The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King

In 1925 Pope Pius XI instituted the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King. It is celebrated in our modern calendar on the last Sunday of ordinary time.

Pope Pius XI wished to give honor and glory to Our Lord and King as a means of overcoming problems and difficulties in both private affairs and public and political life. This feast touches on the part of life which is unique to the lay person, the world of temporal affairs. There is nothing new about the call to live our faith through our work and our ordinary life. As our Lord Jesus Christ taught us to pray to our Heavenly Father, we say, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” God’s kingdom is his reign and rule, or God’s divine activity on this earth. In the second reading from Colossians we read that by virtue of our Baptism we have been transferred into the Kingdom of God’s beloved Son. By the blood of the cross Jesus Christ has reconciled all things to himself, “whether those on earth or those in heaven.”

In this Sunday’s Gospel reading we are struck by the dramatic irony of the crucifixion and death of our Lord on the cross. A sign was posted over Christ’s head declaring him to be the King of the Jews. The rulers and soldiers derided him in his apparent weakness. Only the “Good Thief,” whom tradition remembers as Saint Dismas, recognizes Jesus as the Christ who will reign from the cross. It is through the cross that the eyes of many will be opened to see not a man dying but the cosmic reality of the Word of God. Christ is the “image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation” (Colossian 1:15). In him “all things are held together.” He is preeminent and “the head of the body, which is the Church” (Colossian 1:18).

This past week Pope Benedict XVI gave an inspiring gift to the Church in the form of an Apostolic Exhortation entitled, Verbum Domini, On the Word of God in the Life and Ministry of the Church. Pope Benedict points out that any use of human language to describe God must be seen as a type of analogy or symphony of voices, which attempts to apprehend the vastness of the Word of God. The Word of God is the Logos, the Eternal Word. He is the “image of the invisible God,” from this Sunday’s second reading. We also recognized the Word is the person of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father who became flesh through the Virgin Mary. Although the Christ event is the heart of divine revelation we can also see the Word in creation, in God’s word spoken in salvation history, in the preaching of the Apostles, and handed on in the living Tradition of the Church (Verbum Domini 7). Echoing St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Pope Benedict reminds us, “while in the Church we greatly venerate the sacred Scriptures, the Christian faith is not a “religion of the book”: Christianity is the “religion of the word of God”, not of “a written and mute word, but of the incarnate and living Word” (VD 7).

In speaking of the Eternal Word we must understand that, “everything that exists does not exist by chance but is willed by God and part of his plan, at whose center is the invitation to partake, in Christ, in the divine life” (VD 8). The Word of is the foundation of all things and the answer to the deepest longings of the human heart (VD 10). After giving us advice on how to properly understand and interpret Sacred Scriptures, Pope Benedict reminds all the faithful, “The most profound interpretation of Scripture comes precisely from those who let themselves be shaped by the word of God through listening, reading and assiduous meditation” (VD 48). After discussing the role of the Word of God in the liturgy and Sacraments, Pope Benedict calls for a greater “biblical apostolate,” but he insists “not alongside other forms of pastoral work, but as a means of letting the Bible inspire all pastoral work” (VD 73). The Bible should be the “inspiration of every ordinary and extraordinary pastoral outreach” (VD 73). The acceptance of the word leads to the mission of proclaiming the word, which for the laity involves bearing “witness to the Gospel in their daily life, wherever they find themselves” (VD 94). In 1925, Pope Pius XI envisioned the Solemnity of Christ the King as means of bring Christ’s kingship to bear on the problems and difficulties of the temporal order and on political life. This calling is directly related to our living the Word in daily life. Quoting Matthew 25, Pope Benedict reminds each of us, “The word of God itself emphasizes the need for our engagement in the world and our responsibility before Christ, the Lord of history. As we proclaim the Gospel, let us encourage one another to do good and to commit ourselves to justice, reconciliation and peace” (DV 99). Pope Benedict also reminds us, “For every member of the faithful Mary is the model of docile acceptance of God’s word, for she “kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19; cf. 2:51) (VD 87). Let us turn then to our Lady asking her to help us receive the Word as she did ready to do the Lord’s will.

 

SGM

Romancing Vampires?

Recently we have seen a tremendous increase in interest in vampires in contemporary culture.  Particularly the four Twilight series vampire-themed fantasy romance novels by American author Stephenie Meyer, and their movie spinoffs The Twilight Saga (film series).

