Jumping Without A Chute

Feast of St. Augustine

Today is the feast of my patron, (not in name but in life.) Each year that passes removes me further and further from my youth and yet I still feel like I just left Baltimore. Is it that way for everyone? Did my grandparents look in the mirror of their minds eye and see themselves young? The path I followed to get where I am, full of both good and bad decisions seems far shorter than the 2 decades that have elapsed since I began what is considered "adulthood" although I still had plenty of growing up to do.

I still  struggle with focus upon the "I", with reminders provided by family and friends that no it really isn't all about me. I wrestle with doubts and questions of how and what I believe but, Faith draws me back like a lodestone each time. The words of Augustine, Aquinas, Bellarmine, Sertillanges, Plato, Aurelius, et. al., provide bookmarks and folded page corners to remind me where I left off and where to begin again. I often find myself in conflict with people who ignore or deny the importance of the intellect in the development of a mature faith. My faith would not be what it is were it not for intellectual exploration and growth. It was the lack of intellectual exploration and explanation that led me away from it in the first place. It was St. Augustine's Confessions that led me back.

As St. Augustine had St. Ambrose, there are many to whom I am grateful for feeding my mind with thoughts, ideas, debates, and making it grow. Fr. Art who started it all, Fr. Jack, Fr. Fran, Fr. Ken, Fr. Anthony, Fr. Marty, Rabbi Amy, Rev. Evan, Sheema,  Ismail, Allan Wright, and so many others, thanks.

 

-"Unless you believe, you will not understand."

St. Augustine of Hippo

Today's Gospel

For some reason, there have been numerous hits on my blog from Google searching for "today's Gospel Reading" that being said, please see below:

 

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 25:1-13.

Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, there was a cry, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise ones replied, 'No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.' While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. Afterwards the other virgins came and said, 'Lord, Lord, open the door for us!' But he said in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.' Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

St. Monica

Originally posted in 2004 with addition below:

Today is the feast day of Saint Monica. How many mothers have identified with her at some point in their children's lives. I am positive my own mother has. I was a son who wandered off and pulled stunts that made the prodigal son look like a missionary. Yet still my mother prayed for me hoping that at some point I would find my way back.

Reflection: I read Confessions (thank your for the copy Fr. Art, I still have it) and I wonder; How much pain did Augustine cause his mother? How many nights did he stumble home only to wake up facing her sad expression? How often did he seem to forsake all of the gifts and talents that he had been given simply because there was an easier path to follow?

As a son who walked in the path of Augustine, I think of St. Monica today and I think of my own mother. The gifts my mother gave me will outlive any material thing that I sought to attain as I attempted to ignore what she had given me. A love of learning, an appreciation for art and music, the introduction and continued development of my faith, the ability to forgive.

This was the original post I made 6 years ago. Six years later and the sentiments are still the same.  As a parent I see in my daughters their potential and hope to give them the best upbringing that we can. Like Monica's son, I have no desire to see my children follow exactly in my footsteps. Six years later the forgiveness hurdle is still one I struggle with but, progress is being made.

Bishop Ochoa and That Annoying Catechism

   Bishop Armando Ochoa recently publicly rebuked a priest of his diocese for declaring what is actual Catholic teaching. Bishop Ochoa then decided to add his interpretation of Catholic teaching and offered lukewarm and tepid feel good, Jesus without the Cross, type drivel to the people of his diocese. He of course relies on the (cue St. Louis Jesuits in the background), Spirit of Vatican II© concept of The Buddy Christ and makes liberal use of the word compassion, (almost puts one in mind of the GOP back in 2000.) He forgets a remark made by Archbishop Sheen, (a man who is ten times the Shepherd Bishop Ochoa could ever hoipe to be) that "The Cross without Christ is justice without mercy and that Christ without the Cross is mercy without justice."  Maybe Bishop Ochoa could spend some time reading theology rather than making it up as he goes along.

Happy Blogiversary To Me

6 years ago today I began this blog as an exploration of my faith and to keep our scattered extended friends and family in the loop regarding Dana's pregnancy with Elizabeth. 6 years later and we have been joined by Gianna and aniticiipate the arrival of baby #3 in February. While I don't blog at the same frenetic pace as then I am glad to continue to have the opportunity to do so. I have met some great people through the birth and growth of this blog, had some great debates, and emerged, (I think), a better person for those connections. May God Bless and Keep all who visit the blog and we'll see what the next 6 years bring!

