Archives for 2010

7 Quick Takes Friday (set #1)

Friday, March 19, 2010 A.D. 4 Comments

Some random thoughts or bits of information are worthy of sharing but don’t warrant their own full post. The idea to combine them under this banner was started by Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary. So, some Fridays I too will participate when I have accumulated 7 worthy items. Without further ado:

— 1 —

Kathleen Blease over at Kathleen’s Catholic has some more thoughts on Eucharistic Adoration following my post last week.

— 2 —

Mrs. is a title of vocation. Married ladies should should proudly use it. It seems to me that “Ms.” purposefully obscures this. To what end? Marriage is not something to be ashamed of or hidden. It is a noble commitment to family. I wish there was a similar distinction for men.

— 3 —

I know some will disagree with me on this, but I am also not keen on hyphenated surnames some women take. In marriage a couple is joined as one and should be known as such through a common name. Even the dictionary defines surname as “the name used to identify the members of a family.” I have always been confused how this works for children. Whose surname should they take, the husband’s or wife’s? Maybe it could be different for every other child? If a daughter has a hyphenated name and gets married should she add another hyphen? What a misguided mess.

— 4 —

I don’t know why, but it always makes me smile when I see small children gathering at church. I usually go to Mass on Fridays following Men’s Fellowship. After that, for some reason (daycare, classes, field trips?), young children are dropped off and assemble in the PLC. Their backpacks are at least half their size. They are well behaved and sit fairly quietly on the floor until everyone has arrived.

— 5 —

Speaking of the Men’s Fellowship – we had a guest speaker last Friday. He made an interesting analogy: “simply going to church does not make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.” It is not a perfect analogy, but still makes a very good point.

— 6 —

On Wednesday I got to be a substitute CCD teacher for 7th graders. Co-teacher actually, with Lanis. More of a chaperon really. Still fun! Not growing up as Catholic I had never been to a CCD class. This class was on Stations of the Cross.

— 7 —

The sky is God’s abstract art canvas. That’s all. Just an observation.

Filed Under: quick takes

Myth: Saint worship

Tuesday, March 16, 2010 A.D. 4 Comments

No, we don’t worship Saints.

For the benefit of those who are interested in learning more about Catholicism, I plan on writing occasional posts on common myths. Besides, writing about them is fun!

I really can not tell if these myths come out of ignorance, misinformation or malice. Often there is a very tiny grain of truth that is distorted and twisted beyond recognition to give credence. For the benefit of our non-Catholic Christian brothers and sisters – and everyone else for that matter – I will set the record straight in posts tagged by the keyword “myths” (see TOPICS in the right-hand column).

The grains of truth to today’s myth are (1) Catholics have many statues of Saint inside and outside of our churches and (2) Catholics sometimes pray to Saints.

Saint statues are remembrances of someone who, while imperfect, led inspirational lives worthy of emulating. They had a yearning for holiness, humility, perseverance, love of God and their fellow man. We venerate (reverently remember) Saints. The Catholic church calls on all of us to be saints. Canonized Saints (capital “s”) are those who achieved sainthood in their lives and are formally recognized by the Church. (An interesting point: the Church can not make someone a Saint, rather it only recognizes that they are a Saint.) Many, most or all of our Catholic Saints are also recognized by various Protestant faiths. Some cities (e.g. St. Louis) are named after our Saints.

What is the purpose of a picture? We have them at home, in our wallets and on our desks. They are of someone, living or not, who we wish to remember. Larger, more life-like pictures are all the better. The same applies to Saints… regular pictures are good and 3-dimensional pictures (statues) are better yet. The very latest HDTV technology brings us 3-dimensional images for the same reason – more realistic and immersive.

Statues of Saints are for their remembrance and inspiration. Not so weird.

We sometimes pray to Saints but we never worship them. We do not worship anyone but Jesus Christ our Lord. When we pray to Saints we ask them, from their position in heaven, to pray with us. That is intercessory prayer.

I bet I know what you are thinking. You don’t need any Saint to pray for you because you have a personal relationship with Jesus. Why “go through” anyone else when you can go direct?

Do you ever ask someone to pray for you? Do you ever pray for someone else? Do you believe in the power of prayer? This is no different! It is really that simple.

Praying to Saints is simply asking them to pray for us and others. Not so weird.

