Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Epiphany

I hope that everyone's Christmas was a good one. In this time during the the actual 12 Days of Christmas, I wanted to wish everyone a blessed new year. May you all have a blessed Epiphany on January 6th. Try to picture yourself there along with the Magi welcoming the true King after such a long time of searching. Christmas doesn't end on the 26th or even the 6th of January. We should welcome Christ into our hearts and homes everyday.

+Blessings and Peace to all.

The Trinitarian Formula

In the NAME of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος.

In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritūs Sancti. Amen


This simple formula has so much depth in terms of understanding the nature of the Godhead. It is given to us by Jesus Himself. The mystery of the trinity lies within this simple statement. It is a look, through the glass darkly, of the picture of the Trinity, the Triune God. We cannot fully understand the trinity and that is where Faith comes in. Faith in the Church, Faith in God, and Faith in the weight of these words.

Find what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says here.

Advent

The time of Advent has many parallels with the season of Lent. Indeed the Incarnation is intrinsically tied to the Passion of our Lord. The reason God came to earth in the first place was to ultimately die on the cross for us and save us from eternal separation from Himself.

The time of Advent is one of joyful preparation. Lent is a time of dying to self in order to more fully associate ourselves with the Lord's Passion, Death, and Resurrection. Advent is preparing for our Savior's coming. The joyous occasion of the Creator of the universe humbling himself and becoming one of us. Fully human; fully divine. Truly mysterious.

The colors of Advent even mimic the colors of the season of Lent. Again, the Church in her wisdom has done this on purpose so as to help us to see the corollary between the two liturgical seasons. Again it helps us to see that the Incarnation naturally and logically progresses toward the Crucifixion.

Christianity is unique in the fact that instead of man trying to ascend to God through various levels of transcendence and trying to reach up, we believe that God descends to man and reaches down to pull us out of this muck we are in. As far as I know, we are the only religion that has ever claimed this. It's something that is truly amazing. I for one am in awe of this fact and I think that Advent should be a time of awe. Everyday, every season, we should make ready for the coming of Christ. May our God be Blessed!

Science, the Church, and Monday Night Football

As I was watching Monday night football with some friends and family members at a local sports bar (the Packers won by the way!!!), the waiter who had our table overheard us talking about some things and decided to say a few words himself. Let me backtrack...

We were talking about science and my dad (a semi-lapsed Catholic who has "found" Jesus - I didn't know he was lost - at a megachurch) mentioned that he and a buddy of his called themselves evolutionary creationists. I was intrigued. That type of approach to the creation of the world is more appropriate of my views on the matter as well. Dad went on to explain that he and his friend believe in a good God who created the universe and also that he ordains things to evolve and move at a particular place in a particular way. He says, and I think I agree with him, that God would not just create something with a snap of his fingers and boom there it is (although he can if he wants to) and leave it alone. God planned out a specific way in order for His creatures to appreciate more the beauty and ways of His creation. Dad's friend is also an Apostolic Christian by the way. (If he were a true "apostolic Christian" he would be Catholic :] )

Back to the story: I could see where Dad was coming from. He had a point. And it was a lot better than some creationist stuff that I've heard. That's another post. He then segued into a slight against the Church saying that we had never approved or condoned science and that it was something that we were afraid of. I had to jump in with some words myself. This type of accusation that the church never condoned science is a misnomer. In fact, and I would recommend purchasing this book, the church was and always has been appreciative of science. You just have to do a little research.

At this time, our waiter guy over heard us and asked what we were talking about. So we filled him in. He started talking about how the church changed it position on the whole make-up of the solar system to fit the new information. We got into Galileo and he started into a whole new set of slights against the church. In fact, it was not the church that was in a hissy-fit over Galileo and Copernicus -both devout Catholics- it was the Protestants who were incensed over this new heliocentric model of the solar system. The church advised their scientists to treat these new theories as hypothesis until more information was obtained. That was the practice. Galileo thought that he had the truth already. He published it as such and the church, with the Reformation still fresh, gave Galileo a small slap on the hand. Protestants adhered to a rigid interpretation of the text and "clearly" this went agaisnt the word of God. The church did not want to have any further divisions happen. This whole ordeal is not what modern media and "scholarly" research make it out to be.

Ideas on the interpretation of particular passages of scripture were now "called into question". The church has always understood that the sum of human knowledge gained might shed more light on the particular interpretation of scripture. Reason is a gift of God and he intended that we use it. Nothing in nature can contradict what he has revealed in his word. Therefore, the interpretation of passages in the right context can and do make sense. St. Thomas Aquinas is worth quoting at length here:

"First, the Truth of Scripture must be held inviolable. Secondly, when there are different ways of explaining a Scriptural text, no particular explanation should be held so rigidly that, if convincing arguments show it to be false, anyone dare to insist that it still is the definitive sense of the text. Otherwise unbelievers will scorn Sacred Scripture, and the way to faith will be closed to them."

