Jessica's Posts

Retro phone

2011-12-06T00:31:00.001-08:00

Check this out. Instead of a hands free headset you get a corded phone. Wow, what people come up with.

Random Bible Facts

2011-12-05T07:15:00.001-08:00

Abraham sent 318 men to rescue Lot from captivity (Gen 14:14-16). #randomBiblefacts The Navy Seals could have done it with six - maybe three

On the Radio

2011-10-13T23:38:00.001-07:00

I was going to school when I change the channel on the radio. They were talking about a family being at their home. The wife was in the kitchen, the husband was watching a football game and the daughter was upstairs in her room when the mom starts to hear the dog bark. She thought this was normal, but then it would not stop barking. She got suspicious and looked at the slide door. She ran to her husband, but the husband, hearing the noise, ran upstairs to protect his daughter. The wife runs after him upstairs. They open the daughters door and go in but one of them is climbing through the window…

While hearing this i’m thinking did this really happen to someone? What happened to them? Then the radio hosts start talking about zombies and that they are reading this out of a passage from a book. I’m going to school thinking this really happened to someone when in reality it is just a book they are reading.

A Prayer Before Logging Into the Internet

2011-10-12T09:39:00.000-07:00

Almighty and eternal God, who created us in Thy image and bade us to seek after all that is good, true and beautiful, especially in the divine person of Thy Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, grant, we beseech Thee, that, through the intercession of Saint Isidore, Bishop and Doctor, during our journeys through the internet we will direct our hands and eyes only to that which is pleasing to Thee and treat with charity and patience all those souls whom we encounter. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

C. S. Lewis Quote

2011-09-06T12:23:00.000-07:00

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give your heart to no one, not, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully around with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements;lock it up safe in a casket or coffin of your sefishness. But in the casket -safe, dark, motionless, airless - it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, inpenetrable, irredeemable... The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.

-C. S. Lewis

Springfield Catholic community mourns suicide of local priest

2011-07-08T01:06:00.000-07:00

Please pray for this priest. How sad to hear about this. God we pray that you receive him in heaven.
(Click the link below to read the article.)
Catholics in the Diocese of Springfield, Massachusetts are grieving the loss of 42 year-old priest Fr. Paul Archambault, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on July 2.

Oh, Mary Mother of Jesus Christ and Mother of priests,
accept this title which we bestow on you
to celebrate your motherhood
and to contemplate with you the priesthood
of, your Son and of your sons,
O Holy Mother of God.

O Mother of Christ,
to the Messiah-Priest you gave a body of flesh
through the anointing of the Holy Spirit
for the salvation of the poor and the contrite of heart;
guard priests in your heart and in the Church,
O Mother of the Savior.

O Mother of Faith
you accompanied to the Table the Son of Man,
the fulfillment of the promises given to the fathers;
give to the Father for his glory
the priests of your Son,
O ark of the Covenant.

O Mother of the Church,
in the midst of the disciples in the upper room
you prayed to the Spirit
for the new people and their shepherds;
A full measure of gifts,
O Queen of the Apostles.

O Mother of Christ,
you were with him at the beginning of his life and mission,
you sought the Master among the crowd,
you stood beside him when he was lifted up from the earth
consumed as the one eternal sacrifice,
and you had John, your Son, near at hand;
accept from the beginning those who have been called,
Protect their growth,
in their life ministry accompany your sons,
O Mother of Priests.
Amen.

-Blessed John Paul II

Huevocartoon - Poeta Huevos 4: Cómo preparar la cena de Navidad

2011-02-08T21:29:00.000-08:00

Very funny.

How to prepare Christmas dinner with the Shakespearean eggs.

Take One.

A Delicious Egg Soup.

A marvelous cod.

A nice oyster stew.

...And a tequila turkey...

For more lyrics in English just click on the YouTube Clip and click interactive transcript.

Injured Storm Trooper

2011-01-18T22:48:00.000-08:00

You never see any injured storm troopers. All you see is them being shot and they go down.

The Injured Stormtrooper

Zac | Myspace Video

Retiro Carismatico 2010

2010-11-13T19:25:00.000-08:00

Lugar: San Diego, Ca.

Este retiro fue maravilloso. Unas semanas antes del retiro me fije en la computadora, Una persona habia escrito de mi. Quite a las personas que eran amigos de esa persona de mi pagina. Todavia me preocupaba. Despues mi mama supo lo que escribieron, y tambien se preocupo. Tenia eso en mi mente los dos dias del retiro.

Las personas que fueron ese dia eran muy animadas (David Bisono, Padre Higinio). Todo lo que decian me llegaba al corazon.

Llore en cada ejercisio del primer dia pero no sabia porque. En la hora de la comida fui a que me hicieran oracion. Me dijeron que tenia algo en mi corazon que no podia soltar. Un tipo de recentimiento o enojo pero no sabia que. Pense un poco pero no pude averiguar que era. Despues de la oracion llegue al tiempo del concierto. Marita hablo de su hermano, canto la cancion de el Alfarero. Me gusto mucho.

Llore en el santisimo, nos dejaron acercarnos. Nos hicieron oracion durante el santisimo. Tenia los ojos cerrados pero senti que mis papas fueron hacia mi y oraron por mi. En ese momento mi corazon se me aliviano. Y supe que es lo que tenia en el corazon.

El siguiente dia Marita hizo otro concierto y hablo sobre su vida. Dijo una frase que se me pego. "¿Que es lo que quieres que yo aprenda de esta experiencia?" y pense en mi vida preguntando lo mismo. Al terminar el retiro tuve la respuesta. "Orar sobre las personas". No se puede hacer otra cosa mas que orar.

Gracias Señor por todo lo que me has dado. Yo se que no lo merezco pero tu eres el que da todo. Gracias.

Miguel

2010-10-28T00:05:00.000-07:00

Went to visit my brother's grave last week. Still feeling weird with everything that is going on, but, life goes on. We will definitely miss him during the holidays. You are in our hearts always.

Alyssa pouring water

2010-10-24T22:03:00.000-07:00

My niece Alyssa was helping me out with my homework today. I had to do an observation for my child dev. class. I'll finish up on Tuesday.

Miguel Angel

2010-07-21T14:40:00.000-07:00

As I lay here and stare at the night,
I see in the darkenss light,
Wondering if that is you,
Miracles that you do,

I'll close my eyes with all my might,
Hoping that I can sleep tonight,
Dreaming of you with me again,
Wishing that somehow I can attain,

I know that you're with God and I am blessed,
To have known you for all this time and nothing less,
Because of you, God is whom I seek,
So that once again I may hear you speak,

You and I, were always together,
And in time... it will be forever,
But for now... I stay behind,
Just know you're always in my mind,

I am happy you are in a better place,
Even though I won't see your face,
You're gone and I miss you,
And don't forget I love you,

God has sent me an Angel,
And it's you... Michael "Angel"

-Written by Oswaldo Vega

Poema

2010-07-21T14:23:00.000-07:00

En ocasiones mi Señor,
parece que nos abandonas
y más cuando el dolor
invade nuestras personas.

Por qué, se encuentran
llenando nuestras mentes
que tu amor no muestran
y ocultan lo que sientes.

Por que paso todo esto?
Por que no lo detuviste?
Pero lo que es manifiesto
es que tu también moriste.

Así que ayúdanos a recordar
que lo grande no es morir
sino igual que tu resucitar
y en tu amor siempre vivir.

-Seminarista José Luis Serna

Murrieta man dies in early morning accident on I-15 - PE.com - Daily News Digest

2010-03-21T22:15:00.000-07:00

Murrieta man dies in early morning accident on I-15 - PE.com - Daily News Digest

R.I.P. Miguel Vega

Dominican Nuns on Oprah

2010-03-12T02:45:00.000-08:00

I like this video from a few weeks ago. Great episode. Great way to evangelize. Thank you Oprah for this episode on nuns.

I hope more people will be open to the idea of religious life not only for women but also for men. Every year we need more and more men in the religious life. In this great nation it is hard for people to stand up for their beliefs but with prayer and evangelization anything is possible for God. God Bless.

Proposition 8: The California Marriage Protection Amendment

2008-11-02T23:50:00.000-08:00

Proposition 8: The California Marriage Protection Amendment

Proposition 8 places into the California Constitution the same language that voters already passed by 61% of the vote in 2000. This is necessary to overturn an outrageous California Supreme Court decision that overturned Proposition 22.

About Proposition 8

Proposition 8 is simple and straightforward. It contains the same 14 words that were previously approved in 2000 by over 61% of California voters: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”

Because four activist judges in San Francisco wrongly overturned the people’s vote, we need to pass this measure as a constitutional amendment to restore the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.

Voting YES on Proposition 8 does 3 simple things:

It restores the definition of marriage to what the vast majority of California voters already approved and what Californians agree should be supported, not undermined.

It overturns the outrageous decision of four activist Supreme Court judges who ignored the will of the people.

It protects our children from being taught in public schools that “same-sex marriage” is the same as traditional marriage, and prevents other consequences to Californians who will be forced to not just be tolerant of gay lifestyles, but face mandatory compliance regardless of their personal beliefs.

My Nephew

2008-09-05T12:12:00.000-07:00

Haven't posted in a while but last month my nephew was born. How cool. I was actually there when he was born. Of course I was standing to the side as to not see anything until he actually came out. His name is Alexander Santiago. My first nephew from my sister.

Also last month was my niece's baptism. It went really well, I was her godmother. I had to get the cake, some balloons, and many decorations. The bad part was that I procastinated until the day before the baptism. But it all went really well. Her name is Alyssa Anahi

New Zealand/ Australia

2008-08-04T14:36:00.000-07:00

Hi, haven't been here in a while. I have been gone. I went to New Zealand and Australia for World Youth Day. It was great. The first part of the trip was in New Zealand. I went with the church group. We did many things there like kayaking, black water rafting and other fun stuff. While we were there we learned the Haka which is what the New Zealand rugby team does before every game. It came from the Maori. We went to a concert where we learned more about them. St. Mary Haka

The second part of the trip we were in Australia. We went to concerts and we got to see the pope when he passed by. We had fun. One of the days we had to go to the vigil and sleep in a race park. Out in the cold could not sleep all night but it was fun to be there with 500,000 other people. The whole trip was great. In three years the next World Youth Day is going to be in Madrid Spain. I am definitely going. I you want pictures just email me.

Encadenado y sin embargo, libre

2008-06-05T00:15:00.000-07:00

Leí hace años una anécdota que contaba el escritor y disidente cubano Armando Valladares en su libro "Contra toda esperanza". Relataba cómo él y otros presos de conciencia, para demostrar a sus carceleros que incluso con cadenas eran hombres libres, comía sólo la mitad de la mísera ración de arroz que recibían como alimento. Hay que reconocer que su gesto estaba en el límite de la virtud de la prudencia, pero desde luego era muy elocuente. He recordado esto al escuchar hace unos meses al arquitecto mexicano Bosco Gutiérrez Cortina que estuvo secuestrado durante nueve meses y que desde hace años cuenta su experiencia en conferencias. La verdad es que la conferencia entera es un canto a la coherencia y a la libertad. Hay un momento de su secuestro que supone un punto de inflexión en su cautiverio. Después de que sus secuestradores le hicieran rellenar un formulario con preguntas sobre su familia, Bosco cayó en una profunda depresión y dejó de cuidarse. Los secuestradores se dieron cuenta de que perdían a su mercancía y un día uno de los secuestradores entró uno en el zulo y le escribió en un papel: -"Hoy es 15 de septiembre. "¡Viva México!" y Bosco respondió -"...¿y a mi qué??". El secuestrador contesta -"hoy puedes tomar lo que quieras" y Bosco responde -"ok, pues entonces me vas a traer un vaso largo, y me lo vas a llenar de whisky hasta arriba y me lo traes con un solo hielo grande, pero lo quiero hasta arriba". Se fue el secuestrador y Bosco empezó a pensar "mira que como sea mentira me muero". Ya había puesto todas sus esperanzas en ese whisky: le iba a purificar una herida que tenía en la boca, que no cicatrizaba y le limpiaría por dentro. Esperando al whisky solo repetía: "Por favor, Dios mío que sea verdad lo del whisky, que sea verdad, que sea verdad" Y, de pronto se abrió la puerta y le dejaron en un marquito un vaso alto,de vidrio, llenito hasta arriba de whisky y con un hielo grande flotando. Bosco se va arrastrando hasta llegar a la puerta, y se lo lleva a su rincón. Se pasó el vaso por los labios y por la cara y empujaba el hielo hasta el fondo y el hielo volvia a subir y lo volía a empujar y volvía a subir y otra vez se lo pasaba por los labios. De pronto nota una voz dentro de él que le dice: -"ofreceme el whisky". Y Bosco: -"No fastidies... el whisky no, Dios mío, te ofrezco.... te ofrezco mi secuestro". Volvió a oir: -"Pero tu secuestro no lo has escogido tu... tiene que ser algo que puedas escoger tu, venga, ofreceme el whisky". Y Bosco: -"Te ofrezco no ver a mi familia" -"Que eso tampoco lo has escogido tu... venga". Cuenta Bosco que en ese momento notó que el ofrecer ese whisky le iba a hacer más fuerte. Aún así, se resistía: -"Pero es que este whisky me va a purificar, me va a curar la herida de la boca, me va a matar todas las bacterias de la boca y encima me cogeré me va a dejar genial..." -"Ofreceme el whisky". Bosco se levantó y tiró el whisky por el váter y se quedó en el suelo, sentado temblando por lo que acababa de hacer. Cuando despertó se dio cuenta de que algo tenía que valer, si había sido capaz de tirar el whisky. Era lo que necesitaba. Había experimentado que, incluso secuestrado, era libre.

50 motivos para rezar, video más visto en Youtube

2008-05-18T23:33:00.000-07:00

50 Motives to pray, Video most seen on Youtube.

IN ENGLISH The video "May feelings," has been made by university students in Madrid (Spain). This video is the most watched in May in its category in spanish, as can be seen here. It´s a good new that in a secularized society there are young people who explain the reasons to pray, in this case a prayer to the Virgin Mary, the Rosary.. There is also subtitled in English so you have millions of potential viewers.

El video de dos minutos “May feelings”, realizado por universitarias y universitarios de Madrid está siendo el vídeo más visto en el mes de mayo en su categoría, como puede comprobarse aquí. Que en una sociedad secularizada haya gente joven que expone motivos para rezar, en este caso una oración a la Virgen, el Rosario, es una noticia. El vídeo será mejorable, pero muy bueno por el fondo (explica las razones por las que reza un cristiano) y por la forma. Está subtitulado en inglés por lo que tiene millones de espectadores potenciales.

Aprovecha la crisis y aprende a ahorrar

2008-05-18T23:20:00.000-07:00

Conservo un recorte de la revista El Semanal, (16-02-1997). Son una serie de consejos para ahorrar (si alguien conserva el artículo donde aparecía y me dice en qué contexto estaban estos consejos, se lo agradezco). Lo guardé porque algunos me parecían un tanto exagerados y divertidos como éstos: “Organice una cena progresiva, cada plato en una casa”, “Si le gusta el teatro, trabaje de acomodador”, o “Venda la casa y vaya a vivir a una caravana”. Pero muchos otros están llenos de sensatez. Cuando provienes de una familia numerosa, muchos los has visto puestos en práctica, como el de “Póngase de acuerdo con familiares y amigos para no intercambiar regalos” No sé si mis padres se pusieron de acuerdo con parientes y amigos, pero no regalábamos cosas en Navidad o cumpleaños. Los Reyes venían para todos los hijos cada 6 de enero y en tu cumpleaños algo caía, pero no entrábamos con primos y amigos en la dinámica de los regalos mutuos. Y sin embargo sí nos regalábamos el tiempo, una versión de otro de los consejos “Recuerde que salir con una persona no cuesta dinero”. Todo más humano y más barato. Quizá se podrían añadir algunos relacionados con las nuevas tecnologías: envíe un e-mail, no cambie de móvil, etc. Una última consideración: el ahorro es compatible con la magnanimidad en los gastos que sean necesarios.

Aquí van los 100 consejos: 1. Salde la deuda de sus tarjetas de crédito. 2. Cancele todas menos una, para emergencias. 3. Pague todo en efectivo. 4. Cancele la hipoteca lo antes posible. 5. No llegue a números rojos en su cuenta bancaria. 6. No devuelva los cheques. 7. Elimine uno de los dos coches. 8. Vaya a pie. 9. Utilice el transporte público. 10. Lleve un registro del coche. 11. Aprenda a arreglar su coche. 12. Busque un mecánico de confianza. 13. Compare precios de los recambios. 14. Realice un mantenimiento regular. 15. Comparta el coche para ir a trabajar. 16. Trabaje en casa. 17. Viva cerca de su trabajo. 18. Trabaje cuatro días a la semana, diez horas al día. 19. Utilice la bicicleta. 20. Infórmese sobre el mejor seguro para su coche. 21. Arregle su viejo cacharro en vez de comprar uno nuevo. 22. Conduzca menos. 23. Apúntese a un seguro médico que desgrave. 24. Siga una dieta equilibrada. 25. Haga ejercicio. 26. Investigue qué clínica es más barata. 27. Mantenga una actitud adecuada. 28. Reduzca el estrés. 29. Deje de fumar. 30. Descanse bien. 31. Si lo necesita, baje de peso. 32. Alquile su casa de vacaciones si no la usa. 33. Alquile viviendas que no se anuncien en el mercado. 34. Pruebe a trabajar como cuidador. 35. Si lo tiene, alquile el espacio sobrante de su casa. 36. Pruebe a vivir en comunidad. 37. Múdese a una zona más barata. 38. Venda la casa y vaya a vivir a una caravana. 39. Compre un terreno e instale en él una caravana. 40. Haga usted mismo los arreglos de la casa. 41. Intercambie herramientas con sus vecinos. 42. Intercambie ropa con amigos de la misma talla. 43. Guarde la ropa vieja y sáquela un año después. 44. Intercambie servicios. 45. Comparta a la canguro de los niños 46. Lea libros de la Biblioteca 47. Comparta la suscripción de las revistas 48. Cuente a sus amigos y familiares lo que necesita. 49. Averigüe los precios del mercado. 50. Confeccione una lista de la compra y cíñase a ella. 51. Guarde los vales de descuento. 52. Mejor una compra grande que varias pequeñas. 53. Aproveche los productos de temporada. 54. Compare precios entre distintos establecimientos. 55. Compre a lo grande lo que utiliza con frecuencia. 56. Prepare los menús con anticipación. 57. Busque las ofertas. 58. Compre más cantidad cuando hay ofertas. 59. Si tiene huerto, trabájelo. 60. Improvise la cena con lo que tiene a mano. 61. Comprar al por mayor con amigos o vecinos 62. Sustituya la carne por legumbres o pasta una o dos veces por semana. 63. Compre a los productores en los mercadillos. 64. Conozca los mercados de la zona. 65. Lleve sus propias bolsas para hacer la compra. 66. No compre comida preparada. 67. Pase las vacaciones cerca de casa. 68. Compre billetes de avión con anticipación. 69. Aproveche los precios más bajos para viajar. 70. Sea su propio agente de viajes. 71. Vaya de acampada. 72. Trabaje como voluntario durante sus vacaciones. 73. Dé cenas con aportaciones de los invitados. 74. No prepare nada fuera de lo normal. 75. Invite sólo a postre y vídeo. 76. Organice una cena progresiva, cada plato en una casa. 77. Vaya al cine el día del espectador. 78. Si le gusta el teatro, trabaje de acomodador. 79. Saque de la biblioteca los discos, casetes y vídeos. 80. No salga a comer fuera porque sí. 81. Escriba cartas en lugar de hacer llamadas. 82. Recuerde que salir con una persona no cuesta dinero. 83. Procure que sus aficiones sean rentables. 84. Busque aficiones cercanas a su hogar. 85. Elija aficiones que no necesiten un equipo costoso. 86. Convierta su afición en un servicio. 87. No pague cuotas de gimnasios o clubes que sean caras. 88. Cambie el seguro del coche si encuentra otro más barato. 89. Revise su seguro de robo. 90. Haga lo mismo con su seguro de vida. 91. En vez de comprarlo todo, sea creativo en las fiestas de sus hijos. 92. Dé a los niños una asignación fija.93. Limite sus propios gastos y sus hijos le imitarán. 94. No compre todo lo que le piden los niños. 95. Medite bien la necesidad de darles estudios universitarios. 96. Limite el número de regalos de Navidad. 97. Cómprelos en mercadillos. 98. Preste un servicio en lugar de regalar algo. 99. Póngase de acuerdo con familiares y amigos para no intercambiar regalos. 100. Si es mañoso, hágalos usted mismo.

Como epílogo pongo un breve video australiano que refleja cómo los hijos aprenden de los padres lo que ven. Alguna escena es algo exagerada, pero en general es realista. Sólo hay un camino efectivo para enseñar a los hijos a ser sobrios en los gastos: que los padres den ejemplo.

IN ENGLISH: Seize the crisis to learn how to save. In a magazine of the yaer 1997 there weer some tips to save money. Some seemed to me exaggerated and funny: "You can organize a progressive dinner: each dish in a house", "If you like the theater, working opener," or "Sell the house and go to live in a caravan." But many others are full of wisdom. When you're a large family, many've seen implemented, such as "Coming to an agreement with family and friends not to exchange gifts" Perhaps could add some related to new technologies: send an e-mail, do not change mobile, and so on. A final consideration: the saving is compatible with magnanimity in the expenditure required. As a brief epilogue you can see an australian video reflecting how children learn from parents what they see. Any scene is somewhat exaggerated, but in general it is realistic. There is only one effective way to teach children to be sober in the cost: that parents set an example.

Jesus Whispers

2008-04-16T23:20:00.000-07:00

This is a great poem
In the dark, with no one around
Jesus whispers without making a sound
Patiently waiting in the silent air
My heart reaches out with a simple prayer
As I sit here at your side face to face
Make me like you by your loving grace

I know with confidence that your in the room
For you're watering my heart with love to make it bloom
Sitting, wondering, hoping, and praying
That my path be straight with little straying
Lord speak to me with your words
Tell me how to be one of your holy shepherds

"Be still and listen, my child, with attentive care
I formed you, I know you, and I hear your prayer
Come close to me; lay your head on my heart
The place where all the saints find their start
For from here is where my whispers shout
From a heart on the cross not clamor from the mouth."

"So wait in the dark, with no one around
I'll whisper to you with out making a sound
In the silence you should patiently wait
And I will bring you to the heavenly gate
Sit here with me, face to face
And I will make you like me, by my loving grace."

- Jacob (a seminarian in Italy)

2008-03-29T20:33:00.000-07:00

Hello friends! Tomorrow is the Second Sunday of Easter, and also known as Divine Mercy Sunday. It was a request of Our Lord to Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Poland, that the second Sunday after Easter be a memorial of the Lord’s infinite Divine Mercy. This has become a reality with the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, himself a native son of Poland, and is now a perpetual memorial in the Church, whereby we might reflect on the Lord’s infinite and loving Divine Mercy.

We are now in the days of Easter, the Octave of Easter culminating in this celebration of Divine Mercy. Saint Augustine of Hippo has proclaimed: "We are an Easter people, and Alleluia is our song." It is a time, this Easter, for great rejoicing. In our *remembering* the Lord’s resurrection, we make it a reality, just as in our *remembering* of the offering of Himself at the Last Supper, so His Body and Blood becomes a present reality. The Lord is risen as He promised, and so we cry out with full voice: "Alleluia!" Jesus’ resurrection, and also His passion and death, are immensely important to us as members of the Catholic faithful. They mean something powerful; they have implications for the way we live our lives. If we go through the faith and we miss its deeper meaning, we have done ourselves a grave injustice. For then we will have missed the entire point of why we are who we are! "We are an Easter people, and Alleluia is our song." Indeed, we cry out "Alleluia," for our redemption has been achieved in the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ the Lord, Christ the Merciful Savior, Christ the Faithful High Priest who intercedes for us with the Father.

Yes, this is a time for great rejoicing: our Lord has suffered and died, and now has entered into a life transformed; He has died, and now, through resurrection from the dead, He lives forever, never to die again. He has brought with Him the possibility of a great depth of mercy which is open to all who call upon His name and trust in Him as the Merciful Savior of humanity and the Redeemer of the whole world. It is this great abyss of Divine Mercy that lies open to us this day. It is an invitation into a life of grace and forgiveness of sins and into a world that brings about a flood of His mercy upon all souls who embrace Him as their Merciful Savior and the Lover of their souls.

What ought this Divine Mercy teach us? It should teach us that we can trust in God. Indeed, Jesus has taught us to pray: "Jesus, I trust in You!" God is not distant and aloof, but is very near to us, as near as our very breath. He therefore wants to be intimately involved in our life, and His will is for our good and the eternal salvation of our souls accomplished through mercy. I should teach us to embrace the Merciful Heart of the Savior of our souls, for He did not suffer and die and on the third day rise for nothing; no, but it has been accomplished for us, to bring us back to the God from whom we had wandered while we were still in our sins. It should teach us that the life of mercy is ours if we embrace His mercy; for if we embrace His mercy, it is so infinite and so unfathomable that we cannot possibly keep it to ourselves, but it must necessarily overflow into the lives of the people we meet and with whom we interact on a daily basis.
Are we a people of mercy? Has the mercy of God made us more merciful? Has it made us more patient, more willing to suffer to save those who do not know His mercy? Has it made us compassionate to the sufferings of others? Has it led us to see things differently, with eyes of mercy rather than eyes of judgment and condemnation? We pray that this may be so, for the greater glory of Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, our Merciful Savior.

Saint James in his epistle says, "So speak and so act as people who will be judged by the law of freedom. For the judgment is merciless to one who has not shown mercy; but mercy triumphs over judgment." (James 2:12-13). These are words we need to hear, and they are essentially the words of Our Lord to Saint Faustina, that people ought not come to Him as the Just Judge (though He is this) but rather as the Merciful Savior of souls. If we approach Him expecting judgment, judgment we will most likely receive. Though if we come to Him expecting mercy, since for the sake of mercy He died, He will then show us His mercy. Let us then come to Him expecting mercy. For His passion, death, and resurrection have merited mercy on our souls, such that the Father looks upon us through the wounds of His Son (as it has been related to me).
What will this Divine Mercy Sunday mean to you? Have you reflected on the Divine Mercy of Jesus Christ? Have you given Him praise and thanksgiving for the great gift of His mercy? Or has the resurrection happened, and you missed it? Have you shut your eyes to His plan of mercy for your life? Do you trust in Him as the Merciful Savior of your soul? He is waiting, especially this Divine Mercy Sunday. He is waiting you, a sinner, to come to Him, your Savior. This is why He has entered into His life of glory: to have mercy on you and invite you into the same life. Will you accept this unfathomable grace given to you by the King of Mercy? He is waiting. Now is the time to give Him your heart and your soul, your sins and your failings, your weakness and your doubts, your successes and virtues, your love and devotion, your whole life, death, and eternity. He is waiting. Now is the time to embrace Jesus Christ, the Lord of merciful love, the Merciful Savior you has loved you enough to die for you and desired your soul enough to rise from the dead. What will you do?

May each of you have a most blessed Divine Mercy Sunday, and come to love the Lord who has loved you with the whole depth of His merciful heart. May Almighty God’s abundant blessings be upon all of you who read this, through Jesus Christ, the Merciful Savior of our souls. Amen.

Happy Easter

2008-03-23T22:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter. Hope everyone had fun finding those eggs. My Easter was great, spent some time with family.

Today is the day Jesus resurected. It is a happy time.

Have a great Easter.

St. Patrick's Day

2008-03-17T20:53:00.000-07:00

SAINT PATRICK APOSTLE OF IRELAND—389-461

Feast: March 17

This is a pretty big story about St. Patrick. But if you want to know about him, read it.
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The field of St. Patrick's labors was the most remote part of the then known world. The seed he planted in faraway Ireland, which before his time was largely pagan, bore a rich harvest: whole colonies of saints and missionaries were to rise up after him to serve the Irish Church and to carry Christianity to other lands. Whether his birthplace, a village called Bannavem Taberniae, was near Dunbarton-on-the-Clyde, or in Cumberland, or at the mouth of the Severn, or even in Gaul near Boulogne, has never been determined, and indeed the matter is of no great moment. We know of a certainty that Patrick was of Romano-British origin, and born about the year 389. His father, Calpurnius, was a deacon, his grandfather a priest, for at this time no strict law of celibacy had been imposed on the Christian clergy. Patrick's own full name was probably Patricius Magonus Sucatus.

His brief gives us a few details of his early years. At the age of fifteen he committed some fault—what it was we are not told—which caused him much suffering for the rest of his life. At sixteen, he tells us, he still "knew not the true God." Since he was born into a Christian family, we may take this to mean that he gave little heed to religion or to the priests. That same year Patrick and some others were seized and carried off by sea raiders to become slaves among the inhabitants of Ireland. Formerly it was believed that his six years of captivity were spent near Ballymena in County Antrim, on the slopes of the mountain now called Slemish, but later opinion names Fochlad, or Focluth, on the coast of Mayo. If the latter view is correct, then Croachan Aigli or Croag Patrick, the scene of his prolonged fast, was also the mountain on which in his youth he lived alone with God, tending his master's herds of swine or cattle. Wherever it was, he tells us him self that "constantly I used to pray in the daytime. Love of God and His fear increased more and more, and my faith grew and my spirit was stirred up, so that in a single day I said as many as a hundred prayers and at night nearly as many, and I used to stay out in the woods and on the mountain. Before the dawn I used to wake up to prayer, in snow and frost and rain, nor was there any such lukewarmness in me as now I feel, because then my spirit was fervent within."

At length he heard a voice in his sleep bidding him to get back to freedom and the land of his birth. Thus prompted, he ran away from his master and traveled to a harbor where a ship was about to depart. The captain at first refused his request for passage, but after Patrick had silently prayed to God, the pagan sailors called him back, and with them he made an adventurous journey. They were three days at sea, and when they reached land they traveled for a month through an uninhabited tract of country, where food was scarce. Patrick writes:

"And one day the shipmaster said to me: 'How is this, O Christian? Thou sayest that thy God is great and almighty; wherefore then canst thou not pray for us, for we are in danger of starvation? Likely we shall never see a human being again.' Then I said plainly to them: 'Turn in good faith and with all your heart to the Lord my God, to whom nothing is impossible, that this day He may send you food for your journey, until ye be satisfied, for He has abundance everywhere.' And, by the help of God, so it came to pass. Lo, a herd of swine appeared in the way before our eyes, and they killed many of them. And in that place they remained two nights; and they were well refreshed and their dogs were sated, for many of them had fainted and been left half- dead by the way. After this they rendered hearty thanks to God, and I became honorable in their eyes; and from that day they had food in abundance."

At length they arrived at human habitations, whether in Britain or Gaul we do not know. When Patrick was again restored to his kinfolk, they gave him a warm welcome and urged him to stay. But he felt he must leave them. Although there is no certainty as to the order of events which followed, it seems likely that Patrick now spent many years in Gaul. Professor Bury, author of the well-known , thinks that the saint stayed for three years at the monastery of Lerins, on a small islet off the coast of modern Cannes, France, and that about fifteen years were passed at the monastery of Auxerre, where he was ordained. Patrick's later prestige and authority indicate that he was prepared for his task with great thoroughness.

We now come to Patrick's apostolate. At this time Pelagianism[1] was spreading among the weak and scattered Christian communities of Britain and Ireland, and Pope Celestine I had sent Bishop Palladius there to combat it. This missionary was killed among the Scots in North Britain, and Bishop Germanus of Auxerre recommended the appointment of Patrick to replace him. Patrick was consecrated in 432, and departed forthwith for Ireland. When we try to trace the course of his labors in the land of his former captivity, we are confused by the contradictory accounts of his biographers; all are marked by a great deal of vagueness as to geography and chronology. According to tradition, he landed at Inverdea, at the mouth of the river Vautry, and immediately proceeded northwards. One chronicler relates that when he was again in the vicinity of the place where he had been a herdboy, the master who had held him captive, on hearing of Patrick's return, set fire to his house and perished in the flames. There is historical basis for the tradition of Patrick's preliminary stay in Ulster, and his founding of a monastic center there. It was at this time that he set out to gain the support and favor of the powerful pagan King Laeghaire, who was holding court at Tara. The stories of Patrick's encounter with the king's Druid priests are probably an accretion of later years; we are told of trials of skill and strength in which the saint gained a great victory over his pagan opponents. The outcome was royal toleration for his preaching. The text of the Senchus More, the old Irish code of laws, though in its existing form it is of later date, mentions an understanding reached at Tara. Patrick was allowed to preach to the gathering, "and when they saw Laeghaire with his Druids overcome by the great signs and miracles wrought in the presence of the men of Erin, they bowed down in obedience to God and Patrick."

