Don't mess with my wife and kids!

In the United States Presidential election recently, one of the candidates felt his wife was being threatened by another candidate.   He got mad and said, " It's not easy to (expletive) me off. I don't get angry often.  But you mess with my wife, you mess with my kids, that'll do it every time."

I wonder if Our Lord sometimes has similar thoughts about the attacks against His Bride, His Holy Catholic Church, and His children!   I wonder if He gets angry when He hears, for example:

-Attacks from all sides against His Vicar, his representative on Earth, the earthly head of the Church!

-Attacks against His and Her Blessed Mother, who carried Him, and raised Him, and whom is now the Mother of the Church!

-Attacks against His and Her Magisterium, the teaching office of His Bishops, whom  He gave authority to teach and preach in His name!

-Attacks against the Eucharist, His Real Presence!

-Attacks against His and Her Priests, the "other Christs" on Earth, whom he gave authority to forgive sins and sanctify His people!

-Attacks against His and Her Children, the little children whom he beckons "come to me", whom are often abused, and sometimes, not being given the chance to live because they are aborted!

Yes, I can see Our Lord standing there, and while perhaps not pointing a finger,  I can imagine Him looking straight at Her enemies, and saying " You will not mock My Bride!   You will not mock Her beauty! She is My jewel, My diamond, My precious one ! I gave my life for Her!   In My eyes, She is without stain or wrinkle.   The gates of hell shall never prevail over Her, and neither shall you!   If you continue to assault Her, and do not repent, you will go where there is whaling and gnashing of teeth for all eternity!  Yes, in My Bride, the Church, is My Kingdom, which will go on forever and ever! No one who insults Her will have a place in that Kingdom.  Rather, like those at the king's feast who did not have wedding garments , they will be cast out! I will not let Her fall. She may struggle, She may suffer, but She will always be victorious in the end!  She will be a blessing to everyone who embraces and cherishes Her. Her radiance will shine like the noonday sun!  Nobody attacks or insults MY bride! When you mess with Her, you must deal with Me!   And all of the above holds ESPECIALLY true for anyone who attacks Our children!"

 

This may not be the typical image one has of Our Blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Yes, He is merciful. Yes, He is full of love, mercy, and grace for all whom are willing to receive it.  At the same time, however, He is a true man, in all His perfection.   He is a lover.  He is a jealous God.  His Sacred Humanity will never fail to stand up for His love when She is in danger, or being threatened. 

 

This is a warning for those who try to attack or ridicule His Bride. 

 

Don't!

 

Saint Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church, pray for us.

Liturgy

I attended a funeral today for a monk priest who I knew in college.  It was a beautiful service, as is the usually the case at this monastery.  The Benedictines are well known for the beauty of their liturgical services.  There is nothing rushed, nothing hurried, things are well planned, and it seemingly runs like clockwork.  I feel their liturgies give you a sneak preview of what heaven is like, especially if you think of heaven like I do.

In heaven, we will worship and adore God.
In heaven, there is no "time limit"; we will not be in a hurry.
In heaven,  there will be order, not chaos.
In heaven, everyone will be supportive of one another; while we love God, we will love our brothers and sisters more fully than ever.

To a degree, I experienced all that today at the funeral liturgy.

Now every liturgy is supposed to be a "foretaste" of heaven, be it at a monastery or any Catholic church.  It may not always seem that way, but in its essence, it is, and we can experience it as such, no matter how poorly it is celebrated, or how "messy" things get during Mass,  if we prepare ourselves well, and have the proper dispositions.  Yes, it absolutely helps if it is celebrated well, as I witnessed today, but nonetheless, the liturgy is the liturgy, as long as a few certain basics are in place, and we can benefit from it no matter how well or not it is presided over, or the characteristics of the atmosphere it takes place in.  

The word "liturgy" originally meant a "public work".  The Church's tradition has taken it to mean the participation of the People of God in the "work of God".   In the liturgy, the Church proclaims, celebrates, and invites us to participate in God's work.    The liturgy has a dual aspect; praising God, and then offering His gifts back to Him, asking Him to bless that offering so that His blessings will produce abundant life on the Earth.   In liturgy, we bless God, but in doing so, we become blessed, or "divinized" ourselves.

Dietrich von Hildebrand, a great philosopher and spiritual writer of the middle 20th century,  wrote a beautiful book that I encourage you to read called "Liturgy and Personality".   In this book, he makes it clear that while personal development is not the goal of liturgy, nonetheless, praying through the liturgy helps us to grow personally.   He lists several ways it helps us grow as people, which I will list here. ( I am grossly simplifying his arguments, you really need to read the book to truly appreciate his insights.)

