Tag: god

The Pews are Empty Again

A little over a week ago, my family went to Easter Sunday Mass.  Because we have a small baby in tow, we usually don’t get to the church until right when Mass is about to begin.  On most Sundays, that works just fine since we can usually find plenty of parking and seats in the pews.  But on Easter we knew we had mistimed our arrival when we saw a full parish parking lot and the closest parking spot we found was many blocks away from the church.  We still made it on time, but it was standing room only.  There were so many people that many families stood out in the vestibule and outside the church during Mass.

English: Pews of the First Methodist Church in...
Was this your church on Divine Mercy Sunday?

Flash forward a week.  We arrived at Mass at the same time we did on Easter Sunday.  But this time we did not have to park several blocks away and we had our choice of entire rows of pews upon entering the church.  The church was actually abnormally sparse for a Sunday as if everyone suffered a post-Easter hangover.  And while I liked parking close to the church and easily finding a seat, I do find the Divine Mercy Sunday attendance drop off both sad and concerning.

I try not to make too many assumptions about the drop in Mass attendance.  Perhaps many people who attended morning Mass on Easter usually attend afternoon Mass on Sundays.  But since there wasn’t any afternoon Masses, the morning ones had to accommodate more people than usual.  Or maybe many people  from other parishes attended our Mass with their extended families.  But I’m pretty confident that many people were C&E Catholics (Christmas and Easter) and won’t step foot into a church for another eight months.

As much as I hated parking blocks away from the church and standing during Easter Mass, I really wish the church was as full every Sunday as it was on Easter.  Imagine the beacon of God‘s glory the Catholic Church could be if the world saw overflowing churches every Sunday.  Imagine how much love and happiness there would be in our world if more people got more regular doses of prayer, grace, instruction, and forgiveness through the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.  Imagine the peace that would spread if more people heard the Word of God and homilies teaching the Truths of the Catholic faith on a weekly basis.  I would gladly give up my close parking space and my seat (or just strive to arrive earlier) for that Catholic Church.

What RosaryMeds do I Need?

English: Photo of the living room of a compuls...
Are you hoarding sin?

Many Catholics have an acute case of sin hoarding.  This is a particularly dangerous disease because most people aren’t even aware that they have it.  They can go their entire lives thinking they are fine.  And by all earthly accounts, they are fine.  But they do not see the potentially unhealthy state of their soul that may be clogged up by unconfessed sins.  And even if they don’t have any serious, mortal sins on their soul, they do not understand how much better they would feel if they did a little spiritual housecleaning.   The C&E Catholics’ souls are like the homes you see on the television show, Hoarders.  They just don’t recognize the disorderly state of their souls where they have left no room for God’s Word and love.

We need to reach out to these spiritual hoarders by praying the Third Luminous Mystery, The Proclamation of the Kingdom of Heaven and the Call to Conversion.  Meditate on this rosary mystery and think about how Jesus came into this world and taught God’s Word.  He taught the truth which many people ignored or criticised because they refused to make room in their hearts to take a deep look at themselves and align their ways with Christ’s.  Similarly, many Catholics today may not like hearing that Jesus asks them to go to Mass every week, receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and develop a humble heart open to the Word of God even when it may conflict with popular, cultural sentiment.  Like physical hoarders, many times sin hoarders become very defensive, if not downright abusive, when you try to help them clean up their lives.

And I think that’s where the meditation on the Third Luminous Mystery of the rosary comes in.  Think of friends or family members who fall into the Christmas and Easter crowd.  Or maybe they do attend Mass on Sunday, but only grudgingly and mostly just sit in silence and zone out for an hour.  How can you help them convert and better live for God’s Heavenly Kingdom?  Maybe you can buy them a book on Catholic teaching.  Maybe you can invite them to attend Mass with you.  Maybe you just need to let them know that it’s okay to say small prayers throughout the day.  Pray the rosary for the right tactics to bring back those who have fallen away.  The Holy Spirit will let you know how much spiritual force to use.  Some people need a little push while others need to really be hit over the head (figuratively) regarding their spiritual situation.

Easter Sunday was just the beginning.  The Easter season lasts 50 days and it’s a time to celebrate and rejoice.  And like any good party, the more the merrier.  Who do you know that may have left the party early and what will you do to bring them back?

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What Software Engineering Teaches Me About Morality

I’m a software engineer and that means I look at a lot of computer code all day long.  Often, I’m working with other engineers and look at their code and offer suggestions for improvement.  I’m always telling other software engineers to not “reinvent the wheel.”  That means don’t write your own code to solve a problem that someone else has already adequately solved. For example, if my application needs to send an email notification, it would be a waste of my time to write my own email routine instead of using one someone else has already written.  Why should I go through all the effort to design, implement, debug, and test a piece of software when someone else, who probably knows a lot more about the details of email protocols, already made the effort and produced a tool that fits my needs?