King Laeghaire seems not to have become a Christian, but his chief bard and his two daughters were converted, as was a brother, who, we are told, gave his estate to Patrick for the founding of a church. From this time on, Patrick's apostolate, though carried on amid hardships and often at great risk, was favored by many powerful chieftains. The Druids, by and large, opposed him, for they felt their own power and position threatened. They combined many functions; they were prophets, philosophers, and priests; they served as councilors of kings, as judges, and teachers; they knew the courses of the stars and the properties of plants. Now they began to realize that the religion they represented was doomed. Even before the Christian missionaries came in strength, a curious prophecy was current among them. It was written in one of their ancient texts: "Adze-head (a name that the shape of the monk's tonsure might suggest) will come, with his crook-headed staff and his house (the word chasuble means also a little house) holed for his head. He will chant impiety from the table in the east of his house. All his household shall answer: Amen, Amen. When, therefore, all these things come to pass, our kingdom, which is a heathen one, will not stand." As a matter of fact, the Druids continued to exist in Christian Ireland, though with a change of name and a limited scope of activity. They subjected Patrick to imprisonment many times, but he always managed to escape.

In 439 three bishops, Secundinus, Auxilius, and Iserninus, were sent from Gaul to assist Patrick. Benignus, an Irish chieftain who was converted by Patrick, became his favorite disciple, his coadjutor in the see of Armagh, and, finally, his successor. One of Patrick's legendary victories was his overthrow of the idol of Crom Cruach in Leitrim, where he forthwith built a church. He traveled again in Ulster, to preach and found monasteries, then in Leinster and Munster. These missionary caravans must have impressed the people, for they gave the appearance of an entire village in motion. The long line of chariots and carts drawn by oxen conveyed the appurtenances of Christian worship, as well as foodstuffs, equipment, tools, and weapons required by the band of helpers who accompanied the leader. There would be the priestly assistants, singers and musicians, the drivers, hunters, wood-cutters, carpenters, masons, cooks, horsemen, weavers and embroiderers, and many more. When the caravan stopped at a chosen site, the people gathered, converts were won, and before many months a chapel or church and its outlying structures would be built and furnished. Thus were created new outposts in the struggle against paganism. The journeys were often dangerous. Once, Odrhan, Patrick's charioteer, as if forewarned, asked leave to take the chief seat in the chariot himself, while Patrick held the reins; they had proceeded but a short way in this fashion when the loyal Odrhan was killed by a spear thrust meant for his master.

About the year 442, tradition tells us, Patrick went to Rome and met Pope Leo the Great, who, it seemed, took special interest in the Irish Church. The time had now come for a definite organization According to the annals of Ulster, the cathedral church of Armagh was founded as the primatial see of Ireland on Patrick's return. He brought back with him valuable relics. Latin was established as the language of the Irish Church. There is mention of a synod held by Patrick, probably at Armagh. The rules then adopted are still preserved, with, possibly, some later interpolations. It is believed that this synod was called near the close of Patrick's labors on earth. He was now undoubtedly in more or less broken health; such austerities and constant journeyings as his must have weakened the hardiest constitution. The story of his forty-day fast on Croagh Patrick and the privileges he won from God by his prayers is also associated with the end of his life. Tirechan tells it thus: "Patrick went forth to the summit of Mount Agli, and remained there for forty days and forty nights, and the birds were a trouble to him, and he could not see the face of the heavens, the earth, or the sea, on account of them; for God told all the saints of Erin, past, present, and future, to come to the mountain summit-that mountain which overlooks all others, and is higher than all the mountains of the West-to bless the tribes of Erin, so that Patrick might see the fruit of his labors, for all the choir of the saints came to visit him there, who was the father of them all."

In all the ancient biographies of this saint the marvelous is continuously present. Fortunately, we have three of Patrick's own writings, which help us to see the man himself. His is a brief autobiographical sketch; the , also known as , is a strange chant which we have reproduced in the following pages. is a denunciation of the British king of that name who had raided the Irish coast and killed a number of Christian converts as they were being baptized; Patrick urged the Christian subjects of this king to have no more dealings with him until he had made reparation for the outrage. In his writings Patrick shows his ardent human feelings and his intense love of God. What was most human in the saint, and at the same time most divine, comes out in this passage from his :

"It was not any grace in me, but God who conquereth in me, and He resisted them all, so that I came to the heathen of Ireland to preach the Gospel and to bear insults from unbelievers, to hear the reproach of my going abroad and to endure many persecutions even unto bonds, the while that I was surrendering my liberty as a man of free condition for the profit of others. And if I should be found worthy, I am ready to give even my life for His name's sake unfalteringly and gladly, and there (in Ireland) I desire to spend it until I die, if our Lord should grant it to me."

Patrick's marvelous harvest filled him with gratitude. During an apostolate of thirty years he is reported to have consecrated some 350 bishops, and was instrumental in bringing the faith to many thousands. He writes, "Wherefore those in Ireland who never had the knowledge of God, but until now only worshiped idols and abominations, from them has been lately prepared a people of the Lord, and they are called children of God. Sons and daughters of Scottish chieftains are seen becoming monks and virgins of Christ." Yet hostility and violence still existed, for he writes later, "Daily I expect either a violent death, or robbery and a return to slavery, or some other calamity." He adds, like the good Christian he was, "I have cast myself into the hands of Almighty God, for He rules everything."

Patrick died about 461, and was buried near the fortress of Saul, in the vicinity of the future cathedral town of Down. He was intensely spiritual, a magnetic personality with great gifts for action and organization. He brought Ireland into much closer contact with Europe, especially with the Holy See. The building up of the weak Christian communities which he found on arrival and planting the faith in new regions give him his place as the patron of Ireland. His feast day is one of festivity, and widely observed. Patrick's emblems are a serpent, demons, cross, shamrock, harp, and baptismal font. The story of his driving snakes from Ireland has no factual foundation, and the tale of the shamrock, as a symbol used to explain the Trinity, is an accretion of much later date.

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[2]

I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through a belief in the threeness, Through a confession of the oneness Of the Creator of Creation.

I arise today Through the strength of Christ's birth with His Baptism, Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial, Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension, Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of Doom.

I arise today Through the strength of the love of Cherubim, In obedience of angels, In the service of archangels, In hope of resurrection to meet with reward, In prayers of patriarchs In predictions of prophets, In preachings of apostles, In faiths of confessors, In innocence of holy virgins, In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today Through the strength of heaven: Light of sun Radiance of moon, Splendor of fire, Speed of lightning, Swiftness of wind, Depth of sea, Stability of earth, Firmness of rock.

I arise today Through God's strength to pilot me: God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to guide me, God's eye to look before me, God's ear to hear me, God's word to speak for me, God's hand to guard me, God's way to lie before me, God's shield to protect me, God's host to save me From snares of devils, From temptations of vices, From everyone who shall wish me ill, Afar and anear, Alone and in a multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and those evils, Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul, Against incantations of false prophets, Against black laws of pagandom, Against false laws of heretics, Against craft of idolatry, Against spells of women and smiths and wizards, Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.

Christ shield me today Against poison, against burning, Against drowning, against wounding, So that there may come to me abundance of reward, Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through a belief in the threeness, Through a confession of the oneness Of the Creator of Creation.

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Notes:

1 For Pelagianism, see above, , p. 106.

2 The Latin word means a breastplate. Chants like the above, almost in the form of incantations, or invocations of God and Christ, to protect the singer against the wiles of evil man, are not uncommon in early Irish literature.

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Saint Patrick, Apostle of Ireland. Celebration of Feast Day is March 17. Taken from "Lives of Saints", Published by John J. Crawley & Co., Inc.

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St. Pat/Pi Day

2008-03-14T23:13:00.000-07:00

Happy fake St. Patrick's day. Hope you had a fun time getting a dispensation from your priest to be able to eat beef today.

The date was changed because St. Patrick's day came during Holy Week this year. The next time this will happen again is in 2060. So have fun. Also happy pi day.

√-1 ♥ π. For all you math lovers out there.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

St. Valentine

2008-02-14T12:02:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines day!!!!

Hope everything goes well with everyone, and if not, well, you still have the rest of the year.

Have a great day.

I write this blog to tell you of the story of St. Valentine.

Valentine was a holy priest in Rome, who, with St. Marius and his family, assisted the martyrs in the persecution under Claudius II. hw was apprehended, and sent by the emperor to the prefect of Rome, who, on finding all his promises to make him renounce his faith in effectual, commended him to e beaten with clubs, and afterwards, to be beheaded, which was executed on February 14, about the year 270. To abolich the heathens lewd superstitious custom of bous drawing the names of girls, in honor of their goddess Februata Juno, on the fifteenth of this month, several zealous pastors substituted the names of saints in billets given on this day.

The Origin of St. Valentine

The origin of St. Valentine, and how many St. Valentines there were, remains a mystery. One opinion is that he was a Roman matyred for refusing to give up his Christian faith. Other historians hold that St. Valentine was a emple priest jailed for defiance during the reigh of Claudius. Whoever he was, Valentine really existed because archaeologists have unearthed a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to Saint Valentine. In 496 AD Pope Gelasius marked February 14th as a celebration in honor of his martyrdom.

The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in a The Nuremberg Chronicle, a great illustrated book printed in 1493. Alongside a woodcut portrait of him, text states that Valentinus was a Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius the Goth (Claudius II). Since he was caught marrying Christian couples and aiding any christians who were being pesecuted under Emperor Claudius in Rome (when helping was considered a crime), Valentinus was arrested and imprisoned. Claudius took a liking to this prisoner - until Valentinus made a strategic error: he tried to convert the Emperor - whereupon this priest was condemned to death. He was beaten with clubs and stoned; when that did not do it, he was beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate.

Saints are not supposed to rest in peace; they're expected to keep busy: to perform miracles, to intercede. Being in jail or dead is no excuse for non-performance of the supernatural. One legend says, while awaiting execution, Valentinus restored the sight of his jailer's blind daughter. Another legend says, on the eve of his death, he penned a farewell not to the jailer's daughter, signing it, "From your Valentine."

St. Valentine was a priest, martyred in 269 at Rome and was buried in the Flaminian Way. He is the Patron Saint of affianced couples, bee keepers, engaged couples, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, happy marriages, love, lovers, plague, travellers, young people. He is represented in pictures with birds and roses.

If you click on St. Valentine at the top there is a link of Sister Mary Martha's Blog about Saint Valentine.

Our Lady of Lourdes

2008-02-11T22:54:00.001-08:00

Today is the 150th anniversary of Our Lady of Lourdes. For those of you who do not know the story I recommend the movie of The Song of Bernadette. It is a really good story. Bernadette as a young girl sees Mary. She goes to visit her everyday near the city dump. Some people believe her, others do not. One day Our Lady tells her to drink from the spring on the ground. Only Bernadette could see the spring and people thought she was crazy. The next day a spring came out of the ground and for years people have gone on pilgrimages to get some of the water from the spring. The spring water has cured many people. Although not always can someone be cured by it. After a while the apparition was declared true. I do not know the whole story but here is the story of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Prayers & Devotions

Our Lady of Lourdes
Optional Memorial
February 11th

History of Our Lady of Lourdes

The Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in southern France is the most visited pilgrimage site in the world -- principally because of the apparent healing properties of the waters of the spring that appeared during the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to a poor, fourteen-year-old girl, Bernadette Soubiroux.

The first apparition occurred February 11, 1858. There were eighteen in all; the last took place July 16, of the same year. Bernadette often fell into an ecstasy during these apparitions, as was witnessed by the hundreds who attended the later visions, though no one except Bernadette ever saw or heard the apparition.The mysterious vision Bernadette saw in the hollow of the rock Massabielle, where she and friends had gone to gather firewood, was that of a young and beautiful lady. "Lovelier than I have ever seen" said the child. She described the Lady as clothed in white, with a blue ribbon sash and a Rosary handing from her right arm. Now and then the apparition spoke to Bernadette.

One day, the Lady told the girl to drink of a mysterious fountain within the grotto itself, the existence of which was unknown, and of which there was no sign. But Bernadette scratched at the ground, and a spring immediately bubbled up and soon gushed forth. On another occasion the apparition bade Bernadette go and tell the priests she wished a chapel to be built on the spot and processions to be made to the grotto. At first the clergy were incredulous. The priest said he would not believe it unless the apparition gave Bernadette her name. After another apparition, Bernadette reported that the Lady told her, "I am the Immaculate Conception". Though the girl was unfamiliar with the term, the Pope had declared the doctrine of the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary in 1854.

Four years after Bernadette's visions, in 1862, the bishop of the diocese declared the faithful "justified in believing the reality of the apparition" of Our Lady. A basilica was built upon the rock of Massabielle by M. Peyramale, the parish priest. In 1873 the great "national" French pilgrimages were inaugurated. Three years later the basilica was consecrated and the statue solemnly crowned. In 1883 the foundation stone of another church was laid, as the first was no longer large enough. It was built at the foot of the basilica and was consecrated in 1901 and called the Church of the Rosary. Pope Leo XIII authorized a special office and a Mass, in commemoration of the apparition, and in 1907 Pius X extended the observance of this feast to the entire Church; it is now observed on February 11.
(Various sources; principal source - Catholic Encyclopedia - 1913 edition)

Collect: God of mercy,we celebrate the feast of Mary, the sinless mother of God.May her prayers help us to rise above our human weakness.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. +Amen.

First Reading: Isaiah 66:10-14"Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her; that you may suck and be satisfied with her consoling breasts; that you may drink deeply with delight from the abundance of her glory."For thus says the Lord: "Behold, I will extend prosperity to her like a river, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall suck, you shall be carried upon her hip, and dandled upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice; your bones shall flourish like the grass; and it shall be known that the hand of the Lord is with His servants, and His indignation is against His enemies.

Gospel Reading: John 2:1-11On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with His disciples. When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "O woman, what have you to do with Me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever He tells you." Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast." So they took it. When the steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now." This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.

Litany of Our Lady Of Lourdes

Lord have mercy; Lord have mercy.
Christ have mercy; Christ have mercy.
Lord have mercy; Lord have mercy.
Christ hear us; Christ graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven; Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world; Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit; Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God; Have mercy on us.
Holy Mary; Pray for us.
Holy Mother of God; Pray for us.
Mother of Christ; Pray for us.
Mother of our Savior; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, help of Christians; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, source of love; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, mother of the poor; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, mother of the handicapped; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, mother of orphans; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, mother of all children; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, mother of all nations; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, mother of the Church; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, friend of the lonely; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, comforter of those who mourn; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, shelter of the homeless; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, guide of travelers; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, strength of the weak; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, refuge of sinners; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, comforter of the suffering; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, help of the dying; Pray for us.
Queen of heaven; Pray for us.Queen of peace; Pray for us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world; Spare us O Lord.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world; Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world; Have mercy on us.
Christ hear us; Christ graciously hear us.
Let us pray:
Grant us, your servants, we pray you, Lord God, to enjoy perpetual health of mind and body. By the glorious intercession of Blessed Mary ever Virgin, may we be delivered from present sorrows, and enjoy everlasting happiness. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Immaculate Mary - Lourdes Hymn

Immaculate Mary, thy praises we sing;Who reignest in splendor with Jesus our King:
Ave, ave, ava Maria.Ave, ave Maria.
In heaven the blessed thy glory proclaim;On earth, we, thy children, invoke your sweet name.
Ave, ave, ave Maria.Ave, ave Maria.
Thy name is our power, thy virtues our light,Thy love is our comfort, thy pleading our might.
Ave, ave, ave Maria.Ave, ave Maria.
We pray for our mother, the Church upon earth;And bless, Holy Mary, the land of our birth.
Ave, ave, ave Maria.Ave, ave Maria.

(Text - anonymous. Melody - Traditional French with refrain: Lourdes.)

Hernan Cortez and Our Lady

2007-12-02T16:09:00.000-08:00

Mark and Patti Armstrong

Hernándo Cortés and Our Lady..>

December 1, 2007

Hernando Cortés, Spanish conquistador, explorer and Catholic. The latter title is not one that comes readily to mind in today's politically correct atmosphere. Modern historians often portray him as a ruthless brute, annihilating the native people and plundering their treasures.

In reality, Cortés was a great soldier of the Church with a deep devotion to Mary. He landed on the shores of Mexico on Good Friday, April 22, 1519. Many schoolbook historians broad brush the past and attribute Cortés and his men with motives of greed for gold and glory. However, that view fails to reveal what this deeply religious soldier and leader viewed as his true mission upon landing on the shores of what then was truly an evil empire.

Because so much of the written history we rely on today is from an Anglo-Protestant perspective, Spain's role in bringing the Christian faith to the new world is minimized by many early historians. It is important to remember the deep essence of purpose Cortés and many of his soldiers held. Cortés and his men never entered into a march or a major battle without having their confessions heard and Mass said. Cortés carried blessed medals of both St. James the Apostle and Mary close to his heart. Many of the men also carried rosary beads with them.

Little did Cortés or his men realize, when they landed in 1519, what large a role Mary would play in birthing a New Spain.

The Landing

When Cortés and his soldiers first encountered the indigenous people of Mexico, some of the first Aztecs thought Cortés was the god, Quetzalcoatl. In ancient Mayan-Aztec mythology, Quetzalcoatl, ironically, was light-skinned with light-hair. Legend held that he had left their lands centuries before to the east but promised to return one day to reclaim his throne and bring back the knowledge of the "one true God" to his people. Cortés never claimed to be Quetzalcoatl but this legend held back the Aztec Emperor Montezuma II from sending warriors and immediately wiping out Cortés and his soldiers when they landed in 1519.

Upon landing, Cortés planted a cross on the eastern shores of what is now Vera Cruz (English translation: True Cross), Mexico. He had Father Olmedo say Mass for his men on the sandy shores. Then a delegation from Montezuma (who was deeply troubled that Cortés/Quetzalcoatl had come on ships described by his spies as "floating islands") welcomed him, gave him presents of silver and gold and promptly asked him to leave immediately. In the banquet prepared for Cortés and the soldiers on board his "floating islands", the Aztecs sprinkled dried human blood on the food, as a test for Cortés. For if he were indeed Quetzalcoatl, perhaps he would be pleased to taste human blood again. Cortés and his men reacted with utter disgust, spit the food from their mouths and ordered Montezuma's envoys off their ships.

The sprinkling of dried human blood was nothing compared to the horrors of what lie ahead over the next two years. The Aztecs practiced human sacrifice on a scale unimaginable to the Spanish. No one will ever know exactly how many men, women and even children were sacrificed across the lands ruled by the Aztecs and the other Mayan-tribes for centuries before that. The law of the Aztecs required a thousand to their god Huitzilopochtli, the god of death, sun and war, in every temple every year. Historians tell us there were 371 temples when Cortés arrived. There were other ritual sacrifices as well to other gods. One Mexican historian estimated that one out of five children were sacrificed. Sometimes entire tribes were exterminated by sacrifice.

Month after month, year after year, in temple after temple, sacrificial victims came down the long roads leading to the pyramids, climbed the steep steps to the top of the platforms, and were bent backwards over convex slabs of stones. An immense knife with a blade of midnight black volcanic glass rose and fell, gutting the victim open. His or her heart was torn out while still beating and held up for all to see, while the ravaged body was kicked over the edge of the temple where it bounced down the steps a hundred feet below. The Aztecs priests who performed these sacrifices then consumed the blood that was collected, especially enjoying the consumption of the victim's heart. Other body parts were saved for other rituals, the dried blood saved to garnish at special ceremonial meal times. It was a culture of blood, death and gore on a scale that was unimaginable to the Spaniards.

The Mission

Cortés and his men quickly realized the extent of the Satanic society they were up against. They knew their primary mission was to stop the evil practice of human sacrifice and bring souls into the Church. The gold and riches for the Spanish crown was secondary. Some of the soldiers were there for treasure to be sure. But throughout the next two years, it would not be gold or silver that would win the battles against the 25 million indigenous people that Montezuma ruled over. These Spanish soldiers knew that the true treasure to help them survive the battles to come would be the treasures of the Church: Jesus, Mary and the sacraments. Gold and silver was of little value in battle. When fighting for one's life, prayer was key.

Friar Diego de Landa writes in his book Yucatan, Before and After the Conquest in 1566, translated by William Gates: "(Cortés) preached to them the vanity of idols, and persuaded them to adore the cross; this he placed in their temples with an image of Our Lady..."
In fact when Cortés finally did reach Montezuma's capitol city of Tenochtitlan (today Mexico City), he boldly ordered that the top of one of the main human sacrificial pyramids be stripped of its evil idols, the human-blood stained walls be cleansed and that an image of Virgin Mary and a cross be erected in its place. Everywhere Cortés went, Mary and the cross were their companions. The soldiers wore the emblem of the cross on their steel helmets, on their breastplates and carried it on their banners. Mary was carried close to their hearts in medallions and by the recitations of rosaries. And when the Aztecs did capture Spanish soldiers throughout the campaign and drag them away, Cortés and his men knew they might become victims of the very practice they were determined to stop.

As the (Protestant) American historian William writes in his book, History of the Conquest of Mexico, originally published in 1843:

As the long file of (Aztec) priests reached the flat summit of the pyramid, the Spaniards saw the figures of several men stripped to their waists, some of whom, by the whiteness of their skin they recognized their own countrymen. They were going to be victims of sacrifice...what sensations the stupefied Spaniard must have gazing on this horrid spectacle, so near they could almost recognize the persons of their unfortunate friends, see the struggles and writhing of their bodies, their screams of agony.

Mary's Intervention

Human sacrifice as practiced by the Aztecs when Cortés landed, was on a scale we cannot imagine. Or can we? In Aztec society, in Mayan society before that and other American-indigenous societies some of the brightest, most educated, well-trained and respected leaders were standing atop those pyramids in Aztec-Mayan society carrying out the bloody deed of human sacrifice to satisfy the hunger of their evil gods. Today some of our brightest, best educated and well-trained and respected leaders have convinced people in our society that it is a basic human right to sacrifice an innocent child in a Mother's womb. And instead of throwing that baby down the steps of a pyramid for everyone to see, it is quietly taken out with the trash. Satan still desires death. Our society today has passed laws to give him want he wants; convincing many that slaughtering their most innocent citizens in their mother's wombs is a basic human right.

Cortés conquered Aztec society in a bloody conflict. He immediately sought peace afterwards, opening the doors for his Spanish missionaries to convert the millions to the Catholic faith. Language and cultural barriers threatened the peace almost immediately after the battles ended. It took Mary's sudden appearance to St. Juan Diego and her self-portrait left on Diego's tilma (cloak) to convert people en-masse to the Church. Nine million Aztecs asked to be baptized by 1540 and tens of millions more were added within twenty years.

An incredible list of miracles, cures and interventions are attributed to Mary because of this image. Yearly, an estimated 20 million visit her Basilica, making her Mexico City home the most popular Marian shrine in the world, and the most visited Catholic Church in the world next to the Vatican. In all, twenty-five popes have officially honored Our Lady of Guadalupe. His Holiness, the late John Paul II, visited her sanctuary four times: on his first apostolic trip outside Rome as pope in 1979, and again in 1990, 1999 and 2002.

If we want the evil of abortion to end, let us be reminded of how a great devotion to our Blessed Mother has brought down evil societies, transformed peoples' hearts and led nations back to the Church. We always find in Mary the perfect mediator of God's grace to mankind. Nearly 500 years ago, she was there for Hernando Cortés, his soldiers and St. Juan Diego and his people. Surely Our Blessed Mother will help us again if we call upon her intercession.

Cortés died in Spain, 460 years ago on December 2, 1547 at the age of 62 on his way back to Mexico. The historian Bernal Diaz tells us he was still wearing medallions of St. James the Apostle and the Blessed Mother when he passed onto eternity.

URL: http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/67735

Notorious Atheist Discovers God

2007-11-07T13:20:00.000-08:00

'Notorious' atheist discovers God

ReligionAndSpirituality.com

November 2, 2007 Philosopher Antony Flew published a new book, "There Is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind," to explain his switch from one of the world's leading exponents of materialist Darwinian philosophy to belief in the existence of a personal deity who created the universe. Flew, an Oxford educated philosopher described by some as "legendary," was a leading proponent of the pure atheistic Darwinian doctrines that categorically reject any possibility of a creative divine being. His ideas paved the way for thinkers like Richard Dawkins, the UK's most virulent opponent of religious belief, LifeSiteNews reported Friday.

"It was empirical evidence" that changed his mind, he told an inverviewer, "the evidence uncovered by the sciences. He told Dr. Benjamin Wiker two factors in particular "were decisive."

"One was my growing empathy with the insight of Einstein and other noted scientists that there had to be an Intelligence behind the integrated complexity of the physical Universe. The second was my own insight that the integrated complexity of life itself - which is far more complex than the physical Universe - can only be explained in terms of an Intelligent Source."

Flew described the deity he believes in as "the god of Aristotle," not quite the personal God of Christianity and Judaism, "a person but not the sort of person with whom you can have a talk. It is the ultimate being, the Creator of the Universe." He said he does not "accept any claim of divine revelation" but is continuing to study them, particularly those of Christianity.

URL:
http://www.religionandspirituality.com/currentEvents/view.php?StoryID=20071102-041755-2904r

The Catholic Church And All Things Spooky

2007-11-07T13:08:00.000-08:00

By Random Jottings

The Catholic Church and all things spooky

PHEW … with Halloween—the season of ghosts, evil spirits and all things paranormal (and we are not talking politics here!)—over and done with for another year it was at least comforting to know that the Catholic Church in the Philippines has an official exorcist.

He is Fr. Jose Francisco Syquia (son of well-known charity worker Letty Syquia) who carries the not so spooky official title of director of the Archdiocese of Manila Office of Exorcism. And with excellent literary timing he has just released a new edition of an informative book he has written that answers age old questions such as: Do ghosts really exist? Are there haunted houses? Is it true that you can be possessed by demons?

These and a lot more questions about the spirits are answered in Father Syquia's book Exorcism: Encounters with the Paranormal and the Occult which is published by Shepherd's Voice Publications Inc. (available at National Book Store branches).

As the main man of the Catholic Church on such scary matters, Father Syquia has performed countless exorcism rites, showing how the power of God can drive away evil spirits.
Father Syquia asserts he wrote the book because in the Philippines, there is a growing fascination for the paranormal and a hunger for answers and resolutions to demonic harassment. He says: "There seems to be no end to the supply of paranormal accounts since we as a nation have always had a certain religiosity that opens us up to interaction with the spirit world."
He adds: "Since prevention is always much easier than the cure, I hope through this work to warn Catholics about the different ways that they may get involved with demonic forces."
Father Syquia explores the world of the paranormal and the occult, particularly the realm of extraordinary demonic activity. This is to help people know how to properly view and confront the evil spirits through the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Father Syquia quotes Pope John Paul II who said during a visit to the Sanctuary of Saint Michael the Archangel in 1987: "The battle against the devil, which is the principal task of Saint Michael the archangel, is still being fought today, because the devil is still alive and active in the world."

"When demonic activity is not so grave," Father Syquia says, "one can by himself find resolution through the different spiritual weapons that God has given the Church to destroy the works of Satan."

He adds: "One must keep in mind that the devil is afraid of the Christian who knows his identity as a precious child of the all-powerful God and knows also how to use the many spiritual weapons of the Church."

The book also gives other priests, who do not have time to do their own research, the principles and guidelines that can aid them when they come face to face with extraordinary demonic activity in their ministry.

Included in this gripping book of stories is the Exorcism Rite—the main weapon of the Catholic Church against demonic assaults, a concise manual of prayers for deliverance, as well as a handbook for dealing with infested locales.

Father Syquia points out that exorcism and deliverance fall under the Ministry to the Sick. He explains: "This entails a program that encompasses not merely diagnostic procedures and the exorcism/deliverance itself, but must also include follow-ups and evaluations."
He emphasizes that the whole thrust of the ministry is for the patient to grow in holiness by bringing him to an intimate relationship with Jesus. He says this may entail exorcism prayers, guidance and counseling, evangelization of the patient and his family, introduction to a community where the patient can find support and regular evaluation of progress in both his spiritual life and liberation.

Father Syquia discusses in detail requirements for the preparation for the exorcism/ deliverance team, preparation for the victim, reminders during the exorcism/deliverance sessions, what to do when liberation is not yet attained, and what to do after liberation.
According to Bo Sanchez, chairman of SVP (popularly known as the Preacher in Blue Jeans) this book will change the way you view the world. "In the end," says Sanchez, "Father Jocis' mind-blowing stories will not make you fear the devil as much as they will make you love God more."

rjottings@yahoo.com

URL: http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/nov/05/yehey/opinion/20071105opi3.html

Exorcist Fascinates Audience With Demonic Details

2007-11-07T13:04:00.000-08:00

Exorcist fascinates audience with demonic details

By Nancy Menefee Jackson
The Catholic Review

Audience members at Church of the Annunciation, Rosedale, were so intently focused on Father Thomas J. Euteneuer's exorcism talk Oct. 21, that when someone in the crowd muffled a sneeze – they flinched.

About 130 people attended "An Evening with an Exorcist," listening carefully as Father Euteneuer talked about how demons target their victims and how an exorcism takes place.

Father Euteneuer, a priest for the Palm Beach, Fla., diocese who is living in the Archdiocese of Arlington, Va., said he's been involved in exorcisms for nearly five years and has performed three or four that expelled demons as well as several deliverances, which use prayer teams for people who aren't fully possessed.

The priest, who heads the pro-life organization Human Life International, said he is investigating three current cases of possession.

"The church does not have a magic wand they wave … exorcism and its deliverance from evil is a process," he said.

Demons tempt and persecute people, he said, but if they get inside the person, that's obsession; when the devil has complete control over the person, that's possession. "If you live in a state of grace, you have no problem with the devil getting in you," Father Euteneuer said. "I don't want people to think because the devil is so powerful there's a demon around every corner."

But people unwittingly invite a demon in, through an Ouija board, a séance or "New Age stuff," he said, adding, "if you live a life of totally unrepentant mortal sin for a length of time, that's an invitation." People who are victimized can be targeted because of their vulnerability, and demons also prey on people not in a state of grace who have contact with someone practicing the occult.

Sometimes God allows the possession, and he cited an example of an exorcism in Germany that ultimately increased faith and spirituality there.

Before an exorcism is considered, doctors must rule out physical causes or mental illness. He detailed the case of an 18-year-old who initially was diagnosed with schizophrenia, but no drug could stabilize him, and when asked to read the Bible, he read it in a language that he didn't speak.

Speaking a language the person doesn't know is a classic sign of possession; others include knowledge of things or events they couldn't possibly know, being told what to do by beings and a failure to respond to all forms of medical treatment.

If an exorcism is warranted, it must be approved by the bishop; Father Euteneuer estimated only about 5 percent of all cases investigated are strictly demonic possession. The question-and-answer period lasted as long as the lecture, with participants asking everything from has anyone ever died during an exorcism to what Father Euteneuer thought of Harry Potter to why isn't the Eucharist used on the possessed person during an exorcism.

One woman, dressed from head to toe in black, with pronounced black eyeliner and black fingernails, identified herself as a paranormal researcher and began to ask about demons growling. But Father Euteneuer cut off her questions.

"Let me encourage you to stop doing this – this kind of fascination is not normal," he told her. When she tried to continue, he said, "I reiterate my request that you get out of this completely because this can seduce you."

When the event, sponsored by Friends in Faith, concluded, the audience still had so many questions that Father Euteneuer continued to answer them while everyone enjoyed light refreshments.

"I've never seen a captive audience stay more than two hours – the installation of our new archbishop went on for two hours flat," said Annunciation pastor Father William P. Foley.

"It spooks you a little bit but it reinforces some of the notions you have," said Matthew Marshall of St. Thomas Aquinas, Hampden, who is participating in 40 Days for Life. "It's an awareness-raiser."

"I found it very interesting – it's certainly informative," said Jennifer Schmidt of St. Casimir, Canton, who came because she'd recently read a book on exorcism. "He's a very good speaker."

URL: http://www.catholicreview.org/subpages/storyworldnew.aspx?action=2076

Chastity Question

2007-11-07T13:03:00.000-08:00

QUESTION:Can God forgive you if you've had premarital sex?

ANSWER:Yes. The Bible says, "To the penitent he provides a way back, he encourages those who are losing hope! . . . Turn again to the Most High and away from sin" (Sir. 17:19-21). If we repent he will forgive any sin, including premarital sex. In the Gospel of John, a crowd wanted to kill a woman who was caught in sexual sin. Jesus sent the people away to think about their own sins. When they left, he asked, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She answered, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again" (John 8: 1-11). Over and over, the Scriptures say the exact same thing. Psalm 103:12 reads, "As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us." Lamentations 3:23 states, "Every morning his mercies are new."i God holds no grudges and doesn't look down on us because of the past. On the contrary, he says, "I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you. . . . I will not remember your sins" (Is. 44:22; 43:25).The history of the Church tells the same story. Many saints and heroes of the faith led immoral lives or committed grave sins before repenting and leading lives of exemplary holiness, including King David, Mary Magdalene, St. Paul, and St. Augustine. The sins these saints repented of include premarital sex, adultery, and even murder. Just as God forgave them, he can and will forgive us, if we're willing to do what they did: Repent and amend our ways. Come to him in prayer. He won't be thinking, "Oh, here comes that kid who did all of that stuff at that party." Instead, he is thinking the same thing he was thinking thousands of years ago: "I have called you by name, you are mine. . . . I have carved your name onto the palm of my hand" (Is. 43:1; 49:16 NAB). The greatest sin you have ever committed is like a grain of sand next to the mountain of his mercies.Jesus instituted the sacrament of reconciliation to bring the gift of his forgiveness to us. After he rose from the dead, he came to the apostles, greeted them; and then breathed on them. The only other place in the Bible where God breathes on anyone is at the moment of creation. So we know something big is happening here. Jesus then said, "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:21-23).For two thousand years, the Church has made this healing gift from Jesus available to us, so that we can hear the consoling words of absolution: "God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church, may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." Come to the great sacrament of reconciliation, and receive the gift of God's forgiveness.

