Michelangelo's Pieta
Filed under: Easter, Lent, Salvation | Tagged: Catholic Church, Jesus, John 3:16, michelangelo, pieta, resurrection | Leave a Comment »
“Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.” John 6:53
I think Jesus is speaking very clearly here even though many of those who heard Him speak didn’t know what to make of this statement. More ironic is that, twenty centuries later, so many people still don’t get it even with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. Let’s look at the rest of the passage:
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
What happened next? Many of those who heard Him speak walked away from Him. This was too hard for them to understand; too hard to accept. Even today, knowing what happened on Holy Thursday, many non-Catholic Christians believe that Jesus was speaking figuratively. The same people whose faith teaches that everything in the Bible must be taken literally refuse to accept the Real Presence of Jesus Body and Blood in the Eucharist.
But, look at the context. Jesus had been sent by His Heavenly Father to establish a Church. Beginning with just twelve Apostles He was gaining a following. By His words and by His actions, He was gaining new followers every day. Then He tells them they must eat His flesh and drink His blood and He begins to lose them. They’re walking away. If He’d been speaking figuratively wouldn’t it have made sense for Him to say, “Wait! I didn’t mean you really have to eat my flesh and drink my blood. It was just a metaphor; a figure of speech.”? Read on. He stands by what He’s said and then asks the twelve if they want to leave Him too. Of course, they say “no”.
Even though the Apostles have faith in Jesus they still must have wondered exactly what He meant by drinking His Blood and eating His flesh. It had to be the subject of a lot of conversation around the campfire when Jesus wasn’t there.
Fast forward to the feast of the Passover. Jesus is about to clear up the mystery. With His Apostles gathered around Him at the Passover table
He took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you. Luke 22:19-20
Aha! That’s it! He doesn’t want us to actually bite into His holy flesh and drink the blood that flows from the wound. He’s created the Eucharist and given the Apostles the ability to turn bread and wine into His Body and Blood. That ability still exists today in our bishops and priests. You and I can partake of the Eucharist, His Body and Blood. ”Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. ”
As a deacon, I prepare the altar for the priest and stand by his side as he turns ordinary bread and wine into Christ’s Body and Blood. I can say, without fear of contradiction, that the elements of the Eucharist look exactly the same after consecration as they did before. They also taste the same. Yet you and I know that they’re different. How do we know? Because we have faith. Our understanding of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection tells us that Jesus was incapable of telling a lie. If we don’t believe everything He said, then we can’t believe anything He said. If we catch Him in even one lie, then our faith is destroyed.
When we receive the Body and Blood of Christ, we take him into our very selves. It’s great to read the Bible, to go to mass, to pray privately, and to do any number of other things that bring us closer to Christ. But when we receive the Eucharist we aren’t just close to Christ, Christ is within our very bodies. No one can come closer to God than that. Frankly, I can’t imagine why anyone would even consider leaving the Catholic Church and giving up such an amazing gift.
[Side note. If you believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, please show Him the proper respect. Think about what you're about to receive. Follow the Church's minimal rules on fasting. Don't chew gum. And come to church dressed appropriately.]
Filed under: faith, Sacraments | Tagged: Apostles, Catholic Church, Christ, eucharist, Jesus, Real presence of Christ in the Eucharist | 4 Comments »
“Hail Full of Grace, the Lord is with you.”
When the Lord spoke these words to Mary, her life was changed forever. She was to become the Mother of our Lord, Jesus Christ. When she went to visit her relative, Elizabeth, who was also with child, even in her old age, her words were prophetic as well. When Mary entered Elizabeth’s home the child in her womb leapt for joy and Elizabeth said,
“Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”
Of course, these two sentences from Luke’s Gospel are the beginning of the “Hail Mary”, the tribute to the Blessed Virgin that every Catholic learns early in life and continues to pray as long as they live.
