Introduction to An Unexpected Detour

Last summer I was peacefully going through my life in fairly expected directions when something unexpected happened. I learned that there was going to be training for Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) at a local parish. I knew these few facts at the time:

• That CGS was a Montessori-based religious ed program (and I've loved Montessori for a long time) 
• That friends of mine had traveled to neighboring states to take the training.
• A friend of mine from my parish was planning to take the training (because our pastor wanted to get the program going at our parish).
• The second person from the parish would only be charged half price. 

Connecting these dots caused me to check into whether my parish would want to send me along for the training as well. I was already working at the parish as a liturgical assistant, but thought it might be handy to have a staff member (who already loved Montessori) to take the training in order to help advocate for it, even though I didn't expect to be able to be a catechist - and I definitely had no intention of applying for the open position of DRE (who would be expected to implement the program).

 The pastor said yes and I rearranged my schedule in order to free up the week for Level I, Part 1 training. And fell instantly in love. Although she missed the first day of training, my daughter Kate joined me beginning on day 2 and has been by my side ever since.

We (Kate and I) took the fast track with training by taking Level I, Part 2 at another neighboring parish just a few weeks later. I tentatively and tenuously started to do what I could to help brainstorm getting
the program started.

There are a lot of twists and turns to the whole story, but, in a nutshell, my pastor asked me to take the job of DRE and promised to get me help (and hired a full-time assistant within a few weeks) and be very flexible regarding our family/homeschooling needs. After a lot of prayer and intense family discussions I said yes.

Just wanted to share a brief introduction to this new piece of my life as I am hoping to blog about some parts of the story/journey.

Beautiful Peg Doll Apostles painted by Bernie (age 18)

Conversion Stories I've Read in the Last Year

 I really think that we cradle Catholics would do well to listen carefully to what our converts have to teach us about how God works (through their story of how God worked in their lives - which is amazing, profound, mysterious, crazy, etc.!!!) and how we can learn to better interact with our culture and bring God to the world. These are all wonderful books, and good reading for high schoolers too!

Something Other Than God by Jennifer Fulwiler 

Wonderful atheist-to-Catholic conversion story with a good dose of humor. God works in mysterious and sometimes hilarious ways! An autobiographical story about how God came into her life at various times and places and led her to a place she would have never imagined as a feminist, pro-choice atheist: the Catholic Church. I especially enjoyed the humorous stories about her antics as a stubborn kid, such as moving all the Bibles in the library to the "Fiction" section. Yes, God really doesn't give up on anyone! ;)

Not God's Type: An Atheist Academic Lays Down Her Arms by Holly Ordway

Fascinating atheist-to-Catholic conversion story by a literary-academic type who converted partly thanks to her competitive saber sword-fighting. No really! I love the way she skillfully and accessibly weaves through the series of ideas and arguments she worked her way through in the process of conversion.I am also completely fascinated by the fact that she is a Catholic holding the chair of apologetics at Houston Baptist University. So naturally there's a lot of good apologetics content here.

Unplanned: The Dramatic True Story of a Former Planned Parenthood Leader's Eye-Opening Journey Across the Life Line by Abby Johnson

A must read, especially for anyone involved in the pro-Life movement. This is a great story anyway, but especially highlights how various ideas about how to fight abortion helped or didn't help in really making progress in this most important struggle. 

The Day of Four Popes

We're still riding the high of all the excitement of yesterday - Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, and the Canonization of Saints John XXIII and John Paul the Great. Though I didn't get up at 3 in the morning to watch the canonization Mass (offered by two popes!), we did enjoy some programming on EWTN that included interviews that Raymond Arroyo did with Jon Voight and Cary Elwes about their roles in the Pope John Paul II movie. In the afternoon, we helped with the music for our parish's Divine Mercy Services and in the evening, we had some friends over to watch the above mentioned movie as a way of celebrating the canonization (I really had forgotten great the movie was - it's been a few years since I've seen it).

A few thoughts are swirling around in my head that I'd like to tack down here...

