One year anniversary

Rather than another catechetical teaching tonight, I thought I would just take a minute and say thank you for being faithful readers of this blog for a little over a year now.  (My first post was on July 19, 2015.)  It has undergone a title change since it began; it was formerly Saint Joseph the Worker blog, now it is Jim's Catholic Blog.  However, hopefully, you have found it to have the same quality and interest level despite the title change.  I have enjoyed writing it, and I hope you have enjoyed reading it, and that you get something out of it.  I know I learn something new every time I write one of these posts.

You may have noticed there have been times when this blog has focused on current events, sometimes when it has focused on the Readings of the Day, sometimes on a seasonal (i.e. Christmas) or yearly (i.e. Year of Mercy) theme.  Right now, the focus is lessons from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  This is helping myself, and hopefully many of you, grow in your Faith, or learn a little bit more about what the Church teaches.  Church teaching has great depth to it, and I feel I barely scratch the surface of it, but better to scratch the surface than not to inquire at all.

If there is any topic related to Church teaching, or the Church in the world today, or whatever, that you would like to see me cover, please do not hesitate to let me know.  You may have questions or curiosities about the Catholic Church you may want to have me explore in a little more detail, and I would be happy to as best I can.

Even though I call this a Catholic blog, I will not hesitate to express my opinion on something.  Hopefully, I have been clear where I am expressing my own opinion and where I am expressing the teaching of the Church.  I do apologize for any instance(s) where I did not make that distinction clear enough.

I know the audience of this blog is not the biggest, and probably is one of the smallest in the Catholic blogosphere.  There are many Catholic blogs out there, and 95% of them at least have a bigger audience than I do.  However, the best evangelization comes when a person you know personally speaks to you about his or her faith.   A father can evangelize his son better than a priest or the Pope can.  A mother can evangelize her daughter better than Mother Angelica or Mother Theresa could.  A good friend can evangelize you or me better than Scott Hahn, Patrick Madrid, or any other leading Catholic evangelist today could.   Now the mother and father and the friend absolutely can and should benefit from the witness of those aforementioned holy people.  However, the witness of those people is no substitute for the testimony of a friend or family member. 

In that spirit, this blog is mostly me talking to people I know on a personal level.  Some of you I see more than others, some of you I am closer to than others, but almost all of you I know to one degree or another.  When friends and family speak to each other of Jesus and the Church, that, friends, is the best evangelization, the best friendship, and the best life has to offer this side of eternity.  I think that is why I enjoy writing this blog, and maybe why I am content with the relatively small audience it has compared to most Catholic blogs.

Now perhaps (because I make these posts public on Facebook and Twitter)  there are a few of you who read this faithfully whom I do not know at all.  To you, I say, thank you for giving some stranger a chance to be of benefit to you, and I am honored you are reading this.

Finally, I want to thank the Holy Family; Jesus, Mary, and yes, good Saint Joseph, for their intercession to make this blog what it is.   Just as I could not do it without my friends here on Earth, I know I could not do it without my friends in heaven.

I think a fitting way to close this anniversary post is to post the entire litany to Saint Joseph. I refer to a line or two in most of my posts, so let's just post it all here, in thanksgiving to Saint Joseph for being the patron of this blog, and the fruits his prayers has helped it bore.  May it continue to bear fruit for some time longer.  God Bless.

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.  God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.  God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.  God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.  Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.  Holy Mary, pray for us (after each line) Saint Joseph, Renowned offspring of David, Light of Patriarchs, Spouse of the Mother of God, Chaste guardian of the Virgin, Foster-father of the Son of God, Diligent protector of Christ, Head of the Holy Family, Joseph most just, Joseph most chaste, Joseph most prudent, Joseph most strong, Joseph most obedient, Joseph most faithful, Mirror of patience, Lover of poverty, Model of artisans, Glory of home life, Guardian of virgins, Pillar of families, Solace of the wretched, Hope of the sick, Patron of the dying, Terror of demons, Protector of Holy Church,  Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord.  Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord.  Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us.  V. He made him the lord of His house: R. And ruler of all His substance. Let us pray, ---  O God, in your ineffable providence you were pleased to choose Blessed Joseph to be the spouse of your most holy Mother; grant, we beg you, that we may be worthy to have him for our intercessor in heaven whom on earth we venerate as our Protector: You who live and reign forever and ever. Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Expressions of prayer

Our last several posts have been about prayer.  We have discussed prayer as it relates to the Father, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Mary, and the Church, as well as the theological virtues.  We have discussed the forms of prayer, as well as favorable places and witnesses to prayer.  

So we are now ready to actually go and pray.  How do we do it, and what should be aware of as we strive to do it?  Tonight, we will discuss expressions of prayer, as well as some of the battles we have to fight in our prayer life.
   
There are three types of expressions of prayer in the Catholic tradition.

The first expression is vocal.  In Revelation, as we have noted, God speaks to man.  If he speaks to us, we can obviously speak to him.  Our prayer "takes flesh" in the words of the Catechism (p.2700).  Jesus prayed vocally, and he taught us vocal prayers, like the Our Father.  We must involve our whole being in prayer, and our speech is a vital part of our being.  God likes to hear us praise him.  This is the form of prayer most accessible in a group setting.

The second expression is meditative.  In meditation, we focus on something to draw our attention to deeper truth.  In specifically Christian meditation, we focus on written words, especially those of Sacred Scripture, but we can also focus on icons, a beautiful work of art, or even the beauty of nature, to draw our attention to the how and why of Christian life ( p.2705 ), and eventually, to what the Lord might be asking or telling each of us.   When we read a book, or look at sacred art, the book or painting of our own lives comes to reality.  Mediation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire (p. 2707).   Lectio divina and the Rosary are examples of vehicles of meditation.

