The end of a year...

I wonder what will become of 2007. You and I have both been living through it. Yet, it seems like so many people don't learn from the lessons that God has allowed them to live through. Take for example abortion and contraception. As we move forward to another year, still many of America's most defenseless children are being slaughtered. Yet some Catholics still fight for the side of so-called "freedom" which is really licentiousness. We have seen the death of Terry Schaivo in our own days, 2005 to be exact, and yet some Catholics think that we can allow the innocent lives to be destroyed in Abortion and that it won't affect us personally... forced euthanasia is already here, as Terry showed us.

In the November issue of "This Rock" magazine, a publication of Catholic Answers, Fr. Frank Pavone, M.E.V., spoke of 10 reasons to be hopeful to the end of the murder of the most obscure and weakest in our human society - the unborn. There are many good points that he makes, being as he has a good grasp on pro-life work in America. Yet, I think the greatest point he makes is to remind each of us that "Victory is our starting point." I quote:

"The biggest reason we are winning [the pro-life battle] is that we have already won. There is one among us who holds the keys of death and of hell. He was overwhelmed by the Culture of Death, and trampled death by death. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead! The pro-life movement does not simply work for victory; we work from victory. Victory is our starting point. We joyfully proclaim to the world that Christ is risen, and that for this reason, we must choose life. Then we work to apply that victory to every sector of society. We do not stand in from of the Culture of Death afraid, worried, and wondering how we will overcome it. Rather, we stand before it with victorious confidence and declare, "Begone! You have no room here, no place here, no further authority to menace the human family. You kingdom has been conquered, and Christ reigns!"

The reason I bring this up here on the 31st of January, still in the Christmas season & 3 days after the Feast of the Holy Innocents, is that this quote reminds me of the search of St. Joseph and Mary for a place to bear their child. A place where Jesus could be born into this world, and yet the world (or at least the folk of Bethlehem) denied them. As if to heal the wound of mankind rejecting Jesus' birth, now we, as disciples of Jesus Christ, MUST work to establish the Culture of Life which welcomes all newly conceived life. What Catholic among us can rightly say that abortion should be allowed, when the death of a soul is at stake - a soul for which Jesus Christ died that they might have eternal life.

I have been thinking of ways to commemorate the Anniversary of Roe vs. Wade this year. I thought one thing that we might do as a parish is to hold a rally right here on the parish grounds and perhaps hold pro-life signs along Garrison, especially during rush hour. This would probably take some approval from the city to hold this kind of rally probably, but I keep wishing there was something that could be done here at St. Jude where I am aware of certain Catholics who scandalously hold that abortion is something that should be tolerated.

For a human being, let alone a Catholic, it is intrinsically evil for us to offer innocent human life as a sacrifice to convenience, which ultimately becomes the main reason for almost every abortion. People might say, "Well, you aren't a woman! How can you impose your views on others?" Simple. I am a man, who has been faced with the decision to abort or to keep my child, but I knew that the human life was a gift of God - undeserving of me imposing my will upon him and her. Rather, it is far better for me to accept the gift and responsibility of accepting life. No one should have to feel like they must destroy a little soul's earthly life, this is in large part what the framers of the Declaration of Independence understood as the foundation of these United States when they wrote:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness..."

Yet, not only some Americans, but even some Catholics would have us reject life as dispensable when it is an incovenience. There is, of which I am aware, at least one parishioner who has even written a book trying to reject this basic teaching of the Church established by Our Lord Jesus Christ. As the Compendium of Catholic Social Teaching itself states in unison with the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Sacred Tradition (for example, the Didache - particularly chapter 2): "Promoting human dignity implies above all affirming the inviolability of the right to life, from conception to natural death, the first among all rights and the condition for all other rights of the person (#553)."

Let us hope and pray that as we begin 2008, this purpose and goal might be recognized to defend the right to life of every human life. Becuase whenever and wherever that right is offended a mother and father are wounded and a human life is lost.

If you happen to be keeping track...

Yes, this makes 3 posts today... but don't get too used to it :) . I will be taking next week off, though I may just try to post something next week from home on our laptop from 1999 on our dial-up internet.... I am so last century, I know...

Why can't more people get this?

I, apparently, cannot and probably should not endorse a candidate on this blog, since I am related to the Church, even if I am only employed by it.

Nevertheless, I have to admit that I personally, NOT officially in my capacity as an employee of St. Jude, am interested in Ron Paul. It is said that so many in the mainstream media do not consider this guy as a plausible candidate and thus either ignore him or deride him as a "nutjob" or "fringe candidate." Yet so much of what he says makes sense. I must admit I am not totally on board with everything he says. But there are things which I find very interesting which he states that no one else is saying.

The least of which is his support of Pope John Paul II... yes, you read that right. Check out this document apparently written by Dr. Ron Paul, MD.

Reading that document alone makes me more sympathetic to Dr. Paul. However, the fact that, as a doctor, he actually is honest enough to know and admit that human life begins at conception really makes me sympathetic.

Before you all start jumping on the bandwagon, there are a few things I am concerned with too, however (as if I have that much sway with anyone!). 1) That Dr. Paul is ostensibly in favor of legalizing prostitution and 2) he is also in favor of legalizing marijuana and, in fact, all illegal drugs (as I understand it).

Nevertheless, when one considers his political philosophy one can appreciate his position. That is to say, as I understand him to hold, that Government should not have a hold or impinge on our private lives and we should have the liberty to do as we please. Oddly enough, that idea, as such, appears to be in line with Catholic Social Teaching, which encourages us to live the virtuous life. As Dr. Paul himself asserts in various places, the government cannot legislate virtue. Nevertheless, the Church rightly proclaims that government's role is to guide people to virtue, and thus legalizing such things seems problematic at best. Moreover, what one worries about is whether our fellow countrymen and women have not been constricted so much that they wouldn't act as teenagers who just got left home alone for the first time without mom and dad? Nevertheless, one wonders...

Perhaps a few links are in order here:

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/story?id=3970423&page=1

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/video-network?channel=1&video=105

You decide for yourself. I still haven't made up my mind except to say that as Catholics we cannot vote for a pro-abortion candidate no matter who that might be. If you would like some explanation on this you might check out: http://www.catholictradition.org/Christ/christ-king1.htm , which except for the focus on only the Traditional Latin Mass, every Catholic should appreciate if we take our faith in Christ the King seriously. The Traditional Latin Mass alone WILL NOT take away all of our woes in today's Church (before "Anonymous" accuses me again of this), but respect for both the Sacred Tradition of our Church and our country's founding political philosophy certainly are a step in the right direction.

What are your thoughts, St. Jude Parishioners?

You never know....

Why do I love being Catholic? One of the many reasons is because you never know what people are up to. Only the Lord Jesus Christ knows these things and He is so incredible in leading people to take care of so many things. Each of us, at St. Jude, have so much to be thankful. Each of us have so much more than we think, even when we think we don't have much at all - as a person who makes his living from working for the Catholic Church I can say this with much humility!

Nevertheless, as our eyes turn towards Christ anew and reality of his the celebration of his birth, known as Christmas, let us not forget those who have less. Not only less, but those little ones who are known only to the Lord.

Now most people when you speak of God's "little ones" think of children, and rightly so, for in a special way the creator of all life watches over them and seeks for their good in a very special way... what a blessing to be entrusted as a parent. But let us not forget those "little ones" who aren't so little. As one professor of mine used to refer to such people, in all charity, "the simple people." Many have such spiritual desires but are being led astray in so many ways. This Christmas, as we visit with families and friends, let us not forget the Spiritual works of Mercy, even while we remember the Corporal (bodily) Works of Mercy.