First, our pastor's reflection given during our Divine Mercy services was quite interesting. I knew that Saint John Paul II was heavily involved in promoting devotion to Divine Mercy, but I really had no sense of how far that went. Apparently St. Faustina's diary was kind of messy to begin with, because she did not have a high level of education, and the translation that was originally submitted to Rome had a lot of problems with it - so much so that the devotion was initially condemned. Saint John Paul II, apparently, had the diaries re-translated and re-submitted to Rome (I believe) even before he became pope. Would love to see an exposition of this whole story.

Regarding the canonizations that took place yesterday, I was fascinated/captivated by the fact John XXIII and John Paul II were canonized together. For me it held special value because, while I've long been an admirer of Pope John Paul II, I really don't know very much about Pope John XXIII. But, John Paul II's Apostolic Constitution Fidei Depositum (which you can find in the front of the Catechism of the Catholic Church) really rocked my world when I first read it. I had a strong sense of love and trust towards Pope John Paul II, but had a more vague and slightly wary sense of Vatican II, growing up. So you  can, perhaps imagine my surprise, when I read this in the above-mentioned document:

"Vatican II has always been, and especially during these years of my Pontificate, the constant reference point of my every pastoral action, in the conscious commitment to implement its directives concretely and faithfully at the level of each Church and the whole Church."

You can read the whole thing here: Apostolic Constitution Fidei Depositum

That was a bit of a game-changer for me!

I think the quote also highlights how silly such media quotes as this one really are:

"By canonising both John XXIII - the pope who set off the reform movement - and John Paul II - the pope who applied the brakes - Francis has skilfully deflected any possible criticism that he could be taking sides." 

(Source: BBC News |Vatican declares Popes John Paul II and John XXIII saints).

Saying Goodbye to Pope Benedict

This blog hasn't been very active for awhile, but it doesn't take much digging through the archives to realize that I've done a lot of blogging on Pope Benedict and his writings (especially) here in the past and that his writings have had an enormous impact on my life.

Here are a few significant snippets:

"The more we know of the universe the more profoundly we are struck by a Reason whose ways we can only contemplate with astonishment. In pursuing them we can see anew that creating Intelligence to whom we owe our own reason. Albert Einstein once said that in the laws of nature "there is revealed such a superior Reason that everything significant which has arisen out of human thought and arrangement is, in comparison with it, the merest empty reflection." In what is most vast, in the world of heavenly bodies, we see revealed a powerful Reason that holds the universe together. And we are penetrating ever deeper into what is smallest, into the cell and into the primordial units of life; here, too, we discover a Reason that astounds us, such that we must say with Saint Bonaventure: "Whoever does not see here is blind. Whoever does not hear here is deaf. And whoever does not begin to adore here and to praise the creating Intelligence is dumb"... God himself shines through the reasonableness of his creation. Physics and biology, and the natural sciences in general, have given us a new and unheard-of creation account with vast new images, which let us recognize the face of the Creator and which make us realize once again that at the very beginning and foundation of all being there is a creating Intelligence. The universe is not the product of darkness and unreason. It comes from intelligence, freedom, and from the beauty that is identical with love. Seeing this gives us the courage to keep on living, and it empowers us, comforted thereby, to take upon ourselves the adventure of life." (from Benedictus: Day by Day with Pope Benedict XVI)

"The mistaken attitude is that of fear," the Bishop of Rome stated. "The servant who fears his master and fears his return, hides the coin in the ground and it does not produce any fruit. This happens, for example, to those who, having received baptism, Communion, and confirmation bury such gifts beneath prejudices, a false image of God that paralyzes faith and works, so as to betray the Lord's expectations."

"But," Benedict XVI continued, "the parable puts greater emphasis on the good fruits born by the disciples who, happy at the gift received, did not hide it with fear and jealously, but made it fruitful, sharing it, participating in it. Indeed, what Christ gives us is multiplied when we give it away! It is a treasure that is made to be spent, invested, shared with all, as the Apostle Paul, that great administrator of Jesus' talents, has taught us." (From an Angelus talk given in 2008 )

"But in truly great trials, where I must make a definitive decision to place the truth before my own welfare, career, and possessions, I need the certitude of that true, great hope of which we have spoken here. For this too we need witnesses - martyrs - who have given themselves totally, so as to show us the way - day after day. We need them if we are to prefer goodness to comfort, even in the little choices we face each day - knowing that this is how we live life to the full. Let us say it once again: the capacity to suffer for the sake of truth is the measure of humanity. Yet this capacity to suffer depends on the type and extent of the hope that we bear within us and build upon. The saints were able to make the great journey of human existence in the way that Christ had done before them, because they were brimming with great hope." (from Spe Salvi)