The fifth of Thomas Aquinas' proofs of God's e...
St. Thomas Aquinas

I see parallels between code reuse in software engineering and theology. I often ponder why I believe what I believe. For example, I believe that abortion is an intrinsic evil. I know this because this is what the Catholic Church teaches.  According to the mainstream media or popular culture, that makes me an ignorant lemming who does not think for himself.  But quite the contrary, I’m not relying solely on my thoughts and emotions to arrive at the conclusion that abortion is evil.  I refer to thousands of years of Catholic teaching built on the foundation of some of the greatest philosophical minds the world has ever known.  Like the software engineer that builds an application using various tools and libraries others wrote, I build my moral foundation by integrating the deep insights of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church.

People should use their talents while relying on the talents of others in areas where they aren’t experts.  I’m a software engineer, not a philosopher or theologian.  When people need help with their computer, they call me.  When I  need moral guidance I call St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Albert the Great, Blessed John Paul II, St. Augustine of Hippo, Pope Benedict XVI, and many other great minds of the Catholic Church.  I would be foolish to “wing it” and rely solely on my own thoughts and emotions when facing a moral question because I’m not utilizing all the time-tested thoughts and teachings available to me.  And whether it is a software engineer or someone looking for moral guidance, when you try to do everything yourself you will usually not produce as good of a solution as trusting those who have deep domain expertise.

The real “lemmings” in our culture are many of the ones who accuse the faithful of not utilizing rational thought.  While the Catholic faith built its foundation on people who really studied and thought about life’s great questions, many in society at large draw their beliefs from the words of politicians, special interest groups, celebrities, and talking heads on the news.  And like fads, their moral foundation is constantly changing because it’s based mostly on emotion and news polling.  How stable is that foundation if it is constantly in motion?  Why should the Catholic Church “modernize” if that would mean replacing its strong moral foundation with one that has no deeper thought than a joke on The Daily Show?  Do we really want to throw out the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas for the wisdom of Nancy Pelosi or Joe Biden?  Do we replace the influence of the Summa Theologica with the popular sentiment of “Everybody’s doing it.  Don’t you want to be cool?”

 What RosaryMeds Do I Need?

Purchase “The Seven Big Myths About The Catholic Church” from Ignatius Press.

Society has come down with a serious case of soundbiteitis.  Symptoms include basing your morality on the words of celebrities and politicians and believing various myths and flat out lies about the Catholic Church and her principles.  You are advised to meditate on the Fourth Glorious Mystery — Mary’s Assumption into Heaven.  Mary has a special place in Heaven and she serves as our guide to bring us into God’s grace and eventually into His heavenly kingdom.  Throughout generations she came to many people through apparitions with a message to turn towards prayer and to really attempt to understand Jesus’ Church.  To understand the Church, you need to read its teachings found in the Bible as well as the writings of her saints and theologians.  Mary knows just how great the fullness and joy of Heaven really is and she wants all of us to have an understanding of it too.  Because if we did take the time to educate ourselves about the Church, and pray for the faith to even feel the slightest sense of what awaits us in Heaven, we would turn away from our sinful ways.

We all have a choice.  Do we put base our morality on the sound bites of politicians and celebrities?  Or do we put our faith in the teachings of the Catholic Church, its generations of scholars, and our Heavenly Mother Mary?  Seems like a no brainer to me.

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Being Catholic Means More than Just Showing Up

Athletes need to do a lot more than just show up to a match. A soccer player cannot pat himself on the back after the game because he only managed to keep the ball in bounds. A football player cannot claim success just because he didn’t draw a penalty. No track runner will stand on the medal podium for simply finishing the race. In all sports, athletes need to excel and contribute to their team’s victory. They need to pay attention to their coaches, follow the rules, and respond to the always changing situations on the field.

Coach encourages young athlete
Coach encourages young athlete

Yet, as Catholics, we often live as if we are just showing up to the match instead of focusing on excelling and contributing to build up God‘s church. We often fall into a pattern where we believe just following the rules is good enough. We tend to think that just fulfilling our Sunday obligation of attending Mass also fulfills our life’s obligation of being Catholic. We might even think that being a good Catholic means only avoiding mortal sin. But showing up at Mass and avoiding mortal sin is like the football player just managing not to run out of bounds or draw a penalty. That is the bare minimum that our faith requires. We are called to listen to God and His Church and respond by publicly living our faith in an often challenging world.

