Torturing in the Womb

Catholic Online posted a good thought provoking piece where they praise President Obama for signing executive orders ending torture, but also question how he can also get rid of protections that prevent the torture and death of infants in the womb.  It's a good piece to really put some things he has done so far into perspective - remembering that he has taken good steps, but is looking to make some unbelievably bad decisions. Pray for him.

Blogging Emptiness

So, it's been a while since I have posted something.  Had bad weather and been pretty busy with work.  Nothing important has really been coming to mind lately.  How about my friends who read this blog?  How are your lives going?  Anything we could discuss?  I'm going to go to daily mass later today, so maybe something inspiring will be said.

March for Life

Please pray for the unborn, those on death row, those suffering from war, and the elderly who face euthanasia or assisted suicide across the world.  Pray for all those who are suffering from a lack of respect for the sanctity of human life.  Fast, pray, do whatever you can.  Many parishes offer adoration of the Blessed Sacrament today - go if you get the chance.  

Lord, have mercy on us all and please grant us an immediate end to abortion, the death penalty, war, and all other evils that disregard human life.

I believe...in the communion of Saints

Mel just keeps giving me good material for blogging.  She writes:

Hey. Just listened to a great (RC) CD on the Communion of Saints. Have always believed in it in a way (Reformed perspective, Apostles Creed and Nicene Creed), but this was described in a wonderful way. Any blog thoughts on Communion of Saints? 

This is absolutely one of my favorite Catholic topics, because it really hits at a lot of issues - especially a lot of Marian issues that people have such a problem with who are non-Catholic.  We should note that this teaching is extremely important to the Church, and it is professed to in every mass by every Catholic when they say "I believe in the Communion of Saints".  

The scriptural roots of the passage go back to two passages that I can think of off the top of my head.  First, St. Paul talks about this "Cloud of Witnesses" who cheer us on in our day to day life.  He is aiming to draw similarities to our life and the "Great Heroes of the Faith (Saints)" and how they are the spectators in an arena - much like watching a footrace and just another of St. Paul's athletic references.  What do these spectators do?  They push for us to get on towards that goal, to win the race, to get to Heaven!  How can they do this?  Well, seeing as they are in God's presence, who better to intercede on our behalf and ask God to do something for us?  The second scripture is in the Book of Revelation, where we see the Saints gathered around God's throne, offering up our prayers to him - a pretty plain scriptural reference in my opinion.  

The usual objection to this (which is also a common objection to Confession) is "Can't God just hear my prayers himself?"  Well, of course he can, and of course he can answer them, but that doesn't mean that asking for the intercession of others is a waste of time.  Just look at normal life.  We ask others to pray for us all the time - both in the Church and others that we meet in life.  Who better to ask than those who are already in God's presence?

National Sanctity of Life Day

Although there is much that I disagree with our current President (George Bush) about, I was pleased to hear on CatholicLand that our President has declared Sunday (Jan 18) to be National Sanctity of Life Day.  Offer up your prayers/Liturgy of the Hours/Rosaries for this cause.  This is one of the reasons that I truly do respect President Bush regardless of the poorer decisions he has made.

Book Review - The Faith of Millions

I just finished the book "The Faith of Millions" by Father John O'Brien.  I think this is a wonderful place to talk about this book, especially in light of the discussions we have been having about our relationship with those who aren't Catholic recently on this blog.  

This book was given to my Grandfather in Law when he was confirmed into the Catholic Church.  My Grandmother-in-Law gave it to me on Thanksgiving, because she thought I would really like to read it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I wanted to discuss it briefly because it was an excellent book, and well worth reading, to both Catholics and non-Catholics.  If you click on the title of this post, it should take you to Amazon, where you can buy a used copy of this book for 1 penny!  Thankfully she gave it to me, because it is out of print and I don't think I would have found it anywhere else.