"A society unable to accept its suffering members and incapable of helping to share their suffering and to bear it inwardly through "com-passion" is a cruel and inhuman society. Yet society cannot accept is suffering members and support them in their trials unless individuals are capable of doing so themselves; moreover, the individual cannot accept another's suffering unless he personally is able to find meaning in suffering, a path of purification and growth in maturity, a journey of hope. Indeed, to accept the "other" who suffers, means that I take up his suffering in such a way that it becomes mine also. Because it has now become a shared suffering, though, in which another person is present, this suffering is penetrated by the light of love. The Latin word con-solation, "consolation," expresses this beautifully. It suggests being with the other in his solitude, so that it ceases to be solitude. Furthermore, the capacity to accept suffering for the sake of goodness, truth, and justice is an essential criterion of humanity, because if my own well-being and safety are ultimately more important than truth and justice, then the power of the stronger prevails, then violence and untruth reign supreme. Truth and justice must stand above my comfort and physical well-being, or else my life itself becomes a lie. In the end, even the "yes" to love is a source of suffering, because love always requires expropriations of my "I," in which I allow myself to be pruned and wounded. Love simply cannot exist without this painful renunciation of myself, for otherwise it becomes pure selfishness and thereby ceases to be love." (also from Spe Salvi)

 "We can try to limit suffering, to fight against it, but we cannot eliminate it. It is when we attempt to avoid suffering by withdrawing from anything that might involve hurt, when we try to spare ourselves the effort and pain of pursuing truth, love, and goodness, that we drift into a life of emptiness, in which there may be almost no pain, but the dark sensation of meaninglessness and abandonment is all the greater. It is not by sidestepping or fleeing from suffering that we are healed, but rather by our capacity for accepting it, maturing through it, and finding meaning through union with Christ, who suffered with infinite love." (also from Spe Salvi)

“To have Christian hope means to know about evil and yet to go to meet the future with confidence. The core of faith rests upon accepting being loved by God, and therefore to believe is to say Yes, not only to him, but to creation, to creatures, above all, to men, to try to see the image of God in each person and thereby to become a lover. That’s not easy, but the basic Yes, the conviction that God has created men, that he stands behind them, that they aren’t simply negative, gives love a reference point that enables it to ground hope on the basis of faith.” (from Salt of the Earth)

Okay, that was more than a few. I just couldn't help myself. For the most part these weren't entirely new concepts to me, but these readings shed light upon them, delved deeper into them and made them concrete for me. I turn to these ideas again and again in my every day life.

It's certainly been a big day for the Catholic Church. I am finding myself feeling... quiet. I don't feel terribly sad (certainly not like mourning Pope John Paul II). I have a lot of confidence in our new pope emeritus which makes me feel comfortable with his decision. I feel a great sense of gratitude for all he has done for us, especially with his beautiful writings. I feel a great sense of relief for him. And I feel a great sense of anticipation for what is to come.

One of the neatest things I've seen on the Internet in these recent days is this website which helps you choose a cardinal to pray for: Adopt a Cardinal My kids have each picked out their own cardinal to pray for. Not only is it good to pray for them, but I think it helps the kids be a little more connected to the process.

Tradition vs. Traditionalism

This is a really interesting thought that popped up in the middle of an article about the Chieftains performing at the Communion and Liberation gathering (seems like too small a word) in Rimini, Italy. (Hat-tip to to my sister who was there!)

I think that there is an important distinction to be made, which Don Giussani, the priest who founded the movement this Meeting comes out of, made clear between tradition and traditionalism. Tradition is the wisdom of inheritance. It is something living. Traditionalism is the obsession that comes with preserving this, keeping it safe and free of all other influences, which is a terrible thing.

I think part of the problem we have with traditionalISM today is that tradition is under attack and it's easy to respond to that attack in an unbalanced and inappropriate way. I find the distinction above extremely helpful in understanding where the balance lies. The whole article is quite fascinating.