1) Liturgy takes us out of ourselves, and helps us grow in communion with God and others.
2) Liturgy, by promoting reverence, instills reverence in us, increases our reverence for other persons, and promotes reverence for all creation.
3) Liturgy helps us respond appropriately to value, and to respect the hierarchy of values. Through the liturgy, we experience truth, love, beauty, power, and communion, and in doing so, we are better able to experience those values in our lives outside the liturgy.
4) Liturgy promotes wakefulness.  Through proper participation in the Liturgy, we are taken out of our own narrow existence, and become more "alert" to the metaphysical realities around us which are much larger than our own individual circumstances.
5) Liturgy promotes discretion.   In the liturgy, we practice discretion by not moving rapidly from one thing to another, but taking time to prepare ourselves before reaching the climax of any celebration.  For example, we do not walk in and receive Communion or Absolution or Baptism; no, for each of those, we have to prepare ourselves, and do certain things first.  This is why liturgy should never feel rushed.  It is good to practice discretion in other life circumstances, as well, and the well-formed man practices discretion everyday.
6) Liturgy promotes continuity.  This allows us never to get trapped in the present moment, and in doing so, forget the lessons of the past, and/or forget to anticipate or prepare for the future.  The liturgy recalls God's saving work, makes it present now, and anticipates the fulfillment of the Kingdom in the future.  We should live our lives with equal awareness of the past, present, and future, as best as possible.  We will never be all we can be if we neglect to try to do this.
7) The liturgy is organic. Organic implies "fullness of meaning coming from within".  In other words, it is not mechanical (having no meaning) or artificial ( has meaning, but coming from the outside, not from within).  Liturgy praises God and brings Him down to us (the dual movement we spoke of earlier).  It does not force God on us, and we do not force ourselves on Him.  The best personalities are developed from within, with meaning, and not forced from the outside.  Participating in the organic liturgy helps us be more organic ourselves in our own personality.
8) The liturgy is classic.   It is rooted in objective truth.   The more we are rooted in truth, the fuller our individual personalities are. 

Again, please read his book for much more detail on all those points above.

The upcoming Easter Triduum is a great opportunity to experience beautiful liturgy.  The Holy Thursday Mass, Good Friday service, and the Easter Vigil, are all wonderful liturgical experiences that can lift your soul to God to a degree that is not matched at any other time of the year, because the Easter Triduum is the "source of light" for the entire liturgical year.   I encourage you to try to attend at least one of these three services; you will not be disappointed, and you will be a better person as a result of going.

Before closing, I wish to honor Saint Joseph, whose feast day was today.  Reading through Mr. von Hildebrand's qualities of a noble personality above, I cannot help but think Saint Joseph emulated all of them.  He was by all accounts a quiet man who worked  hard and lived virtuously.  Because of that, I am sure was rich in all the traits mentioned above.  In adoring the Christ child, Joseph was able to become the best man he could be.  In adoring Christ through the liturgy, we can do likewise.

Joseph most strong, pray for us.

Look forward, not back

There is a common theme in today's Scripture Readings on this 5th Sunday of Lent.   In the First Reading from the Prophet Isaiah, the Lord says "Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new!"   In the Second Reading from Saint Paul's Letter to the Philippians, we read, " Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind  but straining forward to what lies ahead,  I continue my pursuit toward the goal,  the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus."   Do you see a common theme yet? In the Gospel from Luke, we read how Our Lord was focused more on the future of the woman caught in adultery than in her past.  He removed the men from the scene who represented the past.  He says to the woman, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”  After she acknowledges no one has, Jesus says, " Neither do I condemn you.  Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”
 
Hopefully you can see the common thread; look to what is ahead, not the past.    In this Year of Mercy, we should not be focused on our sin,  but focus on what is presented to us; Mercy Himself.  (The priest today at Mass, commenting on the Gospel, says the woman was misery, and Our Lord was Mercy, two "M's", a beautiful way of saying it.)   Now we need to acknowledge our sin, as the woman did, but we cannot keep looking at it; rather, we have to look ahead at what is in front of us.  And what is in front of us, especially this Year, is Mercy.  This is true in all aspects of our life; we are healthier when we focus on what is front of us, rather than what is behind us, or has happened and is done with. 

