it could be just an ordinary place that has been set
aside for people to visit and grow closer to God. I have been fortunate to visit many Holy
Sites throughout the world, including the Holy Land, Rome and several places
where Mary has appeared. I have one Holy
Site nearby, The Shrine of Our Lady of the Island that I love to visit and
spend time with the Lord.
12 – Be
Proud to be Catholic. The more you learn
about the Church, the prouder you will be.
Yes, the Church is not perfect (the priest sex scandal shows us that),
but it is something that Jesus Himself started and maintains. No other organization on this planet has
lasted as long as the Church has. It is
an instrument of God’s grace. Let your
pride in the Church show. Tell others
about it.
There are so many other resources that the Church offers us that we should take advantage of. I have compiled a partial list of some important Internet Resources and include that here. There are also so many great books out there that you could (should) read. Perhaps another time I will look in to that. May our good Lord bless you in your walk with Him.
CATHOLIC INTERNET
RESOURCES
CATHOLIC WEB SITES
SITES EVERY
CATHOLIC SHOULD USE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THEIR FAITH:
The
Vatican: www.vatican.va
(choose English in the menu at top right)
Today Christianity across the world
celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Easter is a celebration of a
miraculous—and seemingly impossible—event. The feast of Jesus’ Resurrection
holds a special place in my heart. I wish to share the basic biblical
proof of the Resurrection, examples from some saints, and my own personal
experience.
Note: If you still have questions related to a more cerebral and
logical argument for the Resurrection of Jesus, I highly recommend Carl
Olson’s: Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?
Gospel
evidence
Since there is a lot of evidence to
refer to and I prefer to keep today’s post as concise as possible I will only
focus on the two strongest pieces of evidence, I found to be convincing for me
in showing validity in Jesus’ Resurrection. First, the witness of the women
being the initial people to notice the empty tomb is strong evidence. The
reason for this is due to in 1st century Palestine life women did not
enjoy the benefits of voting, membership in the workforce, or even respect to
be witnesses in events like today.
Why would the Gospel writers
uniformly state that the first witnesses to the empty tomb and to proclaim
Jesus as risen were women unless it was true? It still does not make sense to
me why the gospel writers would embarrass the apostles by placing women in
a place of honor at being the first evangelizers of Jesus’ Resurrection unless
that was the truth!
Secondly, the Gospel of Matthew
already shows alternative explanations already surfacing to explain the disappearance
of Jesus’ body when the tomb was opened. According to Matthew, the priests and
elders charged the Roman soldiers to create a story to explain why the tomb was
empty. They [priests and elders] state, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came
during the night and stole him while we were asleep’. If any word of this gets
to the procurator, we will straighten it out with him and keep you out of
trouble.” (Matthew 28:13-14). This never made sense to me. If the
apostles were fraudulent, why the Matthew plainly write about the theory of the
stolen body of Jesus? Such a theory only makes sense as a lie developed by the
priests and elders.
Saintly
Sources
Because of the vast array of saints
to attest to the truth of the Resurrection, I will only focus on two for
conciseness’ sake—St. Peter and St. Paul. The thing that I really love about
St. Peter is his fervor to follow the gospel after Jesus’ Resurrection. In
addition to being the 1st pope of the Catholic Church, Peter testified to the
truth of the Gospel as a martyr via crucifixion.
St. Paul represents arguably the
greatest conversion in the history of Christianity. Paul went from being a
murderer of Christians to the Church’s great evangelizer and writer of almost
2/3 of the New Testament. These two men show us that they encountered someone
who transformed them. Peter and Paul’s conversions are an effect of the power
of Jesus’ Resurrection!
My
Testimony
While my own testimony does not hold
the same weight at Scripture and Tradition, I still am convinced that certain
things in my life transpired due to a power outside of my control and full
understanding. During my darkest days a few years ago, I learned of the power
of God. He rose me up from the loss of a job and our miscarriages. God
continues to demonstrate the glory of His Resurrected Son in seemingly ordinary
things too. For example, I asked my cousin to pray for my wife for an important
interview. My cousin told me, “Of course, and incidentally she [my wife] was
the person my cousin and his fiancée scheduled to pray for, in a special way, anyways.” This is not the first time this seeming coincidence
happened to my cousin.
Through
Scripture, Tradition [the saints], and my personal experience with daily and
extraordinary events I have come to more deeply realize the Resurrection of
Jesus as an historical fact. I pray that you come to enjoy this truth in
Scripture, Tradition, and your own life’s experiences!
Twenty four years ago today, April 19th, the
nation suffered a horrendous loss as 168 men, women and children (19) were
killed by a domestic terrorist bombing brought about by Timothy J. McVeigh and
Terry L. Nichols. The bombing destroyed
or damaged 324 buildings within a 16 block radius of Oklahoma City. The
blast shattered glass in 258 other buildings and destroyed 86 cars. Besides the 168 people killed about 680 people
suffered injuries from the blast. The emotional
damages caused by the blast are immeasurable.
Truly our nation suffered greatly
and families are still suffering from their loss.
Five years after the bombing, on April 19th, 2000
the Oklahoma City National Memorial was dedicated at the site. The memorial consists of 168 stone and glass
chairs representing each life lost. It
is very sad to see them all, especially the 19 smaller chairs representing the
children that were killed. Remembrance services are held every year on
April 19th. Certainly this large tragedy can never be
forgotten.
A teddy bear sits on a chair in the field of chairs at the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, April 19, 2011, on the 16th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Directly across from the site of the bombing is the oldest parish church in Oklahoma City, St. Joseph Old Cathedral. The Cathedral was badly damaged but has been rebuilt. The parish rectory was destroyed by the explosion. At the site of the demolished rectory, the parish has placed their own memorial. It is an Italian marble statue of Jesus with His back towards the site of the bombing. Jesus has His head down and His hand over His face in sorrow. Around the statue are pillars representing the children and unborn babies who were killed by the blast. The name of the sculpture is “And Jesus Wept” (See picture on top). It was dedicated in 1998.