You can read it here: RIMINI MEETING/ The Chieftains, a living tradition discovering the world

I was already a big fan of the Chieftains - their Christmas album, Bells of Dublin, is my favorite Christmas album ever, and I have the San Patricio album and at least one other one too.

By the way, the quote above also reminds me of something Pope Benedict said in his book, Light of the World:

…to what extent do people still belong to the Church in the first place? On the one hand, they want to belong to her and do not want to lose this foundation. On the other hand, they are of course also shaped and formed interiorly by the modern way of thinking. It is the unfermented coexistence, with and alongside each other, of the basic Christian intention and a new world view, which leaves its mark on all of life. To that extent what remains is a sort of schizophrenia, a divided existence.

We must strive to integrate the two, insofar as they are compatible with each other. Being Christian must not become a sort of archaic stratum to which I cling somehow and on which I live to a certain extent alongside of modernity. Christianity is itself something living, something modern, which thoroughly shapes and forms all of my modernity – and in this sense actually embraces it.

That a major spiritual effort is required here I expressed most recently by founding a “Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization”. It is important for us to try to live Christianity and to think as Christians in such a way that it incorporates what is good and right about modernity – and at the same time separates and distinguishes itself from what is becoming a counter-religion.

Additional afterthought:

It’s important to keep in mind that there are different meanings of the world traditionalist and, naturally, not everything that is described as traditionalist is bad. An example that comes to mind for me of the problematic kind described above would be someone who strongly objects to the addition of the Luminous Mysteries to the Rosary. a) They probably have an unclear concept of the origins of the Rosary (and thus think Our Lady gave it to St. Dominic exactly the way it was before Pope John Paul II changed it, which is not correct) and b) I think anyone who looked at the concept objectively would see that it’s not only *not* a detraction to the Rosary or its particular tradition, but in fact an enhancement and completion of it – more like a restoration of something that was lost than any sort of negative.

7 Quick Takes, 7/19/11

I thought I'd use the Quick Takes Friday to catch up on a few things now that I'm trying (again) to get back to blogging.

1.



I mentioned in the previous post that we held a performance of Shakespeare's As You Like It (or rather selections from...) in our backyard a few weeks ago. It was directed by my daughter and some friends. I think it went really well and we sure enjoyed the performance. Here is the first video:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLrOVx1Kxvc]

You can find the rest of the videos here. Unfortunately the quality isn't great as we just had a little Flip Video and we missed a significant chunk in the middle. You can view pictures from the play here.

2.

I was so excited to hear that our friend, Matthew Alderman, is having some artwork published in one of the editions of the New Roman Missal. Congratulations! (hat-tip Robert Gotcher)

3.

I haven't yet put my notes together on the blog from my culture talk at the homeschool conference in Napa. I am working on an article on gratitude that's kind of grown out of the talk for a future issue of mater et magistra magazine. I'm excited about the article and hope to sit down and spend some time on it.

4.

We got together with some friends at a nearby lake last weekend (and has the weather ever been beautiful lately - what a change!!!). I was pretty impressed with what the kids built on the shoreline (and many of them were just little tots):



5.

I really enjoyed this animation of a talk by Sir Ken Robinson. I've been hearing about this educational speaker for a long time (including from my brother Dan) but had somehow neglected to actually listen to any of his talks until this week. Here's the video:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U]

This was a great time to watch this video as I'm trying to get my head into gear for the new school year and I continue to wrestle with conventional wisdom vs. what actually seems to work with my kids. The video also brought to mind a few related items:

a. Lots of bits and pieces from the book Nurtureshock by Po Bronson and Angela Merriman, b. The Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph #1937 (we all have unique gifts and we're supposed to share them with each other - not turn out the same as each other!) and c. the article "Listening to Experts Inhibits Decision Making in the Brain" from the Eide Neurolearning Blog.

6.

On Monday, our family sang for the feast day of the Assumption at our local parish. Ave Maria in 3 1/2 parts (a little family joke since the tenor part is a little hit and miss still), and little harmony on several classic Marian hymns (Immaculate Mary and Hail Holy Queen) and also on Holy Is His Name. We love singing as a family and it was nice to get one more chance before Ria left for college.

7.

