Tag Archives: Catholicism

The Little Flower Strikes Again

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A few years ago I discovered St. Thérèse de Lisieux (The Little Flower) through her book Story of a Soul.  I fell in love with her “little way” and her desire for the vocation of love.  Since then, I notice her showing up in my life in various ways.  Sometimes, it’s very subtle, like noticing a small flower in the grass.  Other times, it’s more obvious that she has been an influence in my life, even before I knew who she was.

I haven’t piloted an aircraft for several years.  When I was actively flying, I did have some close calls.  Suffice it to say that some of those incidents could have had disastrous consequences.  I refuse to call it luck.  I was being watched over.  I sensed it.  Naturally, I thanked God for protecting me (and whoever else was involved).  Only more recently have I had the awareness that, through God, others were also pulling for me.

There were loved ones on Earth and in Heaven who were praying for me.  The book of Hebrews tells of the “great cloud of witnesses” that surrounds us.  The saints that have gone before us reside within the heart and mind of God and intercede for us through the singular mediation of Jesus Christ.  I was being prayed for.  The family of God, the Communion of Saints, was praying for me through Jesus.  Today, one of those prayer warriors was revealed to me.

I was briefly skimming through a book about saints before taking it downstairs to put on the shelf.  I just happened to open it up to the page that lists the patron saints of various professions.  I wasn’t even looking for anything in particular.  If I would have been looking, I would have looked alphabetically under “Pilots.”  Instead, my eyes just happened to fall upon the words “Air Crews.”  One of the patron saints of air crews listed there was Thérèse de Lisieux.  Thank you, Little Flower.

 

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Truth Or Consequences

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In this age of relativistic thinking it can be difficult to come to any conclusions.  Truth, if it exists at all, is regarded as being “out there” in some inaccessible, grayish, void beyond our reach.  So, when the Church declares truth, many people are understandably cynical or skeptical.  To them, it is not actually truth being declared by the Church, but the Church’s particular version of truth.  It’s not “really” truth, but just another opinion among many.  “Just because the Church says so doesn’t make it true.”  Anyone claiming to know truth must be arrogant, delusional, brainwashed or otherwise misled.

If I noticed that a bridge had been washed away by a flash flood, I would want to warn approaching motorists of the danger.  Circumstances would have revealed a truth to me that had not yet been revealed to the approaching motorists.  The bridge is out, not “because I say so,” but “I say so” because the bridge is truly out.  If I decide to hide the truth or declare the truth, it still remains true.  The bridge will still be out.  Drivers may decide to ignore my frantic arm-waving and go over the edge, or they may stop and heed the truth.  Whatever decisions I or the drivers make, the truth remains true.

The truth taught by the Church is not true “because the Church says so.”  The Church teaches what is true because the truth has been revealed to the Church, and the Church’s job is to “wave her arms.”  This doesn’t mean that the Church has a monopoly on all truth, or that the Church is “better” than the rest of humanity.  All truth belongs to God, whether one finds it through the Church or not.  It simply means that the purpose of the Church is to reveal the truth that God reveals to the Church.

Again, one can be cynical and skeptical and believe that the Church is like the Wizard of Oz behind a big curtain putting on a show to control people.  But that doesn’t line up with the historical origins of the Church and her institution by Jesus Christ.  The Church didn’t suddenly fall from the sky in a balloon and invent ways to grab and retain power over the populace.  The Church was established by Jesus, given His authority and sent on a specific mission by Him.

God could have decided to teach everyone truth in an instant, all at the same time.  He could have simply zapped us all into full knowledge of everything that He wanted us to know (a bit like the angels).  God could have decided to reveal truth any number of ways.  As it turned out, God decided to reveal truth to us through Jesus and His Church.  (Keep in mind that “the Church” also includes the Bible which flowed from the Church and is part of the Church’s Deposit of Faith).

Now I’ll share some of my own skepticism.  No matter how God chooses to reveal truth, there will be plenty of folks ready to reject it.  No amount of miracles or displays of power will convince everyone.  Lucifer, the angel, rejected God and took one third of the angels with him.  Judas watched Jesus perform all kinds of miraculous signs and wonders, and the most religious people had Jesus killed.  Being present with God Himself isn’t enough to persuade everyone to accept truth.  The Church can’t convince everyone of the truth, either.  And yet, what the Church teaches is true.