URL: http://www.catholic.com/chastity/q8.asp

The Reality of the Devil

2007-11-07T13:01:00.000-08:00

The Reality of the Devil

BY Father Andrew McNair, LC

October 28 - November 3, 2007 Issue Posted 10/23/07 at 11:18 AM

The new millennium marks for many teens and young adults a renewed interest in spirituality.
What type of spirituality? Christian? No. Islamic? No. How about an Eastern spirituality like Taoism? Wrong again.

Try Satanism.

That's right. The occult movement of Satanism ranks number one among teens and young adults as their preferred spirituality.

We could dismiss the ascendancy of Satanism in the United States as a fad of the young; something they will grow out of with time. In others words, it's nothing to worry about.
In my judgment, that's the wrong approach to the spiritual and cultural phenomenon of Satanism. People need to understand that Satanic spirituality leaves deep spiritual and psychological scars on its victims. Christians should know how to recognize and combat satanic spirituality. Where do we begin?

Let's begin by reaffirming a basic truth: Satan exists. His demonic minions exist. Scripture and Tradition depict Satan as the supreme evil leader of the fallen angels who seek to disrupt God's plan of salvation for humanity.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church points out: "Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God, which makes them fall into death out of envy. Scripture and the Church's Tradition see in this being a fallen angel, called 'Satan' or the 'devil.'" The Church teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: "The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing" (No. 391).

St. Peter the Apostle warns us, "Keep sober and alert, because your enemy the devil is on the prowl like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour."

Yet despite warnings from Scripture and Tradition about the lure of Satanism, teens and young adults see involvement in Satanic occultism as an acceptable cultural and social option. Why?
Satanic occultism wears the deceptive guise of white magic.

White magic employs the use of occult powers to do good. Black magic, on the other hand, uses occult powers to do evil. The entertainment industry cleverly hammers the notion of white magic in inattentive minds.

Take for example, CBS popular TV program, "Ghost Whisperer." The show tells the story of an attractive young woman that chats with the dead. She uses her occult powers to help the dead finish pending matters with family and friends in this life before helping them cross over to the other side. Viewers can't help but think this a wonderful way to help others. But is it really?
Another very popular CBS TV program called "Moonlight" throws a positive spin on the occult. In this program, a tall imposing vampire works as a private detective to make amends for past crimes he committed as a vampire. He no longer sucks blood from the necks of the innocent. He now keeps a stock of fresh blood in his fridge to quench his thirst. How consoling.

On the literary front, we find an entire plethora of books, magazines and columns that speak highly of the occult. For the last few years, the No. 1 best-selling novel in the United States and abroad narrates a story about a young boy wizard that uses white magic to duel the most powerful and evil wizard ever known.

Millions of youth, worldwide, look up to this courageous wizard as a perfect role model. Can a sorcerer or warlock be a role model?

The overall message of the white magic argument is clear: Magic is not bad in itself. It depends, like many things, on how you use it. In view of this assertion, white magic wins approval and respectability in the minds of many. Here, we need to make an important moral clarification.
The difference often made between white magic and black magic is woefully erroneous. The goodness or badness of an act of witchcraft or magic is not determined by the purpose of its use. Its moral quality comes from its origin.

The origin of all occult powers is the demonic realm. Consequently, all magic involving the use of occult powers is intrinsically evil. The Catechism of the Catholic Church makes this point abundantly clear:

"All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one's service and have a supernatural power over others — even if this were for the sake of restoring their health — are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons" (No. 2116).

The best defense against the lure of Satanic influence is an intense life of grace. In the words of St. Paul, the Church invites us to "Put on the full armor of God so as to be able to resist the devil's tactics."

This will permit us to utter effectively the powerful words of Christ in the hour of temptation, "Get thee behind me, Satan!"

Legionary Father Andrew McNair is a theology professor
at Mater Ecclesiae College in Greenville, Rhode Island.

URL: http://ncregister.com/site/article/6408/

The Holy Rosary A Weapon?

2007-11-07T13:00:00.000-08:00

The Rosary and the Republic

The Holy Rosary a weapon? Yes, a weapon! We are fighting a battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Brother Andre Marie

You may not have noticed it, but next year is an election year.

For a moment, though, we would do well to look beyond electioneering to the true hope of the Republic. This is not to dismiss politics — the way society is governed — as something of no account or something too worldly for the faithful to concern ourselves with, for neither is the case. It is, rather, to explore how the supernatural can leaven politics in order to make it Christian.

In the "Act of Dedication of the Human Race," we pray for the "ordered tranquility" of all nations. This is a prayer for nothing less than peace brought about by a Christian polity, something that seems at least unlikely in our present circumstances. No matter how unlikely it may seem, I would like to propose that a powerful means of securing this great good for our country is the spiritual weapon of the Holy Rosary.

The Holy Rosary a weapon? Yes, a weapon! We are fighting a battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. "Our wrestling," St. Paul reminds us, is "against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places" (Eph. 6:12). In short, we need the big guns — and the Rosary is one of the biggest, as history testifies.

Our Lady of Victories

The military victories at Lepanto (1571), La Rochelle (1627), and Vienna (1683) come to mind as great campaigns won through the intercessory power of Our Lady's Rosary. More recently, Our Lady saved Austria from Soviet enslavement after World War II. A priest named Father Petrus Vavlochek organized a Rosary procession led by Federal Chancellor Figl, who carried a Rosary in one hand and a candle in the other. In addition, more than 700,000 Austrians pledged to pray the daily Rosary as requested by Our Lady of Fatima. The result? On May 13, 1955, the anniversary of Our Lady's first Fatima apparition, the Soviets agreed to Austria's independence. They withdrew from the country altogether the following October, the month of the Holy Rosary and the anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun.

In Brazil, the Communist regime of President Goulart came to an end when the Catholic women of that nation saw to it that 600,000 people marched through São Paolo praying the Rosary and singing hymns. Realizing that a Communist revolution was impossible in Brazil, Goulart fled the country.

Accounts like this are manifold. Mary's loving response to her children's prayers through the Holy Rosary is not merely a thing of history, though. A dear and learned teacher of mine often says of God's Providence, "it is not something to be studied in a book; we study it in our own lives!" The same is true of the Blessed Virgin's power of intercession, which is coterminus with God's Providence.

The Hungarian confessor of the Faith, Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty, had this to say of what we can expect from the Rosary: "Give me a million families with Rosaries in their hands, uplifted to Mary. They will be a military power, not against other people, but for all mankind.... Let us, therefore, take the Rosary from family to family. With it in our hands, we shall conquer ourselves, convert sinners, do penance for our country, and will certainly move the merciful, mild, and benevolent Heart of Mary."

And can we not move her maternal Heart to the conversion of our own Republic?

Fatima

The Fatima message urges us to pray the Rosary daily for peace. We should point out that "peace" is not simply an absence of war, but "the tranquility of order," something far higher. (It is the very thing we pray for in the above mentioned Act of Dedication.") Only the Faith and the virtues that accompany it (especially infused justice and charity) can give a nation order. It is, therefore, fitting that the Fatima message speaks of both peace and the conversion of Russia. As unconverted Russia was the fomenter of war, so her conversion will be a harbinger of peace. The revival of the Cold War and Russia's growing militarism should catch our attention. In 1957, Sister Lucy said, "Russia will be the instrument of chastisement chosen by Heaven to punish the whole world if we do not beforehand obtain the conversion of that poor nation."

Russia is not yet converted.

Padre Pio

Our Lady promised that Russia would convert, but what of our America? Without any apology, I will use Saint Pio of Pietrelcina as an authentic commentator on the Fatima message. The prophetical friar was doubtless possessed of more than an earthly sagacity when he uttered this: "The Russian people will be converted. Their total conversion will happen very fast. The conversion of the United States will be slow, but sure" (Padre Pio: The True Story, by C. Bernard Ruffin, p. 264). On another occasion, the stigmatist said, "Russia will be converted, as the Blessed Virgin said she would. However, Russia will teach the United States a lesson in conversion" (ibid., p. 266, emphasis mine in both passages). If I read these passages correctly, it seems evident that Russia's Fatima-promised, prodigious conversion will herald that of the U.S.

Recall that Our Lady called herself by one title only at Fatima: "I am Our Lady of the Rosary." In light of the above, that should tell us something of the role of the Rosary in the conversion of both Russia and the U.S. to Christ the King.

Let the Campaign Begin

This past October 13, the TFP organized over 2,000 Rosary Rallies to honor Our Lady on the ninetieth anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun. An impressive showing for a special occasion. But why stop at that? We can take advantage of the forward momentum. As the month of the Holy Rosary draws to a close, we should not sheath this spiritual weapon Heaven has placed in our hands. As confirmed soldiers of Christ, we should brandish it about a bit more — unto a complete victory — a Catholic America. Regular Rosary rallies or Rosary processions are simple to organize (click the links to see how simple). They are also a powerful witness to our Faith, our love of the Blessed Virgin, and our desire to save our Republic. Priests, religious, and laity; children, teens, and the elderly — all can participate in a prayerful enthusiasm for a cause both Catholic and patriotic.

How different the world would be if the American superpower were under the sweet yoke of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King!

URL: http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=11658

The Great Mystery of Marriage

2007-10-13T22:12:00.000-07:00

Kenneth Henderson

The Great Mystery of Marriage

October 12, 2007

Possibly one of the most beautiful gifts that God has given to humanity is the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. Sadly, it is also the most attacked and profaned by Satan. Many people have very little understanding of just how important and holy the gift of marriage is. This can explain why many do not see the importance of saving the gift of sexuality for after they are married, why so many marriages end in divorce and why there is an increased push for homosexual unions. At the root of this problem is a lack of understanding of just what a sacrament is.

A sacrament is a sign instituted by Christ to convey grace. The Church teaches us that the sacraments are the most profound way that God administers His grace to us, His children. The sacraments are His most direct and significant means of healing our brokenness. It is through the sacraments that we, His children can come in direct contact with the living God. Ultimately it is the way that God makes Himself visible, physically present to us.

Through Baptism we receive the "initial cleansing" that washes away the stain of Original Sin, making us a new creation in Christ. Confirmation further equips and strengthens us with grace to be His disciples, to be warriors on the battlefield. The Eucharist, the most important of all the sacraments, is for us our "daily bread" — food for our daily needs — by which we receive Jesus in the most profound and real way we can, in His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. The Eucharist is the very flesh He gave for the salvation of the World, our salvation. Confession allows us to receive the continued cleansing of our souls and the need we have for further healing.

Because of the effect of Original Sin on our lives, we have a tendency to fall into sin. This tendency, called concupiscence, is what pulls us toward sin. By humbling ourselves in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we allow God to reach into our souls and heal us as individuals. The more humble and truthful we are with God, the more He can mend the brokenness of our souls.

The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, also known as Extreme Unction, strengthens us during times of illness and, if called, prepares us for the journey at the time of our deaths to be received by God into His heavenly kingdom.

The Church teaches us that marriage is more than just two people living together who share common likes or because of convenience. It is a sacramental covenant that bonds two people together in an indissoluble union by which the couple makes God present in their marriage. It is the only sacrament that is not administered by a priest. The priest is present at the wedding to witness the validity of the marriage. But the sacrament itself is administered by the husband and wife to each other. The sacrament begins at the moment they commit themselves in marriage with the exchange of vows to freely, faithfully and fruitfully love each other. But the sacrament is perfected when they consummate the marriage in the marital embrace. It is in the sexual union that the couple makes manifest the sacrament and shares in the divine grace that God wishes to give them as man and wife. The vows said with their mouths at the altar are perfected and renewed through their bodies each and every time in the conjugal act.

It is important to understand that the union must be open to life, open to the gift of children, for the marriage to be valid. This is why contraception is a direct contradiction to the very openness to life that must be present in a valid marriage. Without this openness, we block the grace that God wishes to give to marriage. This is also why two men or two women can never be married, because for a marriage to be valid in the eyes of God, the sexual union must potentially be fruitful — something that can never happen in homosexual unions.

In scripture, God gives us His intended plan for marriage and the beauty of sexuality. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul tells us of God's intention for marriage:

'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the church (Eph 5:21-32).

In the original Greek the word for "mystery" here means sacrament. The great mystery or sacrament of marriage is meant to reflect the love that Christ has for His people, the Church. Christ loves His people completely without holding anything back. His love is freely given, fruitful, and faithful. A marriage is to reflect Christ's love for the Church. This is why divorce is impossible for a valid marriage because the bond between man and wife has made them one flesh. To divorce is to profane and destroy what God has joined together.

Because of the great significance this sacrament has on the family itself, it has probably received the greatest attacks from Satan. As it is Satan's desire to destroy all of humanity, he knows that to attack the Sacrament of Marriage is to destroy families at their very core. Possibly the most significant attack that he has made is profaning and devaluing the gift of sexuality. Premarital sex is a significant problem and this is promoted by the mainstreaming of the mindset of the pornographic subculture. "Hooking up," a term used on college campuses to describe uncommitted sexual relationships, is common among young adults. To many, using another's body for their own selfish pleasure is just something to do for recreation.

Pride and selfishness are the key factors that Satan has used to lure man and woman away from God's intended purpose for life:

The Serpent said to the woman, "Did God say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden? ...You shall not die, For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil' (Gen 3:1-5).

The result was the Original Sin and with it came the corruption of love and marriage, distorting the original intent of marital love into lust. Lust is the desire to use another for ones own selfish pleasure, while love is to will the greater good of another. Love and lust are directly opposed to one another.

Satan's attack on the Sacrament of Marriage through the corruption of the sexual union is intended to prevent us from gaining the very grace that is given by God to help us throughout our married lives as man and wife. Indeed it is the very grace we need to help us succeed in marriage.

When men seek out selfish pleasures — "It's all about me and my pleasure. If you love me you will fulfill my sexual needs" — they will often turn to pornography, masturbation or even adultery. Their corrupted intellects see women primarily as objects to be used for sexual pleasure, a mindset that is all too often carried into marriage. With the Internet, pornography is much more accessible and is often used as an easy escape for many men. Yet, Jesus tells us in the gospel of Matthew, "You have heard it said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Mt 5:27-28). When men view pornography, they are committing adultery in their hearts.

Satan convinces women that men only want to use them for sex. If they are not getting their emotional needs met, if they are not feeling loved or understood by their husbands, they withdraw because they do not wish to be used. They may withhold sex as a bargaining chip or give into having sex with a man, even if they are being used in order to "feel" loved. Men will use love to get sex, while women will use sex to get love. Lust is the root cause of many of the problems we see in marriages today. Lust destroys marriages by destroying trust between the husband and wife. We must have trust to be vulnerable. We need to be vulnerable in marriage for marriage to succeed. Ultimately we need to trust God's intended plan for marriage for marriage:

Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her (Eph 5:21, 24-25).

Couples must be subject to one another "out of reverence for Christ." Without this kind of trust, we cannot experience the kind of joy that God intended for marriage. Without wives giving themselves completely to their husbands, and without husbands loving their wives with the giving of their very lives, marriage will not work. Men must be trustworthy in order for their wives to be open and vulnerable. This level of trust in marriage can only be accomplished by allowing the grace of God to transform us and transform our marriages, to open our hearts completely to God and Trust Him with everything. In order to love as God loves us, we need to have the love of God in our hearts. We cannot give what we do not have.

Jesus performed his first public miracle at a wedding. This shows us the great significance that God places on marriage. The Catechism tells us that "Without [Christ's] help man and woman cannot achieve the union of their lives for which God created them 'in the beginning'" (CCC, n. 1608). This is the very reason that God gave us the sacraments, to help restore that which was lost in Original Sin. Christ came to restore the superabundance of grace that He intended for every holy sacramental marriage. We are to see each other as a gift to one another — to be given freely and not taken. We are to see in our spouses the image of God, as we are all created in the image of God. We need to give ourselves completely to God, entrust Him with our marriage, our family, indeed our very lives, to experience the great gift that He wants to give all of us.

URL: http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/66511

The Mass Series Part 5

2007-10-12T17:07:00.000-07:00

The Mass series - Part V: The miracle of the Eucharist: 'My flesh is true food'
By Father Tom Margevicius

The following is the fifth part in a seven-part series.

Now that the bread and wine - the fruit of our lives - are at a dignified place on the altar, the assembly stands and begins a dialogue with the priest that's difficult to translate:

"The Lord be with you."

"And also with you" (literally, "and with your spirit").

So far, so good. "Sursum corda," the Latin says next. This has no verb and means literally, "upward hearts." Is the priest telling the people to "lift up your hearts," as our missal has it, or is he saying hearts are already there? Or both? The Latin is ambiguous, and has always been way back to at least A.D. 200.

Language of prayer

I mention the ambiguity for two reasons.

First, you may have heard that a new translation of the Mass is in the works, which might be finished by the end of 2009. It will be closer to the original Latin than the current missal.

You may wonder, "What's taking so long? How hard is it for experts to do a translation?" Well, harder than it seems. Our present text has been criticized because the translation was done too hastily in the 1960s and the changes happened too rapidly. The U.S. bishops don't want to repeat that haste.

Secondly, a theological point: Liturgy is multivalent, meaning it can be understood in many ways. Prayer is ultimately the language of lovers - us and God - and how does one pin down love?

I ask my students, "What's the meaning of a kiss?" It depends on who does it, to whom, when, how, etc. The symbolic language of liturgy also cannot be confined. Though theology tries to articulate it (remember "lex orandi, lex credendi" - "the law of believing, is the law of praying"), we can never fully understand it.

The language of prayer is more poetic than scientific; it moves the heart even more than the mind, which bows in awe before the miracle of the Eucharist.

Theologians use the word "transubstantiation" for this miracle. This means a change of substance: bread and wine become Jesus' true body and blood.

This word relies on ancient Greek philosophical categories of "substance" and "accidents." Substance means the "what" a thing is - a chair, a song, a loaf of bread - and accidents means how the "what" appears: hard or soft, heavy, light, chewy, etc.

After eucharistic transubstantiation the accidents remain: bread and wine appear the same as before. But they are not bread and wine anymore: their substance is now the body and blood of Jesus Christ himself. As he told his followers, "My flesh is true food and my blood is true drink."

Seven parts

Though our minds can't fully grasp the change, we can trace the outline of the prayer. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal lists seven basic parts of all eucharistic prayers.

Thanksgiving, including the dialogue and the preface in which the church thanks God the Father for the salvation wrought in Christ.

Acclamation, when the church joins the angelic and heavenly hosts in crying out, "Holy! Holy! Holy!'

Epiclesis, a Greek word meaning "calling down." The priest asks the Father to send the Holy Spirit upon the gifts to change them; and later he calls the Spirit down on the assembly, to change us so we also become the body of Christ.

"You are what you eat" is St. Augustine's phrase that originally means not "eat healthy and you'll be healthy;" it connects the church and the Eucharist, both as the body of Christ.

Words of institution. The priest repeats Jesus' own words at the Last Supper. Note that the priest is not "play-acting." He does not pretend to be Jesus and treat the assembly as apostles, telling them, "Take this, all of you. . ." Instead, these words are still part of a prayer addressed to the Father.

Anamnesis, another Greek word, means "making memory." In week one, I mentioned "remembering in the strong liturgical sense," not merely reminiscing about what Jesus did 2,000 years ago in the Upper Room. Rather, by making memory, salvation is actualized, really present among us here and now.

Intercessions occur in various places and usually mention the pope and local bishop by name, as well as saints, our beloved dead, and "any others for whom we now pray."

Doxology is the closing part when we give the Father all glory and honor through the Son in the Spirit. The assembly responds with the Great Amen: Let it be so! Let our lives be all for the glory of God. Such is a fitting way to end all prayers, and the great eucharistic prayer is the most excellent prayer of all.

But wait: there's more. For what happens next, you'll have to tune in next week.

Father Tom Margevicius is instructor of liturgical theology at St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul.

URL: http://thecatholicspirit.com/main.asp?Secti..15&subsecti..132&articleID=881

The Mass Series Part 4

2007-10-12T17:06:00.000-07:00

The Mass Series - Part IV: Presentation of the gifts: Bread, wine and ourselves

By Father Tom Margevicius

The following is the fourth part in a seven-part series on the Mass.

Before moving forward let's review. One week ago, we saw that the church considers the Liturgy of the Word power-packed. What the liturgy's actions say, the word of God enacts. Or as the "Catechism of the Catholic Church" says: "The liturgical word and action are inseparable both insofar as they are signs and instruction and insofar as they accomplish what they signify."

Two weeks ago, we observed how the entrance rites developed in the church's history. At the time of St. Justin Martyr in A.D. 155, they were very rudimentary (see CCC, 1345), but other parts of Mass, including the procession of gifts, were already being done.

Three weeks ago, we examined some liturgical concepts that are helpful in understanding the Mass, especially how the liturgy makes use of signs and symbols to communicate God's grace to us.

All three of these - symbols, gifts, and word plus action - are important for the part of the Mass we look at today: preparation of the gifts.

Sometimes this is also called this the "offertory," but since the bread and wine will be supremely "offered" in the eucharistic prayer, we'll use the term preferred by the General Instruction of the Roman Missal.

Presentation of the gifts assumed great importance in the early church.

St. Cyprian, martyred in Africa in 258, chided those who came to Mass and received the Eucharist but made no offering of their own: "You are wealthy and rich, and do you think that you celebrate the Lord's Supper, not at all considering the offering? Who comes to the Lord's Supper without a sacrifice, and yet takes part of the sacrifice which the poor man has offered? Consider in the Gospel the widow. . ."

St. Augustine was impressed by a fifth-century procession of gifts in Rome in which the faithful brought from their own homes things from their kitchen tables. (After handling all the gifts, no wonder the priest had to wash his hands!)

Augustine called this an "admirable exchange" - for their gifts, God gave back Jesus. Our present prayer over the gifts from the sixth day in the octave of Christmas uses Augustine's language: "Lord, receive our gifts in this wonderful exchange: from all you have given us, we bring you these gifts, and in return, you give us yourself."

Valid matter. The church uses unleavened bread made only of pure wheat flour and water, and wine only from grapes. Why?

Because that's what Jesus used. He told us to "do this" in his memory, and if "this" changes too much, we're no longer following his command.

Even in places of the world where wheat or grapes are scarce, the church still insists that these foodstuffs be imported instead of substituted with local products such as corn flour or rice wine. For persons with celiac disease or alcohol intolerance, the church permits virtually gluten-free hosts and mustum, wine, whose fermentation has been arrested.

Collection of money. Yep, it's in the Bible. "From the very beginning, Christians have brought, along with the bread and wine for the Eucharist, gifts to share with those in need" (CCC, 1351). Tithing and almsgiving are acts of worship (2 Corinthians 9:10-15) and express not only our desire to help those in need but also our generosity to God.

A $20 bill and a $1 bill are next to each other in a man's wallet. The $20 bill says, "Isn't life great! I get to go to the best places: to movies and nice restaurants and the mall." The $1 bill replies, "Well, I go to church." (Right about now lots of people are upset with me, while pastors are secretly sighing, "Thank you Father Tom!")

Made by hand. The ordinary form of Mass uses adapted Jewish "berakah" (blessing) prayers whose words are packed with meaning, even if they're done silently during the music.

Bread and wine symbolize a wonderful cooperation between God and humans. We lay upon the altar not only creation's goods but ours, too. The gifts are not mere wheat and grapes, but "the work of human hands."

Symbolically, that's us on the altar, offering ourselves to God. In the eucharistic prayer, we will ask God to send the Spirit to change the gifts and change us as well - but, again, I'm getting ahead of myself.

The gift of ourselves is never easy, and the church, knowing that, treats our offerings with great care. The priest places them in a dignified place on the altar, incenses them reverently, and asks God to receive them to himself.

"Pray, sisters and brothers, that our sacrifice" - not only bread and wine, but what they symbolize: our work, struggles, joys, money, our very lives - "may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father."

In the next part of Mass, the great eucharistic prayer, it happens: the Holy Spirit comes down, and as the words of Christ are repeated over the bread and wine . . . Stay tuned!

Father Tom Margevicius is instructor of liturgical theology at St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul.

URL: http://thecatholicspirit.com/main.asp?Secti..15&subsecti..132&articleID=844

The Mass Series Part 3

2007-10-12T17:05:00.000-07:00

The Mass Series - Part III: Christ is present in the word proclaimed

The following is the third part in a seven-part series on the Mass.

Of the articles I am writing for this series on the Mass, I am really excited about this one: the Liturgy of the Word.

For too long, we have assumed, "Protestants get the Bible, Catholics get the sacraments."

Wrong.

One is not more Catholic than the other; both are essential for the celebration of the Eucharist.

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal says the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist "are so closely interconnected that they form but one single act of worship."

The word proclaims what the sacrament enacts: it's the same Christ, really present. The Second Vatican Council's "Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy" taught that Christ is present in multiple ways in the liturgy: in the people assembled, in the word proclaimed, in the ordained minister, in the other sacraments and especially in the Sacred Species.

Three years ago, the world's Catholic bishops held a synod discussing the Eucharist. Pope John Paul II followed up with the wonderful document "Ecclesia de Eucharistia," resulting in resurging interest in the importance of the Eucharist in the life of the church.

That's great, but we need to go further. Pope Benedict XVI has instructed the bishops that when their next synod meets in October 2008 the topic will be the word of God.

I predict the Holy Father will follow up with his own document on the word of God. (You heard it here first.) The bishops already have their "homework" assignment: you can read it on the Vatican Web page (www.vatican.va) if you search for "synod," "word" and "lineamenta," which is Latin for "outline."

No better food

Maybe you know someone who left the Catholic Church because they found another church where they "get fed," meaning they hear the word preached better.

Of course, the irony is they can't get fed any better than in our Eucharist. But we should take their departure seriously: a fuller celebration of the word of God will only enhance participation in the Eucharist.

The "Catechism of the Catholic Church" directs: "The Liturgy of the Word is an integral part of sacramental celebrations. To nourish the faith of believers, the signs which accompany the Word of God should be emphasized: the book of the word (a Lectionary or a Book of the Gospels), its veneration (procession, incense, candles), the place of its proclamation (lectern or ambo), its audible and intelligible reading, the minister's homily which extends its proclamation, and the responses of the assembly (acclamations, meditation psalms, litanies and profession of faith)."

Notice how we offer the word what we usually associate with the sacred Species: incense, gilded books, even processions.

The General Introduction to the Lectionary goes so far as to say, "The church has honored the word of God and the eucharistic mystery with the same reverence, although not with the same worship, and has always and everywhere insisted upon and sanctioned such honor."

Proper preparation

To honor the word of God, let the ambo be a fixed, dignified place that parallels the altar itself, since there is "one table of the word and the Eucharist." Don't proclaim the word from disposable booklets - for the same reason wine should not be consecrated in a throwaway cup. Let there be adequate lighting and amplification.

Regarding preparation, Pope Benedict writes, "I ask that the Liturgy of the Word always be carefully prepared and celebrated. Consequently I urge that every effort be made to ensure that the liturgical proclamation of the word of God is entrusted to well-prepared readers."

Just as we appreciate silence after receiving Communion, include periods of silence after the word so it can resonate in our hearts.

Finally, encourage priests and deacons when they preach homilies. Not a single preacher I know thinks it's easy.

Pope Benedict is straightforward on this issue: "The quality of homilies needs to be improved. The homily is 'part of the liturgical action' and is meant to foster a deeper understanding of the word of God, so that it can bear fruit in the lives of the faithful. Hence ordained ministers must 'prepare the homily carefully, based on an adequate knowledge of Sacred Scripture.' Generic and abstract homilies should be avoided.

"In particular,"?he said, "I ask these ministers to preach in such a way that the homily closely relates the proclamation of the word of God to the sacramental celebration and the life of the community, so that the word of God truly becomes the church's vital nourishment and support."

That intersection of three terms - word, sacrament and community - all come together in a beautiful way in the part of the liturgy we'll examine next week: the preparation of the gifts.

Father Tom Margevicius is instructor of liturgical theology at St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul.

URL: http://thecatholicspirit.com/main.asp?Secti..15&subsecti..15&articleID=812

The Mass Series Part 2

2007-10-12T17:04:00.000-07:00

The Mass Series - Part II: Entrance rites - Getting ready to meet God
The Mass: Special Section

By Father Tom Margevicius

The following is the second part in a seven-part series on the Mass.

Last week I mentioned a few concepts that help us appreciate the Mass, such as symbolic objects, words and actions, timelessness, active participation and changed lives. Now let's look more closely at the beginning of Mass.

Of course, we don't think that in the Upper Room one of the apostles fired up an organ, Jesus put on a stole and chasuble, got in line behind the altar servers carrying incense and candles, and they sang "Gather Us In" before beginning the Last Supper.

Around the year A.D. 155, St. Justin explained to a pagan emperor how Christians did it: "On the day we call the day of the sun, all who dwell in the city or country gather in the same place. The memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read . . ." (See "Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1345).

The rest of St. Justin's liturgy looks remarkably familiar, and it is reassuring that the early church celebrated Mass pretty much the same way we still do.

But notice that St. Justin says nothing about the entrance rites. These developed gradually over several hundred years.

Altar. One of the earliest things to develop is the symbolism of the altar itself. At the start of Mass, when everyone reaches the sanctuary, we bow to the altar, even if the tabernacle is in a different chapel. And bishops, priests and deacons kiss the altar. Why?

That's because according to St. Ambrose (late 300s) the altar is a symbol of Christ. The liturgy calls Jesus Christ priest, victim and altar: As High Priest, he makes the offering (Hebrews 5:1-10). As Victim, he is the one being sacrificed, the Lamb who was slain (Revelation 13:8).

But why altar? St. Paul says we "offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, our spiritual worship" (Romans 12:1). Since we know the Father accepts Christ's sacrifice, we place our lives on Christ himself; he is the one through whom we sacrifice our lives. Reverencing the altar is reverencing Christ himself.

Greeting. The celebrant greets the assembly with the Sign of the Cross and a scriptural text such as, "The grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you" (Titus 1:4).

This is much richer than merely saying, "Good morning." No matter how much the priest and people like one another, something more is happening: The priest is wishing God upon the people, and the people respond not just to the man, but to Jesus Christ himself. That's why the literal translation of the people's response is, "And with your spirit." Christ greets his bride (the church), and the bride greets the spirit of Christ present in the priest.

Penitential rite. Are you ready to meet Jesus, who really comes to us in the Eucharist? Sometimes, neither am I. That's why we usually ask for mercy next. This can take several forms: The most ancient predates even the use of Latin in Mass: We cry out "Kyrie eleison," Greek for "Lord have mercy."

The Confiteor ("I confess . . .") first shows up around the eighth century. And sometimes, such as at Easter and Masses with baptism, we renew our baptismal promises and replace the penitential rite with a sprinkling with water.

The Gloria comes from the song the angels sang at Jesus' birth (Luke 2:4) and originally was used only during the Christmas season. It found its way into Mass during the sixth century. Christ is born anew in each Mass we celebrate, and we sing his praises with the angels and saints who are continually praising him. Each time we pray Mass, we join with the liturgy already going on in heaven (CCC, 1090).

Opening prayer. The opening prayer is also called the "collect." The priest intones, "Let us pray," and then a brief silence follows. The silence is not just waiting for the server to bring the book; each of us is supposed to be praying silently during that time, and after a short while the priest "collects" all those silent prayers into the opening prayer.

When the priest ends, we all acclaim "Amen!" signaling our agreement with the prayer, and we are ready for God to speak to us.

Father Tom Margevicius is instructor of liturgical theology at St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul.

URL: http://thecatholicspirit.com/main.asp?Secti..15&subsecti..15&articleID=790

The Mass Series Part 1

2007-10-12T17:03:00.000-07:00

The Mass Series - Part I: What we believe is what we pray and live

By Father Tom Margevicius
For The Catholic Spirit

"Ite, Missa est." This is the Latin ending of the Mass, rendered in English as: "The Mass is ended, go in peace."
"OK," you're thinking, "here's another article - or worse, a series of articles - on the pre-Vatican II Mass."

Wrong.

I know the old Latin Mass is a hot topic, but I start this column with the Latin words for two other reasons.

The first is to say that "missa" is where we get the English word "Mass."