First, we need to note that this book was originally written pre-Vatican II.  That being said, we need to realize that a lot of its language reflects the Church's relationship with Protestants before that council, a very different relationship indeed.  If any of you have read books from the 50s and 60s, you will quickly recognize the tone and type of language that Father O'Brien uses.  It can seem very harsh at times, and I think he assumes that everyone will logically come to the same conclusions that he does, perhaps not realizing that people's own inherent spiritual tradition and biases can cause them to come to different conclusions altogether.  

That being said, I think this book is very clearly and easily written.  It gives some insights into Catholic teaching and Tradition that almost no other book I have read can do so clearly.  I imagine that it was probably read by young faith groups or in RCIA classes in the past, because it really is nice to do an overview of Catholic teaching, but also gets into issues like an entire Chapter on St. Joseph that many other cathechetical books do not do.  His teaching on marriage and sexuality is very well done as well.

If you are a member of my former denomination the "Church of Christ" (and I know there are several who are and read this blog), I highly recommend this book because the style and prose are highly reminiscent of many books that are read by those there.  The way it is laid out reminded me of many books that CoC writers used to write, only here you will see that the same "plain logic" that they lay out can be understood very differently by Catholic thinking.  It also answers a lot of questions that you guys have posed to me here and elsewhere.

If you do pick up a copy of this book, try not to get too upset at the harsh language he uses towards Protestants at times.  I think he wrote it from a loving perspective, but I can see how it could be a big turnoff to someone who really rejects the Catholic Church.  It was updated after Vatican II, but mostly that update only takes place in the last Chapter where he really hits on the idea of ecumenicalism.  

I give it a 9/10 - only because it is in need of a more thorough updating.  As for explaining the teaching of the Church and such, it is perfect for both Catholics and non-Catholics, mostly because it does not get bogged down in too much theological teaching, while at the same time being advanced enough to explain complex teachings.  

Thoughts on Our Separated Sisters and Brothers

Since the last post spurred so many comments, we should talk briefly about those who find themselves in Protestant Churches today - thus separated from the Catholic Church.  We should think about what situation they are in and how the Church views them.

First, they are recognized as our sisters and brothers.  They are in communion with the Catholic Church - although not full communion with us.  We should note that while someone like Martin Luther would be labeled as a heretic for spreading heresy, he is only so because he personally rejected articles of faith that he knew to be true and mislead people with false teachings.  Those who are born Lutheran (or become Lutheran out of a clean conscience) today are not considered Heretics, because they are not rejecting the Church, they are instead trying to do the best they can.  

We should note that organizations may be heretical or schismatic, without the individuals in them being heretics.  For instance, a common example is the Eastern Orthodox Church, which is, as an institution, schismatic.  

We can also recall that we receive the graces of Christ through his sacraments.  To receive the fullness of that grace, we would obviously want to receive all seven sacraments.  That is not a "plan of salvation" of sorts, just the way that Christ has pointed us to receive as much as possible from him - to be in the "fullness of Christ".  Thus, we see that even the schismatic Orthodox Church has all seven sacraments and they are all valid.  And even Protestants have two valid sacraments - baptism and marriage.  Thus, they are able to receive the graces of Christ through these sacraments (we could also get into a very deep and lengthy discussion of forgiveness of sins, but it would be a different topic for a different post).  

We pray that our separated brethren will come into the fullness of Christ and the fullness of his Body - in communion with the Holy Church.  But, we do not restrict salvation (for that matter, we do not restrict salvation only to those who are "Christians" in the typically though sense, but realize that God's grace may have ways of reaching people who may never even be exposed to Christ).  At the same time that we realize they are not in full communion with us, we should grow in love and faith with them, because we are all trying to get to the same places and we should be able to help each other immensely.  

Luther and Abuses

Mel wrote in a comment below:

Here's a question I hadn't considered before, re: abuses in Luther's day. If during the years since then, so many "reforms" have occured, then was that church or today's church any less than the original? (hope that doesn't ramble too much) Is the essence of the church the same but some immoral behaviors or other abuses that made some reforms necessary? Is anyone trackin' with this line of thinking?