As you can imagine, the discussion got a little heated. I thought the waiter guy was going to flip a gasket. He suggested that we watch movies entitled "Zeitgeist" and "Zeitgeist II". He said they go on to explain how all the religions are the same and that they are different expressions of the same thing. Sadly, I've heard that many times. If truth is objective, then there can only be one path. I tried explaining this to him and he couldn't wrap his mind about it. He called himself a pan-theist. I know. It's like ancient pagan times again. Regardless of his views it was quite the discussion and the evening.

I really enjoy Monday Night football.

Miracles

I recently finished the book Miracles by the great C.S. Lewis. The writing was his usual down to earth commentary that the "everyman" can understand and enjoy. My understanding of what exactly a miracle is was greatly helped by this book.

There are two categories that Lewis distinguishes between: Naturalists and super-naturalists. Naturalists, according to Lewis, have a specific emphasis that everything is just a process and progress of nature itself. But, Lewis argues, miracles then would not be miracles and therefore just something that nature does naturally. Which, as you can probably deduce, would not make it a miracle. It is an interesting distinction.

The super-naturalists are those that attribute that miracles can and do occur and that they are actions of the hand of God reaching into nature. The nature that he created. It is not a disruptive action or one the goes against the laws of nature. They are consistent with nature, but beyond nature so to speak. And this "beyond nature" is a benevolent being, the being that we have been privileged to call God our Father.

Now, I am just an amateur, but the way that I interpret that is this: God plays a role in our lives through various miracles and these miracles are tastes of the new creation that will be at the end of the world. The perfect world that God had intended for us in the first place. They are outward signs that God is still with us, kind of like sacraments. I think the question is then how does God interact with the world? Miracles don't go against the laws of nature, they show us a different dimension of nature. God's nature.

Just check out the book for yourself.

Cardinal George on the Year for Priests

I came across this earlier today. In it, Cardinal George addresses his brother Bishops on the unity and authority of the church and the role of the priest in the world today. It is here in it's entirety:

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS
2009 FALL MEETING OF THE US CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS
BALTIMORE
16 NOVEMBER 2009

My dear brother Bishops:
The Year for Priests proclaimed by our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, aims to renew among ordained priests a sense of the sacred vocation that is theirs in the Church, drawing ever more confidently on the grace that was given them with the laying on of hands (I Timothy 4:14). It is also an opportunity for the whole Church to thank God for this grace, which is given to those called to Holy Orders for the sake of others’ salvation. It has already moved some of the faithful to thank their priests for their lives of self-sacrifice for Christ’s people. In this gratitude, we bishops, who shepherd our Churches with and through our priests, join wholeheartedly.

Pope Benedict XVI, in a recent homily, spoke about the Church’s “sacerdotal form,” explaining that the category of priesthood is an “interpretative key of the mystery of Christ and, in consequence, the Church…Jesus Christ’s priesthood is no longer primarily a ritual one but an existential one,” the Pope preached; the ordained priesthood affects every dimension of the Church’s life. Ordained so that Christ’s headship of his Church might be visible and so that the baptized will know where they must gather if they want to be visibly one in Christ, priests are called to ever-greater depths of pastoral charity by the demands of their ministry. To appreciate the many dimensions of priestly ministry, it helps to consider what the Catholic Church would be without the sacrament of Holy Orders.

Priestly Ministry rooted in Holy Orders

The priest teaches the people in Christ’s name and with his authority. Without ordained priests, the teaching ministry would fall primarily on professors, whose obligation is first to seek the truth in the framework of their own academic discipline and whose authority to teach derives from their professional expertise.

The priest governs the people in Christ’s name, exercising Christ’s authority in collaboration with the bishops. Without ordained priests, the only instance of real governance in any society would be that of civil and political leaders. Their authority comes from God through the people they have sworn to serve; but, in Catholicism, secular kingship confers no religious authority and a civil government has no right to deprive the Church of freedom to govern herself by her own laws and under her own leaders.

The priest counsels people to see the hand of God directing human affairs, using the discernment of spirits to govern souls and to free people from what oppresses them. Without ordained priests, counseling passes into the hands of therapists, dedicated to their clients and skilled in examining the dynamics of human personality, but without consideration of the influence of God’s grace.

The priest leads his people in worship, making possible the real presence of Christ, the head of his Church, under the sacramental forms of bread and wine. Without ordained priests, the Church would be deprived of the Eucharist, and her worship would be centered only on the praise and thanksgiving, the petition and expiation open to all by reason of baptism. Without ordained priests who love and govern their people in the name of Christ and with his authority, the Church would not be connected to Jesus Christ, the great High Priest, as Christ himself wants us to be joined to him. Without ordained priests, the Church would be a spiritual association, a faith community, but not fully the Body of Christ.