The Corporal works of Mercy are: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, visiting the imprisoned, and burying the dead. While the Spiritual Works of Mercy are: admonishing the sinner, instruct the ignorant, to counsel the doubtful, to comfort the sorrowful, to bear wrongs patiently, to forgive injuries, and to pray for the living and the dead

Its the first three Spiritual Works which I think this time of year often Catholics to action. We must be ready, as our First Pope said, "Always be prepared to give make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is within you, yet do it with gentleness and reverance. (1Pet 3:15)" So many of us will find ourselves in family or social situations where we may be challenged about our devoutness: be it someone using the Lord's name in vain, someone disrespecting our Faith, someone not understanding the true meaning of Christmas - which is Jesus being born, some fellow Catholic neglecting going to Mass on Christmas, some family member who has left the practice of the faith, among so many other situations.

Sure, we all have moments of fear or even moments of temptation to not speak up. But I encourage any one who read this post to consider saying this prayer in preparation for any holiday gathering you may attend - even New Year's eve:

O my Divine Savior,

Transform me into Yourself.

May my hands your hands, Jesus.

Grant that every faculty of my body

May serve only to glorify you.

Above all,

Transform my soul and all its powers

so that my memory, will and affection,

may be the memory, will and affections of You.

I pray you to destroy in me

all that is not of You.

Grant that I may live but in You,

by You and for You,

so that I may truly say, with St. Paul,

"I live - now, not I - but Christ lives in me."

This prayer was written by the Martyr, St. Jean Gabriel Perboyre. I love it.

At any rate don't forget the "little ones" of God. Every human desires to know Christ, but how can they hear about Him if we don't proclaim him!?

In union with all of this, don't forget the "little ones" that are the materially poor as well. In particular, please say a prayer for the success of one of the parishioners of St. Jude whose website seeks to alleviate the suffering of some of these little ones: http://www.guatemalankids.com/ As I began this posting, you never know what the parishoner in the seat next to you is up to. Let us thank Christ our Lord for constantly calling all of us to radically change the world in His Love.

May God bless us this Christmas, each and every one!

St. Nicholas' not so well known helpers...

Today, Dec. 6th, is the Feast of St Nicholas across the face of the planet Earth. In America, when we think of jolly ole St. Nick, we often think of those lil' people that help him out, whom we call elves. However, in other ethnic traditions there is a bit of a different understanding. A friend of mine recently reminded me of the tradition, found in Germanic countries but especially in Austria, known as "the Krampus." Where we see jolly lil folks who load up Santa's sleigh, the Germanic people came up with a little different idea.
The Krampus are a group of demon-like figures that go around swatting little boys and girls who have been naughty during the year. The idea being that the on the Feast of St. Nicholas these guys show up on your doorstep and let the kids know that they have until Christmas to clean their act up - otherwise they will be back to dish out some justice, North Pole Style. You can read about them in the link above, but I think this is such an interesting idea.

Certainly, one can see A LOT of room for abuse with this tradition, but I think it sure beats the entitlement mentality that is promoted in America because of the tradition of buying each other presents, mainly promoted after World War II. When I was young we used to be told that we would get a lump of coal in our stockings if we were bad, but nowadays, judging from TV, one would think kids are supposed to expect their gifts regardless of their behavior.

One of the Krampus is called Knecht Ruprecht, which translated means "Servant Rupert." In particular, he seems to be one of the more scarier things that help St. Nick carry his toys around. This guy is meant to be at the service of St. Nicholas to help the kids shape up. And while having a demon-like figure may be a bit extreme to our American tastes, I do think that the notion of reminding our children that their behavior helps them to gain rewards is definitely a good concept to help them appreciate.

On the other hand, we remember that Christ came to us as a free gift to mankind. Thus, it is probably best to integrate these two ideas. Reminding children that our behavior will affect the rewards we receive can help them to think about the end of their life when they will go before their Judge - Christ our Lord. Everlasting life is a free gift given by Jesus, nevertheless, our actions will affect whether we recieve Heaven or not!

Remember, the idea of the Krampus is that they are helpers of St. Nicholas. He is after all a Saint, but these guys help to dish out the justice which sinful actions deserve - a swat, apparently. So if a child is trying to live their life in virtue and not in sin than presumably the Krampus are going to be on your side. They support the friends of St. Nick, who are living for Christ. Its one of those "parent mind-control tools" that are not such a bad thing in the end. Not because we want to control our kids minds for evil, but more importantly that we help them to see the right and wrong things we ought to do or not do, respectively, in this life.

The Krampus serve to remind us that, as sweet and wholesome as Christmas is, we must never forget the very real effects of our good and bad decisions. I wish we had something like this in America, or at least here in Colorado. Maybe I can come up with something yet.... rabid squirrel? Half-man, half-elk? who knows? In the mean time, here are some more lovely pictures of these "bad dudes" from the North:

What is so wrong with that?

To my last post I have received a comment, which you may find here, that accuses me of pushing for a return of the Extraordinary form of the Catholic Church's worship, that is to say the Traditional Latin Mass. Now if one reads the text of that post, one does not find this reality. Granted in the video that I link to the Redemptorists are praying the Latin Mass and the Breviary, aka the Liturgy of the Hours, in Latin. But this was more incidental to that posting, than being the point of it.

Rather, the point of my post was that these monks' devotion to their faith is by far a witness that is lost in today's Church. We need Catholics - priests, laity, and religious - who come to the realization that our Faith is not a secondary thing to our lives. It should not be seen as some added icing to "the cake" that is our everyday lives. Rather, our Catholic Faith needs to become our lifesblood. Why? Is it because we all need to be some overly strict monks or nuns in lay people's clothes? Is it because we need to be rigid mindless sheep?

No. Our Catholic Faith needs to become our lifesblood because we need to find the gratitude in our lives that recognize God the Father as the living Creator of our life, and Jesus Christ who was sent into the world to establish the Catholic Church that give us new life - even "life more abundantly (Jn 10:10)." We have the opportunity to accept this life, to come to know God through Jesus. But this is not just merely through the bible, as so many of our separated brethren suggest. Rather, it is also through the living Sacred Tradition of the Church. Part of that tradition is encompassed in the Traditional Latin Mass. As, then, Cardinal Ratzinger himself pointed out in his book Salt of the Earth:

I am of the opinion, to be sure, that the old rite should be granted much more generously to all those who desire it. It's impossible to see what could be dangerous or unacceptable about that. A community is calling its very being into question when it suddenly declares that what until now was its holiest and highest possession is strictly forbidden and when it makes the longing for it seem downright indecent.

I do not hold , as the Anonymous poster accuses me, that"the ills of the Church would all go away if all we did was return to a language most do not know and a liturgy that does not speak to people of today." I do hold however, as the Holy Father himself teaches us in the Lettter that accompanied and explained the Motu Proprio that : "What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church's faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place." And further, I do think that the lack of catechesis, the lack of reverance at many Masses, and the lack of seriousness with which some approach our Catholic Faith can be helped by experiencing the solemnity which the Extraordinary form integrates.

This is not to say, that it will be some magical experience for every person, however for those who begin to take their faith more seriously the Extraordinary Form can bear some great fruit in one's contemplation of the solemnity with which the Sacred Mystery of the Holy Sacrifice is celebrated - as it has been for centuries. This in turn can truly bear greater fruit in one's experience in the Ordinary form (aka the Novus Ordo). For those older folks who grew up with the Latin Mass but "hated or disliked it" it would certainly behoove them to not attend the extraordinary form of mass if they would be led away from their belief in Jesus Christ (though I can't see how this would be so). Nevertheless, it is a "shame," or at least I feel it is "shame," for us as a community to withhold from our brothers and sisters, especially those of us who never grew up with it, the beauty of the extraordinary form (- which by the way is not to say there isn't a particular beauty in the Novus Ordo). Let us decide if we like it or not, don't decide for us! Don't deny us the opportunity to enter into the beautiful mystery of the Mass of the Ages!