My response would be as follows, but it would really help to go look up some discussion of exactly what these abuses were and how they were "reformed".  I'm going to give you the basics as I see them, then I want to address her second question in a little more detail.

First, we need to realize that the abuses that Luther touted as Church teaching were never the actual teaching of the Catholic Church.  There were some priests who were corrupt (as there are now, and as there always have been, always will be, and are in every religion and job that there is) and these men made bad and sinful decisions, sometimes motivated by greed, and sometimes tricked others into thinking they were buying salvation through the use of indulgences (what many people will talk about when they talk about Luther.)  Luther points this out, but exaggerates the extent and fuzzies up the true teaching of the Church on the issue.  Instead of working from within to try and help these people or fix the abuses that indiviudals were doing, he chose instead to introduce schism into the Church - a terrible idea that resulted in the fragmentation that harms Christianity so much today.  Even he himself regretted the results of his teaching.

Luther further perverted the truth by teaching certain false and heretical doctrines, and perverted the true history of the Church by insinuating things like the so called "Deutero-canonical books" were added later by the Church, when in fact they had been used consistently by the Church since the canon was set in stone in about 400 A.D., and had been used by the early Christians extensively, and especially by both Christ and St. Paul.   These and other things that Luther taught attempted to blur the lines between real Catholic teaching and what Luther termed as abuses, many of which were either not wide spread or were total fabrications.  

Enter the Church Councils who decide that some reformation is necessary.  What these councils did was try to reign in on individual abuses within the Church, and make sure that the Church was staying true to its sacred Tradition.  Neither the Church at that time nor the Church today is any more or less the original than it has been.  They are both the only Church which is marked by the four marks of the true Church- One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic.  

A good Catholic article on the so-called "Counter-Reformation" is here:  http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04437a.htm

We also need to mention two other Catholic ideas that help us understand how we might think very differently about the question you ask than Protestants normally would.  First is the idea of discipline versus Faith and Morals.  Many Catholic teachings are disciplinary issues - when to fast, when priests are allowed to be married or not married, even what day is required for worship.  These ideas can change over time (many priests used to be married in the Early Church but now Latin Rite priests cannot be married in most cases but Eastern Rite Priests can) and can develop.  That is because they are not part of the Faith and Morals set forth by the Church.  These things do not change over time, but are guarded from error by the Holy Father and the Magisterium of the Church.  

That brings us to the idea of "Doctrinal development" - the fact that we can understand and more clearly define issues of Faith and morals as time goes on.  This does not mean that the ideas change by their nature, but rather that we understand them more fully.  Easy examples of this are the idea of the dual nature of Christ, the Trinity, the Canon of Scripture, etc. etc.  These things were not clearly defined or maybe even understood by the early Church, but they have always been the same and the roots of these ideas are seen as early as Christ's teachings.  We think of these doctrines as flower buds.  Think of a flower as it is closed in the bud, then imagine it as it opens up and begins to flourish as a flower.  It is exactly the same object, but once it is opened up, the full splendor of it is realized.  That is how doctrinal development works, so that over time we can get a more full and understanding sense of the beauty of certain issues of Faith and Morals, while their essence goes back to the beginning of the Church.  

Thus, unlike many Protestants, Catholics are not seeking to be "Exactly like the New Testament Church" because part of the beauty of Christ's Church is that as a living body it is able to grow into a fullness that was not realizable at that time.  As he said, it starts as small as a mustard seed and grows into a tree so large that the birds nest in its limbs.  That's a good way to think about how the Church grows and matures into something much more beautiful as time goes along while still being the same thing.

Purgatory

There was a really interesting discussion of purgatory on Catholic radio (XM 117) the other day.  They were talking about how we really don't know anything about what purgatory is like, just that it exists from what we read in Sacred Scripture.  Thus, sometimes we think of purgatory as some kind of cleansing fire (which some people draw out from St. Paul's writings), but that isn't necessarily the way it is, the Church is actually silent on the true nature, just saying that we need to be pure in order to stand before God, and luckily God has provided an avenue for us to become that way so we don't have to worry about becoming perfect before we die - which may also involve temporal punishment for sins already eternally forgiven.