Pro-Abortion "catholic" Groups Oppose Honoring Mother Teresa

The following is a press release from The Catholic League

The following letterheads have signed a statement affirming the decision by officials from the Empire State Building not to light the towers on Mother Teresa's centenary:

Catholics for Choice
Call to Action
Chicago Women-Choice
DignityUSA
FOSIL
National Coalition of American Nuns
New Ways Ministry
Roman Catholic Womenpriests—USA
Take Back Our Church
Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual
Women's Ordination Conference

Catholic League president Bill Donohue responded this way:

If all the dues-paying members of these organizations were assembled together in one spot, they would easily fit into a phone booth. No matter, these ex-Catholics are so pro-abortion that they are now on record of wanting to deny Mother Teresa a tribute on the 100th anniversary of her birthday.

The good news is that the Catholic League will lead a rally on behalf of Mother Teresa on August 26, right outside the Empire State Building. We have the support of people from all over the world, and from all the world's religions. Indeed, I will meet today with the Most Rev. A.A.S. Durairaj SVD, the Bishop of Khandwa, India; like all the other bishops from India that have contacted us, he supports our campaign to honor Mother Teresa.

Even those who are not pro-life are on our side, which just goes to show how extreme the dissenters are. But as long as they remain marginalized, they are of no historic moment.

The disgust I feel for the above mentioned organizations is hard to describe. I have more respect for the most bigoted, virulent, unapologetic, and dedicated anti-catholic than I do for them, as they have the courtesy to cal themselves protestant rather than those who claim to be "the church" while doing their damndest to destroy it.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet: Bishop AND Shepherd

In a recent article at Catholic Exchange, author Patrick Craine writes about Cardinal Marc Ouellet who will now play a key role in aiding the Holy Father in the selection of Bishops:

Bishops “need spiritual discernment and not just political calculation of the risk of the possibility of the message being received,” said Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the newly-appointed prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops, in an interview this week.

“We have to dare to speak to the deep heart, where the Spirit of the Lord is touching people beyond what we can calculate,” he told Canadian Catholic News’ Deborah Gyapong.

During Cardinal Ouellet’s eight years as the archbishop of Quebec City and primate of Canada, he has become known as one of the country’s greatest defenders of faith, life, and the family.

This past spring he drew sharp criticism, from within and outside the Church, after he reaffirmed the Church’s teaching on the sanctity of unborn life, even in cases of rape. He later unapologetically reiterated his views on abortion in a press conference arranged to address the controversy.

Earlier this week the head of the Quebec Bishops Assembly, Bishop Martin Veillette, suggested in a critical interview that while Ouellet has desired to “emphasize certain points of view that he considers important,”  “There are times when it is more important to keep silent than to speak.

“There are things like that, sometimes, that you need to know how to manage,” he said. “It’s a bit delicate.”

But in the recent interview, Ouellet said that in addition to fearlessly preaching the teachings of the Church, bishops must embrace them deeply.  “Then you have the power of conviction,” he said.

“If you state it only formally and in the end you do not really want to see it applied because you don’t believe that it is possible that people accept it, you are in trouble for the transmission of the message,” he added.

The cardinal, further, said the Church needs what Gyapong called a “new intellectual dynamism” to “recapture the spirit of Christianity” and “create a new Christian culture.”

“We need intellectuals for that, theologians, philosophers, Christians who really believe in the Gospel and share the doctrine of the Church on moral questions,” he said.  “We have suffered from this mentality of dissent” that is “still dominating the intelligentsia.”

“There is no real discipleship there, real discipleship,” he added. “The discipleship that is emerging is from those who believe and who really love the Church.”

Continue Reading the Story

  One need only look at many dioceses in the United States to understand the need for a better process in the selection of Bishops. We are a Church where, in many places, the shepherds have gone astray. Bishops who spend more time writing letters for their annual appeal than they do to defend Church teaching. Bishops who compromise and dilute teaching and enjoy media attention, (similar to Pharisees of another day demanding places of honor)  but are intolerant of dissent from those who demand that Church teaching be upheld or that those who engaged in the crimes of pedophelia and ebophelia be held accountable. The Bishop who replaced Cardinal Ouellet is a prime example of this kind of "leader." May we see more Bishops in the mold of Cardinal Ouellet and fewer Borgia-like Bishops who are in the world and of it.