The third, and most perfect expression of prayer, is contemplative.  Contemplative prayer is beyond words, so it is difficult to describe.  It is like being alone with a best friend.   We are fixed on the Lord himself, as opposed to the Christian life in general, or our own life in Christ.  It is a love affair between the lover (God) and the beloved (us).  We welcome the merciful, tender love of God, and want to love more in return.   Like the theological virtues, contemplative prayer is an infused gift, not something we can do on our own.   We gaze on Christ, just like we do at Mass or at Eucharistic Adoration, to the Blessed Sacrament.  It is a silent, yet intense type of prayer.  The mystery that we celebrate at the Eucharist lives in us in contemplative prayer. 

So, contemplative prayer, which is intimate union with the Blessed Trinity, is the goal of our lives, as it is the goal of the Church in her sacred liturgy.   However, can we love someone whom we never speak of or to?  Can we love God without vocal prayer?  No.  Can we love someone whom we don't try to learn about or "study" so to speak?   Can we love God without meditation?  No.  Therefore, while contemplative prayer is the highest expression of prayer, we cannot live without the other two expressions, and in fact, need both, in my opinion, throughout our lives, to sustain the third.

All this, especially contemplative prayer, may not sound realistic.  Yet, when we pray, we realize prayer points us to the truly real.   The things around us fade away, go in and out.  God remains. 
Besides being unrealistic in terms of its end, the world might have other objections to prayer, as the Catechism notes.  For example, the world might say that things that can only be verified by science or reason are true.  However, prayer encompasses both that, and the unconscious world, and it reveals otherwise.   Our consumer and materialistic world might also say prayer is unproductive, and does not produce anything.  However, those who pray will tell you it produces the best kind of fruit, for themselves and for others.  Some might go so far as to say is a retreat from real life.  No, true prayer is far from an escape, it engages reality at its deepest level.

Besides objections to prayer, there are also challenges and difficulties in prayer.  We may think we are a failure at prayer.  We may think we are not being heard.  We may feel dry. Finally, we may feel we just cannot give our all to the Lord.  The Catechism proposes three keys to overcoming all these obstacles.

1) Humility   We must not try to fight distractions in prayer in our own power.  We must realize distractions are a sign we have not turned all to the Lord, and we must turn to Him.  We must also cling to Him when we experience dryness in prayer, as Our Lord did in the desert, in the Garden, and on the Cross.  A lack of faith is a sign of a proud heart.  We must ask the Lord for the gifts of humility and faith to help our prayer life.
2) Trust   We have to trust that God always hears our prayers, and answers them, even if it is not the answer we were looking for.  Prayer, we must realize, is God's action in history, not ours.  In prayer, we cooperate with His Divine Providence.  Jesus always intercedes for us.  Only if our prayer is united to His we will obtain all that we ask for in His name.
3) Perseverance   The Scriptures tell us on numerous occasions to "pray constantly."  To help us do that, the Catechism proposes three truths we have to open our heart and  accept.  We have to realize it is always possible to pray (p.2743) .  Prayer is vitally necessary (p.2744) .  Prayer and Christian life are inseparable (p.2745).   If we realize these three things, we will persevere in prayer.

If we are humble, if we trust, and if we persevere, we will grow in prayer, and grow in love.  We will win the battle of prayer.  If we win the battle of prayer, we will have a much better chance of winning the battle of life, here on Earth, and more importantly, in the fullness of the Kingdom.

A few of the titles of Saint Joseph in the litany to him I think are appropriate to the themes we discussed here.  Mirror of patience (he can help us persevere in prayer when we do not see instant results),  lover of poverty (to help us be poor in spirit, humble, which will help in prayer), and solace of the wretched ( how we may feel sometimes, when our prayer reveals how poor and sinful we are, compared to the awesome majesty of God).   We can and should pray to Saint Joseph to help us grow in prayer, to become ever more aware of the presence of God, and his action in our lives.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Mary and prayer

Our last few posts have been about prayer.  In the first, we spoke of Jesus as the source, object, and model of prayer.  In the last post, we spoke about prayer in the life of the Church, the Body of Christ.  In this post, we will speak of prayer in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and specifically Marian prayer in the life of the Church.

The Catechism notes two special prayers of Mary in her life, the Fiat and the Magnificat. 
In her Fiat, when the angel of the Lord appears to her to announce Jesus' birth through her, she says "Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word." (Luke 1:38).  This is a prayer of offering her whole self to God, to wholly belong to Him.  This is what we should seek to do in prayer.
In her Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55), which takes place when she visits her cousin Elizabeth (the mother of John the Baptist), she proclaims the following:

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

my spirit rejoices in God my Savior

for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:

the Almighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him

in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm,

he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,

and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel

for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

the promise he made to our fathers,

to Abraham and his children for ever.

These verses are known as Mary's "hymn of praise" to God.  In the last post, we mentioned praise as the highest form of prayer.  The Church recites this perfect prayer of praise every evening in Evening Prayer.  I would also say there are elements of the prayer of thanksgiving here, as well.

Mary also asks prayers of intercession.  The Catechism poses Mary pleading the plight of the people at the Wedding Feast of Cana to her Son, as a type of a prayer of intercession.  She tells him they have no wine, and after he makes her plea known to Our Lord, she then says to the servants to do whatever he tells them to do.  This is our model in prayer; we make our pleas to Jesus, in union with her, he hears them, he responds, and then we have to do whatever his response dictates we do.

At the foot of the Cross, Our Lord makes his mother the mother of the whole Church.   She therefore nurtures the prayer life of every one of her members.  If Jesus is the way of prayer, she is the sign that surely points to him as that way, like a street sign pointing out the correct road.  Wherever he is, she is, just like she was while he walked the Earth.  Therefore, we can say whenever we pray to Jesus, she is there, as well.  In addition, we have said that any prayer to Jesus is done in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Mary had an utterly unique cooperation with the Holy Spirit among all mankind, past, present, and future.

For all these reasons. it makes sense to include prayers to Mary in the life of the Church, and in our own prayer lives.  We pray with her, and to her.

The Catechism notes that in Marian prayer there are generally two movements; "magnifying" or praising the Lord, as she did in her Magnificat, and afterward, supplications/ intercessions on behalf of mankind. She was one of us, with a special relationship with Our Lord, and therefore, is a quite capable intercessor.