I got to thinking that Purgatory could be  something like the RCIA process (can't imagine what the Deacon who taught it would say about that!).  I remember learning so much, preparing me for Confirmation and First Communion, but at the same time it was a period of suffering and purification that helped me prepare spiritually for those great events.  Maybe purgatory is something akin to that, but hopefully they don't make you sing "I'm a Child of God" (inside joke).  

Balance

I think a good thing I would like to see more discussion of is the balance between family, work, and spiritual life.  I think it is great when there are opportunities (like mass) where family and spiritual life come together, but there is a delicate balance between all of these.  For those of us called to married life, we need to find and take advantage of those opportunities.  They can be some of the greatest spiritual development to both ourselves and our families.  At the same time.  things like work responsibility are extremely important to everyone.  I think this raises two points:

First, the Catholic Church recognizes the importance of our daily work.  Especially people like Opus Dei, who realize that we should dedicate our daily work to God, but also our regular morning prayers and such.  This compared to my Protestant denomination who cannot see the value of prayer that exists in our daily work and dedicating that to God. 

But even more so, it gets me thinking about the Priesthood.  Knowing the responsibilities just of family, it is hard for me to imagine how a priest could maintain a family and totally dedicate himself to God's work as a shephard and pastor of a parish.  This helps me put into perspective and totally understand our disciplinary decision to not allow Latin Rite priests to marry.  I think it's a good thing, but definitely controversial to many.

Christmas Season

I'm fully into the Christmas spirit now, doing the Liturgy and the Hours and all really helps me keep the liturgical seasons first and foremost in my mind - every day I think about the birth and early years of Christ. I wanted to share something from the second reading in the Office of readings from a few days ago - on the Feast of the Holy Family. I think it is a wonderful way to think about these early years of Christ that we are now celebrating, and also about our Blessed Mother and St. Joseph.

This is a speech delivered at Nazareth by Pope Paul VI:

Nazareth is a kind of school where we may begin to discover what Christ’s life was like and even to understand his Gospel. Here we can observe and ponder the simple appeal of the way God’s Son came to be known, profound yet full of hidden meaning. And gradually we may even learn to imitate him.

Here we can learn to realise who Christ really is. And here we can sense and take account of the conditions and circumstances that surrounded and affected his life on earth: the places, the tenor of the times, the culture, the language, religious customs, in brief, everything which Jesus used to make himself known to the world. Here everything speaks to us, everything has meaning. Here we can learn the importance of spiritual discipline for all who wish to follow Christ and to live by the teachings of his Gospel.

How I would like to return to my childhood and attend the simple yet profound school that is Nazareth! How wonderful to be close to Mary, learning again the lesson of the true meaning of life, learning again God’s truths. But here we are only on pilgrimage. Time presses and I must set aside my desire to stay and carry on my education in the Gospel, for that education is never finished. But I cannot leave without recalling, briefly and in passing; some thoughts I take with me from Nazareth.

First, we learn from its silence. If only we could once again appreciate its great value. We need this wonderful state of mind, beset as we are by the cacophony of strident protests and conflicting claims so characteristic of these turbulent times. The silence of Nazareth should teach us how to meditate in peace and quiet, to reflect on the deeply spiritual, and to be open to the voice of God’s inner wisdom and the counsel of his true teachers. Nazareth can teach us the value of study and preparation, of meditation, of a well-ordered personal spiritual life, and of silent prayer that is known only to God.

Second, we learn about family life. May Nazareth serve as a model of what the family should be. May it show us the family’s holy and enduring character and exemplify its basic function in society: a community of love and sharing, beautiful for the problems it poses and the rewards it brings, in sum, the perfect setting for rearing children – and for this there is no substitute.