Pope Francis, when he was Cardinal Bergoglio put it best when he explained the story of the prophet, Jonah. In a 2007 interview in the magazine, 30 Days, and reprinted in the Catholic San Francisco, the pope said this about Jonah:

Jonah had everything clear. He had clear ideas about God, very clear ideas about good and evil. On what God does and on what he wants, on who was faithful to the covenant and who instead was outside the covenant. He had the recipe for being a good prophet. God broke into his life like a torrent. He sent him to Nineveh. Nineveh was the symbol of all the separated, the lost, of all the peripheries of humanity. Of all those who are outside, forlorn. Jonah saw that the task set on him was only to tell all those people that the arms of God were still open, that the patience of God was there and waiting, to heal them with his forgiveness and nourish them with his tenderness. Only for that had God sent him. He sent him to Nineveh, but he instead ran off in the opposite direction, toward Tarshish.

What he was fleeing was not so much Nineveh as the boundless love of God for those people. It was that that didn’t come into his plans. God had come once … ‘and I’ll see to the rest’: That’s what Jonah told himself. He wanted to do things his way, he wanted to steer it all. His stubbornness shut him in his own structures of evaluation, in his pre-ordained methods, in his righteous opinions. He had fenced his soul off with the barbed wire of those certainties that instead of giving freedom with God and opening horizons of greater service to others had finished by deafening his heart. How the isolated conscience hardens the heart! Jonah no longer knew that God leads his people with the heart of a father.

This story reminds me very much about how we often live our faith. We live it according to a set of pre-defined rules and regulations thinking that is all God wants of us. I know I certainly fall into that trap where I just go to Mass, go to Confession, abstain from meat on Fridays, avoid mortal sin, and pray the rosary. I can check all those tasks off my spiritual “to-do” list so I’m done with my Catholic obligations right? Wrong! God, like a coach, says, “Good for you, now that you’re warmed up let’s get to work.” That’s right, all those “tasks” that we do are just the warm up to living as a true person of faith. The fasting, the prayers, and going to Mass are almost meaningless if they aren’t followed by an openness to the Holy Spirit to live the faith. Following the Church’s rules is the “practice” that prepares us for the “main event” which is responding to God’s call to be a living example of His love.

Prophet Jonah (Michelangelo)
Prophet Jonah (Michelangelo) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What RosaryMeds do I Need?

Almost all Catholics periodically suffer from a case of itsgoodenoughitis. Symptoms include:

  • Just thinking about your faith once a week (or less) at Mass
  • Just saying quick prayers without putting much thought into them
  • Living in ways and holding beliefs that are contrary to what the Church teaches
  • Just not giving a lot of thought on what being a good Christian really means

This will require a double dose of rosary mysteries. When you meditate on the rosary, pay particular attention to the First Luminous Mystery and the Fourth Luminous Mystery. In both Jesus’ baptism and the Transfiguration, God spoke directly to the disciples and said “Listen to My Son!” But we are often like Jonah and ignore what God is actually telling us and want to do things our own way. When Jesus challenges us to put in a little extra effort in living our faith, we can’t just fall back on solely following the rules. Like a good athlete, we need to listen to God, our coach and mentor, and alter our strategy based on His guidance. God knows what we are capable of and won’t ask us to take up a challenge we cannot handle. He is always there on the sidelines saying, “Trust Me. You can do this!” We need to listen to God and have faith that following His Will will lead us to victory — the victory of living in His heavenly kingdom for all eternity.

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Pope Benedict’s Retirement — A Transition, not An End

Like many people, Pope Benedict‘s announcement of his retirement came as quite a shock to me. I once attended Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica and saw the pope from about ten feet away as he walked past me in a procession. And although I only caught a glimpse of him, I did feel this sense of God‘s glory radiating from him. It’s hard to explain, but I understood in that instant how carefully God chooses His shepherds to lead His people. And as shocking as this news is to me, I also understand that it’s also God at work when one of his shepherds knows he has run his course. We must keep Pope Benedict in our prayers as well as the Catholic Church because this unprecedented event is going to get a lot of attention, especially from sources that may not like or understand the Catholic faith.

English: Pope Benedict XVI during general audition

We need to be careful where we receive our information regarding Pope Benedict’s retirement. When it comes to understanding the core principles and foundation of the Catholic faith, the mainstream media has a lot to learn. They deal mostly in the realm of politics and so they will treat the pope’s announcement like they would a politician resigning. And usually, a politician resigns only when he has something to hide or is trying to dodge responsibility for his actions. And so the media will be looking for any shred of circumstantial evidence to fit their narrative whether it be the priest abuse scandal, gay marriage, contraception, or any Catholic document that they can sensationalize and turn into a story to fill their 24/7 news cycle.  We live in a world where people in powerful positions tend to cling to that power to the bitter end (a few people in Washington D.C. come to mind).  The media will never understand why someone in such a powerful position would choose to voluntarily step down.