Second, "Ite, Missa est" means we are "missioned" by Jesus Christ himself to bring the Good News to the world (Matthew 28:19-20). The dismissal more than just signals that we can go home - it tells us what to do after Mass.

The church uses the Latin phrase, "lex credendi, lex orandi" - "the law of believing is the law of praying" ("Catechism of the Catholic Church," 1124). This means that if you want to know what we Catholics believe, look at how we pray, and vice versa.

Pope Benedict XVI's exhortation, "The Sacrament of Charity," follows that basic pattern: Part 1 is titled "A Mystery to Be Believed" ("lex credendi"). Part 2 is "A Mystery to Be Celebrated" ("lex orandi").

But the pope adds a Part 3: "A Mystery to Be Lived." One might say Pope Benedict?XVI expands the phrase to "lex credendi, lex orandi, lex vivendi" - the law of belief is the law of praying is the law of living.

Mass is about more than fancy words and strange vestments and vessels. It's about changed lives: ours, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, the lives of those we encounter.

For that reason, the popular "Gather" hymnal we use in church could also have been titled "Dismiss!" because we are charged to go out and bring Christ to a world that needs him.

These articles on what happens at Mass mean nothing unless we are converted.

But I'm ahead of myself. We'll discuss the dismissal in a few weeks. For now, let's start with a few other basic concepts for understanding Mass.

Time and space. The incarnation, Passion and resurrection of Jesus are timeless. Though they happened historically and geographically in Palestine 2,000 years ago, their reality becomes present here and now in our celebration. "Remembering," in the strong liturgical sense, is how we become present to that always-and-everywhere reality (CCC, 1362-1363).

Signs and symbols. Question: Is the Eucharist the real presence of Christ, or is it a symbol? Answer: Yes.

The Eucharist is both the real presence and a symbol, or better, a collection of symbols.

We hesitate because "symbol" to us connotes something unreal, but that is not the traditional Catholic understanding. Every sacrament is a sign (CCC, 1123); the sign is the reality, present in a particular way. To say the eucharistic presence is symbolic means Jesus Christ comes to us through bread and wine, which the Spirit changes into Christ's Body and Blood, and also through the Word, people, actions and even objects of the Mass (CCC, 1131).

Distinctive roles, words, actions and objects. A few years ago, a college sports team met with President Bush, and people gasped because some women on the team wore flip-flop sandals. The reaction was reasonable because for really special events we dress up.

The Eucharist commemorates the most important event ever, and our words, actions and objects should dress it up. That's why the church protects worship from becoming too pedestrian. Not just anybody leads the Eucharist. We choose particular men and ordain them to do so. We don't use paper cups and plates, nor do we talk to God using words like, "Hey, Dude!" Something special is going on.

Full and active participation. St. Pius X didn't want people to pray at Mass, he wanted them to pray the Mass. Pius XII encouraged full and active participation, a phrase re-emphasized at Vatican II. The better we understand our special roles, words and actions, the better our worship.

During the next six weeks, we will look at each part of the Mass in succession so we can understand, celebrate and live it even better.

Father Tom Margevicius is instructor of liturgical theology at St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul

URL: http://thecatholicspirit.com/main.asp?Secti..15&subsecti..132&articleID=762

Seven Sanctifications for Spouses

2007-10-12T16:59:00.000-07:00

Seven Sanctifications For Spouses

catholics and divorce, part 3

BY Melinda Selmys

October 14-20, 2007 Issue Posted 10/9/07 at 11:48 AM

For the last two weeks, we’ve been examining the problem of divorce, its nature and it’s causes. Last week, we looked at “7 Worldly Wisdoms.”
Today we will seek out the cure.

1. “He who is forgiven little, loves little” (Luke 7:47).

A heavy weight of grudge, complaint, injustice and remembered wrongs can sink any marriage. Wrongs remembered in times of anger are fuel thrown on the fire. Take time in prayer to recall old wounds that you haven’t healed and set them before the cross. Everything in marriage should be brought to God — whether it is something as trivial as laundry left undone, or something as serious as adultery.

Real forgiveness, like real contrition, expects no recompense: If you have forgiven, you will not be bitter about being the one who had to forgive. Rejoice. Marriage gives us many opportunities to cash in on God’s promise that we will be forgiven as we forgive.

2. “Love issues from a pure heart” (1 Timothy 1-5).

Be chaste in thought and in deed. If you rehearse adultery in the theater of your mind, you will find it difficult to resist temptation when it comes. Pornography, prurient entertainment and steamy romance novels all replace your real spouse with a figment, a sexual automaton who possesses no personality or needs beyond your own.

If your spouse is involved in these behaviors, be gentle and patient: They may be compulsive, and quite humiliating.

3. “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

Work together, play together, relax together, fight together — and make sure that you make separate time for each of these activities. We are often inclined to try to do the wrong things at the wrong time. If you want to rip your husband’s head off and eat it with ketchup, it isn’t the time to fight. Go calm down, then go for a walk in the park, or take the kids to the zoo.

When you’re getting along again, then it’s the time to talk about the problems in your relationship and get them resolved. I suspect that most divorces are the result of couples littering the floor with each other’s emotional entrails when angry, and then trying to keep a tight-lipped peace when they’re not.

4. “Pride goes before destruction” (Proverbs16:18).

No divorcee is ever responsible for the divorce. If they committed adultery, it was because their husband was distant and emotionally abusive. If they asked for the divorce, it was only after years of putting up with their wife’s frigidity. Marriage requires the humility to admit that you are wrong. Say, “I’m sorry,” and don’t add a “but …”

Remember that pride is the invisible vice; you can see it easily in others, only with difficulty in yourself. Frequent the sacrament of confession and get into the habit of knowing your own faults.

5. “The measure you give will be the measure you get” (Mark 4:24).

Money is always a means to an end; people are ends in themselves. It is therefore a severe perversion of the moral order to allow money to undermine a relationship. Put first things first.
If you tithe, give alms, lend to those who cannot repay you, and invest your treasure in your faith and your marriage instead of your property, then God will provide you with everything that you really need (and often with much more). Have faith in divine Providence, and there will be no need to fight or worry over money.

If your spouse cannot do this, don’t fight, and don’t worry. Discuss it reasonably and charitably and let them have their way. Better to lose your house and gain your marriage than to surround yourself with baubles and lose your spouse.

6. “Whoever would save his life will lose it” (Matthew 16:25).
If you cling to your spouse, and try to hold him captive with threats of private detectives, or with the latest tricks from the magazines at the grocery counter, you will suffocate your marriage.

Be faithful, and trust your spouse to be faithful. It is much more difficult to disappoint someone who loves and trusts you than to defy someone who holds you on a leash.

7. “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28).

Be open to filling your house with children. A child is an incarnation of your love for each other. They confirm that love, and each one is an incarnation of a different aspect of your union.
If this has not proved true in your marriage, spend more time really interacting with your children (i.e. not watching television or playing video games with them, or watching them inertly over a frazzled cup of coffee). You will find in them a reflection of the spouse you fell in love with, and they will find in you an image of God’s unconditional love.

Melinda Selmys is a staff writer
at VulgataMagazine.org.

Quote

2007-10-12T16:58:00.000-07:00

"As soon as worldly people see that you wish to follow a devout life they aim a thousand darts of mockery and even detraction at you. The most malicious of them will slander your conversion as hypocrisy, bigotry, and trickery. They will say that the world has turned against you and being rebuffed by it you have turned to God. Your friends will raise a host of objections which they consider very prudent and charitable. They will tell you that you will become depressed, lose your reputation in the world, be unbearable, and grow old before your time, and that your affairs at home will suffer. You must live in the world like one in the world. They will say that you can save your soul without going to such extremes, and a thousand similar trivialities. ... All this is mere foolish, empty babbling. These people aren't interested in your health or welfare."

-St. Francis de Sales

Christian or New Age? Part 7

2007-10-09T18:08:00.000-07:00

This article is from The Catholic Herald online.

Ouija Boards and Tarot Cards
Oct 8, 2007 3:00 PM

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the seventh part of a series that examines how Catholics are being challenged by followers of New Age philosophies.]

Fortune-telling has real staying power.

It’s been attracting crowds since prehistoric time. And in the recorded history of Greece for the period spanning 700-800 B.C., the ancients believed the home of the oracle of Delphi was the center of the universe.

In modern times, divining the future can be cheap and convenient. For the do-it-yourself crowd, toy stores stock plenty of ouija boards and tarot cards, and any New Age bookstore will sell a variety of crystals and how-to manuals on palm-reading.

But don’t let the price tags mislead you. Those items might not seem to cost very much, but the spiritual price we pay for using them is often much steeper than we realize.

Some people are not aware that fortune telling and other forms of divination are linked to the occult. Consider the background of two of the most popular forms of modern fortune-telling: ouija boards and Tarot cards, both of which are currently being sold as children’s games.
Ouija Boards

The ouija board set consists of an alphabet board and heart-shaped pointer, known as a planchette, which are used for divination through spirit contact.

The use of alphabet boards for divination dates back to 1200 B.C. in China, when similar instruments were used to communicate with the dead, according to information from the Museum of Talking Boards. Ancient Greeks used a table that moved on wheels to point to signs that were then interpreted as revelations from the "unseen world."

Modern use of the ouija board entered the United States as part of the Spiritualism movement of the mid-19th century. In some forms, followers use a pendelum that swings over a plate or a table with letters painted around the edge to spell out messages.

In 1890, two businessmen named Elijah Bond and Charles Kennard patented the idea of using a planchette and alphabet board as a "talking board." An employee of theirs name William Fuld took over production of the product in 1901 and started selling the board under the name "ouija," which was derived from the French, German and Dutch words meaning "yes" — oui and ja.

In 1966, Fuld sold the patent to the Parker Brothers (now Hasbro) game corporation, which began marketing the board as a game. Although the company does not release sales figures on its ouija board, anywhere from 20-25 million boards have been sold, according to an estimate by Mitch Horowitz, the editor-in-chief of Tarcher-Penguin books and author of "Ouija: How This American Anomaly Became More Than Just Fun and Games."

The world saw how well a ouija board could work in the blockbuster Hollywood horror film, "The Exorcist," a fictional account based on the true story of an exorcism performed in 1949 for a 13-year-old boy from Mount Ranier, Wash. Introduced to the board by an aunt, the boy used it to contact her spirit after she died. However, instead of contacting his aunt, he unwittingly contacted demons who disguised themselves as friendly spirits and eventually possessed him.
The board is one dangerous toy, writes Joel S. Peters, an apologist for Catholic Answers in San Diego, Calif.

"The ouija board is far from harmless, as it is a form of divination (seeking information from supernatural sources)," Peters writes. "The fact of the matter is, the ouija board really does work, and the only ‘spirits’ that will be contacted through it are evil ones. . . ."

"Just because someone regards the board as harmless doesn’t mean it is," Peters said. "A disbelief in something does not necessarily mean that something isn’t real. The ouija board has an objective reality that exists apart from a person’s perception of it. In other words, it’s real even if you don’t believe it is."

Tarot Cards

Although there are many different theories about the origin of tarot cards (pronounced "tar-o"), there is some evidence that they originated in Italy in the 14th century, with the earliest recorded mention of their use dating to 1391, according to Father William Saunders, dean of the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College, who wrote an article titled, "The History of Tarot Cards" for the Arlington (Va.) Catholic Herald.

Based in the occult, tarot cards are used predominantly for cartomancy, divination or fortune telling.

The modern history of the tarot, according to the New Age Alamanac, can be traced to a French Huguenot pastor named Antoine Court de Gebelin (1719-1784). De Gebelin became active in Parisian freemasonry circles, and joined the Philalethes, a French Masonic occult order. He became an accomplished occult scholar and, through his various social connections, discovered the tarot.

De Gebelin believed the occult symbolism of the cards tied them to ancient Egypt, although that has never been substantiated.

In 1783, a fortune teller known only as Etteilla published a book detailing a methodology for tarot cartomancy, and the use of the cards for fortune telling continues to this day.
Father Saunders describes the composition of the 78 cards in the tarot deck this way: "The pack of cards — known as the "Tarocco" — is made up of 22 major "enigmas," whose figures represent a synthesis of the mysteries of life, and 56 minor images incoporating 14 figures in four series (gold, clubs, swords and goblets)."

The gold series symbolizes intellectual activity; the club series symbolizes government; the sword series symbolizes the military; and the goblet series symbolizes the priesthood.
"Practitioners of Tarot believe that these enigmas, images and series represent the sum of the knowledge of all sciences, particularly astrology, and that the permutations in "dealing with the cards" is capable of revealing the future and solving all problems," Father Saunders writes.
The occult links of ouija boards and tarot cards may not be immediately obvious to some individuals, especially when they are sold as children’s games. Some people fall unwittingly into the habit of using the divining devices without realizing they have exposed themselves to the influence of demonic spirits.

Because of such hidden dangers, strong warnings against all forms of divination are found throughout Scripture and in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

One such admonition is found in the book of Deuteronomy: "Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist [spiritualist] or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is destestable to the Lord." (18:10-12)
The Cathecism also notes that, along with breaking the first commandment, the use of divination devices is wrong because they "conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to concilate hidden powers." (No. 2116)
"To invoke Satan or any other power, to enter the darkness [the occult] for any assistance, or to attempt to usurp powers which belong to God alone is a defiance of the authority of almighty God," warns Father Saunders. "To commit such acts is to turn away from God and place our own souls in jeopardy."

NEXT ISSUE: Energy Medicine, Part One.

(This article originally appeared in The Catholic Standard and Times, the Philadelphia archdiocesan newspaper.)

OTHER PARTS OF THE SERIES
PART SIX: Bewitched by Wicca

PART FIVE: Is acupuncture acceptable for Catholics?

PART FOUR: The enneagram: What's your number?
PART THREE: Reiki and healing touch
PART TWO: Ten Questions to Help You Determine: "Christian or New Age?"
PART ONE: Popular Movement Is One of the Most Pressing Challenges to Christian Faith

http://www.coloradocatholicherald.com/display.php?xrc=646

Christian or New Age? Part 6

2007-10-09T18:05:00.000-07:00

This article is from the Catholic Herald online

Bewitched by Wicca

Susan Brinkmann, Special to the HeraldOct 8, 2007 3:00 PM

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the sixth part of a series that examines how Catholics are being challenged by followers of New Age philosophies.]

Sometimes called the Goddess movement, Goddess spirituality or the Craft, Wicca is one of the fastest growing religions in America today.

It was recognized as an official religion by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1986, and today there are more than 200,000 adherents of Wicca and related, "neopagan" faiths practicing in the United States.

"Wicca" is derived from the old English word, wic-a — meaning "witch" — in its use as the umbrella name for modern religious witchcraft.

Wicca was invented by Gerald B. Gardner (1884-1964) in England, and was meant to be a goddess-centered, nature religion.

However, in the decades since it came to the United States, Wicca has mushroomed into a vast array of beliefs encompassing ancient Celtic, Greek, Roman and Egyptian religions, as well as many forgotten traditions, including shamanic healing circles and Toltec wisdom.

Brooks Alexander of the Spiritual Counterfeit Project in Berkeley, Calif., writes that contemporary "witchcraft is individualistic to the point of being anarchic, with no centralized authority or even any agreed-upon definition of what a ‘witch’ is."

Alexander adds: "In effect, a witch is whoever says they are a witch, and witch beliefs and practices amount to whatever individual witches actually believe and do."

Wiccans pride themselves on making things up as they go along, but there are four commonly held beliefs.

First there is the belief that divinity is immanent in all of nature (harking back to animism, polytheism and pantheism). Second, Wicca is either female-centered and goddess-oriented or it is centered on a paired god and goddess. Third, it does not believe in the concept of sin and the uniqueness of Christ. Fourth, it espouses spiritual reciprocity — "what goes around comes around."

Wiccans also generally follow a basic ethic known as the "Wiccan Rede." The Rede is usually written as, "An it harm none, do as ye will." — not because the motto is as ancient as it sounds, but because Wiccans like to couch things in obsolete terms to give them the appearance of antiquity, according to Alexander.

In modern English, their Rede translates, "As long as it doesn’t hurt anyone, do whatever you want."

There is no central authority or established organization in the Wiccan religion. In fact, it’s unofficial "church" is the Internet — where there are a variety of Wiccan sites for people of all ages, including chat rooms, coven-finders and bulletin boards.

Many Wiccans belong to covens or circles, which usually consist of 13 people.
"The covens are governed by a high priestess and a high priest, with the high priestess being the leading figure in the coven," according to Donald H. Thompson, a retired police officer and cult expert for the Baltimore police department. Thompson’s writing includes a chapter in the book, "Today’s Destructive Cults and Movements," which has been compiled by Father Lawrence J. Gesy, cult consultant to the Baltimore Archdiocese.

"Their purpose is to guide members to achieve a nature-based attitude and to instruct them in the ways of the Craft, with its rituals and initiations," Thompson writes.

"There are rituals for initiation, rituals for healing and protection, rituals for the sun and the sea, and it goes on and on," he says. "You can look at witchcraft as a religion expressed in rituals."
Wicca rituals are commonly held in homes or out in the open, and some are conducted "skyclad," meaning without clothes.

"Most Wiccan witches believe in reincarnation, that at the time of death the soul is reborn," Thompson goes on. "They believe this is possible over and over again to increase their mental powers. Most witches practice clairvoyance and divination, usually starting with tarot cards; however, crystal balls (the larger the better) flasks and black mirrors all become part of the rituals to develop clairvoyance and divination."

One of the most startling of all Wiccan practices is astral projection. Wiccans believe that when the body is relaxed, through the powers of concentration, a person can transfer his conscious mind into the air around him.

"While this may seem absurd to many of us, let me assure you that these powers are possible to achieve," Thompson writes, "and many have succeeded in obtaining these powers and having out-of-body experiences."

Where the powers come from is of grave concern. Although Wiccans do not worship or believe in Satan, some of their practices are rooted in occult traditions.

Father Gesy said he believes the reason why many people are falling into the snares of New Age movements, including Wicca, is because they’re searching.

"The rapid growth of Wicca is the perfect example of how these false religions attract people who are searching," he said. "They’re vulnerable, lonely, hurting and perhaps 50 percent of them are either not practicing their faith or don’t have a faith. When something happens, and they have a ‘religious revival,’ I hate to say it, but the first group that gets there gets them."
That may be where Wicca’s extensive use of the Internet comes in. And then there are some youth subcultures that seem to attuned to Wicca, such as the self-described "Goths" — teenagers whose personal style, attitude and musical choices are dark, gothic and disaffected.
"You take someone who isn’t popular at school but who gets in with the wrong group — and all of a sudden, people are paying attention to them, to the way they dress and behave," Father Gesy said. "It’s not positive attention, but it’s still attention."

Unfortunately, many of these young people are then introduced to Wicca, which leads them into the worship of false gods.

Wiccans believe in the ancient gods of the British Isles — the Horned God of hunting, death and magic, and the Great Mother, a goddess who supposedly gives regeneration and rebirth to souls.
"The practice of Wicca is incompatible with Christianity because it is based on the worship of pagan deities, and is therefore a sin against the First Commandment," Father Gesy said. "Wicca is basically a pantheistic religion, which means it is a worship of nature. It’s pagan, which means it is also polytheistic, in that it worships multiple gods and goddesses."

"On the other hand, we are monotheistic, meaning we worship the one true God," he added.
When it comes to Wicca and other New Age spiritualities, Father Gesy said, the best way to assess whether a religion is compatible with Christianity is to ask a simple question: "Is it leading you to put your faith in creatures or in the Creator?"

NEXT ISSUE: Divining the Future — Ouija Boards and Tarot Cards.

(This article originally appeared in The Catholic Standard and Times, the Philadelphia archdiocesan newspaper.)

The Catholic Standard and Times, the Philadelphia archdiocesan newspaper.)

Christian or New Age? Part 5

2007-10-09T18:02:00.000-07:00

This article is from the Catholic Herald online

Susan Brinkmann, Special to the HeraldSep 7, 2007 4:45 PM
[EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the fifth part of a series that examines how Catholics are being challenged by followers of New Age philosophies.]

In July 1971, while accompanying Henry Kissinger to China, The New York Times columnist James Reston had an emergency appendectomy. Afterward at the Anti-Imperialist Hospital in Peking, doctors treated his pain with a traditional form of Chinese medicine known as acupuncture.

"I was in considerable discomfort if not pain during the second night after the operation," Reston wrote shortly after his return to the United States. "Li Chang-yuan, doctor of acupuncture at the hospital, with my approval, inserted three long, thin needles into the outer part of my right elbow and below my knees, and manipulated them in order to stimulate the intestine and relieve the pressure and distension of the stomach.

"Meanwhile, Doctor Li lit two pieces of an herb called ai, which looked like the burning stumps of a broken, cheap cigar, and held them close to my abdomen while occasionally twirling the needles into action. All this took about 20 minutes, during which I remember thinking that it was a rather complicated way to get rid of gas in the stomach. But there was noticeable relaxation of the pressure and distension within an hour and no recurrence of the problem thereafter."

Many people in the medical field, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), believe that event is what precipitated what is now a 20-year surge of interest in acupuncture in the United States.
A report from a Consensus Development Conference on Acupuncture held at the NIH in 1997 stated that acupuncture is being widely practiced by thousands of physicians, dentists, acupuncturists and other practitioners in the U.S.

According to the largest and most comprehensive survey of complementary and alternative medicine in use by American adults, the 2002 National Health Institute Survey, "an estimated 8.2 million U.S. adults had . . . used acupuncture [at some time] and an estimated 2.1 million U.S. adults had used acupuncture in the previous year."

How Does Acupuncture Work?

The Chinese theory behind acupuncture as a medical treatment is very different from the kind of acupuncture used in Western medicine.

"Traditional Chinese acupuncture is based on the theory that the body is a delicate balance of two opposing and inseparable forces: yin and yang," says the NIH Web site for Complementary and Alternative Medicines. "Yin represents the cold, slow or passive principle, while yang represents the hot, excited or active principle."

It goes on to explain that the Chinese believe health is achieved by maintaining the body in a balanced state, and that the disease is caused by an internal imbalance of yin and yang.
"This imbalance leads to blockage in the flow of qi (energy) along pathways know as meridians," according to the NIH site. "It is believed that there are 12 main meridians and eight secondary meridians, and that there are more than 2,000 acupuncture points on the human body that connect with them."

Chinese practitioners believe that by inserting extremely fine needles into those points in various combinations, a person’s energy flow may be re-balanced, thus allowing the body’s natural healing mechanisms to take over.

Because there is no anatomical or other physically verifiable basis for the existence of acupuncture points, qi or meridians, the Western version of acupuncture is not based on the concept of yin and yang, but on neuroscience. Today, science believes acupuncture may work in three ways: by releasing endorphins, which are part of the body’s natural pain-control system; by stimulating nerves in the spinal cord that release pain-suppressing neurotransmitters; or by the naturally occurring increase in blood flow in the needle-puncture area, which removes toxic substances.

Origin of Acupuncture

The word "acupuncture" is derived from the latin acus meaning "needle" and pungere meaning "prick." The origins of Chinese acupuncture are uncertain. There is some archeological evidence of its practice during the Han dynasty (202 B.C. to 220 A.D.) with the first mention of it a century earlier in the Yellow Emperor’s "Classic of Internal Medicine," a history of acupuncture that was completed around 305 B.C.

However, hieroglyphics dating back to 1000 B.C. have been found what may be an indication that acupuncture was in use much earlier. There is also some speculation surrounding the discovery of Otzi, a 5,000-year-old mummy with over 50 tattoos on his body, some indicated on established acupuncture points.

Other scientists believe there is evidence to support the practice of acupuncture in Eurasia during the early Bronze Age. In an article that appeared in the British medical journal, The Lancet, researches said, "We hypothesized that there might have been a medical system similar to acupuncture (Chinese Zhensiu: needling and burning) that was practices in Central Europe 5,200 years ago. . . . This raises the possibility of acupuncture having originated in the Eurasian continent at least 2,000 years earlier than previously recognized."

Can Catholics Use It?

The Western form of acupuncture, which is based on science and not Taoism, is acceptable for use by Christians. However, the traditional Chinese acupuncture belief system is not compatible with Christianity.

"The philosophical thinking behind acupuncture comes from Taoism and the concept of the yin and yang, and of being at one with the forces in the universe through meditation," the Irish Theological Commission wrote in 1994 in its document, "A Catholic Response to the New Age Phenomenon."

Christians believe man is a union of body and soul, and that the soul is an essential form — not an energy force. The belief that one can meditate and be at one with the forces of the universe is based in pantheism, the belief that the universe, God and nature are all equivalent.
At present, there are many unlicensed practitioners who may be practicing a blended version of Western and Chinese acupuncture.

"The New Age movement has no difficulty with acupuncture because it accepts the Eastern philosophy behind it," the theological commission said. "But what about Christians? Can they accept the help and not be affected by its religious content? Many believe they can.
"The general principle in this matter is that these practices are not bad in themselves, and dissociated from their original context, can be practiced by Catholics with due discretion."
Father Lawrence J. Gesy, the cult consultant for the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the lead author of "Today’s Destructive Cults and Movements," says those seeking an acupuncturist should "make sure the person who is doing the acupuncture is medically licensed."
According to the Mayo Clinic Web site, there are about 3,000 medical doctors in the U.S. who use acupuncture as part of their clinical practice. No individual needs to resort to a New Age practitioner in order to enjoy the benefits of acupuncture.

"Those who are into the Chinese-god concept of acupuncture usually have charts up, or will talk about gods and energy levels," Father Gesy said. "These people are ‘channeling.’ The needle becomes their channel from the source of the energy of the gods into that person."
Acupuncture works without the religious component, and is a much better bargain for Christians because it comes all the benefits, but none of the spiritual risks.

NEXT ISSUE: Bewitched By Wicca.

(This article originally appeared in The Catholic Standard and Times, the Philadelphia archdiocesan newspaper.)

The Catholic Standard and Times, the Philadelphia archdiocesan newspaper.)

Christian or New Age? Part 4

2007-10-09T17:59:00.000-07:00

This article is from the Catholic Herald

The Enneagram: What's Your Number?
Susan Brinkmann, Special to the HeraldAug 23, 2007 4:15 PM
[EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the fourth part of a series that examines how Catholics are being challenged by followers of New Age philosophies.]

If you’re a "seven," you’re a compulsive optimist who likes everything warm and fuzzy.
"Sevens" don’t get along very well with "fours," because "fours" are too "artsy" and think suffering is a way to be special in a plain world.

If you’re not sure what number you are, perhaps you’ve never been exposed to the enneagram, a numerical system of nine personality types that is often popular with people involved in New Age philosophies. They use it for spiritual direction and self-knowledge.

Followers are taught how to identify their enneagram type, improve their personality, and "pray in sync" with whatever their "type" may be.

That might sound harmless, but it is not, according to the Pontifical Councils for Culture and Interreligious Dialogue

In their 2003 document, "Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life: A Christian Reflection on the New Age," the councils describe enneagrams this way: "(T)he enneagram, [is a] nine-type tool for character analysis, which when used as a means of spiritual growth introduces an ambiguity in the doctrine and the life of the Christian faith."

The problem with the enneagram starts with its roots.

Derived from the Greek word "ennea," which means nine, and "gramma," which means line drawing, the enneagram is a circle around an inner triangle and hexagon.

At the nine points where the angles touch the circle are nine personality types: the perfectionist, the caregiver, the achiever, the artist, the observer, the team player, the optimist, the competitor and the peacemaker.

"The circle symbolizes creation and the unity of life," writes Father Mitch Pacwa, S.J., in his book, "Catholics and the New Age" (Servant, 1992) "The triangle represents the Trinity, the threeness in God, which is ‘inside creation."’

But the Christian symbolism is just a veneer.

According to Father Pacwa’s research, the enneagram entered Western culture through the teachings of two men: George Gurdjieff and Oscar Ichazo. Gurdjieff brought the actual symbol from the Orient, and Ichazo was responsible for applying the various personality "types" to the symbol.

Occult influences appear in the teachings of both men.

Gurdjieff was a Russian millionaire who established what he called the "Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man" in Moscow in 1922. He learned the enneagram symbol during his travels through central Asia. He claimed that Muslim mystics, known as Sufis, taught him the enneagram’s numerology and other mystical uses, including divination — which is forbidden in Deuteronomy 18:9-14 and other Bible passages.

Ichazo’s history is even more troubling. Born in 1931, Ichazo claimed he was having out-of-body experiences at the age of 6, which resulted in his leaving the church. He claimed that he could not accept Catholic teaching on heaven or hell because he had been there, and knew more about them than Christ and the church.

To gain control of his own consciousness, Ichazo studied Oriental martial arts, Zen, Andes Indian thought, shamanism, yoga, hypnotism and psychology. He joined esoteric groups in Bolivia and Argentina and traveled to Hong Kong, India and Tibet to study mysticism.

Ichazo claims to have received instructions from a higher entity, called "Metatron, the prince of the archangels." Members of his group contact lower spirits through meditation and mantras, and are guided by an internal master, known as the Green Qu’ Tub, who makes himself known when a student reaches a sufficiently high stage of development.

Many instructors of the enneagram, including Ichazo and Gurdjieff, have claimed its roots go back as far as 2500 B.C. in Mesopotamia, but the only historic evidence Father Pacwa could find for the enneagram goes back no further than the 1960s.

His own enthusiasm for the enneagram faded as he became increasingly aware of serious problems with the concept, from its purported antiquity and links to occultism to a variety of theological problems. He also found there is a danger in using a scientifically untested system for the purpose of helping people deal with personality disorders.

That concern is shared by Christopher Rees, whose article "The Enneagram and Catholic Personalism" appeared in the April 2001 issue of the journal Homiletics and Pastoral Review.
"Unlike some ‘personality type indices,’ the enneagram remains untested by any scientific study," Rees wrote.

"Like Sufism, the ‘dynamisms’ adopted in each of the nine ‘types’ depends on which guru or shaikh you prefer," Rees added. "There are as many ways of constructing groups and interpreting the enneagram as there are gurus. So the only apparent similarity the enneagram shares with behavioral sciences is its lack of a paradigm."

Because the enneagram has descriptions that read like those for esoteric systems such as tarot cards, astrology and biorhythms, according to Rees, "advocacy of the enneagram by some Catholics is more problematic.

"The Gnostic roots manifest in all enneagram systems guarantee that enneagram systems can never be reconciled with the sacred deposit of faith," he said.
Those gnostic roots are also particularly troublesome to Father Lawrence J. Gesy, the cult consultant for the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the lead author of "Today’s Destructive Cults and Movements."

"Gnosticism is a heresy that has existed since the time of the Greeks," Father Gesy said. "It is based on the belief that we are saved by our knowledge and not by our faith.

The truth, as taught by the Catholic Church, is different in that, he noted: "Our wisdom does not save us, but the humility to surrender to God’s grace as the source of salvation is essential for the Christian self-transformation. We are not saved by our own merits or our wisdom — but with God’s assistance. In other words, self-transformation is impossible, but transformation by God’s grace is possible."

The enneagram joins other New Age beliefs because of its reliance on self rather than on God, Father Gesy said: "It gives credit to the creature rather than the Creator for the source of our being and salvation."

Father Pacwa agrees. "The mixture of so many non-Christian elements in the enneagram system raises the need to be very careful about accepting it wholeheartedly," he warned in his book.

In fact, Father Pacwa wrote, Catholics should be wary of putting their faith in any system that remains so untested, and which lacks any established norms for its concepts or instructors.
"No tests, no standards, no board of examination exists," he says, "so most enneagram ‘experts’ have that title through self-declaration and workshop advertising.

"People do not go to doctors and psychologists unless that practitioner is tested and licensed," Father Pacwa said. "Should not some similar requirement be made of enneagram teachers, who not only explain what your personality is like, but make recommendations about what you should be like?"

NEXT ISSUE: Is accupuncture acceptable for Catholics?
(This article originally appeared in The Catholic Standard and Times, the Philadelphia archdiocesan newspaper.)

Christian or New Age? Part 3

2007-10-09T17:56:00.000-07:00

This is from the Catholic Herald online

Reiki and healing touch

Susan Brinkmann, Special to the HeraldAug 9, 2007 12:15 PM

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third part of a series that examines how Catholics are being challenged by followers of New Age philosophies.]

Everyone wants to be healed. Anyone who has ever attended a healing Mass can attest to the crowds that flock to the altar of the Lord to receive his healing touch.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of imitations available in the so-called "New Age" movement. One of the most popular is Reiki, with a variety of close cousins such as "healing touch," "therapeutic touch" and "hands of light."

Those alternative therapies are among practices that Catholics are cautioned about in a Vatican document, "Jesus Christ The Bearer of the Water of Life — A Christian reflection on the ‘New Age,’" issued in 2003 by the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

In their warning, the councils note that in such New Age therapies, "the source of healing is said to be within ourselves, something we reach when we are in touch with our inner energy or cosmic energy."