Finally, in Nazareth, the home of a craftsman’s son, we learn about work and the discipline it entails. I would especially like to recognise its value – demanding yet redeeming – and to give it proper respect. I would remind everyone that work has its own dignity. On the other hand, it is not an end in itself. Its value and free character, however, derive not only from its place in the economic system, as they say, but rather from the purpose it serves.

In closing, may I express my deep regard for people everywhere who work for a living. To them I would point out their great model, Christ their brother, our Lord and God, who is their prophet in every cause that promotes their well being.

Wonderful Christmas

I had a wonderful Christmas with all my family.  I just wanted to briefly discuss how wonderful I think midnight mass is.  We did all the smells and bells at our parish, even singing Adeste Fidelis in Latin.  I don't think I can overcome the emotions that I feel at that type of mass.  I almost teared up when we were singing Away in the Manger, just thinking about the Lord watching over our unborn child.  

Another thing that I have realized of late is that I automatically tear up every time I see the Blessed Virgin in a movie about the Life of Christ.  Thinking about the emotions she goes through just eat right at my heart, especially considering how I did not appreciate her and all her intervention on our behalf before I became Catholic.

I'm finishing up the book "The Faith of Millions" so I should be able to review that soon.  God bless you all!  Also, everyone should know that I am still reading your blogs at home on the Blackberry quite frequently but unfortunately Blogger isn't very friendly to commenting.  I am around though!

Midnight Mass

Christmas is finally upon us.  I'm about 3 hours away from Midnight Mass.  Remembering back to last year, I was just beginning to settle into RCIA and the process of becoming Catholic at this time of year.  The mass was so incredibly beautiful....just hard to describe without someone being there.  I'm really looking forward to seeing the mass again tonight, only this time through the eyes of someone who can take the Blessed Sacrament this year instead of as a Candidate for Confirmation.  

Merry Christmas everyone!  And let's keep the Mass in Christmas! :)

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Advent

In today's office of readings, the first reading is from the Book of Isaiah the Prophet.  It is a very good prophecy of the coming of our Lord, perfect for the Advent season.  The second reading is from St. Hippolytus (one of his treatises against the heretics).  He emphasizes the importance of reading the scriptures for all of us - something that I think most of us could work on to improve.  That's another reason that I love the Liturgy of the Hours so much, I get to read several Psalms and scriptures each day, and it isn't just me picking and choosing what to read and when.  

In other news, a major issue that I've been praying hard about has been answered in a wonderful way by God!  

Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent

Well, I finally got the Christmas/Advent Liturgy of the Hours.  Just in time to do a couple before Christmas season begins.  I can't express how much more my life feels complete with the Liturgy at hand.  I need to get back into the daily routine of doing Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and the Office of Readings every day and more if I have time. 

Getting ready to go to my weekly confession, then I'll be ready to really bring on Christmas season.  Let's continue to pray for everyone and do what we can for the poor this year.  If you are Catholic, I highly recommend helping out as much as possible with the second collection for Catholic Community Services (I assume they do these everywhere, but at least those parishioners from our parish can do this!).  

Friday of the Third Week of Advent

I'm slowly trying to get to the point where I can post with home on the new Blackberry we have.  It's a little complicated as Blogger decided to make it extra hard for Blackberry users for some reason.  I do get to read most of your blogs from home, but I don't get to comment often.

Today, I have been thinking about a great spiritual hole that exists in my life right now.  About a week before Advent started, I ordered the Advent/Christmas Volume of the Liturgy of the Hours.  The company had some kind of screw up, and while I was not charged, I did not receive the LotH either.  So, last week I reordered it, this time from Amazon, but since it is Christmas, the mail is going very slow and I won't have it till next week probably.

I would have never imagined this, but being the first time since Lent that I have gone this long without being able to pray the LotH has been brutal.  It is like my relationship with God is somehow more distant when I am not structured and praying the Psalms and doing the readings regularly.  Luckily, the fact that we are having a child has drawn me closer to God, as has Advent season.  I would feel destitute had this happened during ordinary time.  