Personally, I think that, when done with the reverance it deserves, the Novus Ordo can be quite a blessed and moving experience of prayer. Nevertheless, so many are the abuses and unaesthetic accoutrements that have been born from the unfortunate "spirit of rebellion" that accompanied the Novus Ordo that there is a great need to balance that spirit with the, as the Holy Father puts it, "hermeneutic of continutity." As a younger Catholic, who has been given the great opportunity and blessing to attend a Pontifical University in Rome (something, I might add, which I would never have been able to do prior to Vatican II), I felt "gyped" in not being allowed to experience the Extraordinary form while growing up.

Thankfully, Archbishop Chaput has been so gracious in allowing the Confraternity of St. Peter to operate a chapel in Littleton, where I have been able to attend this beautiful form of the mass. I wish it were more available, because if it weren't so far away, my family is agreed that we would attend more frequently - especially as my duties at St. Jude necessitate my remaining near by the parish on many Sundays.

WOW!

Take 18 minutes to watch this incredible video. You will definitely want to experience it all the way to the end. Why can we not have more priests like these spiritually beautiful monks? We need preists and laypeople who can truly take our Catholic Faith seriously. Too often we have allowed others to steamroll our own personal faith.

Listen to the sincerity and simplicity of these priests as they speak with this man who will not accept the love of Christ. Check out more information about them, and perhaps, just perhaps, if you are a young man, go and visit these incredible Christians who are living White Martyrdom! Visit their website at http://www.papastronsay.com/ If your are married, or unable to go, at least let's try and start buying their cheese!

A curious video for you

Looking around at the New Advent website I found a link to this lil' YouTube Gem. I think it is a video that every St. Jude Parishioner should see!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m7mCAp7n-g

When you finish with that one, then check out this one too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTOxIFW1Mhk

in the meantime, I will be looking for something more substantial to write about.... like perhaps about the upcoming Rite of Welcome & Acceptance!

He's not just fiddlin' around...

I received this post from a friend this morning. It refers to the Papal Motu Proprio which has been given by our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI which liberalizes the use of the Traditional Latin Mass. There are, unfortunately, those who still think that they can reject the direction of the Pope and still find themselves in union with Christ.

It is clear we must be humble before our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ. Part of this humility is the gift of piety, which, Holy Mother Church teaches us, we recieve in the Sacrament of Baptism. Why is it that we Christians at times reject this gift? Why can we not accept that Jesus, the Son of God, has established a Catholic Church for the sake of our salvation. In our modern world so many people think that they can come up with their own "Protestantized-Catholic-Faith." Some think they can pick and choose what they will be obedient to... could you imagine Jesus picking and choosing what He would be obedient to in the Garden of Gethsemane? "Hmm... I will save Fr. Schaffer, but that Tomas guy... forget it!" OUCH! I am glad he didn't pick and choose, but accepted in obedience that God the Father has a plan and that part of that plan is for us to die to our own desire for the sake of finding our greatest joy in God the Father's plan.

In the article on WDTPRS above, he speaks about those bishops who continue to reject the express wishes of St. Peter's Successor. Now, either we accept the Catholic Church or we make it in our own image. We have seen, at Eden, what happens when we make the world in our own image. Perhaps, some of our beloved bishops should be reminded of this fact. How can any of us - lay, religious, priest, or bishops - presume to reject the living Tradition of the Church & the Pope who is entrusted with the guidance of that Tradition? We must consider the state of our own souls. This is the point of my reflection today. If we feel that we can take any aspect of the Catholic faith, established by Jesus Christ and maintained by the Holy Spirit of God in the plan of God the Father, then let us reconsider whether we truly believe in God or not. Either we are Christians who believe in Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church he established or we are not and we may as well give up on being Christians, because we will face being "spewed out of the mouth" of Jesus (Rev. 3:16) because of our lukewarmness!!! Its that serious!

I am reminded of what one of my professors told me at University, "It is the parish priest who will face the Gates of Hell for the parish... not you!" This has brought me both comfort and sadness in understanding this notion. Fr. Darrell has a great weight to bear in guiding St. Jude. He deserves our respect and our prayers, even if we don't agree with Him. We have a right to expect that he justly seeks to serve Christ in all of his decisions, but if he doesn't have that as His goal then he will have to answer to the Divine Judge for his actions. This is the reason we should pray for Him to receive grace in his leadership of this parish. He alone will face those gates of hell for what he did or did not do. But, even each one of us for our own lives and what we did or did not do. Let no one of us think that by rejecting certain teachings of the Church we can draw closer to Christ, for he himself did not give this example or this teaching. Rather, he said, "He who is not willing to take up his cross and follow me daily is not worthy of me (Lk 14:27)."

Coffee & Grace

At 11:00 today I have a meeting with a lady who would like to join the Church. I am so humbled to be a part of the RCIA process. Such a beautiful experience of the real movements and gentle call of the Fire of the Holy Spiri - grace.

Today is the Solemnity of All Saints. And I just found out that my beloved spiritual father from Rome is reading my blog! Hi, Father Paul! Its fun to have a blog.

What, you might ask, does that have to do with All Saints Day!? Well, it is in part because of coffee and grace. Fr. Paul Keller, O.P., whom one can see giving a beautiful homily on St. Francis here, is a brilliant priest and reminds me of the coffee I used to have in Rome. That coffee, much like Fr. Paul's pastoral care, gives your soul a serious charge and allows you to keep on going. This I hope for all parishioners of St. Jude that we all have the experience of the Catholic Church, at some point, as mine is of Fr. Paul. Now, not every person gets along with every priest, we are after all each fallen humans. Nevertheless, let us be patient, let us be open to what Christ has to give to each of us in the graces through each priest he calls.

It is in much the same way that we ought to approach the Feast of All Saints. We must realize that, in as much as we are all humans, we will not necessarily like every saint. Some are more inviting to us than others. Nevertheless, the Saints love us because we seek to serve Christ as they did. They realize that we are brothers and sisters in Christ, and like a good brother or sister, love us as family and pray for us as family. For us Catholics, our caffeine of family life is the grace of the Holy Spirit that binds us together. We are united in the Blood of Christ which has been poured over our souls sacramentally through the waters of baptism.

I love all Saints day. I love being Catholic. I, in some sense, love "missing" my dear Fr. Paul, because it reminds me that this world is not the end. We are striving to be united to our brothers and sisters in the Church Triumphant in Heaven. For only then will I be united with that dear friend of mine, and shall we each be freed from the temptations that constantly assail us. Let no one of us be stuck or stumble upon the things of this world, for this too - whatever it is - shall pass.

This is too good...;)

I can't help uploading a link to this little ditty I found while looking for a picture of a Roman Missal. I hope you enjoy the link and you learn to sing-a-long as I have! Check it out! I haven't had much time to post lately with the Carnival and trying to catch up afterwards. I look forward to writing more hopefully tomorrow. But for now enjoy!

Its on its way...