Before Ria left for college, we had a bit of a movie festival with flicks we wanted her to see. We got through maybe a dozen of them, including Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Premonition, Regarding Henry, A Good Woman, and The Mission. They were some really good, though serious, flicks, and we enjoyed working our way through them with her.

Ignatian Retreat Notes

(I'm getting rid of a lot of paper around here and thought I'd type these up quick and then get rid of the scratch paper.)

This is from a really wonderful Ignatian Retreat with Fr. James Kubicki (director of the Apostleship of Prayer) that I attended last fall...

I was reading Caryll Houselander's Reed of God and Hans Urs Von Balthasar's Does Jesus Know Us? Do We Know Him? (which are both wonderful books!) during the retreat, so a few of the notes may be related to the interconnections... I don't exactly remember!

Talk 1. Love -

"Anyone who loves God in the depths of his heart has already been loved by God. In fact, the measure of a man’s love for God depends upon how deeply aware he is of God’s love for him. - Diadochus of Photice"

Talk 2. Meaning -

Ways of Knowing - Wissen, Kennen

Talk 3. Letting Go/Surrendering/Death

We appreciate the beautiful partly because it is uncommon, e.g. experiencing the love of God in prayer.

"It is the blight man was born for, it is Margaret you mourn for..." Gerard Manley Hopkins

Psalm 90

St. Ignatius - Major decision - imagine yourself at death and consider what you wish you had done. Do you organize your day according to your ultimate purpose? The things of this earth are designed to help us attain our ultimate end - hang on to what helps, let go of what doesn't.

Reflect on... Imagine your eulogy. How do you want to be remembered? How does that mesh with reality? What is our "whole life"? What is most important to you?

Talk 4. Sin

We're created by love and for love.

Freedom - we must be capable of choosing or rejecting love. Why doesn't God stop us from doing bad things?

The laws of God are built into our nature - we suffer natural consequences when we violate these.

"We're not punished for our sins, but by our sins."

We have, deep down, a sense of fairness.

Three Hebrew words for sin - breaking of relationship, being off target, ?

Prepare for Reconciliation -

Luke 19: Zaccheus - lesson: hurt people, hurt people (recycling hurt)

2 Samuel: 11 - David's Sin - Shirking responsibility, objectifying other people. (objectification)

St. Augustine Confessions - "Our hearts are restless until they rest in you." ("idolatry")

Book note: Ignatius of Loyola: Founder of the Jesuits - His Life and Work by Candido de Dalmasus, S.J.

Talk 5. What was Jesus' greatest joy? Answer: Forgiving

Mark 2, Luke 15

Spiritual healing and forgiving sins above physical healing.

Prodigal Son - Listen to pain.

Body of Christ - John 20 + "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"

James 5

In things like AA, it's people who are honest that are able to recover. When we are honest with another person, it confirms that we have been honest with ourselves and God.

The closer we get to God, the more aware we become of our faults and how we have responded/not responded to God's graces.

Talk 6. Life of Jesus

(Note: Corresponded beautifully with the Advent Section of Reed of God that I had just finished.)

Romans 7

We can't save ourselves. We cannot change another person, we can only change ourselves, but really it is God who changes us with our cooperation.

"I'm only human" excuse - but we were created for something better, for example, Jesus and Mary. We look to Jesus to see what it means to be human. (c.f. Does Jesus Know Us? Do We Know Him?)

God doesn't impose himself on us - he proposes... doesn't compel, but invites.

Romantic love is dazzling, parental love wins in endurance.

God as suffering parent (with wandering adult child, you cannot force them to change).

Sharing suffering will bring us closer to God.

JPII - Letter to Women - Women see persons with their hearts.

Augustine - "If you can comprehend it, it's not God."

How would you explain color to a blind person?

Assignment... Imagine Annunciation and Birth of Jesus

Note: Bethlehem means "House of Bread"

Talk 7. What is the grace I'm seeking on this retreat?

To know Him, to love Him, to follow Him.

"See thee more clearly, love three more dearly, follow thee more nearly."

Hebrews 4: Word of God is living and effective.

What is forming our attitudes?

"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." St. Jerome

Romans 8:28 "God makes everything work for the good of those whom he loves."

