Cultural Commentary at the Doctor's Office

A sad state of what our culture has developed into was commentated on today by our nurse. My wife was at an OBGYN appointment (she was having a small procedure done today which was somewhat private and we both felt more comfortable without me there) and went in without me. The nurse said "Isn't your boyfriend coming back with you?"

Of course, we have been married for 4 years and both have wedding rings on constantly, but that doesn't mean anything. It is more acceptable to insult a married woman and assume she is committing fornication and became pregnant than it is to assume that a pregnant woman is married - what does that say about the state and meaning of the sacrament of marriage in our society?

Now, I must just put one little note here and state that I do not believe it is a good idea to make unmarried girls feel bad who are going through with their pregnancies. Quite the contrary, they need the most encouragement and hope and nothing negative at all said to them. Why couldn't the nurse just say "partner"? Or, does that fall into another level of demeaning the sacrament, since it has tonage of the gay "marriage" issue?

"You have the words of everlasting life"

In John 6 when the Jews abandoned Jesus, he turned to his disciples and said "Will you also leave me?" Peter turned to him and responded "Lord, to whom shall we go, You have the Words of Everlasting Life".

This was always taught to me as a Protestant to mean that we had to listen to God's word in the New Testament and that through those we could enter Heaven. That is true, but it also avoids the immediate context of these words. What specific words did Jesus say that were the "words of everlasting life"?

"Unless you eat my body and drink my blood you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven"

"Amen Amen I say to you, Unless you eat my body and drink my blood you cannot enter into Heaven"

I think it's pretty self explanatory.

What is the Church

Mel over at "There's No Place Like Home" had an interesting post where she began exploring the term Church and what exactly the Church is. Catholics obviously have a simple answer to this (although maybe the meaning is much deeper than the simple statement of the marks of the Church) - that the Church is One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. I found a great article over on EWTN about these marks of the Church and wanted to share it, especially because Mel strikes on a lot of the same points in a roundabout way (Note how the author there ties in a discussion of the Eucharist with Unity!)

God in our hands.....

As a prologue to this post, I might want to mention (or refresh this blog's memory, if I talked about this before) about my journey from taking Christ's body in my hand to receiving Him on the tongue. When I finished RCIA, the norm (at this specific parish) was to teach candidates and catechumens to receive the Lord in their hands and then to consume the host from there. I never had a problem with this (still don't have a problem with it because I am not a Bishop and must rely on their decisions) but soon I developed a problem that was either a deeper issue in my conscience or God trying to tell me something. Everytime I received the host, I felt like I had crumbs or residue left on my hand...it was so bad that I was tempted to lick my hand every time, and I just felt wrong about it. Thus, I started recieving on the tongue, and I must say that it does allow me to approach Christ with a lot more reverence than previously, even if it is just because my mind isn't focused on holding Christ, potentially dropping his Body and Blood, etc.

Well, I've enjoyed reading about the debates about how the Eucharist should be received, and I must say that I come down on the side of taking it on the tongue, and perhaps even kneeling. Altar servers used to hold plates under the chin to make sure none of the precious Body was lost as well. I think this at least reminds us of the importance of the Eucharist and what we are doing.

I bring all of this up because a fellow convert from the Church of Christ recently blogged about another unintended consequence of receiving in the hand. Check out his post.

Didache

I just wanted to share a little of the readings from the Didache about the Eucharist from yesterday's Office of Readings from the Liturgy of the Hours. It is very interesting to see how the first century Church viewed the Eucharist. Compare this to the Eucharistic prayers said today by the priests, and also notice the requirement to go to confession before receiving the Body and Blood:

Celebrate the Eucharist as follows: Say over the cup: “we give you thanks, Father, for the holy vine of David, your servant, which you made known to us through Jesus your servant. To you be glory for ever.”

Over the broken bread say: “we give you thanks, Father, for the life and the knowledge which you have revealed to us through Jesus your servant. To you be glory for ever. As this broken bread scattered on the mountains was gathered and became one, so too, may your Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into your kingdom. For glory and power are yours through Jesus Christ for ever.”