Some parents have been upset that I show every year at the Parent Orientation meeting for Elementary Religious Education a video showing the notion that Secular Humanism is infiltrating public education in America. Nevertheless, as I have mentioned at these same meetings, in the last year I have been confirmed in speaking up about this ill of our modern world. As I said before, one of the 5th graders last year told me how in his public school class he was reprimanded for writing "BC" meaning "Before Christ" - which is a statement of faith. He was told instead that he was to write "BCE" which means, ostensibly, "before common era." An innocuous statement of history. A second instance was that last year one of the parents mentioned that her husband was involved with the NEA (National Education Association) and they had on their 2006-07 agenda how they might incorporate lesbianism into the public schools!

At times I often wonder if these things could be real myself. But we should not be surprised that those who reject or ignore the teachings of Christ should be inadvertantly attacking all that our Catholic Faith holds dear. In fact, a very dear friend of mine recently posted on his blog an alarming story that he directed to me. Again, this seems like an outrageous story but I leave it to your own viewing: click here.

Could it be true? Would such lunacy pass for public school education? Certainly, in our modern society, as some call "post-Christian" society, it is clear that many people think they need to leave old notions of morality and personal boundries aside in the name of "humanistic education." Never more important has it been for us to become learned in the basics of our Christian Faith. When people have come to a point where such madness is becoming widespread and soon will arrive here in America -that is almost guaranteed.

The world is seeking Truth. We Catholics should know that it is Jesus Christ - but not just knowing about Him is enough, we need to have the intimate knowledge that He has come to give us in the teachings of our Catholic Faith and in the Holy Sacraments. We need to have that substantive relationship that allows us to reject all things to the contrary. You can think of it in the image of a friend, even your best friend: you would first trust your best friend (though in this image He died and rose from the dead for love of you) before believing the calumnies and lies that everyone else spoke about them. You would do you're very best to hear your friend's explanation and try to see their point of view. No less respect should we show to the Savior of all Mankind, Our Lord.

I love it when people email me or ask me questions, it is very edifying thing. It helps me to know that people are really seeking to know the Truth. I know Father and the Deacons all feel the same way. If you have questions, don't let them boil and simmer inside of you until someone offers you an answer that is misleading or, worse, false! "Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all else will be given you besides," so says the Word of God who became man so that you would know God!

Perhaps one of the saddest movies ever...

One of things about our modern time is that people are able to show real life - unadulterated, as it were. As a Catholic educator, it is challenging to teach kids in our modern culture that explicitly ignores the one living and true Triune God. If you need proof that even amongst Christians, look no further than the youth of our day. There are in many schools and even in some s0-called Catholic Schools many teens who today aren't even challenged to consider the possiblity of the Catholic Faith. Check out this YouTube Video that one teenager put together as a school project, apparently. It appears that it was filmed at a Catholic School, or at least a Christian school of some sort, and this is what makes it very sad.

I love laboring here at St. Jude because I know the kids at this parish come from good families who earnestly want their kids to learn the life-giving Catholic Faith, passed on from the time of the Apostles. But how many kids are not even being challenged to live up to understanding the Catholic Faith. I laud Anthony Gallegos, our youth minister, for all of his efforts, especially since I have seen the good fruit of his program. I know that he is laboring with all of his effort for his program and for the youth of St. Jude to understand and take seriously the Catholic Faith.

Nevertheless, we should not delude ourselves into thinking that Anthony can conquer the world alone. Each of us, parishioners of St. Jude & Catholics worldwide, need to do our part to support Anthony and the youth in understanding the glory of the Holy Catholic Faith. We must know and defend against those many out there who are actively trying to tempt our kids into renouncing their faith, whether implicitly or explicitly. Let us step up our prayer life that God may pour out graces on those who would hear his call to fight the war against sin and temptation, those who desire to become saints, as Jesus has established the Holy Catholic Church for no less a reason.

A good witch?

Today, I was asked by a gentleman to have lunch. At the restaurant, his favorite apparently, I was introduced to a so-called witch. A lady who is in the practice of Wicca. For those who may not be aware, Wicca is the practice of pagan worship of nature. It is also, more commonly, referred to as witchcraft.

There are numerous things we should be aware of when it comes to witchcraft, if only to help others steer clear of this ancient deception of false gods and godessess. For more information I found this article: http://www.catholicculture.org/library/view.cfm?recnum=1289 which I think does a pretty good job of dispelling some of the basics of this pagan religion.

However, I found her arguments very interesting. The gentleman who introduced me to the waitress told her I was an "expert in Catholicism." To which she immediately began to attack the notion of Catholicism because of the death of so-called witches during the Middle Ages. What I find interesting about this position is two things:

1) Arguements based on the acts of adherants to a religion do not make a religion false. Certainly, there are many witches, Protestants, Muslims, & Catholics, et al. who do horrible or just bad things in the name of their religion. However, this in no way makes the religion somehow false. This is precisely what Jesus meant when he said, "Judge not lest you be judged," I think. We do not know people or their reasons for why they do things. The deeper and more fundamental question is what does a religion propose and is that teaching itself correct or erroneous. This brings about a whole slew of further questions, which I won't go into here.

Suffice it to say, Jesus teaches us, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." For this reason, a teaching which no other religion proclaims with its accompanying proofs, we Christians firmly can hold that the Christian Faith itself is certainly true. Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and established a Church for all, a universal Church (or in Greek a "Catholic" Church).

2) This lady's argument about the Catholic Faith was all based on emotion. She continued to return to the idea that Catholics had killed women in the name of religion. And she tried to also bring in St. Joan of Arc as an example of how bad the Catholic Church is. It was very interesting, because I noticed if I were her I would have at least begun to explain how Wicca was the superior religion, not in arrogance, but because I would want my listener to understand how good it is so that he or she might join too. We call this in Christianity an "apology." Not an "apology" as we understand it in English, which declares our sorrow for an action done, rather an apology in the Greek sense of an "apologia", that is a reason for why I believe what I do. This kind of apology aims at explaining that what I believe is sensible and intelligible.

At this restaurant, though it was painful not to, it would have been inappropriate to engage in a discussion of this because I was there with the gentleman who had invited me, and we were already engaged in a discussion, when this lady was introduced. For me this was an example of prudence, I had to choose which battle "to fight." It was clear this woman had a lot of issues with the Catholic Faith and no 2-minute conversation would clear anything up. Please pray for her, as I will.

Nevertheless, it was interesting that one other argument she tried to put forward was that 7 of the witches in her group, which I presume she was referring to her "coven", are former Catholics. As I said to her, it is not at all surprising since if we misunderstand the Catholic Faith then it is very easy to reject it outright. If we have half-truths about what it means to be Catholics, it is very easy to think one is wisely rejecting the "silly" Catholic Faith. But if one has the opportunity to fully consider what it means to be a Catholic then it can change our lives.

It is incumbent on each of us, as Catholics, to learn our faith well. The world is dying for the answers that Jesus provides in the Catholic Faith. For no other faith is so clear and so challenging as to ask us to "take up our cross, and follow [Jesus] daily." Yes, the Catholic Faith is challenging because we have to "die", so to speak, to our selfish way of thinking, and learn to live the all-encompassing love that God himself asks of us. BUT, we are not left to our own devices to do this! This is the whole purpose of the Eucharist - really of Jesus! God comes to us to teach us and give us the grace to overcome ourselves and to live a life filled with His love for humanity. But this means that we must first accept that gift! Many people have various reasons for why they reject the Catholic Church. If Catholics and Christians are to live the Christian Faith fully, then we must learn to live for Christ; we must be able to say, with St. Paul, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me (Col 1:13)."

By the way, the picture at top is a picture of St. Boniface taking a hatchet to a tree which the people believed was where their God, Thor, lived. St. Boniface famously said, "Where is your god now?" as he chopped the tree down! The story behind it is here!