A recent newswire reports,  “many religious scholars see the vampire as a mirror of Christianity. He is Christ's evil twin, stealing ideas and imagery from the faith's miraculous tale and twisting them into a sinister parable.” 

The Church has consistently treated the existence of vampires as superstitious folklore. In pagan environments such as early fifth century Ireland we read that, “A Christian who believes that there is a vampire in the world . . . ” is to be anathematized (Canons of the Synod of Patrick, 16). 

On the other hand, if we move to the realm of fantasy, the Catholic Church embraces the visual and literary arts.  It is not that fantasy is condemned but that a particular fantasy may contain elements which are contrary to the dignity of the human person.  In the case of modern vampire books and movies they may be demeaning to women or contain violent or deviant sexual fantasies.  Are the themes in these novels what you want your teenage daughters meditating on?

Recently in 2009, Monsignor Franco Perazzolo, of the Vatican, Pontifical Council of Culture condemned the vampire movie New Moon.  He is reported to have said, “This film is nothing more than a moral vacuum with a deviant message and as such should be of concern.”  Msgr. Perazzolo is not condemning all fantasy or even vampires specifically but the moral qualities of this specific film.  Though I must admit it is hard to the see the positive moral qualities of vampires. :)  The anti-mirror of Christ is Satan in Christian tradition.  We must not, of course, confuse God and creature, as to their being and stature, as if they were somehow equals.  God is infinite in power, while Satan is limited and a creature.

On the Feast of St. Margaret of Scotland,

SGM

Spiritual Anger

I n today’s Gospel reading Jesus rebukes James and John who wish to punish the Samaritan village for its lack of hospitality;

When the disciples James and John saw this they asked,
"Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven
to consume them?"
Jesus turned and rebuked them,
and they journeyed to another village.

In St John of the Cross’s Dark Night of the Soul, he comments on the imperfections of beginners in the spiritual life.  He uses the capital vices pride, avarice, lust anger, gluttony, envy and sloth.  Each of these can be a “spiritual” imperfection in the beginner.   He comments that “because of the strong desire of many beginners for spiritual gratification, they usually have many imperfections of anger.”  He notes “they become peevish in the works that they do and easily angered by the least thing, and occasionally they are so unbearable that nobody can put up with them.” (DNS 1.5.1).

SGM

US Bishop’s Committee Condemns Book

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Committee on Doctrine has condemned the work of two Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska professors.  They note;

 

 

 

 

Professors Lawler and Salzman published a book, The Sexual Person: Toward a Renewed Catholic Anthropology (Georgetown University Press, 2008). This book contains the same erroneous conclusion. Moreover, applying a deficient theological methodology to additional matters, the authors reach erroneous conclusions on a whole range of issues, including the morality of pre-marital sex, contraception, and artificial insemination. Because of the pastoral danger that readers of the book could be confused or misled, especially since the book proposes ways of living a Christian life that do not accord with the teaching of the Church and the Christian tradition, the USCCB Committee on Doctrine has examined the moral methodology found in the book and offers the following brief presentation of the problems posed by it.

Shiny, Happy People

She's crying again. I bet there are parents out there that do not feel frustration when their baby screams because of a gas bubble, or a soiled diaper, or for seemingly no reason at all. These parents also have their lawn mowed, their furniture dusted, their floors clean. Their teeth are gleaming and straight, their kids do not fight and always put away their toys, their fridge is full of handpicked vegetables, and they wake up with perfect hair. They are not sinless, and they would tell you so (because they are very humble). Their savings account is full, their car oil is changed frequently, and their children know how to do things like play musical instruments, sew, dance, and multiply by the ripe age of 6. If I met these parents I would not envy their strength. I would not covet their children. I would not try to emulate them. The truth is, the whole world dances before an audience of One. God "himself has suffered and been tempted, (so that) he is able to help those who are tempted."(Heb 2:18 RSV parenthesis added) Jesus sat, and I believe in so many ways still sits, with tax collectors and sinners revealing the light of the knowledge of the glory of God through His own face. He is not intimidated by my weakness, but is actually made strong through it. God the Father delights in mercy and I give Him ample reason to be delighted by asking for it. I do not want to be a perfect father. I want to be a dependent son.