The privileged Marian prayer that has developed in the life of the Church is the Ave Maria, or Hail Mary, and it contains both of these movements.  The first part of the prayer quotes the angel Gabriel at the Annunciation, followed by her cousin Elizabeth from the Visitation.   Hail (or Rejoice) Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.  Holy Mary, Mother of God  This is praise for what God is doing through Mary. In the second part of the prayer, we find the intercession.   Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.  This part is not necessarily based in Scripture, but it is based in the Tradition of the Church, who affirms that Mary prays and intercedes for us.

Everyday in our prayer, we must remember to pray to Mary, and to unite our own prayer with hers. 

How graced was Saint Joseph to be around this privileged witnesses to prayer.  He was, as the litany to him indicates, the Spouse of the Mother of God, and Chaste guardian of the virgin.  May he, who faithfully served as her spouse and guardian while on earth, continue, in his role as Protector of the Universal Church, to honor the Mother of God, and protect her from the wounds of neglect, dishonor, and indifference that exist in the world today regarding her.   May we follow his example of honor to her, and realize her importance to the plan of salvation, as he did.  May we be inspired, as Joseph was, by her prayer of faith, her surrender to God, and be led, as Joseph did, to do the same; to praise God, pray in faith, interceed for others, and surrender to His Divine Will.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Prayer in the Church

In yesterday's post, we spoke of Jesus Christ as the model, source, and object of prayer.   When he was on Earth, he prayed for us, he revealed how to pray, and he indicated that it was only through him that we are to pray.

Now that Our Lord has risen from the dead, and ascended into heaven, now what?  Well, the Holy Spirit, as Jesus promised, was sent among us, and among other things, the Spirit recalls, and makes present for us,  all that Jesus prayed and said about prayer.  It is the Holy Spirit who makes present the entire mystery of Christ, including his prayer for us, and instructions to us how to pray. 

As she makes Him present, forms of prayer that correspond to how he taught us arise in the life of the Church.  There are five forms of prayer according to the Catechism.

1) Blessing and adoration    In blessing, God gives us gifts, and we respond to them. Our prayer of blessing is that response.  We bless Him in exchange for Him blessing us.  Adoration is an acknowledgement of the greatness of God, in contrast to our creatureliness.
2) Petition   In this type of prayer, we acknowledge our dependence on God for everything.  We are not our beginning, nor our end.  When we realize our dependence, we likewise realize our sinfulness, and thus, the first part of any petition must be to ask for forgiveness.  Then, as the "Our Father" is structured, we pray for the Kingdom to come, and then finally, we pray for our needs.
3) Intercession  This is closely related to petition.  Here, we are asking on behalf of another, not necessarily for ourselves.  It includes praying even for those who seek to harm us.
4) Thanksgiving   This prayer can be prayed always, even in times of suffering, as when we suffer with Christ, we join in His sacrifice, and help with salvation for ourselves and the world.  We thank God for all his gifts.
5) Praise  This is giving God glory for who He is, beyond anything He does.  This is the most disinterested of all the prayers, as it focuses on God alone, and not what He does for us.  This is pure prayer, the prayer saints do, and what we will be doing in heaven.  If we are going to make it there, we need to praise God regularly now.  Even though praise is the best type of prayer, it embraces all the other prayers.  Praise is what takes the other forms of prayer to God.

Where in the Church do we get the inspiration to pray, regardless of the form of prayer?  The Catechism lists several sources.

1) The Word of God  The Sacred Scriptures, as we have stated, is God's speech to us written down.  If we want to get close to God, and know how He thinks, there is no better place to look!
2) The liturgy  In the liturgy, the mysteries of salvation are made present, and those mysteries continue in the human heart that prays the liturgy.  This continuation occurs both during and after the celebration of the liturgy.
3) The theological virtues  We have discussed them.  Faith is how we enter prayer.  We first off believe in the reality of God.  We pray in hope, and prayer gives us hope, as well.  Love is the foundational, real, ultimate source of prayer.  We are drawn into the love of Christ for us, and we respond by loving Him.

So, we know have the forms of prayer, as well as the sources of prayer in the life of the Church. What is the way of prayer in the Church?

1) Prayer to the Father We have access to the Father only if we pray "in the name" of Jesus.
2) Prayer to Jesus  When we address Our Lord with the different titles attributed to Him (i.e. Son of God, Lord, Savior, Prince of Peace, etc.), we are praying to him.  When we pray simply "Jesus" we "invoke him, and call him within us." (p.2666)  That name encompasses everything in the economy of salvation, it contains all our hopes and desires. 
3) Prayer to the Holy Spirit   When we say "Come Holy Spirit", we are asking for the Spirit to make present the mystery of Christ.   Even when we pray to Christ directly, it is the Holy Spirit inspiring us to do so, because as Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians, "Noone can say Jesus is Lord except by the power of the Holy Spirit." (1 Cor 12:3).  Since this is the reality, it makes sense to pray to the Spirit directly.

Through it all, what we are ultimately doing is this,we are praying to the Father, through Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Now that we have the forms, sources, and way of prayer in the Church, who are the guides to prayer? The Catechism lists several:

1) The saints   They give us example, and intercede for us.
2) Our families  As it is with all education, the family is the first place of education in prayer.
3) Priests and deacons  Their ministry is directed at the building up of the People of God in prayer.
4) Religious   Many of these devote their whole lives to prayer.
5) Catechesis  Through catechesis, we learn about how to mediate on Scripture, how to practice liturgical prayer, and internalize it all.
6) Prayer groups   They are their own "schools of prayer."
7) Spiritual direction   Some of the faithful have the gifts of wisdom, faith, and discernment ( we have spoken of these gifts in previous posts) that allow them to serve the common good of the prayer of the people.

Finally, the Catechism lists several places favorable for prayer.  It lists churches, "prayer corners", monasteries, and places of pilgrimages as favorable places, all of which give us special necessary moments to deepen our prayer life, even as we seek to pray always.