So...

Any thoughts on who to vote for next year? I would be interested to know who people at St. Jude are voting for and why?

Yipes!

I didn't realize how few posts I have been putting on this blog. I just today took a look at the number of posts I have put on here which you find to the right --> of this column. I guess if this blog is published in the Church bulletin and our website I should get on this more frequently.

I guess my only excuse is that it has been a busy few weeks in the RE & RCIA departments. This year, for some reason, has been a difficult one for the RE department. We have had many teacher absences and registration has been kind of a mess due to many late registrations - don't get me wrong we are happy to have people in RE, but it is very difficult for our record-keeping and organization when people keep coming to classes late. It throws off all of our records, budget and materials. It has just been very busy that is all.

For RCIA, I am encouraging the adult catechists to engage more teaching activity this year. It is a real blessing to allow people to think about a given topic and observe them teach on it. It gives someone a chance to think about a given doctrine of the Church in a different way. Its one thing to hear about a teaching of the Church, its another to think about it, but it is another still to try to teach it to others in a concise and personal way. If you have never been to the RCIA, then please feel encouraged to visit sometime. If you have, then please let me know what you thought by posting a comment on this blog (below).

At any rate, I love this job. I love teaching the Holy Catholic Faith. There is so much to know and the more you know the more exciting it is to know Jesus the Son of God established this Church to fulfill not only our emotions and our hearts but also our intellect.

The funny thing about emotions is that they change so rapidly, no clearer is this seen than in teenagers. And, as one professor of mine put it, the Faith "doesn't give a fig about how you feel in the morning." This is what I think is pretty cool. The Catholic Faith will never change and does not adjust to our feelings or whims. We must allow our emotions to be satisfied in knowing the stability and the solidity of the Teachings of Jesus Christ. Even if sometimes this means we have to overcome emotion to understand why a teaching is proposed by the Holy Spirit through the Catholic Church for all humanity.

"Your my obessesion... "

I remember a song from the 80's called "Obsession." It was one of those songs of my youth that I never really liked, but at one point I just couldn't get it out of my head. It was emblazoned on my mind. Obsession is such a curious thing. How is it that love can become obsession? And in a sense, obsession is love - though it is a disordered love. What a mystery! God is love, says St. John's letter in the bible, but certainly God is not obsession in "a bad sense." And yet God is in a certain sense obsessed with love for each of us.

St. Catherine of Siena spoke of Jesus being a "divine madman" filled with love for us, willing to do whatever it took to bring us to heaven - short of forcing us. Now certainly, we can't take that to literally - primarily because no one is more sane than Jesus; neither is anyone more loving. Yet there is element of both of these which are true. From our point of view, Jesus is "mad" or "crazed" in that he would be willing to die for our sake so that we could go to heaven, even if we continue to ignore or reject him by our sin. He is obsessed with trying to fulfill us. As one poet put it, its as if there was a "hound of heaven" who continually chases after us.

Yet, in spite of all this, the Holy Triune God never forces. He tries to persuade, tries to invite, and offers grace - but never forces.

I came to think about all these things because my wife and I watched "The Prestige" last night. This is a very interesting movie about two magicians who become obsessed with learning each other's "tricks of the trade." It was, however, also a very dark and engrossing movie. I won't give away the ending, for anyone who might wish to see it, but it is one of those movies which helps us to re-consider our own obsessions. What do we put our time and effort into? Some people may never stop to think about this, I fear. And all of us have obessesions. For us Catholics, the Church does not ask us to deny these obsessions, only to maneuver them to something constructive. And, Holy Mother Church also gives us "models of obsession" - those people we refer to as Saints.

The Saints had an obssesion, but not an obsession that caused them to reject everyone else for the sake of their own desire. Rather, their obsession was their desire to love God by serving everyone else! Its quite an interesting thing when you think about it. Sometimes people portray us Catholics as being "fanatics." But what the world has a hard time understanding is that there is a difference between someone who belongs to the Catholic Church and someone who is a practicing Catholic - and that difference is vast. The practicing Catholic is one who desires nothing less than the establishment of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in every soul, so that every soul knows and grows in union with the love of God. While a Catholic, who is not practicing, may belong to the number of people whom Jesus has given his life in this world through baptism. We cannot be satisifed with merely belonging to the Catholic Church. If we are to live up to the life that Jesus gave to us then we must desire growth in that life. This means seeking to grow in union with God. The most primary way is through prayer - especially through the Holy Sacrifice of Mass.

In many aspects of life, if we focus on one thing too much then a lot of other things suffer in our lives. For example, if I want to be the best football player, then I must work out and practice and spend lots of time at those things. However, to be a good Catholic, Jesus tells us, "Seek first the kingdom of God and all else will be given to you." Even so, Jesus also added, "Your Heavenly Father knows what you need." In other words, to seek to be a saint is our purpose and our goal. God has given us the means to accomplish this, but we must be patient with ourselves. If we need to go to Confession, then we must go. Just as a football player must go to the gym, even if he or she doesn't enjoy it.

I guess what I am getting at is that we must think about where our efforts lie. Many times we can chase the good things of this life, but ignore our spiritual life. By focusing more on our spiritual life, we can learn to grow in the things which we know are the most important for us - namely loving God and neighbors. In the Catholic Spiritual life, "obssession for God" can become a real problem because our disproportionate desire can give us a mental complex about our service of God. But if from obsession we can transition into "devotion" then we will well be on our way to following in the company of the Saints. This because devotion denotes an active love and relationship with Our Lord; where obessesion ignores the other and seeks only selfish desire. This, unfortunately, is the saddest and darkest part of the movie "The Prestige." It leaves you realizing that these two magicians sought only their own selfish fulfillment. Let us not seek our own fulfillment, but as good servants of God let us seek His will and that His kingdom be established, for in seeking this "all else will be given us besides."

Come on... you know you want to comment on this!

I have been wondering about this topic myself. I have recently read a book by Monsignor Klaus Gamber called "The Reform of the Roman Liturgy: Its Problem and its background." The French Edition of this book had a preface written for it by, then, Cardinal Ratzinger who said, if I remember correctly, that "every priest and liturgist should read and study this book." One of the basic arguments in the course of the book is that the Priests of the Roman Rite should return to facing to the East during the Holy Sacrifice of Mass. I have to admit, after reading the text, I think I am sold on the idea. I had my doubts and questions, but it seems clear to me, anyway, that it is a practice which does make a lot of sense in the the light of our beliefs as Catholics.

Along the same lines, today there was an article from Zenit.org in which a certain Fr. Lang was interviewed about this very subject. You can find it here. I think this is an interesting topic for Catholics to reconsider today, not for the sake of getting into camps so that we can attack each other, but so that we can build a constructive discussion about what exactly the Second Vatican Council envisioned and what has transpired. Especially, since many people will immediately find this idea of the priest facing to the east, ad orientum, particularly bothersome at first hearing.

But given the recent Motu Proprio (if you want the official text it is here) by our Holy Father, it would appear, that this is not such a thing of the past. In fact, it would appear, if the extraordinary form of the Liturgy is to take its proper place in the worship of the Universal Church of Christ, then perhaps reimagining the Mass promulgated after Vatican II with more elements that were jettisoned is not such a bad idea.

Zooom!!!!

Time has flown by these last few weeks. I apologize, dear reader, for not having been keeping up to date with my little blog here. Nevertheless, I have often thought of you, but have just not found the time daily to keep up with this blog.