Alex Weber

The Death Penalty

Recently Bishop Robert W. Finn (Kansas City – St. Joseph) wrote an article entitled, “Divine Mercy and the death penalty,” which will be published as resource for Respect Life Month in October, by US Conference of Catholic Bishops. Bishop Finn clarifies the Church’s position on this issue and urges Catholics to consider opposition to the death penalty as part of the pro-life agenda. I would highly recommend his article.

The death penalty is an issue which confuses some Catholics. Some assume that it is a matter of purely political opinion and not a theological matter. This is clearly not the case. In 1995, Pope John Paul II published a major encyclical letter, entitled The Gospel of Life (Evangelium Vitae). While Pope John Paul II acknowledges that capital punishment may have been justified in primitive societies to promote the common good and provide public safety, this is no longer the case. He points out the growing opposition to the death penalty and disputes the notion that the death penalty is a kind of "legitimate defense" on the part of society. He notes, “Modern society in fact has the means of effectively suppressing crime by rendering criminals harmless without definitively denying them the chance to reform” (EV 27) Pope John Paul II see the cases where the death penalty is necessary as “very rare, if not practically non-existent” in our modern world (EV 57). But isn’t this just the Pope’s personal opinion?

Here is where the confusion enters in. Some Catholics think that only those things which are infallibly taught by the Church need to be followed and everything else is mere opinion. This is clearly a distortion of Catholic belief. In union with the Holy Father, the Fathers of Second Vatican Council published the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. In this document, they refer to the authority of the ordinary non-infallible teaching of the Pope. We normally refer to this as the “ordinary magisterium” as opposed to the extraordinary infallible magisterium. The Council Fathers note;

In matters of faith and morals, the bishops speak in the name of Christ and the faithful are to accept their teaching and adhere to it with a religious assent. This religious submission (religiosum obsequeium) of mind and will must be shown in a special way to the authentic magisterium of the Roman Pontiff, even when he is not speaking ex cathedra; that is, it must be shown in such a way that his supreme magisterium is acknowledged with reverence, the judgments made by him are sincerely adhered to, according to his manifest mind and will. His mind and will in the matter may be known either from the character of the documents, from his frequent repetition of the same doctrine, or from his manner of speaking. (Lumen Gentium, 25)

The Catechism comments on this point quoting the above passage;

Divine assistance is also given to the successors of the apostles, teaching in communion with the successor of Peter, and, in a particular way, to the bishop of Rome, pastor of the whole Church, when, without arriving at an infallible definition and without pronouncing in a "definitive manner," they propose in the exercise of the ordinary Magisterium a teaching that leads to better understanding of Revelation in matters of faith and morals. To this ordinary teaching the faithful "are to adhere to it with religious assent" (religioso animi obsequio adhaerere debent ) [Lumen Gentium 25] which, though distinct from the assent of faith, is nonetheless an extension of it. (CCC 892)

What Lumen Gentium called the “authentic” and “supreme” magisterium, the Catechism calls the “ordinary Magisterium.” In the case of Pope John Paul II’s The Gospel of Life (Evangelium Vitae) we are dealing with a major papal Encyclical. An encyclical letter is the most formal and authoritative statement of a pope’s ordinary non-infallible magisterium and is precisely what the Council Fathers had in mind in the quote above (Lumen Gentium, 25).

Speaking of the assent or religious submission of mind that must be given to papal encyclicals the New Catholic Encyclopedia (1967) notes;

“It remains the common teaching of theologians today that this assent must be not merely a respectful silence, but a true internal, albeit conditional, assent of the intellect to the doctrines precisely as they have been proposed” (NCE V:332).

For a deeper understanding of the issue of magisterium and authority in the Church, I would recommend, Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J. Magisterium: Teacher and Guardian of the Faith, (Sapientia Press, 2007).

On the Feast of St. Monica,

SGM

Catholic Social Teaching on Democracy

Beginning with the Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum Novarum, The Principle of subsidiarity has been “among the most constant and characteristic directives of the Church's social doctrine” (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church  = CSDC 185). Subsidiarity requires that;

 

Societies of a superior order must adopt attitudes of help (“subsidium”)--therefore support, promotion, development--with respect to lower-order societies. In this way, intermediate social entities can properly perform the functions that fall to them without being required to hand them over unjustly to other social entities of a higher level, by which they would end up being absorbed and substituted, in the end seeing themselves denied their dignity and essential place. (CSDC 186).