At the time of St. Jerome, translating into Latin *was* the vernacular. Jerome studied Hebrew and Greek to distract himself from sexual temptations. What was Jesus like? Hebrews 2 - became like His brothers in every way. Hebrews 4 - Not unable to sympathize with our weaknesses... tested in every way. Hebrews 5:8 - He learned obedience from what he suffered when He was made perfect. He grew physically and emotionally and spiritually. Obedience perfected on the cross and in the garden of Gethsemani - He struggled!

Problem: All or nothing approach to faith and virtues. Reality is we're continually working on all these things. Act as if! Act your way into feeling. Virtues are acts of will - not a feeling! Dry prayer is very efficacious.

Two common problems (filled out from above):

1) All or nothing - thinking we're either brave or fearful, etc. when it's really by degrees.

Kind of Calvinistic, really, if you have faith you've got all the virtues in spades - you're saved!

But life *is* a struggle - We're continually (or should be) striving to attain these virtues.

2) Virtues aren't feelings, but acts of the will. Dry prayer through struggles is particulary efficacious.

Act as if! Act in the right way and the feelings will follow.

Remember Blessed Mother Teresa (I need to read this book!)

She felt only emptiness and darkness with regard to her relationship with God, but eventually came to love her darkness, accepting it as part of the suffering of Christ.

Talk 8. Lectio Divina

Imagine the scene as if we were there. "Talk" to people in the story, really enter into the scene.

The only way the virtues grow and develop is through exercise, and that's hard! Find an exercise you like.

Teresa of Avila - I never prayed without a good spiritual book n ext to me. She would pick it up whenever she needed inspiration, help with distraction, etc.

True humility is honest and gives glory to God. (c.f. our pastor - Remembering that God is the creator and we are the created.)

True humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less. Putting the spotlight on God and on other people.

Try to imagine what Jesus thought and felt: joy, affection, impatience, anger, sorrow (all of our emotions, but with divine intensity). Jesus liked some people more than others - e.g. favorite disciples. Different than loving some people more than others. Love is not a feeling, but an act of the will.

e.g. Impatience is not a sin, but a feeling. What we do with it can be a sin.

The appropriate response to injustice is anger. There are things in this world which we're supposed to get angry about. The anger should energize us to right the wrong. Jesus wept. St. Paul cried.

Entering into t he mind and heart of Jesus. Think about getting into the part as an actor in a movie. Not what would Jesus do, what would he think or feel? How do things look to him.

Book Reference: In the Footsteps of Jesus by Bruce Marcciano

Read the Gospel, try to go deeper. Take on the mind and heart, thoughts and feelings of Jesus.

Talk 9. Definitive expression of God's love for us.

Becoming more aware of how much God loves us so we can love Him more.

Deus Caritas Est - True definition of love can be found in the pierced side of Jesus.

Who stood under the cross - John and a group of women.

Sources - A Doctor at Calvary, Video - How Jesus Died, "On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ", from a medical journal.

Garden of Gethsemane - Jesus sweated blood (mentioned in the Gospel of Luke - remember that Luke was a doctor) - caused by great stress, leaves skin *highly* sensitive. Not just anticipating his death - Jesus was tempted in the Garden.

39 limit of scourging hits - he didn't scream, was silent, made soldiers more brutal.

Isaiah 53, Isaiah 52

Ecce Homo

The beam weighed 125 lbs. Was tied to his arms, he walked a disatnce of 650 yards and carried the cross across his shoulders.

Loincloth in deference to Jewish sensibilities.

Nails were through his wrist. No artery severed, but medial nerve hit - incredibly painful.

Crucifixion is a slow process of suffocation, which includes a need to push off of the nail through the feet in order to breathe.

Seven Last Words:

1. Father forgive them... (Luke 23:34)

2. This day you will be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43)

3. Woman, behold your son. Behold your mother.

4. My God, My God, why have you forsaken me. (Matthew and Mark) quoting Psalm 22

5. I thirst. Darkness? (John 19:28)

6. It is finished. (i.e. accomplished)

7. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. (Luke) quoting Psalm 31

This is a related piece from Does Jesus Know Us? Do We Know Him (Von Balthasar) that I was reading at the time:

But it is quite possible to speak of the Son of God suffering what the sinner deserved, i.e., separation from God, perhaps even complete and final separation...