This year the anniversary of the bombing falls on Good
Friday. I can’t help but to see a
message for all of us in this. First of
all, acts of terror such as these really show the depravity of those who plan
them. They have no concern for the
people who are so horrendously affected.
To call this sin would be an understatement. It reflects the pure evil, the pure darkness
that Jesus came to shed His light upon.
It shows why Jesus endured so much suffering for the sin that permeates
humankind.
Secondly, it shows how our knowledge of how Jesus suffered
can help us in our own suffering. The
Catholic Church has always placed redemptive value upon the sufferings that we
find in our own lives. Somehow, our own
sufferings are united with the sufferings of Jesus. Somehow His sufferings can help us in our
sufferings. When we experience our own
crosses, His cross helps us to endure.
Thirdly, we know that the sufferings and death of Jesus upon
the cross led to the Resurrection of Jesus on Easter morning. People of faith know that even though we miss
our loved ones when they die, some day we will all be back together in the
precious gift of heaven. Jesus suffered
and died and rose from the dead so that we might have life forever in the
presence of our Heavenly Father.
We as Christians must do everything that we can to fight the
evil within the world. We must fight it
with hope and with love. The statue of
Jesus weeping reminds us how Jesus joins in with us in mourning our losses and
in mourning the sin and evil that can be so destructive to life. Everything about God is about LIFE. Everything about evil is about death. When we work with God, we work on the side of
life. When we are caught up in sin and
evil, we work on the side of death. God
calls us to choose life, not death.
I Know of a Cure for Everything: Salt Water – by Deacon
Marty McIndoe
I have lived almost
all of my life on an island, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the Long
Island Sound. I feel very blessed by
that. I almost feel as if the sea is so
much a part of me that I can’t fully live without being near it. Every year my wife and I usually try to
escape to warm weather for the months of January and February. Two years ago we spent the time in the
southwest traveling around Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and inland Southern
California. We absolutely loved it and
appreciated the beauty of the southwest.
However, I really felt like I was out of place. I was no where near any large body of salt
water. It just didn’t seem right to
me. I was out of place, literally. This year we did our winter getaway in the
south and in Florida and stayed almost all of the time in timeshares that were
on the beach, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico. I felt so much more at home than I did on our
desert trip. There is a real comfort and
awe when we look out on the ocean. For
me, I see and feel God in the beauty and immensity of the ocean.
I came across a
quote from Isak Dinesen (also known as Tania Blixen author of “Out of Africa”)
from her “Seven Gothic Tales” which consisted of the following dialogue:
An old seaman says
to his unhappy foster-son, “I know of a cure for everything: Salt water.”
“Salt water?” I
asked him.
“Yes,” he said, “in
one way or the other. Sweat, or tears, or the salt sea.”
I couldn’t help but
to see the truth in that statement. The
cure for everything is Sweat or Tears or the Salt Sea. I would like to share some thoughts about
that with you. First of all, it is
interesting to see the history of man’s use of salt. The Hebrew Scriptures (The Old Testament)
value salt so much that it was considered to be able to be used as a gift to
God as a “covenant of salt” (Lev. 2: 13; II Chron. 13:5; Num. 18:19). It was
also used in sacrifices by the Israelites (Ezek. 43:24 and Gen. 31:54). Belief in its preservative and healing
properties led to its use to dry and harden the skin of newborns (Ezek.
16:4) and to prevent umbilical cord infection. The Egyptians and the Persians
considered it such a special commodity that it could only be handled by their
royalty. The ancient Romans paid their
soldiers their wages in salt (Latin word is “sal”) from which we today get the
word “salary” and the expression, “worth his weight in salt”. Salt had been used for over 3500 years as a
preservative for meats and a flavoring for food. It is still seen as a sign of hospitality and
friendship in the Middle East. In Mark
Chapter 9, verse 50 Jesus says, “Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace
with each other.” St. Paul’s tells us in Col. 4:6:”Let your
conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know
how to answer everyone.” Jesus also
called His followers to be the “salt of the earth”. Salt is
all about preservation and healing and peace.
The Church has a
special prayer for the blessing of salt.
After the blessing, the salt is often placed in Holy Water, or sometimes
used by itself. This prayer, from the
Roman Ritual says, “Almighty God, we ask you to bless this salt, as once you
blessed the salt scattered over the water by the prophet Elisha. Wherever
this salt (and water) is sprinkled, drive away the power of evil, and
protect us always by the presence of your Holy Spirit. Grant this through
Christ our Lord. Amen.” Salt
is also seen as a means of driving away evil or preserving one from evil
corruption.
Salt is found
naturally in the sea, in our tears, and in our sweat. All three of these can help to heal us. As motivational speaker Rita Schiano tell us,
“Tears are God’s gift to us. Our holy water. They heal us as they flow”. Tears come to us from our very being. They are responses to hurt and loss as well
as happiness and gain. Tears can be shed
from earthy stimuli such as movies and can also be shed from spiritual stimuli
such as God’s Word or the touch of Christian love. They are an expression that sometimes can
speak louder and clearer than words.
They bring us healing in so many ways.
Sweat is a result of
our hard work. The Catholic Church has
always stressed the importance of work in our lives. The Protestant Churches are also known for
their work ethic. Work is not only
necessary for civilization to flourish, but it brings a sense of purpose and
often healing to the individual. It also
helps us to accomplish our dreams. Colin
Powell tells us, “A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes
sweat, determination and hard work.”
We find our happiness in working hard for our dreams whether it be as
simple (yet profound) as a man or woman working hard to support their family,
or a researcher finding the cure for cancer.
Work, and sweat, are part of who we are called to be.
The Sea is a special
gift to us from God. Our scientists tell
us that life itself originated there.
For us, it is a place to enjoy in so many different ways whether it is
swimming and fishing or simply gazing out towards its majesty. As John F. Kennedy told us, “We are tied
to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch
– we are going back from whence we came.”
The Sea can truly be a healing influence in our lives.