The Church acknowledges that it may sometimes be necessary for states to intervene in to supply certain functions. The justification for such intervention is of an exceptional nature and should not continue any longer than is absolutely necessary (CSDC 188)

The Compendium tells us that a clear implication of the principle of subsidiarity is the further principle of “participation” by which “the citizen, either as an individual or in association with others, whether directly or through representation, contributes to the cultural, economic, political and social life of the civil community to which he belongs” (CSDC 189). Participation is considered one of the highest aspiration of the citizen and “one of the pillars of democratic orders and one of the major guarantees of the democratic system” (CSDC 190). In fact every democracy must by definition be participative (CSDC 190, (Centesimus annus, 46). Participation is a common duty and responsibility, fulfilled consciously with a view to the common good. Participation can be achieved in a variety of social contexts, but is essential to democracy and jeopardized by totalitarian or dictatorial regimes, “where the fundamental right to participate in public life is denied at its origin, since it is considered a threat to the state itself. (CSDC 190).

SGM

Democracy and ‘Civil Friendship’

Today is the Feast of St. Louis, King of France. Celebrating the life of a holy king might lead us to reflect on the modern notion of politics in light of Church teaching.  Pope John Paul II saw it as self-evident that democracy was better than Marxist totalitarian government and by extension other governments which “usurp the power of the State for individual interests or for ideological ends.”  In a series of social encyclicals Pope John Paul II comments on the need to reform disordered governments in the world:

 

Other nations need to reform certain unjust structures, and in particular their political institutions, in order to replace corrupt, dictatorial and authoritarian forms of government by democratic and participatory ones. This is a process which we hope will spread and grow stronger. For the "health" of a political community - as expressed in the free and responsible participation of all citizens in public affairs, in the rule of law and in respect for the promotion of human rights - is the necessary condition and sure guarantee of the development of "the whole individual and of all people." (Sollicitudo rei socialis 44)

This is a clear endorsement of democratic government and the responsible participation of its citizens.  Four years later, in 1991, Pope John Paul II adds;

The Church values the democratic system inasmuch as it ensures the participation of citizens in making political choices, guarantees to the governed the possibility both of electing and holding accountable those who govern them, and of replacing them through peaceful means when appropriate. Thus she cannot encourage the formation of narrow ruling groups which usurp the power of the State for individual interests or for ideological ends. (Centesimus annus, 46). 

He also acknowledges that “Authentic democracy is possible only in a State ruled by law, and on the basis of a correct conception of the human person.” (CA, 46).

This is a clear advance in the development of the Church’s social doctrine.  We cannot say the Church is agnostic about the best form of government.  The Church clearly prefers government that upholds the values of electing and holding accountable those who govern and of the free and responsible participation of all citizens in public affairs. Only in authentic democracy do we find these values.  At the same time he notes, “The Church respects the legitimate autonomy of the democratic order and is not entitled to express preferences for this or that institutional or constitutional solution” (CA, 47).  There are many different ways to implement democracy, but there are also solutions which do not reflect “authentic democracy.”

While democracy is a general ideal, the particulars can be very problematic.  There are many who have grown very cynical about the particular democracies they live in. On might ask (purely for the sake of argument) would a society be better off with a good monarch or benevolent dictator rather than a bad democratic government?  To explore this question one might begin by asking, what makes a monarch/dictator “good” or “bad”?  It would seem to be the character or virtues of the leader.  In the same way we might ask, what makes a democracy “bad”?  It would seem to be not the fault of democracy as an institution, but of the bad character of its citizens.   The Compendium of Social Doctrine acknowledges that democracy requires virtue from its citizens to achieve its intended ends.  The Compendium notes,

The profound meaning of civil and political life does not arise immediately from the list of personal rights and duties. Life in society takes on all its significance when it is based on civil friendship and on fraternity. The sphere of rights, in fact, is that of safeguarded interests, external respect, the protection of material goods and their distribution according to established rules. (CSDC 390)

The notion of civil friendship is taken from St. Thomas Aquinas.  It is not the external forms alone which give meaning to political life. The citizens are required to live the virtue of solidarity.  Is this possible?  Is total cynicism about governments justified?  The compendium acknowledges that;

Civil friendship understood in this way is the most genuine actualization of the principle of fraternity, which is inseparable from that of freedom and equality. In large part, this principle has not been put into practice in the concrete circumstances of modern political society, above all because of the influence of individualistic and collectivistic ideologies. (CSDC 390).