We discussed earlier, in our post on saints, that we don’t worship Mary. We venerate her. How else should we treat Jesus’ mother? Without her, there would have been no Messiah. Obviously Mary could have said no. In fact one reason we do venerate her is because she said yes. ”Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Mary could have refused. She could have told Gabriel to leave her alone. She was young. She was engaged to be married. The last thing she needed was a surprise pregnancy. Nazareth was a small town. What were the neighbors going to think? What was Joseph going to say? But she had faith in God and she agreed to do His will.
Don’t forget, Mary was born without sin. God had been preparing for this event for years. If Mary had refused to go along, He couldn’t just go get another woman. He would have had to start over. But, of course, He knew that she would never refuse to do His will.
But why do we Catholics have such a strong devotion to Mary? After all, other faith traditions believe the same Nativity story that we do. They understand that Mary was Jesus’ mother, but they don’t seem to hold her in the high esteem that we do. We pray for Mary to intercede for us with Jesus. Every Catholic church has at least one statue of her. Until recently, Mary was the most popular girl’s name in the United States. There are thousands of Catholic Churches named after her, either as Saint Mary, or as one of her other appellations. We Catholics love Mary.
Mary carried our Lord in her womb for nine months. She raised Him from a baby and held Him in her arms after He was crucified. She was assumed into heaven so her sinless body wouldn’t have to lie in the ground. She was Jesus’ mother and I think we can all agree, if you love someone as much as we love Jesus, you have to love their mom.
Here’s a trivia question for you. What is the only US city named after the blessed mother? [answer tomorrow]
Filed under: Lent, Mary, Saints | Tagged: blessed mother, Blessed Virgin, Catholic Church, Elizabeth, Mary, mother of god, Nazareth, our lady | 1 Comment »
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
There are some things in life that we have to take on faith. The Trinity is one of them. How can God be one God but three persons? A lot of people much smarter than me have attempted to explain it throughout the ages. Saint Patrick is said to have used the shamrock as a visual aid. Great Catholic scholars have written long studies on the doctrine. In fact, I’ve looked at some of these writings and, frankly, reading them gives me a headache.
Since this post is intended to demonstrate that the Holy Trinity is cool, not to explain the concept, let’s look at some very basic things. In Matthew 28 Jesus told the Apostles,“All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Go therefore, making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
God the Father is the Creator of the Universe. God the Son became human to save us from our sins. God the Holy Spirit is with us always. Jesus told the Apostles, “I will pray the Father, and he will send you another Paraclete, to be with you forever” John 14:16.
At mass we recite the Nice Creed and declare exactly what we believe about the Trinity. We begin, “We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth.” The Creed goes on, “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in being with the Father. Through Him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the holy spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary and became man.”
And, finally, “We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son He is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets.”
We know that God is always here for us as creator, savior, and advocate. We can pray to Him in any of His three identities according to our needs. Fortunately, we don’t have to read Aquinas or any of the Church Fathers, or any other long, scholarly dissertation to understand what God does for us. It’s kind of like the Internet. I have no idea what the process is to get these words from my keyboard to your screen, possibly thousands of miles away. I just know that it works. Closer to home, I have no idea how my thoughts get from my head to my fingers to type this. I just know that they do.
Filed under: Church teaching, faith, Lent, Prayer | Tagged: Father Son and Holy Spirit, HolySpirit, Nice Creed, Trinity | 1 Comment »
Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood* has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:17-19.
With these words, Jesus appointed Saint Peter the first Pope. He knew that His new Church must have a leader and that the leader must have full authority to speak on His behalf. He gave Peter “the keys to the kingdom of heaven.”
In the 21st century we may not get the full meaning of that gesture. Remember, in Jesus’ day cities were built inside walls. The walls had a gate to let people in and out, but when it came time to close the gate because the enemy was approaching, it was the Prime Minister, the King’s right-hand man, who had the key. Obviously this was a job that was vitally important. The PM decided who got in and who didn’t. So it was with Peter.