Episcopal Governance and the Sacrament of Holy Orders

During this Year for Priests, we bishops are called to reflect on our relationship to our priests, to help them grow in holiness, to deepen our fraternity with them, to unite them with us around Jesus Christ. We are called as well to examine the ministry that is properly ours by reason of the fullness of the priesthood given us at episcopal ordination. To us bishops, gathered into this Conference established by the Holy See in order to strengthen our unity with the Holy Father and among ourselves, the words of St. Ignatius of Antioch speak across nineteen hundred years of the relationships that constitute our own participation in the sacrament of Holy Orders and in the governance of the Church. On his way to martyrdom in Rome, Ignatius wrote to the Philadelphians: “For all who belong to God and Jesus Christ are with the bishop; all who repent and return to the unity of the Church will also belong to God, that they may live according to Jesus Christ.” And again, in his letter to the Trallians: “Your submission to your bishop, who is in the place of Jesus Christ, shows me that you are not living as men usually do but in the manner of Jesus himself, who died for us that you might escape death by belief in his death. Thus one thing is necessary,…that you do nothing without your bishop…”

Episcopal Governance and Catholic Communion

If such is not the universally accepted sense of Catholic communion, we bishops must look to ways to strengthen Church unity. Relations do not speak first of control but of love. If there is a loosening of relationship between ourselves and those whom Christ has given us to govern in love, it is for us to reach out and re-establish connections necessary for all to remain in communion. As you know, we have recently begun discussions on how we might strengthen our relationship to Catholic universities, to media claiming the right to be a voice in the Church, and to organizations that direct various works under Catholic auspices. Since everything and everyone in Catholic communion is truly inter-related, and the visible nexus of these relations is the bishop, an insistence on complete independence from the bishop renders a person or institution sectarian, less than fully Catholic. The purpose of our reflections, therefore, is to clarify questions of truth or faith and of accountability or community among all those who claim to be part of Catholic communion.

Our pastoral concern for ecclesial unity does not diminish our awareness of our own mistakes and sins. There are some who would like to trap the Church in historical events of ages long past and there are others who would keep the bishops permanently imprisoned in the clerical sexual abuse scandal of recent years. The proper response to a crisis of governance, however, is not no governance but effective governance. Loss of trust, we know, weakens relationships and will continue to affect our ministry, even though clerical ranks have been purged of priests and bishops known to have abused children and the entire Church has taken unprecedented means to protect children and to reach out to victims. In any case, the sinfulness of Churchmen can not be allowed to discredit the truth of Catholic teaching or to destroy the relationships that create ecclesial communion.

Relations in the Church and among priests and people are mutual. The faithful need the bishops in order to be Catholic, and the bishops need the faithful in order to be Catholic pastors. Pastors are given authority by Christ to govern the Church not according to their own whims or desires but according to the will of Christ and to keep the faithful united around him. Every pastor has Councils for this purpose: to listen to those to whom he has been sent to guide and govern. I believe I speak for all of us here when I say that the bishops look forward to the dialogues that will clarify and strengthen the conditions necessary for all of us to be Catholic.

The Unity of the Church and her Mission to the World

The Church, as St. Paul reminds us, has the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5). If we are not of his mind, not of one mind, we cannot preach who Christ is to a divided world. The Second Vatican Council reminded the entire Church that we are to be a leaven for the world’s transformation. Catholic communion is to be the counterpart of human solidarity. Recently, we have tried to be such a leaven in the debate about health care. It is not for us to speak to particular means of delivering health care; it is our responsibility, however, to insist, as a moral voice concerned with human solidarity, that everyone should be cared for and that no one should be deliberately killed.

This voice and these concerns are not novel. My predecessor as Archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Bernardin, speaking to the National Press Club in 1994, said that concern for health care “requires us to stand up for both the unserved and the unborn, to insist on the inclusion of real universal coverage and the exclusion of abortion coverage, to support efforts to restrain rising health costs, and to oppose the denial of needed care to the poor and vulnerable.” Participating in the same debate fifteen years later, we are grateful for those in either political party who share these common moral concerns and govern our country in accordance with them.

The challenge to governing effectively and pastorally as bishops and priests is to be public without being co-opted and to be who we are without being isolated. We approach every issue from the perspective of the natural moral law and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for issues that are moral questions before they become political remain moral questions when they become political. To limit our teaching or governing to what the state is not interested in would be to betray both the Constitution of our country and, much more importantly, the Lord himself.
Jesus Christ is the Savior of the whole world, of our public lives as well as our private lives, of our business concerns and of our recreational outlets, of our families and of our institutions, of the living and of the dead. In his name and as bishops of his Church, we gather now to seek his will for his people, and with his authority we govern. May Christ bless and guide, with the power of his Spirit, our deliberations and this meeting of our Conference. Thank you.

Francis Cardinal George OMI
Archbishop of Chicago

Pope Benedict Sings

In a few weeks, our Holy Father Pope Benedict will have a recording released of him reciting the "Regina Coeli" over the sounds of a choir. This particular recording of the "Regina Coeli" is the first that he sang after he was made pope. This recording took place May 1, 2005 in St. Peter's Square. Choir pieces were recorded later. The CD is called "Alma Mater." The release is slated for November 30th. Check out more info here.

The Door has been Opened

Two days ago, about 10:30 at night, as I was working on the opening lessons for a series I am giving at the local Newman center where I am the advisor, my phone rang. It was my girlfriend, clearly distressed and upset. Apparently things were being said between her and her mother and they progressed again to me being Catholic. Misunderstandings again were spewed forth and my girlfriend was trying her best to allay her mother's fears and misconceptions. She could only take so much. I was called in the middle of this.