While this ideal has not been fully practiced in our modern political societies this may be the result of “individualistic and collectivistic ideologies” which impair freedom and equality.  Ultimately this highlights the political problem as an interior one.  What the world of politics is lacking is not only external forms of government which promote justice but conversion of heart and catechesis in the common good.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us,

It is not the role of the Pastors of the Church to intervene directly in the political structuring and organization of social life. This task is part of the vocation of the lay faithful, acting on their own initiative with their fellow citizens. Social action can assume various concrete forms. It should always have the common good in view and be in conformity with the message of the Gospel and the teaching of the Church. It is the role of the laity "to animate temporal realities with Christian commitment, by which they show that they are witnesses and agents of peace and justice." (CCC 2442).

The real answer to the problem of politics is the universal call to holiness.  We need citizens who become contemplatives in the midst of the world.  Our life of political action must be animated by our interior conversion.  St. Louis, Pray for us!

On the Feast of St. Louis,

SGM

St. Teresa on Friendship

In the Second Mansions of Interior Castle, (p. 24) St. Teresa of Avila talks about God speaking to us through good conversations while a few pages later (IC, p. 27) she takes up the theme of “evil companionship”.

Friendship is a natural part of being human. In relation to our faith, friendships can be either negative or positive. Christian tradition has displayed some ambivalence regarding human friendships. Many of the most profound teachers in the ascetical tradition warn about the inherent dangers of certain kinds of friendships. St. Theresa of Avila (The Way of Perfection Chp 4), St John of the Cross (The Dark Night of the Soul, I.4); St Francis de Sales (Introduction to the Devout Life, III, 20-21) all warn about the spiritual dangers of friendships in which the supernatural element does not dominate. Our friendship can be a distraction, or false consolation which leads us away from God. In other cases the closeness of friendship can lead to infidelity and inappropriate physical intimacy.

While these warnings are real they do not represent the whole picture. In St Augustine’s Confessions the theme of friendship is present throughout the work. Much of the beginning of Confessions concerns the failure of his earlier friendships. Although he observes that friendship can be an occasion of sin when pursued for the wrong ends, he does not focus purely on the negative. St Augustine notes, ‘Human friendship is also a nest of love and gentleness because of the unity it brings about between many souls’ (2.5.10). St Augustine is able to delight in the natural aspects of friendship we all enjoy (Confessions, 4.8.3). St. Augustine’s notion of friendship is purified through his conversion (Confessions, 8). Friendship with Christ leads to the proper ordering of all human relationships.

Matthew Levering has pointed out that for St Augustine, “the ascent of the soul to friendship with the divine Trinity occurs through the friendship in and with Jesus Christ by the action of the Holy Spirit. This friendship takes effective shape in the community of believers, the church as the mystical Body of Christ united by her sacramental participation through the Holy Spirit in Christ’s saving work” (IJST,9.1,2007, p. 10).

 

SGM

Interior Thoughts of Precedence

St. Teresa writes In the Way of Perfection,  “Be very careful about your interior thoughts, especially if they have to do with precedence.”  We might wonder why concerns about who is first, or who works the hardest, or who is being treated better in our community would have an impact on contemplative prayer.  She asks, can God not grant consolations in prayer to those who are less detached than this?  St. Teresa acknowledges that God in his infinite wisdom can grant consolations to whomever He pleases.  These consolations will lead the soul to become detached and humble in any environment.  This detachment will be harder for those who dwell outside the cloistered religious life, but she acknowledges that this experience is for everyone.  This is an important thought.  The Church teaches that there is a universal call to holiness based on our Baptismal vocation.  This must also imply that there is a universal call to experience contemplative prayer.  The universal opportunity for these graces does not mean they are universally experienced, but the call to holiness remains for each of us. 

Even for those in a cloistered life the dangers of pride and attachment to worldly things remains.  These disordered desires lead to a lack of progress in the interior life.  She notes,

Though persons who do so may have spent years in prayer, or rather in meditation (for perfect prayer eventually destroys [all] these attachments), they will never make great progress or come to enjoy the real fruit of prayer.