Those of you who are familiar with Part Four of the Catechism, where I am getting this information from, may have noticed both in yesterday's post, and today's, I did not review the sections in each on Mary and prayer.  I will have a post dedicated to Mary and prayer either as the next one, or an upcoming one.  I will also have a post dedicated more to personal prayer, even as all prayer takes place within the life of the Church, as we have discussed here.

Like I stated yesterday, Joseph I am sure was a model for the human Jesus to imitate in prayer.  As we see here, the family is listed as a guide to prayer.  Joseph, as the head of the Holy Family (another title in the litany to him), can be a model and intercessor for all families to become true schools of prayer, and not just schools, but true wellsprings of prayer, because the sources of prayer (the Word of God, the liturgy, and the theological virtues) are all practiced there.  We know that is not the case with every family today.  Let us pray, through the intercession of Saint Joseph, that more families strive for a deeper prayer life, and become holier as a result, and produce saints who will change the world.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Jesus: source, object, and model of prayer

We have spoken in recent posts about Jesus Christ.   We could write posts everyday from now until eternity and never exhaust the "boundless riches of Christ" (Ephesians 3:9).  But, it is still worth it!

With all that is going on in the world today, I think what the world, and each of us need, more than ever, more than anything else, is to develop a personal prayer life, a lifeline to God.  The more of us who would have this relationship, and seek to nurture it everyday, the more peace and joy we would have, and the world would become a more peaceful place.

How appropriate then to speak about Jesus and prayer.  The Catechism speaks of the fact that:

a) Jesus prayed
b) Jesus teaches us to pray
c) Jesus hears our prayer

Let us review each in order.

Jesus prayed.  What was new about Jesus' prayer was that it was filial.  Jesus addressed the Father as a son.   He prayed before all the key moments and decisions in his life; his Baptism, his Transfiguration, the choosing of the Apostles, the Last Supper, and the Agony in the Garden.  He usually begins his prayer with thanksgiving: “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children (Matthew 11:25) , “Father, I thank you that you have heard me" (John 11: 41)  His prayer was truly a gift of himself.   The 7 last words of Our Lord, all on the Cross, are at once prayer, and self-donation:   "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do", "I thirst", "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?", "It is finished", "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit."  (Luke 23:34, John 19:28, Mark 15:34,  John 19:30, Luke 23:46).  In the letter to the Hebrews, we read a summary of the fruits of Jesus' life of prayer.  "During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.  Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered  and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him ."(5:7-9).   Jesus' prayer to the Father encompasses the cry of all humanity, and the Father answered his prayer by raising him from the dead, which won us all salvation.

Jesus teaches us to pray.  He teaches prayer is about conversion of heart.   We are to reconcile with others before making offerings to God, we are to pray for our enemies and persecutors, we are to forgive, be pure, and pray in secret, so as not to be able to boast.  Once we are converted, we are to pray in faith.  "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."  (Matthew 7:7-11).   We have to believe that what we ask for will be granted. Jesus admires great faith, and is saddened by lack of, or little faith.  We have to be patient and watchful, but always hopeful, with expectation.   We are to ask in his name, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus hears our prayer.  Jesus hears the prayer of the leper, the good thief, the blind man, the sinful woman, and others throughout the Gospels.  He always responds to a prayer made in faith. 

The Catechism, in paragraph 2616,  quotes Saint Augustine who says " He prays for us as our priest, prays in us as our Head, and is prayed to by us as our God. Therefore let us acknowledge our voice in him and his in us."   We said Jesus prays.  Who does he pray for?  Us.  We said Jesus teaches us to pray. When we pray as Jesus taught, he prays in us.  We said Jesus hears our prayer.  When we pray to Jesus as God, that is what happens.

The title of the section of the Catechism where this information comes from is entitled In the Fullness of Time.  It says in paragraph 2598,  "the drama of prayer is fully revealed to us in the Word who became flesh and dwells among us".  There was never before, and will never be again, a deeper revealing of the mystery of prayer than is revealed in the Second Person of the Trinity, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Jesus' prayer is perfect.  Jesus' prayer absorbs all the prayers and hopes of humanity, from the beginning of time to the end of it.  Jesus is the perfect model of prayer. Our prayer can only bear fruit if prayed in and through him.  What Jesus prays for, he receives.  Whatever we pray for in Jesus' name, we receive. 

Let us ask for the grace to be humble, to be faithful, to be patient, to be persevering, but to be expecting, and always aware God hears our prayers.  If we develop these dispositions, our prayer will bear more and more fruit for ourselves, and for the entire world.  The prayer of one humble, faithful soul can change the world.  Imagine if all of us became that way!   Truly, the Kingdom would come!

The Catechism, in paragraph 2599, states explicitly that Jesus learned to pray from his mother.  However, just because it does not say it explicitly, I am sure Jesus learned at least a little of something of prayer, too, from his foster father, our good Saint Joseph. Two of the titles of Joseph in the litany to him, most faithful, and mirror of patience, speak to values we have spoken of already in this post.  Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that Joseph was a man of prayer.  The Holy Family would not have been holy if only two of its three members prayed, as tempting as it might be to think otherwise.  Let us pray to Joseph, that he might help us become better at prayer, and teach us, as he did, to learn from Jesus and Mary how to pray.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Religious life

Today is the Feast of Saint Benedict.  I was blessed to go to a Catholic school that was run by Benedictine monks.  My faith was reawakened during my college years.  Unfortunately, this is so contrary to the experience of many today, even if they go to a school that is Catholic in name.  There are so many souls, who, after leaving the home to go off to college, become lax in the practice of the Faith, and eventually, stop practicing all together.   I am grateful that was not the case for me, but it is not because of anything I did, I owe it all to God.

When I started this blog almost a year ago (one year anniversary in a little over a week!), I mentioned I have had a myriad of life experiences.  I am single, but I have also been married, spent time in a diocesan seminary, and also spent a brief time after college (and a little during it) discerning a monastic vocation.  I have experienced many sides of the Church.