It would make no sense for Jesus to have given Peter the keys and not to have given them to his successors. If Jesus wanted His Church to last beyond Peter’s lifetime, it was necessary that his rights and responsibilities would be passed along to others. Of course, Peter’s successor today is Pope Benedict XVI, the 267th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.
Over more than 2,000 years there have been good Popes and not-so-good Popes. There have been scandalous Popes and at one time there were even three Popes. But one thing has never changed and never will. When it comes to matters of faith and morals the Pope has the ultimate authority and is protected by the Holy Spirit from making errors in these matters. We say the Pope is infallible.
That doesn’t mean the Pope can’t make a mistake. If the Pope says that Italy is going to win the World Cup, don’t mortgage your home and put all the money on the Italians. Soccer is not faith and morals and when Benedict predicts the outcome of a game, he has no better chance of being right than anyone else.
But when the Pope, in unity with his bishops, says that abortion is a sin, you can take that to the bank. And it’s worth noting that no future Pope is going to contradict him. That’s why such pronouncements are few and far between. In fact, the last time the Pope spoke ex cathedra (from the chair) was in 1950 when Pope Pius XII defined the Assumption of Mary.
There are (at least) three things about the Pope that make it cool to be Catholic. One is that he is the direct descendant of Saint Peter in his role as Holy Father. Two is that our Church has a leader who has direct authority from Jesus Christ. When he speaks on faith and morals, we know that he’s speaking the truth.
The third thing about the Pope, and this is where the real coolness comes in, he’s recognized as an authoritative voice, even by non-Catholics. Jews, Muslims, protestants, even atheists recognize that when Benedict speaks, they ought to listen. When the Pope comes to town, leaders of all faiths and non-faiths line up to get an audience.
Pope Benedict XVI meets with Fidel Castro
3/28/2012
Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
Here I though I had everything planned out. 40 days of Lent. 40 posts. Everything was just fine until I got to this weekend and realized that there are a lot more than 40 reasons for Catholic coolness. But the list got shuffled over the last few weeks and here I am with five days left and six posts. So today is a bonus. I’ll post the regularly scheduled topic later, but here’s another thing that’s cool. As Catholics we always get more than we expect.
Today’s bonus reason why it’s cool to be Catholic is permanent deacons. I almost left out my own vocation. Doh! Actually, we were on the list from the very beginning, but something else came along that bumped deacons to number 41. Be that as it may, here’s why deacons make it cool to be Catholic. Where the priest is ordained for the Eucharist, permanent deacons are ordained for service.
At that time, as the number of disciples continued to grow, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table. Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to this task, whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
The proposal was acceptable to the whole community, so they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the holy Spirit, also Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them. Acts 6: 1-6
Deacons work alongside priests and are responsible to the local bishop. We receive the sacrament of Holy Orders, just like priests, but we’re ordained to serve. Service includes assisting the priest (or bishop) at mass. There are certain parts of the mass that are reserved for deacons and some that are optional. For example, reading the Gospel is the deacon’s job. Giving a homily may be done by either the priest or by the deacon. In some dioceses including my own Archdiocese of Saint Louis, deacons don’t automatically receive preaching faculties when they’re ordained. It takes a year of service as an ordained deacon and another class to receive them.
A deacon is never an adequate substitute for a priest. We can’t say mass. We can’t administer the sacrament of reconciliation. We can’t anoint the sick. What we can do is perform other tasks that normally take up the priests’ time, freeing them up to do the things that only they can do. Deacons visit prisons, we visit hospitals, we work with the elderly and the poor. There deacons ministering to travelers at many airports and here in Saint Louis we even have a deacon whose ministry is a local truck stop.
There are deacons who teach in schools and in parish schools of religion and deacons who catechize people wanting to join the Church. We prepare couples for marriage and work with families as they have their children baptized. And, most of us maintain a secular job, providing a presence of the Church in the workplace.
And we pray. Twice a day we pray the Liturgy of the Hours and we pray for you.
