Where We Stand

Less than five days from what is sure to be--for good or ill--the most pivotal election of our generation, I would like to take a final opportunity to say what must be said, to tell you what every Catholic must know... in short, to help you, as a Catholic voter, inform your conscience before you approach your local polling station.

First, as I have said before, the suggestion that abortion is "just one issue among many" is diabolical. Of course, we must not be single-issue voters, but there are issues (i.e. any of the life issues)that carry more weight, morally, than others. The destruction of innocent human life, from conception to natural death, is always an unspeakable crime and must be opposed, over and above any social or economic considerations. Put another way, aborted children cannot benefit from a secure Iraq or low gas prices.

Second, the suggestion that "nothing will really change" regarding abortion is blatantly false. This election is arguably the most important election for the life issues to date, for two reasons: 1) the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) and 2) the Supreme Court.

For those who are not familiar with the Freedom of Choice Act (i.e. most of the voting populace), you can and should read about it here. FOCA is the most permissive piece of abortion legislation since Roe v. Wade; it will lift all state and federal restrictions on abortion and require taxpayer dollars to fund abortions. Senator Obama has sworn to sign the bill into law immediately upon taking office.

Further, the next president could make from two to six Supreme Court appointments, depending on whether or not he is elected to a second term. As the next two Justices who are likely to retire are pro-abortion, it is all the more imperative that a pro-life candidate is elected. The possibility of Roe v. Wade (by all accounts the most shoddy and overturnable legislation in the history of Supreme Court jurisprudence)being overturned, once thought impossible, may well be within sight, but only if a pro-life candidate is elected to the presidency.

This is where we stand. As Catholics, we are required to vote with an informed conscience. And a Catholic cannot, in good conscience, vote for a pro-abotion candidate... without grave cause. But here's the thing: what cause could possibly outweigh the destruction of 45 million human persons, not to mention the countless broken hearts and broken homes, the many women and men who have been deeply wounded, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, by the unspeakable crime of abortion?



Mary Immaculate, patroness of the United States, pray for us!

In His peace.

A Home-grown Holocaust

Heated rhetoric, non-sequitors and eptithets are generally not effective forms of argument, still less evangelization. There are, however, ideas and behaviors that are simply evil--I would even say diabolical--and should be named as such.

The suggestion that abortion is just one issue among many, and that citizens must not vote on this single issue, is such an idea. Let me be quite clear: THIS IS A LURE OF THE DEVIL. It is, perhaps, the chief means by which he sways good men and women--unwittingly--to his cause, the destruction of human life. He fills their minds with false or misguided compassion for the poor, the oppressed, the sons of war, whose lives they feel would be better served in voting for a pro-abortion candidate. Again, I say, this is a lie of Satan!

Consider, for a moment, the implications of such a position. The God-given right to life, and the defense of life, which is the primary purpose for which governments are formed, is the cornerstone of our nation. Remove the cornerstone and all the others, the many and varied rights and liberties that we as Americans enjoy, come falling down. When governments take it upon themselves to decide when life begins, and the termination of life becomes a multi-billion dollar industry that preys upon the most innocent and defensless... when we blind ourselves to our own home-grown holocaust with transparent euphemisms and deafen ourselves to the silent screams of 4,000 unborn children every day, then we throw our futures away with the minute and mangled corpses that litter the bio-waste bins.

My brothers and sisters, do not be deceived! Seek always and everywhere the will of God, even and especially in the voting booth. The Lord says, "to whom much has been given, much shall be expected" (Luke 12:48). And we have been given so much; we hold within our hands the lives thousands, millions, of innocents. Do any of us desire to stand before Christ in judgement and explain why we did not stay the hand of the abortionist when the opportunity arose? Our Lord also says, "as you did to these least of my brothers, you did to me" (Matthew 21:40). Shall we be counted among the people of Jerusalem who, though they hailed Him as their King just days before, cried for His crucifixion, or simply said nothing at all? Shall we say with Pilate, "What is truth?" and wash our hands of all accountability? God forvive us!