The Eucharist: Living To Eat Or Eating To Live?

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Some people think that going to church is what Christianity is all about.  That’s like saying that eating is what life is all about.  Eating (though enjoyable) merely keeps us alive so we can actually live life.  People who focus too much on eating end up obese and unhealthy.  They can’t live life as well.

People who focus their Christianity on “going to church” have a similar issue.  Mass is where we are spiritually fed so we can leave church and live the Christian life.  After Mass we are told, “The Mass is ended, go!”  We have been fed, now it’s time to get to work!  Many folks consider their church attendance to actually be their Christian work.  That’s like going to a job and only “clocking in” during lunch break.  Who would hire such an employee?

Imagine if soldiers never left their training grounds and mess halls during a war.  They would be very good at running obstacle courses, marching, doing drills, cleaning their weapons, etc.  They would not be much use in defending their country.  In fact, an invading force could simply take over.

Spiritual warfare is no different.  If Christians are preoccupied with “going to church,” who is out in the world “fighting the good fight?”  Who is out there putting God’s love into action, healing and defending the hearts that the enemy seeks to devour?  A lot of well fed soldiers are not much use unless they are willing and able to risk themselves and engage in battle.

Catholicism is meant to be shared with the world.  It was never intended to be a “private religion” we keep to ourselves.  The spiritual food we consume on Sunday is given to us to sustain and equip us for daily life.  That means that from the time we wake in the morning until the time we fall asleep at night we are to be conscience of the fact that we are Christians on a mission.  We are always disciples who serve a Master.  We need to resist the tendency to flip our “Christian switch” on or off as it suits us.  We can’t be Christian only when it’s convenient or comfortable or acceptable to others.

I’m not suggesting that we Catholics all become obnoxious, Bible-waving, verse-quoting, overbearing, over-zealous, Christians that people avoid like the plague whenever they see us coming.  I’m suggesting that we allow the gift of Himself that Christ feeds us at every mass to change our hearts into Christ’s heart.  Then we will not mentally leave Christ behind in the tabernacle as we leave church and go out into our daily, distracted lives.  We will actually be Christ in our daily lives.  Then, life won’t be all about eating.  Eating will be all about life.

The Loving, Great Physician Must Diagnose And Prescribe

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Most of us have probably heard it said that the Church is like a hospital for sick people (sinners), not a mansion for healthy people (saints), or something to that effect.  The analogy is apt, especially in light of Jesus being the Great Physician and we all being sinners.  As Jesus said, the sick people need the doctor, not the well ones.

The good news of the gospel is that God loved us so much He gave His only Son to die for us and to call us to repentance.  That is where we find healing from our illness of sin.  The Church’s job is to spread this good news to the rest of the world.

In order for a hospital or the Church to provide healing, there must be diagnosis and treatment.  This is where things get tricky.  People want to be welcomed at the door, but they don’t always want to be diagnosed.  Even if they allow themselves to be diagnosed, they may be unwilling to follow the doctor’s orders.

The Church (like a hospital) also works against the spread of disease (sin).  Consequently, if a patient is spreading “germs” that may infect others, the Church has the obligation to try and contain the outbreak.  Some patients may be a “health risk” without even realizing it.  They need to be informed and instructed on what to do for their own health as well as the health of everyone else.  That’s why the Church puts boundaries on certain behaviors.  We all impact each other.

The Church has to balance her responsibility to welcome all sinners with her responsibility to diagnose and treat sinners.  Even if the Church is the most loving, warm, welcoming place on Earth, we still need to hear what our sins are.  We need the diagnosis.  Coming to Christ requires repentance.  We need to know what to repent of.  If the Church does not let us know what our sins are, she is not really doing her job.  The Great Physician is in the healing business, but, in order to heal, He must also diagnose and prescribe.  This is where many Christians lose the balance.

It does no good to get people in the door then refuse to call them to repentance.  It is even worse to draw people in by calling their evil deeds good, thereby robbing them of their need for repentance and healing.  Often, when people are told, “What you are doing is immoral” they will head for the door.  So, a lot of churches would rather say, “What you’re doing is fine,” or, say nothing at all.  Such churches may have  pleasant bedside manners, but they do people a disservice by failing to diagnose and prescribe.

Other churches are so determined to point out sin that they forget the importance of a good bedside manner.  People generally won’t hear the message until they feel a certain degree of trust and safety that can only be established through genuine, caring relationships.  When we sense how much the doctor cares, we are more likely to follow the prescription.