Soon after she called, she gave her mother the phone and I spoke with her. God must have thought that it was the right time to talk about all the misconceptions. I answered the best that I could in that short time, but I am sure that there will continue to be questions. At least that door has been opened now. I told them to come to me whenever they have a question on anything Catholic. She even acknowledged that they should have been more open about asking.

All I can say is praise be to God. If anyone reads this besides me, prayers would be great. God bless you.

Love & Marriage

A popular crooner once sang about this. I'm not going to sing right now.

Marriage in today's society has been trivialized. No more emphasis on the covenantal bond that will be established. No more giving of oneself completely to each other. No more respect for what marriage truly is. Marriage is just not about the day that it happens. It's more than the dress. It's more than the family members, it's more than the honeymoon. Marriage is "the matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by it's nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament." (CCC 1601). Let me delve deeper into this.

A covenant is a kinship bond between two parties, with conditions or obligations, established by an oath or it's equivalent. This is the master theme of the Bible. It is God's way of drawing humanity into a familial relationship with him through divine oaths. Basically, it's God's love affair with the human race. God wants us to draw ever nearer to him and he has established these covenants in order for us to become his sons and daughters. We are to pattern our marriages after the covenants that God has established. In the New Testament, these covenants are wonderfully preserved and ratified through the 7 sacraments. A man and a woman don't just promise to love each other for the rest of their lives, they are entering into a covenant of kinship and creating their own family with God at it's center. This partnership is to be patterned after Christ's love for his Bride, the Church which is the marriage covenant par excellence.

Marriage by it's nature (the essential character of a person or thing) is ordered towards an ultimate good and end which is Heaven and eternity with God. We are to prepare ourselves and our spouses for eternity with God. The graces that come with marriage because of it's sacramental nature can orient husband, wife, and their children to the greatest of all good. Naturally, man and woman come together not only for pleasure but for the creation and propagation of offspring. This is a natural order and a natural outpouring of the love between a man and a woman. It is a participation in the Holy Trinity that is God. Because God is 3 in 1 we too are supposed to be witnesses to the nature of God. It's how we are created. "The two shall become one flesh." We enter into the most sacred of all spaces when we go to the marriage bed. (This has been lost in today's culture and society. People tend to forget God and focus only on their own pleasures. This is one way the Devil has subverted humanity towards its own demise and destruction. Thank God for the Church.)

Why are children seen as a hindrance? Why are children murdered in the womb? How have we come to this? People don't trust God anymore and it is disheartening. We have to change the culture from death to life. We have to be God's hands on earth. We have to have the courage to stand for what is right. Children are a blessing and until we remember that, we must work to change attitudes and misconceptions. Are you ready to do that? A culture and people who kill their most innocent is a sad culture indeed. Only when marriage is truly seen for what it is can this attitude shift. Paterning it after Christ's is the way.

The covenant is at it's best when the spouses are both baptized. Why do they have to be baptized? Because "through baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission." (CCC 1213-74). We have graces available even more when both parties are baptized. Unequal yoke is cautioned against in the Scriptures. However, if one person is not baptized, the grace of the sacrament of marriage is still there and in God's time and grace the spouse not baptized could come to the waters of regeneration.

Marriage is a sacrament simply because Christ ratified and made new the creation of God. Christ's life and death and Resurrection were all for the Church, his spotless Bride. Christ's bride must be spotless. God will not unite himself to something that is not. That is what marriage is about: Christ's love for his Church. Husbands are to "love your wives as Christ loves the Church...this is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the Church" (Eph 5:25,32) says St. Paul. You must be willing to give your everything for your spouse, including your life if need be.

In connecting this post with the main theme of this blog, since we are to pattern our marriage after that of Christ to his Church, there can be only one church; a visible church, one where you can actually see the bond of covenant between God and his people. Christ does not have many churches as his one bride but one Church, one people, one covenant. Christ is not a polygamist. It is logical to conclude and right that this one church, this one bride is nothing other than the church Christ established himself, the one, holy, apostolic, Catholic Church.

The Church Fathers

The Church Fathers are an important link to early Christianity as evidenced by this video. One of the Church Fathers, St. Augustine, writes:

The same is the holy Church, the one Church, the true Church, the Catholic Church, fighting against all heresies: fight, it can; be fought down, it cannot. As for heresies, they all went out of it, like unprofitable branches pruned from the vine: but itself abides in its root, in its Vine, in its charity.

Questions

I will make this post a bit different. I will ask questions and maybe I will get some responses back. Feel free to leave a comment.

How do I explain to people my Catholic faith, when they are not even willing to listen in the first place?

How do I tell them that I am not an anomaly within the church, but that I am the norm and the people they have interacted with are the anomaly?

How can I say what I want to say and yet be respectful of their differing beliefs?

I am discouraged and frustrated sometimes at the poor witness other "Catholics" are giving to non-Catholic Christians. It's because of this poor witness that a common ground is slowly eroding away. Or so it seems. I know that there is always hope and that I need to continue in praying for an openess and understanding for this other party.

