Theology of the Body - Talk 1

Pope John Paul II starts his series of talks by emphasizing that, when asked about marriage, Jesus twice used the phrase 'from the beginning' to bring his listeners back to the early words of Genesis concerning marriage - making it clear that 'what God has joined together, let not man put asunder'. That marriage is not to be dissolved. He said that Moses allowed divorce because of the hardness of the hearts of the Hebrews, but that from the beginning that was not meant to be a suitable ending to marriage.

Theology of the Body

I'm reading 'Theology of the Body' for Beginners, by Christopher West. It isn't that easy to understand - I'm obviously not ready for the more advanced books. But I'm starting to see what it's about.

Basically - God has a marvelous plan for us here in this world, and it involves our bodies. We are made in His image. The marital act is meant to be an icon of trinitarian love, and celibacy is even better (or something like that). Obviously, I need to read and study this a lot more :)

Mixing it up

I teach Faith Formation to 10th graders at St John/St Mary's. Tonight I thought we had another mini-retreat so didn't prepare anything. We had regular class, and it didn't go great. I 'mixed it up' again.

Last weekend I attended a Youth retreat - about 200 young people and maybe 80 adults were there. This was really Catholic - the blessed sacrament was exposed on a 'burning bush' alter which also had 80 lit candles, and was about 7 feet high. There were about 10 priests there, and confessions were going on all during the three day retreat. The music was awesome. I got to 'mix it up' with a lot of very fired-up young people. It was great.

In today's gospel, when Jesus encountered the 10 lepers - it was a 'mixed up' group: there was at least one foreigner, and that person turned out to be the only one grateful enough to go back and say thank you.

Rejoice in hope

It seems like I spend the most away-from-the-day-job time either trying to find some thing (like an address or a credit card receipt or the date and time of an appointment I forgot to write down, or some other piece of paper), or trying to find some one to volunteer for something I said I'd get volunteers to do. Maybe it's just that these tasks seem to take forever. For me, this 'finding' time is usually very frustrating, very discouraging. I'm fearful of failure, but the thing or person I'm looking for is nearly always found! Just like God taught the Israelites in the desert to depend on Him by sending manna every morning, I think He's teaching me by helping me find things and people on a regular basis.

So, as Paul says in the first reading from today's daily mass from his letter to the Romans (12:5-16ab), let us 'Rejoice in hope.' I need to worry less and hope more.

banquets

Tonight I along with 5 others fixed dinner at the homeless shelter in Appleton - it was our Knights of Columbus night. We served 25 adults and 11 children. The people I talked to thought the food was great. I was happy to see the gospel reading for today - which is given below:

Gospel
Lk 14:12-14

On a sabbath Jesus went to dine
at the home of one of the leading Pharisees.
He said to the host who invited him,
“When you hold a lunch or a dinner,
do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters
or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors,
in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.
Rather, when you hold a banquet,
invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;
blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.
For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

The Eternal Galilean

I'm reading Bishop Fulton Sheen's book 'The Eternal Galilean' and am almost done with it. It was written in 1934 and the book I have was published in 1956 and has the price on the cover: 25 cents.

Bishop Sheen talks a lot about the cross. The horizontal bar is the bar of death, the bar of humanity. The vertical bar is the bar of life, the bar of divinity. As Christ died his body pointed toward heaven while his arms reached out to embrace the world.

The nationwide 40 days for prayer and fasting to end abortion ends tonight. I wasn't planning to go to the Appleton abortion mill, but was talked into it by a friend - probably won't stay until midnight, but will be leaving in 30 minutes.

Please pray for the end of abortion.

Evangalization

This morning while preparing for the sacrament of penance, I was pondering the question of where I have most disappointed myself in efforts to do God's will. I decided that it was in trying to convince or influence others to turn closer to God and to His church. It seems like the fruits of these labors have been scanty indeed. There are probably many reasons - some of which I'm not aware and/or don't understand. However, the awareness of this 'area of opportunity' hopefully will help me focus on it in the future, particularly in my prayers.


Paul's words in this sunday's 2nd reading were particularly comforting to me, regarding this issue:

Reading II
2 Thes 1:11-2:2

Brothers and sisters:
We always pray for you,
that our God may make you worthy of his calling
and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose
and every effort of faith,
that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you,
and you in him,
in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.


So, if bringing people - friends and family - closer to God and His church is a good purpose and an effort of faith, I have assurances today that Paul is praying for my success.

All Saints

Today is All Saints Day.

The mother of my friend Dave is coming home from a nursing home tomorrow. She suffered a stroke a few months ago. Thank you, Lord.

In the paper this week an atheist said there is no proof that God exists. It reminded me of Jesus' story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man, suffering in hell, asked that someone from the dead go to warn his brothers so they wouldn't suffer the same fate. He is told that even if they were visited by someone from the dead, if they wouldn't listen to the prophets, they wouldn't listen to their visitor.