Reiki

According to Moira Noonan, a former Reiki Master and author of a memoir, "Ransomed from Darkness," that is, indeed, what Reiki teaches.

"Reiki is a method of healing through the transmission and activation of a person’s spiritual energy," she writes. "This therapy looks somewhat like the Christian laying-on of hands, but this is deceptive. The symbolism of Reiki is deeply influenced by Buddhist traditions and invisible spirit guides. These spirit guides are specifically invoked by name to confer their healing powers."

There is discrepancy in what is said to be the true history of Reiki. For instance, organizations that are involved in selling the concept to the largely Christian West either downplay or deny its association with Buddhism. See "What Catholics believe" later in this article.
However, disinterested parties, such as academic centers for religious studies, seem to agree on certain key facts about Reiki.

First, it was said to be rediscovered in the 19th century by a medical doctor named Mikao Usui.
Second, Usui rediscovered Reiki during a 21-day retreat devoted to studying Buddhist Tantric texts. Tantric Buddhism involves the use of spells, incantations, complicated rituals and magical powers to achieve enlightenment.

And, third, Reiki energy supposedly entered Usui during his retreat.
From that time on, Usui had healing power, and he initiated others into the secrets of that power through what he called "attunements."

In that procedure, "attunement energies" are channeled into students through Reiki masters, who are guided by the Rei or God-consciousness, and by other Reiki "guides" and other spiritual entities that help the process along.

Like other forms of New Age healing, Reiki is promoted as a technique that is obtainable through weekend workshops. Becoming a Reiki master can be expensive: Workshop fees range from $175 to $500.

Healing Touch

Healing practices that are based on using energy-channeling to heal have morphed into a variety of techniques known as "healing touch" or "therapeutic touch."

One of the most popular is promoted by Barbara Brennan, a former NASA research scientist turned New Age healer. The author of "Hands of Light," Brennan is regarded as one of the most widely recognized teachers of New Age healing that uses spirit guides.

The former New-Ager Noonan attended Brennan’s institute.

"As Brennan herself admits, her ideas are drawn from direct communication with a spirit guide named Heyoan," Noonan writes in her memoir. "(Brennan’s) channelings from this entity are regularly published word-for-word by her institute, and offered to the world as expressions of divine wisdom.

"This is what I mean when I talk about the role of demons in the practice of Reiki," Noonan writes.

Another former New Age practitioner, Clare McGrath Merkle, had similar experiences with energy healers, which caused her to return to the Catholic faith.

Merkle is an accomplished author and speaker who has appeared on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) and various national radio programs. She now devotes her life to warning people about the dangers of the New Age.

Merkle says one popular, so-called energy healing technique is being promoted by a company called Healing Touch International (HTI).

HTI was founded in 1993 by two nurses who wanted to bring the influence of New Age "energy channeling" techniques to hospitals, schools and parishes.

Merkle writes in the article, "Is Healing Touch at your parish?" that "The HTI web site describes the techniques as ‘energy based healing therapies from a Judeo-Christian perspective.’ They (say they) teach ways to ‘integrate Healing Touch into church/parish healing ministry.’"

But, she says, beneath its Christian veneer, the principles underlying "Healing Touch" are not compatible with Catholicism.

"If you go to their Web site and look at their recommended resources and books, it’s a mile long of occult texts," Merkle said.

That is not how it appears to the public however: "They work in teams at hospitals, and come around to your bed and ask, ‘Would you like us to pray over you?’ Of course people who are sick are going to say yes. Then they start doing their ‘energy’ work."

Is this deliberate deception on the part of Healing Touch practitioners?

Probably not, Merkle says. The problem is that most practitioners have done little more than read a few books or take a few weekend workshops in their training. Very few can correctly identify the source of the "energy" they’re trying to manipulate.

According to Merkle, many experts say that although such "energy" techniques are known by different names, they have the same root: "The root is in Kundalini yoga and the raising of the ‘serpent power’ up the spine, opening the chakras and giving people magical occult powers. She says New Age "energy techniques" and "healing modalities," as they are called, are forms of this magic.

What Catholics Believe

The fact that these practices borrow from other religions is not the problem, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said in the 1989 document issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, "Some Aspects of Christian Meditation." Speaking about various forms of Eastern meditation, he assures us that we can adopt what is good from other religions, "as long as the Christian conception of prayer, its logic and requirements are never obscured."
The problem with Reiki and healing touch is that it is based on beliefs peculiar to various forms of Hinduism and Buddhism which "posit the existence of a life energy (ki or kundalini) and interpret that energy as spiritual," which is not a Christian belief.

Christians believe that man is a union of body and soul, and that the soul is an essential form of the body — not an energy force.

"From a spiritual perspective, we believe the soul is the life-principle of the body, not something else," wrote the editors at Catholic Answers. "Consequently, there is no spiritual ‘life energy’ animating the body. Any energy used as part of the body’s operations — such as the electricity in our nervous system — is material in nature, not spiritual. . . . Since this (belief) is contrary to Christian theology, it is inappropriate for Christians to participate in activities based on this belief."

Jesuit Father Mitch Pacwa, an internationally known biblical scholar and popular television and radio host, raises another question about practitioners of those and other healing fads that are being practiced, in some cases, on a church’s property.
"Are these people practicing medicine without a license?" he asks. "And if so, who is going to be liable if there’s a malpractice suit?"

Although many practitioners sincerely believe they are helping people, there is no scientific study associated with any of these methods, Father Pacwa says.
Even more troubling is the fact that their practitioners disguise them as a form of the Christian laying-on of hands, according to Father Pacwa.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes the laying on of hands as a "sign" (CCC, No. 699) not a means of channeling "energy."

"Reiki is an attempt to make a ‘technique’ out of praying for the sick," Father Pacwa said. "Praying for the sick has to be understood as an aspect of God’s grace operative in our lives. It’s not a ‘technique.’ That’s where it becomes ‘magical,’ and Christianity is not about using magic."NEXT TOPIC: We look at enneagrams.

(This article originally appeared in The Catholic Standard and Times, the Philadelphia archdiocesan newspaper.)

Christian Or New Age? Part 2

2007-10-09T17:52:00.000-07:00

This is from the Catholic Herald online.

Ten questions to help you determine 'Christian or New Age?'
Susan Brinkmann/Special to the HeraldJul 30, 2007 11:00 AM

The following is an excerpt from "Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life: A Christian Reflection on the ‘New Age,’" a document published by the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

1. Is God a being with whom we have a relationship (Christian) or something to be used or a force to be harnessed (New Age)?

The Pontifical councils explain, "The New Age concept of God is rather diffused . . . The New Age god is an impersonal energy. ‘[G]god’ in this sense is the life-force or soul of the world. Divinity is to be found in every being," from a single crystal up to and beyond God himself.

"This is very different from the Christian understanding of God as the maker of heaven and earth and the source of all personal life," the councils say. "God is in himself, personal, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who created the universe in order to share the communion, of his life with creaturely persons."

2. Is there just one Jesus Christ (Christian) or are there thousands of Christs (New Age)?
Jesus is often represented in New Age writings as one among many wise men or great prophets.
Christians believe Jesus Christ is God, the Second Person of the Trinity, the same Jesus of Nazareth about which the Gospels speak, who is the only Son of God, true man and true God.
3. The human being: Is there one universal being (New Age) or are there many individuals (Christian)?

The concept of "holism"— which is the theory that complete entities, including human beings, are components of a larger reality, that has an existence over and above the sum total of themselves — pervades New Age thought and practice, where union with the whole cosmos is sought.

"The real danger is the holistic paradigm. New Age thinking is based on totalitarian unity and that is why it is a danger," the councils write.
The Christian approach is that each man and woman is a unique creation, made in God’s image and likeness. Our human "wholeness" does not come about by achieving union with the cosmos.

"The human person is a mystery fully revealed only in Jesus Christ," the councils explain, "and in fact becomes authentically human in his relationship with Christ through the gift of the Spirit."

4. Do we save ourselves (New Age) or is salvation a free gift from God (Christian)?
The Pontifical councils put the question this way: "Do we save ourselves by our own actions, as is often the case in New Age explanations, or are we saved by God’s love?"

The response: "For Christians, salvation depends on participation in the passion, death and resurrection of Christ, and on a direct personal relationship with God, rather than on any technique. The human situation, affected as it is by original sin and by personal sin, can be rectified only by God’s action: Sin is an offense against God, and only God can reconcile us to himself."

5. Do we invent truth (New Age), or do we embrace it (Christian)?

"New Age truth is about good vibrations, cosmic correspondence, harmony and ecstacy, in general, pleasant experiences," the councils’ document states. "It is a matter of finding one’s own truth in accordance with the feel-good factor."

Christians believe that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

"His followers are asked to open their whole lives to him and to his values. In other words, to an objective set of values which are part of an objective reality ultimately knowable to all," the councils write.

6. Prayer and meditation: Are we talking to ourselves (New Age) or to God (Christian)?
"The tendency to confuse psychology and spirituality makes it hard not to insist that many of the meditation techniques now used are not prayer," state the councils. "They are often a good preparation for prayer, but no more, even if they lead to a more pleasant state of mind or bodily comfort."

Christian prayer, by contrast, is a double orientation which involves "introspection but is essentially also a meeting with God. Far from being a merely human effort, Christian mysticism is essentially a dialogue, which ‘implies an attitude of conversion, a flight from "self" to the "you" of God.’"

7. Are we tempted to deny sin (New Age) or do we accept that there is such a thing (Christian)?
"In New Age, there is no real concept of sin, but rather one of imperfect knowledge; what is needed is enlightenment, which can be reached through particular psycho-physical techniques," the councils say.

Those who ascribe to New Age philosophies "are never told what to believe, what to do or what not to do [but, rather] ‘There are a thousand ways of exploring inner reality. Go where your intelligence and intuition lead you. Trust yourself.’"

In the Christian perspective, "only in the knowledge of God’s plan for man can we grasp that sin is an abuse of the freedom that God gives to created persons so that they are capable of loving him and loving one another. Sin is an offence against reason, truth and right conscience; it is a failure in genuine love for God and neighbor," the Vatican councils say.

8. Are we encouraged to reject suffering and death (New Age) or accept it (Christian)?

"Some New Age writers view suffering as self-imposed or as bad karma, or at least as a failure to harness one’s own resources . . .," the councils explain.

"Reincarnation is often seen as a necessary element in spiritual growth, a state in progressive spiritual evolution which began before we were born and will continue after we die. . . .

"Reincarnation is irreconcilable with the Christian belief that a human person is a distinct being who lives one life for which he or she is fully responsible . … The Redeemer suffered in place of man and for man. Every man has his own share in the redemption. Each one is called to share in that suffering through which all human suffering has also been redeemed. In bringing about the redemption through suffering, Christ has also raised human suffering to the level of the redemption."

9. Is social commitment something to be ignored (New Age) or positively sought after (Christian)?

"Much in New Age is unashamedly self-promotion. . . . The fusion of individuals into the cosmic self, the relativisation or abolition of difference and opposition in a cosmic harmony, is unacceptable to Christianity," the councils state.

On the other hand, they write, Christians believe that "where there is true love, there has to be a different other (person). A genuine Christian searches for unity in the capacity and freedom of the other to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the gift of love. Union is seen in Christianity as communion; unity as community."

10. Is our future in the stars (New Age) or do we help construct it (Christian)?
A fundamental New Age belief is based on the idea of an imminent astrological Age of Aquarius, which will end the period of the last 2,000 years, known as the Age of Pisces — which is referred to as the Christian age.

According to the pontifical councils: "[New Agers believe that] the New Age which is dawning will be peopled by perfect, androgynous beings who are totally in command of the cosmic laws of nature. In this scenario, Christianity has to be eliminated and give way to a global religion and a new world order."

Aside from the fact that astrology is not a science, but rather, an ancient belief system, Christians do not believe in the passage of astrological ages.

Christians believe that the true new age began 2,000 years ago with the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Because Christians believe he will come again, they are always vigilant, not knowing when will be the day or the hour of his triumphant return.

Christian or New Age? Part 1

2007-10-09T17:43:00.000-07:00

This is from an article from the Catholic Herald online.

Popular movement is one of the most pressing challenges to Christian faith

Susan Brinkmann, Special to the HeraldJul 6, 2007 10:30 AM

We’re all in this universe together, from planets to porpoises, flowers to fungi, babies to barnacles, all sharing the same, immense vibration of energy. People are like holograms, reflecting the image of all creation, where everyone and everything vibrates on its own frequency and yet is intimately united by a mysterious energy force called life. We’re a collection of inter-connected neurons in the earth’s central nervous system.

That concept of life might sound like a magical mystery tour, but in fact it is the concept of "reality" many espouse for a new age, which has supposedly begun to dawn in the universe. Some describe that age as the Age of Aquarius, the time for a major paradigm shift in our world-view, replacing the world-view of the present Christian era, which they call the Age of Pisces and which they believe is slowly dying away.

Sound fanciful?

It is, according to "Jesus Christ, the Bearer of the Water of Life: A Christian Reflection on the New Age," which is a document issued in 2003 by the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

"For many people, the term ‘New Age’ clearly refers to a momentous turning-point in history," the Vatican councils state in the publication. "People who stress the imminent change in the world are often expressing a wish for such a change, not so much in the world itself as in our culture."

The Age of Aquarius is a vision, they say, not a theory — and there are several basic principles behind the new vision of the individual, society and the world.
Among those principles is a desire to shift from traditional forms of religion to more personal expressions of what is now being called "spirituality" — to move from a male-dominated culture to one that celebrates the feminine, and to rely less on reason and more on feelings and emotions.

Those shifts are found in everything from the Human Potential Movement and the worship of goddesses such as Gaia and Sophia and with pre-Christian forms of religion such as shamanism and ancient Egyptian practices.

"The New Age movement is both the symptom of a culture in deep crisis and the wrong answer to this situation of cultural crisis, its worries, questions, aspirations and hopes," Cardinal Paul Poupard, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, wrote in the March 5, 2003, edition of L’Osservatore Romano.

"The phenomenon of the New Age Movement, together with other new religious movements, is one of the most pressing challenges to the Christian faith," Cardinal Poupard wrote in the article. "The New Age Movement sets forth theories and doctrines about God, man and the world, which are incompatible with the Christian faith."

What is most attractive about these New Age alternatives is that they "do not demand any more faith or belief than going to the cinema and yet claim to satisfy people’s spiritual appetites," the pontifical document states.

This leads one to ask, what exactly are those spiritual appetites, according to the New Age?
The answer to that question, the Vatican councils say in "Jesus Christ: The Bearer of Water and Life," is the key that distinguishes some of the differences between the Christian tradition and much of what can be called New Age.

"Some versions of New Age harness the powers of nature and seek to communicate with another world to discover the fate of individuals, to help individuals tune in to the right frequency to make the most of themselves and their circumstances. In most cases, it is completely fatalistic," the document warns of "New Age" philosophy. "Christianity, on the other hand, is an invitation to look outward and beyond, to the ‘new Advent’ of the God who calls us to live the dialogue of love."

Many of those New Age fascinations are being fueled by modern technology, such as the Internet, which can be a "volatile vehicle of misinformation on so many aspects of religion," the Vatican authors warns.

"Not all that is labeled ‘Christian’ or ‘Catholic’ can be trusted to reflect the teachings of the Catholic Church and, at the same time, there is a remarkable expansion of New Age sources ranging from the serious to the ridiculous," they say in the 2003 document. "People need, and have a right to, reliable information on the differences between Christianity and New Age."
The document cites specifically many popular practices, including the enneagram, healing touch massage, Celtic Christianity and Wicca. What are these practices? Where do they come from and how compatible are they with Christianity?

"It would be unwise to say everything connected with the New Age movement is good, or that everything about it is bad," the document states.
That is why their aim is not to condemn, the writers say, but to help Catholics understand the basic principles behind New Age thinking "so that they can then make a Christian evaluation of the elements of New Age they encounter."

At the same time, Cardinal Poupard writes that unknowingly using New Age products or therapies does not necessarily mean embracing the entire ideology of the New Age movement.
"A certain discernment is necessary both for what pertains to products labeled New Age and for what pertains to those who, to a greater or lesser degree can be considered ‘clients’ of the New Age movement," the cardinal wrote.

"Clients, devotees and disciples are not the same thing," he says. "Honesty and integrity require that we be very prudent and not turn every blade of grass into a bundle, by using labels with the greatest of ease."

Beginning this issue, The Colorado Catholic Herald will launch a multi-part series on a variety of New Age practices. Each part will provide historical information on the origins of a particular practice, first-hand accounts from practitioners and what our church teaches about it.
We will explore common questions among the laity, including: What is the difference between the various forms of "healing touch" and the Christian practice of laying on of hands? When are meditation techniques useful for Christian prayer, and when do they stray into forms of meditation that are not consistent with Catholic teaching? How sound a science is astrology, and why does one expert say our "sun signs" need to be moved back one complete sign? Is there such a thing as magic, and where do those powers come from?

NEXT ISSUE: "Divination: Consulting psychics and mediums" and a 10-question test to determine whether practices you are reading about or may be encountering are Christian or New Age.

(This article originally appeared in The Catholic Standard and Times, the Philadalphia archdiocesan newspaper.)

The Catholic Standard and Times, the Philadalphia archdiocesan newspaper.)

What Can Brown Do For You?

2007-10-02T18:14:00.000-07:00

A Blog From Fr. V. and Sister Mary Martha.

What can Brown do for you?
There is a wonderful blog written by "Sister Mary Martha," who if I am not mistaken, is a religious sister, commonly known as a nun. However, there is nothing common about her! She runs an extraordinary blog that I check out very often and really enjoy. She is faithful to the Lord and His Church, witty in her commentary, and a wonderful writer. (On top of all that, she is a sister, and anyone who knows me even causally knows that I love my sisters! They are an often underappreciated gift that God gives to His Church, and we should treasure them as such.)So, with her permission, I am stealing a blog of hers, "What can Brown do for you?" It is about a most important Catholic sacramental called the 'scapular'. I realize that this may get my seperated brethren in a tizzy, but I hope they read this with an open mind, learn what the Church actually teaches on sacramentals, and enjoy Sister's sterling sense of humor.I wear a scapular, and would invite every Catholic to do the same. It is a wonderful reminder of Our Lady's love for her children and our invitation to eternal happiness through everyday holiness. (One more special thanks to Sister, as I was asked to write a blog on the scapular a while ago, and haven't found the time.)God love you!************
What can Brown do for you?
(A Homey Treatise on the Scapular)
I'm glad to have the opportunity to explain more about sacramentals, which seem to drive many people around the bend. I hope those who have been driven around the bend by sacramentals and the questions about them are offering up their suffering. It IS LENT.We've had quite the discussion about the Brown Scapular.One reader wants to know:I am I to understand that as long as I wear the brown scapular (provided it doesn't fall off), I get to heaven even if I deny the Trinity, the Real Presence and Christ's Redemption by the Cross?I really have to ask a question in return. If you deny the Trinity, the Real Presence and Christ's Redemption by the Cross, why on earth would you run around in a scapular all day every day? Clearly, you have no fear of hell in the first place.But fine, for the sake of argument, let's pretend someone would do that. (We can do that while we're pretending the bones of the Jesus Family have been found and identified.)Here's how I see it. Keep in mind I am an old nun that taught Catechism to second graders.1. Our Lady made the Brown Scapular promise in direct reference to people who had devoted their lives to Christ and His Church. The Brown Scapular to which she refers is a part of their habit. So the promise already refers to the faith. She could have phrased it this way, "All you Carmelites will not see the fires of hell."2. The Pope extended the promise to the rest of us, meaning, the Church Militant...which means, we believe the same thing. He didn't extend the promise to the separated brethren or the Wiccans.3. As an old nun who taught Catechism, do I believe that you could be a Catholic believer, yet lead a sinful life and still not see the fires of hell because you wore a Brown Scapular? You bet I do! God can do anything He wants, including honoring Mary's hair-brained promises. God likes to cut people some slack whenever the opportunity arises. Perhaps Mary in her Motherly wisdom realizes that you have to look at that thing and shower with that thing and wear your prom dress with that thing every day of your life and that just maybe that will be enough of a reminder for you to dial it back and straighten up and ask for forgiveness. Like when Jimmy Cagney looks at a picture of his sainted mother while he's in the pokey and he's sorry for the sorry life he has led. So touching. These things happen.Do you have to believe this? No, you don't.4. Do I think if you wear a Brown Scapular and lead a sinful life and are not sorry ever but just run around saying, "Ha ha, I'm wearing a brown Scapular! Satan will never get me!" that you won't see the fires of hell? Not a chance. Satan already has you. The one time you take it off to shower, you'll slip on the soap and crack your head open. The bus that knocks you out of your shoes will knock you right out of your scapular. The flood waters that wash you away will wash the scapular off your neck. Your evil boyfriend will remove it while you sleep and murder you for your jewels. The paramedic will take it off to give you a shot of adrenaline that doesn't work. The nursing home worker will steal it from you. The atomic blast will vaporize the Scapular one millisecond before it vaporizes you. As you tumble, end over end, down the basement stairs with no one home to hear all the thumping, your scapular will be tossed off and land right before your eyes along with you at the foot of the stairs. As the life drains from you as you lay bleeding from your head wound, you will reach pathetically for your scapular, but the cat will grab it and run out the basement window. At some point, you are going to want to throw it in the wash. When you do, you'll drop dead.You are not going to get away with it, mark my words.From another reader:The point I am trying to make is that when catholics make claims about sacramentals without giving the whole story, non-catholics easily fall into the "Catholics aren't Christian. Catholics are idolators" and a whole bunch of other stuff. I have to frequently explain to non-catholic friends the ideas of sacramentals, praying 'to' saints, and 'worshipping' the Blessed Virgin.I have to do that all the time too. Offer it up. It's a great opportunity to set the record straight.From yet another reader, this crackpot idea ( I had to correct some spelling):Got to love how we try to secure salvation through any means possible, regardless of how puerile or ridiculous it is. How can a piece of cloth guarantee salvation? What are we, Hindu?Along these same lines of superstitious, pagan left-overs in the Church, the Eastern Orthodox have numerous nifty wearable items and prayers to guarantee just the thing you need! Sure glad the church thought of everything. 100% money back guarantee, just like Folsom Lake Ford. Except this time it'll be too late to go spend your money.The piece of cloth is a symbol of what we believe. You don't need the symbol to believe it. You can dump all your sacramentals and saint holy cards into the landfill tomorrow. No problem. You can forget about wearing a scapular. You don't have to believe in anything that came to us through private revelations: scapular, the Miraculous Medal, the St. Gertrude prayer...let it all go, no problem.I may suggest also that you rid yourself of your family album and all those videotapes of the kids when they were little and the keepsake opal ring that belonged to your Grandmother because.... who needs reminders? What are we Hindu?

Omaha Couple Made for each Other

2007-09-28T17:47:00.001-07:00

Omaha couple made for each otherBY JOSEFINA LOZAWORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITERNewlyweds Christine and Gerry Kuhlman complement each other perfectly: She is his eyes, and he is her arms and legs.

During the wedding rehearsal at St. John Catholic Church at Creighton University, Gerry Kuhlman reaches for Christine Heine's hand to place her wedding ring on her finger. The couple met years ago through a college friend.Since birth, Christine has been paralyzed pretty much from the neck down. Gerry lost his sight just after birth.But disabled hardly describes this energetic couple.Christine, a teacher, whizzes around her Omaha South High School classroom in an electric wheelchair. Gerry, an academic adviser, uses a cane to navigate Creighton University.They use personality and technology to push past their disabilities.Christine drives Gerry to work, using her mouth to hit buttons that change the minivan's gears and her wrist to move a joystick that turns the steering wheel.Gerry feeds his wife, puts on her lip gloss and brushes her hair."Combined, we can pretty much do anything," he said before they married last weekend.They've also gotten by pretty well on their own.Christine, 34, brims with energy and sass. She grew up as Christine Heine in west Omaha and graduated from Millard South and Creighton University.After graduation, she taught biology at Burke High. But she couldn't hold a beaker or dissect a frog. It was grueling, and Christine resented any help. Even her mom thought she'd quit.Christine eventually switched jobs, to South's math department. She could teach fractions and formulas on her own.She uses a pencil-like straw with a rubber eraser at the end to type and to turn textbook pages. Aside from an aide who pokes her head in to see if Christine needs help turning on the overhead projector or passing out papers, Christine runs the class.Across town, Gerry taps away on his talking computer and helps students pick courses. The 37-year-old has been at the university for almost two decades, first as a student.He grew up on a farm near Petersburg, Neb. He never really needed much help getting around. He had to feed the calves powdered milk and get the barn ready for milking.The couple met through a college friend at a bar near campus. Gerry said his attraction was instant to the petite blonde who drank beer through a straw and cussed a lot.He laughed at almost everything she said. They both loved Husker football and the Bluejays."At first, it was more of a friendship thing," Gerry said. "I suppose back then if you told us we would be together, we would have been like, 'No way.' But as our friendship got closer, we got closer."They dated on and off for years before getting engaged last year.They recently closed on a house they had built near 96th and Harrison Streets. It's close to where Christine's mom lives - where Christine lived, too, until she got married - but not too close.They designed a ranch-style home with a level driveway so Christine could get in and out easily. Inside their two-car garage is a small ramp where she drives her wheelchair into the house.They have a large living room with a big-screen TV. Gerry likes lots of noise in the house. Sound comforts him, especially when Christine's not there. She's always on the go at dinner dates with girlfriends or at Mom's.Christine made sure the house had a huge bathroom with wall-sized mirrors. She needed space near the toilet to get around and a mounted shower chair.She has an opening in front of her bedroom vanity. That's where Gerry brushes his wife's soft bob haircut and powders her face in the mornings."There are certain things she won't let me do," he said. "She won't let me put on the rest of her makeup. I guess that's understandable." (Mom and girlfriends will help with that some mornings.)The house has no steps, except for the ones leading to the basement."We made the basement steps wider so I could carry her downstairs," Gerry said. "We'll keep a spare wheelchair down there for her. But that's where I'm going to keep my fun stuff like my drums so she can't get down there unless I take her."They bake and cook together. A few weeks ago, Gerry needed to bring chocolate chip cookies to work.The couple called Christine's mom for a recipe. Christine read Gerry the recipe while he mixed the flour and eggs in a bowl. She made sure the cookies were brown before telling Gerry to take them out of the oven."I thought, 'How in the world are these two going to bake cookies?'" said mom Kathleen Heine. "The next day, I couldn't believe it. Gerry brought over six perfectly shaped brown cookies."They built balance into their relationship like any other couple.Christine sifts through the mail and pays the bills. Gerry washes the dishes and does the laundry."I'll have to clean a lot more. That's the worst thing about getting married," he said. "But I can do that for her."On Friday, more than 500 people packed into St. John Catholic Church on Creighton's campus for the wedding.Gerry was nervous. His hands shook a little. He stood near the priest, waiting for his bride to wheel down the aisle.Christine's classroom aide sewed her white satin gown. Seven bridesmaids wore deep red satin. Most were college girlfriends who couldn't believe the two finally were getting married.Christine approached the altar, and Gerry quickly grabbed the back of her wheelchair. He maneuvered his body as she turned to face the priest, who has known the couple for 11 years."I've been waiting for this wedding for a long time," he said to the audience.Gerry reached for Christine's hand and placed a ring on her finger.Wedding music revved up. The couple kissed and turned to their friends and family members, inciting a roar of cheers and claps."People think we're the cutest couple ever," said Gerry. "They've wanted us to get married for so long. But I think mostly people think we're a great team." URL: http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10141752

2007-09-27T19:02:00.000-07:00

Reorienting the Mass
This article from Zenit (by way of Catholic Online) helps to explain the posture of the priest facing with the people towards the altar during Holy Mass. This posture, known as "ad orientem" (to the east) is the common posture in what is now called the "Extraordinary Form" of the Holy Mass, and is allowable, although sadly not widely practiced, in the Ordinary Form. There is something beautiful, and unitive, about the people facing with the priest during the offering of the Holy Sacrifice. It symbolizes the fact that together, as the Church, we are all a pilgrim people moving together towards the Lord through out life. One body acting in concert towards one goal. It is not impossible to express this facing the people, but more difficult and sadly, as we have seen born out, easily lost. What has been lost in wide measure is that the Mass is a dialogue with God, and not with each other (just it is also missed that the Mass is what God does for man and not man for God) . I believe that the common posture of priest and people accentuates and supports this divine dialogue. I also believe that this posture also accentuates the role of priest as head and shepherd, standing in the person of Christ, acting as mediator between God and man. Why is their a dearth of men answering the call to priesthood? The answer is legion, and no simple answer will suffice. However, I am sure that among those answers that could be had is the "new" and false model of priest as facilitator of the community's worship instead of the true model of priest as alter Christus, standing in the person of Christ, offering the true sacrifice of Calvary for the salvation of the world. This is a mystery worth living and dying for. Questions and comments are welcome. God love you!************

- From Father V.