Feast of St. Pius X

  

   Today is the feast of  Pope Saint Pius X . A man who emerged from the 19th century into the beginning of the 20th.  The time in which he was elected Pope saw a world where nation-states toyed with the idea of and were eventually plunged into war. He saw a world where modernism, nihilism, and existentialism rebelled against faith and reason. He saw a world in need of a resurgence of faith. Emphasis on the Eucharist, Gregorian Chant, the catechism in the vernacular, the codification of Canon Law, and  the reorganization of the Curia and how the Vatican interacted with other nation-states. All were actions taken to bring the Church to interact with the modern world to be in it but not of it. Ora pro nobis.

Vatican Library to Reopen 20 September

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In late July, a young woman was removing books from shelves in the Vatican Library and vacuuming the dust off of them, one by one.

Scholars have not had access to the library's 1.6 million books, hundreds of thousands of manuscripts, or its coin and medal collections since 2007, when the absolute-silence rule in the library's reading rooms was replaced with the ruckus of jackhammers, drills and cement mixers.

But, as promised three years ago, the Vatican Library will open its doors Sept. 20, sparkling clean and stronger than ever.

Continue Reading the Story

A Tale of Two Churches

   Yesterday, Dr. Gerald Nadal posted this as his Facebook status:

"Tonight we went to 7:30 Mass. No Homily on the Assumption. A Maryknoll Priest stood in a half-empty Church on a Solemnity asking for money to spread the faith overseas. Was I the only one to catch the irony?"

   I don't know the name of his parish but, I imagine that it probably bears a strong resemblance to many churches throughout the country yesterday. Marian devotion is something that is paid lip service to in May so that mom and dad can get a picture of their daughter crowning Mary. The importance of the Patroness of the Americas is lost on generations of Catholics who were taught heretically that "we are the body of Christ" and that those ideas like Marian devotion, novenas, fasting, feast days, and solmentities were old fashioned and that "Vatican II says we don't have to do that anymore."

   You can compare this to our parish this weekend. It is a small parish in a blue collar town that used to be a company town. The average parishoner is by no means wealthy and there is a helathy mix of race, class, age, and gender. While not standing room only, the Saturday mass was filled to the point that pew space was limited and the Sunday masses are usually the same. This in a town with two Roman Catholic churches, 2 Russian Orthodox churches, a Byzantine Catholic church, a Ukranian Orthodox Church, and 1 or 2 non-denominational churches. The landmass of the town is 2 and a half square miles. The Roman rite parishes are overseen by the Redemptorists, all of whom are natives of Poland. There are several deacons, a school linked to one of the parishes, and all told a pretty active community. In Polish accented English, the priest reflected on the beauty of Mary and his love for her. While English was not his first language, his love for Mary was quite apparent. It was beautiful to hear a son of Poland express his love for Mary when, the day before, we celebrated the Feast Day of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a man who gave his life with the name of his and our Mother on his lips.

   There is a need for evangelization in the rest of the world but, perhaps the Maryknolls could consider spending time preaching the Gospel instead of wasting their time protesting yet again at the School of the Americas, (which by the way hasn't been named that in YEARS.). Perhaps they could focus on the mission of the Church founded by Jesus Christ to bring people to God rather than jumping on whatever left wing political cause de jeure happens to be  popular that week. Perhaps they could learn more from orders like Fr. Groeschel's Friars of the Renewal, (who I am sure focused on the Assumption this weekend), and understand that evangelization starts with The Word. Perhaps they could spend some time with the Redemptorists here who seem to have no problem with evangelizing regardless of anyone's language.

Perhaps this message could be carried back to Bishops who worry more about the color of the ink on the balance sheet than they do about the colors of the liturgical season. Bishops who would allow a major Marian feast to be hijacked by another heterodox order looking for money. Perhaps those Bishops would see the half empty church and consider if people are leaving the church or they are allowing the church to leave the people. If the flock isn't being fed, if in fact the flock isn't nourished but more wool is demanded, then the shepherds are at fault. My parish is lucky to have good shepherds, maybe we could send a Redemptorist to spend some time with Dr. Nadal's parish, I am sure he could accomplish more than the Maryknolls.