I believe the truth is much less sensational and extremely humbling. I won’t claim to be an expert on Pope Benedict, but I have read some of his writings and what people have written about him. He does seem to be a very humble servant of the Catholic faith and will do whatever is necessary to promote God’s glory through the Church. And if that means stepping aside to let someone who is more capable of leading the Church in this modern era so be it. It takes a lot of humility for him to conclude that he is not the pope the Church needs right now. I like Pope Benedict and wish he would stay since he is one of the great modern thinkers and defenders of traditional values. But as a Catholic I yield to the pope’s authority even when he decides to relinquish that authority.

I think we need to pray for the conclave of cardinals that will choose the next pope. As we live in a world that becomes more secular, events like the choosing of a new pope become that much more peculiar, misunderstood, and portrayed as being out of step with society. Non Catholics (and misinformed Catholics) will see the election of a new pope like the election of a political leader. They see a new pope as someone who can simply eliminate what they view as mistakes of a previous “administration.” You will hear the usual uninformed questions like, “Will the next pope be softer on contraception and divorce? Will he allow women ordination? Will he allow married priests?” Basically, we will hear the wish list of the secular world as they cover the choosing of the next pope.

emblem of the Papacy: Triple tiara and keys Fr...

This will be a difficult time for Catholics. The world is a lot more hostile towards organized religion, particularly Catholicism (and we haven’t done ourselves any favours recently with all the priest abuse cover ups). It has even changed drastically in the last eight years since Pope Benedict was chosen as pope since the world has become that much more connected but also more polarized.   We should pray and meditate on the Fifth Glorious Mystery of the rosary — The Coronation of Mary. We ask the Queen of Heaven for guidance, resolve, and the wisdom to see the glory of God’s Church through the distractions and obfuscations of the modern world.  God raised Mary up as a queen because she listened to God and obeyed His will.  We pray for the acceptance of Pope Benedict’s decision and the hope that it will bring about a greater good.  God gave us Pope Benedict and it’s not like He’s taking him away from us.  God is merely leading him to a new role where he will do the most good by giving him more time to think, write, and most importantly, pray.  And so we also pray that we show that same openness to God’s will and the humility to follow the road God puts before us as our mother Mary and Pope Benedict did.

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What is the Solemnity of Mary?

We celebrate the feast of the Solemnity of Mary on New Year‘s day, January 1st. But what exactly is the solemnity of Mary? In plain speak, we celebrate Mary’s motherhood to God made man in Jesus Christ. It is one of the oldest feast days in the Catholic Church dating back to the 5th century. The feast started when early Christians were still debating Jesus’ divinity. When the Church decreed that Christ was both God and man, it followed that Mary was the “Mother of God” and that is what we celebrate on this feast.

Georges de La Tour: Adoration of the shepherds...

The Gospel reading for this feast day continues the nativity story revolving around the shepherds praising the newborn king in the manger. And so it is fitting to remember the Third Joyful Mystery, the Nativity, not only on Christmas, but on this day too. We are like the shepherds — doing our work and going about our business. But when the Lord calls us and reveals Himself to us in our lives, we should make “with haste” like the shepherds did in the Gospel to praise and honour Him.

I know that on January 1st I want to curl up in a warm house and watch college football (go Stanford in the Rose Bowl!). I wouldn’t say I’m particularly excited about getting up early, getting dressed, and heading to Mass for an hour. But then I remember the shepherds from the Gospel. When the angel of the Lord appeared to them, they immediately dropped what they were doing and went to the manger to praise Jesus. Luke’s Gospel said that they went “with haste.” They didn’t ignore the angel or take their time getting to the manger. No one said, “I’m set for the night and pretty comfortable; I’ll just stay where I am.” Similarly, God calls us to come and celebrate the Nativity, the Holy Family, and pray for peace. And can you think of a better way of starting the year than in Mass? Here we not only honour Mary and Jesus, but can also give thanksgiving to God for last year while laying down before Him our intentions for the next.

Oh, did I mention that the Solemnity of Mary is also a holy day of obligation? It is no different from our obligation to attend Mass on Sunday. That means skipping Mass without a valid reason is a sin. And sorry, your hang over from New Year’s Eve is not a valid reason. Sinning on the first day of the year isn’t exactly the best start is it? However, make the most of this holy day of obligation and don’t go to Mass simply because you have to. Think of Mass as your spiritual new year’s celebration. Embrace the Eucharist, pray for peace, and celebrate the gift of faith.