Jesus was welcoming to everyone.  He loves us unconditionally, but He also calls us to holiness.  Jesus pointed out sin, called for repentance and said, “Go and sin no more.”  He welcomed, He diagnosed and He prescribed.  Still, some people accepted Him, and some people walked away from Him.  So it is with the Church.  The doctor must be kind and honest with the patient, but the patient must cooperate with the doctor in order for healing to take place.

Witnessing To Friends And Family

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An interesting point was made at the deacon meeting I attended last week.  The question was raised as to whether or not a newly ordained deacon should continue to attend his home parish or move to the parish where he was assigned as a deacon.  It was noted that, although some deacons continue to attend their original parish, it can be advantageous to move entirely to the parish of their assignment and develop new relationships there.

Some men have been at their parishes for a long time and people know them quite well.  In some cases, this dynamic may actually hamper their ministry as a deacon.  Since people know them so well, they may have difficulty taking them seriously as an ordained minister.  This is similar to the phenomenon Jesus referred to when he said that a prophet is not accepted in his own town.  People are often more accepting of a minister when they know him only as a minister and not as “that guy we grew up with.”  Jesus encountered this reaction when people who knew him said, “Who does he think he is?  Isn’t he that carpenter?”

The same principle may apply to anyone who tries to witness to friends and family members about spiritual matters.  It can be hard for friends and family to look past the person they know so well and receive the message being delivered.  On the other hand, the opposite may be true.  When a person’s life has turned around for the better, friends and family members may be the most amazed and impressed at the difference.  Or, like the Prodigal Son’s older brother, they may resent the spiritual awakening of a family member.  Only God knows the hearts of people.

Some people readily accept input from family members while others bristle at the thought of a family member offering any advice at all.  Parents of adolescents often experience the frustrating sentiment that “if Mom or Dad says it, it must be wrong.”  Adult children of aging parents frequently find themselves at a loss when Mom or Dad “won’t take any of my advice or even entertain any of my suggestions.”  The aging parent may be thinking, “You are still my child, so who are you to tell me what to do?”  Longstanding sibling rivalries may cause brothers and sisters to regard each other with skepticism.  Family dynamics such as these affect more than just communication about spiritual matters.

So, when we have friends or family members that we wish were more open to the message of Jesus Christ and his Church, we must not be discouraged when our witness has no apparent positive effect on them.  First, we do not know how the message is being processed in their minds and hearts.  Secondly, the message may need to come from someone outside of the family.  Personally, my return to the Church was prompted by people I had never met.  My family cared for me, influenced me and prayed for me, but nothing they said to me triggered my reversion.  God used the voices of people outside of my family for that.  It had to be my decision to come back to the Church.  I decided to be Catholic because Catholicism is true, not just because my family is Catholic.

Like a new deacon who must go and create new relationships as a deacon, we must allow our friends and loved ones to experience new people and new places.  God has a plan.  God knows who we need to encounter and when we need that encounter.

What can we do for our friends and family to help them find Christ and his Church?  Love them.  Be available to them.  Listen more than we talk.  When we do talk, speak the truth in love.  Be ready to answer their questions and hear their complaints without judgment or criticism.  Be patient.  Let God do His work.  Pray for them.  Specifically, pray that God will give them encounters with people that awaken their hearts and minds to His truth.  Sometimes the last person one needs to hear from is a family member.

Just One Of The Guys

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Recently, my wife and I were invited to an information meeting for those who may have a calling to be permanent deacons.  People at church have been suggesting to me for some time that I may have this calling.  This is something that will require a good bit of discernment over time.  I don’t know if I have the call to be a deacon or not.  What I do know for sure is that I am called to be a follower of Jesus, no matter what.

I had a good conversation with a deacon who shared some of his thoughts about his vocation.  It struck me when he said, “Since being ordained, I’m no longer one of the guys.”  People treat him differently now.  For example, men who ordinarily might share an off color joke or make some unseemly remark speak more cautiously around him.  I suppose this is a good thing insofar as it shows some reverence for his ordained status and his representation of Christ and the Church.  It may also reveal their guilty consciences and highlight their need to conform their minds to Christ.  Or, maybe they are simply being “courteous” by trying not to offend the deacon as a person.