In writing this
article, I hope to make you think and pray about the healing influence of the
Sea, Sweat and Tears. I am including
some quotes for you to think about and pray about and see how the Lord may be
speaking to you. I hope that you find
some quiet time to pray and think about these quotes. May our good Lord bless you and bring you His
healing love. May you come to better
realize the healing gifts given to us in Salt Water: the Sea, Tears or Sweat.
QUOTES TO PONDER AND
PRAY ABOUT:
THE SEA:
“The sea does not
reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. To dig for
treasures shows not only impatience and greed, but lack of faith. Patience,
patience, patience, is what the sea teaches. Patience and faith. One should lie
empty, open, choiceless as a beach—waiting for a gift from the sea.” ― Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from the Sea
“I felt once more
how simple and frugal a thing is happiness: a glass of wine, a roast chestnut,
a wretched little brazier, the sound of the sea. Nothing else.” ― Nikos
Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek
“The sea always
filled her with longing, though for what she was never sure.” ― Cornelia Funke,
Inkheart
“My soul is full of
longing
for the secret of the sea,
and the heart of the great ocean
sends a thrilling pulse through me.”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“We are like islands
in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep.” ― William
James
“Hark, now hear the
sailors cry,
Smell the sea, and feel the sky,
Let your soul & spirit fly, into the mystic.
– Into the Mystic” ― Van Morrison
“How foolish to
believe we are more powerful than the sea or the sky.” ― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to
the Sea
“The sea, the sea,
the sea. It rolled and rolled and called to me. Come in, it said, come in.” ―
Sharon Creech, The Wanderer
“In still moments by
the sea life seems large-drawn and simple. It is there we can see into
ourselves.”
― Rolf Edberg
At sea, I feel
comfortable and I come to rest. Laura Dekker
He that will learn
to pray, let him go to sea. George Herbert
SWEAT:
“It’s easier to
bleed than sweat, Mr. Motes.” ― Flannery O’Connor, Wise Blood
“When people tell me
they can’t afford to join a gym, I tell them to go outside; planet Earth is a
gym and we’re already members. Run, climb, sweat, and enjoy all of the natural
wonder that is available to you.” ― Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections
on Life and the Human Experience
“Most times, the
leader’s ornament isn’t the smiles you see on their faces during the time of
victory. It is the sweats we don’t see when they were struggling behind the
scenes.” ― Israelmore Ayivor, Leaders’ Frontpage: Leadership Insights from 21
Martin Luther King Jr. Thoughts
“The sweet smell of
success comes on the back of the stench of hard earned sweat.” ― Anthony
T.Hincks
“Success is
continually a relative of sweat.” ― Bharath Mamidoju
“The pain in your muscles
and the sweat in your brow after doing a work the hard and honest way make you
feel proud of yourself!” ― Avijeet Das
“And Sir, it is no
little thing to make mine eyes to sweat compassion.” ― William Shakespeare,
Coriolanus
“In the sweat of thy
brow shalt thou earn thy daily bread: it was not a curse upon mankind, but the
balm which reconciled it to existence.” ― W. Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage
“True blessing comes
in the dress of sweats, never delaying to wave bye to the excuses and procrastination.
True blessing lies in hard work!” ― Israelmore Ayivor, Daily Drive 365
“The thickest sweats
produce the sweetest life. A hard work surely brings unheard happiness. Dig up
your gold.” ― Israelmore Ayivor, Mine Your Gold: How to Dig Up and Optimize
Your Hidden Greatness
TEARS:
“Tears shed for
another person are not a sign of weakness. They are a sign of a pure heart.” ―
José N. Harris, MI VIDA: A Story of Faith, Hope and Love
“Cry. Forgive. Learn. Move on. Let your tears water the
seeds of your future happiness.” ― Steve Maraboli
“Heaven knows we
need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of
earth, overlying our hard hearts. I was better after I had cried, than
before–more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle.” ― Charles
Dickens, Great Expectations
“Listen to God with a broken heart. He is not only the
doctor who mends it, but also the father who wipes away the tears.” ― Criss
Jami
“The sea is nothing but a library of all the tears in
history.” ― Lemony Snicket
“Beauty of whatever
kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to
tears.”
― Edgar Allan Poe
“Tears are words the
mouth can’t say nor can the heart bear.” ― Joshua Wisenbaker
“My eyes were glued
on life and they were full of tears.” ― Jack Kerouac, Atop an Underwood: Early
Stories and Other Writings
“Tears are the noble
language of eyes, and when true love of words is destitute. The eye by tears
speak, while the tongue is mute.” ― Robert Herrick
Ever since we started hearing about the film on how Abby
Johnson left the abortion industry, my wife and I have been talking about
seeing it. I wasn’t completely positive what the theatre release was going to
be for the film, but over the last week, my wife kept seeing that it was going
to be in a theatre close to our home. At the beginning of the week, we decided
to go see the film on Thursday night. Not knowing what to expect, we entered
the theatre, watched the previews, and then, as the film began…our senses
were shocked.
Without giving away too much of the film, one of the first
scenes in the movie is a pivotal scene. It’s a scene that stays in your mind
throughout the film, and it rocks you again as the storyline of the film
catches back up with that scene. As I reflect on what we witnessed last night,
I can see very clearly the scene and still feel the raw emotions that came
pouring forth from my eyes and my heart. The last time I had tears in my eyes
in the film this much was when I watched the Passion of the Christ.
Tears poured from my eyes and down my cheeks for nearly ¾ of this film.
I found this film difficult at times to watch, but also
realized that it must be seen by as many people as possible on both sides of
this debated subject. The film is truly a testimony of love, mercy and
forgiveness. Although I could put into words exactly what I mean by those three
points, it would be better if you went and saw the film yourself. I can tell
you that my wife and I held hands nearly the entire film, especially in the
scenes that are truly hard to endure. Thoughts of my unborn child growing in my
wife’s womb flooded my mind different times in the film and I often looked over
at my wife and her bump/belly.