I have a challenge for you all. Jesus, as always, is our best model for prayer. He was disciplined in silence and solitude; He was led by the Spirit into the desert where he fasted and prayed for forty days. In immitation of our Lord, and for the sake of the thousands unborn children for whom He gave is own life, I ask that you participate in the national 40 Days for Life campaign. Devote yourselves, I beg you, to prayer and fasting from September 24-November 2. And pray, especially, for wisdom from the Holy Spirit, to vote in conformity with the will of God, which is always the preservation of human life.

Below is an excellent video from Catholicvote.com. I encourage all to watch it with a listening heart.



In His peace.

A Gift for All People

It is lamentably common to hear Catholics admit to the undoubted authenticity of the charismatic renewal, but in the same breath attemt to disassociate themselves from it, saying something like, "It may be alright for them (i.e. the hyper-emotive or, worse, the especially holy), but it's just not my cup of tea." So that's it... You do your thing and I'll do mine, summarily dismissing the immense weight of support for the charismatic experience from Scripture, the Church Fathers, Vatican Council II and three modern Popes, not to mention the lived experience of thousands of charismatic Catholics throughout the world.

But let this be absolutely clear: the Catholic charismatic renewal is more than a spirituality; it is the gift of the Holy Spirit for all believers. But you need not take my word for it; Popes Paul VI, John Paul the Great and, most recently, Benedict XVI, have all lent their support for the renewal, even calling it "a chance for the Church." It is the firstfruit of the Council, and the answer to John XXIII's prayer that the Lord "renew [his] wonders in our day as by a new Pentecost."

The renewal is primarily an experience, an encounter with the living God, but it is also a mindset. A friend of mine has been frequenting a Baptist church on Sunday mornings and our Catholic church on Sunday evenings. Naturally, his Baptist friends have questions about his Catholic faith, which are more or less familiar: Do you believe that Jesus is really present in the Eucharist and, come to that, why is it so important anyway? Or, Why is Mary so important in the life of the Church?

The first question is easily answered with a few key scriptures, John 6 among them. Jesus makes it absolutely (and unapologetically) clear that He is "the bread of life," and that His body is "true food" and His blood "true drink" and that "unless you eat of the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you" (35, 53, 55). Period. Many of His hearers find this revelation so offensive that they leave him. And Jesus, who after all is wont to speak in metaphors (parables, to be exact), does not run after them saying, "Wait, come back... you misunderstood me!" He turns to His disciples and asks, "Do you also want to leave?" (67).

Of course, the next logical question is a "what if". What if a remote island tribe has belief in Christ, but no priest to celebrate the Eucharist? Will they be saved? Well, yes. There are precious few things that are neccessary for salvation, baptism and belief in Christ being the only two that come to mind, and even there we admit exceptions. But a far better question is, If the Lord offers us this extraordinary grace (i.e. the Eucharist), as we know He does, and if this grace is His real and substantial presence in the Eucharist, as we know it is, why would we not take it?

We may apply the same question to the issue of Mary. If God offers us this profound gift of His own mother, as we know He does, why would we not take it? God never ceases to bestow gifts upon us in abundance! And to say, "No thank you, Lord, I have enough, I need no more" is at best unwise, at worst simply blasphemous.

Thus so with the charisms. The Scriptures are abundantly clear on this too: "Strive eagerly for the spiritual gifts," says Paul, "especially that you may prophesy" (1 Corinthians 14:1). Paul takes personal prophecy as a given among the Corinthians, along with word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, healing, discernment of spirits, miracles and even tongues (glossolalia), of which he says, "I would like all of you to speak in tongues" (1 Corinthians 14:5).

Docility, docility, docility! With Mary, Mother of charismatics, let us be docile to the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, that we may be able to say with her, "May it be done unto me according to your word" (Luke 1:35).



In His peace.

Thou Shalt Not Kill

In ancient Rome, Christians would rescue weak, deformed and unwanted infants that had been left to die by exposure. That traditon continues today; two thousand years later, the Catholic Church is still the first and best advocate of the most vulnerable among us, from conception to natural death.