Do not let anyone eat or drink of your eucharist except those who have been baptised in the name of the Lord. For the statement of the Lord applies here also: Do not give to dogs what is holy.

When you finish the meal, offer thanks in this manner: “We thank you, holy Father, for your name which you enshrined in our hearts. We thank you for the knowledge and faith and immortality which you revealed to us through your servant Jesus. To you be glory for ever. Almighty ruler, you created all things for the sake of your name; you gave men food and drink to enjoy so that they might give you thanks. Now you have favoured us through Jesus your servant with spiritual food and drink as well as with eternal life. Above all we thank you because you are mighty. To you be glory for ever.

“Remember, Lord, your Church and deliver her from all evil. Perfect her in your love; and, once she has been sanctified, gather her together from the four winds into the kingdom which you have prepared for her. For power and glory are yours for ever.

“May grace come and this world pass away! Hosanna to the God of David. If anyone is holy, let him come. If anyone is not, let him repent. Maranatha. Amen.”

On the Lord’s day, when you have been gathered together, break bread and celebrate the Eucharist. But first confess your sins so that your offering may be pure. If anyone has a quarrel with his neighbour, that person should not join you until he has been reconciled. Your sacrifice must not be defiled. In this regard, the Lord has said: In every place and time offer me a pure sacrifice. I am a great king, says the Lord, and my name is great among the nations.

Weird Science...

Ok... I am very skeptical about this, but I just saw the weirdest news story I have ever seen and want to share it, especially to see if anyone has a better explanation or can tell me it is just a basic forgery or something. Apparently, (supposedly) they found a Byzantine Church from the 5th Century AD in Connecticut. Is this an April Fools joke? Via Nicene Truth.

Fundamentalist Dialogue

I wanted to share the Office of Readings from yesterday's Liturgy of the Hours. I thought it was so telling about our relationship to our brothers and sisters who are Fundamentalists and deny our baptism is valid or that we are truly Christians (Catholics that is). It reminds me so much of how I used to feel when I was Protestant and reminds me that no matter what I think we have to reach out in ecumenical dialogue at all times and love our brothers and sisters in Christ even when they err from Church teaching. To think that this was written 1700 years or so ago and in a time where fundamentalism didn't even exist is somewhat mind boggling. He also brings out some Church teaching that we should note is ancient - that there is only one baptism and that non-Catholics are still our Brothers and Sisters.
From a discourse on the psalms by Saint Augustine, bishop
Whether they like it or not, those who are outside the church are our brothers
We entreat you, brothers, as earnestly as we are able, to have charity, not only for one another, but also for those who are outside the Church. Of these some are still pagans, who have not yet made an act of faith in Christ. Others are separated, insofar as they are joined with us in professing faith in Christ, our head, but are yet divided from the unity of his body. My friends, we must grieve over these as over our brothers; and they will only cease to be so when they no longer say "our Father". The prophet refers to some men saying: When they say to you: You are not our brothers, you are to tell them: You are our brothers. Consider whom he intended by these words. Were they the pagans? Hardly; for nowhere either in Scripture or in our traditional manner of speaking do we find them called our brothers. Nor could it refer to the Jews, who do not believe in Christ. Read Saint Paul and you will see that when he speaks of “brothers,” without any qualification, he refers always to Christians. For example, he says: Why do you judge your brother or why do you despise your brother? And again: You perform iniquity and common fraud, and this against your brothers. Those then who tell us: You are not our brothers, are saying that we are pagans. That is why they want to baptise us again, claiming that we do not have what they can give. Hence their error of denying that we are their brothers. Why then did the prophet tell us: Say to them: You are our brothers? It is because we acknowledge in them that which we do not repeat. By not recognising our baptism, they deny that we are their brothers; on the other hand, when we do not repeat their baptism but acknowledge it to be our own, we are saying to them: You are our brothers. If they say, “Why do you seek us? What do you want of us?” we should reply: You are our brothers. They may say, “Leave us alone. We have nothing to do with you.” But we have everything to do with you, for we are one in our belief in Christ; and so we should be in one body, under one head. And so, dear brothers, we entreat you on their behalf, in the name of the very source of our love, by whose milk we are nourished, and whose bread is our strength, in the name of Christ our Lord and his gentle love. For it is time now for us to show them great love and abundant compassion by praying to God for them. May he one day give them a clear mind to repent and to realise that they have nothing now but the sickness of their hatred, and the stronger they think they are, the weaker they become. We entreat you then to pray for them, for they are weak, given to the wisdom of the flesh, to fleshly and carnal things, but yet they are our brothers. They celebrate the same sacraments as we, not indeed with us, but still the same. They respond with the same Amen, not with us, but still the same. And so pour out your hearts for them in prayer to God