Part of that, thankfully, will soon end, as the beginning of RCIA and the Elementary Religious Education begins to settle in for the year. In these first few weeks there is little time for much extra beyond my duties in preparing the RCIA and in making sure all is well in the RE program.
At any rate, a good friend of mine sent me this link, which is a homily by a priest of the Priestly Confraternity of St. Peter. This is the religious order that was first approved to celebrate the Tridentine Liturgy, that is the Mass in the extraordinary form offered before Vatican II.

So "why provide this link to me?" you might ask of me. Well, what is interesting about this priest is that he is from France, and my friend (who sent me this link first met him in Arizona) sent me this link because this priest is now stationed at the F.S.S.P.'s parish here in Denver in Old Town Littleton. I have heard him preach and I think he is quite good, personally. Let me know what you think. If you do like him here are two more sermons: on the Seven Mansions of Prayer and on the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Divine Providence

There are many things in our lives that seem like such coincidences. I am grateful to Our Lord Jesus that today I am able to hang with a friend of mine from college, whose name is Joe. This friend was one who I was privileged to study abroad with in the Austrian Program through Franciscan University. In fact, after the Spring semester in 1999 my friend and I were able to spend a month and a half traveling to Fatima, Portugal to visit the Shrine of Mary at Fatima. We also visited the Eucharistic Miracle at Santarem, Portugal. As well, we traveled on to Paris to see the shrine of the Miraculous Medal and the incorrupt body of St. Vincent de Paul.

After these great experiences we also went on to Ireland and traveled through from the South to the North. We were able to spend the better part of a month with a friend of ours who owns a hotel in Northern Ireland - in a little town called Ballykelly, Northern Ireland. It is a beautiful hotel outside of Derry City.

After all of that I finished up my last year at Franciscan University, got married, and moved to Rome. After 2 years there I got a phone call from Joe. He had decided to come to Rome to study. He was there for one year and we had many the adventure around the streets of Rome. He returned to America, while my wife and I stayed in Rome to finish our degrees.

Just a few months ago I was able to meet up with Joe for a conference in Steubenville, Ohio where Joe was living and going to school to finish his MBA. He had decided to come to Denver to look for work. And so here he is today.

The Sacred Scriptures tell us that "A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter, and he who finds one is blessed (Sir 6:14)." I have been blessed to have a friend like Joe. God knowing my own sorrow from moving from California when I was 16, in 10th grade in public school, has given me the blessing of some very good friends who have been great shelters.

I think many of us if we thought about could see that God has provided for us in many ways. What we often forget, however, is that that providence was not something God is just cooking up as he goes along. In fact, Almighty God has planned all of history from the beginning - even the creation of the world. Nothing has gone unseen in God's plan.

Of course, that begs the question of how are we able to excercise free will which Catholics always go on about? If we can only remember that "time," as such, is a human invention and perspective, then we begin to realize that God allows for our freely willed decisions from before we were even created. He has cooperated with us and our desires and our choices, even before the first plant or animal existed. His Divine Plan and providence takes into account all those things which we will choose wisely and unwisely. But not only your choices, but every human being's choice. No one is forced! We all freely choose, but God constantly provides grace for us to choose to love and respond to Him. While we try to comprehend God's merciful plan from our earthly and time-driven perspective, God has given us all we need to find our greatest joy and peace. For this is the reason that Jesus came into the world. As he said, "I came that they might have life and have it more abundantly (Jn 10:10)."

Let us abandon ourselves to God's glorious will in our lives. Nevertheless, the wisdom of the saints reminds us, a la St. Ignatius of Loyola, "Pray as if everything depends on God, and act as if everything depends on you." The question we must ask ourselves is whether we act in accordance with the teachings of Holy Mother Church, which are the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Have you seen "Robot Chicken?"

I haven't. But I have seen a few clips here and there. A friend of mine, who usually sends me that funny email or instant message each day (you know you have one too!) sent me this link to the best Star Wars parodies of the show "Robot Chicken." To fully enjoy these you had to have been a fan of the Star Wars movies.... but if you were, then you will laugh. I don't know how good or bad the show actually is, but these clips are pretty funny. I hope you enjoy them! Just click here.

More Latin fun

Who said Latin is a dead language, look what I found today! http://ephemeris.alcuinus.net/

The Holy See

Many Catholics unfortunately are unaware of how awesome the Vatican truly is. Let alone the beauty of its artworks - which when visited often provide an enhancement to one's faith, or its architecture - which draws one to contemplate the mystery of God, or the order by which the Church is run.

One of things that many may not be aware of are the outreaches which the Vatican has for those who desire to see the pilgrimmage sites of the world. The main branch of the Vatican is known as the Opera Romana Pelligrinagi - don't worry there is no singing here. The translation for this office is the Work of Roman pilgrimmages. In other words, this Vatican branch provides Christians with itineraries to travel throughout Christendom to many of the Church's most revered pilgrimmage sites. You can check out their website in English here.

Another of the Vatican's many branches is the Opus Fundatum Latinitas. This is a Vatican institute whose expressed purpose is twofold:
"1) to promote the study of the Latin language, classical literature and Medieval Latin;
2) to promote the increased use of the Latin language by publishing texts in Latin and other suitable means."

Unfortunately, one must have some grasp of the Latin Language to utilize the online magazine which they provide, but if one is so inclined one may view it for interest's sake here. You have to scroll down to the bottom of the page to get the articles that were written in Latin.

As I was growing up, I never thought I would be into Latin. I remember specifically thinking oddly of the "geeks" in High School who studied Latin. As I studied at University, however, it becamse apparent that much like in the movie "Braveheart" Latin is a language for those who are truly learned. It is not just a language for those who are "into it," but truly it is important for Western Culture as really our whole civilization and language rest upon the foundation of the Latin culture of Rome. Many of our words and customs continue to be excercised from their Latin roots. In fact, I remember reading an author who pointed to the sign hung on Jesus' cross reading "Jesus, the Nazorean, King of the Jews" which from the Latin is where we get the INRI on the top of crucifixes. This author pointed out that there, where this epitaph was written in Greek, Hebrew and Latin, we see an image of the culimation of the ancient world in Jesus: 1) The wisdom of the Greeks, 2) the worship of the Jews, and 3) the order or structure of the Latins. All of these three become combined in the Catholic Church.

More personally, for us Latin Rite Catholics, it is important that we begin to think about learning some of the most basic prayers of our faith in Latin. Why? In the recent presentation of the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church the Holy Father encouraged all members of the Latin Rite, to which St. Jude parish belongs, to learn the most basic prayers found at the end of the Compendium - but don't worry Kevin or Dave (or any other readers out there) because you can find them online here (but I would copy and print them as the Compendium is a little long to be printing out). How beautiful it would be that we recall what many ancients saw about the Latin language - it is undoing the Tower of Babel! That is, when we pray together with our brothers and sisters in Christ, we undo the curse of the Tower of Babel by uniting in the common language of our Rite of the Catholic Church. Whether we meet a mexican, a German, an African or others who come from different parts of the world and don't speak our American-English language we could engage in prayer with the common language of our Holy Mother Church. As well, this reminds us of the real family we have been made a part of through our Baptism - the adopted family of Jesus Christ our Lord.

It is quite exciting to realize that we belong to an incredibly well established and active family that is the Catholic Church of Jesus Christ. Our current Holy Father watches over the whole family as the "face of Christ on earth" or vicar of Christ. From the one same chair of St. Peter, Pope Benedict XVI continues to guide the Church from the snarls and traps of this world. Probably the most beautiful image of this reality is what the ancients referred to as the Barque or boat of St. Peter, which is the Church. The Pope can be thought of as being at the helm of this great ship as it is fought from all sides by the turmoil and strive of our present age. And yet, with Christ as our food and the Holy Spirit in our sails, we will arrive at our destination if we perservere in our faith.