As I have said before, this is not a political blog; my purpose is to witness to Jesus and His Gospel, to provide a uniquely Catholic perspective to every facet of life. To that end, I must--again--denounce Senator Obama as a man opposed to that Gospel and to Christ insofar as he is opposed to the sanctity and integrity of human life. The video below will explain in painful detail what I mean.



Pray for life, pray for our leaders... O Lord, have mercy upon our nation!

In His peace.

Detachment

Saint John of the Cross (with Teresa of Jesus, founder of the Discalced Carmelite Reform), a revered Doctor of the Church, wrote much on the topic of detachment. That is, that we as Christians should be detached from all temporal things, even those which are themselves good or profitable, such as our human relationships.

We may understand well enough why Saint John would counsel us in detachment from something like wealth, status or power. We need only look around and see how money is often the cause of much anxiety, the enemy of inner peace; the poor break laws to get money, the rich break laws to keep it, and both break more than laws in this plutonian pursuit, leaving in their wake a litter of broken hearts and broken homes. Such is the result when people try to fill with riches the void that only God can fill. And if any suffer more than these two extremes of the economic strata, it is those in the middle who from below and from above are subjected to the perennial lie: Money can indeed buy happiness. The expression "They had just enough money to make them miserable", comes readily to mind.

But what of those things which are obviously good, even of God? What of our friendships and marriages, anything that belongs to the sphere of human relationships? Yes, from these too, Saint John insists, we must be detached, good though they are and far superior to material wealth or status. As Scripture says, "Were one to offer all he owns to purchase love, he would be roundly mocked" (Song of Songs 8:7). Even these, however, can never fill the void in every human heart; loneliness, which is the human condition, can only ever be fully remedied by the indwelling of the Spirit of love and truth.

This does not mean that we must (necessarily) divest ourselves of all worldly wealth, status, power and (God forbid!) relationships, hermit-like. We need not run off to the mountain or the desert to escape temptation for, as the Gospel clearly demonstrates, even there (especially there) do we meet temptation (cf. Matthew 4:1-11). But everything must be ordered to the service of God and judged, for good or for ill, according to the extent that they serve God. If your riches empower you for the service of God, thank Him for them; if your riches are a consistent occasion of sin and grief, thank Him for them and then give them back.

Think about this the next time you get that whopping paycheck (some of which you will save, and some of which you spend on Christmas presents, a dinner out with friends and--one hopes--some charitable cause): What if God took it all away? Would it affect my relationship with my family, my friends... God Himself? Would the loss pull me down into despair? Would my ability to trust and to love be crippled? Would I have the peace of spirit to learn and grow from the experience?

Put another way, our human loves must never become possessive. (See what a difference such slight modifications of language make.) Perfect love (Latin caritas, Greek agape) is not only non-possessive, it is self-giving love... sacrificial love, for which Christ died on the Cross. And this is yet another paradox of the Cross: He loved the world too much to be bound to it.



"Love consists not in feeling great things but in having great detachment and in suffering for the Beloved." Saint John of the Cross

In His peace.

The Barque of Peter

So... long time no blog. I apologize to my readers (whose existence I am inclined to doubt, but you may make a believer out of me by posting your words of thanks, praise and general accolade... ahem) for my absence. That said...

The Barque of Peter--along with a thirteen-boat flotilla--made port in Sydney Harbor Thursday and the Successor of Peter was met, as expected, to youthful cries of jubilation, the familiar papal soccer-chant ("Benedetto! Viva il Papa!"), and even a colorful Aboriginal honor guard. There is no question; Pope Benedict XVI knows how to arrive in style. But this maritime mode of transportation is more than mere theatrics.

Arrival by boat underscores well--as I am sure is the Holy Father's intention--the origins of the Petrine ministry, and it's various implications. Of His many disciples, our Lord chooses Peter, the fisherman, to be the Prince of Apostles and Head of His Church on earth. Peter, who denied the possibility of His Passion, Peter whom our Lord himself called "Satan" (Matthew 16: 22, 23), Peter who denied even knowing Him (Matthew 16: 69-75). A final observation completes our picture of this first and least of Apostles: the relics that presently reside beneath the high altar of the Vatican Basilica indicate that Peter was a large man. So that's it: A big dumb guy named Pete is chosen as the "Rock" upon which our Lord would build His Church, against whom the gates of hell would not prevail (Mathew 16:18).

