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
“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.
There is a VAST difference between the following two statements
1) I WISH Pope Francis would say __________________________________
and
2) Pope Francis SHOULD BE saying ________________________________
The Church says that ONE MAN is in position to be guided by the Holy Spirit on what to say, when to say it, and on what not to say and when not to say it. That is the Pope.
If you've decided that the Pope should be saying something that he's not, that is a VERY DANGEROUS manifestation of spiritual pride, and, to put it simply, you should check yourself, particularly if you are a Catholic.
A person who is saying #2 above has NO IDEA what the Holy Spirit is putting on Pope Francis' heart. We may get to Heaven one day and there see that the Holy Spirit was putting something on Pope Francis' heart, and Pope Francis ignored it (and that will likely be something we'll all see happened to all of us at some point) but to say you KNOW that the Holy Spirit IS putting something on Pope Francis' heart, and that you KNOW he's not responding properly is simultaneously arrogant and ignorant and is to claim powers of insight that no human person actually has.
We know, as Catholics, that there are certain things that the Holy Father will never come out and say, but beyond that, in terms of what the Holy Spirit is telling the Holy Father to address, we can only ever guess. Until we're made Pope.