I’m not very comfortable telling you how great I am, because, frankly, I’m not. I’m just a guy who heard God calling me to do more for Him and for His Church. Like everyone else, some deacons are living, breathing saints and some of us are just happy to serve. One aspect of deacon coolness is that the vocation accepts married men. If you’re a man, 35 years old or older, you might be called to the diaconate. It’s something that’s worth spending the time to discuss with God in your prayers.
If you’re a woman, or if you’re a man who isn’t called to this particular vocation, it’s still cool that the Church restored the permanent diaconate after Vatican II. There are about 16,000 permanent deacons in the United States, roughly 1 for every 2 priests. Even though most of us serve on a part-time basis, that’s still a lot of men doing a lot of work for the Church; most of it without compensation.
Some of us do work that frees up our pastors to do other things and some of us do things that wouldn’t get done were it not for deacons.
Filed under: Church teaching, Current Events, faith, Holy Spirit, Lent, Ministry, Uncategorized | Tagged: Catholic Church, diaconate, permanent deacons | 3 Comments »
The Archbishop and the Cardinal. Archbishop Robert Carlson and Fredbird
If priests are cool then bishops must be cooler. Right? Again, this is not a scholarly dissertation on these men who are directly descended from the twelve Apostles. There are plenty of places to find that kind of material. This is about why bishops are cool and we’re lucky to have them. However, I am going to throw one big word at you: subsidiarity. It means that the Church has determined that the best place to make decisions is as close to the people as possible. The really big stuff, the stuff that affects all Catholics all over the world, is decided in Rome. The things that affect the local diocese are decided by our bishops.
Remember, we have a Code of Canon Law that directs everything that goes on in the Church, but there’s still plenty of wiggle room for the local ordinary (the bishop) to put his personal touch on his diocese. More important, part of the bishop’s responsibility is to deal with the secular world on our behalf. The current kerfuffle about the government’s birth control mandate is a good example. The Pope could jump into the middle of this issue, and at some point he may. But for now, the United States bishops are at the forefront, both as a group and individually. The vast majority of our bishops have written pastoral letters to their flock urging us to oppose this violation of our Constitution.
For most young Catholics, it’s quite a thrill at confirmation time when they get to meet the bishop, either at their own parish or at the Cathedral. While the bishop is a local cleric, most of us associate him with the universal Church. He’s our direct line to the Vatican. While we most often see our bishop performing on the big stage with all the pomp and pageantry that the office deserves, most of them are very down-go-earth guys who would rather sit down with you one-on-one and have a cup of coffee. Unfortunately for us, they’re so busy that they don’t get to do that very often.
I don’t think I can finish a post on bishops without mentioning the president of the United States bishops, Timothy Cardinal Dolan.
Cardinal Dolan distributes food to the poor in New York City.
This Health and Human Services fiasco has brought His Eminence into the national spotlight and we should all be glad it has. I could be wrong, but I’ve always pictured Jesus as man very much like Cardinal Dolan. I believe Jesus had a sense of humor (otherwise I wouldn’t be a deacon), I believe He was friendly and outgoing, and I believe that when it was necessary, He was tough as a bulldog. (Remember the moneychangers?) Isn’t that how we’d like all our bishops (and priests and deacons) to be?
Face it, most of us are lost sheep and we need a shepherd. Our parish priests fill that role most of the time, but they do it on behalf of the bishop. When you go to mass this weekend and the priest prays for our Benedict our Pope, and for our bishop and for all the bishops, say a quiet prayer of thanks for your local shepherd. As I said yesterday concerning priests, our bishops have been under attack in recent years. Did some of them mess up? Clearly they did. Did they do it out of malice, or a desire to break the law? No, I don’t think so.