What are we to make of this startling fact? I would assert that the Lord chooses the least of people--children, house-wives, blue-collar workers, government drones, wacked-out revolutionaries and ex-whores--even shy professorial types--to build His kingdom on earth. (Where on earth did this Man learn administration skills?) The import for World Youth Day is that youth can and should aspire to holiness, no matter what their particular walk of life, because "it was not you who chose me, but I chose you" (John 15:16). This "choosing" makes all the difference in the world. As a wise priest once said, "God does not ask that we be worthy; He only asks that we be willing." And the Spirit will give us the necessary gifts (charisms): "I will ask the Father, and he will send you another Advocate... the Spirit of truth" and "he will guide you" (John 14:16, 17, 16:13).

Of course, the Holy Father said this far more eloquently than I ever could:

Almost two thousand years ago, the Apostles, gathered in the upper room together with Mary and some faithful women, were filled with the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14; 2:4). At that extraordinary moment, which gave birth to the Church, the confusion and fear that had gripped Christ’s disciples were transformed into a vigorous conviction and sense of purpose. They felt impelled to speak of their encounter with the risen Jesus whom they had come to call affectionately, the Lord. In many ways, the Apostles were ordinary. None could claim to be the perfect disciple. They failed to recognize Christ (cf. Lk 24:13-32), felt ashamed of their own ambition (cf. Lk 22:24-27), and had even denied him (cf. Lk 22:54-62). Yet, when empowered by the Holy Spirit, they were transfixed by the truth of Christ’s Gospel and inspired to proclaim it fearlessly. Emboldened, they exclaimed: repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 2:37-38)! (Festival of Welcome Address)

This is our Christian faith! Our risen Lord has revealed Himself to us, we who are poor sinners, and calls us to repentance and baptism; He pours His Spirit upon us, the Spirit that drives out fear and empowers us to proclaim the Gospel!

In His peace.



Coming soon... "Babel, Cenacle... Ranwick".

Chatter

I love World Youth Day. I mean, alot. Every third summer I sit at home, glued to my television or computer screen, lamenting the fact that I have neither the time nor the means (or, in my younger days, the parental consent) to be there, wherever "there" may be, with the Holy Father and the youth of the world. This summer is no different.

Again, the youth of the world gather around the Supreme Pontiff, around Cardinal Pell and the bishops of the Universal Church, to proclaim to cynic and skeptic alike that their hope is in Jesus Christ, who sends us His Spirit, giving us power to "be [His] witnesses... to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8, WYD08 theme). One could say that this is, implicitly, the theme of every World Youth Day, a theme that never fails to perplex secular commentators. As many an adolescent has complained of his or her parents (or teachers, or coaches, et cetra), "They just don't get it." In the case of the secular media, such a complaint is usually justified. What's worse, they don't get that they don't get it.

Such was the case with the Australian media commentators charged with covering the opening mass with Cardinal Pell. The mass was, as expected, spectacular. Not in the artificial, commercial sense of "showy". It was spectacular in the sense of awe that only the Catholic Church in all her glory, her unity-in-diversity, gathered in a single place, always inspires. Here in Sydney were gathered youth from every language and nation to worship the Lamb (Revelation 7:9). Now I can understand the tendency to speak of such occasions in political terms, as a sign of international cooperation, fraternity and peace.

In that respect, I do not blame these well-intentioned Aussies for not getting it. They are in good company. I would simply remind them and every other media commentator that these World Youth Days are more than political theatre, more than a jumping on the peace train, with Pope Benedict in the part of Cat Stevens. These youth are gathered with a common purpose, the worship of God, specifically in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which is both the sign and sacrament of Christian unity (CCC 1396, 1398).