In any case, it occurred to me that we are all called to serve Christ.  We are all told to be living sacrifices and to let our minds be conformed to Christ.  Ordination may set certain men apart for specific purposes in the Church, but it does not make them “more called” to serve Christ than the layman.  Therefore, it seems to me that a deacon should always be “one of the guys” because “the guys” need to be striving for holiness as much as any deacon, priest, bishop or pope.  There is nothing that says a Christian man is exempt from living a holy life unless he gets ordained.

There is also a perception that, if a man has a keen interest in “spiritual matters,” or he possesses certain gifts, he must be called to some ordained status.  Maybe, maybe not.  All men and women are called to have a keen interest in following Jesus Christ.  Devoting one’s entire life to Christ is not reserved for priests, deacons and nuns.  It is for all of us.

Adding to a perceived “spiritual gap” between clergy and laity is the notion that canonized saints are something other than ordinary human beings.  We see their pictures and hear their stories and we believe they are not us.  The irony is that the very reason we are supposed to be mindful of the saints and in touch with the saints is that we are supposed to emulate the saints.  They are not there to show us a lofty ideal we can never reach.  They are there to show us and to tell us, “If we can do it, you can do it!”  The saints are not “the exception” they are “the goal.”  They show us what we as Christians are expected to be.  That is why there are so many saints from all walks of life.  They are us!  They are cheering us on!

It seems to me that if a deacon is living a holy life, and is surrounded by men who are striving for the goal of sainthood, he will feel like he is “one of the guys.”  Maybe God is calling me to be a deacon.  I don’t know yet.  He has already called me to be a Christian man, a husband and a father.  He has called me to follow him, no matter what.  I want to be “one of the guys” for Jesus, ordained or not.

Beauty From Above

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One of several photos I took at our cathedral before the archbishop’s service for catechumens and candidates.  We have over 400 people entering full communion with the Church this Easter!  The light streaming in from on high could not have been more appropriate for this day.  How awesome is God, and how beautiful is the Faith!

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Where Did The Authority Go?

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There are two ideas that I encounter over and over again in my conversations with non-Catholic Christians.  The first idea is that, for whatever reason, the Catholic Church does not possess apostolic authority.  The second is that Christians should only believe what can be explicitly found in scripture, because the Bible is the final authority.  I would like to reflect on these two ideas that I myself once held.

If apostolic authority died with the last Apostle, then no one has apostolic authority.  No Catholic, no Protestant, no Evangelical or Fundamentalist has apostolic authority.  Hence, no one since the Apostles has had the authority to tell anyone what to believe or what not to believe about the Bible, including its contents.

The early Christians had to believe what the Apostles told them.  But, the Apostles died.  So, what happened to their authority?  How could they continue to “tell” Christians what to believe?  How would the Holy Spirit guide and unify the Church without the Apostles?  Here are a few options:  1) Apostolic authority was transferred to the successors of the Apostles.  2) Apostolic authority was transferred to the Bible.  3) A combination of the two.

If authority was transferred only to the Apostles’ successors, then there would be little point in writing things down (like the Gospels, for example).  So there must be at least some apostolic authority contained within the writings of the Apostles.  After all, if the Apostle has authority, his writings will, too.

If authority was transferred only to the writings of the Apostles, then it would make sense to include that information in the writings.  For example, the apostles should have written down something that says, “When we are all dead, our authority will reside only in these written documents” or, “Only believe what is explicitly written in this future collection of writings and nothing else,” or “The Bible is now your final authority.”  The problem is that the Bible makes no claim that it is the final authority for the Christian upon the death of the last apostle or at any other point in time.  Although the Bible claims to be “profitable” it does not claim to have “the final say” or to be entirely “sufficient.”  Plus, the Church went 400 years without an officially assembled Bible.

Non-Catholic Christians (with few exceptions) have largely rejected the idea that the authority of the Apostles was transferred to successors.  Therefore, unlike the early Christians, there are no men that these Christians are ultimately accountable to.  They are essentially free to discern the Bible on their own and believe what they wish.  If they disagree with one church, they can find a different one.  While many of them claim submission to their respective church leadership, there is really no reason for them to do so in matters of faith and morals.  Why submit to leadership when each Christian can decide what to believe?  “Leadership” therefore becomes limited to the logistical and administrative needs of each church.  In this scenario, apostolic authority on faith and morals (limited now to only the Bible) takes a back seat to the beliefs of individual Christians.  Christians now tend to submit to leadership that aligns with what they believe.  This is the opposite of the early Church where individual Christians were expected to line up with the unified teaching of the Apostles.