Remember on the very night that Jesus created the presbytery one of His bishops sold him out for a few pieces and another, the one who would become the first Pope, denied that he knew Him, not once but three times. Bishops are human, just like you and me. They’re subject to the same faults and failings as we all are. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Filed under: Church teaching, faith, Lent, Life | Tagged: a, Apostles, Archbishop, archbishop robert carlson, Bishops, Catholic Church, Judas, peter, Timothy Cardinal Dolan, US Bishops | Leave a Comment »
The day before he suffered he took bread in his sacred hands and looking up to heaven, to you, his almighty Father, he gave you thanks and praise. He broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said: Take this, all of you, and eat it: this is my body which will be given up for you.
When supper was ended, he took the cup. Again he gave you thanks and praise, gave the cup to his disciples, and said: Take this, all of you, and drink from it: this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlastingcovenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me. The New Roman Missal
With these words, Jesus established the priesthood. Without priests we wouldn’t have the Eucharist. Acting on behalf of the local ordinary, these men have the power to turn bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. Only bishops have the power to ordain priests and our current bishops are direct descendants from the original twelve.
These men give their lives to the Church. Unlike most protestant clergy, they take a vow of celibacy. There are some who suggest that this is a bad thing because they think it discourages many men from the priesthood. That may be somewhat true, but by making a lifelong commitment to celibate life a priest is able to give 110% to his ministry. As a married clergyman myself, I can see how valuable the priest’s dedication to the Church can be. It’s impossible to give your all to two different callings.
This is anything but a scholarly treatise on the theology of the priesthood. There are many good sources for that elsewhere. My point is this. As Catholics we have the gift of a dedicated priesthood, men who are literally married to the Church. They ace in persona Christi, that is in the person of Christ, to consecrate the Eucharist, to forgive us our sins, and to perform the sacraments. Sadly, there aren’t enough priests to go around right now and that’s a problem.
As faithful Catholics we have an obligation to encourage our young men to at least consider priestly life. You would think, in this treacherous economy, that a job with lifetime security, good benefits and room and board, would be very attractive. But here’s the thing. In recent years the Church has been rocked by the child abuse scandal, and make no mistake, it’s a terrible thing. But the news media have blown it totally out of proportion. The percentage of priests who abuse children is no higher than the percent of men in the total population who commit these crimes. Yet, it’s the Church that’s been the target of all the bad press. Child abuse IS NOT a Catholic problem. It’s a societal problem. But young men who are considering the priesthood might be scared off by all the negative news. They may fear guilt by association.
Most of the alleged victims who are coming forward are claiming abuse that happened in the 60s, 70s, and 80s; some even earlier. Today, in 2012, no organization in the world is doing more to prevent the abuse of children than the Catholic Church. Your children are safer in a Catholic church or school than they are in a protestant church, a public school, on a little league team, or in a secular scout troop. You and I must do all we can to spread the word that all priests are not child molesters. The guilty parties are a small percentage of the total priesthood and that percentage is getting smaller, thanks to the policies that have been put in place by the US Bishops.
If we’re going to have enough priests to lead the Church in the 21st century, we all have to do our best to encourage our young men that the priesthood is a viable and prestigious profession. God hasn’t stopped calling future priests. We’ve just stopped listening.
Jesus established the ordained priesthood intending it to last until the end of time. He designed it so that you and I would have access to an educated, compassionate, dedicated priest whenever we need one. When we need the sacraments they’re there for us, day or night.
Filed under: Church teaching, Current Events, faith, Lent, Prayer, Sacraments, Uncategorized | Tagged: Catholic Church, Child abuse, priesthood | Leave a Comment »
Now, wait just a minute, deacon. The Internet is NOT Catholic. Wasn’t it invented by Al Gore?
Bear with me for a minute and I’ll tell you why I think the Internet makes it cool to be Catholic. When Jesus formed His Church, just before his death and resurrection, there were only the twelve Apostles and a handful of disciples to spread the faith. Evangelization was strictly a one-on-one matter. Matthew’s Gospel ends with Jesus, after his resurrection, telling the eleven “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20) Obviously, since baptism was part of their mission, they traveled the world, preaching the Gospel and baptizing new Christians.