Reorienting the MassFather Lang Comments on "Ad Orientem"9/26/2007

LONDON, SEPT. 26, 2007 (Zenit) - The statement asserting that the priest celebrating the older form of the Mass has "his back to the people" misses the point, says Father Uwe Michael Lang.The posture "ad orientem," or "facing east," is about having a common direction of liturgical prayer, he adds.Father Lang of the London Oratory, and recently appointed to work for the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church, is the author of "Turning Toward the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer." The book was first published in German by Johannes Verlag and then in English by Ignatius Press. The book has also appeared in Italian, French, Hungarian and Spanish.In this interview with us, Father Lang speaks about the "ad orientem" posture and the possibilities for a rediscovery of the ancient liturgical practice.Q: How did the practice of celebrating the liturgy "ad orientem," or "facing east," develop in the early Church? What is its theological significance?Father Lang: In most major religions, the position taken in prayer and the layout of holy places is determined by a "sacred direction." The sacred direction in Judaism is toward Jerusalem or, more precisely, toward the presence of the transcendent God -- "shekinah" -- in the Holy of Holies of the Temple, as seen in Daniel 6:10.Even after the destruction of the Temple, the custom of turning toward Jerusalem was kept in the liturgy of the synagogue. This is how the Jews have expressed their eschatological hope for the coming of the Messiah, the rebuilding of the Temple, and the gathering of God's people from the diaspora.The early Christians no longer turned toward the earthly Jerusalem, but toward the new, heavenly Jerusalem. It was their firm belief that when the Risen Christ would come again in glory, he would gather his faithful to make up this heavenly city.They saw in the rising sun a symbol of the Resurrection and of the Second Coming, and it was a matter of course for them to pray facing this direction. There is strong evidence of eastward prayer in most parts of the Christian world from the second century onward.In the New Testament, the special significance of the eastward direction for worship is not explicit.Even so, tradition has found many biblical references for this symbolism, for instance: the "sun of righteousness" in Malachi 4:2; the "day dawning from on high" in Luke 1:78; the angel ascending from the rising of the sun with the seal of the living God in Revelation 7:2; and the imagery of light in St John's Gospel.In Matthew 24:27-30, the sign of the coming of the Son of Man with power and great glory, which appears as the lightning from the east and shines as far as the west, is the cross.There is a close connection between eastward prayer and the cross; this is evident by the fourth century, if not earlier. In synagogues of this period, the corner with the receptacle for the Torah scrolls indicated the direction of prayer -- "qibla" -- toward Jerusalem.Among Christians, it became a general custom to mark the direction of prayer with a cross on the east wall in the apses of basilicas as well as in private rooms, for example, of monks and solitaries.Toward the end of the first millennium, we find theologians of different traditions noting that prayer facing east is one of the practices distinguishing Christianity from the other religions of the Near East: Jews pray toward Jerusalem, Muslims pray toward Mecca, but Christians pray toward the east.Q: Do any of the other rites of the Catholic Church employ the "ad orientem" liturgical posture?Father Lang: "Facing east" in liturgical prayer is part of the Byzantine, Syriac, Armenian, Coptic and Ethiopian traditions. It is still the custom in most of the Eastern rites, at least during the Eucharistic prayer.A few Eastern Catholic Churches -- for example, the Maronite and the Syro-Malabar -- have lately adopted "Mass facing the people," but this is owing to modern Western influence and not in keeping with their authentic traditions.For this reason, the Vatican Congregation for Eastern Churches declared in 1996 that the ancient tradition of praying toward the east has a profound liturgical and spiritual value and must be preserved in the Eastern rites.Q: We often hear that "facing east" means the priest is celebrating "with his back to the people." What is really going on when the priest celebrates Mass "ad orientem"?Father Lang: That catchphrase often heard nowadays, that the priest "is turning his back on the people," misses the crucial point that the Mass is a common act of worship in which priest and people together -- representing the pilgrim Church -- reach out for the transcendent God.What is at issue here is not the celebration "toward the people" or "away from the people," but rather the common direction of liturgical prayer. This is maintained whether or not the altar is literally facing east; in the West, many churches built since the 16th century are no longer "oriented" in the strict sense.By facing the same direction as the faithful when he stands at the altar, the priest leads the people of God on their journey of faith. This movement toward the Lord has found sublime expression in the sanctuaries of many churches of the first millennium, where representations of the cross or of the glorified Christ illustrate the goal of the assembly's earthly pilgrimage.Looking out for the Lord keeps the eschatological character of the Eucharist alive and reminds us that the celebration of the sacrament is a participation in the heavenly liturgy and a pledge of future glory in the presence of the living God.This gives the Eucharist its greatness, saving the individual community from closing in upon itself and opening it toward the assembly of the angels and saints in the heavenly city.Q: In what ways does "facing east" during the liturgy foster a dialogue with the Lord?Father Lang: The paramount principle of Christian worship is the dialogue between the people of God as a whole, including the celebrant, and God, to whom their prayer is addressed.This is why the French liturgist Marcel Metzger argues that the phrases "facing the people" and "back to the people" exclude the one to whom all prayer is directed, namely God.The priest does not celebrate the Eucharist "facing the people," whatever direction he faces; rather, the whole congregation celebrates facing God, through Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit.Q: In the foreword to your book, then Cardinal Ratzinger notes that none of the documents of the Second Vatican Council asked for the altar to be turned toward the people. How did this change come about? What was the basis for such a major reorientation of the liturgy?Father Lang: Two main arguments in favor of the celebrant's position facing the people are usually presented.First, it is often said that this was the practice of the early Church, which should be the norm for our age; however, a close study of the sources shows that this claim does not hold.Second, it is maintained that the "active participation" of the faithful, a principle that was introduced by Pope Pius X and is central to "Sacrosanctum Concilium," demanded celebration toward the people.Recent critical reflection on the concept of "active participation" has revealed the need for a theological reappraisal of this important principle.In his book "The Spirit of the Liturgy," then Cardinal Ratzinger draws a useful distinction between participation in the Liturgy of the Word, which includes external actions, and participation in the Liturgy of the Eucharist, where external actions are quite secondary, since the interior participation of prayer is the heart of the matter.The Holy Father's recent postsynodal apostolic exhortation "Sacramentum Caritatis" has an important discussion of this topic in Paragraph 52.Q: Is a priest forbidden from "facing east" in the new order of the Mass promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1970? Is there any juridical obstacle prohibiting wider use of this ancient practice?Father Lang: A combination of priest and people facing each other during the Liturgy of the Word and turning jointly toward the altar during the Liturgy of the Eucharist, especially for the Canon, is a legitimate option in the Missal of Pope Paul VI.The revised General Instruction of the Roman Missal, which was first published for study purposes in 2000, addresses the altar question in Paragraph 299; it seems to declare the position of the celebrant "ad orientem" undesirable or even prohibited.However, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments rejected this interpretation in a response to a question submitted by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, archbishop of Vienna. Obviously, the relevant paragraph of the General Instruction must be read in light of this response, which was dated Sept. 25, 2000.Q: Will Pope Benedict's recent apostolic letter liberalizing the use of the Missal of John XXIII, "Summorum Pontificum," foster a deeper appreciation for "turning toward the Lord" during the Mass?Father Lang: I think many reservations or even fears about Mass "ad orientem" come from lack of familiarity with it, and the spread of the "extraordinary use" of the Roman rite will help many people to discover and appreciate this form of celebration.Contact: Catholic Onlinehttp://www.catholic.org CA, USCatholic Online - Publisher, 661-869-1000

Divorce: In the Image and Likeness of Hell

2007-09-27T19:00:00.002-07:00

Divorce: In the Image and Likeness of Hell

Catholics and Divorce, part 1
BY Melinda Selmys

September 30 - October 6, 2007 Issue Posted 9/25/07 at 11:24 AM

I never intended to fall in love.
For a long time, it was not something that I believed in: the portrayals on television and in books seemed trite and shallow. Those who claimed to be in love seemed to be living out a fantasy that was destined to crumble. Love, therefore, was something that happened unexpectedly, like a flash of sunlight on a winter pond.
When I decided that I was going to marry my husband, it was not a rational discourse, weighing the advantages of financial unity, or a bid for an end to loneliness. It was a bold resolve, made in the knowledge that I was forging something beautiful and irrevocable, that I was taking a step, like Ulysses setting sail for home, that would end either in shipwreck or in glory.
I had no delusions that I was wedding myself to Galahad. I had known my husband for some time, and I had seen there was evil in his soul — every bit as much as in mine — but I loved him, and I knew that this was the one man with whom I could stand before God and vow my life away. I knew that this loving would be enough, and that in all of its darkness and suffering and beauty we would find the means to save our souls.
It was years later, after the ring was locked upon the finger, that I was sitting in a car with my husband's divorced aunt. She said, "You know, no one will blame you if you divorce my nephew."
I didn't know what to say. It was as though someone had said to Frodo, "You know, no one will blame you if you just put on the One Ring and become like the Nazgul, half living and half dead." The dignity of the quest is too great to justify such an ignominious end.
This is not to claim that there have never been times when I have considered leaving.
Early in our marriage he was usually out of work. There were days when I was in tears because we didn't have enough money to buy milk for our daughter, and I considered walking out, telling him to call me when he had found a job and was ready to support a family.
But I knew that it would never happen: the motive for change would come from seeing me and his family with him, day by day, and that however humiliating it was to ask my parents for loans that I would never be able to repay, it would be more devastating to go home and admit that the project on which my life was built had failed.
In every marriage, there are moments when it seems impossible. I am sure that when Christ fell on the road to Cavalry, the thought of lifting his cross again and dragging it the rest of the way to the top of the hill seemed like madness. Perhaps it is different through divine eyes, but for men, there are always moments when we turn to heaven and say, "Are you insane?" When we are hardly able to see the top of Golgotha through our dust-bitten tears, we derive no comfort from reassurances that crucifixion isn't all that bad, and that, seen in perspective, it's really a beautiful expression of love and self-giving.
Unfortunately, this is how many tracts on divorce come across.
The theologians remind us that our married life is an image of the union between the soul and Christ in heaven. We hear of the wine of joy being mixed out of ordinary water, and of the bliss of two becoming one. We are offered the promise that if we just stick with it, it's all going to get better, and we'll enjoy a happy old age sipping lemonade on the front porch of a yellow house while our grandchildren play in the sun. We are told to improve communication, fall in love with each other all over again, observe the tender moments, etc., etc.
But how are you to fall in love again with an insensitive beast who has broken your heart and slept with another woman? How can you see your sex life as an image of the intimate life of the blessed Trinity when your wife consents only on a full moon when Mars is in Virgo, and makes love with the enthusiasm of a dead frog?
Marriage is, absolutely, an image of the soul wedded to God. It includes the same agony, the mingling of tears and blood, the same thorns digging into our skulls, the same nails plowed through our palms. And yet this yoke is easy, and this burden light.
This is the mystery at the heart of the Gospel, and it is the mystery at the heart of marriage: Only in dying do we live. Often we look at the spouse to whom we have vowed our life, and we think, "This is not the person that I married. This is not what I wanted." And yet, it is what we were promised: the sickness, the poverty, the worst.
We are often tempted to abandon the project — to call on the angels of divorce to come with their golden ledgers and take us down from the cross of nuptial defeat.
It is when this temptation is strongest that we have the greatest capacity to strengthen love.
Everyone experiences this at some point in their life, whether they are contemplating divorce, or adultery, or suicide, or abortion. There is a despair that tears the soul apart, a raging fire that consumes everything, and then the will consents, just a little, to the sin proposed. Then there is quiet. The soul looking down into the surface of the river Styx, and seeing its reflection writhing amongst the tortured ghosts.
It is not peace: it is death.
But when peace has been absent for a long time, it can seem to be a good alternative.
In this moment, there are two paths set before us. God tells us to choose life, so that we and our children may live. And yet, often enough, we choose death.
God allows us to survive these little deaths, just as he allowed Adam and Eve to survive when they were cast from the garden. Yet this is the more difficult path. I have met divorced people who, out of this confrontation with the image of hell, were eventually able to transform a lukewarm faith into a life of penance and service to Christ. One day one of these people will be canonized, and we will all be able to beseech them to save our marriages.
Yet it is unquestionably better to choose life — even the life that comes through the cross. God does not try the soul beyond her means. He does not condemn divorce without giving us the graces necessary to avoid it.
Next week, we will make an honest appraisal of the obstacles that stand in our way, and consider why so many people in the modern world are choosing the wide path to the end of marriage.
Melinda Selmys is
a staff writer at VulgataMagazine.org.
URL: http://ncregister.com/site/article/4675/

Eucharist Teaches us Charity

2007-09-27T19:00:00.001-07:00

Cardinal: Eucharist teaches us charity
By John Gleason
..
The Eucharist both generates and commands charity. So said Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect of the Congregation of Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, during a conference on stewardship he keynoted in Arvada last week.
More than 150 faithful, including laity and clergy both, gathered at Spirit of Christ Church Sept. 20 to participate in the 2007 Stewardship Confe-rence, "Eucharist: Nourishment for the Christian Steward." In addition to the Vatican City cardinal's keynote presentation, the conference included a panel discussion for pastors on making stewardship work in a parish, breakout sessions and Mass. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput O.F.M. Cap., delivered the opening remarks."Learning to live as a real Christian is a lifetime work," the archbishop said. "It always involves the choice of sacrificing yourself for the sake of others. One of the ways of doing that is giving of our time generously. I don't think that anybody understands stewardship in a practical way any better than our guest today, Cardinal Arinze."
During his address, Cardinal Arinze spoke on the conference theme.
"The Holy Eucharist is both the sacrifice and sacrament of Christ's love," he said. "The bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ, which we receive to promote our union with Christ and to nourish our souls.
"Christ loves us so much," he emphasized, "that he gives us his body to eat. What more could he have done for us?"
The sacrament of the Eucharist, the cardinal said, is Christ teaching us and sending us to love our neighbor and to share this love with everyone."Jesus teaches us that our neighbor is anyone who needs me," he said, "whether that person is of my culture or religion, whether I like the person or not."Bonita Welsh, a member of St. William Parish in Fort Lupton, said she was struck by the cardinal's message. It gave her a great deal to ponder."That was very much what I needed to hear," she said.
Following the cardinal's address, the group divided up into breakout sessions. Topics included how to make stewardship work in a parish, and marketing and maintaining stewardship.
Luis Soto, director of Hispanic ministry for the Denver Archdio-cese, presented on starting stewardship in a Hispanic parish."The Hispanic population is becoming a strong presence in the Church in the United States and we need to take responsibility to serve our Church in any way we can," Soto said. "It is time for Hispanics give their lives as disciples to the Church. I'm committed to that and will continue to work in that direction."
In the session about making stewardship a way of life, Mila Glodava, director of stewardship and communication at St. Thomas More Parish in Centennial, told her group that stewardship isn't something that can be initiated and then left to run itself. It takes work, but the results exceed that effort many times over.
"There has to be commitment," she said. "You need the support of your pastor and to get parish leaders to 'buy in.' The size of the parish isn't important because stewardship begins with small groups.
"And it isn't about money," she stressed. "It's about people."
Stewardship is about sharing one's time, talent and treasure. Time to help with parish projects and to serve on the parish council or to visit the elderly or deliver meals. A good Catholic parish is a community of sharing Christians, Glodava said, who pool their talents to help each other. Stewardship is about volunteering, what Glodava calls a "win-win" situation.
"Sure people give money," she said, "but it's about being involved in the parish, too."
Bob Zarlengo, president of the League of Stewardship Parishes, told conference attendees that the league's purpose is to continue to educate parishes as to the benefits of stewardship. He had a message for those parishes that have not yet looked into a stewardship program.
"We want to provide a platform for sharing ideas and serve as a resource for stewardship," he said. "If a parish is interested, we'll come talk to them. All they have to do is call."
URL: http://www.archden.org/dcr//news.php?e=438&s=4&a=9191

What the Devil?

2007-09-25T21:17:00.000-07:00

http://What the Devil?
by Br Matthew Whalen,
LC What is the devil trying to get you to do right now?

C. S. Lewis said that there are two errors we can make about devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe and feel an unhealthy interest for them. They themselves are equally pleased with both since both serve their end: the complete misery of man. Exorcist tales may rouse dread for this fiendish foe of man, but a glance at how he works in our own lives can help us wake to the reality of his existence and avoid the pitfalls he sets before us.

One tool the devil loves to apply is the separation of thinking and doing. In our modern, relativist society, this is often referred to as the abyss between my "private" and "social" life. I may have my own moral principles and beliefs, but I can't "impose" them on society. The devil of course does his best to assure us that society is a liberal, radical, dog-eat-dog monster that must be treated with respect and tolerance rather than an abstract generalization of real individuals with aspirations and desires that at their deepest roots are not that different from my own: the desire for happiness, success and love.

If, in fact, we look at things rationally, those enthusiasts for the radical majority-suppressing, psycho-sociologist, new neo-liberal liberationist slave-drivers don't escape imposing their view on everyone else by saying "No one can impose anything on anybody." To agree with them would be to impose their negative assumption on society. Why not "impose" something positive? It wouldn't really be that imposing if we're not forcing anyone, would it? No one's going to die if I speak about "God" or "religion" or "moral living" as essential elements for the true realization of man.

"But these are just logical games. Stop thinking!" Where'd that voice come from? Oh yes, we're talking about the devil aren't we? "As I was saying, thinking and doing are two different worlds! We don't act on reasoning; we act on instinct, impulse and whim." Yes, the devil stopped trying to use reason against us when he discovered these far more effective means.

"If it makes you happy it's not that bad." Yes, well if following whim and instinct really makes you happy, why—in Satan's fiery furnace—does it leave you empty, dissatisfied, and downright sad. Sure the merry-go-round's merry for a bit—till it turns into a hurricane. The whirling is fun at first, but after a while you start to feel sick. Isn't there something more than just living it up, often at the expense of others, until you die and are no more? Isn't there something more?

"No, stop thinking! Real life consists in the movie that just came out, the next party thrown, and overflowing bank accounts. To ask yourself where you're going in life is for weak-minded nitwits shut up in the library. Oh yes, my friend, you really need an inarticulate sense for actuality to escape the aberration of mere logic." And so on and so forth.

Why so eager to assure our destruction? The devil is a sore loser and doesn't want to admit that he's already lost. Instead he keeps trying to use and abuse us to kick back at the Conqueror.

He's pretty good at his task, but what would happen if we started to think about what we do? What would happen if we put aside prejudice and social fear, if we started thinking more about helping others and less about satisfying passing whims? What would happen if we acted on solid principles instead of letting ourselves be driven by circumstances, feelings, and passions? What would happen if one day we woke up to the reality of the devil and decided to shun the snares of his passing materialist world and opted for the Kingdom of Heaven?

Brother Matthew Whalen is studying for the priesthood in Rome.URL: http://www.catholic.net/twentysomething/template_channel.phtml?channel_id=10

Angels

2007-09-20T12:33:00.000-07:00

Angels - Part 3 by Mark Shea

September 18, 2007

The Church's tradition is chockablock with all sorts of devotions to angels, prayers to angels, and pleas for angelic intercession. One of the most common is the St. Michael prayer, which reminds us that, as Ephesians 6 tells us, we are living in a cosmic war zone. This means that the true nature of the conflict is not liberals vs. conservatives, or based on race, class, and gender. It is not about religion or politics or riches. It is not between humans at all ultimately (though, of course, humans were sucked into the war when our First Parent listened to the Fallen Angel—the Great Serpent who is called the Devil and Satan—and ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil).

But as that story makes clear, the war is older than humanity, for evil was already in the Garden before we got here. That war is not, as countless people think, a war between two equal and opposite foes called God and Satan. Rather it is a revolt by Satan and the demons against a God who is infinitely more loving, powerful, glorious and wise than the angels. Indeed, that is what makes sense of the temptation of Adam and Eve: when you cannot hurt the strong man, you hurt the ones he loves. There is no more exquisite form of revenge for a weakling than to simultaneously turn a good person's children against him and then engineer their destruction. That is what the Fall is, from Hell's perspective. The devil hates us because he hates our Father.

Curiously, Scripture tells us that the battle is fought on two fronts. In one battle, the combatants are not Satan and God, but Satan and St. Michael (cf. Revelation 12). That matters because part of the definition of God is "He who has no opposite". The demons, the powers and principalities, the spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places, are immensely powerful and clever superhuman spirits, but they are still creatures and they have no power over God at all—except what he gives them.

On the second front, the battle is waged, not so much against Satan as for us—and that by God himself. Our faith says that God gave the devils power over him when he became human in Christ Jesus. Not in the sense that he obeyed them, of course, but in the sense that he allowed them to do their worst: temptation, thirst, hunger, derision, hatred, betrayal, flogging, shameful death—Hell was allowed to pull out all the stops in its battle to finish what it attempted in Eden, the complete destruction of Man in the person of the Son of Man.

On both fronts, the demonic powers are defeated—ultimately by themselves—through the cross and our participation in it. That is why we are encouraged by Holy Church to make prayers to our guardian angel and to the various angels—Gabriel, Raphael, Michael—who are mentioned in the Tradition. The labor of spiritual warfare continues to this hour and includes not merely the defeat of the power and principalities, but the redemption, illumination, salvation, and divinization of the human race.

This is, of course, accomplished through Jesus Christ, who has not only redeemed us from the sin and death which came into the world through the devil's envy (Wisdom 2:24), but who has given us something the angels themselves lack: the grace to participate in his divine nature.
That is what St. Paul is getting at when he says that we shall judge angels (1 Corinthians 6:3) and when he says that he was given grace to preach the gospel to the world "so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the principalities and authorities in the heavens" (Ephesians 3:10). In a profound and mysterious sense, angels are not simply our superiors sent here to help us, nor are devils simply impervious to us as they seek to work our woe. The angels and devils are looking on in wonderment at us who, by grace, are now their superiors! They too shall hear "inasmuch as you did it to the least of my brethren, you did it to me". And the nature of their judgment will be, as it is with us, that they shall experience the fruit of their own sin or sanctity full grown. To those who chose the horror of self alone, self—alone—shall be theirs for eternity. For those who chose the self-forgetting ecstasy of the Triune God of love and his creatures, they shall have that, and know forever the love and joy of God and his gloriously redeemed, odd little creatures called human beings.

URL: http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/64090

The Nature of Sin and Grace

2007-09-20T12:28:00.000-07:00

Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D.

The Nature of Sin and Grace..>
September 16, 2007
Everyone knows the Bible stories of the Prodigal Son and the Golden Calf. But they don't usually put the two together as this Sundays' readings do. So what do the two tales have in common?
Answer: they both speak volumes about the nature of sin. Think about it. God sees an enslaved people in miserable bondage to the mightiest nation on earth. He champions their cause, smashes the armies of Pharaoh, brings them out of Egypt into freedom, and makes them his own chosen people. And while he is giving to their leader a blueprint for their new life, they decide to worship what their next-door neighbors, the Canaanites, worshiped: power, virility, fertility, prosperity. The golden bull symbolizes all those things, and for this very reason, was a leading idol in the Ancient Near East.
Now let's look at the Prodigal Son. He's born into a prosperous family and receives all good things from his father. But rather than waiting for his dad to die, he demands his inheritance now, thumbs his nose at his father, takes the money and runs. He wastes all that he has on partying and fast living, pursuing the very same idols as the Israelites in the desert
The food sated him. The wine exhilarated him. The carousing titillated him. But after it was all over, he found himself empty, lonely, and broke.
This is the grand illusion of sin. It is dangled before our eyes as the key to fulfillment and happiness. It is all about enjoying the gifts of creation in defiance of the Creator, in a way contrary to his wise and loving design. And because those things were in fact created good by God, it seems to work at first. Sin initially tastes good. But ultimately, it always turns sour and leaves us with an empty, aching sadness. In contrast, God's will may at first sting, but later brings a profound joy that makes our hearts sing.

So how do the stories of the golden calf and the Prodigal Son differ? It's really the difference between the Old and New Testaments, between a preliminary, partial revelation of God and the full revelation of God in Christ. In Exodus, God Almighty reacts to sin with righteous anger, as he did in Genesis when he sweeps the world clean of sin through the flood. If not for Moses' intercession, he likewise would have destroyed the bull-worshipers and started over.
In the gospel, God, the compassionate Father, looks past the sin to focus on the sinner. The older brother of the Prodigal wants punishment. The Father insists on mercy.
There is a very important point in the Prodigal story that should not escape our attention. The motivation of the son is not sincere sorrow at how badly he has offended his father. It is not even that he misses his father. He comes back because he is hungry. He admits his sin and wants pardon, yes, but it is to save his skin.
Does the Father care? Does his insist that the son's contrition be pure or perfect? Does he even pay attention to the son's rehearsed speech? No. He is overjoyed that the son has begun the journey home, for whatever reason. He lavishes gifts upon him before he even gets to the house. The elder brother insists that he does not deserve them. The Father does not contest this. The Prodigal deserves nothing. But the Father gives him everything.
God's freely given, unmerited grace precedes even our expression of sorrow. In fact, without God's grace, we can't make the first step on the road back to him. He loved us when we were yet sinners, and seems to lavish the greatest graces on the most undeserving.
Ask St. Paul about this. Perhaps he writes more about grace than any other biblical author because he needed it so much more. Was it Benjamin Franklin who said that God helps those who help themselves? Paul, the foremost of sinners (1 Tim 1:15), understood that it is quite the opposite: God helps those who can't help themselves. That's what grace is all about.
URL: http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/65657

The Brown Scapular of O.L. Of Mount Carmel

2007-09-20T12:19:00.000-07:00

THE BROWN SCAPULAR OF O. L. OF MOUNT CARMEL
A SIGN OF CHRISTIAN FAITH AND COMMITMENT

**************

When the clouds of temptation overshadow the day
May the the light of Mount Carmel shine down on my way;
When the long road is ending, may I go to rest
With Mary's brown Scapular over my breast.

THE BROWN SCAPULAR - A SIGN OF DEVOTION TO MARY

The Brown Scapular is a Roman Catholic devotion to Mary under her title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. It is worn as a sign of love and devotion for the Mother of God. The Carmelite Order, to which the Scapular belongs, originated on Mt. Carmel in the Holy Land and the Scapular is itself a reflection in miniature of the habit (scapular: a sleeveless outer garment falling from the shoulders) which the monks wear as a sign of their vocation and devotion. Over the years the scapular, at least for lay people, became much reduced in size to but small pieces of wool cloth suspended front and back.

OUR LADY APPEARS TO ST. SIMON STOCK

The Scapular was presented by Our Lady to St. Simon Stock, the Father General Our Lady appears to St. Simon Stockof the Carmelite Order, on July 16, 1251. St. Simon's story is very interesting. He was an English hermit and lived in the hollow of a tree. He received the name "stock" because he lived in the hollowed trunk or stock of a tree. In time he became a Carmelite and later the Father General of the order. He led the order during a time of struggle. The Carmelites originally were hermits on Mount Carmel, near Nazareth in the Holy Land. When they migrated to Europe, in this case England, some saw great wisdom in no longer being hermits and instead becoming friars who would work among the people. St. Simon guided them through this state of transition. In the year 1251 a most momentous vision took place. St. Simon Stock, newly transplanted to England, prayed earnestly to Our Lady for help. Then: To him appeared the Blessed Virgin with a multitude of angels, holding the Scapular of the order in her blessed hands ...

MARY'S PROMISE TO THOSE WHO WEAR THE SCAPULAR

Our Lady gave St. Simon a scapular for the Carmelites with the following promise, saying : Receive, My beloved son, this habit of thy order: this shall be to thee and to all Carmelites a privilege, that whosoever dies clothed in this shall never suffer eternal fire .... It shall be a sign of salvation, a protection in danger, and a pledge of peace.

Another important aspect of wearing the Scapular is the Sabbatine Privilege. This concerns a promise made by Our Lady to Pope John XXII. In a papal letter he issued, he recounted a vision that he had had. He stated that the Blessed Virgin had said to him in this vision, concerning those who wear the Brown Scapular: "I, the Mother of Grace, shall descend on the Saturday after their death and whomsoever I shall find in Purgatory, I shall free, so that I may lead them to the holy mountain of life everlasting."

CONDITIONS AND RITUALS ATTACHED TO THE SCAPULAR

According to Church tradition, there are three conditions necessary to participate in this Privilege and share in the other spiritual benefits of the Scapular: wear the Brown Scapular, observe chastity according to your state in life, and pray the Rosary. In addition to the Sabbatine Privilege, enrollment in the Brown Scapular also makes a person part of the Carmelite family throughout the world. They therefore share in all of the prayers and good works of the Carmelite Orders. Participation in the Carmelite family also, of course, places you in a special relationship with the Carmelite saints, especially St. Elijah, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Therese of Lisieux, and, most importantly, Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

In order to receive the spiritual blessings associated with the Scapular, it is necessary to be formally enrolled in the Brown Scapular by either a priest or a lay person who has been given this faculty. Once enrolled, the enrollment is for life and need not be repeated. Anyone, adult or infant, who has not previously been enrolled may be enrolled in the Brown Scapular.

VALUE AND MEANING OF THE SCAPULAR

Many popes and saints have strongly recommended wearing, the Brown Scapular to the Catholic Faithful, including St. Robert Bellarmine, Pope John XXII, Pope Pius Xl, and Pope Benedict XV. For example, St. Alphonsus said: "Just as men take pride in having others wear their livery, so the Most Holy Mary is pleased when Her servants wear Her Scapular as a mark that they have dedicated themselves to Her service, and are members of the Family of the Mother of God."

Pope Pius XII went so far as to say: "The Scapular is a practice of piety which by its very simplicity is suited to everyone, and has spread widely among the faithful of Christ to their spiritual profit." In our own times, Pope Paul VI said: "Let the faithful hold in high esteem the practices and devotions to the Blessed Virgin ... the Rosary and the Scapular of Carmel" and in another place referred to the Scapular as: "so highly recommended by our illustrious predecessors."

ACT OF CONSECRATION TO OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL

**************

O Mary, Queen and Mother of Carmel, I come today to consecrate myself to you, for my whole life is but a small return for the many graaces and blessings that have come from God to me through your hands. Since you look with special kindness on those who wear your Scapular, I implore you to strengthen my weakness with your power, to enlighten the darkness of my mind with your wisdom, and to increase in me Faith, Hope and Charity that I may repay each day my debt of humble homage to you.

May your Scapular bring me your special protection in my daily struggle to be faithful to your Divine Son and to you. May it separate me from all that is sinful in life and remind me constantly of my duty to imitate your virtues. From now on, I shall strive to live in God's Presence, and offer all to Jesus through you. Dearest Mother, support me by your never-failing love and lead me to paradise through the merits of Christ and your own intercession. Amen.

URL: http://www.catholic-church.org/apcarmel/scapular.htm
THE BROWN SCAPULAR OF O. L. OF MOUNT CARMEL
A SIGN OF CHRISTIAN FAITH AND COMMITMENT
**************
When the clouds of temptation overshadow the day
May the the light of Mount Carmel shine down on my way;
When the long road is ending, may I go to rest
With Mary's brown Scapular over my breast.

THE BROWN SCAPULAR - A SIGN OF DEVOTION TO MARY

The Brown Scapular is a Roman Catholic devotion to Mary under her title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. It is worn as a sign of love and devotion for the Mother of God. The Carmelite Order, to which the Scapular belongs, originated on Mt. Carmel in the Holy Land and the Scapular is itself a reflection in miniature of the habit (scapular: a sleeveless outer garment falling from the shoulders) which the monks wear as a sign of their vocation and devotion. Over the years the scapular, at least for lay people, became much reduced in size to but small pieces of wool cloth suspended front and back.

OUR LADY APPEARS TO ST. SIMON STOCK

The Scapular was presented by Our Lady to St. Simon Stock, the Father General Our Lady appears to St. Simon Stockof the Carmelite Order, on July 16, 1251. St. Simon's story is very interesting. He was an English hermit and lived in the hollow of a tree. He received the name "stock" because he lived in the hollowed trunk or stock of a tree. In time he became a Carmelite and later the Father General of the order. He led the order during a time of struggle. The Carmelites originally were hermits on Mount Carmel, near Nazareth in the Holy Land. When they migrated to Europe, in this case England, some saw great wisdom in no longer being hermits and instead becoming friars who would work among the people. St. Simon guided them through this state of transition. In the year 1251 a most momentous vision took place. St. Simon Stock, newly transplanted to England, prayed earnestly to Our Lady for help. Then: To him appeared the Blessed Virgin with a multitude of angels, holding the Scapular of the order in her blessed hands ...

MARY'S PROMISE TO THOSE WHO WEAR THE SCAPULAR

Our Lady gave St. Simon a scapular for the Carmelites with the following promise, saying : Receive, My beloved son, this habit of thy order: this shall be to thee and to all Carmelites a privilege, that whosoever dies clothed in this shall never suffer eternal fire .... It shall be a sign of salvation, a protection in danger, and a pledge of peace.

Another important aspect of wearing the Scapular is the Sabbatine Privilege. This concerns a promise made by Our Lady to Pope John XXII. In a papal letter he issued, he recounted a vision that he had had. He stated that the Blessed Virgin had said to him in this vision, concerning those who wear the Brown Scapular: "I, the Mother of Grace, shall descend on the Saturday after their death and whomsoever I shall find in Purgatory, I shall free, so that I may lead them to the holy mountain of life everlasting."

CONDITIONS AND RITUALS ATTACHED TO THE SCAPULAR

According to Church tradition, there are three conditions necessary to participate in this Privilege and share in the other spiritual benefits of the Scapular: wear the Brown Scapular, observe chastity according to your state in life, and pray the Rosary. In addition to the Sabbatine Privilege, enrollment in the Brown Scapular also makes a person part of the Carmelite family throughout the world. They therefore share in all of the prayers and good works of the Carmelite Orders. Participation in the Carmelite family also, of course, places you in a special relationship with the Carmelite saints, especially St. Elijah, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Therese of Lisieux, and, most importantly, Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

In order to receive the spiritual blessings associated with the Scapular, it is necessary to be formally enrolled in the Brown Scapular by either a priest or a lay person who has been given this faculty. Once enrolled, the enrollment is for life and need not be repeated. Anyone, adult or infant, who has not previously been enrolled may be enrolled in the Brown Scapular.

VALUE AND MEANING OF THE SCAPULAR

Many popes and saints have strongly recommended wearing, the Brown Scapular to the Catholic Faithful, including St. Robert Bellarmine, Pope John XXII, Pope Pius Xl, and Pope Benedict XV. For example, St. Alphonsus said: "Just as men take pride in having others wear their livery, so the Most Holy Mary is pleased when Her servants wear Her Scapular as a mark that they have dedicated themselves to Her service, and are members of the Family of the Mother of God."

Pope Pius XII went so far as to say: "The Scapular is a practice of piety which by its very simplicity is suited to everyone, and has spread widely among the faithful of Christ to their spiritual profit." In our own times, Pope Paul VI said: "Let the faithful hold in high esteem the practices and devotions to the Blessed Virgin ... the Rosary and the Scapular of Carmel" and in another place referred to the Scapular as: "so highly recommended by our illustrious predecessors."

ACT OF CONSECRATION TO OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL

**************

O Mary, Queen and Mother of Carmel, I come today to consecrate myself to you, for my whole life is but a small return for the many graaces and blessings that have come from God to me through your hands. Since you look with special kindness on those who wear your Scapular, I implore you to strengthen my weakness with your power, to enlighten the darkness of my mind with your wisdom, and to increase in me Faith, Hope and Charity that I may repay each day my debt of humble homage to you.

May your Scapular bring me your special protection in my daily struggle to be faithful to your Divine Son and to you. May it separate me from all that is sinful in life and remind me constantly of my duty to imitate your virtues. From now on, I shall strive to live in God's Presence, and offer all to Jesus through you. Dearest Mother, support me by your never-failing love and lead me to paradise through the merits of Christ and your own intercession. Amen.