How do I relate to them that, yes, I know "we all serve the same God...yet you in your way and I in his" as a great saint and theologian once said?

So many questions...

Life and Death to Life

On September 12th, 2009 my grandfather was called home to the Lord. It was a trying time, but it was a peaceful time. He was surrounded by his family, just the way that he wanted. We sang him home with is favorite song, "On Eagles Wings." It still chokes me up and I will never listen to that song the same again. (The following Sunday after his inurnment, the choir sang the song and I couldn't help but smile to myself. That is true comfort. I'm thinking that Grandpa pulled some strings to let me know that though he's gone from my sight, he is still very much alive.) I am missing his advice and his pure love for us all. Truly he was a great man and he drew his strength from the Lord.

I guess through this whole ordeal, you begin to realize the value of family and the comfort that faith in Christ brings to us. It is through our sufferings that we are made more in the image of Christ. Truly to be a Christian you share in the life of Christ. And Christ suffered and died. It is a part of life and indeed the birth into a new life. Victorious over death, in Christ we have no need to be scared. Our hope is the hope of the Resurrection at the end of time when we will be reunited in spirit and body with all of those who have ever lived and died in Christ. What a beautiful future. And we know how the story ends. We win. And there is nothing that will seperate us from the Love of God.

This is what the Catechism says about the Resurrection and what it means. And this is what it says about us and our own resurrection. I cannot but thank God for the opportunity to have known and loved my grandfather. I am praying that Grandpa remembers us and prays for us and that he heard what we all want to hear, "Well done my good and faithful servant...Come share your Master's joy." (St. Matthew 25:23).

You're Catholic AND Christian?!

"He's such a good Christian guy. I don't understand why he would remain Catholic."

It seems to me that there is a true ignorance between Catholics and non-Catholics about what exactly constitutes you as a Christian. Especially among the latter. You can run the gamut of denominations and pretty much every single one of them will probably have a different answer. Some might be closer to historical Christianity, while others are way way off. This creates a mess and a problem when you are trying to explain to others of a different persuasion just exactly where you are coming from. You have some of the same terms, but their definitions can be totally at odds with each other. It's a sad reality, but one that we have to deal with.

All the time it seems that if you're Catholic then automatically in the eyes of particular non-Catholics, you're not a Christian. This creates a false dichotomy right away. Once again, it's got to be "either/or" instead of "both/and". The person who said the quote above has no idea what Catholicism truly teaches. They have been inundated by falsifications and misconceptions about the faith. They have only seen disenfranchised Catholics who never knew their faith in the first place saying nasty things about the church. Instead of seeing that Catholics truly are Christians (we are the original variety), they see a "good Christian guy" that's part of some horrible abomination that doesn't teach the Gospel.

They have no idea that we are chock full of the Gospel. In fact we are full to the brim. We possess the fullness of Christian Truth. Because that Truth is a Person, we have the fullness of Jesus Christ's revelation. Not only do we possess God's letter to us, the Bible (all 73 books of it), we possess the knowledge and the confidence that comes with the promise that Christ made to Peter: "Thou art Peter, and upon this Rock I will build my Church. And the gates of hell will not prevail against it... Whatever you bind on earth is bound in Heaven; and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven." (St. Matthew 16:18-19) It's pretty easy to take Christ, the God-Man, at his words. We have the Church. We have God's promise that He will guide us and be with us throughout all time.

What constitutes the Church and how do you become a member of Christ's Church? The Church is described here. To become a member of the Church you must be baptized with water and the Spirit. In Acts 2:38, Peter says to all "Repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." By becoming a part of the Church that Christ founded, you can be confident of the promises that he made to it. That is how you become a follower of Christ, a Christian. There is an internal decision that also accompanies baptism. This notion that each believer is an island unto himself is a "new" development in Christianity. By over emphasising one aspect of your relationship to Christ, it seems you are cutting off another. Keep in mind as well, that the covenant was fulfilled by Christ, not abolished. Naturally, what was seen darkly in the old covenant was made light in the new. Thus, since intrance into the old covenant was through circumcision of small children, so the new sign of the the new covenant, baptism, takes its place. Just as a person took the faith of their parents and childhood and made it their own through their bar or bat mitzvah, so it is the same with Confirmation. Understanding of the sacramental nature of the church is essential when trying to understand other aspects of it.

So when someone asks if you are a Christian, you say a resounding "Yes, just the way the Bible says." Catholics are truly Christians. What makes it difficult to answer dissenteing opinions is that there is that so much background work that must be accomplished first. Understanding can come only through patience and through credible witness to the truths of Christianity in their fullness found only in the Catholic Church.

Marriage

Ah, what a lovely word. So simple, yet not. A lifetime of work goes into making a marriage and we are to pattern our marriages after the relationship that Christ has for his Church. Christ only has one bride, not many brides. If he is unhappy with his bride he does not dismiss her and choose another, he sticks with her and guides her and loves her until the consummation of the world.