As a Catholic man, who is now a husband, and soon-to-be
father, one point that kept coming back to me (and my wife and I talked about
it in the car on the way home) was the unshakable support and love that Abby’s
husband gave to her, even loving her and marrying her when they had opposing
views on Abortion. I personally know Doug, and although I don’t know him
incredibly well, what I do know of him was reflected in this film perfectly. He
is the unshakable foundation of his family and rock that always has Abby’s
back.
I highly encourage
you to see the film this weekend. Opening weekends and the first week for
films are important because it will determine if the film will remain in the
theaters on a long-term basis. If you have children that are 17 years of age
and under and you are hesitant to bring them to this film, let me say that the
“R-Rating” this film was given is a farce. I have seen more graphic images in
PG-13 films than what is in this one. Furthermore, there are more graphic
images of aborted babies online than in this film.
If you have the means to do so, I would also encourage you
to support 40 Days For Life and Abby’s
organization, And Then There Were None.
Get involved with your local Pro-Life activities and pray, pray, pray for end
to Abortion.
I actually purchased this book about a year and a half ago
but due to selling one home, putting things in storage for 17 months and then
moving in to a new home, I “lost” it and recently found it and read it. What an interesting book! I am so glad that I finally found it. I believe you will be glad too when you find
one and read it.
THE TABLE is a book that jumps back and forth from biblical times
to modern times. The link is a very
special table that the grandfather of Jesus made as a result of a miracle. It seems that blessings and miracles and
peace seem to follow the table and those who own it. I really don’t want to give you a complete
synopsis of the book because there are a number of surprises in the book that I
don’t want to spoil for you. Suffice it
to say that the table that Jesus’ grandfather made was not only a miracle in
its time, but continued to bring miracles to people who struggled with everyday
life.
I found the book to be difficult to put down. It was intriguing on so many levels. Deacon Lambert is a great writer who knows how
to weave a great story. The characters,
whether they are from the biblical time, or from the modern time, are
interesting, very human, and very likeable.
I especially liked how he portrayed Jesus and His family. Some of the writing made me feel like I was
reading an expanded Gospel that was written to fill in some of the details left
out by the scriptures. He did the same
in writing about the early Church figures.
When reading about the biblical times, you actually felt like you were
there.
The figures in the modern time were wonderful. They were people that you could most definitely
relate to. Their fears and hurts and
successes were ones that we too could have experienced. In the midst of both tragedy and elation, the
characters were so very human and believable.
I found myself rooting for them at the various parts of their life and
tearing up for them at their difficult times.
This book certainly brought out many emotions for me.
This historical fiction provides not only great
entertainment, but also serves as a way to grow spiritually. It is a book for all people, but most
certainly will speak very loudly to Catholics with its description of the mass
and sacraments. You cannot help but to
read this book and see God at work in the lives of the characters and transfer
that in to your own life. God is very
much alive and at work in this book. I
see it as a great gift for those who have fallen away from the faith. They will find the book so interesting that
they can’t put it down, and at the same time have their own spirituality
awakened. I believe that this is the
first published book by Deacon Dennis Lambert.
I am anxiously awaiting another one by him.
As I prepare for Lent each year, I ask myself the same
questions: what am I going to give up, what works of mercy will I perform, or
what spiritual reading might I entertain this year?
The older I get, the more I realize that I cannot go wrong
with the tried and proven writings of the saints. Classics such as St.
Alphonsus Liguori’s The Way of the Cross, and Lenten reflections from
the writings of St. Teresa of Avila and St. Francis de Sales, are staples in my
home. But to be honest, it is the writings of the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen that continue to be my trusted
Lenten companion.
I will never forget the first time I read Sheen’s book from
1939, entitled Victory
over Vice. As I entered into the book, I began to feel deep, heartfelt
sorrow for my sins for the first time in my life. Fulton Sheen’s words were
removing the scales from my eyes. He showed me that the seven last words that
Our Lord spoke from the Cross were the antidote for each of the seven deadly
sins.
After reading this one Sheen book, I was convinced that I
could put my trust in him, to guide me in my walk with Christ. I desired
to read every book of his that I could find, with a similar Lenten theme. Over
the course of the next several months, I read books such as The Seven Last
Words (1933), Calvary and the Mass (1936), The Cross and the
Beatitudes (1937), The Rainbow of Sorrow (1938), The Seven
Virtues (1940), Seven Words to the Cross (1944), Seven
Words of Jesus and Mary (1945), and Characters of the Passion
(1946), to name a few.
I found out that during his last recorded Good Friday
address in 1979, Archbishop Sheen spoke of having given this type of reflection
on the subject of Christ’s seven last words from the Cross “for the
fifty-eighth consecutive time.” Whether as the young priest in Peoria,
Illinois, the university professor in Washington, D.C., or the bishop in New
York, Sheen’s messages were sure to make an indelible mark on his audience.
Possessing a burning zeal to dispel the myths about Our Lord
and His Church, each year Sheen gave a series of powerful presentations on
Christ’s Passion and His seven last words from the Cross. As a Scripture
scholar, Archbishop Sheen knew full well the power contained in preaching
Christ crucified. With St. Paul, he could say, “For I decided to know nothing
among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).
This confirmed what I had realized after reading many of
Sheen’s books: that he desired most of all to speak about the mystery of love
and suffering, more specifically, about Jesus Christ becoming man, and dying
for our sins.
Recently, I came upon this great description of what a priest
should be: a priest is someone who brings Jesus to the people, and in
turn brings the people to Jesus. From reading Sheen’s books, listening
to his audio recordings, and watching him on television, I have found that he
fits this description perfectly. Indeed, he is an accomplished retreat master.
His love for Our Lord and the Blessed Mother permeates his every thought,
binding our hearts to theirs. And isn’t that what Lent is all about, a time to
put God in first place in our hearts?
Over the last ten years, it has been my privilege to speak
about the life and writings of the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.
I never tire of hearing the “Sheen stories,” how he is still fondly
remembered by so many, and how he touched people’s lives.