God wants us to find him, but we have to take some initiative. If we harden our hearts, he may stay away.

For those of us who worry about our wayward friends and relatives, we need to pray harder. God will hear us.

Faith, Riches, and Responsibility

Jesus said " to whom much has been given, much will be required."

I used to think He was talking in terms of material goods. Now I think it had more to do with faith.

Those rich in material goods are likely poorer in faith than those who voluntarily give up a large portion of their material goods as they try to serve God, or than those who choose a vocation focused more on serving God than on making money. Those richer in faith likely have a better grasp of what God expects of them, and know that working hard for and holding onto material goods is not what God wants. "No man can serve two masters".

To one who has been given great faith, great sacrifice is more likely to be required.

Oops

The 28th was the feast of St Jude - I said it was the 29th. Sorry about that.

Objections

Two friends of mine have similar objections to christianity in general and the Catholic faith in particular:

One objects to religious wars, and objects to teachings about sexuality that he believes cause pain and suffering. As an example, he objects to teachings about not using condoms which he believes lead to unwanted pregnancies and diseases. He also thinks christianity is not compatible with science - since it rejects evolution.

The other objects to a God so cruel He would cause souls to suffer unmercifuly in hell for eternity.

All of these objections have answers. There are (at least) two difficulties though: one is that there are evil forces in the world trying to keep the truth from my friends, two is that my friends don't have at this time the intense desire needed to seek out the truth and understand it, in spite of obstacles. They don't think they will find the truth in the Catholic church.

Prayer warriors are needed. We have to do our best when given the chance to explain our faith, and then count on the Holy Spirit to do the real 'Heavy Lifting'.

Lost Causes

Today is the feast day of Saint Jude, a relative of Jesus and the patron saint of lost causes. I think of him more often than other saints because there are a lot of 'lost causes' to pray for.

Wise men and Shepherds

I only have a few minutes today - I'm leaving shortly to help prepare and serve the evening meal at a local homeless shelter - and from there to go to our local planned parenthood abortion center to pray and witness for a few hours.

Bishop Sheen noted that only two types of people were invited to the manger in Bethlehem: Shepherds who were simple, and believed without understanding, and wise men who were smart enough to know what they didn't know, and were teachable. And today, according to the Bishop - those are the only two classes of people who really enter the church - those simple enough to believe everything the church teaches without questioning, and those wise enough to learn until they understand WHY the church teaches what it does.

The Eucharist

Each time I go to to mass, during the consecration I try to remember that I am witnessing a miracle - the transformation of bread and wine into the body and bread of Jesus. It is the greatest miracle in history, and I get to witness it at every mass I attend.

And each time I receive communion I try to remember that that moment is the greatest moment of my life - I am receiving the real body and blood of my savior.

There is nothing as awesome as mass. Nothing even relatively close.

I heard on Relevant radio recently an interesting analogy explaining why the church teaches that those who are not in full communion with the Catholic church cannot receive the Eucharist. It's similar to why the church teaches that sex outside of marriage is wrong. When we marry we commit ourselves as men in a sacremental union to love our wives with all our strength while we live, and if called upon to even sacrifice our lives for them. It is only in this unbreakable union that the incredible gift of sexual union can be properly exercised and nurtured. Sexual relations signify a lifetime covenant. Similarly, it is only when we have committed ourselves to a full communion with the Catholic church, accepting in faith all of it's teachings - its Traditions and intrepretations of the Word of God expressed in those books of the Bible it has determined to be divinely inspired, that we can receive the full grace and benefits of the reception of the body and blood of our Lord and savior in the holy Eucharist.

Anglican Mass Conversion?

I heard on Relevant Radio today that a number of Anglican churches in multiple countries around the world have petitioned the Holy See for all members of these churches to become Roman Catholics as a group, and that 400,000 Anglicans are involved. Wouldn't that be amazing!

It's late

And I'm tired. But am going to try to say something useful anyway.

John Webster, who died about 1625, was the son of a tailor and a member of a tailor's guild himself. He wrote some good poetry. A snippet from 'The Devil's Law Case' reads as follows:

Vain the ambition of kings
Who seek by trophies and dead things
To leave a living name behind,
And weave but nets to catch the wind.

If we focus on anything other than loving God with our whole heart, mind and soul; loving our neighbor as ourselves; and trying to figure out and follow God's will for us, we 'weave but nets to catch the wind', no matter how much fame and fortune we accumulate.

Pain (continued)

If pain diminishes with time, then given enough time, even the greatest pain will diminish to something unnoticeable. If life goes on after death for eternity, then there is enough time, and any pain any of us go through in this life will 'soon' be forgotten in eternity.