This should be the basis of marriage and the standard by which to judge it. The more that we seek to understand each other and the mystery of marriage, the more we will fall in love with Christ, His Church, and our spouse. Fidelity to those vows, like Christ made to the church, will set us free and will transform two into one everytime.

Faith seeking understanding...isn't that what we should always be striving to do?

A New Truck

Well, I must say that this has nothing to do really with church or anything like that other than that God is a wonderful guy. Looking for trucks has made me appreciate the fact that I don't have to do it very often and that it takes a special person to sell cars day in and day out.

That being said, I am in the final processes of purchasing a '98 Ranger XLT 4x4. It is silver gray and although it has no tilt wheel or cruise, I could care less. It has keyless entry...seriously though it will help to keep the mileage down on my '85 Grand Prix. They have about the same 88,430 give or take a few here and there. I take care of my cars and they take care of me usually. I feel confident about this and I know that God wouldn't let me feel this way if I wasn't supposed to. It's not like I am regretting this decision either. I am glad that I did it. I trust in God. (Thank you Divine Mercy chaplet). I've had 2 trucks sold under me so far and this felt right after I went through with it. Luckily, I have a great job that allowed me to do this in the first place.

It's going to be an exciting week, I know it. It began with a family reunion and it will end with hopefully good news all around. I'll keep you posted...that is if anyone reads this besides me.

Creation and the Bible Alone

Recently I returned from vacation with my girlfriend's family. We traversed throughout Kentucky and had a lot of fun. The end of the vacation, though is what I will focus on.

Her family are staunch fundamentalist Bible alone people. Very good people and very good Christians. I really do love them. As the final stop on the vacation we went to the Creation Museum. Now, being a student of science and reading as much as I do, I immediately had some qualms about going. However, because I was with them, I was obliged to check it out. My poor girlfriend who knows my position on things was also a bit apprehensive. She was getting stomach pains as well, albeit for a different reason.

We arrived and being the guy that I am, I pocketed my rosary in case I needed to squeeze something. The first thing that we viewed was a show in the planetarium. That was probably one of my favorite things of the day. Basically it was an exercise in the expansiveness of the universe and how God created it all. Great. I have no problem in acknowledging that God created everything. The dicotomy that these types of Christians place unecessarily on science and faith is unwarranted. They mentioned a few times how the universe is only about 6,000 years old and used the fact that scientists say that some blue giants cannot have existed very long because their life expectancy is shorter. So they can't figure out one tiny aspect of creation. Okay. There are many things that we do not know that we are still trying to understand. Things do not operate according to our rules. We form the rules from what we observe. That does not necessarily mean that the universe is only 6,000 years old. I will give them that the production was very interactive and I enjoyed the space traveling and seeing how much of the universe has been actually mapped. It put in perspective how small that we really are in the big picture.

Next was the walk through the actual museum. When you hold the Bible to be a scientific treatise, then you can expect to see some gross miscalculations such as placing humans with dinosaurs. Immediately there were people placed in a display with some dinosaurs. As I said before, with what I have read and with what I believe, it seems to me that people are trying to present a world view that does not mesh with what we have figured out. In one instance they celebrate science and it's discoveries of the universe and the next instance, they hold contempt for what it has discovered that goes against their preconceived belief. Especially when it comes to time.

I have come to believe that my faith is only strengthened by the fact that God can choose to create in his own way and in his own time. Without the confines of the Church to interpret scripture and without the proper understanding of the context a particular verse or book of scripture this can lead to many different conclusions. As was shown by the walk through the museum. The most hurtfull aspect of the walk through was how they alleged that the Church had placed tradition over the Bible. Typical Protestant reasoning and "history." What did Luther have to do with the creation debate? They placed him there though nailing his 95 theses to a door. What I also found interesting was the fact that they had on display (on loan) the Codex Sinaiticus, which by the way, includes all 73 books of the Bible as decided by the early Church. They lumped themselves in with the early Church, yet failed to recognize the promise that Christ made to the Church in the first place, that She would be led into all truth. I doubt that many who go to the museum realize what truly the whole history of Christianity means.

I enjoyed seeing the fossils and the dinosaur sculptures, but again the time frame they placed them under was not sitting right. What I found most interesting was the fact that they even had a sign (in the corner) that mentioned that "even though there have been no human bones found along with dinosaur bones doesn't mean that they didn't coexist." Huh!? The simple fact that they mentioned this was indicative of the grasping for straws. I realize that there are scientists who are doctors and such that believe in the 6 day creation, but I believe they are starting with the wrong assumptions. Does it really hurt your faith to say that God might not have created the world in a literal 6 days? If you are going to take the Bible literally why not believe in John 6? How about the fact that Genesis was written for a specific people to help them understand that indeed God created everything that we see? Or the fact that people were already used to the 7 day week at the time it was written? Maybe it was written so that people would understand how God creates rather than the time that he creates it in? I believe in Adam and Eve. There was a specific time in history that God gave his greatest creation a soul. Did we disobey? Absolutely. We are fallen, but we are not stupid. Reason is a gift from God and God does not deceive. If he does, then he is not God.