Monday of the Third Week of Advent

We are quickly approaching Christmas.  That being said, we found out some big news.  I am now a Father and Seraphina is a mother!  Baby is due around August, please pray for us! :)

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Today,  I thought I would thrill my Protestant readers with a Martin Luther quote:

"There are almost as many sects and beliefs as there are heads; this one will not admit Baptism; that one rejects the Sacrament of the altar; another places another world between the present one and the day of judgment; some teach that Jesus Christ is not God. There is not an individual, however clownish he may be, who does not claim to be inspired by the Holy Ghost, and who does not put forth as prophecies his ravings and dreams." "An Meine Kritiker" (by Johannes Jorgensen, p. 181)

Yep, Luther, you pretty much summed up why personal interpretation outside of true Church authority is ludicrous :)

Thursday of the Second Week of Advent

Tomorrow is the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  I encourage everyone to go to mass, and pray for the unborn.  Although I cannot vouch for everything this site has to say, it does raise some interesting points about the symbolism that might appear in the image on St. Juan Diego's tilma.  Someone out there more informed on the subject may want to comment, but it seems very plausible to me.  Anyway, the whole story of Our Lady's appearance to St. Juan Diego is a beautiful and amazing story. Read what was presented about the symbolism in the image:

 The Image of Our Lady is actually an Aztec 
    Pictograph which was read and understood
quickly by the Aztec Indians. 

     1.    THE LADY STOOD IN FRONT OF 
            THE SUN
            She was greater than the dreaded 
            Huitzilopochtli, their sun-god of war.

     2.    HER FOOT RESTED ON THE 
            CRESCENT MOON  
            She had clearly crushed Quetzalcoatl, 
            the feathered serpent moon-
            god.                          

3.         THE STARS STREWN ACROSS 
            THE MANTLE
            She was greater than the stars of heaven which they worshipped.  
            She was a virgin and the Queen of the heavens for Virgo rests over 
            her womb and the northern crown upon her head. She appeared on 
           December 12, 1531 and the stars that she wore are the constellations 
           of the stars that appeared in the sky that day!

4.         THE BLUE‑GREEN HUE OF HER MANTLE
            She was a Queen because she wears the color of royalty.

5.         THE BLACK CROSS ON THE BROOCH AT HER NECK
            Her God was that of the Spanish Missionaries, Jesus Christ her son 
            who died on the cross for all mankind.

6.         THE BLACK BELT
            She was with child because she wore the Aztec Maternity Belt.

7.         THE FOUR PETAL FLOWER OVER THE WOMB
            She was the Mother of God because the flower was a special symbol 
            of life, movement and deity-the center of the universe.

8.         HER HANDS ARE JOINED IN PRAYER
            She was not God but clearly there was one greater than Her and she 
            pointed her finger to the cross on her brooch.

9.         THE DESIGN ON HER ROSE COLORED GARMENT
            She is the Queen of the Earth because she is wearing a contour map 
            of Mexico telling the Indians exactly where the apparition took place.

Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent

So, recovering from a sinus infection as I am, I could not sleep all night last night.  Instead, I read the second Ann Rice book "Christ the Lord - The Road to Cana".  Here we find Christ at 30 years old.  This book follows him from right before his baptism to the wedding feast at Cana.  I must admit that I was slightly weirded by some of the dialogue in this one, the fact that Christ was attracted to a woman, among other things.  But, he was tempted in all ways like we were, so I assume he did have attraction to women, and he handles it very well in the book.  

Interestingly, my complaint about the first book - that it was poorly written - has begun to develop some in this book.  The writing style is significantly better (still not the best written book I have ever read), but I think the author is developing Christ's mind as he matures, and thus brings up the style of her writing a notch or two.  

Overall, I think this one was a little better than the first, but now I will have to wait for the third one to come out before I can finish the story up.