As a way of thanking God for the many favors that my family
has received through the intercession of Our Lady and the Venerable Sheen, I
compiled a collection of Sheen’s writings about Our Lord’s passion and His
seven last words. The book is titled: The
Cries of Jesus from the Cross – A Fulton Sheen Anthology, and
is published by Sophia Institute Press. It is collection of seven unique Sheen
titles that will take the reader on a spiritual journey during Lent like no
other.
For the first time ever, Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s complete
writings and reflections on Christ’s last words have been compiled into this
one book. Sheen masterfully demonstrates how the seven last words of Our Lord
are in fact, a full catechism on the spiritual life. From these holy
words, we learn the secrets of living the Beatitudes, ways to avoid the deadly
vices of anger, envy, lust and pride, and how to cultivate the heavenly virtues
of fortitude, prudence, justice, and charity. Bishop Sheen teaches us how to
deal with difficult people, and how to understand pain and suffering. And
he binds all of this together with touching references to the most beautiful
love between Our Lord and His Blessed Mother.
The Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen has been my trusted
Lenten guide for a number of years now. He is that faithful priest who
continues to bring Jesus to me and helps to bring me closer to Jesus.
I pray that he will do the same for you this Lent.
From Selling Abortions To Sidewalk Counseling – by Doug
Johnson
For the entire 8 years my wife was involved with Planned
Parenthood, her primary job was to sell an abortion to every pregnant woman who
walked into the clinic. Even as a volunteer, Abby’s job was to make women feel
safe and comfortable as they walked through the doors of Planned Parenthood for
their abortion. No matter what her title was, the push was always for abortion,
because that is where the money is. When she was an escort, get them in the
door. When she was working the front counter, smile, tell them the protesters
are nuts, and get the money. When she was in charge of community outreach, Abby
was passing out condoms to coeds, giving “sex ed” talks that resulted in new
customers, and doing everything she could to normalize abortion. Finally, when
she became the clinic director, here’s your abortion quota, Abby!!!
Abby’s first priority and passion project when she left the
abortion industry was praying outside of clinics and sidewalk counseling. It
wasn’t speaking or writing a book. It wasn’t her movie or starting a ministry
to help other clinic workers leave the abortion industry. All that came later.
What really motivated her was the opportunity to come face to face with women
and sharing the truth about abortion. To tell them what really happens behind
the doors of an abortion clinic. She racked up a lot of hours in that first
year. I’m not sure why, but it was well over a year before I ever even got to
see her live and in action outside of a clinic. The first time I saw Abby get a
save… I was in awe. I was inspired. I couldn’t have prepared for how powerful
that moment would be and the impact it would have on me supporting my wife
moving forward.
It was going to be a normal Saturday with my wife. We were
headed to the Austin area in Texas for some reason or another. Who knows?
Probably to see friends and maybe do some house hunting. Before we could get to
the fun stuff, we needed to stop and drop some materials off with volunteers
outside of the Whole Women’s Health in Austin. There were a couple of familiar
faces outside the clinic praying, and they told Abby that they were performing
abortions that day. Whelp, our leisurely day was going to have to take a pause.
It was go time for Abby.
“Ok. Then we are staying until the last customer
leaves.”
Now, I had zero experience in this department. I could pray,
but I wasn’t about to try my hand at sidewalk counseling. I stood back by the
road and watched Abby go to work. The CONFIDENCE she had to call out to
everyone that walked in? I was blown away. She knew what to say, how to say it,
and how to respond to anything that came her way. I mean, I have always known
Abby is a bad-ass, but this was just a cool moment.
We had only been there for about 30 minutes when a couple
pulled into the lot and parked right behind the fence facing the sidewalk. A
woman stepped out of the passenger side and made a b-line for the building. Her
head down and she was clinching her purse. My wife didn’t have an opportunity
to say anything to her because just as she was scurrying off, her husband was
pointing a finger at us and the first words out of his mouth where…
“You know what? You guys are assholes! You are wasting
you’re time and you can’t change my mind!!”
At first, I took this as a personal affront to my wife. How
dare this dude address my wife and the other women like that?! Fortunately, I
had seen my bride handle confrontation before. Still, I positioned
myself just close enough to hear the conversation, but not close enough to
escalate things. Besides, I could tell that he was only being protective of his
wife. I’m sure he told his wife to hurry in while he distracted us. He didn’t
actually want to get into a fight with anyone. Either way, if he was just
running interference, he chose the wrong gal to wag his finger at, because it
was Abby’s turn to talk.
I don’t remember any exact words. I don’t even remember if
Abby started with her experiences in the abortion industry, or if she asked if
that was his wife, or if she asked him why he automatically assumed that she’s
an “asshole.” She may have started out asking what year his Camero was.
My memory picks up somewhere in the middle. Abby managed to keep him engaged in
idle conversation and it didn’t take long for his aggressive tone to fade. I
remember him saying that the woman was his wife, this wasn’t their first
abortion, and that he was a professional MMA fighter. Then I remember Abby
asking him about the medallions he wore around his neck. They were saints and
they were given to him by his aunt. Abby asked him what his aunt would think
about him being here for an abortion, and he said she would be pretty
disappointed. I’ll never forget the next thing that came out of his mouth…
“I actually DON’T want her to have an abortion,
but it’s up to her, right?”
In my brain, there were thousands of voices yelling, NO!!!
It is not just up to her!!! That is your wife and child in there. That is your
family. If you’re a fighter, then why don’t you go in there and fight for your
family. I bet she is in there waiting for you to man up and lead. Tell her you
want a family. Tell her you’re committed . Just say something. Anything!! Don’t
just leave her alone to figure this out.
Abby handled it much better than I would have. She asked him
if he had told her about his objection to her getting an abortion. He said, no.
Abby told him, “You need to share your feelings with her. She is your WIFE
and this is a conversation you need to have before it’s too late. Go be her
husband. She needs you.”