It is very likely that a lack of progress in the interior life is a result of yielding to the temptations of pride and worldly attachments. St. Teresa writes; “God deliver us from people who wish to serve Him yet who are mindful of their own honor.”

St. Teresa’s teachings are the perfect backdrop for this Sunday’s readings.  Qoheleth writes; “Vanity of vanities!  All things are vanity!” (Ecc 1:2; 2:21-23).  Jesus’ parable of the Rich Fool highlights the short-sightedness of being focused on attachments to things in this life (Lk 12:13-21).  It has been pointed out that six times in the short discourse by the rich man he refers to himself.  It is not the possessions themselves, but his extremely self-centered attitude which is the problem.  We must let go of our own desires and turn our hearts to God.

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time,

SGM

Learn more about St. Teresa this Fall in our upcoming Bishop Helmsing Institute course Writings of the Saints, which will be a book study of her work, The Interior Castle.

Why do we shrink from interior mortification?

In her work, The Way of Perfection, St Teresa of Avila asks;

Why, then, do we shrink from interior mortification, since this is the means by which every other kind of mortification may become more meritorious and perfect, so that it can be practiced with tranquility and ease?

If we pause to reflect on our thoughts we will find that we often engage in what we might call magical or fantasy thinking.  What would my life be like if I had more money, or a different job, or if I lived somewhere else?  We might even be tempted to think, “What would my life be like if I had a different spouse?” 

I remember meeting a Christian marriage counselor who had literally worked with thousands of couples whose marriages were in distress.  From the collected experience of all these couples he told us that in most cases, “the dream or fantasy of the other lover, almost never equaled the reality.”  The grass on the other side of the fence was not really greener when you were standing in it.

St. Teresa tells us that interior mortification “consists mainly or entirely in our ceasing to care about ourselves and our own pleasures.”  We often fail to live in the moment.  We have ordered our dinner in the restaurant and then we wish we had ordered what we see on someone else’s plate. We are like children fighting over who got the biggest piece of cake.  How much easier it would be to give up the cake if we ceased to care about our own interests? 

We can mortify ourselves in many small ways. What if we purposely choose a smaller piece of dessert?  Without even being noticed, we could eat more of something we do not like, or leave out something small that accompanies what we like.  We can exercise control over our eyes.  Perhaps the most difficult task is to discipline our thoughts.  We can leave something unsaid that draws attention to ourselves.  We can do the hardest job first without procrastinating about starting it.   St. Josemaria Escriva offers a helpful piece of advice, “Choose mortifications that don't mortify others” (The Way, 17).

Of course God is not calling us to live a completely joyless life without pleasures, but our little acts of detachment help our natural loves to be ordered as God intended them. 

Holy Mary, Our Hope Seat of Wisdom,

Pray for us,

SGM

Learn more about St. Teresa this Fall in our upcoming Bishop Helmsing Institute course Writings of the Saints, which will be a book study of her work, The Interior Castle.

Seeking Interior Detachment

In her work The Way of Perfection, St. Teresa of Avila highlights three important virtues for the interior life. She lists love for each other,  detachment from all created things, and finally, true humility.  She notes that although she put humility last it “is  the most important of three and it embraces all the rest.”  For Teresa humility is simply being honest about yourself.

I would like to focus on the idea of detachment. Some people today might think the ideas of penance, self-denial and mortification are old fashioned.  Is mortification out of keeping with the Church after Vatican II?  Clearly this is not the case. Even in the documents of the Council we read about penance and self-denial in Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (LG 8, 10, 36; cf. SC 9).  In the Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity we read:

The laity should vivify their life with charity and express it as best they can in their works. They should all remember that they can reach all men and contribute to the salvation of the whole world by public worship and prayer as well as by penance and voluntary acceptance of the labors and hardships of life whereby they become like the suffering Christ (Apostolicam actuositatem, 16).

Detachment can be both exterior or interior. We can give up the exterior world by fasting, or through observing silence.  St. Teresa warns that we should not “feel secure or fall asleep” because we have engaged in exterior detachment.  It is actually our interior detachment that renounces the self-will “which is the most important business of all.”  She counsels us to keep in mind the “vanity of all things and the rapidity with which they pass away.”  She warns that even with regard to small things, “we must be very careful, as soon as we grow fond of them, to withdraw our thoughts from them and turn them to God.”  It is only through this inner detachment to self that true humility can enter because humility and detachment always go together.