Just what don't these blissfully oblivious pundits get? They don't get that the incessant chatter they insist on imposing on the ancient ritual of the Mass... just doesn't matter. They don't get that, perhaps thousands of miles away, thousands of Catholics, young and old, are glued to their television or computer screens, lamenting the fact that they can't be there and shouting, "SHUT UP ALREADY!" They didn't get that their chatter is so profoundly different from the gift of the Spirit on Pentecost, the gift that empowered the Apostles to be the witnesses of Jesus to the ends of the earth.

In His peace.



Coming soon... "The Barque of Peter".

Render Unto Caesar

This is not a political blog, and intentionally so. My purpose here is to witness to the perennial truths of the Gospel, not to advocate one policy over another or one politician over another, though I could and, in certain circumstances, should. However, Senator Barack Obama's abuse of Scripture, both Hebrew and Christian, in support of a fundamentally flawed and self-contradictory view of religious pluralism, impels me to speak out.

There are two things that distinguished the Roman Empire, which in many ways provides an ancient model for our American "empire": 1) supreme religious plurality and tolerance and 2) emperor worship. Among the many and varied cults that crowded the temples of the Eternal City, the worship of the emperor as the bringer of national prosperity and security was, as they say, an institution. Chesterton warned, "abolish the God and the government becomes the God" (Christendom in Dublin). While Rome did not exactly abolish God, it did the next worse thing, exalting in a national pantheon every deity who ever claimed dominion over the fates of men, which unfortunately included the likes of Nero and Domitian.

Thus it is imperative to remember that the first-century Christians were not persecuted for their tolerance of the Hebrew god, but for their intolerance of every other god, including the mighty Caesar. They were persecuted for their insistence that such titles as "son of God" were the sole property of the Son of Man, and rigidly refused to make the small concession of lending them to the emperor. Saint John speaks of this bitter trial in his Apocalypse:

Fascinated, the whole world followed after the beast [the Emperor]. They worshipped the dragon [Satan] because it gave its authority to the beast; they also worshipped the beast and said, "Who can compare with the beast or who can fight against it?" (13:3, 4)

Senator Obama erroneously suggests that democracy requires that believers "translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific values", even as he chides secularists for their lack of religious vocabulary in a clever, but ultimately transparent attempt at moderation. What to make of such a proposal? Why cannot Senator Obama and his fellow progressives see that morality divorced from religion is wholly subjective and arbitrary, totally dependent upon the whims of the individual or the mob? When Lincoln boldly declared that our nation was "dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal", he was really making two mutually dependent theological assertions, that men are created and that they are equal. The proposition that all men are created by God, therefore no man is God, and therefore no man may rule another is the only sure foundation of democracy. It was the Creed that cut the chains of a race enslaved.

The Roman martyrs would not leave their religious language at the door of the Forum, and so were left to the the lion's mouth in the Colosseum. The lesson here: religious pluralism is no guarantee of religious freedom and can (paradoxically) usurp that fundamental right. Let us not be deceived by false prophets who cry "peace, peace," or even "hope, hope".

Purifying the Source

The French novelist Francois Mauriac has a dictum of which I am rather fond, "purify the source." (Note to reader: I confess that I have not actually read Mauriac, but happened upon this pearl of wisdom second-hand.) Perhaps it reminds me of Saint Paul's phrase (regarding the charism of prophecy), "test everything; retain what is good" (2 Thessalonians 5:21). So we are to take what is most beautiful and true from a work of art and leave the rest.

Now I have a reputedly eclectic taste in music, so as you can probably guess I do a lot of purifying. Most would agree that Billy Joel isn't exactly on the level of the prophet Joel, either in the quality or the content of his craft. Still, I don't let that deter me from listening. It gets me through Math homework. And though there is much to purify in "Only the Good Die Young", Catholic belief and practice being what it is (and Billy's education in that particular field being what it is), there is a sliver of light that "shines in the darkness." Consider this gem:

You said your mother told you
All I could give you was a reputation
Ah, she never cared for me
But did she ever say a prayer for me?