They didn’t say much more before he went in to talk to his
wife. About an hour later, they walked out holding hands and looking very at
ease. She still didn’t say anything to us, but she smiled at Abby as she got
into the car. He looked like he was going to get into the car without saying
anything, but he paused. He told us that they were going to lunch and they
weren’t coming back. They had decided AGAINST getting an abortion. Abby just
smiled and congratulated them. He nodded at us and got in the car. They drove
away, and we never saw them again.
I was in such awe of what I had just seen. My wife, a woman
that had spent so many years selling abortions had just saved a life. So this
is what conversion and change of heart looks like. So this is what it looks
like when God recruits you and you accept. You get to save lives.
On a side note: I HATE that even in an equal partnership, men feel silenced about abortion. I guess that’s why I remember this story so well. Men should have a say on the issue of abortion. Not just pro-abortion men. Not just anti-abortion men. ALL MEN!!! Maybe if we stepped up our game, women would feel more supported and never even consider abortion if they knew we were committed. I believe women should lead the conversation, but that doesn’t exclude men in their responsibilities regarding families and abortion.
One Beautiful Dream by Jennifer Fulwiler – review by Deacon
Marty McIndoe
When I heard that Jennifer Fulwiler had published a new
book, I knew I had to have it and read it as soon as I could. A few years ago, I read her book,” Something
Other Than God”, and absolutely loved it.
She is a gifted writer and her second book continues to show how gifted
she is. I found it hard to put down,
funny and thought provoking. Her
subtitle to this new book is The Rollicking Tale of Personal Passions, Family
Chaos, and Saying Yes to Them Both. The
subtitle is a great description of her book.
It tells the story of her raising six children while trying to write a
book.
For those of you who do not know Jennifer’s story, she is a
former atheist whom God touched and led in to the Catholic Church. You should read her first book “Something
Other Than God” to find out this great story.
Jennifer is also a daily radio host on Sirius XM channel 129 as well as
a noted speaker and columnist. She also
describes herself as “Mother of six with zero of the skills needed to manage a
home”. I would add that she is a gifted
writer with an ability to describe life situations in ways that can only make
you laugh, and sometimes cause you to shed a tear.
The beauty of her new book is that not only is it funny and
interesting and hard to put down; it shows us all how it is possible to
accomplish a sense of personal accomplishment in the midst of being a good,
albeit struggling, parent. I love what
the book does for both men and women who find it hard to balance family life
and work life. It shows how you can
incorporate both into personal satisfaction.
This book will definitely challenge any man or woman who puts work ahead
of family. However, it does show that a
true balance can be made that will be very satisfying.
To be perfectly truthful, when I first started reading this
book I thought it was mainly a book for women.
I even said that to my wife and told her that I knew she would enjoy
it. However, after reading the book for
a while, I saw that it is for men and women.
Jennifer describes how her lifelong desire to write a book seemed to
interfere with her sense that God was calling her to have a large family. On many occasions her husband Joe was the
needed instrument to help her learn to be able to do both. At the same time Joe had to learn how to
balance his work (and advancements) to fit in to their family life. Personally I see Joe as a real hero in this
story. There is no doubt that Jennifer
is the one who had to struggle and work so hard, but it was with Joe at her
side and often encouraging her. This book
does so much to show what marriage and family life is supposed to be, even the
messy parts of it.
The book also shows how Jennifer discovers that family is
not just her and Joe and their six children, but extends to grandparents, great
grandparents and friends and neighbors
and even to young girls ringing the door bell and running away (usually at the
most inopportune times). Jennifer learns
that she can’t do everything by herself and it is then that family life begins
to grow. She learns how to involve her
children in her writing career. She also
learns how to involve other family and friends in what she does. In doing this she discovers that having a
large family is a lot more than giving birth to many children.
I love how Jennifer is able to make us all laugh at some of the disheveled things that life throws at us. I also like the way her faith comes forth without being preachy. She shows herself in her weaknesses and in her strengths and we can’t help but to love her in both. In an age where many couples have no children, or only one or two, this books delights us with the interactions of six children and the fulfillment they bring to their parents. Jennifer is often confronted by friends and strangers for having such a large family. I find this so sad. Large families are a real gift that society doesn’t seem to appreciate any more. Jennifer and Joe wanted a large family and God gave them one. Jennifer and Joe use Natural Family Planning and Jennifer does a great job sharing how NFP has been a positive influence on their marriage. This book certainly shows us how two people, working together in the gift of marriage, can find both personal fulfillment and family fulfillment. There is no doubt that this is a book that I would highly recommend reading. It is printed by Zondervan. I bought my copy on Amazon Prime.
Recently my husband came home from a Friends of the Library
sale. My city library sells donated books every few months, and you pay only a
measly two dollars for whatever you can stuff inside a paper grocery bag. The
money goes toward buying new books for the library, essential when our city has
slashed the new book budget to zero.
In my husband’s bag was a book he thought I might like
because it’s about Catholicism. On the back cover are quotations from many
prominent Catholics—that is, Catholics who are prominent in a worldly sort of
way, such as politicians and actors. One quotation struck me immediately. I’m
not going to mention who said it, but it read “When my mom asked if I wanted to
be a nun, I said I’d rather be a priest . . . The nuns were always wonderful,
but the power was with the priest.”
When I see something like that, I don’t know whether to
laugh or cry. I did, however, read it aloud to my husband, and he burst into
laughter. So maybe mirth is the more appropriate response to something so
ridiculous.
If you think priests have a lot of power, read that quote to
your local parish priest and see what his reaction is.
I guess the woman who said it had no idea what she was
talking about. Does she not know why Catholic priests wear Roman collars? It’s
because the collar is a symbol of slavery.
That’s right: Roman Catholic priests are slaves.
That is, they are slaves of Christ.
Ironically, that is where power—in a supernatural
sense—resides, but since this woman is a politician, she seemed to be talking
about worldly power.
If I had the opportunity, I would ask her who she thought
had more worldly power: her parish priest or Mother Teresa. After all, Mother
Teresa won the Nobel Peace Prize. She addressed the United Nations.
When’s the last time your parish priest did that?