Filed Under: essay, myths

Eucharistic Adoration

Friday, March 12, 2010 A.D. 3 Comments

Catholics believe in the real presence of Christ in the Sacrament of Holy Communion (see Communion, like no other). Consecrated bread and wine become the true, literal body and blood of Christ preserving only their former appearance. This is what Jesus taught at the last supper and we do not doubt Him!

At Mass we are in the direct presence of our Lord and have the opportunity to speak to Him through prayer – or just to listen. His literal presence makes this distinctly different than when we pray elsewhere. For this reason parishioners come to Mass early, or stay after, for additional prayer in His presence in the tabernacle (where the undistributed Eucharist is reserved between Masses).

Many Catholic churches offer Eucharistic Adoration where the Eucharist is exposed in a monstrance — a special cross that holds and displays the Eucharist at its center. Many of those parishes have small chapels for this purpose, as does mine. Parishioners go there for quiet prayer, reflection or inspirational reading in Jesus’ direct presence.

It is highly fitting that Christ should have wanted to remain present to his Church in this unique way. Since Christ was about to take his departure from his own in his visible form, he wanted to give us his sacramental presence; since he was about to offer himself on the cross to save us, he wanted us to have the memorial of the love with which he loved us “to the end,” even to the giving of his life. In his Eucharistic presence he remains mysteriously in our midst as the one who loved us and gave himself up for us, and he remains under signs that express and communicate this love:

The Church and the world have a great need for Eucharistic worship. Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love. Let us not refuse the time to go to meet him in adoration, in contemplation full of faith, and open to making amends for the serious offenses and crimes of the world. Let our adoration never cease. — John Paul II

CCC 1380

Parishes with Adoration go to significant effort to insure someone is always with our Lord. To that end parishioners sign-up as Adoration Guardians for specific hours at all times throughout the day and night. Some hours are committed by individuals while others may be covered by a group of people.

The guys at my Men’s Fellowship table have signed up for Thursday mornings from 3:00am to 4:00am. Some have the honor regularly while others may offer as needed. Since one of the Lenten suggestions is increased prayer, I signed up for yesterday morning (my first time).

I went to bed early but it was still a small struggle to wake up at 2:20am! There was a very light rain, but virtually no traffic so the trip took little time. Outside the adoration chapel is a large sign reminding passers-by of adoration and asking for silence. A table holds a log book for guardians which I signed.

Inside the door are holy water fonts and sufficient space to genuflect before taking a seat (the chapel seats up to 35). There were 3 other people there when I arrived. Two, including Trish whom I know, were covering the prior hour and left after a while. The chapel itself is small, very quiet, beautifully designed and appointed.

For a few minutes I just took it all in, rested and focused. It is very peaceful and easy to pray. Without rush or distractions, and in the close presence of our Lord, prayer felt deeper and more personal than usual. It was easier to both express myself and to discern guidance.

After praying, I read a short article on the Luminous Mysteries (The “Mysteries of Light” introduced by Pope John Paul II in 2002). Then, surprisingly, it was 4:00am. It is always amazing to me how fast time passes when praying and studying.

Tony had arrived for an hour he was covering by then, so I left and returned home. The clock read 4:30am when I turned the light off – about two hours after waking up. As I again laid in bed, in the darkness, I suddenly sensed a taste in my mouth. I recognized it as the faint taste of communion wine. Non-believers have all manner of ways to dismiss such, but I believe God speaks to, and encourages us, in many ways.

Filed Under: Church, essay, faith

A blogger / singer / songwriter…

Tuesday, March 9, 2010 A.D. 3 Comments

This blog has just passed its 2nd month anniversary. It really seems much longer than that, in a good way! One of the unexpected blessings is meeting so many kind, supportive folks on-line. Some also have blogs.

Two people in particular were very helpful by introducing this blog to their own, well established readership. Julie Davis at Happy Catholic (Not always happy, but always happy to be Catholic) and Russ Rentler at Crossed the Tiber (An Evangelical Converts to Catholicism). Both Julie and Russ are converts themselves.

Russ offered to send me a CD of some music he made. I expected to receive a homemade CD with some heartfelt, but probably amateur tunes. What I got blew me away — a professionally published CD entitled Way to Emmaus. It turns out that Russ is an awesome singer / songwriter and this is his latest of several CDs.