This whole analogy really gives a whole new meaning to the idea of "jumping ship" when one commits mortal sin! We can see precisely what the Catechism of the Catholic Church means when it is says that Confession or Reconciliation is "the second plank [of salvation] after the shipwreck which is the loss of grace." The main difference, of course, is that we are never swept away by sin, rather we are the ones who choose to jump ship. This is our human dignity, that God allows us the "luxury" of rejecting Him by our mortal sins. Let no one of us ever become so impoverished as those who are filled with this type of "luxury" for such is the will of God, that all come to eternal life.

This then is precisely the reason we have a Holy See - the Holy Chair of St. Peter that watches over us and calls us to renew our faith and love and hope in Jesus Christ Our Lord. See what great love the Father has for us, that we should become his children - and that we allow ourselves to rest in the shelter of the Church he has provided for us.

What about "the Man?"

When I used to have freetime, or when I really need a break, I like to take a moment to check out the movie previews that are coming out. You may be aware that at the Apple Website you can watch movie trailers all day long. It is sometimes really fun to check out what is upcoming in the movie world. Unfortunately, I don't usually find many that I am that excited about - from the trailer anyway. The last movie I saw was Transformers, but that took a very good friend to really encourage me and he knew I had loved the toys when I was growing up.

However, there are some good movies out there. For example, one of the best movies I have seen in recent years, and in fact my wife and I rented it recently, is the movie "Lady in the Water." It is film by M. Night Shamalyan - of "Signs," "The Village," and "Sixth Sense" fame. What one must respect is the fact that M. Night Shamalyan has a healthy respect for our Catholic Faith. In fact, we were discussing the Holy Trinity this past Saturday for one of the catechist training sessions here at the parish. I had brought up "Lady in the Water" as one of the recent movies that gives a great analogy for the Catholic Faith. What Mr. Shamalyan provides for us, whether intentionally or not I don't know, is a great example of an analogy of the unity and practice of our faith.

"Lady in the Water" is not an easy story to follow at first. As one catechist said, "It is hard to understand." But for us Catholics it can be a very easy thing to understand, if we utilize our sacramental understanding of the world. We know that God gives the world grace through the Sacraments - those seven symbolic realities that really communicate His Love and Grace to each of us. In the climax of the movie, we find seven sisters who are the means by which the priest-like figure offers himself for the sake of another to be healed. But, even earlier the priestly figure, Mr. Heep, must decide whether he will have faith that he can discern what the answer to the movie's riddle is or whether he will rely on the media's interpretation of how things should happen. It is said in the course of the dialogue, "It is all about faith." Mr. Heep is left to figure things out, and if he can overcome his own pride then the riddle will be solved.

One of the themes running throughout "Lady in the Water" is the very Catholic notion that "every creature has a purpose." Especially each character in the movie. Of course, this is reminescent of the Church's teaching on human life - namely, that no innocent human life is worth destroying, whether unborn or elderly. Of course, like Mr. Heep, each of us must accept this reality. Every human person has the freedom to reject or accept it. But as Catholics, we should come to understand that God, to understate the matter, prefers us to accept it.

What the point of my blog today is and was for the catechist training is that analogy is a good way for us to understand our Catholic faith. Analogies can help us to begin to grasp mysteries in a way that we can understand more readily. The danger, of course, is that we must remember analogies are only tools to understand something deeper, and we can never take the analogy as the truth that we are seeking to understand.

Part of the point of this, especially for us Catholics, is that we are always seeking the Mystery - and more specifically the Mystery of the Living Triune God. In the Catholic Faith, when we speak of mystery, we don't speak of a mystery that must be solved - like the ole Agatha Christie novel or CSI or a Law & Order mystery. Rather for the Catholic Church, and subsequently our Catholic Faith, a mystery is something we can never understand fully, but at the same time something we can understand partially. Now, we have been inserted into the mystery of the Holy Trinity by our baptism, and yet God is not happy that we should merely be a member of the mystery, but that we should learn to desire and be satisifed in "never-being-satisified" in the glory of this mystery. That is, we should alway seek to understand the mystery more fully.

In this regard, "Lady in the Water" provides a great story for understanding the profound reality which each of the characters find themselves involved with in analogous way. That is, in this movie there is a great analogy with how our Catholic Faith must be lived. We too must seek to understand the "plan," not from Crossword puzzles or cereal boxes, but from the very Heart and Mind of Almighty God [See the movie and this will make more sense]. Each of us is important to His real-life plan and each of us will find our greatest joy in taking up our part to battle our enemy of sin and death. But if you see a "Scrunt," perhaps a quick poke in its eyes might stop it... but I would never try that myself...

By the way, perhaps another great analogous movie will be upcoming in "Horton hears a who." As many see this as a great analogy of seeing even the smallest human life as worth not choosing to murder.

I am becoming a fair-y

This time of year is always kind of a jumbled mess, in my mind anyway. I always seem to feel like I have not used the time wisely during the summer (at least for the last two years anyway) before the Religious Education program begins and RCIA begins. I think I am probably being over critical of myself, but I also always feel such needless anxiety around this time of the year before everything begins.

I guess I can really relate to that story in the bible about Martha and Mary. You know, Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus and Martha is "freaking out" about all the details, to colloquialize. I ususally feel like Mary, but it seems like these few weeks before everything begins find me more like Martha. Jesus said to Martha, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her." I guess we all need times of testing though.

Its funny thinking about this, because today I just received one of the Elementary Religious Education parent surveys back. I always find it interesting to see what people answer to the question: "I feel that sports and/or activities are more important than Religious Education." Some of us seem to feel, as I am right now, that doing things (like sports) can bear more fruit in a child's life than "sitting at the feet of Jesus" in Religious Education.

I wonder sometimes what it would take for us to re-assess where our priorties should lie. The other day I was reading a little book I was recently given on Our Lady of Knock. In case you don't know, the Blessed Mother is reported to have appeared in Knock, Ireland at a time when many of the Catholics were being persecuted for their faith, even during the Great Potato Famine. In 1879, many Catholics were still being persecuted in Ireland for their faith by their fellow Protestant countrymen. In fact, it appears historically that many Catholics were being tempted to reject the ancient Catholic Faith for the sake of receiving food for their families. Heroically, many did not reject their Catholic Faith and even still survived. In fact, it is believed by many that Mary appeared in Knock in order to strengthen the Irish people to not reject their Catholic Faith.

For those Irish Catholics, as with the ancient martyrs of the early Christian Church, giving up their faith or placing it second to anything was not an option. What would it take for us to come to this conclusion. Almighty God has offered us His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who has established the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church so that our lives might become intimately united to Himself. Yet, many things in our modern world tempt us to leave the persistent practice of our faith, including things like Broncos games, Rockies games, water parks, etc. Not that most of these things are necessarily bad, but when they become a hinderance to the devotion of our Love of God, then we should consider what we worship and whether we place any thing before the one living and true God.

It is certain one of the temptations in our age of over-abundant information and entertainment that the first Commandment of God is challenged more than I think any of us are aware: "I am the Lord your God you shall have no strange gods before me." Perhaps as we go through our day and/or prepare to sleep we should consider what is it, if anything, that makes me take the Catholic Faith as less important than education, sports, entertainment, pleasure, money or any number of things that tempt us. For in this was the whole message of the silence of Knock, where Our Lady did not say a word. Rather, she appeared silent on Aug. 21st, 1879 in Knock, Ireland . As if to say, "You have been given all in Jesus, my divine Son. Now only you can make the decision whether or not to accept him most fully with your minds, hearts and souls."