Besides, worldly power means nothing to God, except in how
it is wielded.
True power comes from conforming to God’s will, and you
don’t have to be a priest to do that.
I got into this a bit in my novel Nearer the Dawn. A
man who has turned away from his atheism to make an act of faith lies prone in
adoration on a mountainside when he encounters God:
Here, with his nose in the dirt, he had never felt so
elevated. Before, he had considered the walls of a church those of a prison or
insane asylum. Now he realized the barriers he had seen were of his own
construction, designed to keep him banished outside rather than let him in. At
last here was Everything he had been searching for, Everything he was created
for, the fulfillment of his hunger. This was not only the destination but the
road that led everywhere, the key that opened all treasures. Here was the
ecstasy that eternally satisfied that longing desire not only to be loved but
to love fully and completely. And here was true freedom, for only by binding
himself with the One he was free to be transformed, crowned with glory. No
wonder he had never been able to do it alone. Relying on his own capabilities
was like trying to operate on a single ohm, but now he was plugged into a Power
Source mightier than all the suns of the universe, for here life overflowed
with more abundance than he had thought possible.
Being a priest is wonderful, but it is God who crowns us with power and
glory. The power, in other words, comes by being a saint.
Our Lord knew that life could be difficult at times, as well
as joyful. We were created not to be a
person just to ourselves, but rather a person who reacts with other
people. This way we have someone to
share the joyful moments with as well as someone to help us in the difficult
moments. In our relationships with
others we often form communities. These
communities can be a source of sharing great joy as well as a support for times
when life is difficult. Communities can
take on different forms. I recently was
contemplating the gift of community at a time when very good friends (and
members of one of our communities) lost their daughter. It was most difficult for our friends, but
the gift of community really came forth.
I would like to share with you some of the ways that I have experienced this
community in action. My hope is this
will help you to better appreciate the gift of community in your own life. The old adage; “it takes a village to raise a
child” is an old African proverb but certainly relates to all of us today. I would change that a little to say, “it
takes a community to raise and support a Christian”.
My first experience of Christian Community happened in
1972. My wife and I started going to a
Catholic Charismatic prayer meeting.
That experience brought me to know Jesus and His Church and the gift of
community. The prayer group was one
where I experienced joy, teachings and support.
We met every week and I looked forward to going every time. We prayed together in the church and often had
a teaching there; afterwards many of us would go over to the diner across the
street just to socialize. Because of my
relationship with that prayer group, and with Jesus, my marriage became what it
really needed to be. My wife and I grew
in our relationship as we grew in our relationship in the prayer group and our
relationship to Jesus and His Church. My
wife and I had difficulties having children and this weighed heavily upon our
relationship. The prayer group was a
great support to us and I believe it was through the prayers there that we
received the miracle of our daughter.
The prayer group always shared with us our pains as well as our
joys. It was quite a gift.
We continued in weekly prayer groups until the early 1980’s
when we were invited to join a prayer community called “My people”. This continued in the same way as the prayer
meeting, but with closer ties of friendship.
We prayed together and we did things to have fun together. The friends that I mentioned earlier are part
of that community. All of us watched our
children grow in to adults and then watched as our children had children. It was a source of great joy. At the same time there were many
difficulties, from run-away teenagers to car accidents to deaths of spouses to
all sorts of things that happened.
However, we were able to experience it all together. We were able to lend support to each
other. Over and over again, God used
this community to bring His loving support to us.
Over the 40 years that this community has existed, some
members retired and moved away (down south).
Every year we have a community retreat and most of those who moved away
come up for that retreat here on Long Island.
In some ways it was as if they never left. We were, and are, all one community. Those of us who still live on Long Island
still meet regularly for our community prayer meeting. We also maintain other social ties to one
another. Last month, when we heard about
the sudden death of one couple’s 45 year old daughter, we were devastated. However, the community pulled together to
support them in so many ways. Even those
who moved away came up from the south to be there for the funeral. We stayed with the family at the funeral home
the whole time they were there. We were,
literally, “there for them”. I could
tell how much it was a support to them.
I also noticed at the funeral another example of
community. Our friend’s daughter was an
EMT for a local ambulance company. They
too came out in great numbers each day of the funeral. They also provided a funeral dinner for
everyone after the last service. Their
support was encouraging to all of us and especially to the parents. We saw that many parishioners from our
friend’s parish came too. The funeral
mass was quite full. After the mass, the
hearse drove past the hospital where our friend’s daughter worked in the
Emergency Room. It seemed that every
worker in the hospital came outside to give her their last goodbye. It was amazing to see how such a tragic loss
of a young woman could also show so much good from the people around her. Community is quite a gift that God uses to
support us.
We can find community in our families, in our local parish,
in our work, in our neighborhood, in our volunteer agencies…….in so many
different places. Sometimes we need to
work on building these communities into something that God can use to help us
all experience life with its joys and with its sorrows. Anything that is good, takes a little work.
I would ask you to look around at the communities that you
are part of and give thanks to God for them.
Perhaps you can find ways to grow closer to each other in these
communities. Perhaps you can see in your
family and in your co-workers ways to grow in community. Church groups can be a fantastic way to
experience community. My wife and I,
besides belonging to the “My People” charismatic community also belong to the
Teams of Our Lady group in our parish.
We cherish those monthly meetings with them and the gift of community
there. I cannot picture life without these
communities. Proverbs 27:17 tells us, “As
iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another”. We
really need community to bring out the best in us. Hebrews 10;25-25 tells us, “ And let us
consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in
the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the
Day approaching. “
When we are in community we can experience better what it
means to be “the people of God”. 1
Peter 2:9-19 tells us, “But you are
a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession,
that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his
wonderful light. Once you were not a
people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but
now you have received mercy”. Community
is also where we all can experience being the “body of Christ”. Matthew 18:20 tells us that, “For
where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” I Corinthians 12:12-13 says, “Just as a body,
though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with
Christ. For we were all baptized by one
Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we
were all given the one Spirit to drink”.