That was pretty much how it worked until 1450 when Gutenberg’s printing press made it possible to mass produce the written word. Of course, most people still didn’t know how to read, but for those who could, a whole new world of evangelization became possible. Still, one-on-one evangelization continued with those who lacked the ability to read.
It would be another 500 years or so before mass evangelization became possible with the invention of the radio. Suddenly a speaker in a studio could speak to thousands of people at one time. Many early radio programs focused on religion with the Catholic Church a primary source of programming.
The next advance in wide-spread evangelization would come much more quickly. Still in the 20th Century television sets started appearing in people’s homes. Who can forget Servant of God Bishop Fulton Sheen, who began his broadcast ministry on radio but who saw television as a new and better way to preach the Gospel to millions at one time. His TV show dominated Tuesday night television from 1951-1957. He won two Emmy awards.
In 1980 a nun from Alabama had the idea of starting a Catholic cable channel. Mother Angelica’s EWTN is seen all over the world. As of 2008, EWTN reached 146 million homes in 147 countries.
And that brings us to the Internet. The World Wide Web is an amazing medium. It contains a lot of bad stuff but the good stuff far outweighs the bad. Using your home computer or laptop (or even your smart phone) you have access to all the greatest Catholic writers and preachers in the world. As I mentioned in my post on the Church Fathers, the web gives you instant access to all the great Catholic writers. Whether you want to read Augustine’s works, which are on-line, and in the public domain, which means you can download them for free, or modern Catholic thought-leaders like Matthew Kelly or Father Robert Barron are more your speed, it’s all right there.
There are hundreds of Catholic blogs where you can read the thoughts of Cardinals, bishops, priests, and even lowly deacons. In fact, if you have something to say there’s nothing to stop you from hosting your own blog or podcast at little or no expense.
Social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn are another source of Catholic information and conversation that’s yours at the click of a button. Email lists link groups of like-minded Catholics in an on-going conversation. Boundaries of geography and distance are suddenly gone. I have Facebook friends and LinkedIn contacts all over the world and you can too. I follow the Pope, Cardinal Dolan, and my own Archbishop Carlson on Facebook. I also follow dozens of other deacons. Nearly every Catholic parish has a web site and many are on Facebook as well.
Who could have imagined as recently as ten years ago that all the great works of the Church would be available right in our own homes? Besides great writers, the Code of Canon Law, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and all the documents of Vatican II are on-line in searchable formats. You can read and search the Bible, in any translation you can think of, on the web as well. You want to see exactly what Jesus said to the woman at the well? Do a Google search for “woman at the well” and you’ll get over 70 million hits. It’s just that simple.
In 2002, Pope John Paul II wrote, “The fact that through the Internet people multiply their contacts in ways hitherto unthinkable opens up wonderful possibilities for spreading the Gospel.”
Pope Benedict XVI wrote in 2010 on the occasion of the World Day of Communications, “The world of digital communication, with its almost limitless expressive capacity, makes us appreciate all the more Saint Paul’s exclamation: “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel” (1 Cor 9:16)”
Just this week, there were 1,200 tweets on twitter concerning the Holy Father’s visit to Cuba in the 60 minutes prior to the Papal mass.
No, the Internet isn’t Catholic but it is catholic, which means universal. But it’s the most exciting tool for evangelization and education ever invented. And we’ve just scratched the surface. Who knows what miracles will come along in the next few years? One thing’s for sure, it will be exciting. Hopefully the Catholic Church will be at the forefront of anything that’s new. For more information on the Church in the digital age, I recommend Brandon Vogt’s excellent book, “The Church and New Media”.
PS. No, Al Gore didn’t invent the Internet.