With every fiber of his being he clings to the God whose presence he no longer feels, because now, in the name of sinners, he is to experience what it means to have lost contact with God...

In the New Covenant we have the experiences of the saints. If genuine, they can only be interpreted as a gift of participation in the Son's forsakenness. John of the Cross, for instance, does not hesitate to describe the dark night of the soul as a kind of experience of hell. God has left the soul and it knows that this must be timeless and hence ultimate. Being truly forsaken by God always has this definitive quality: there can be no forsakenness 'for a time' or involving room for hope. Other mystics in this situation have felt, not only that 'it will always be like this', but 'it has always been like this': they experience a kind of eternity of this 'hell' from which no one can deliver them but God himself. And he has disappeared.

Again, it is unthinkable that people following Christ should have had to go through more terrible experiences than their Lord himself; their experiences can only be a muted echo of the unique and incomparable burden which the God-Man endured.

Physical suffering on the cross - suffocation, blood loss (racing heart, heart failed), shock.

Pierced side - blood and water. We come from the side of Christ! Blood - Eucharist, Water - Baptism

At the end of the parable of the lost sheep Jesus recalled that God's love excludes no one: "So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." He affirms that he came "to give his life as a ransom for many"; this last term is not restrictive, but contrasts the whole of humanity with the unique person of the redeemer who hands himself over to save us. The Church, following the apostles, teaches that Christ died for all men without exception: "There is not, never has been, and never will be a single human being for whom Christ did not suffer." (Catechism of the Catholic Church #605)

Christ suffered for all. We need to accept this love.

Talk 10. Happy Easter!

Every Sunday is a little Easter.

Risen body of Jesus still had the wounds.

"Have you anything here to eat?"

Corinthians 1:15 - How are the dead raised?

John 20 - story of St Thomas (doubting): "My Lord and My God"

Think about Heaven - Hebrews 12 - Cloud of Witnesses - waiting to welcome us (the saints).

Who will welcome you? Who are you eager to meet?

No goodbyes in Heaven - one big reunion.

St. Thomas Aquinas on Heaven:

a. the person is united with God

b. compete satisfaction of desire

c. joyous community of the blessed

Good things on earth are little appetizers of the heavenly banquet.

1 Corinthians 2: What God has prepared for thsoe who love him. God cannot be out done. You cannot outdream God.

Building a Culture of Life - Part 6

6. Faith and Reason.

I have this vision in my head that Catholics are actually in a position to be the bridge builders between various political extremes. I think it's partly about that faith-and-reason thing that we believe needs to be kept in balance. It seems to me that at this point in time one side tends to be off-balance in a reason-without-faith direction while the other side is inclined to embrace faith without reason.

So what does this Faith-and-Reason balance entail, anyway?

Man can touch the eternal only in sensible realities, but the things of this world are also intrinsically designed to mediate contact with God. (Cardinal Ratzinger, Gospel, Catechesis, Catechism)

A lot of people misunderstand this concept of Faith and Reason and assume that the "reason" part has something to do with an in-depth intellectual background.

Nope.

Intellectual studies are a good thing and have always been valued by the Church, but are not absolutely required for what we're talking about here. It's much more about using the gifts God has given us - including our reason and our common sense (I'm also thinking of the two-boats-and-a-helicopter joke here) - to make the best decisions we can. It's certainly about prudence, too.

It may be helpful to keep in mind that as much as it is a scandal for Christians to be confronted with those who believe God should be driven out from public view, it is *also* a scandal to those with secular-leanings to be told that they have to throw out even good science and common sense in order to embrace Christianity. (I think it's similar to the conflict between St. Peter and St. Paul in the early Church. St. Peter was tempted to side with those who argued that Gentiles, in order to become Christians, needed to embrace all the tenets of the Jewish faith. I think it's fairly easy to see now both why that would be a tempting position and why that was so controversial!) The truth is that neither view is complete or accurate. God is reasonable, He created our world and we can actually learn about God through science and reason.