Happy New Year!

Update: As with many other feast days, the Solemnity of Mary isn’t a holy day of obligation in some dioceses and countries.  Please check with your parish.  As an editorial, I find it odd that skipping Mass on January 1st will be a sin for some, but not for others depending on your address.

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Remembering Family Unity in the New Year

Today’s gospel reading is the story of the finding of Jesus in the temple which is also the Fifth Joyful Mystery of the rosary. We pray for family unity and peace. Like Mary and Joseph, who had lost Jesus and hence had an incomplete family, many families today are also missing Jesus, our Lord, in day to day life. May we try to make our families “whole” by including Jesus in it.

Maybe you need to mend divisions in your life with other family members. Maybe you need to make more time for prayer whether it be grace before dinner or starting a family rosary night. Maybe you need to make more time to learn the teachings of the Catholic Church so that you can incorporate them in your daily life. No matter where your family life may be, we can always look to the Holy Family as a model on how we can make it stronger.

Holy Family by Raphael, 1506.
Holy Family by Raphael, 1506. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I encourage you to read more about the Fifth Joyful Mystery.  I  think it speaks to all of us as we all know people who have wondered far from God’s grace and need our prayers.

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The Declining Influence of Religion in the United States

I don’t want to spoil anyone’s Christmas cheer, but according to this study I would only be spoiling it for a shrinking number of Americans anyway since it seems like more people are celebrating, not Christmas, but “the holidays.”  Pew Research Center did some analysis of the presidential election and found that Obama captured over 70% of the “not religiously affiliated” vote that makes up 20% of the American electorate.  We are certainly seeing an increasing percentage of the population where traditional religion does not play a part in their lives.  Those numbers increase dramatically when you also take into account those who are affiliated with a particular religion, but aren’t practicing.  This is bad news for those who do take their faith traditions seriously and expect the government to protect the right to live according to the teachings and beliefs of their religion.

If society places less importance on the role religion plays in peoples’ lives then the government will take less interest in protecting our fundamental freedom of religion.  We saw how casually Obama rolled out the Health and Human Services contraception mandate followed by a few “accommodations” such as delaying the enforcement of the mandate for one year or allowing very narrow exceptions.  Instead of outrage, this mandate was met with apathy from the general public.  We shouldn’t be surprised if one in five people don’t belong to any particular religion and many that do aren’t even actively practicing it.  This puts people of faith in a really tight spot because an increasing number of people just don’t understand why having a particular faith and a certain moral code is so important to some of us.  This disconnect will only widen as those who practice their faith become more of the minority and the USA drifts further away from the guiding principles of the Constitution.

The Pew Research Center had this to say about the people who aren’t affiliated with a relgion (known as the “nones”):

He cautions, however, against conflating the “nones” with nonbelievers.

“Those two things are not the same,” Smith says. The “nones’ are certainly less religious than those who say they belong to a religious group, but many are also believers.

“The absence of a connection to an organized religion is not the same as the absence of a religious belief or practice,” he says.

Here’s the problem with “nones” who are supposedly “believers.”  What do they believe?  Are their beliefs just an arbitrary set of guidelines that they will follow or ignore at their convenience?  Are they in that “God loves me and I think He’s cool with how I choose to live my life” group?  Because that’s not belief.  That’s just finding justification for living however one pleases.  It’s a religious foundation built on sand where the slightest disturbance or challenge will knock it over.  Or less poetically, they are beliefs that will change as soon as someone declares them outdated, uncool, or not following the majority in society.  In my experience, not being connected to an organized religion is synonymous with not practicing any religion at all.

I usually don’t like to link to opinion sites like NPR.  But if you have the stomach for it, go read the comments section to this article.  Many of them are openly hostile towards organized religion and portray the faithful as ignorant fools.  It’s a sampling of what a growing portion of America thinks about religion and, by association, what they think about you.  Remember, this is a group that is growing larger and becoming courted by politicians seeking to remain in office.  These are the voices and opinions politicians will hear when they craft our laws.  Scared yet?

What RosaryMeds Do I Need?