Ouch! Let that be a warning to the Pharisees among us.

I dunno. I would like to develop this theme further (after I have read more Mauriac, or Maritain for that matter), as I think our Church and our society could definitely benefit from some source-purifying. It would, at least, allow us Christians to see the face of Christ reflected in art more often, even if the mirror be a mite spotty.

Here's a wonderful video montage in honor of the Blessed Mother featuring (you guessed it) Billy Joel's "She's Got a Way". Maybe Virginia taught Billy a thing or two? One can hope.



In His peace.

Vocations and the Charisms

A Scripture passage occurred to me while praying yesterday, in a charismatic prayer meeting, as it happened. I was praying especially for strength and guidance in my vocational discernment to the priesthood (and possibly to the Carmelites). It is the words of our Lord to Peter on the sea shore, after His resurrection:

Amen, amen I say to you, when you were younger you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go... Follow me. (John 21:18)

Just the night before, in another prayer meeting, of which priestly discernment was the purpose, I asked the question, "To what extent will the charismatic dimension of our faith influence vocations in the future?" To which a wise priest-friend responded (and I paraphrase), "Well, baptism in the Holy Spirit is, first, a total surrender to the will of God, so to that extent, it is essential to being open and responsive to a call from the Lord."

Yes, surrender is essential; and this is the heart of what those in the charismatic renewal (like the Fathers of the Church) call "baptism in the Holy Spirit". We give ourselves totally to God. And I mean totally--none of this "Oh God, make me good, but not yet" stuff. This constant reserve, this unwillingness to let God lead us in all our ways, of which I myself am often guilty.

A personal testimony: Until quite recently, I had never seriously considered a potential call to the religious life. It was always, "Oh, it's possible, but I don't think so." Always, "I'm all about doing the will of God, but I want the relative freedoms (or what I perceived as the relative freedoms) of a diocesan priest." But my faith, and thus my vocation, have grown tremendously in the past year (especially in the past month) and as I devour Carmelite literature, I find myself attracted to Carmelite spirituality. And as I throw myself headlong into the charismatic renewal, I find myself more open and more responsive to God's call... wherever He may lead me.

So I beg you, my brothers and sisters, open your hearts and your minds to the will of God, wherever He may lead you, trusting that He wants more for you than you could possibly want for yourselves, such is His inestimable love for you. Surrender yourselves totally to the movements of the Spirit. Always sing, in the words of John Michael Talbot, "I will go Lord, if You lead me/ I will hold Your people in my heart" ("Here I am, Lord").

This video features a prayer by one of my favorite Carmelite saints, Teresa of Avila. It is translated (roughly), "Let nothing trouble you, let nothing frighten you/ He who has God lacks nothing,/All things pass, God does not change, patience achieves everything/God alone suffices."



In His peace.

Spiritual Warfare

Night Prayer (Compline) for Tuesdays contains a rather alarming passage from 1 Peter:

Stay sober and alert. Your opponent the devil is prowling like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, solid in your faith. (5:8, 9)

Not the most comforting bedtime reading, that. It is, however, well worth reflection.

Intriguingly, Pope John Paul II read this precise passage the night before his assassination attempt. Many theories later developed (during the legal proceedings) in an effort to explain who was ultimately responsible and why: Did Mehmet Ali Agca, the Pope's would-be assassin, act alone, on his own motives, or as a Soviet agent? The Pope, it has been reported, was surprisingly uninterested in such speculation, simply saying, "I know well that the responsible one was the devil."

Again and again the sacred authors warn us of our spiritual enemies. For the first century Christians, these spiritual enemies were as much a reality as were their temporal enemies--perhaps more so. John warns the early Christians, then suffering under the persecution of Emperor Domitian, "woe to you, earth and sea, for the Devil has come down to you in great fury, for he knows he has but a short time" (Revelation 12:12).

The fact is that Satan, whom our Lord calls "a murderer from the beginning" and "a liar" (John 8:44), is real. He is determined to destroy us, to separate us from the love of Christ and join him in that eternal separation that we call Hell (Revelation 12:13-17). His activity is as varied and extensive as human activity, such is his hatred and envy for us; he would, were he permitted, completely derail the entire Christian mission. A spiritual problem, therefore, calls for a spiritual solution.