URL: http://www.catholic-church.org/apcarmel/scapular.htm

Single, Catholic, Connecting to God - U.S. Singles Outnumbering Married

2007-09-20T12:12:00.000-07:00

Catholic Digest: Single, Catholic, connecting to God – U.S. singles outnumbering married, with many finding spiritual meaning
By Kerry Weber9/10/2007
Catholic Digest
NEW LONDON (Catholic Digest) – The letters come adorned with sparkles or scripted handwriting. They feature photos of happy couples. They announce, in extremely formal language, that I am invited to the marriage of … well, everyone I know. At least it seems that way.
My friends are pairing off left and right, and I'm genuinely thrilled for all of them. I like weddings. They honor couples that have chosen to make an admirable and loving commitment. They celebrate who have chosen the person who forever will be by their side. Plus, there's usually cake.
As happy as I am for my married friends, the single life and the uncertainty that comes with it isn't always easy. Living on my own can be difficult and, frankly, boring. But I'm finding that it can also be liberating, exciting and a time for true spiritual growth. And, more and more, I'm finding I'm not alone.
In 2006, the number of people 18 and older who had never married reach 55 million, according to the United States Census data, an increase from 10 years earlier. And today, the term "single" has a broader meaning, and includes a diverse crowd of energetic men and women who have been widowed, separated or divorced. There are nearly 100 million singles in the United States, and that number includes more than a few Catholics.
Whether or not we'll eventually send out sparkly invitations of our own is a common topic among my 20-something single friends. But we're in good company as we discover how God is calling us to live out our current single state. In 2005, the average ages at which American men and women married were approximately 27 and 25, respectively, up from 23 and 21 in 1970. And studies say the single life has its benefits, including the ability to form closer ties with friends and family.
Rebecca Peters, 25, has done just that, demonstrating what many already know – that the single life is not a selfish one. She served for two years as a full-time Jesuit volunteer in Belize, where she found a faith-filled environment among her fellow community members and formed a broad range of supportive friendships.
"It was a really great experience to be part of something bigger and to have people to count on," she said. "Whether or not you're in a couple, you can always be part of a community."
After volunteering, Peters chose to delay entering graduate school in favor of living with her brother and sister-in-law in Dayton, Ohio, to help care for her nephew – something she knows she would not have had the time to do if she were married.
"They have a need, and I am the one person who is able to fulfill that, and they are able to give me things I need like love, community and a place to live. I get to see my nephew grow up, and it gives me experience hopefully for when I have my own kids."
Still, not all of today's singles see their state as preparation for a future romance. For Sally Connolly, who was widowed nearly three years ago, being single in her 60s took some getting used to.
After her husband's death, Connolly threw herself into editing a book of his essays, and also began doing some writing of her own. "I didn't have time [before Gene's death]. And if he were alive I wouldn't be doing it now. I guess I'm using that energy and redirecting it. I've been busy with the children, the grandchildren and writing, and in the good weather, I have a lot of projects outside. In spite of my loss, there are beautiful things happening all around me."
Current technology also has given Connolly a chance to make small liberating changes in her lifestyle. With the help of a GPS, she said, "I went out and traveled around some of the communities {near Danvers, Mass.] . I never would have done that before. Gene drove and I never really paid attention."
Of course, being newly single doesn't have to involve a personality overhaul. "I know my church has a very nice group for people who are single and have had some kind of loss. I've heard that it's very hard, but that's not really what I want to do," said Connolly. "I was never a group person before, and I'm not about to change that now."
For singles looking to become involved in a parish's everyday ministry, it's often left to the individual to make the first move. Pastors and parish staff looking to include singles in mainstream ministry need to remember the importance of extending an invitation to their diverse body of parishioners.
"Whenever we're working with parishes in terms of the laity, we try to keep in front of them the fact that there are different folks in front of them. They're older, they're younger, they're single young adults, they're older singles, they're married, divorced, and widowed," said Sister Eileen McCann, a program coordinator for young people at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat for Family, Laity, Women, and Youth. "So hopefully parishes are looking at all of that and they keep that in mind whatever programs they put out."
Bob Tyer, 66 and single all his life, acknowledges the efforts of his parish in Springfield, Mass., to reach all members. But he remembers a time when he wondered if he would be welcome in a parish consisting mainly of couples and families.
"I think if a single guy wants to get involved in the church he has to really work at it. I just said, 'I want to be included too,'" said Tyer. His involvement began when he was invited to help decorate the church one Easter.
Today, he chairs the parish's liturgical environment committee, and – in the midst of visiting the homebound, volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, serving as an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist, chairing the spiritual life commission, and participating in the men's prayer group – he continues to extend invitations to others looking to get involved.
"Many timid people might be included not to bother," he said. "You have to find where your comfort zone is."
But for some who are newly single, church can become a source of discomfort. For Tyer's friend and fellow parishioner Jackie Tuohey, 56, being single came as a surprise. After a difficult separation from her husband three years ago, the parish community that once had been a comfort became a painful reminder of her past. For a while, she stopped going to Mass entirely.
"It was just so noticeable that I was by myself," she said. "Little things, like when there's a couple in front of you, and the man puts his arm around the woman, I'd think 'I miss that.'"
Groups ministering specifically to Catholic singles tend to be localized within parish or diocesan communities and are often run by the singles themselves. But even informal groups of friends can be a great source of support to single Catholics. Thanks to the invitation extended by Tyer and other single friends, Tuohey found a renewed sense of belonging within the church."
The Census Bureau reveals that for the first time in the Untied States, married women are a slight minority, with 51 percent of adult women now living without a spouse.
And Tuohey is one of a growing number of people who see their single state as sometimes tough, but not tragic. She's become involved in more ministry than ever before, including taking a weeklong mission trip to Mexico and volunteering with Residents Encounter Christ, a retreat program for prison inmates. "I'm so involved, I'm almost never home. That wouldn't be fair if I had someone else in my life," said Tuohey. "When I was young I thought, 'I'm going to grow up and get married.' I wasn't thinking, 'I'm going to grow up and be single and minister and have a great life,' which is what I have now. I didn't wish to be separated from my husband, but because of the way things turned out, I certainly went through a kind of conversion and ended up with a good life."
- - -
As a single person, it's easy for me to wonder if I'm missing out somehow by not yet having a spouse. But I'm slowly seeing that there's something to be learned and gained at every stage of life, no matter where I go or whom I'm with. And the only time I'm really missing out is when I fail to recognize that.
The "good life" that can be had by Catholic singles is something that Anastasia Northrup, 30, hope to promote through the National Catholic Singles Conference, which she founded in 2005. Held this year in Chicago and San Diego, and inspired by the late Pope John Paul's teaching on the Theology of the Body, the conferences offer Catholic singles a chance to socialize, pray, and listen to talks on various aspects of the Catholic single state.
The focus is "mainly to offer support," said Northrup. "The word 'single' gets a bad rap. People think it's just a bunch of desperate people. My idea is, rather, to redeem the name, and say, 'Look, there are a bunch of people who are single, and they're normal people.'"
Single Catholics, Northrup points out, are in fact a powerful and meaningful group in the church. "I really do believe that if all the singles who are going to Mass on Sunday were actively involved in the church – volunteering with pro-life work or at a homeless shelter, or teaching catechism – the church would be a different place. There are many Catholic singles."
Northrup, 30, has taken advantage of the freedom provided by her own single state to work in church ministry, including promoting John Paul II's Theology of the Body teachings.
Still, she acknowledged that some days of her single state are easier than others. "You can go through cycles of being definitely bothered that you're not so married, and then not so bothered," said Northrup. "But I think that through it all, our ultimate goal is union with Christ, so Christ is going to use those times to bring us closer to him. I think the most important thing to be doing is seeking God's will in your current state."
And in her current state, Northrup has no regrets. "I can't say, looking back, that I would change anything or wish that things had been different. It is a very rich experience if you're using your singlehood."
- - -
Kerry Weber is associate editor of Catholic Digest.
URL: http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=25301

A Gospel To Make You Squirm

2007-09-11T17:53:00.000-07:00

Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D.

A Gospel to Make you Squirm..>

September 9, 2007

When I was a kid, I got the distinct impression there existed a two-track system in Catholicism. Some really decided to go for it. They became priests, nuns, and brothers because they "had a vocation." They "gave up" lots of things, like marriage, family, success in business, and lots of creature-comforts.

The rest of us, however, don't "have a vocation" and therefore don't really need to run for the gold. It is enough to just finish the race. We don't have to deprive ourselves of what most people have. We can get married, have kids, climb the corporate ladder, acquire a vacation home and buy a boat. We just need to go to Mass on Sunday, avoid breaking the Ten Commandments, get to confession when we fail, and basically be decent people.

A few years ago I even heard this two track system clearly laid out in a Sunday homily. The priest said the gospel presents us with a radical Jesus and a moderate Jesus. Some, like Mother Teresa, choose to follow the radical Jesus. But we could pick the moderate Jesus if that was more comfortable for us.

In this Sunday's Gospel Luke 14:25-33, Jesus gives us no such choice. He says "None of you can be my disciple if he does not renounce all his possessions." And probably even more disturbing is this statement: "If anyone comes to me without turning his back on his father and mother, his wife and his children, his brothers and sisters, indeed his very self, he cannot be my follower."
This is an up-front requirement. If you are not willing to do this, don't bother getting started as a disciple, he says.

Wait a minute. I thought that good Christians are supposed to love their spouses, parents, and kids. And how are you supposed to love your neighbor as yourself if you are renouncing both your neighbor and your self? Are we all supposed to leave our families, sell all of our possessions, and enter monasteries and convents?

No. That would actually be not only irresponsible but too easy. "Turning your back" on your family does not mean shirking the duty to care for your own. Renouncing your very self does not mean abusing your self. What Jesus means is being radically detached from family, friends and self-gratification in favor of attachment to God, his truth, his will. There is a love that is about giving and there is a love that is about enjoying. We can never stop giving to others what is for their true and deepest good. But there are times when we must renounce the enjoyment, opinion, and approval of others in order to be faithful to the truth.

The best way to see this is in the life of a very real person who lived out this radical vocation to holiness. Thomas More thought about joining the monks who educated him, but realized that he was called to marriage and family. And so he took a job with the government, got married, and had kids. He rose through government service to become the Chancellor of England under Henry VIII. He had a magnificent mansion on the Thames River where he entertained his friend the King as well some of the most famous men and women of Europe. He had a great sense of humor, a deep relationship with his kids, a profound prayer life, and loved to write fiction, satire, and theology.

Then his boss Henry VIII divorced, remarried, and justified it by breaking allegiance with the Pope and making himself the head of the Church of England. He wanted all to take an oath swearing allegiance to his new order. Everyone jumped on the bandwagon. All of the bishops signed save one. All of Thomas's friends did the same. But Thomas knew signing would violate his conscience, compromise his integrity, offend God, and encourage others in the doing of evil. He loved God, self and others too much to do this. So he lost the esteem of his friends and his king. He resigned his position and lost his income. He ultimately lost his head rather than deny his heart.

Few of us will enjoy the privileges enjoyed by Thomas or be called to make the same sacrifices. But little choices, every day, arise that show us where our true loyalties lie.

URL: http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/65417

The Center and Summit of the Mass

2007-09-11T17:49:00.001-07:00

Barry Michaels

The Center and Summit of the Mass..>

September 9, 2007

In Sacramentum Caritatis, Pope Benedict XVI's recent apostolic letter on the Eucharist, the Pontiff offers much food for thought and spiritual nourishment. One thing he insists upon is that Catholics should come to understand and love better the Eucharistic prayer of Mass.
"The spiritual life of the faithful can greatly benefit from a better appreciation of the richness of the anaphora [another term for the Eucharistic prayer]," writes the Pope. "Its importance deserves to be adequately emphasized."
Because they hear this prayer every time they attend Mass, Catholics might easily take it for granted or even ignore it. But the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, the Church's official instruction manual for the celebration of the Eucharist, calls the Eucharistic prayer "the center and summit of the entire celebration."
So what is the Eucharistic prayer? And why does the Pope believe that all Catholics need to understand it better?
The Church's Prayer
The Eucharistic prayer is prayed from the altar by the priest celebrating Mass. It begins immediately after the prayer over the gifts, with a familiar dialogue between priest and people ("The Lord be with you." "And also with you." "Lift up your hearts." "We lift them up to the Lord.").
It concludes with the doxology ("Through him, with him, and in him...") and the "Great Amen" of the people. In between are the preface, Sanctus, prayers of thanksgiving, an epiclesis, the consecration, a prayer of offering, and prayers of intercession. (See below.)
The entire prayer has crucial significance to the worship, spirituality, and identity of every Catholic. The Eucharistic prayer, though prayed aloud almost entirely by the priest alone, is truly the prayer of the whole Church — meaning Christ and his body of which all the faithful are members.
That's why the entire congregation joins into the three acclamations — the Sanctus, memorial acclamation, and "Great Amen" at its conclusion. It is also why the words the priest prays are addressed neither to the people nor to Jesus, but to God the Father. In the Eucharistic prayer, the Church prays and offers itself to the Father with Christ and in Christ.
"Christ is presented once more to the Father, together with the prayers which we as Church offer alongside his infinite sacrifice," Father Edward McNamara, LC, professor of liturgy at Rome's Regina Apostolorum University, told OSV recently.
"In doing this we renew the covenant sealed in his blood and continue to establish the community of those who form God's people through participation in this sacrifice."
With this understanding of the Eucharistic prayer, the real meaning of participation at Mass, so strongly emphasized in recent years, becomes clearer. To participate at Mass is never simply to pay attention, to sing and respond, or to make a financial offering. Rather, true participation at Mass means offering ourselves with Jesus to the Father.
Hence the Second Vatican Council, in its Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, could speak of the participation of the lay faithful at Mass in this way:
[B]y offering the Immaculate Victim, not only through the hands of the priest, but also with him, they should learn also to offer themselves; through Christ the Mediator, they should be drawn day by day into ever more perfect union with God and with each other, so that finally God may be all in all (section 48).
"Someone who enters deeply into the spirituality of the Eucharistic prayer is learning to pray as the Church prays," Fr. McNamara said. "The prayer contains almost every form of Christian prayer: praise, thanksgiving, confession of faith, petition for the needs of ourselves and others.
"It also encapsulates the fundamentals of our loving relationship with God — creation, redemption, covenant — which in turn inculcate the essential attitudes of a Christian life, humility and charity."
A Rich History
Priests have the option of using four main Eucharistic prayers when they celebrate Mass. In the Sacramentary, the book of prayers used at Mass, they are numbered I, II, III, and IV.
Besides these, there are also two special Eucharistic prayers on the theme of Reconciliation, three more intended to be used in Masses for children, and four others "for various needs and occasions." But such variety has not always been the case.
Of course, the first Eucharist was offered by Jesus at the Last Supper, on the night before his crucifixion. As a Passover meal, that Eucharist included important prayers to be prayed and meanings to be conveyed. So the Eucharistic prayer has roots that go back many centuries before even Christ. At the Last Supper, Jesus gave the words new meaning and a central place in the life of the Christian Church forever.
In the first centuries of the Church, there was no official "script" that had to be recited by priests who celebrated Mass. The Eucharistic prayer was prayed spontaneously, though certain themes and words were always expected to be included.
Our first record of a written Eucharistic prayer is one composed by St. Hippolytus around 215 AD. But Hippolytus introduces his prayer by acknowledging that priests in his day ad libbed their own; his concern was that they did so according to the tradition form, rather than aberrations that apparently had begun to appear.
This same concern for avoiding what was not traditional led to a written Eucharistic prayer which the priest was required to read verbatim, as is the case today. Though a variety of prayers were used in various places at first, one prayer was preferred above all others by the fifth century.
Known as the Roman Canon, this Eucharistic prayer soon became normative throughout the entire Church. For more than 1500 years, it was the only Eucharistic prayer used throughout the world, right up until the Missal promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1969.
"[The Roman Canon's] stability and sacredness in a way marked the lives of generations of priests, allowing them to feel in a special way the entrance into the communion of saints," Fr. McNamara said.
"It also gave a certain stability to society. It was something constant and recognizable. Even if the laity did not hear or understand the prayer, they knew they were before the great mystery of faith."
Changes after Vatican II
The Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Liturgy did not call for new Eucharistic prayers or even a revision of the Roman Canon. But as the work of liturgical renewal progressed following the Council, this became one of the topics under consideration by the Consilium, the Vatican committee entrusted with the task of reform.
Though initially hesitant, Pope Paul VI gave the Consilium permission in 1966 to compose new Eucharistic prayers to be considered for use. (In truth, dozens of unauthorized new prayers were already being illicitly used in many countries throughout the world, particularly in Holland, France, and the United States.)
One new prayer that the Consilium presented to the Pope was a revision of Hippolytus' ancient Eucharistic prayer. In the new Missal, it became Eucharistic Prayer II. It is the shortest and simplest of the four main prayers in use, and certainly the one most often heard at Catholic Masses today.
Two other new prayers drew on different aspects of the Church's liturgical history.
Eucharistic Prayer III is the most modern composition, though it draws on several elements of Eastern rite liturgy. Since it can be used with any of dozens of different prefaces, it is well suited for the various Sundays and feast days of the year.
Eucharistic Prayer IV draws even more strongly on Eastern traditions. This is especially evident in the prayer's beautiful summary of salvation history. This is the longest prayer of the four, and probably the one least often heard in parishes today.
The Roman Canon was retained almost exactly as it had been and, like the others, could now be prayed in the vernacular. Among its many noteworthy aspects, its invocation of the prayers of many saints is particularly distinctive. It became known as Eucharistic Prayer I.
"The different Eucharistic Prayers contained in the Missal have been handed down to us by the Church's living Tradition and are noteworthy for their inexhaustible theological and spiritual richness," the Pope wrote in Sacramentum Caritatis.
It should be no wonder, then, that he insists, "The faithful need to be enabled to appreciate that richness."
The Parts of the Eucharistic Prayer
Though the Eucharistic prayers used at Mass today are different in many ways, they all share eight basic parts in common.
THANKSGIVING: The Church offers praise and thanksgiving to God. Thanksgiving is so important to Christian worship that it became known by that name very early: the Greek word for thanksgiving is eucharistia.
ACCLAMATION: Joining into the song of the angels themselves before the throne of God (see Isaiah 6:2 and Revelation 4:8), the people sing, "Holy, holy, holy Lord!..."
EPICLESIS: The priest asks the Father to send the Holy Spirit, so that the bread and wine may become the Body and Blood of Christ.
INSTITUTION NARRATIVE: The priest repeats the words of Jesus ("This is my body.... This is my blood"), and the consecration of the gifts takes place.
ANAMNESIS: The Church recalls the suffering, death, and Resurrection of Jesus for our salvation.
OFFERING: The faithful offer Jesus, as well as themselves, to the Father in heaven.
INTERCESSIONS: The Church asks for the prayers of the saints and prays for the dead who are in need of prayers.
FINAL DOXOLOGY: The Church glorifies the Holy Trinity, concluding with the great "Amen!" of all the people.
Barry Michaels is the author of Eucharist: The Church's Treasure (Pauline, 2004) and At the School of Mary (Pauline, 2004), both prayer and study companions to documents of Pope John Paul II. His third book, Saints for Our Times: New Novenas and Prayers, was published by Pauline Books in September 2007.
URL: http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/65025

Sunday Mass is a Necessity

2007-09-11T17:43:00.000-07:00

Sunday Mass Is a Necessity, Says Pontiff

Adds That It's Not Just a Rule

VIENNA, Austria, SEPT. 9, 2007, (Zenit.org).- Going to Sunday Mass is not just a rule to follow, but rather an "inner necessity," says Benedict XVI.

The Pope said this today during the Mass he celebrated at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, on the last day of his three-day apostolic trip to Austria.

About 40,000 people followed the Mass on large screens placed in St. Stephen's Square, since not all of the participants were able to be accommodated inside.

Rain in the morning prompted organizers to distribute plastic raincoats to the faithful.

The Holy Father's homily centered on the mantra of the early Christian martyrs of Abitene: "Without Sunday we cannot live."

The Pontiff said: "Sunday has been transformed in our Western societies into the weekend, into leisure time.

"Leisure time is certainly something good and necessary, especially amid the mad rush of the modern world. Yet if leisure time lacks an inner focus, an overall sense of direction, then ultimately it becomes wasted time that neither strengthens nor builds us up.

"Free time requires a focus -- the encounter with him who is our origin and goal."

Meaning

In the opening greeting, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, archbishop of Vienna, explained that there had been a movement in Austria to defend "Sunday from tendencies to empty this day of its meaning.

"Recalling the example of the early Christians, Benedict XVI explained that for them Sunday Mass was not a "precept," but rather "an inner necessity."

"Does this attitude of the Christians of that time apply also to us who are Christians today?" the Pope asked.

The Holy Father answered: "Yes, it does, we too need a relationship that sustains us, that gives direction and content to our lives.

"We too need access to the Risen One, who sustains us through and beyond death. We need this encounter which brings us together, which gives us space for freedom, which lets us see beyond the bustle of everyday life to God's creative love, from which we come and toward which we are traveling."

But Sunday, said the Pontiff, also calls to mind the "the day of the dawning of creation.

"He said: "Therefore Sunday is also the Church's weekly feast of creation -- the feast of thanksgiving and joy over God's creation.

"At a time when creation seems to be endangered in so many ways through human activity, we should consciously advert to this dimension of Sunday too.

"After the Mass, the Pope recited the Angelus in St. Stephen's Square.

As he was leaving, the pilgrims waved yellow handkerchiefs and banners from countries such as Germany, Israel, Austria and even Iran, chanting the Pope's name in Italian, "Be-ne-de-tto! Be-ne-de-tto!"

Pope Writes Letter To Children

2007-09-11T17:39:00.000-07:00

Pope writes letter to children: "Keep your faith pure and genuine"

Vienna, Sep 10, 2007 / 11:05 am (CNA).- At the conclusion of the Angelus yesterday, Pope Benedict XVI delivered a letter addressed to children, which reads as follows:

Dear children!
On the occasion of my apostolic visit to Austria, I am happy to particularly address you who actively participate in the initiatives of the Pontifical Children's Missionary Works. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your letters and drawings which you gave me as a sign of your affection and closeness to my mission. In them you express those sentiments of faith and love for which Jesus loved the little ones so much and received them with open arms, placing them as an example for his disciples: 'The Kingdom of God,' he said, 'belongs to such as these.'

I wish to tell you that I appreciate your commitment to the Children's Missions. "I see you little co-workers in the service that the Pope gives to the Church and the world: You support me with your prayer and with your commitment to spread the Gospel. There are so many children in fact who still do not know Jesus. And unfortunately there are many others deprived of what they need to live: food, health care, education; many live without peace and tranquility. The Church gives them particular attention, especially through missionaries; and you too feel called to offer your contribution, whether personally or as a group.

Friendship with Jesus is such a beautiful gift that you cannot keep it to yourselves! Those who receive this gift feel the need to give it to others; and in this way the shared gift does not diminish but multiplies! Keep to this path! You are growing up and soon you will become adolescents and young people. Do not lose your missionary spirit. Always keep your faith pure and genuine, like that of St. Peter.

Beloved little friends, I entrust you to the protection of the Virgin Mary. I pray for you, for your parents and siblings. I pray for your missionary groups and your teachers, and to all I impart my heartfelt Apostolic Blessing."

URL: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=10341

'Greater Love Than This No Man Has'

2007-09-09T22:28:00.000-07:00

'Greater Love Than This No Man Has'
Maximilian Kolbe Exemplifies Divine Mercy in Action
Wednesday, September 05, 2007By: Dan Valenti

Photo: Marian Archives
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"I am a Catholic priest," Fr. Maximilian repeated. "Let me take his place. I am old. He has a wife and children."
Editor's Note — This is the first of two stories of Divine Mercy in action. Today's installment presents the life of St. Maximilian Kolbe. Part II will examine the heroic virtue-in-action of St. Gianna Molla. They are two saints of and for our time, approachable in their humanity and accessible in their spirituality.The gift of Divine Mercy comes to us freely from God. There's only one proviso, that in accepting the priceless treasure of God's forgiveness, compassion, and love, we agree to put those same qualities to use in our own lives. This means acting with mercy by extending it to others.Mercy in action does several things:
• First, it purifies, for by showing mercy in all situations, we cannot help but improve our lives; we will find that by offering compassion, we receive it in return. • Second, practicing mercy attracts us to the good in each of our life's encounters, even in seemingly bad situations; we discover the "silver lining in the clouds of doubt," that, in the spiritual life, refers to God's will in whatever happens. • Third, living out mercy day-to-day makes for a powerful form of evangelism; we spread the "Good News" not only (or even) by what we say but also by how we live. It calls to mind the writer's axiom of "Show, don't tell."• Fourth, mercy functions as a healing balm in relationships; our dealings with one another vastly improve once mercy enters into the picture.
The Overwhelming Goodness of GodJesus tells us that the highest act of mercy is to lay down one's life for another, as He did for us in taking on our sins by enduring the cross. Laying down a life is the greatest gift because it reflects the overwhelming goodness of God, the divine attribute that radiates pure mercy.Saint Faustina makes this clear in a little-quoted but magnificent entry in her Diary:
During the ten-o'clock meditation, Father [Rzyczkowski] spoke about divine mercy and about God's goodness to us. He said that as we review the history of mankind, we can see this great goodness of God at every step. All the attributes of God, such as omnipotence and wisdom, serve to reveal to us the greatest of His attributes; namely, His goodness. God's goodness is the greatest of God's attributes. Many souls striving for perfection, however, are not aware of this great goodness of God. Everything that Father said in the course of the meditation about the goodness of God, was exactly what Jesus had said to me about the Feast of [Divine] Mercy. I have now come to understand clearly what the Lord has promised me, and I have no doubt about anything; God's language is clear and distinct (458).
The unparalleled sacrifice of giving up one's life for another never fails to inspire and even send chills down the spine. We experience this foremost in the death of Jesus, who died for us, an action echoed throughout history in cases where one person makes a willful offering of life itself to spare another. The action drips of a host of virtues that can be summed up by the word "goodness."Many tend to think of such a heroic sacrifice in terms of days long gone, a supreme act of mercy distant and unreachable. However, we don't have to look too far back to find examples. Consider this analogy: Prisoner 16770 is to Francis Gajowniczek what Dr. Molla is to unborn Giovanna. How do they relate? The first person named in this set of pairs gave up his/her life for the second. In 1941, Fr. Maximilian Kolbe volunteered his life to save a condemned man in Auschwitz; a little more than 20 years later, St. Gianna Molla surrendered her life to save that of her unborn child.You Can Call Him RayHe began life on Jan. 8, 1894 as Raymond Kolbe, the second son of a weaver in a town called Zdunska Wola in Poland, near Lodz. As a boy, Ray, as he was known, showed a strong mischievous streak and had a penchant for getting into hot water.That changed forever when a seemingly tiny incident became the pivot point of his life.One day, Ray got caught in his usual antics, which elicited a scolding from his mother. The tongue-lashing deeply bothered young Ray. He was sad, not for the punishment, but because he had hurt his mother. Later, he wrote about the effect of the incident: "That night I asked the mother of God what was to become of me. Then she came to me holding two crowns, one white, the other red. She asked if I was willing to accept either of these crowns. The white one meant that I should persevere in purity, and the red that I should become a martyr. I said that I would accept them both."Ray wasn't sure if it was a dream or a vision, but it didn't matter what he called the experience. Dream or not, the experience had a vivid reality to it, and it stayed with him the rest of his life. He saw the events of his life in terms of the white and red crowns. When he was only 16 years old, Raymond Kolbe joined the Franciscans, taking the name Maximilian. As a Franciscan, he enjoyed a varied ministry, writing and publishing articles, teaching history in Poland, and building friaries in Warsaw; Nagasaki, Japan, and India. Then God began to fulfill young Ray's dream of Mary and the two crowns.Our Lady, as it turned out, would be handing him the red crown.In 1936, the Franciscans recalled Fr. Kolbe from Asia so he could supervise the Warsaw friary. The darkness of war, however, cast a long shadow over Europe and the world. Father Maximilian could see it coming. When Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, no one had to draw Fr. Maximilian a map. He knew what that meant. He knew that the Nazis would seize the friary.Instead of fretting over this bad news, Fr. Kolbe went into action. He told his friars they were free to return to their homes, asking only a small number to remain behind to help implement a plan. Father Maximilian got the word out that refugees were welcome at the friary. Soon, the innocent victims of war made their way to the refuge. Thousands of people spent time with the friars, receiving shelter, food, clothing, and care. Some two-third of the refugees were Jews.The Franciscans' works of mercy, though, drew the attention of the Nazis, and in May 1941, the government shut down the friary and sent Fr. Maximilian and four other brothers to the death camp at Auschwitz, Poland. Amid this unsettling, he wrote home to his mother. In a letter dated June 15, he told her:
Dear Mama, At the end of the month of May I was transferred to the camp of Auschwitz. Everything is well in my regard. Be tranquil about me and about my health, because the good God is everywhere and provides for everything with love. It would be well that you do not write to me until you have received other news from me, because I do not know how long I will stay here. Cordial greetings and kisses, affectionately, Raymond.
Father Maximilian's" words hinting at a short stay proved prophetic. Two months later, he would be dead.'Let me take his place'In late July, a prisoner from Fr. Kolbe's barracks went missing. The Nazis presumed that he escaped. They invoked their standard rule in such cases: If someone escaped, 10 men from the same barracks would be killed in his place. The condemned would be locked in the starvation bunker, going without food and water until they died a long, tortuous death.The prisoners from Fr. Kolbe's barracks were ordered to assemble before camp Commandant Karl Fritsch."You will all pay for this," Fritsch told the men. He then chose the unlucky 10. One of those was a man named Francis Gajowniczek. He broke down."My poor wife!" Gajowniczek screamed. "My poor children! What will they do?"The men froze, not knowing how Commandant Fritsch would react. Father Maximilian walked forward to Fritsch, removed his hat, and told him, "I am a Catholic priest. Let me take his place. I am old. He has a wife and children."Fritsch said nothing. He gazed at the priest for several seconds, before speaking."What does this Polish pig want?""I am a Catholic priest," Fr. Maximilian repeated. "Let me take his place. I am old. He has a wife and children."The request was granted.Years later, Francis Gajowniczek remembered the moment:
I could only thank him with my eyes. I was stunned and could hardly grasp what was going on. The immensity of it: I, the condemned, am to live and someone else willingly and voluntarily offers his life for me, a stranger. Is this some dream?I was put back into my place without having had time to say anything to Maximilian Kolbe. I was saved. ... The news spread quickly all around the camp. It was the first and last time that such an incident happened in the whole history of Auschwitz.
Maximilian and the nine other men were immediately hustled to Building 13, the infamous starvation bunker. They were literally thrown down the stairs and locked in. Amazingly, an eyewitness account survives of what the men went through in the hole of Building 13. It came from Bruno Borgowiec, one of the prisoners assigned to service the death bunker. 'This priest is really a great man'Borgowiec told his story before he died in 1947:
The ten condemned men went through terrible days. From the underground cell in which they were shut up there continually arose the echo of prayers and canticles. The man in charge of emptying the buckets of urine found them always empty. Thirst drove the prisoners to drink the contents. Since they had grown very weak, prayers were only whispered. At every inspection, when almost all the others were lying on the floor, Father Kolbe was seen kneeling or standing in the centre as he looked cheerfully in the face of the SS men.Father Kolbe never asked for anything and did not complain. Rather, he encouraged the others, saying that the fugitive might be found and then they would all be freed. One of the SS guards remarked, "This priest is really a great man. We have never seen anyone like him."Two weeks passed in this way. Meanwhile, one after another they died, until only Father Kolbe was left. This the authorities felt was too long. The cell was needed for new victims. So one day they brought in the head of the sick quarters, a German named Bock, who gave Father Kolbe an injection of carbolic acid in the vein of his left arm. Father Kolbe, with a prayer on his lips, himself gave his arm to the executioner. Unable to watch this, I left under the pretext of work to be done. Immediately after the SS men had left, I returned to the cell, where I found Father Kolbe leaning in a sitting position against the back wall with his eyes open and his head drooping sideways. His face was calm and radiant.
The date was Aug. 14, 1941.Maximilian's remains were sent to the crematorium. No special notice was made of his death. Except for the word of what he had done.God's Will Be DoneThe story raced through Auschwitz and into immortality. One survivor of the camp talked of what the news of Fr. Maximilian's sacrifice did for the prisoners, saying it was "a shock filled with hope, bringing new life and strength." He likened it to "a powerful shaft of light in the darkness of the camp."Francis Gajowniczek lived to be 95 years old. Maximilian Kolbe bought him 53 years of life. When he returned to his hometown after being freed by the Allies from the death camp, Francis discovered that his two sons had died in the war. Only his wife survived. Francis never forgot Fr. Maximilian. Every year on Aug. 14, he went back to Auschwitz, descended the stairs to Building 13, and prayed to the saint-priest. The cell where the 10 men died has been preserved as a shrine.Perhaps the supreme irony in the sacrifice of Fr. Maximilian lies in the fact that the "escaped" prisoner had not escaped at all. He had drowned in a latrine. The officers of the camp did not bother to thoroughly check, and the commandant wasted no time in meting out what turned out to be an unnecessary punishment.But it was God's work. He wastes nothing, and this dramatic incident became the method by which He fulfilled Fr. Maximilian's vision of the two crowns, handing him the red one. The holy priest had kept his word. The holy priest reached out to grab this crown from the hand of God himself, delivered in the guise of a concentration camp's horrors.The example of mercy in action will shrine throughout the ages as long as there are people to hear it.Pope Paul VI beatified Maximilian Kolbe in 1970. Pope John Paul II made him a saint in 1981.Dan Valenti writes for numerous publications of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception, both in print and online. He authors "Dan Valenti's Mercy Journal" for this website.
URL: http://www.thedivinemercy.org/news/story.php?NID=2842&PLID=77

Isn't it Hard to say "no" All The Time?