Catholics, believing that the Apostles transferred their Christ-given authority to successors, are expected to behave as the early Christians did.  They are expected to fall in line with God’s written Word as well as the teachings delivered by men with apostolic authority.  In this scenario, apostolic authority is still in the driver’s seat.  Individual Christians are expected to remain in the back seat and submit to the teachings of Church leadership, just like when the apostles were alive.  In other words, the apostles “live on” in their successors who are able to clarify their writings and apply them to the present day life of the Church.  This has continued for 2000 years.

The authentic Catholic Christian, like the early Christian does not search for a church that aligns with his or her individual conclusions about the Bible.  Rather, like the early Christians, the authentic Catholic is obedient to Christ through obedience to Christ’s Church (which includes the Bible).  The Bible is not the “container” which holds all things Christian.  The Church is the “container” which holds all things Christian, and the Bible is inside that container (aka the Deposit of Faith).  The Bible points the Christian back to the Church as the “pillar and ground of the truth.” (1Tim 3:15)  The Bible never places itself over and above the Church’s authority, or demands that the Christian reject the Church and submit only to the authority of Bible.  The Bible and the Church together are a coordinated, apostolic authority.  It is not either/or, it is both/and.

The Catholic Church must possess apostolic authority in order to have assembled and affirmed the contents of the Bible 400 years after the Apostles died.  The Catholic Church declared which writings were inspired and which were not.  It makes no sense to reject the apostolic authority of the Catholic Church and then claim that the Bible contains apostolic authority for the Christian.  It is inconsistent to say, “I only believe what is in the Bible, but I don’t believe that the Church that assembled that Bible has apostolic authority.”  That is akin to saying, “I believe the Gospel of John, but I don’t believe John had apostolic authority.”

Assembling the Bible was as important as writing the Bible.  Without the Church’s apostolic authority, we could all pick and choose whether or not we think the book of James or the Gospel of Thomas belongs in the New Testament.  Why not rely only on the words spoken by Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel?  Why not accept Peter’s writings but reject Paul’s?  When you dump the Catholic Church’s apostolic authority, everything else is up for grabs, including the Table of Contents of your Bible.

Apostolic authority was promised by Christ to the Church.  It is not transient, it is permanent.  It is not something that can be “lost” and then “picked up” by another church, for Jesus established only one Church and promised to remain with that Church.  Bad people in the Church cannot cause apostolic authority to “go away.”  It is the authority of Christ, given by Christ.  Jesus never said that the authority given to the Apostles would someday go away or be confined to a book.  The Apostles never taught that, either.  They appointed new men to fill vacant offices (Acts 1:20-26).

If the Catholic Church does not have apostolic authority, then no one has apostolic authority.  That authority died with the Apostles, and the Bible doesn’t have it, either.  It’s just a collection of old writings that may or may not have been inspired by God, put together by a false religion that calls itself Christian.  If that’s the case, it really doesn’t make sense to believe what is in the Bible.  On the other hand, if the Catholic Church does have apostolic authority, then it is reasonable to believe the things that are explicitly stated in the Bible as well as all of the other official teachings of the Catholic Church.  It’s all apostolic teaching.

Ultimately, for the Catholic, it comes down to trusting Christ to hold it all together in spite of our imperfections.  “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” (2Cor 4:7)  Jesus, I trust in thee.

Being Jesus At Home

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Sometimes the hardest people to forgive are the ones closest to us.  They are the ones who are supposed to be there for us.  They are supposed to support us, understand us and embrace us.  They are supposed to love us unconditionally.  When loved ones let us down, either on purpose or unintentionally, it hurts the most.  Those wounds cut the deepest.

Some families can really test one’s Christian faith.   They can sometimes be the hardest place for the Christian to “walk the talk.”  “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespassed against us.” (Matt 6:12)  “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)  “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.” (Eph 4:32)

We all have wounds.  Sometimes, when we are hurt by others, it is because they are struggling with their own wounds.  We are all imperfect.  We all need healing and forgiveness.  Even when he was on the cross, Jesus offered kindness, tenderheartedness, healing and forgiveness.  He calls us to do the same, especially at home.  And when we have hurt another, we must apologize and make amends (Matt 5:23-24).