It is with this thought that I am preparing for the ministry fair this weekend at St. Jude. Hence, I think I am becoming a fair-y, a ministry fair-y. Fortunately, this too shall pass after this weekend when hopefully we will fill the volunteer catechist (teacher) positions that we need for Elementary Religious Education and we might find some RCIA sponsors as well. Unfortunately, I will have to pop back and forth between the ministry fair and the Rel. Ed. Registration. Maybe, as a fair-y I will find the wings to move back and forth quickly... because I will need to move quickly to cover both places at once!

Holy daze of obligation?

There are so many things vying for our attention these days. Everything is a marketing ploy it seems these days. Have you watched a movie recently that didn't have some kind of advertisement in it for something or another? Seems like so many people love fantasy movies (like Lord of the Rings, etc.), and perhaps part of the reason is that we can escape the marketing for Coke or Pepsi or whatever else companies are trying to sell us.

Don't get me wrong, everyone needs to work and make money to support their families. I just think that since marketing has become so invasive into our everyday lives that there should be some boundries put upon these things. Nevertheless, we are the ones who will purchase or not purchase those things which we are marketed. Everything seems like such a good idea and so inviting.

Yet one must stop and consider our Catholic Faith. Our Lord has established Sunday as the day upon which we commemorate his Resurrection. It is our sabbath day, our day of rest. This is the reason why, as Catholics, we break the 3rd Commandment ("Remember to keep Holy the Sabbath Day.") when we willfully don't attend the Holy Sacrifice of Mass. But, the Lord himself has a sort of "marketing" ploy for us - kinda interesting when you think of it this way. During the year there are certain feast days that are of such great importance to our Catholic Faith that the Church raises them to the level of a Solemnity. Then, on top of this, very few of these Solemnities have become "Holy Days of Obligation." What is "Holy Day?" And why are we "obliged" to attend Mass on these days?

Well, we must remember the whole purpose of the Catholic Church: to make us holy and thus unite us more closely to our Lord Jesus Christ. When we attend Mass we are being re-presented to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, which has become the salvation of all mankind. Certain days the Church calls us to re-consider our everyday life. How important is our love for Christ in our lives? Three of the Five Holy Days of obligation (in America anyway) are devoted to the Mother of God, Mary. If we just think about it for a minute, then we might come to realize that the Church is telling us to look to the example of Mary who gave her whole life to the service of Jesus Christ, her son and Lord.

Though none of us have been asked to physically become the mother of God, we have all been asked to share God's own life by our baptism. Part of sharing His life is recognizing and looking with love to Our Blessed Mother. Again, as we gaze upon her loveliness, we should come to see she is glorious primarily because she has loved God with her whole mind, body, and soul as each of us should be striving to do. This I think is, in part, the reason Holy Mother Church places some days during the Liturgical Year as days we are obliged to attend Mass. These are days in which, if we only accept them as the gifts that they are, we will find great impetus to continue to seek after Christ, to continue to willfully give up our sinfulness in order that the Holy Spirit of God might use us as His instruments.

This, of course, means we should not just feel like we are being forced to go to Church a couple of days out of the year. Rather, we should consider these great feasts as gifts which allow us to re-consider how much importance we should place on our Catholic Faith above our jobs, our relationships with our friends, and in some instances (not all, but some) even above our families. In other words, Christ should be the focus of our lives, and Holy Mother Church invites us to "be obliged," that is, to recognize in humility that God has placed these profound mysteries, like Mary's Assumption body and soul into Heaven, for us to re-consider His love and promises to us if we seek and follow after His only begotten Son, Jesus.

Far too many Catholics sometimes ignore or blow-off Holy days as days which are like those marketing ploys found everywhere today. Holy Days are seen as impositions upon "my daily things I need to get done!" Instead, as we come to realize just how much the one true and living God has loved us and provided many Sacred Mysteries in our Catholic Faith in order that our minds and our hearts might be satiated, we ought to be thankful for the opportunity to reconsider God's promises of Heaven, of Joy, of Love, and of uniting in and with the cross of Christ as we live our Christian Faith. Let us not feel that anything is more important that these great Feast Days, for Our Holy Mother Church has given them to us knowing that they are good for us and will make us grow - even whether we are aware of it or not. Perhaps, instead of thinking of these Holy Days of obligation as annoying, maybe we should begin to see them as gifts of God through His Catholic Church to each of us.

The Assumption

We await the feast of the Assumption tomorrow. I remember last year driving around in Wheat Ridge and coming across a Protestant Church that had put up on their billboard: "Assumption is the mother of all evil." Interesting, isn't it? It is beyond my comprehending that Christians, those who love Jesus Christ, can so greatly overlook one of the greatest gift He desires to give to us in our Blessed Mother, Mary.

If we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, which we ought to do as Catholics, then we ought also to accept the reality that in our baptism we have been given over to Christ. We belong to Him; in fact, we have become a part of Him if we are willing to respond in love by our life. As has long been the Catholic Church's teaching, even before Protestantism began, we participate in the life of Jesus Christ by our living His example in our own life situation. Then, on top of all of that, we are also given His mother to be our own mother, as the Gospel of John clearly states. If we seek to be the beloved disciple of Jesus, which I have never met one practicing Christian who doesn't want to be, then we too must take Mary into our own home - our soul. We must accept her as our own mother, just as Jesus accepted her as a gift from God the Father. Does it get more simple? Eternal God becomes man, and entrusts himself to the care of the Blessed Mother. We become participants in God's life and should do as he did in all things, including entrusting ourselves to the Blessed Mother.

What of the Assumption then? Did you know that this teaching has been believed, like all Marian Dogmas, since the earliest days of Christianity? Why then did Pope Pius XII see fit to declare this doctrine to upgraded to the level of a dogma? A dogma being "a truth appertaining to faith or morals, revealed by God, transmitted from the Apostles in the Scriptures or by tradition, and proposed by the Church for the acceptance of the faithful."

The fact of the matter is that during the 1950's, Europe was still reeling from the Second World War. Mankind had just overcome some of the most brutual destruction the world had ever seen. Many people were wondering, "What is the point of life?" Everything seemed very hopeless as a whole continent and world tried to rebuild from the rubble of war. Yet, as she always does, Holy Mother Church saw the answer for mankind - Hope, especially Hope in Christ. Every hope that we dare to place on Jesus Christ will not be dashed, for He never ceases to labor for us, if we are willing to persevere in prayer. Thus, the Holy Father proposed for the world the Dogma of the Assumption. Reminding all of mankind that Mary was and is the model Christian, seeking to do all that Christ desired and desires of her. It was Mary who was first able to say with her whole body and soul to the Archangel Gabriel, "Let it be done to me according to thy word."

We too, in our own day, can realize and recieve this great hope. All that need be done is to overcome our own sorrow, our own fear, our own will, and allow ourselves to labor for love - namely to labor for Jesus Christ himself. In our desire to care for one another we find that God will bless us in ways we will never expect. Jesus himself tells us:

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat (or drink), or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? So do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?' All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. "

Let us Christians accept Mary for the gift of Motherly Love that Jesus desires for her to be for all of us who desire to be his beloved disciple. The Solemnity of the Assumption allows us to re-consider that there is nothing in our lives that cannot be overcome by Him who has overcome the world. May we allow ourselves to sit at the feet of Jesus and to accept all that He desires for our greatest joy and our sanctification as we continue to say to Him, "Let it be done to me according to thy will."