Before his ascension, Christ told his disciples, "These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages... they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover" (Mark 16:17, 18). These signs correspond to the various spiritual gifts (Greek charismata) that the Holy Spirit often bestowed upon the early Christians (Acts 2:4, 1 Corinthians 12:7-10). In other words, Christ does not leave us defenseless, but gives us His own Spirit to protect us against spiritual attack. What's more, He gives us the protection of Saint Michael and the other angels (Acts 12:6-10, Revelation 12:7-9).

But how often do we invoke the help of our spiritual allies? How often do we, in effect, say, "No thank you Lord... I don't need help... I can handle this"? How many plans have come to ruin through such obstinate self-reliance? How many hearts have been broken, how many hopes crushed and how many faiths destroyed? My brothers and sisters, it is time to WAKE UP! It is time to face the hard fact that we were all born on a battlefield. War rages around us, whether seen or unseen, and we cannot afford to be drunk on "feel good" spirituality.

James instructs us to "resist the devil and he will flee from you" (4:7). Our Lord has given us His own Spirit, along with all the angels in Heaven, for our spiritual defense. What further weapons do we need? As it is written, "If the Lord is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31).

The prayer in this video (Pope Leo XIII's Prayer to Saint Michael) was recited after every Low Mass from 1888 to 1964.



In His peace.

The Heart of the Matter

Though we are now more than half-way through June, it would pain me to let it pass without sharing my special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to which this month is dedicated (the Feast of the Sacred Heart falls on the first Friday in June).

We may well ask, What is the Sacred Heart? I suppose it is, in the principal sense, the actual physical heart of our Lord, and, inasmuch as He is the Word made flesh, it deserves to be worshiped as a member of the body of Him who was both human and divine. However, the Sacred Heart is much more than a human organ. In a general sense it is a symbol of the love of God, who "so loved the world that He gave his only Son," who Himself "was pierced for our offenses" (Isaiah 53:5). In another, more definite, sense it is the love of God Himself; it is the God who is love itself (1 John 4:8).

I think a personal testimony is appropriate here. Since I was born (or so it seems) I only ever wanted to attend Michigan State University; the first song I learned was the Fight Song and Sparty was among my earliest heroes. Consequently, when the time came (in my Senior year of high school) to apply to colleges I chose just one, MSU. This, in itself, was a leap of faith; one might say blind faith. Frankly, I had mediocre grades, minimal community involvement, an application essay that was (to put it charitably) less than stellar, and no other means of working the system (Irish Catholic not being far enough removed from the WASP category to qualify as ethnically diverse).

Thus was I brought, quite literally, to my knees... to pray. Bypassing the entire communion of saints (not a practice I would generally recommend), I appealed directly to the love of Christ in the form of the Sacred Heart. Every night I knelt before an image of the Sacred Heart, pleading for acceptance to my college of choice, State. When I received a letter from the Admissions Office requesting my spring mid-semester grades, I tucked it behind that image. Then, after weeks of anxious waiting and fervent prayer, I was accepted.

Of course, one may well argue that it was not divine intervention but my own effort and merits that opened the doors to those ivy-covered halls. Experience, however, would suggest otherwise. As time passes I see ever more clearly the love of Christ working in my life. I have grown immensely in these past two years; I have, by turns, known a despair that has suffocated my soul and a love of which I though myself incapable, and yet, in everything, the steady rhythm of the Heart of Jesus, which beat wholly for me. That Heart beats for you too, forever saying "come to me all you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest... learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart" (Matthew 11:28, 29).

May you forever rest in the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

This video explains in greater depth the history and theology of the Sacred Heart Devotion. Enjoy!



In His peace.

The Eucharist: Power and Presence

Add to World Youth Day another momentous event this summer, the forty-ninth Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City, Canada. The theme: "The Eucharist, gift of God for the life of the world". Though not as high-profile as World Youth Day, Eucharistic Congresses serve an important purpose, the renewal of Eucharistic devotion, a renewal desperately needed in our day.