For this post tonight, I would like to reflect briefly on what I learned from the witness particularly of the monastic community.  Though I wound up not joining them, I still value the witness they gave me, and value greatly their continued prayers for me as an alumni of the college.  Here are some things I try to remember daily, based on their witness.

1) God is holy.  The way Benedictines do their liturgy, and the simplicity of their churches, point to a simple transcendent reality that is hard to find at your everyday parish.  When you step into one of their churches, you know you are in a place that is "not of this world".   You feel loved, yes, but you also realize that in the big scheme of things, how big and awesome God is, and how small we are.

2) God is usually found in the still, silent moments, rather than in the loud.   There is a certain low key mannerism to the way Benedictine monks chant their liturgies (Eucharist and Divine Office), and it really, I think, allows God to be heard, in a different way than most of us are used to, even if we go to Sunday parish liturgy regularly.   Monks also have what is called "Night Silence", and do not visit each other's rooms at any time, unless it is a medical emergency.  This gives each monk the space and time to cultivate that silence, that alone time with the Lord.  (Notice I said alone, not lonely, there is a big difference.)

3) Life does not need to be rushed.  God is found in the present moment.   This kind of goes along with the last point.  In addition to being low key, the monks never rush or hurry when they celebrate their liturgies, and if you watch them go about their daily business, one usually sees them not rushing or hurrying anything else either.  The more hurried we are, the less likely we are to find God.

4) A healthy life is a balance of prayer, work, and recreation.  The Benedictine daily horarium calls for periods of each.   There is so much talk today of things like work/life balance.  One could do a lot worse to help him or herself live closer to this ideal than spending a few days living the life of a monk.

5) When people are united in a common cause that is greater than themselves, and they are willing to humble themselves for God and each other, it makes the struggle worth it, and people are less likely to stop engaging in the battle.  There is peace in the monastery, as a monk told me one time, not because there is no struggle, because everyone is willing to engage the struggle. Even though we all seek God, we all need the help of our fellow believers to find Him.  If we lack that support, if others are not interested in the spiritual life, it can be very difficult to find God.   How many souls out there today are pleading and dying for lack of a spiritual companion?

All of religious life in the Church is meant to point the world to the realities of heaven.  Religious say to all of us that there is more out there than meets the eye.  As the Catechism says in paragraph 916, "In the consecrated life, Christ's faithful, moved by the Holy Spirit, propose to follow Christ more nearly, to give themselves to God who is loved above all, and, pursuing the perfection of charity in the service of the Kingdom, to signify and proclaim in the Church the glory of the world to come."  
I kind of look at it this way.  All Christians are called to have one foot in this world, and one foot in the next.  For us laity, though, we lean into this world.  We are heading to heaven, but we get there by focusing on making "this" world a better place,  more like the Kingdom of God.  Religious, on the other hand, have their stronger foot in heaven, and on their road to heaven, their focus is not so much on making "this" world a better place, but rather, on preparing us for the "next" world, which is the fullness of the Kingdom.  Because it is focused on the world that does not pass away, religious life is a superior state of life to that of a layman.  However, it does not mean that a religious is necessarily a better person than a layman or laywoman, nor does it mean a religious is guaranteed heaven.  A man or women in religious life can lose his or her salvation just as easily as any of us can if they do not live out the virtues of faith, hope, and love.

In addition to the Benedictines of Saint Anselm College in Manchester, NH, I have also grown fond of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, who staff Saint Joseph the Worker Shrine in Lowell, MA.   The Oblates are more missionary than the Benedictines.   They do not have a vow of stability like Benedictines do, as they travel about the world for their assignments.   The Oblates work with the poor, the sick, run schools, and do staff churches like the Shrine.  
The Benedictines' focus, on the other hand, is on the contemplative life, but they usually have an active apostolate, like a school.  It is more likely that a Benedictine would stay in one community and work at one school for his entire life than it would be for an Oblate to stay in one assignment for his entire life.

There is great diversity in religious life.  There are communities, for example, that are even more dedicated to the contemplative life, such as the Trappists or Carthusians (groups of monks who do not have an active apostolate), or hermits, who live alone and only perhaps weekly meet with up with other hermits for fellowship.  There are also communities who focus on giving parish missions, or who focus solely on pro-life work.   The diverse list keeps growing.  Yes, one may get the impression religious life is dying, but new religious orders are being formed, and some older ones are undergoing reform, and attracting new members.  There is a thirst out there for something other than what this world is offering, and some are called to find, and proclaim that, in religious life.

Most religious take three vows; poverty, chastity, and obedience.  Religious point us to the transcendent reality that is the fullness of the Kingdom, where God will be all in all, and we will not need anything else.  The witness of the vow of poverty shows us that in the Kingdom, we will not need things, because we will delight in God.  The witness of  the vow of chastity shows us that in the Kingdom, we will not need sex, because the love of God will enrapture us fully.  The witness of the vow of obedience shows us that in the Kingdom, we will not need to do our own will, God's will will be our delight. 

Let us thank God for the gift of religious life in the Church, for those religious who impacted our life, and continue to do so.  And let us pray for more religious vocations so that the reality of the Kingdom of God will be impressed upon more people, and those people in turn will be on fire to tell the world that indeed, "the kingdom of God is at hand." (Mark 1:15).

Joseph married a virgin.  Mary lived chaste, poor, and was obedient to God.  She lived the vows of a religious perfectly.  She was totally and especially consecrated to God, as religious are called to be.  Therefore, it makes sense that one of Joseph's titles is "guardian of virgins".  In that sense, he can be a guardian for all those in consecrated life who have made the vow to chastity.

Joseph, guardian of virgins, pray for us.

True God and true man

In recent posts, we have spoken about the Son of God, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  This divine person is right at the center of our faith as Catholic Christians.  The Father sent His Son to as a gift to fallen humanity, out of love.  The Son redeemed us by his death, and by his Resurrection, he has opened the door to new life for us. (We have spoken about his death, we will speak of the Resurrection in a future post.)