Baptism of a child by affusion

Society has come down with an acute case of non-belief.  Symptoms include empty churches and places of worship, sins being accepted as virtues, and a general apathy towards assaults on religions freedom.  I recommend praying the First Luminous Mystery — Jesus’ Baptism in the Jordan.  When we meditate on this mystery, we should remember our baptism when we were brought into God’s grace.  Remember what God asks of you when you renew your baptismal promises at Mass and are also stated in the Apostles’ Creed which is the first prayer of the rosary.  You have a better chance of remaining in God’s grace when your baptismal promises are always on your mind and reflected in your actions.  That is why it’s important to pray the rosary each day.  As an added dose of rosary medication, pray for those who are unbelievers, have left the Church, or are openly hostile to her when you meditate on the Fifth Joyful Mystery — The Finding of Jesus in the Temple.  Remember, God doesn’t care how far you stray in life and for how long.  Some of the greatest saints in the Church lived sinful lives before turning around and searching for God’s grace.  You can always come back and find Jesus in your life as Joseph and Mary did in this mystery.  All it takes is a truly repentant heart.  Especially in this season of Advent, pray for those who have strayed from God’s grace that they allow the Holy Spirit to guide them back home.

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Teacher Fired from Confirmation Class for being “Too Passionate” About Her Faith

I have to share a sad story about a friend of mine who the parish pastor removed from teaching a Sacrament of Confirmation class for “being too passionate about her faith” around “impressionable” students. This is an unfortunate event but hopefully some good can come out of it if it awakens the conscience and awareness of others about the threats to the Catholic Church. Here is a letter my friend wrote explaining what happened (I removed the names at my friend’s request):

Last night I was “let go” from teaching Confirmation to High School students at [name of school] because I am accused of “being too passionate about my faith” and the students are “too impressionable”.

I am a very good faithful Catholic Catechist that teaches only the Truth from Scripture and the CCC.

I believe in helping the students to develop “well formed consciences”, so I speak about the “intrinsic evils” in our current dark culture. Abortion, euthanasia, cloning, destruction of stem cells for embryonic research, the eroding and re-definition of traditional marriage and the assault on our religious freedom. But most of all the disappearance of “God” in our world. The DRE says that I’m only to teach Confirmation (LOL).

Last Wednesday the day after the election I spoke to the students about voting as Catholics when first and shared the above with them. A question came from a student asking “does this mean if you voted for Obama that you are not Catholic?” I said that voting for a platform that supports intrinsic evil like that means you are not a “faithful Catholic”.

I had a meeting with the pastor this morning, he is supports the DREs viewpoint. He voted for Obama and doesn’t believe that in doing so you are not a “faithful Catholic”. I told him he was wrong and that the majority of U.S. Bishops and our Pope thinks so too. He said he didn’t care what the Bishops say–which means this Priest is outside the magisterium of the Church–which is not new news to any of us. The majority of current leadership of our Church have succumb too.

It’s terrible enough that those who are not Catholic would attack us–but to be attacked from within is very depressing. I believe that God is allowing all of this to happen to me and to the world for a greater good and I trust in Him. I will fight this and all those like this within the Church and in the public square.

First, we should look at what the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) teaches about the Sacrament of Confirmation. The introduction in the CCC says (italics mine):

For by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed.

The Sacrament of Confirmation is a calling to spread and defend the faith. Defend it from what? What are the threats to the Catholic faith? I think my friend nailed it in her letter when she identified these threats as “the ‘intrinsic evils’ in our current dark culture. Abortion, euthanasia, cloning, destruction of stem cells for embryonic research, the eroding and re-definition of traditional marriage and the assault on our religious freedom. But most of all the disappearance of God in our world.” In order to defend against evil, you must be able to identify it. All my friend did was introduce these evils through the lens of the Church. We cannot act so naïve as to think that these young adults will never encounter these challenges to the faith. So shouldn’t we prepare them using the best tools available to us like the CCC?

The paster’s actions also seem to fly in the face of this year’s theme for the Catholic Church, the year of faith, and the call for the New Evangelization. This is a call from the highest levels of the Catholic Church for the faithful to become better catechized and make an effort to grow deeper in their faith. And yet, at the local level, when someone tries to do just, she gets kicked out of her role.  The world will catechize these impressionable teenagers one way or another. Would you prefer the future generation of the Catholic Church to be catechized by popular culture, the media, and our politicians or by those who truly love their faith and want to see the Church thrive in the grace and love that Jesus intended?

By avoiding teaching these difficult issues, local parishes present a watered down version of Catholicism. Teenagers are impressionable, but they can also be very astute. They detect when someone isn’t giving them straight answers or presents Church teachings using clichés and platitudes. Church teachings no longer become the product of centuries of thought by some of the most brilliant theologians the world has ever known, but instead are reduced to the equivalent of flowery song lyrics. And like a song in a large playlist, teenagers will just file away their perception of Church doctrine as just one idea of many and head towards what they feel is more exciting, interesting, and important. When local parishes keep this status quo, I’m not surprised that regular Mass attendance is down to 23% among US Catholics. Teenagers crave substance and yet many parishes are afraid to give it to them.

What Does the Rosary Teach Us?