I think you can see what I believe. I could be wrong, but I do have some faith in science. Not the same faith that I have in God, but a trust nonetheless. If you look at all the advances that science has given us, maybe it is indicative of other things as well. Science itself is not inherently evil. The misconception lies within the fact that according to the creationists, it has to be "either/or" instead of "both/and." What makes science evil is the way that people use it (i.e.- fetal stem cell research or contraception.) The scientific method is used to figure out the cures to diseases and to make new vaccines and to further the human exploration of all of God's creation. I do not have a problem acknowledging all that science has done and I know that God did everything. Will we find out some evidence for or against the creationist position? I do not know. So far, what we have found has lent credence to what scientists are saying about the world and the universe. Until I see some conclusive sound evidence to support the creationist view, I will continue to trust what science has so far found.

On another note, this whole thing depends on how one reads the Bible and what it has to say. If you are interpreting to your own belief and apply it to some preconceived notion then you can interpret the Bible to fit anything that you want. I totally believe that the Bible is God's inerrant word. But when you read something you need to realize the whole context of the work and what the author wants to convey. Since the Bible is a collection of books put together by the Church she is the rightful interpreter of it. As St. Augustine says, "I would not believe in the Gospel myself if the authority of the Catholic Church did not influence me to do so."(Against the letter of Mani, 5,6, 397 A.D.)

Maybe I am being too harsh on people. But with this mindset pervading amongst certain fundamentalist Christians, I cannot but help try to understand where they are coming from and how to me they seem very off in their thinking and interpretation of scripture. I suppose that this is another instance of the logical outcome of the complete rejection of Church authority and the emphasis on the Bible alone.

The Beauty of the Mass

When we look at something, do we not admire it's beauty? When we hear the birds in the trees first, before we see them, are we not struck with awe at their beautiful sound? There are usually many different birds in the trees all contributing to the sounds of outside. They are dissonant at first, but when you take a second to just listen, it transforms you. The trees sway in the gentle breeze and the diversity of life is just amazing.

The smells that waft through the air take you to another place outside of time maybe. For a second it feels like eternity and you are happy to just let it go on forever. Again, the many different smells that you perceive all contribute to what you are experiencing. I am always in awe of God's great earth every time I just take a second and know that He is there.

If you are like me, you enjoy the outdoors and you enjoy the natural beauty. And you may just agree with everything that I just posted. Did you pick up on the underlying theme though? We as humans are sensual creatures. Thus, the things that we sense and experience also have a profound effect on our mind and our spirit.

The beauty of the Mass can also be described like this. In fact, that is why I wrote this post. The beauty of a Church coupled with the altar and tabernacle at the front can transport you to a different place outside of time if you just take a moment to realize where you are. The sounds of silence and the sounds of the great organ or the simpleness of the chant, although entirely different, can have the similar effect. The music will transform you and give you chills. The swirling of the incense up to Heaven and the smell really takes you to Him in Heaven and outside of comprehension.

I guess you could say that nature mimics the Mass. Simple, yet profound. In time, yet eternal. God truly is amazing. I am constantly in awe of the majesty that is here and in the realization that this is nothing compared to the Beatific Vision. Truly amazing. Thank God.

On the Eucharist...

Recently, I was in a dialogue with a close friend of mine who had some questions regarding the Eucharist. The following is her question and my response:

"Okay, so Catholics don't take Communion (bread and cup) at any other church, right? Because of the doctrine of transubstantiation. And for the same reason, they don't allow non-Catholics to take Communion in their churches, right? Or is there some other reason that I'm missing? Is that right?"

Catholics do not take communion at other churches because of the doctrine of transubstantiation, you are correct. It’s also because to take it at another church would be, not to sound harsh, a charade of the sacrament. If Jesus is truly present and this is true, then anything else pales in comparison. To say that Christians are in full communion with one another is a lie (Obviously this is apparent). And we shouldn’t lie when we receive the Truth incarnate. Let me explain:

Transubstantiation is the doctrine which states that at the words of consecration ("this is my body, this is my blood") by a validly ordained priest, the actual substance of the bread and wine change. The accidents (form and appearance and taste) remain. It is truly an act of faith, but it is easy to believe when you think about it. The Creator of the universe created everything out of nothing. I think it would be pretty easy to change one thing into something else; especially when He commands we do it ("do this in memory of me"). So He’s holding His own body in His hands, big whoop for the Creator of the Universe. Those who don't believe that are not allowed because, without maybe knowing it in one instance, they are putting a limitation on what God can and can't do (At least their version of God). But there are a few more reasons why as well.

When you accept Jesus as Lord and Savior you accept everything that He is and everything that He did and everything that He is capable of doing. If He truly is the Lord of your life, you accept everything about Him; including his Church, good and bad (think about Judas. God sure can pick 'em), which He did establish from the get-go. (See Mt 16:16-18. Pay attention to the verse where He says, "...I will build my church") Now, if God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and He says that He will lead His church into all truth (will lead is future tense, all this is in the gospels), then we can trust that He will. To say that an apostasy happened or to say that His Church went wrong at any point in history would be to deny Christ and His promise. And it would make Jesus just a crazy Jewish man, in which case He isn't God and all of this is in vain. God is the only person who has ever followed through and kept His promises. The Holy Spirit was promised to lead the church into all truth. And truth is authority and freedom.