It is important to point out that the title the "Son of God" does not mean that Jesus is something different from God.  He is God. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all fully God, even though they are three distinct Persons.  This is the mystery of the Holy Trinity, which is the only reality that you could put ahead of the person of Jesus Christ in terms of centrality and importance in our Faith.

So, Jesus is God.  But if he is God, then surely he could not be man, too, some early thinkers thought.  The earliest heresies the Church had to address were called Gnostic Docetism which denied his humanity.  However, as the Gospel of John puts it, the Word was "made flesh".  This means he took on a human body.  The Word did not stop being God when he was made flesh; he simply took on flesh.   In doing so, however, he remained the Second Person of the Trinity.

However, after those very early days, the heresies dealt more with denying Our Lord's divinity rather than his humanity.  The council of Antioch dealt with a prominent bishop, Paul of Samosata, who taught that Jesus was born man, and was merely adopted by God as his Son.   The Church reinforced that Jesus was Son of God by nature, not by adoption.  The council of Nicea dealt with another prominent bishop, Arius, who said that the Son of God came from something else, was not of the same substance as the Father, and that there was a time when he (the Son) was not.  Against that, the Church proclaimed that the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, which means he always existed, and that He is consubstantial with the Father, meaning of the same substance as the Father.   Later, another heresy came on the scene which claimed that Jesus Christ was a human person joined to the person of the Son of God.  Against this, the Council of Ephesus taught that Christ is a divine person; in this one person, the Word united himself to a flesh.  Later, a group known as the Monophysites said that the human nature of Christ ceased to exist when the person of the Son of God assumed it.  In response, the Council of Chalcedon confessed that in the one person of the Son of God, there are two natures, one human and one divine.  They come together in one person, but each remain intact.  A later council (Constantinople) had to affirm that this human nature is not its own subject, but is subject to the divine person, which means it is subject to the Holy Trinity.  Therefore, the sufferings we spoke of in the last post, were of God. We can say God suffered.  We can say the Second Person of God suffered and experienced death.  Later heresies arose, and the Church wound up confessing the following as a result:  the Son of God has a human, rational soul, true human knowledge, a human will, and a true body.  However, the human knowledge was united with the Word, and could know all as a result.  Also, his human will always submits to his divine one.

So what does all this mean for us? 
As a man, Christ, in every way, can understand and feel what we go through.  He is a full man in every sense of the word, in fact he is a perfect man.   He loves fully, He lives fully, understanding all the highs and lows of life, and everything in between.  We can relate to him.
He is also God.   He knows and understands all; past, present, and future.  He knows what heaven is like, and what we need to get there, and he provides it.  He has the supernatural resources we need to be victorious in our struggle against sin and death.
It is not important that we become Christology experts.  However, in reviewing ever so briefly the history of the Christological debates, we see how much time was spent in centuries, and this means that this Jesus was one special and unique man.  Since he is so special and unique, would it not be good for humanity to sit down at his feet and listen to Him?   He can tell and show us how to be better humans.  And that is not all.  In addition to showing us how to be better people, He reveals who God is.  What more could the human race need or want at this time?

Joseph probably didn't know, or couldn't say verbally, that his son was the Second Person of the Trinity.  However, he definitely saw and knew that Jesus was a human with flesh, and that He was not of this world, so he knew also that despite him being human, he originated from the divine.  Joseph knew Jesus was human and divine.  May we follow in Joseph's footsteps, and have the humility to come to know Our Lord as He truly is, fully God and fully man.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Suffering and dying Jesus for a suffering and dying world

In the last post, we spoke of Jesus as the "Word made flesh who dwelt among us." (John 1:14).  After all that has happened this week, another aspect of that reality should come to mind.  Jesus dwelt among us in all our humanity.  He lived in our world, and saw not just the best of it, but the worst of it.  He suffered, as so many are now.   He felt our pain.  He felt our hurt.   He felt anguish.  He died.  And, the reality is, all of that, because He rose from the dead, and lives forever, is not in the past tense.   He can still suffer.  He can still feel pain.  He can still feel hurt.  He can still feel anguish.  He may not die again, but he will always know what it is like to die, and have loved ones die.

I was going to speak a little more tonight on the relationship between Our Lord's humanity and divinity, and some heresies about Him the Church has had to correct through the centuries.  I probably will do that in a future post.   However, after the events of this past week, I think it would be appropriate to dedicate this post to Our Blessed Lord's humanity, specifically his suffering and death.

What does the Catechism say about Our Lord's suffering and death?

1) Jesus' words and actions gained him enemies among the Jews and partisans of Herod.   Because of his healings, some thought his was the devil's work.    They thought he downplayed the importance of the Temple, and were outraged when he predicted it would be destroyed.   They thought he downplayed some aspects of the Law, and were outraged he acted as an authority on the Law.  Finally, they were upset because he seemed to be equating himself with God, who along could forgive sins ( "I and the Father are One." [John 8:58]).   Their incredulity though, on all of these, was not justified.  He had respect for the Law and the Temple.  He himself said the Law will never pass away.  He had amazing reverence for the temple, even from childhood.  He was correct to act as God because He was and is.
2) Even though it was Jews, enraged at Jesus' actions, who led the charge to put Jesus to death, all sinners, all of us, were the author of Christ's passion.  Since Jesus is God, He could have snapped His fingers and ended his suffering whenever He wanted.   He freely chose not to, because his death was going to be the ransom for our sins.   The Old Testament references a "suffering servant" who would die for the sins of people.  "After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities." (Isaiah 53:11-12). 
3) Christ assumed our fallen human nature, and thus felt the full effects of sin, even though he did not sin Himself.   Christ never lied.  He never cheated.  He never practiced any sexual deviation. He was faithful to God 100% of the time.   He was a good man.   Yet, he suffered, He died.  Do these thoughts, questioning why bad things happen to good people, sound familiar for the sufferings of so many today?   To all, those who passed away, and those who mourn their passing, and are suffering as a result, I say, you have a compassionate man who can understand you in the person of Jesus Christ.
4) Christ's suffering is an act of love.  The Church teaches that the Father gave His Son to us out of love for us.  As Saint Paul said to the Romans,  "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (5:8)   The Son is a gift of the Father out of love.  At the same time, the Son offers his life back to the Father out of love for us, as well.  Jesus did not suffer out of some duty, some personal principle, some notion of justice, although all of those could factor in a little, but they are not the ultimate reason why he suffered.  The ultimate reason is for love for us.
5) Christ, united to every man by the Incarnation, invites all men to be partners in His sacrifice.  "Take up your cross and follow me."  (Matthew 16:24).