My friends, let us all drink of the one Spirit and use all the gifts that God gives to us, especially the gift of community.
Today (originally published Jan 4th) is the memorial of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first Native born American saint of the Catholic Church. She was born in New York in the year 1774 to a wealthy and prosperous Episcopalian family. In 1794, she married a young successful man by the name of William Magee Seton. They would have 5 children together. Due to unforeseen circumstances, he lost his fortune and eventually his health. They traveled to Italy to find a cure for his physical ailments, but in the end, he died while living in Italy.
During her time in Italy, she became familiar with
Catholicism through some friends and eventually made a Profession of Faith in
the Catholic Church on March 14, 1805. Her family and friends back home were
completely opposed to her becoming Catholic, but she persevered through it all.
After returning home, she found herself in financial ruin because her family
and friends shunned her decision to become Catholic.
After receiving an invitation from a priest, she established
the first Catholic school in Baltimore in 1808. In 1809, she created a small
community of religious sisters in Emmitsburg, Maryland. At first, they were
known as the Sisters of St. Joseph, but eventually changed their name to the
Daughters of Charity. From the moment, she became known as Mother Seton. Her
small religious community grew exceptionally in 100 years going from Baltimore
to New York, then to Cincinnati, Halifax, New Jersey, Greensburg, and St.
Louis. From there, the community continued to spread West. They have been in my
diocese, Phoenix, since 1933.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton died on January 21, 1821 in
Emmitsburg, Maryland. She was beatified in 1963 by Pope St. John XXIII.
On September 14, 1975, she was canonized by Pope St. Paul VI.
Below are 10 Quotes from the great American Catholic Saint
known as Mother Seton –
1. Devotional Reading: “Give some time, if it is
only half an hour in every day, to devotional reading, which is as necessary to
the well ordering of the mind as the hand of the gardener is to prevent weeds
destroying your favorite flowers.”
2. Faith, Hope, and Love: “Faith lifts the
staggering soul on one side, Hope supports it on the other. Experience says it
must be, and Love says let it be.”
3. Going to the Catholic Church: “I will go
peaceably and firmly to the Catholic Church: for if Faith is so important to
our salvation, I will seek it where true Faith first began, seek it among those
who received it from God Himself.”
4. Heaven: “The gate of heaven is very low; only
the humble can enter it.”
5. God’s will before our will: “’Thy will be
done’ – What a comfort and support those four little words are to my soul. I
have repeated them until they are softened to the sweetest harmony.”
6. Parental Advice: “If I had to advise parents,
I should tell them to take great care about the people with whom their children
associate…Much harm can result from bad company, and we are inclined by nature
to follow what is worse than what is better.”
7. Penance: “Penance is the purifier of the
soul.”
8. Suffering: “This is not a country for
solitude and silence, but for warfare and crucifixion. You are not to stay in
his silent agonies of the Garden at night, but go from post to pillar, to the
very fastening of the Cross. If you suffer so much the better for our high
journey above.”
9. Illness/Suffering: “I never experienced so
keenly the presence of this beloved Lord as I have since I have been ill. It is
as if I were seeing the good Jesus, Him, and His holy Mother, here, continually
seated at my side, under a visible form, to console me, cheer me, and to
encourage me throughout all the hours of my long and painful suffering.”
10. Serving God: “This union of my soul with God
is my wealth in poverty and joy in deepest afflictions.
First of all I must apologize to my readers. I haven’t written or added to my blog in quite a while. This is because I had a bad cold, closed on a new house and moved in to the new house in the midst of celebrating Christmas.
We start off our New Year with a Holy Day celebrating the Blessed Virgin Mary as the mother of Jesus (God). It is such a great way to start. The readings of this mass are filled with blessings. The first reading gives the Blessing of Aaron found in Numbers 6: 22-27. In this we hear, “The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!” What a beautiful blessing for the New Year. In the responsorial psalm we hear, “May the Lord bless you in His mercy”. Again, such a wonderful blessing. In the second reading St. Paul tells us that Jesus came to us, born of a woman, to ransom us so that we might receive adoption as sons of the Father. We can now call our God, Abba, Father. What a blessing it is to know that we are God’s children. In the Gospel we hear of the shepherds rejoicing at the site of the new born King. We also hear a phrase that is almost identical to one we heard last Sunday (finding of the 12 year old Jesus in the temple) about Mary where it tells us that Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. We also hear of the naming of Jesus.
Personally, I cannot think of a better way to start the New Year than to hear these readings and receive the presence of the Lord in the Eucharist. God richly blesses us, over and over again. He has blessed us so much in sharing His mother with us. The love that Mary has for us is amazing. She cares so much for us and wants us to grow closer to her son. She wants to bring us His healing love and forgiveness. Starting the New Year knowing that God calls us His children and blesses us and gives us His own mother is the most important way to start anything. This year I pray that we all grow in our knowledge of God. I pray that we all grow in our knowledge of how God continues to work through the Blessed Virgin Mary, His mother. I pray that we all grow in the knowledge of our call to be children of God, for so indeed we are. I pray that we can be like Mary and ponder all of the wonderful gifts, and even the difficulties, that God has chosen to give us. May this be a New Year that we all grow closer to God.
So many of our Saints have had a close devotion to Mary. One of the most loving is Saint Louis de Montfort. I would like to end with a prayer that he gave us:
My powerful Queen,
you are all mine through your mercy,
and I am all yours.
Take away from me all that may displease God
and cultivate in me all that is pleasing to him.
May the light of your faith
dispel the darkness of my mind,
your deep humility
take the place of my pride,
your continual sight of God
fill my memory with his presence.
May the first of the love of your heart
inflame the lukewarmness of my own heart.
May your virtues take the place of my sins.
May your merits be my enrichment
and make up for all
that is wanting in me before God.
My beloved Mother,
grant that I may have no other spirit but your spirit, to know Jesus Christ and His divine will and to praise and glorify the Lord, that I may love God with burning love like yours.
Amen. St. Louis de Montfort