In many ways, I think, these readings show us yet another beautiful aspect of Catholicism, and how it is different from other Christian denominations, and other religions.  The beautiful thing is this; Catholicism is not stuck in the past, everything about Her is "alive".  (Many might think so, but the reality is different.)   Think about these realities that are proclaimed by the Catholic Church alone among the different Christian churches.

1)  The Mass represents Christ's Sacrifice on the Cross, making it present to us here and now.  The Church teaches that the Paschal Mystery is not something that just happened 2000 years ago.   Our Protestant brothers and sisters believe that the sacrifice happened, and ended long ago.   No, rather, the sacrifice is eternal, and that why it is not illogical to believe the Sacrifice can be represented Catholic altars throughout the world today.
2) The teaching of the Church, while it does not change over time, develops over time, and this shows it is alive.   The words of Our Lord are a "living word".   They are not a "dead word".   Protestants believe that if a theological statement is not stated literally in the Bible, it cannot be true.  Catholics believe, on the other hand,  that there are two sources of Revelation, Scripture and Tradition.  Therefore, as long as a teaching does not contradict something in Scripture, it can be true.   The Protestant religion is based on a book that was closed many years ago.  The true, Catholic Faith is based on a book that can continue to be understood, and insights gleamed from it.
3) The Church holds up Mary and the Saints as living witnesses who can intercede for us.   We can pray to Mary and the Saints as intercessors, because they are "alive" and active in heaven.   They are NOT just past historical figures, who we can emulate and admire.  Yes, we can and should learn about them, and learn from them, but we can also become friends with them, as much as we are friends with anyone living around us.   The Protestant religion has no such role for them.  It has it for Christ, but ignores everyone else involved in Salvation history, as if they are no use to us.
4)  The Church has the Blessed Sacrament where Christ is just as present now as He was walking on Earth 2000 years ago.   In the Blessed Sacrament, Our Lord is truly and substantially present Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, just as He was when He walked among us.  No other Christian denomination has this.  Our Lord is only present this way in tabernacles in Catholic churches throughout the world.   The Church proclaims that what some call the "historical Jesus" is actually alive and well today.
5) The Church has priests who act "in persona Christi" and carry on His ministry today and forever.   Priests have the same power to do what Christ did.   They can forgive sins.   They can confect the Eucharist (change bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ).  And once made a priest, one is always a priest, because as it says in Hebrews 7:17, we read,  "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."   So, is not good to simply be nostalgic and just look back and see all the wonders Christ did in the past; He is still doing it today, through the Priesthood, and priests will continue to do the things they do for all eternity.   That is an amazing thought.

So, in the Mass, in Her teaching, in Mary and the Saints, in the Blessed Sacrament, and in Her priests, we see the Church is not a religion of looking back, but rather, is a Church, who, in the spirit of Her Head, is focused on the now, and is forward looking.  Those who say Catholics are stuck in the past need to take a closer look at the Lectionary, and study Her teachings (the Catechism of the Catholic Church being a great resource for doing so).   They need to listen to what is proclaimed at Mass; in the Readings, and in the homilies that are preached.  Once they do, they will realize that the Church is not stuck in the past; it is alive and well, and looking ahead, not back.   It is therefore incumbent upon Her members to do the same.  

Finally, if the Church is indeed looking ahead, and not looking back, we then need to ask what is it we Her members are looking ahead to?   The answer is salvation.  There is nothing else worth moving ahead to if the road ahead ends in death.  If the woman in today's Gospel was just going to eventually die anyway, and that was that, well, what happened would have still been nice, but not worth much of anything in the end.  No, what we are looking ahead to is being saved from the penalty of sin, which is death.  We are called to march forward on the journey of salvation, and to help others who are on that same journey, be it if they are stuck, moving slowly, or worse, moving backwards.  
So, if salvation is what we are looking ahead to, Catholics and all people must realize something very important about it.  We must realize "Outside the Church there is no salvation.", as was stated often by the Church Fathers.  While this does NOT mean that only Catholics can be saved, it does mean that all salvation comes through the Church, and thus, everyone in heaven will be Catholic, so if one rejects the Church, explicitly or inexplicitly, while here on Earth, and does not repent of that before his or her death,  he or she does put their salvation at risk.  We may expound on that point in a future post, but it is important to note for now simply that all who live a life not in accordance with Church teachings, or who reject the Church, put their salvation at risk.  The woman in today's Gospel was living a life of sin, but she found Christ, accepted His Mercy, and was able to begin looking forward, and not back.   May people today, some of whom perhaps through our very own witness, find and accept that same Mercy and Truth in Christ's Bride, the Church, and look forward, and not back, and make their lives better, and the world a better place.