The theme recalls (to my mind, anyway) the "Bread of Life" passage from John 6:

I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world (48-51).

This is just a small part of the discourse in which our Lord, in every way possible and often repeating ideas, enunciates the doctrine of His presence in the Eucharist. And the more I read this passage the more my belief in this Presence is confirmed; scholars even note that the Greek verb meaning "eats" (as in "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, etc.", which occurs later) is not the verb commonly used to describe human eating but animal eating, being alternatively translated as "munch" or "gnaw". So long before Dane Cook successfully marketed Christchex, our Lord invited us to "munch" on Him!

Now since Vatican Council II, much of our discussion of the Eucharist has emphasized the missionary dimension of this sacrament; we are sent forth (Latin "missa", from which we derive the term "mass") to be Christ for others (CCC 1332). In a society that generally lacks the vocabulary to engage in serious theological discussion, our conversation about these issues often devolves into questions of "emphasis" (e.g. "We must not emphasize sacrifice over meal" or "adoration over communion", etc.). Such familiar expressions are unhelpful, and long past their expiration date. The presence and power of the Sacrament, which is the subject of this post, are inseparable. We can only be Christ for others because we have received Him (Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity) in the Sacrament; in the Eucharist we are conformed to Christ, thus receiving the grace necessary for Christian witness.

And that is an awesome gift.

As with World Youth Day, EWTN will provide full coverage of this event.

Here is another excellent video, which captures a Eucharistic procession for vocations in NYC. Listen well to the words of John Paul the Great.



In His peace.

More on World Youth Day

Here is an excellent video inviting young Catholics to participate in World Youth Day.



And here is the WYD 2008 theme song, "Receive the Power".



Enjoy!

World Youth Day 2008: A New Pentecost

With all that has transpired in the course of the presidential campaigns, it may be hard to imagine it's only mid-June. No doubt, there will be much demand upon our senses and sensibilities in the coming months and, no doubt, we will--if somewhat ruefully--allow our collective attention to be consumed with the rhetoric of partisan politics. But let me invite you to take a brief respite from the pundits and polls this July, which marks the twenty-third World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia.

The theme: "You will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses" (Acts 1:8). You will notice that I have taken this theme for my blog, intent as I am (and as the Holy Father clearly is) upon promoting Christian witness, especially among youth, who deeply desire a personal experience of the love of Christ and to share that experience with others. As if there were any doubt, the Holy Father re-affirms the need--indeed, the imperative--for Christian witness, which is integral to our faith. This imperative to share what we have received stems from our fundamental understanding of God as love (Latin caritas, Greek agape) itself (1 John 4:8). This gift of love, the promise of the Father, which is the Spirit (Acts 1:5), must be shared!

The question is, do we believe that the Holy Spirit continues to work in us and through us, even in our own day? Do we believe Jesus when He says that He "will not leave [us] orphans," but will send us His Spirit? (John 14:18). Or that we are left to build the Kingdom with our own devices alone? No, never! Trust in the Holy Spirit is the antidote to the poison of fear--fear of rejection and failure--that too often prevents us from going out and proclaiming the Gospel among our peers. I speak from experience when I say that when we surrender ourselves to the will of the Holy Spirit in our lives, those fears simply melt away, and, like Peter on Pentecost, we are emboldened to proclaim that Jesus is Lord (Acts 2:36). This is exactly what our community needs today!

And so I ask you to pray with me, in the words of Blessed John XXIII, that the Lord "renew [His] wonders in this day, as by a new Pentecost." Pray for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Catholic Church, upon our Holy Father and all who attend World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia. Pray for our own community, that the Holy Spirit fill us with the love of Christ and empower us to proclaim the Gospel.

As usual, EWTN will provide complete coverage of World Youth Day, which you may watch via their live internet feed. A complete programming schedule is also available on their website or, if you have the good fortune of knowing me, from... well, me!

In His peace.