My friend’s situation reminds me of the Third Luminous Mystery of the rosary — Jesus’ Proclamation of the Kingdom of the Heaven and the Call to Conversion. Remember the response Jesus received when He announced that He was the fulfilment of scripture. Did the people rejoice and listen intently to Jesus’ teachings? Nope. They chased Him out-of-town and later crucified Him. Similarly, St. Paul caused riots and was almost assassinated trying to spreads Jesus’ teachings in the Acts of the Apostles (you should definitely listen to it). And so we find ourselves in a similar situation today. There are many people out there who truly love Jesus and His Church and want to proclaim authentic Catholic teachings. But they are chased out, like Jesus, because those teachings upset the status quo and force people to evaluate their priorities and values in life. Conversion is difficult and takes effort especially when it forces us to leave the comfort of the status quo or admit that we are on a wrong path. But in the Third Luminous Mystery, Jesus asks us all to a life of continuous conversion and to always try to move ever closer to Him.

When we pray this mystery we should keep in our intentions those people who cling to their beliefs even when they run counter to the Church’s teachings. May the Holy Spirit open their hearts to the true conversion to which Jesus calls them. And we should pray for all of those who want to teach the Catholic faith but are persecuted and chased out. Like St. Simeon in the Fourth Joyful Mystery, may they stay steadfast in their convictions even when it seems pointless.

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This is Your Brain… On Prayer

I tried to put together a good “election day and the rosary” type of article but nothing quite seemed to come together. There are plenty of good websites out there that have more time, writers, and other resources to discuss politics and the election through a religious lens. So RosaryMeds election coverage is simply this — read the USCCB‘s Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility and, with a well-formed conscience, seriously consider which candidate will best support the values espoused by the Catholic faith. And while no candidate is ever perfect (after all, Jesus isn’t running for president), think about who will be the most open to legislation that supports, not attacks, your values. And this doesn’t just go for the presidential election, but also keep this in mind when selecting congressional, state, and local officials as well since many times they can have a much more dramatic impact on your life than the president.

Brain on PrayerIn this post I want to discuss your brain on prayer. I came across this short, three-minute video that I found very interesting. The main premise is that a brain in deep prayer shows similar activity as conversing with someone. Neurologically, there is no difference to our brain when we talk to God in prayer or physically with someone right in front of us. Now the critic would look at this data and conclude, ‘I knew it! Catholics and other religious are no different from people experiencing hallucinations or having imaginary friends!” But the critic would be wrong as any prayerful person can attest that we don’t hear real voices in our head telling us what to do when we pray. But there is a very real dialogue going on.

This goes to one of my main themes of RosaryMeds and my book, The Rosary for the Rest of Us, about the benefits of rosary prayer. At its root, rosary meditation is a dialogue with God either directly or through the intercession of Mary and the saints. This is what makes the rosary such a powerful prayer. You aren’t just talking into the void. There is someone listening on the other end and He does respond. It’s not a response in that drug-induced, “there are voices in my head” sort of way. It’s something deeper and less tangible (but still observable as the brain scans in the video show). God responds to our prayers when we suddenly have some sort of clarity on a difficult decision. He responds to us when we find that strength to do the right thing even when doing the wrong thing would be easier. He responds when we realize that some of our daily worries are trivial compared to our spiritual health.  These are just a few examples of how our brain changes during prayer as a result of having a conversation with God.

An angel comforting Jesus before his arrest in...The First Sorrowful Mystery, The Agony in the Garden, best shows the nature of prayer as a dialogue. Before the Pharisees arrested Jesus, He prayed to God. Jesus first asked God to find another way to redeem humanity besides Him suffering on the cross. But Jesus also showed humility and just asked for the strength to do God’s Will. But where was the dialogue? After all, there were many instances in the Gospel when God spoke as a thundering voice in the clouds. It may seem that Jesus was just speaking into nothingness in the garden of Gethsemane when he was arrested. But God did respond! He gave Jesus the strength to endure the scourging, the crown of thorns, the cross, and crucifixion. He gave Jesus clarity to forgive those who crucified Him in His final minutes of agony on the cross. And God responded by empowering the apostles, through the Holy Spirit, to spread the teachings and love that Jesus showed in His death and resurrection to the far ends of the world for generations to follow. Jesus asked God for the strength to do His Will. God heard loud and clear and responded.   The over one billion Catholics worldwide bare witness to God’s response to Jesus’s prayer.

We should remember this sentence from the Memorare when we pray the rosary: “Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help or sought your intercession, was left unaided.” Our prayers are heard by God in Heaven, the saints, and our Mother Mary. And they do respond but not always in the way we expect. We should pray for the faith to truly believe this great truth and take advantage of talking to God in prayer.  He’s waiting for you to pick up that spiritual phone and call Him!