Now there can only be one truth. And one shepherd and one flock. Jesus is the Truth. There are those outside the flock, yes, that God uses and works with, but to get the fullness of the truth and to experience the truth wholly and totally, you need the Church who this was entrusted to and who explains the life of Jesus and who explains confounding verses in the Scriptures. God did establish a Church and there was only one in the beginning as there is only one now.

Now when Jesus established His Church we read, at the end of the gospel of Matthew I believe, that Jesus has all the authority of Heaven and earth at His disposal. And He commands and shares His authority with the Apostles (which is a Greek word that means, "those sent with authority, pretty cool huh?) and their successors. The laying on of hands, which is the sacrament (outward signs of God's grace) of holy orders has been used since new testament times (see Acts) to confer the authority to the succeeding generations of bishops, priests, and deacons. This valid form of ordination was used for 1500 years before the Reformation. Now when Luther split off from the church and when the other reformers took a cue from him, those that were priests, were still validly ordained. No bishops followed Luther out of the church. Very interesting, especially since they are the ones who administer the sacrament of holy orders. When Luther's generation of priests died off, there was no validly ordained person to confer the New Testament priesthood on. So the Lutherans lost it.

Since other forms of Protestantism completely did away with any type of priesthood, they did not have the valid form either. Now the Anglicans are a different story. When Henry VIII broke away, some bishops followed him because they were threatened under penalty of death. These were validly ordained bishops and for a few years still had a valid priesthood. King Edward of England decided to change the form of ordination. This went on for about 100 years until they realized they had made a mistake. They switched back to the original form, but by then, the validly ordained bishops were already long dead. That left the Catholic Church as the only church with any validly ordained priesthood (The Orthodox Church is a different e-mail). There can only be one priesthood, as there was in Judaism. The Jewish priesthood, because there was no reason to sacrifice animals anymore because of the expiating sacrifice of Jesus Christ, was done away with when the Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. God works in some pretty awesome ways. The old covenant was fulfilled in the new covenant and therefore a new priesthood fulfilled and completed the old.

So a valid Eucharist (which is Greek for "thanksgiving" because Jesus broke the bread and gave “thanks”) is only available through a Catholic priest, one who can actually trace his orders all the way back to the apostles. Every priest can, which is really cool if you think about it. So when we say that a fellow Christian cannot receive the Eucharist it is because 1) they are not in full communion with the validly ordained bishop of Rome, the pope and 2) there is no such thing as a communion of disagreement. It's not because you are not in communion with God. But God established a Church on Earth giving them the power to bind and loose. We share a common bond in Jesus, but when we only have some of it or only agree with some of what Christ's Church teaches, then that is not a true communion and will never be until we are one as Jesus prayed us to be in the gospel of John in the 17^th chapter. To say that “I don’t think God would do that” or “We are all part of Christ’s church” although true in some sense, makes God subjective to our wills and our version of God. We are operating within the confines of our own "tradition" and looking through our own set of glasses rather than that of the Apostles which was given to them by Christ himself.

This is why Communion is called Communion in the first place. It is a unity of all belief and a true participation in Christ's community, our community on earth, the Church.

Sites of Interest

www.relevantradio.com

http://home.inreach.com/bstanley/index.htm

www.principiumunitatis.blogspot.com

www.vatican.va

The Church as Mother

To fully grasp what I am aiming for as I continue to post and update this blog is to truly come to an understanding of my faith through the eyes and with the full support of the Church. What makes this endeavor easier is because I am operating within the guidelines of the Church. To have that is true freedom.

What I mean by that is this: think about kids on a playground. They are running about and going every which way and they could run off anywhere at anytime with no notice and get lost or hurt. Now think about that playground with a fence surrounding it. There is little to no danger anymore about running amok. There is little chance to get hurt or lost. The freedom that comes with knowing that you are safe is what is truly liberating. I can do pretty much anything as long as I stay within the "fence."

This is not just any "fence", mind you, but the one that gives the most freedom. Granted there are a lot of "playgrounds" out there to choose from and not all of them are truly what they seem. What makes my "playground" different is that it has the "fence" and it has a supervisor, my Mother, to oversee what goes on. It's easy to pick out which one that I am going to go to play at everyday.

(I hope all this playground anology is making some sense. Stay with me, I am going somewhere with this.)

Because I have the consent and the blessing from my Mother, I am able to get the most out of my experience and the most out of my day. My Mother loves me and wants the best for me. I trust Her and I know that She will not lead me on the path of destruction or let me get hurt.

It's good to have a Mom like that.

Hello!

Seeing as this is my first foray into the blogosphere, I am slowly learning the applications and tools to make this blog the best it can be. Since we all can use some dialogue for just about anything, I figured that this can be a place for it. I welcome comments and I want to reiterate that all things said on this blog are in charity. Here's to happy hunting and to great conversation!