A few years ago my son slipped on some sand while riding his bike and broke his wrist. At the time the injury was very painful, and he suffered for a few weeks in an uncomfortable cast. The injury healed, though, and today I'm sure he doesn't think of his wrist at all. I.m sure because a similar accident happened to me when I was twelve. I still have a distorted bone in my hand because of that accident, but don't think about it regularly at all. Any of us can think of experiences which were extremely painful at the time, maybe for a period of time, but now are not troubling to us at all. In many cases we look on those times as learning experiences.


But, we all also know there exist much much more painful and longer lasting hurts that many people have experienced and will experience in the future. I have a friend who had a stroke a few years ago and now is in a wheelchair and dependent almost totally on his sister for care. He will probably never get much better in this life. We've all read reports of far worse injustices and evils, such as the near extermination of the Jewish people in WWII and more recently the genocide in Rawanda. Tremendous natural disasters such as hurricane Katrina also show that there is great natural evil in the world.

But, if life goes on forever after death, then the effects of evil experienced by someone who was murdered on killed in a natural disaster, or tortured for many years, will also be forgotten eventually. To illustrate, if Hitler was 'only' made to suffer 1000 years of great pain (in fire, for example), for EACH SECOND of pain he caused to each of the MILLIONS of people harmed in any way by the Nazies before and during WWII, the time he would suffer would still be less than a drop in a teaspoon pulled from the ocean of eternity.

Pain

I remember at least two people (one very recently) who have told me they have trouble believing in a God who would allow so much pain and sorrow in the world.

When I was in school studying mathematical logic, we were taught how to start with definitions and axioms (self-evident truths), and prove theorems. The theorems were of the form: if X is true than it follows that y must be true. Very complex but internally consistent mathematical systems have been developed this way. Following a parallel train of thought, I've found what I think is an interesting and logical way to convince, at least myself, that God can be generous and loving beyond anything that we can even imagine, yet still allow the pain, suffering, and sorrow we see in the world.

The arguement starts with three axioms. In math, we were taught that you can't argue with an axiom - you don't prove an axiom, you just show that certain things must be true, given the truth of the axiom. As I said before, mathematics is internally consistent but doesn't have to reflect reality - it just so happens to reflect reality often enough that it has been found to be very useful.

So here are the three axioms, and I may provide a little reasoning as to why we should start with these:

1. Eternity is a long time. This one is self evident. No matter how many years or centuries you can conceive of, multiply that number by 1000 a thousand times more, and you haven't left the beach into the ocean of eternity.
2. Pain tends to grow less with time after the source of pain is removed, especially if healing is allowed to take place,. We've all experienced this with little pains - we hit our fingernail with a hammer and at the time it is very painful, but many months (maybe years later!) no signs of the pain remain.
3. God allows life to go on after death. I'm trying to show logically how God could be generous and loving beyond imagining and at the same time allow all the pain and suffering we see in the world. My way to do this (I'm not going to try to convince you NOW that it's the only way) is to add this third axiom.

The proof will have to wait - time to take my daughter to her concert.

Bigger Barns

In the last few years I've found myself asking more frequently: "What does God want of me?" Or even: "what does God want me to do about some one particular decision?" I like to think that if I knew exactly what I was supposed to do - life would be easier - I'd just do it.

Sometimes the fog clears and I see that He is speaking constantly if I just pay attention. At communion service this morning the gospel reading was from Luke, where Jesus tells about the rich man who had a good harvest and decided to build bigger barns, and then died that very night. Jesus calls him a fool. Sounds like he was telling me: "you have too much - share more".

The kick-off

I wrote the poem in the blog description probably two years ago. There were other verses, but so far none seem right. Maybe some day the next verses will exist. But for now...

As men, we are meant to be soldiers of the cross of Christ. We have been called, and we must do our duty. There is a great spiritual war going on in our world today, and it isn't going well. Large and important battles have been lost and we can see the effects: millions of innocent babies murdered through abortion, genocide in Africa, wars in the middle east, terrorism, great poverty, sexual degredation, environmental destruction, and on and on and on.

It reminds me of the situation on June 18th of 1940, after France had fallen, before the United States entered World War II, when England stood alone against what looked like the invincible might of Hitler and his armies. Sir Winston Churchill stood up and, speaking for England in particular and the entire free world in general, made one the most eminent speeches in history. I don't think it's wise to believe we are in any less perilous a situation today. It might be best, in fact, to take Sir Winston's words (the last sentence of his famous speech) - adopt them to our current situation, and say: " Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves so that, when the Catholic church and brotherhood of christian communities last ten thousand years, men will say, "This was their finest hour."

A lot of relatives and friends of mine have blogs - it's easy to start one but not so easy to keep it going. I've decided to try to write at least a little each day in this one. With God's grace and the help of my guardian angel, I'll hopefully be able to do so.