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Is Morality an “All or Nothing” Proposition?

I read many articles dissecting Paul Ryan‘s answer on the abortion issue in the vice presidential debate last week. Ryan’s response disappointed many people when he said he would support laws that outlaw abortion except in cases of rape, incest, and life of the mother. Because he added that exception, many people dismissed his entire stance as not being genuinely pro-life. You can read more about it on the political blog or news site of your choice. But to me this appears to be one of many case where people dismiss someone’s intentions or efforts to do good (or reduce the amount of bad) because it doesn’t instantly bring about the fullness of Jesus‘ teachings. It seems like every election season there isn’t just a battle between two candidates, but also between the “all or nothing” and “incremental improvement” camps as well.

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We have to be careful when evaluating people’s intentions to bring about an eventual good end. For example, someone’s moral position cannot introduce an evil as a way of bringing about good (“the ends don’t justify the means” argument). But often, like Paul Ryan’s approach, no new evil is introduced by reducing the number of abortions in the general case and making exceptions in the edge cases for now (with the possibility of tackling them later). It’s accepting a political reality that the greatest good comes about one step at a time and rarely happens all at once. Nearly everything in life comes about in steps whether it be education, physical skills, spirituality, laws, and culture.

In my opinion, the “all or nothing” approach comes from people who are trying to justify their support of a position the Church opposes by making some sort of shaky moral equivalence  It’s a convenient way of convincing yourself that all politicians are really just the same so it doesn’t matter in the moral sense who you support. For some people, since Romney and Ryan would not outlaw 100% of abortions right away, they are just as pro-choice as Obama and Biden so the is no moral difference between the two on the abortion issue. I feel silly just writing that and hopefully you feel silly reading it. But if you’ve been on the Catholic Answers forums long enough, that is exactly the type of false logic many people hold.

Taking the logic of the “all or nothing” crowd, why should we help the poor since we cannot eliminate poverty entirely? Why should we treat the sick if we can’t end all illness instantly? Why fight for reforms in the justice system since our legal system will never be perfect? Why fight for freedom and liberty for some people if we cannot free all people around the globe? We fight these battles because we know that while we cannot help everyone, we do help many. After all, what is charity but trying to make small differences in some people’s’ lives? While I would love to wake up tomorrow to a world where there are no abortions, I’ll take a world where there are fewer abortions tomorrow than there are today. And if we all have that mindset where we fight to reduce the number of abortions tomorrow (even if just by one) then one day we might wake up to a world where there are no abortions at all. And those we save along the way will turn out to be our neighbours, our friends, our co-workers, our brothers or sisters, maybe our spouse, our parents, and so many other people who touch our lives who otherwise would not exist if we rejected every measure to do good because it wasn’t the ideal solution.

What Does the Rosary Teach Us?

What does the rosary teach us about how to face these social, political, and moral issues? Does it teach us that we should keep fighting for what is right and make small gains where we can or should we accept nothing less than the ideal solution? Jesus taking up His cross in the Fourth Sorrowful Mystery represents how the greatest good comes about one step at a time. Imagine how painful it must have been for Jesus, tired and beaten, to carry His cross to His crucifixion. Every second must have seemed like an eternity of anguish and despair. But Jesus showed resolve and determination knowing that His suffering was to bring about the salvation of all humanity.  Jesus’ Passion was a slow process that had its literal ups and downs but was always moving in the direction of redeeming all of humanity. And so we should remember this mystery when the things that we want and fight for don’t seem to come fast enough. We must remember that God‘s time is not our time. His plan may not necessarily be our plan. But we should all strive to live like Jesus in His Passion where we must endure the challenges and hardship understanding that living our faith is a process, not something that can happen instantly.

Icon of the Pentecost

Another rosary mystery that comes to mind when I think about how we must show patience for God’s plan is the Pentecost in the Third Glorious Mystery. When God sent the Holy Spirit to the apostles, the world did not instantly change that day. In fact, the outside world remained the same. And the Holy Spirit did not fill the apostles with the power to instantly convert all people to the fullness and truth of Jesus’ teachings. The apostles still had a long journey in front of them that would take them to the ends of the earth preaching the Gospel. The Church continues that mission thousands of years later of converting one soul at a time. Jesus’ message of love exists today because the early Church showed patience and endurance in spreading the Good News and didn’t quit because they couldn’t instantly convert the hearts and minds of all humanity.

What are your thoughts? Should we accept small and sometimes imperfect solutions to problems or do we wait and accept nothing less than the ideal solution?

 

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