Though faith is above reason, there can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason. Since the same God who reveals mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the light of reason on the human mind, God cannot deny himself, nor can truth ever contradict truth. Consequently, methodical research in all branches of knowledge, provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner and does not override moral laws, can never conflict with the faith, because the things of the world and the things of faith derive from the same God. The humble and persevering investigator of the secrets of nature is being led, as it were, by the hand of God in spite of himself, for it is God, the conserver of all things, who made then what they are. (The Catechism of the Catholic Church #198)

and also...

In studying nature we have not to inquire how God the Creator may, as He freely wills, use His creatures to work miracles and thereby show forth His power: we have rather to inquire what Nature with its immanent causes can naturally bring to pass. (St. Albert the Great, circa 1200 AD)

This brings me to a corollary to this part of our discussion.

Study Church Teaching.

What the Catholic Church has to say about our social obligations and how societies should function is truly beautiful and sensible. It has great possibilities for bridging that gap between Faith and Reason that our society constantly struggles with. If only people would familiarize themselves with these principles!

First of all, Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Rerum Novarum should be required reading for every Catholic high school student and every serious Catholic armchair politician. Also required reading should be Pope Benedict XVI's important encyclical Deus Caritas Est, which has very helpful things to say about social justice and works of charity. I've heard that the Holy Father has an encyclical on social justice in the works as well.

Here's a small sampling:

Christian charitable activity must be independent of parties and ideologies. It is not a means of changing the world ideologically, and it is not at the service of worldly stratagems, but it is a way of making present here and now the love which man always needs. The modern age, particularly from the nineteenth century on, has been dominated by various versions of a philosophy of progress whose most radical form is Marxism. Part of Marxist strategy is the theory of impoverishment: in a situation of unjust power, it is claimed, anyone who engages in charitable initiatives is actually serving that unjust system, making it appear at least to some extent tolerable. This in turn slows down a potential revolution and thus blocks the struggle for a better world. Seen in this way, charity is rejected and attacked as a means of preserving the status quo. What we have here, though, is really an inhuman philosophy. People of the present are sacrificed to the moloch of the future - a future whose effective realization is at best doubtful. One does not make the world more human by refusing to act humanely here and now. We contribute to a better world only by personally doing good now, with full commitment and wherever we have the opportunity, independently of partisan strategies and programs. (Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est)

At the very least, understanding these principles should help keep us from getting overly wrapped up in party politics. Catholics by their nature should be independent anyway, weighing each candidate as best they can with a clear understanding of the various issues at stake. There certainly isn't a major political party out there that entirely represents our beliefs. I've always liked this quote from Archbishop Fulton Sheen.

True followers of Christ were meant to be at odds with the world: The pure of heart will be laughed at by the Freudians; the meek will be scorned by the Marxists; the humble will be walked on by the go-getters; the liberal Sadducees will call them reactionaries; the reactionary Pharisees will call them liberals.

Liturgy of the Hours Bleg

Does anyone know where I could find the Liturgy of the Hours on audio (for a blind relative)?

One More Quote I'm Thinking About...

This is also from Spe Salvi, on the "Moral Treasury of Humanity":

These decisions can never simply be made for us in advance by others - if that were the case, we would no longer be free. Freedom pre-supposes that in fundamental decisions, every person and every generation is a new beginning. Naturally, new generations can build on the knowledge and experience of those who went before and they can draw upon the moral treasury of the whole of humanity. But they can also reject it, because it can never be self-evident in the same way as material inventions. The moral treasury of humanity is not readily at hand like tools that we use; it is present as an appeal to freedom and a possibility for it. This, however, means that:

a) The right state of human affairs, the moral well-being of the world can never be guaranteeed simply through structures alone, however good they are. Such structures are not only important, but necessary; yet they cannot and must not marginalize human freedom. Even the best structures function only when the community is animated by convictions capable of motivating people to assent freely to the social order. Freedom requires conviction; conviction does not exist on its own, but mu-st always be gained anew by the community.

b) Since man always remains free and since his freedom is always fragile, the kingdom of good will never be definitively established in this world. Anyone who promises the better world that is guaranteed to last for ever is making a false promise; he is overlooking human freedom. Freedom must constantly be won over for the cause of good. Free assent to the good never exists simply by itself. If there were structures which could irrevocably guarantee a determined - good - state of the world, man's freedom would be denied, and hence they would not be good structures at all.

The Catholic Carnival is Up!

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