Filed under: evangelization, faith, Life, Ministry | Tagged: brandon vogt, Catholic Church, facebook, Internet, linkedin, new media, the church and the new media, twitter | 1 Comment »
2012 Pro Life March
Washington, DC
The issues surrounding the Church’s position on the protection of ALL life are complex; too complex to cover in a few hundred word blog post, so I’ll leave the more technical stuff to others. What I’m posting about today is why it’s cool to be Pro Life. I suppose the short answer would be that it’s so uncool to be anti-life.
While the technical issues surrounding human life are best left to the experts, the simple fact is that God creates all human life and that we must respect all life. In fact, we must do everything in our power to protect all human life from conception until natural death. Anything less than that puts us in the position of trying to play God. It doesn’t matter if the human person is a cute little baby, a vicious criminal, or an elderly person whose continued life is just so darned expensive and inconvenient.
Unless your reading this on the intergalacticnet on some far-away planet, you were born of a human mother. Give thanks to God that your mother was Pro Life. Otherwise you might not be reading this or anything else. Everyday human criminals snuff out the life of innocent (or not so innocent) victims. Your head may be telling you that murderers should get the death penalty. But your heart, and your God, tell you that when the state murders someone on our behalf, we’re just as bad as the criminal. ”Thou shalt not kill” applies to everyone.
One day (hopefully) you and I will be old. (My kids think I’m old already.) When we get to the point in life when we’re bedridden and in need of constant care, the temptation is there to end it all, either to be free from pain, or just to stop being a burden to our loved ones. We don’t get to make that call and neither does anyone else. That’s why you and I, even if we’re past child-rearing age, have a stake in the abortion discussion. The society we live in values life less every day. Many of our brothers and sisters, half of our political “leaders”, most of the news media, and most of Hollywood, look at abortion as just another medical procedure. This anti-life crowd likes to refer to “safe abortions.” Isn’t that the stupidest thing you’ve ever heard of. If an abortion is effective it’s anything but “safe”. If it’s effective the baby always dies!
Unless we Catholics and other people of faith keep fighting the good fight, we’re on a slippery slope. The more society accepts abortion, the closer we come to legal euthanasia. Call me an extremist if you want, but the day may come, possibly sooner rather than later, when bumping off Grandpa because it’s just too expensive to keep him alive is considered just as reasonable as aborting an unborn child because she may have an expensive disease.
But getting back to the coolness of Pro Life, consider this. While the Catholic Church isn’t the only faith tradition that opposes murder in any form, most people, if you gave them a word association test, would put “Catholic” and “anti-abortion” together. By supporting God’s gift of life in all cases, the Church has opened herself up to ridicule, bad jokes, and disdain by those who feel life decisions should be made by mere mortals rather than by the Author of Life Himself.
It would be so easy to throw in the towel and say, “OK, we tried. We marched and protested and prayed and prayed, but we haven’t gotten the job done. Go ahead and do whatever you want.” We might win the popularity contest but we’d threaten our own mortal souls. Thanks be to God, the Church is never going to do that.
Maybe you don’t have the time or the money to go to Washington DC for the Pro Life Rally. Maybe you’re embarrassed to speak out against murder, whether it be in a doctor’s office, at the state prison, or at the nursing home. But rest assured, the Church will continue to fight the good fight for you. The Church will continue to offer help to women who have become unexpectedly pregnant. There will still be people praying outside prisons when someone’s life is about to be taken away. And the Church will continue to advocate for the elderly and others whose quality of life has declined.
Remember that Jesus was the all-time champion #$%^ disturber. He refused to accept the status quo. He made waves. He spoke out against injustices. And, He entrusted Peter and the other Apostles to build His Church on those same principles. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to belong to a church that’s afraid to lead. Right and wrong don’t change. Black is black and white is white. My Church doesn’t compromise and say black is really red, if that’s what the majority want.
Filed under: Church teaching, faith, Lent, Life, Prayer | Tagged: abortion, capital punishment, Catholic Church, euthenasia, Opposition to the legalization of abortion, pro life | Leave a Comment »