So what does this all mean for us in our current circumstances?  I suggest a few things.

1)  God knows what it is like to hurt.
2)  God is compassionate.  He can be sympathetic because He knows what we feel and are talking about when we experience or talk about suffering and death.
3) All sufferings, whether self-inflicted, or caused by others, can be united to the sacrifice of Christ.  If they are, they are guaranteed to be meritorious and win salvation for ourselves and/or for others.
4) We can make our suffering an act of love that can do some good for someone somewhere, or maybe many people in different places.
5) Jesus Christ shows us that sin, death, and suffering do not have the last word.  Only Jesus shows this!  No other person, no other god, no other religion can demonstrate this reality so poignantly.  Because of this, the Paschal mystery (the Death and Resurrection of Jesus) is our only hope in times like these.  It is Jesus who can turn our tears of sorrow into tears of grace for ourselves and others. Jesus can turn our fear of the world into a holy fear of God alone, which will bring love of God, and courage in the face of evil and terror.  Jesus can turn our worry into hope.  When Jesus does all these things for us, we then in turn can unite with Him and be partners with Him in transforming our suffering into graces that can help build the Kingdom of God.   Despite all that is happening, the Kingdom of God is growing, and one day, will reach full bloom.  Do not let evil destroy you!  Turn to Jesus, be consoled by Him, and then unite with Him to combat evil with the Cross (which he tells us we all have to carry), and as soldiers, we will, despite the gloom all around us now, win the battle.

Joseph most strong, pray for us.

The Word became flesh

We have been focusing on various titles of Jesus in recent posts.   Among other titles, we spoke of Jesus as the "Word", or the "Word of God".   As the Word, Jesus is God's speech to the world.  Jesus is the full revelation of God the Father.  "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:9).
Around Christmas, we usually hear this title of Jesus a lot.  We hear the following from the Prologue to the Gospel of John,  "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us."  (John 1:14).   This statement is one of the most beautiful ever written in the English language.  The most powerful God descended down to man, and become one of us out of love.  As Archbishop Fulton Sheen (who we pray is canonized soon) once said, it would be like one of us, out of love for dogs, becoming one of them.

Do we ever ponder why He did so?  Why did the Word become flesh?  The Catechism lists several reasons.
1) The Word became flesh in order to save us by reconciling us with God (p.457).  Before all else, God came to save us for heaven, from hell.
2) The Word became flesh so that we might know God's love (p.458).   God loves us so much He wants us to spend eternity with Him. Jesus reveals this reality.
3) The Word became flesh to be our model of holiness (p.459).  By his teaching and example, Jesus showed us how to become holy.
4) The Word became flesh to make us "partakers of divine nature" (p.460).   Saint Thomas Aquinas says that God became man so that he "might make men gods".

Isn't all of this foundational to our life?  Do not we all want to be saved? Do not we all want to be loved?  Do not we all to be holy?  Do not we all to share in God's inner life?   I don't think there is really much more any of us could want in life, both now, and in heaven. 
Also, think about this.  What if others could see in us the means to salvation?  What if others could see in us true authentic perfect love?  What if others could see in us holiness?  What if others could see in us a touch of the divine?  Wouldn't that be awesome to think we could radiate all that?  We can if we are united to the Word made flesh.

I quoted part of this already, but let's read the full verse of John 1:14, "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."   We saw His glory!  The Word becoming flesh is something glorious.  Now, keep in mind, we are not talking about Jesus sitting on a throne, which He now does.  We are not talking about Jesus dressed in robes and adorned with fine diadems.  We are talking, rather, about Jesus being born in a dirty stable with animals around him because there was no room at the inn.  This, though, is glorious!  Why?  Because it shows just how much God loves us, that He descended from his throne like this to become one of us.  That is what makes the Incarnation (meaning "enfleshment", based on the expression that is the title of this post) glorious. This is why John could, instead of telling the Infancy narratives as the other Gospel writers do, talk about "seeing his glory", and be referring to the same event just as truthfully!   As I have stated before, this is what makes Jesus Christ so great, that he is so fully human, and yet, at the same time, fully divine, God himself.  It is a mystery we may never fully comprehend in this life, how and why this could be, but we know for sure by faith that it is true.

Now, if Jesus lives in us, and we live in Him, and become "divinized", could we not say that we, too, could radiate, even if dimly, some of His glory, to those around us?   Wouldn't it be awesome if someone, when speaking of our lives, says " (He or she) radiates the glory of God."   Wow, I think that would be, for lack of a better phrase, pretty cool.

Even though we are halfway around the calendar year from Christmas, let us remember, the words we hear at Christmas are meant to be pondered year round.  The Word, who became flesh, speaks to us every day and every hour!  Are we listening?   Are we thanking God for this truly majestic gift?  If so, continue to do so, and do so better each day.  If not, start now.  By listening to, and being grateful for the Word everyday, our lives will never be the same.

The man who protected this gift, and whom we all need to thank daily for doing so, is Joseph.  Yes, it was Mary (through the Holy Spirit) who gave the Word birth, and ultimately, it was her yes that paved way for the Incarnation.  Joseph had nothing to do with either.  However, Joseph was the one assigned by God the Father to protect His Son after the birth.  Both the birth and the protection afterwards were necessary.  Thus, when we think of the Word made flesh, let us take a minute to think of Joseph, thank Him, and ask him to protect us, protect the treasure that is in us, like he protected the gift to mankind that was his son.