You may remember that Emmaus was the destination of two disheartened disciples on the first Easter Sunday. Luke 24:13-35

The tracks are entitled Late I Have Loved You, Upsy Daisy Angel, Stained Glass Windows, Holy God, Nicean Blues, Whisper, Old Time Religion, Sing of Mary, The Offering, Room of Tears, Way to Emmaus, Untier of Knots and Jewel of the Caribbean.

They are all very nice, but two in particular are my favorites. First is Untier of Knots. In the early Church Mary was known as the “untier of knots.” In her obedience to God, Mary untied the knot of disobedience set by Eve. The song is a cross between the Hail Mary and Mariology 101. A sample:

The first Eve’s rebellion, led to the fall
The new Eve said yes, brought life to us all
You gave us Jesus, at fullness of time
Then He gave you to us, from the cross as He died

My second favorite song is Nicean Blues. It is a cross between the Nicean Creed and dispelling some common myths. Ornery but humorous!

I heard some people talking trash, about the Catholic Church
Listen to my story, learn from my research
It all got started, about 33 AD
When Jesus gave the keys to Peter and said keep an eye on things for Me
Rocky you’re gonna let me down and even fall into sin
But against this Church the gates of hell are never gone to win

The CD is available from CD Baby, Amazon, iTunes and better music outlets everywhere! It is inexpensive, so pick-up your copy and one for a friend.

Important Note: All proceeds from the sale of this CD go to the St. Simon and Jude Medical Clinic in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.

Filed Under: review

Separation of church and state

Friday, March 5, 2010 A.D. Leave a Comment

We have all heard of the Separation of Church and State doctrine. Most of us have learned about it in school. Few remember the details and without too much thought, many assume it means an absolute separation of all things government from all things religious. That is seriously incorrect.

Our founding fathers assumed the Christian morals and values of political representatives would be reflected in their leadership. Our very law has its roots in Judeo-Christian teaching. The concern expressed in the first amendment was not to protect government from religious influence but rather to protect the free exercise of religion from government.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

First Amendment

This has become so contorted in the minds of many as to almost mean the exact opposite. That is, the duty of elected officials is to somehow strictly partition their religious faith from the exercise of their public office. Moreover, it is apparently now correct for the government to impose actions on religious organizations contrary to their beliefs. For example, requiring Catholic adoption agencies to not “discriminate” against homosexual couples or force Catholic doctors to perform abortions.

John F. Kennedy, our first and so far only Catholic president, made the problem much worse. Worse not only for Catholics, but for all faithful Christians. In his famous speech given in Houston on September 12th, 1960 he said:

I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute… I believe in a President whose religious views are his own private affair… and whose fulfillment of his Presidential oath is not limited or conditioned by any religious oath, ritual or obligation…

These were his personal beliefs, not those of the Church or required by law. To our detriment these words have been taken as gospel by many. Catholics, and all Christians, have a duty to live their faith. While it is obviously true that politicians would be wrong to be proxies of their religious leaders, they are not exempted from knowing their faith and reflecting it in all that they do.

When a politician runs for office claiming to be a Catholic or other Christian, voters assume that person will reflect the faith they profess, to the best of their ability, if elected to office. If not, why would the religious affiliation of a candidate ever come up? If the candidate has no intention of living their faith then they should at least have the integrity Kennedy did and say so.

Some of our political leaders are exemplary. Catholic Democrat Brad Stupak has garnered a great deal of attention in his determination to see that much needed healthcare reform does not come at the cost of taxpayer funded abortion. The pressure on him to back-down and put the interests of his political party first have been enormous. Congressman Stupak’s efforts are in-line with Church teaching and are no less than that required of every faithful Catholic.

There are many other politicians, while claiming to be Christian, are pro-abortion – often stridently so. Sadly that includes several Catholics in the highest leadership positions. If it were not already bad enough to ardently support abortions under the Catholic banner, they have repeatedly misrepresented the teaching of the Church and US Catholic Bishops. This has required the bishops to take the extraordinary step of issuing public statements in response to those false claims.

I believe these pro-abortion politicians simply place politics ahead of their faith. The harm that they do through abortion promotion is obvious. They also bring scandal to the Church and mislead the faithful from the truth of the Church’s teaching. Their public actions speak volumes about their character.

On Monday, Archbishop Charles Chaput (Archbishop of Denver) spoke at Houston Baptist University. His talk covered these and related points very well. He is worth listening to: