We've hear that we are all one Body in Christ so MANY times, which is good, but we probably lose the REVOLUTIONARY nature of what St. Paul was saying.
Every culture before Christ had, in one way or another, looked at some people as "more human" and other people as "less human" or even "expendable non-humans"
Saint Paul says - "THOSE DAYS ARE OVER"
Additionally, not only does St. Paul say the days of marginalizing the weaker members of the Body of Christ over, he also says those
"That seem to be weaker are all the more necessary, and those parts of the body that we consider
less honorable we surround with greater honor"
The Church is the immune system of the Body of Christ. It looks for threats to the Body of Christ, threats that attack the dignity of any single member of the Body of Christ, and the Church points out those threats.
A great example of the "Church as Body of Christ immune system" is this very month that we are in right now. January is
1) Poverty Awareness month
2) Mid January - Migrant awareness week
3) This past week, we, for the 43rd year, remembered through prayer and fasting the anniversary of Roe v.
Wade
There are a lot of ways the Body of Christ is attacked. The Church speaks to all of the threats and attacks.
Several years ago, the bishops of the US wrote a letter addressing all these attacks to the dignity of the human person. They mention:
1) starvation,
2) denial of health care
3) deadly violence of armed conflict and the scandalous arms trade that
spawns such conflict.
4) domestic violence,
5) the spread of drugs,
6) a reckless tampering with the world's ecological balance.
But the document goes on: "Yet abortion and euthanasia have become
preeminent threats to human dignity because they directly attack life itself,
the most fundamental human good and the condition for all others. They are committed against those who are weakest and most defenseless, those
who are genuinely "the poorest of the poor."
Military people are always assessing – “What are our GREATEST
threats…most eminent threats”?
A question for us as Catholics - "Who
do we listen to on this topic?" Whose "humanity threat assessment do we utilize?"
EVERYONE believes that SOME of these threats are a problem. But which one's are MOST EMINENT? Some people listen to the UN on how to order these threats. Some people listen to news outlets. Some listen to political parties, some listen to celebrities, and some listen to Jesus through the Church He founded.
This whole assessing of threats and deciding which are most eminent leads some to say two things (which are equally wrong)
1) Some say: “We can’t speak up against abortion
and euthanasia because it will water down our speaking up on the other threats against the human person.
2) Some say: “I won’t speak up against anything
else except abortion and euthanasia, lest someone think I’m wavering on abortion and
Euthanasia"
These are both WRONG!
We can speak up vociferously against abortion and euthanasia AND still care and work very diligently for the poor in our community. We can speak out against abortion and euthanasia AND protect all that God has created.
On Friday, we diverted our planned trip to Washington DC for the March for Life and instead went to Indy to avoid "snowmaggedon". Archbishop Tobin had two beautiful homilies at our vigil and Mass for Life.
He noted the same thing that our US bishops noted several years ago - there are a lot of attacks on the Body of Christ, but he too singled out abortion and euthanasia as the two preeminent threats. He noted that what is most troubling about them is that they are both often done by people who have been trained to bring healing and health to people.
Archbishop Tobin also talked about what we, as faithful Catholics, ought to be doing about all these issues.
“We do not fight against darkness and
the culture of death with violence…but we do not take a vow of silence either,
we speak the truth”
Saint Boniface: Let us be neither dogs that do not bark nor silent onlookers
nor paid servants who run away before the wolf. Let us preach the whole of God's plan to the powerful and the
humble, to rich and to poor, to men of every rank and age, as far as God
gives us the strength, in season and out
of season.
May the Eucharist strengthen us to preach the WHOLE of God's plan, and not just the parts that suit our politics
As Catholics, we know Christ has risen from the dead.
We have crucifixes because WE haven't risen from the dead.
So while we suffer in this valley of tears it helps a great deal to be reminded that Christ CHOSE suffering when he walked this earth, even though He could have saved us without being crucified and tortured.
The ancient prophecies could have said "The Christ will die in child birth" and we'd still be saved. He CHOSE the cross. If that doesn't help you in the midst of suffering, then don't have crucifixes around.
But what I want to know when I'm suffering is not "hey, just think about Easter"...I want to hear God say "I'm with you in the midst of this. I bled too. Your suffering has meaning in this moment, not just a future reward."
This is class one of an online course I've been teaching to our high school students. It's been great, as we've seen a 600% increase in participation vs. when we used to ask them to come to class in person.
If you'd like more information about the text book we use, let me know.
The process is pretty simple. They watch the class. Answer a few questions. Email me the answers or hand them in at Mass. I record that they did it.
If they don't participate, that's fine - the Church says the primary catechist of a child is their parents, so I assume the parents are doing something else to teach them the Faith.
It's been great. Hope these help. I will post them here occasionally. Here's class 1
I think every priest, once or twice a year, gives a homily that they wish the world could hear...not because the priest thinks he's awesome but because he thinks it would help a lot of people. This weekend's homily falls into that category for me personally
The text:
I mentioned one
surprising thing about the priesthood a few weeks ago – how often people want
particular questions answered that the Church says are actually left up to them
using the gift of prudence to analyze the circumstances
Another shocking
thing, perhaps the saddest surprise of the priesthood thus far – I’ve done a
number of funerals at LOTS of parishes.
A lot of times it is for a big Catholic family, and in a lot of these
situations, the vast majority of the kids, if not all of them, have stopped
practicing their Catholic Faith. And here’s
what happens
At the funeral home or in
conversation with the children or listening to them at the funeral meal I hear
most of the kids say something like “Mom always sacrificed everything for us…or
Dad gave everything he had of himself and worked two jobs so we could eat…and
they laid down their lives for us…
And in these
situations a part of me wants to say something but I don’t, and what I’d like
to say to them, in a gentle way, is “do
you know why they did this for you? it’s
because of their catholic faith. because
they believed that jesus christ was/is real, that he was/is present in the
eucharist, and that he said we should
lay down our lives for our friends.”
For many of the
children in these situations, there is a complete failure to connect the dots
of the love they received from their parents, and the Faith that nurtured their
parents. I get the sense that a lot of
the kids in these situations see these heroic sacrifices from their parents,
but then they think of their parents’ Catholic Faith as some sort of
superstitious thing that mom and/or dad did on the side, but which didn’t
really lead to the beautiful results that the kids speak so highly of.
I want to say – “What
if your mom was an amazing mom BECAUSE she went to Mass EVERY Sunday and prayed
a rosary and read Scripture daily, went to confession regularly, etc.?”
Some will offer objections at this
point.
1)There
are bad Catholic parents. Correct. But perhaps the Catholic Faith kept a person
from worse.
2)There
are good parents who aren’t Catholic. Of
course. We’re talking specifically about
YOUR family. Did the Faith of your
parents help them become the saints that you are mentioning as you talk about
them?
3)Sacrificing
for one’s children is simply biological.
FALSE. I can walk out my door at
the rectory and within 30 seconds I can be at the door of people who buy
heroine for themselves instead of food for their children. I assure you, laying down your life for your
children is NOT simply biological
Let’s take it out
another level beyond the home. A lot of
times people praise their Catholic schooling.
“Those nuns gave everything to teach me.
Father worked really hard, year round, to keep the lights on at our
Catholic school.” And yet, how many
people, after receiving that Catholic education, put it to use, become highly
successful and leave the Catholic Faith behind?
I want to say to those people
Do you think those priests, those
nuns, those lay people who gave their lives to give you the best education in
theworld, do you think they did that JUST so that you would make partner at the
firm? JUST so that you would become the
CEO or a pharmacist or a well-paid engineer?
Do you think the
nuns at Annunciation slept in closets their entire adult life, without air
conditioning, giving up having a family of their own, a husband, wealth,
vacations, etc. simply to teach you ALGEBRA?
NO!
They did all of that because they were motivated by the Eucharist, by
the real presence of Christ in the Catholic Church, and if they can see what
some have done with their sacrifice, they are surely rolling over in their graves.
They didn’t do it
to teach you algebra, they did it to teach you algebra AND that Jesus is real,
that the Church is real, and that living your Catholic Faith and laying down
your life are HARD but WORTH IT!!!
The same thing
happens with regard to Blessed Mother Teresa, St. John Paul II, Pope Francis, etc. “Oh wow, they’re so awesome, look what they
did for the poor, look how they laid their lives down for others!” THE reason these people did that is because
of their Catholic Faith. Mother Teresa
did two holy hours before the Blessed Sacrament EVERY day, and went to Mass
every day, and prayed a Rosary every day.
That’s WHY she became the person who did the things you are
praising. Her Catholic Faith was not some superstitious hocus pocus
she happened to do before she went off to work each morning.
We can chalk all
this up to them being “religious” but let’s look at the larger historical
context here for a moment.
What religious
tradition gives more aid and charity than any other? The Catholic Church.
What religious
tradition married education and the Faith and invented the University system,
and, particularly in our own country, the system of educating its young people
in all things – the Catholic Church
What religious
tradition invented the hospital and continues to provide health care to the
poorest of the poor in our own country and indeed in countries throughout the
world? The Catholic Church.
This can’t all be
coincidence. The Catholic Faith must
have something to do with all of this.
Why do I mention
this? We hear in the readings today:
“Behold, I will bring them back, I will
gather them from the ends of the world,they
shall return as an immense throng.
I will lead them to brooks of water, on a level road, so that none shall
stumble.”
We know that the
numbers say ex-Catholics are the second largest denomination in the US. And yet, although the numbers don’t show it
yet because polling data is always a few years behind, I get the sense that, like in the reading this weekend, people are
starting to awaken to God’s call and are returning home to the Church.
They are
recognizing their blindness and want to see again.
God always calls
us home, every moment of every day, but it seems, anecdotally at the moment,
that people are starting to awaken. In
my lifetime, I would say it began with John Paul II showing the world that we
don’t have to be ashamed of our Faith and that it is instead quite beautiful
and is a source of strength, beauty, and light for us if we let it be that in
our hearts.
Certainly our
Holy Father Pope Francis has continued this thawing of hearts as he continues
to call us to go out, to call people home, to open the doors of our church, to
invite people in, to walk with them, etc.
What do we need
to do?
Do your children, even the ones who
have fallen away, know that the reason you sacrificed for them and raised them
the way you did was because of your Catholic Faith? Perhaps consider writing them a letter
informing them of that in your own words. Sometimes we take the approach of
nagging “Are you going to Church?” “You
need to go to Church!” “Why aren’t you
going to Church?” Maybe instead just
write and say, in your own words, “Hey, David, I know I wasn’t a
perfect parent, but I wanted to just let you know that whatever strength I did
have as a parent, it was because of my Catholic Faith and I wanted you to know
that.”
Do the people we help, the people we teach, the poor we reach
out to, the people that visit our hospitals, do they know WHY we are helping
them? We often choose to NOT talk about
ourselves and our good works, as individuals, as parishes, and as a
Church. “Do not let your left hand know
what your right is doing” but we do a
disservice if we help someone but don’t say anything about why we’re doing it. This weekend I bring Communion to our
sick and shutins. I’ve realized that I
don’t ever really share with them why I’m there. I’m not saying I’m going to start walking in
and shouting “I’M HERE BECAUSE OF JESUS AND I’M AWESOME!” but there might be an
opportunity to work in my motivation for being there as we have a
conversation.
“Behold, I will bring them back, I will
gather them from the ends of the world,they
shall return as an immense throng.
I will lead them to brooks of water, on a level road, so that none shall
stumble.”
Give us the strength to help get the word out that God is
calling the world home to the Catholic Church
This has been around for a while, but I thought we'd take a look at it.
It is wrong on so many levels. I'm not even going to get into anything in the chart because the question at the top is wrong on so many levels, the rest of the graphic doesn't even merit our time
Here's the graphic:
If someone shows you this and asks you want to think of it as a Catholic you can say the following:
1) No, I don't think homosexuality is sinful, if by homosexuality you mean a person that is attracted to people of the same sex.
2) Even if you mean by "homosexuality" you mean people having same sex sex, which I do think is sinful, the sinfulness of same sex sex is NOT WHY I'M OPPOSED TO GAY MARRIAGE. I'm opposed to gay marriage simply on secular grounds - I believe that marriage between a man and a woman is a first principle that any society has to be founded on. I believe that children have a right to a mother and a father. Lots of atheists are against same sex marriage - so no, my opposition to gay marriage is NOT based on my Christianity, but thanks for asking.
Rarely can one statement get as much wrong as the statement used at the beginning of this chart.
“We do not want, as the newspapers say, a church that will move with the world. We want a church that will move the world.” -G.K. Chesterton There is a GIGANTIC difference between saying "I struggle with the Church's teaching on ____________" and "I've DECIDED the Church IS WRONG on ____________"
And before you say "the Church changed on usury or slavery" please look those issues up yourself and do some studying first.
Bishop Olmsted of the Diocese of Phoenix just did something crazy. Here's the trailer:
Bishop Olmsted didn't just write a letter, he put a trailer together for it (#Blackstone Films!), but he created a website for men to visit as well. You can visit the website by clicking here: http://www.intothebreach.net/into-the-breach/
Also, what a timely topic! Masculinity and Catholicism are viewed by some as being polar opposite - and here is a bishop standing up and saying "NO!" Christ and the Church show us how to be masculine, how to use our masculinity for good, and that one need not be neutered to become a Christian.
I've been on a lot of mountaineering trips over the years, but this one was really special, and I'm not totally sure why, I'm just really thankful to God for the chance to do this kind of thing.
Part of the gratitude and uniqueness of this particular trip was the fact that my brother Nate was not able to be there. On my backpack I had my St. Pergrine medal and so every time I stopped for a break or needed to get something out of my pack, I was reminded of his suffering and I was reminded that I wasn't just climbing for myself but was also climbing to offer up my suffering for him.
Part of the beauty of the trip for me personally was also the realization that I won't be able to do this forever. Past mountaineering trips felt more like business - get the kids up safely and back home - but turning 36 a few days prior to our summit attempt, and also climbing for my brother Nate helped me realize that I'm getting older and life is fragile and these opportunities don't just happen all the time.
The students were great, the staff was great, and so many people helped us get to the point where we could even make this climb. It was a great trip, and a very spiritual adventure as well.
Jesus went off to the mountains a lot and the mountains are mentioned in Scripture all over the place. I know why.