Joseph, diligent protector of Christ, pray for us.

Truth Part Two

In last evening's post, we discussed the concept of truth and how Jesus Christ is "the Truth" (John 14:16).

Today, we will speak of sins against truth.   There are many outlined in the Catechism.

1) False witness and perjury leads to condemnation of innocent people, exoneration of guilty ones, and unnecessary punishment for some.
2) Making rash judgment is assuming without sufficient foundation the moral fault of a neighbor.
3) Detraction is, without good reason, disclosing someone's fault and failings to a person or people to did not know them.
4) Calumny is making untruthful remarks that harms someone's reputation, and plants the seed for false judgements to be made about them.
5) Adulation (sometimes known as flattery) is confirming someone in malicious acts and perverse conduct.  If we are accomplice with someone in their sins, it is a serious mortal sin.   If we do it just to be agreeable, or meet some need, it is a venial sin.
6) Boasting (sometimes known as bragging) is highlighting someone's strength or accomplishments beyond their just measure, and/or to put someone else down by comparison.
7) Irony is caricature of some aspect of someone's behavior to disparage him or her.
8) Lying is to speak or act against the truth in order to lead someone to error who has a right to know the truth.

The Catechism then speaks of the duty of reparation after one or more of these sins have been committed.  This needs to occur even after the person who committed one or more of these sins has been forgiven.   The injured person has a right to material and/or moral satisfaction.

We should all examine our conscience by looking at the above list, and applying both not just to our relationship with our fellow men, and also with God.   Do we care about God's reputation?  While it is impossible to sin against God by boasting about Him (because we can never speak highly enough about Him), or by flattering Him (because He never is involved in evil conduct),  we can commit all the other sins against truth against Him (i.e. we can lie about Him, we can make fun of Him [irony], and we can make rash judgement about Him).   

Truth is ultimately about justice.  Justice, as I spoke of in a post back in May, is one of the four cardinal virtues.  It is "the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor." (p.1807).   I said at the time: When we are just, we give to God and others what is due them (respect, rights, etc.), and we promote the common good.  The Catechism states "The virtue of truth gives another his just due." (p.2469). 

One of the titles of Joseph in his litany is Joseph, most just.   If Joseph is just, he must necessarily be most true.   He gave to Our Lord what was due to Him; adoration and love.  He gave to the Blessed Virgin was due to her; honor, and love.  He gave to the civil authorities of his time what was due; he paid his taxes, and worked hard.  He gave his religion what was due to it; he presented Jesus for circumcision, and said his prayers.   He was true to all his obligations in life, and was rewarded with eternal life.  May we follow in his footsteps, be true in all we do, and all we say.  Let us pray for the virtue of justice to be increased in us, and come to know Jesus Christ more and more everyday so that we may indeed live "in the truth".

Joseph most just, pray for us, and pray for justice to reign in our land.

Truth Part One

In our last post, we spoke of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, True God and True Man, which we said was the second most important mystery of our Faith, after the Blessed Trinity.  We spoke of different titles attributed to Him.   One important one we did not mention was the Truth.  Jesus says in John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth, and the life."   Our Lord testifies to Pontius Pilate "the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." (John 18:37) . The apostles John says in his Gospel that Jesus is "full of truth" (John 1:14).

I once heard a beautiful statement from one of my seminary professors, who was answering the question "Who is Jesus to me?"   He said that Jesus was "the truth of my life".   What a beautiful, simple, yet powerful statement to the closeness he had with Our Lord.

The Catechism says in paragraph 2466 that "In Jesus Christ, the whole of God's truth has been made manifest."   The disciple of Jesus is called to "live in the truth".
In the world we live in today, the concept of universal truth is often challenged.   There are many Pilates in the world today who say, as he did to Our Lord on Good Friday, "What is truth?" (John 18:38).  
Let's try to help Pilate a little here.  The definition of truth according to the dictionary, is
"the quality or state of being true".   So we then have to ask what is the definition of "true"?   According to the dictionary, "true" means "in accordance with fact or reality."  It can also mean "accurate or exact", and/or "loyal or faithful".
Let us see just how Jesus is the Truth.  Well, first off, Jesus reveals the full reality of the human condition.  By uniting himself to humanity, and then dying and rising for us, he revealed a few things about human beings:

1) We are important.
2) We are loved.
3) We are destined for great things.
4) At the same time, we are sinners in need of a Savior.

Can anyone deny these statements correspond accurately with the condition of the human person?

In addition to revealing truth about man, Jesus also reveals the full reality about God.  Through Him, we learn that God is:

1) Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)
2) One (no other gods besides Him)
3) Creator of the world
4) Redeemer of the world
5) Origin and destiny of mankind

I found it interesting that the dictionary mentioned loyal or faithful as one of its definitions of the word "true".   Who is more loyal or faithful than Jesus?

I also find it interesting that the paragraphs in the Catechism that speak about martyrdom is in the section on truth, which is discussed in its section on the Eight Commandment "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." (Exodus 20:16).   Martyrdom, above anything else, the Catechism says, is "the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith; it means bearing witness even unto death." (p.2473).   Yes, martyrs do die for a personal love of Jesus, they die to be holy, they die to be able to get to heaven, but really, deep down, they die because of the truth that Jesus died and rose for all mankind, and they refuse to deny that reality.  The reason for their death goes well beyond their own circumstances.  Their death, like the death of Our Lord, points to a much larger truth, truths about God and man that we listed above.  
In this month of July, which is devoted to the precious blood of Jesus, let us remember that His blood, the blood of martyrs, and maybe even our own blood someday, are or will be testaments to the Truth of God, the truth of man, and the truth of creation.

In the next post, we will speak of sins against truth.

One of the titles in the litany to Saint Joseph is Joseph most faithful.  As we stated above, being loyal or faithful is synonymous with being true.  Joseph remained true to Mary and to Our Lord all his adult life until he was called home to the Father.  Let us emulate him in being true to our self, and to Our Lord, no matter what the cost.
Joseph most faithful, pray for us.