2007-09-09T22:24:00.000-07:00

Q. Isn't it hard to say "no" all the time?

A. As I see it, there are two ways to live and to love. One way sees temptations as obstacles to virtue, demanding a constant need to say "NO!" in order to obey all of God's seemingly burdensome laws. It is a life that is based upon "Thou shalt nots." Every day is an exhausting struggle to avoid offending God. If we live like that, then it would be pretty hard saying "no" all the time.Here is the alternative way: Instead of living life trying not to offend God, live life trying to glorify him. Live each moment as an act of worship to God. Instead of seeing temptations of lust as obstacles to holiness, see overcoming them as the very means to holiness. Certainly this involves avoiding temptation and saying "no" to sin, but the motivation is the "yes" of true love.As Mother Teresa said, "Intense love does not measure . . . it just gives."(1) Or in the words of Pope John Paul II, a young heart feels "a desire for greater generosity, more commitment, greater love. This desire for more is a characteristic of youth; a heart that is in love does not calculate, does not begrudge, it wants to give of itself without measure. . . ."(2) "There is no place for selfishness--and no place for fear! Do not be afraid, then, when love makes demands. Do not be afraid when love requires sacrifice. . . ."(3) "Real love is demanding. I would fail in my mission if I did not tell you so. Love demands a personal commitment to the will of God."(4)So, the virtue of purity is not first a "no" to illicit sex, but a "yes" to authentic love. It is a "yes" to the truth of the goodness of our bodies and the gift of sex. It is not a prolonged series of "no"s but a continual "yes" to Jesus. Since we receive more grace each time we say yes to God, we soon see how possible and joyful this life really is. The Blessed Mother offers us the perfect example of how to live this when, in the Gospel of Luke, she gives us the recipe for holiness: "Let it be done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). The more we are able to imitate her "yes," the more joy and peace we will find in our lives. Someone asked Mother Teresa how we could become saints and she said: "Whenever Jesus asks something of you, say 'yes.' "Living the virtue of chastity now means that you cherish your future marriage more than passing pleasures. Living with a pure heart will also prepare you to be a better wife or husband because you will learn how to express intimacy without always needing to be physical. It has been said that when a couple has healthy intimacy, the closer the two become the more they become themselves. When a couple is experiencing unhealthy intimacy, they usually feel as if they are losing their identity.The "yes" I have spoken of is possible with God, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5). Tap into that and ask God for the grace to be pure. Have confidence, because with God's grace, anyone can achieve sexual purity. As you work toward the virtue of chastity, know that the desire to become pure is not something that comes from your body. There is no chastity gland located near your spleen, secreting abstinence hormones. Chastity arises from our will and is awakened and made possible by love. Granted, there will always be a tension between the desire to please God and the desire to act on our impulses. In the words of Christopher West, "Winning this battle takes faith in Christ, dedication, commitment, honesty with ourselves and others, and a willingness to make sacrifices and deny our own selfish desires. But love is not afraid of those things; love is those things."(5)One practical note: Take a look at what surrounds you. If you constantly have to say "no" to various temptations, this implies that you end up in tempting situations on a regular basis. There will always be temptations, but we should work to avoid the occasions of sin. If you listen to music with sexually explicit lyrics, watch MTV and Jerry Springer, spend time in risqué chat room conversations, look through swimsuit or Cosmopolitan magazines and so forth, you are pouring lighter fluid on the fire that you are trying to extinguish. As the Bible says, "Who will pity a snake charmer bitten by a serpent, or any who go near wild beasts? So no one will pity a man who associates with a sinner and becomes involved in his sins. . . . Flee from sin as from a snake; for if you approach sin, it will bite you" (Sir. 12:13–14; 21:2). So, if there are bad influences in your life, replace them. Find better music and decent books to read. Also, increase your time in prayer, Scripture reading, and similar activities and you will be surprised how much easier it becomes.______________________1. Mother Teresa, as quoted by www.motherteresa.com.2. Pope John Paul II, address, 18 May 1988, Asuncion, Paraguay. As quoted by Pedro Beteta López, ed., The Meaning of Vocation (Princeton, New Jersey: Scepter Publishers, 1997), 18–19.3. Pope John Paul II, address, 22 November 1986, Auckland, New Zealand. As quoted by López, ed., The Meaning of Vocation, 19.4. Pope John Paul II, address, 1 October 1979, Boston, Massachusetts, United States. As quoted by López, ed., The Meaning of Vocation, 19–20.5. West, Good News About Sex and Marriage, 29.URL: http://www.pureloveclub.com/chastity/index.php?id=7&entryid=100..:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

The Compound Meaning of Marriage and Family

2007-09-09T22:23:00.002-07:00

Heidi Bratton

The Compound Meaning of Marriage and Family..>..>

September 7, 2007
When I teach spelling to my home-schooled kids, I always begin by presenting them with a basic spelling rule with a list of examples. For instance, the basic rule of making words plural is to add an "s." Words like dogs, forts, balls, trees, and rainbows follow this rule. After that, I teach them how to handle exceptions to the rule and give them a list of those words, such as: flies, cacti, loaves, deer, and men. With spelling, then, I first teach the way things are designed to be (the rule) and then the way things sometimes are (the exceptions).
The other day, while introducing the rules for creating compound words, I realized that marriage and family are like compound words. A compound word, by definition, is a word with a unique meaning consisting of two independent, coordinate words. Those independent words are always distinct nouns. Two rules are significant here. The first is that neither of the two independent words is a modifier of the other. Neither word is an adjective or adverb whose job it would be to change, clarify, or duplicate the meaning of the other word. This means that each independent part of a compound word retains its unique identity and spelling even when combined. The second rule of significance is that a compound word is not simply the sum of the two independent nouns. The creation of a compound word brings into being a third word, which has a meaning all its own.
Understanding the third meaning created by a compound word can be really challenging for people learning English as a second language. For example, although a waterfall is falling water, a butterfly is not flying butter. Knowing the basic rules of compound words can significantly help those trying to become proficient in English.
A marriage, by definition, is a unique union consisting of two independent, coordinate people. The first significant rule in this coupling is that the independent people are always distinct, a man and a woman, so that neither person modifies, clarifies, or duplicates the uniqueness of the other. Secondly, a marriage is not simply the sum of the two spouses. Like a compound word, marriage is designed so that the spouses, by retaining their unique, complementary identities, cooperate in creating a third entity which has a meaning all its own. Since the beginning of civilization, that third entity has been called a family, and children have been seen as the miraculous confirmation that one husband plus one wife does, in fact, equal three (or more!).
Understanding the third, larger-than-themselves meaning created by marriage can be really challenging for newlyweds. Knowing that marriage has deeper importance than cohabitation, for example, can significantly help individuals learn how to become proficient at marital unity.
Everywhere we look in Catholic teaching, we find that children are the desired outcome of the marital union and that marriage is structured to be the foundation for family. Because of this, we could easily coin the compound word "marriagefamily" to characterize the mutually supportive community a man and woman bring into being when they slip on their wedding bands. "Marriagefamily" is the way things are designed to be.
Exceptions happen, and we have to learn to accept the way things sometimes are when tragedies like death or divorce occur, but we don't have to let exceptions become the rule. In fact, as Catholics, we can't let exceptions become the rule. If we expect to live in a healthy society where the primacy of marriage and family is reinforced, respected, protected, and not redefined, then we who have "marriagefamilies" need to take out our pencils and paper, sit down with our spouses, and take seriously the job of learning how to exemplify the way things are designed to be.
On the flip side, if we have marriages or families that fall on the list of exceptions, it does not mean the people involved are any less than the people in "marriagefamilies." No one walks down the aisle with hopes of sitting at a gravesite or in divorce court. Individuals who are involved in exceptions need comfort in grieving the loss of their "marriagefamily." They need help in accepting the way things sometimes are without giving up on the way things are designed to be.
Fortunately, becoming a better speller is not a moral issue, well, unless you are a spelling teacher as I am. Bettering the health of our marriages and families, however, is a moral issue that has profoundly public implications. Without a doubt, our families are the classrooms and our marriages are the examples by which our children, and others watching our behavior, are learning whether the Catholic rule of "marriagefamily" really works and is worth their endorsement... or not.
URL: http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/65414

Christian "Hatred"

2007-09-09T22:23:00.001-07:00

Fr. Paul Scalia..:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Christian "Hatred"..>..>

September 7, 2007
Are Christians allowed to hate? We know that our Lord commands us to love one another, and that we will be known by such love (cf. Jn 13:34-35). But consider how hateful St. Thomas Aquinas must have looked when he defied his parents and ran off to join the Dominicans. Beautiful St. Clare probably appeared ugly and cruel when she dashed her parents' hopes for her marriage and snuck off to follow St. Francis in poverty. And he himself, the "Little Poor Man" of Assisi, certainly seemed callous and unkind when he publicly renounced his father and inheritance. So if Christians are to love, how do we understand such seeming cruelty?
These saints, however hateful they may have appeared, were motivated by a love far deeper than that of those around them. It was not a lack of love, but an unwillingness to dilute that love that prompted their actions. They refused to put their love for God lower than, or even on equal footing with, their love for family or worldly comfort. They preferred nothing to the love of Christ. And for this it appeared as though they hated, and indeed they must have been made to feel as if they did. Their radical example provides the way to understand some of our Lord's most shocking words: "If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple" (Lk 14:26).
Obviously, our Lord speaks figuratively here. A Christian may never deliberately hate someone. But when we choose to love God with our whole heart, soul and mind, we will inevitably appear cruel and hateful to some. Our desire to love Him above all else puts us on a crash course with those who tempt us to divide our loyalty or compromise our devotion. They will (intentionally or not) make us feel as if we are being hateful toward our parents, spouses, siblings, children — even our very selves. Therefore, our Lord means that to follow Him we must be willing to appear hateful. In a word, we must prefer to endure division — even in our own families — than to divide our love for God.
..:namespace prefix = v ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" />..:namespace prefix = w ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" />And indeed our Lord's words have been fulfilled. Christians have been accused of hatred many times. The ancient world considered them "haters of humanity" because they refused to participate in pagan worship. Our culture levies the same accusation against us: that we hate. When the Church teaches strongly against abortion, the world spins it as hatred for women. When the Church proclaims the truth about marriage, the world accuses her of hating homosexuals. And so on. Further, each member of the Church encounters this as well. Increasingly, Catholics may be accused of hatred and be made to feel hateful by members of their own families, when out of fidelity to Christ they will not approve certain immoralities (divorce and remarriage, cohabitation, the homosexual lifestyle, etc.).
We should not think that Sts. Thomas, Clare and Francis easily and joyfully broke with their families. Doubtless, they did so with great sadness. For even when we understand our Lord's words properly, they should not sit easily in our hearts. Woe to us if we do find them easy. One writer imagines that when the apostles heard these words they were all stunned and scandalized — except Judas. He found no difficulty in them. He was more than ready to hate. His kind of heart can only distort our Lord's words. The only heart that gives them the proper reception is the one that loves family, friends and life itself — but loves God more than all these and is saddened that anyone would compete for His place.
In the end, the ancient world that accused Christians of hating humanity became Christian itself. Its conversion was due to the witness of love. "See how these Christians love one another," they would say. The world that began with accusations of Christian "hatred" ended with admiration of Christian love. So there is hope for us as well — both as the Church and members thereof — that our love will someday be made manifest even to those who accuse us of hate.Fr. Scalia is parochial vicar of St. Rita parish in Alexandria, VA. URL: http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/65373

Pontiff Urges Chaplains to Show Inmates God's Mercy

2007-09-09T22:21:00.000-07:00

Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-20432?l=english ..:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Pontiff Urges Chaplains to Show Inmates God's Mercy
Address to Congress on Pastoral Prison Care
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, SEPT. 6, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Chaplains must be heralds of God's compassion and forgiveness to prisoners who can be overwhelmed by feelings of isolation, shame and rejection, says Benedict XVI.The Pope said this today to the participants of the 12th World Congress of the International Commission of Catholic Prison Pastoral Care, being held in Rome through Tuesday.About the theme of this year's congress, "Discovering the Face of Christ in Every Prisoner," the Holy Father said it "aptly portrays your ministry as a vivid encounter with the Lord." "Indeed," the Pontiff continued, referring to his encyclical "Deus Caritas Est," "in Christ the 'love of God and love of neighbor have become one,' so that 'in the least of the brethren we find Jesus himself, and in him … God.' "Your ministry requires much patience and perseverance. Not infrequently there are disappointments and frustrations." He continued: "Strengthening the bonds that unite you with your bishops will enable you to find the support and guidance you need to raise awareness of your vital mission."Indeed, this ministry within the local Christian community will encourage others to join you in performing corporal works of mercy, thus enriching the ecclesial life of the diocese. "Likewise, it will help to draw those whom you serve into the heart of the universal Church, especially through their regular participation in the celebration of the sacraments of penance and the holy Eucharist." HeraldsBenedict XVI said: "Prisoners easily can be overwhelmed by feelings of isolation, shame and rejection that threaten to shatter their hopes and aspirations for the future. "Within this context, chaplains and their collaborators are called to be heralds of God's infinite compassion and forgiveness. "In cooperation with civil authorities, they are entrusted with the weighty task of helping the incarcerated rediscover a sense of purpose so that, with God's grace, they can reform their lives, be reconciled with their families and friends, and, insofar as possible, assume the responsibilities and duties which will enable them to conduct upright and honest lives within society."The Pope spoke of the institutions dedicated to protecting citizens and the common good, nothing that they also "are to aid in rebuilding 'social relationships disrupted by the criminal act committed.'"He explained: "By their very nature, therefore, these institutions must contribute to the rehabilitation of offenders, facilitating their transition from despair to hope and from unreliability to dependability. "When conditions within jails and prisons are not conducive to the process of regaining a sense of a worth and accepting its related duties, these institutions fail to achieve one of their essential ends." The Pontiff continued: "Public authorities must be ever vigilant in this task, eschewing any means of punishment or correction that either undermine or debase the human dignity of prisoners. "In this regard, I reiterate that the prohibition against torture 'cannot be contravened under any circumstances.' "I am confident that your congress will provide an opportunity to share your experiences of the mysterious countenance of Christ shining through the faces of the imprisoned. "I encourage you in your efforts to show that face to the world as you promote greater respect for the dignity of the detained." "Finally," the Holy Father concluded, "I pray that your congress will be an occasion for you yourselves to appreciate anew how, in attending to the needs of the imprisoned, your own eyes are opened to the marvels God does for you each day."

2007-09-09T22:19:00.000-07:00

Q. How do you know if a guy loves you or wants to use you?

A. Step one is to only commit to a guy if you've had a long friendship with him, your family likes him, and you can see yourself marrying him. Also, practice the principles of courtship, here.

Secondly, do NOT pay attention to his words. His actions are what matters. I've seen relationships where the guy cheated on the girl, and as soon as he got caught, his first words were, "Baby, it's not what you think. I love you." Thankfully, the girl wasn't convinced, and she dumped him.

I think that girls easily get swept away by a guy's flattering words because the media tends to make women feel constantly imperfect. Therefore, the "I love you baby, you're so beautiful, you're the only one for me," language really sweeps away some girls.

But this is where a girl must have wisdom. No matter what he says, don't give him sexual stuff. If a guy pressures you to give him your body, then he doesn't love you. Period.

Although this will weed out a lot of immature guys, only time will reveal a man's intentions. One man said, "If I sensed there was a moral dilemma in her mind, I would play any role necessary to reach the point where sex became inevitable."(1) There are many good guys out there but there are also plenty of predators who will tell a girl whatever she wants to hear. Therefore, a girl needs to proceed slowly, develop the skill of listening to her heart, and have the courage to follow it. Otherwise, a young woman may be left feeling as this fifteen-year-old did: "I felt strange, and in a sense, used. It was like we were both caring for the same person--him. I felt left out of it."(2)
______________________________________

1. McDowell, Why Wait?, 110.2. Joyce L. Vedral, Boyfriends: Getting Them, Keeping Them, Living Without Them (New York: Ballantine Books, 1990). As quoted by www.lovematters.com/teenstalk.htmURL: http://pureloveclub.com/chastity/index.php?id=7&entryid=132

Is It Love?

2007-09-09T22:16:00.000-07:00

Q. Is it love?
A. The following test was designed by the popular radio talk show host Dr. Laura. After taking this test, you'll quickly know whether your relationship has a good chance of growing into a long-lasting relationship, and maybe even marriage. Print this page, and then answer each question with "yes" or "no." After taking the test, check your score results below. Afterwards, have your boyfriend/girlfriend take the test to see how you compare. Most importantly, be honest! Your future happiness depends on it.
1_____ Can you say there's no jealousy in your relationship?
2_____ Is your relationship free of drug and alcohol abuse?
3_____ Can you say you're never asked to compromise your moral values?
4_____ Do you appreciate and enjoy each other's family and friends?
5_____ Have you discussed your long-term goals for faith, family and career in detail?
6_____ Do you have complete confidence in each other?
7_____ Has experience shown him/her to always be truthful and open with you?
8_____ Does he/she always follow through on promises and commitments?
9_____ Do you talk openly and easily with each other about everything? (Including this test?)10_____ Do you both listen carefully to one another and try to understand each other's point of view?
11_____ Do you practice the same faith by praying and going to church together regularly?12_____ Do you both agree that marriage is forever?
13_____ Do you refrain from using manipulation or blackmail to get your own way?
14_____ Do you like spending time together doing different activities? (Not just watching TV, mall shopping or talking on the phone together. I recommend volunteering for church, charity and civic projects -- or joining school clubs, bands, debate teams or sports programs.)
15_____ When you have a disagreement or the going gets tough, do both of you respond respectfully with patience and understanding?
16_____ Have your family and friends told you they approve of your relationship -- that they feel it's making you a better person?
17_____ Do you limit your physical relationship to holding hands and simple kisses?
18_____ Have you seen each other during good times and bad? (Virtues shine during adversity. Never rush to marriage. You'll miss critical signs of good or bad character traits.)19_____ Do you both stay away from pornographic magazines, videos, internet, etc.?
20_____ If your future spouse had a serious accident that maimed or disfigured him/her for life, would your love remain strong? Could your love survive without physical expression?21_____ Do each of you dress, speak and act modestly?
22_____ Can you admit your own shortcomings and discuss them openly?
23_____ Are you both generous in making sacrifices for others?
24_____ Does your sweetheart already have the qualities needed to be a super spouse and a wonderful parent for your children?
25_____ Are you willing to give up power and let your loved one control some of the important decisions and circumstances?
(True love means frequently surrendering your will to meet your loved one's needs and wishes without violating your moral values.)Here's the Scoring . . .Scoring: Give yourself one point for each "yes" answer and zero points for each "no" answer.(Her score?____ His Score?____)
22 to 25 pts. "Solid as a Rock!". . . It's True Love! Congratulations on a very strong relationship.
19 to 21 pts. "Looking Good!". . . You're relationship has good potential. With a little work, you can become "Solid as a Rock."
15 to 18 pts. "Warning Signals!". . . It might be "Infatuation." Work on the "No's." Take the test again in 6 months and again in 12 months. Hopefully your scores will improve and your relationship will grow. If your relationship doesn't greatly improve within a year, you should consider ending it.
Below 15 pts. "Red Alert!". . . Sorry, this may be painful to hear, but it's probably time to say "goodbye." It's either blind infatuation or there are other serious problems. (If you're married and you scored below 15 points, don't give up -- get some good marriage counseling ASAP.)** Bonus Question **Are both of you committed to saving sex for marriage? If yes, add 2 points to your score.Important Tip from Dr. Laura . . ."It's difficult to get an accurate reading from my Is it Love? test if you're sexually active. Sex is so powerful that it's often blinding before marriage. That's one of the reasons I say, 'Don't shack up!' If you're sexually active, my first recommendation is to stop having sex immediately. With sex out of the picture, it will be easier to see how each of you responds in the critical areas that build strong, healthy, lasting relationships. It's definitely challenging to save sex for marriage - but it's worth the wait and it helps assure a happier marriage. Go ahead - make the commitment. You'll be glad you waited!"Used With Permission of Dr. Laura Schlessinger and LoveMatters.comURL: http://pureloveclub.com/chastity/index.php?id=7&entryid=22

The Danger of Criticizing Bishops and Priests

2007-09-09T22:15:00.001-07:00

Alas, how sad it is that some are far more ready to judge (and criticize)priests than they are to pray for them.
The Danger of CriticizingBishops and Priests

By Thomas G. Morrow

In the thirteenth century many priests were involved in seeking wealth and having a pleasant life. They hardly preached at all, virtually never studied, and paid for important positions so that they could get even more money. A number of priests openly lived with women, causing great scandal. Some of the bishops lived in unbelievable wealth, and would sell Church positions to keep their rich life style. Many of the people were just as bad as their leaders.
As a result, many so-called prophets had appeared, some good, some not-so-good, who promised terrible punishments if people did not reform. Peter Waldo was one of the reformers who had a great beginning. He gave up his riches to live in poverty and spread the faith. He had many followers who also lived as poor men, and did penance. However, when they began to preach without permission against the lazy and sinful priests, the Archbishop of Lyons, France, excommunicated them.
The group, called the Waldensians, took their case to the pope, and he encouraged them. He praised Peter for living in poverty and gave him and his followers permission to urge the people to live moral and holy lives wherever the bishops allowed them to do so. But since they had not studied theology they were not permitted to explain the Bible or to instruct people in the faith. Unfortunately, they began to do both.
In time they got into all sorts of errors, such as placing their interpretation of the Bible over the authority of the pope, denying both purgatory, and veneration of the saints. They also refused to go to confession to immoral priests, preferring to confess to good people who were not priests. As a result, the Waldensians were excommunicated by the pope in 1184.
However, there were still a number of them going all over, spreading their errors. And, there were also the Albigensians or Cathari, as they were called in Italy, who condemned the material world as evil. As a result they denied the sacraments, and marriage in particular. Many people listened to both the leftover Waldensians and Cathari because they lived Gospel poverty, unlike the priests.
Despite their sincerity, and their living radical Gospel poverty, they all fell astray. They lost the faith. But, their contemporary, Francis of Assisi did not. Why not? Because he never went anywhere to preach the Gospel without permission of the priests. Furthermore, he would never criticize the priests and bishops—even the most lazy and immoral ones—nor would he allow his friars to do so. (As a result, the Franciscans were always welcome just about everywhere they went.)
Once a Waldensian challenged Francis on his unshakeable reverence for priests, by pointing out the local pastor who was living in sin. "Must we believe in his teaching and respect the sacraments he performs?"
In response, Francis went to the priest's home and knelt before him saying, "I don't know whether these hands are stained as the other man says they are. [But] I do know that even if they are, that in no way lessens the power and effectiveness of the sacraments of God… That is why I kiss these hands out of respect for what they perform and out of respect for Him who gave His authority to them." His challenger left in silence.
The Franciscan Order revolutionized the faith in Europe during the 19 years from Francis's conversion at age 25 to his death. There were thousands of Franciscans by the time he died, spreading the true faith, not by pointing out the sins of the priests and bishops (of which there were certainly many), but by living the gospel so simply and so joyfully that people found it irresistible.
Today there are many priests and even bishops who seem to invite criticism by what they say and do, but most are far less culpable than the priests and bishops of St. Francis' time. The recent scandals in the U.S. priesthood are much uglier but they have been dealt with far more strongly than those lesser but more widespread faults of the thirteenth century.
Rejecting Doctrines
And, I believe the people who will bring about a new springtime in the Church will be more like Francis of Assisi than today's harsh critics of priests and bishops. Perhaps the example of the Waldensians and Albigensians gives us an insight into what happens when people focus on the sins of priests and bishops.
I believe such criticism can feed our own pride, and make us feel superior to our Church leaders. From that point it is not a great leap to begin to lump their teaching in with their behavior, and to begin to reject the doctrines of the Church. The danger is real.
Jesus warned his followers not to reject the doctrines of the scribes and pharisees despite their shameful behavior:
Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice. They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, and salutations in the market places, and being called rabbi by men. (Matt. 3:1-7)
A few verses later he proclaims, "Woe to you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites," and calls them "blind guides," and "brood of vipers." Nonetheless, people are to "practice and observe whatever they tell you," because they are, in effect, descendants of Moses.
I would venture to say that most of our bishops are far better than the scribes and pharisees, and they are the descendants of the apostles. How important it is that we listen to them, especially in light of the fact that Jesus told them, "He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me" (Luke 10:16).
Liturgical Tampering
Another problem that emerges some times among those who would rather criticize than pray for bishops is deciding for themselves the form the liturgy should take. Some take on themselves the prerogative to make little changes in their responses at Mass, thereby causing division in precisely the place where we should be most unified. Whether it be rejecting a certain memorial acclamation, or responding in Latin when the congregation is responding in English, or substituting the word "God" for "he" or "him" for feminist purposes, any of these can be a distraction for others trying to lift their hearts and minds to God.
It is not up to us to decide what is apt in the Mass, but the bishops. Surely, we should avoid doing something immoral, but besides that unlikely case, we should obediently follow the liturgy given to us by those chosen to do so. Whether we like a translation or not (and some seem to be lacking at times), we should accept and use what our superiors have given us. Far better to write a humble letter to the bishops than to change things on our own authority. And far better to pray for better translations.
Losing Joy
There is a further danger of being so ready to criticize bishops or priests: we can become very dour Catholics. The more we criticize and complain, the more we bring down the morale of the Church and the more gloomy we become. (St. Teresa of Avila said once, "God deliver me from gloomy saints!") Many sincere, orthodox Catholics have become sour people because they continued to dwell on the faults of the clergy, so sour that they have been unable to contribute something positive to the Church, despite their many talents.
This is not to say we may not acknowledge the wrongs of priests and bishops, but we should do so reluctantly and with understatement. And then, we should move on to the positive, the things that will build up the Church and her morale. We should never dwell on the negative elements of priests and bishops—or anyone else, for that matter—because it will make us melancholy people, always ready to point out the negative aspect of any situation.
The devil is most clever in bringing down those who sincerely love God and the Church. He gets them to dwell on the negative elements of the Church and thereby destroys their joy. We mustn't fall for this ruse. If we want to be holy, we must focus on the positive, and let nothing destroy our joy.
God the Father spoke to St. Catherine of Siena about his "ministers," the priests. She recorded it in her Dialogue:
…[It] is my intention that they be held in due reverence, not for what they are in themselves, but for my sake, because of the authority I have given them. Therefore the virtuous must not lessen their reverence, even should these ministers fall short in virtue. And, as far as the virtues of my ministers are concerned, I have described them for you by setting them before you as stewards of... my Son's body and blood and of the other sacraments. This dignity belongs to all who are appointed as such stewards, to the bad as well as to the good.
…[Because] of their virtue and because of their sacramental dignity you ought to love them. And you ought to hate the sins of those who live evil lives. But you may not for all that set ourselves up as their judges; this is not my will because they are my Christs, and you ought to love and reverence the authority I have given them.
You know well enough that if someone filthy or poorly dressed were to offer you a great treasure that would give you life, you would not disdain the bearer for love of the treasure, and the lord who had sent it, even though the bearer was ragged and filthy... You ought to despise and hate the ministers' sins and try to dress them in the clothes of charity and holy prayer and wash away their filth with your tears.
Indeed, I have appointed them and given them to you to be angels on earth and suns, as I have told you. When they are less than that you ought to pray for them. But you are not to judge them. Leave the judging to me, and I, because of your prayers and my own desire, will be merciful to them. [1]
Is judging the same as criticizing? It's close. The Random House American College Dictionary defines the word "criticize" as "1. To make judgments as to merits and faults. 2. To find fault."
Clearly, the Lord wants prayers, not judgment for his priests. Alas, how sad that some are far more ready to judge (and criticize) priests than they are to pray for them! Imagine how much better off the Church would be if all the energy given to criticizing priests and bishops here devoted to prayer and penance for these men; and how much better off those who prayed and fasted would be!
As a seminarian I once was visiting my sister, and we proceeded to tear apart all the dissenting theologians in the Church. It seemed like such fun. But, then we caught ourselves, and I said, "You know, we probably should not take such delight in criticizing the theologians. It can be a pride thing." She agreed, "Yes, by saying how wrong they are, we are proclaiming how right we are."
It's an easy trap to fall into. We call it the "Isn't it awful syndrome."
As a priest, I don't believe I am exempt from the warning from the Lord to St. Catherine about judging other priests. I don't have any more right than a layperson to criticize my brother priests. Sometimes this involves biting my tongue when the subject is a less-than-perfect priest.
As I mentioned earlier, it is not wrong to acknowledge the errors of priests or bishops, or gently point them out. But, when it becomes a zealous sport to pontificate about such errors, and to verbally attack these clerics personally, it goes too far.
Love the Bishops
People have a rather rose-colored idea of the life of a bishop. It's not so pleasant. About 15% of his work is making decisions. The other 85% is dealing with headaches.
I remember well the quip of my pre-ordination retreat director: "Isn't it interesting that in this age when we have so few vocations to the priesthood, we have so many vocations to the episcopacy." And, we might add, to the papacy!
When people publicly criticize a bishop, or any man, for that matter, the one criticized will often dig in his heels for his position even he may not care that much about it. He does that to show that he won't be manipulated by those who try to strong-arm him, even if the criticism is well-intended or well-placed.
On the other hand, people such as St. Catherine of Siena and St. Bernard of Clairvaux had tremendous influence over bishops by their letters. It is not hard to see why: their letters were humble and respectful, and full of love. "But they were saints," one might argue. They became saints, but if you examine their lives you will find that many did not recognize their sanctity when they were alive. Furthermore, it was their sanctity that inspired them to urge reform with love, and so it will be with our sanctity, if we strive for it.
The priests and bishops are probably no worse than they were in the time of St. Catherine of Siena, or St. Francis of Assisi. In fact, they are much better, in general, despite the shameful scandals of a few, in recent years. We have a choice to make: to give in to our sadness and become a "priest-basher" or "bishop-basher," always ready to lament with great energy the faults of our clergy; or, while acknowledging the errors of the clergy, we can become morale-builders in the Church, always emphasizing the positive, always ready to build up, not tear down. And, if we look closely, we'll see a lot of positives in the Church today, and in every age.
St. Paul said it well: "Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. But we beseech you, brethren, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves" (1 Thess. 5:11-13). This is the way to true holiness, and the joy which always accompanies it. And, this Christian joy, unlike sullenness, is infectious.
NOTES
1. Catherine of Siena; The Dialogue, translated by Suzanne Noffke, O.P., New York: Paulist Press, 1980, pp. 229-231.

Reverend Thomas G. Morrow has a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family. His book, Saints for Families (Emmaus Road), a compilation of 27 lives of the saints appropriate for family reading time, appeared in 2002. He is a parochial vicar of St. Catherine Laboure Parish in Wheaton, Md. His published booklets and leaflets can be seen at http://www.cfalive.org/. In his last appearance in HPR he composed the homilies in the October 2003 issue.
URL: http://www.ignatius.com/magazines/hprweb/morrow.htm

When You Pray, Who is Supposed To Change?

2007-09-09T22:11:00.000-07:00

..> ..>
Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph. D.

When You Pray, Who Is Supposed to Change?..>..>

July 27, 2007
Gn 18:20-32 / Col 2:12-14 / Lk 11:1-13
A family was preparing to move all the way across the country. And the night before they left, their little five-year-old knelt to say his prayers: "Thank you, God, for this day, for the birds and the flowers and for all good things. God bless mommy and daddy and Tina and all my friends." The child paused for a moment and then concluded, "Good-bye, God. We're going to California."
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California: Outside God's jurisdiction?
The way we pray reveals what we think about God. And most of us make God too small. How much of our praying is really just a clumsy attempt at bribery: "If you'll do this, God, I promise I'll be good, I'll write a big check to the church, I'll always, I'll never ... whatever." As if God could be bought!
How much of our praying is like shopping by telephone: Call in your order and then wait for the delivery!
How much of our praying and coming to church is really just an attempt to buy a little insurance against bad luck! And when bad luck comes anyway -- as it always does — "Good-bye, God!" Some seats in every church are empty because God didn't perform on cue: "What good is God, if he doesn't deliver the goods, if he doesn't give me what I want? That insurance policy was a waste!"
All of this thoroughly misses the point, both as to the nature of God and the purpose of praying. God is immense and good beyond all imagining, and praying is not about changing God's mind. God already knows what we need and wants us to have it. No persuasion or manipulation is needed.
Praying is about changing US on the inside. As we open our hearts to the Lord, and listen attentively, and allow ourselves to be touched and moved within, we begin to see things as God sees them, and to want what God wants. That's the real gift that God always gives when we pray with open hearts: We get reshaped on the inside into his image and likeness, and as a result we get a taste of God's peace and joy. And nothing is too big for us to face, for now we see and experience everything through God's eyes. What a vantage point!
This is the gift of the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised us if we pray with open, trusting hearts. And it's ever so much more precious than the stuff we ask for and think we have to have.
So ask, and you shall receive ... the Holy Spirit. Seek, and you shall find ... the Holy Spirit. Knock, and the Holy Spirit will be opened to you. And you will have whatever you need, no matter what.
URL: http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/62263