Over a Year

Well, I've been blogging for over a year now. It's very interesting to look back and see the flow and shape this blog has taken on over the last 12 months. I've met a lot of wonderful people and am looking forward to meeting a lot more. Thank you everyone for visiting and I hope, since we are once again getting internet at home, that I will be able to post a lot more about my Catholic Journey in the upcoming month!

St. Paul's Bones

Interestingly, the Pope has announced two cool discoveries about St. Paul over the last few days, and this one is especially neat on the Feast Day of Sts. Peter and Paul. Scientific testing has indicated that the relics we venerate as St. Paul's really seem to be his.

The Gay Marriage Thing

As we know, most Protestants don't recognize the Sacraments (at least not as being Sacraments). However, the Church holds that Protestants have two legitimate sacraments - baptism and marriage. They are missing out on the other five. It struck me as I was thinking about gay marriage and the outcry that fundamentalists and other groups have put up in opposition that these groups are actually defending the sacrament as instituted by God. When you listen to their discussion of the issue, they are VERY close to understanding the sacramental nature of marriage - that God instituted it as something between man and woman, I just don't think they have come to an appreciation the access we get to God's grace through that sacrament. Anyway, here's hoping that maybe some dialogue could open up about this issue.

Be Not Afraid

Yesterday Father Andrew got me thinking about the meaning of the gospel in our own lives. Here is the Gospel:

Mark 4:

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⁸ On that day, as evening drew on, he said to them, "Let us cross to the other side."

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Leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him.

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A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up.

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Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"

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He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Quiet! Be still!" ⁹ The wind ceased and there was great calm.

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Then he asked them, "Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?"

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¹⁰ They were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?"

I think the practical lesson that I took from this story is that we should never be distressed and afraid. Whenever terrible things happen in our life, we should turn to Christ and say, "Yes, I know you are here with me, I should not be afraid of anything." This is the mindframe that all the martyrs from the earliest Christians down to those being martyred in India and China today have had. Why be afriad of anything when Christ dwells with us?

As Catholics this point comes home even harder because we know we have Christ with us present in the tabernacle in every Church in the world. We also know that every time we go to mass we have an opportunity to receive Christ into our bodies in a real way. Shouldn't that make us go out into the world and realize that nothing can truly harm us and that all setbacks are just temporary? If only our faith could grow to that level, evangelism, catechisis, and other important roles of the laity would be easy to perform.

Ark of the Covenant

I was recently listening to Open Line with Fr. Mitch Pacwa and he took a call from an Evangelical Christian about why Catholics refer to Blessed Mary Ever-Virgin as the Ark of the New Covenant. Sparing you all the details about why (you can read that here), I wanted to note something very interesting he said. You can either take it as coincidence, or like most of us Catholics do, as a theological significance.

In the Septuagint, the word when David "leaps for joy" as the Ark of the Covenant returns to Jerusalem is the same word as the Gospel writers chose to use for John the Baptist "leaping" in his mother's womb when Mary and the unborn Jesus come during the Visitation.

I thought that was pretty neat.