Holy Mary, Our Hope, Seat of Wisdom, Pray for us,

SGM

Learn more about St. Teresa this Fall in our upcoming Bishop Helmsing Institute course Writings of the Saints, which will be a book study of her work, The Interior Castle.

 

Finding a Good Spiritual Director

One very important ingredient for vibrant spiritual life is to find a good spiritual director. For many people this person will also be their confessor, but this is not necessary. It is possible to have a separate confessor and spiritual director. It is even possible to have a lay person who acts as a spiritual director.

St. Teresa of Avila shares some advice on this topic in her work, The Way of Perfection. She suggests that first of all a spiritual director should combine both learning and spirituality. Having said this, she goes on to tell a story about a man she had as a confessor who had a “complete course in theology” but who departed from the Church’s traditional teaching in his counsels to her and caused “a great deal of mischief” in her interior life. As result of this experience St. Teresa advises that we should be free to change our spiritual director if they are not helping us. This freedom was more difficult for St. Teresa’s cloistered nuns than for the average lay person. The current Code of Cannon law specifies that all the faithful are free to choose the lawfully approved confessor of their choice (CIC 991). We are free to go to the confessor we feel helps us the most, even if they are not our parish priest.

St. Teresa advises that since “it is difficult to know which confessors are good, great care and caution is necessary.” One danger she highlights is that of vanity. One very obvious sign of vanity is someone who champions their own personal views or “I believes” over the “We believe” of the Church. Is the confessor or spiritual director willing to “think with the Church”? Again the Code of Cannon Law specifies that “In administering the sacrament, the confessor, as a minister of the Church, is to adhere to the teaching of the magisterium and to the norms laid down by the competent authority” (CIC 978.2) Clearly we would desire the same standard for our spiritual director, if they are not also our confessor. Another point along the same lines is the problem of some confessors not wanting to hear confessions which are frequent and only consisting of venial sins. The Church encourages all the faithful to confess even their venial sins (CIC 988.2). We receive specific graces to overcome the sins we confesses. By his own example and words Pope John Paul II promoted the practice of frequent confession. He notes,

In the name of the Lord Jesus, let us give assurance, in union with the whole Church, to all our priests of the great supernatural effectiveness of a persevering ministry exercised through auricular confession, in fidelity to the command of the Lord and the teaching of his Church. And once again let us assure all our people of the great benefits derived from frequent Confession (Ad Limina Address to Canadian Bishops, November 1978)

One common concern I hear is that while a particular priest is evidently both holy and “thinking with the Church”, I am told he is too young, or too inexperienced to be the director of someone who is older. Here I would point to St Teresa’s example. At the age of 52 she took St. John of the Cross to be her director. At that time he was only 25 years old! This is roughly the equivalent of a young priest right out of seminary. I think we must trust in divine graces. The Holy Spirit will guide our director to help us. We should pray for our director and trust in God’s ability to use them for our benefit. While it certainly is difficult to find a good spiritual director, it is well worth the effort to find one.

Learn more about St. Teresa this Fall in our up coming Bishop Helmsing Institute course Writings of the Saints, which will be a book study of her work, The Interior Castle.

On the Feast of St. Lawrence of Brindisi,

SGM

 

Resting Well

The Catechism reminds us that, “To God, all moments of time are present in their immediacy” (CCC 600). We, one the other hand, move through time and experience the seasons and years as they pass. As we move into the summer season, our culture invites us to rest and relax. Finding time for recreation is important. Many people in our culture are living frantic overscheduled lives. Many families cannot even find time to eat together once a week. Often the culprit isn’t our employment, but children’s sports.

Finding time to rest is important, but even more important is how we rest. In his book Furrow, Saint Josemaria Escrivá wrote;

I have always seen rest as time set aside from daily tasks, never as days of idleness.

Rest means recuperation: to gain strength, form ideals and make plans. In other words it means a change of occupation, so that you can come back later with a new impetus to your daily job. (Furrow 514)

I am not suggesting that you cannot catch up on the sleep that you have missed by not keeping a schedule during your normal work time. You may need to sleep in and of course you will wish to socialize and not follow the strict schedule you use during work. It is very easy though, to fall into a pattern of disordered life which leaves God out of the picture.

For me at least the hardest time to keep up my scheduled prayers is during weekends and breaks. It is even more difficult if I travel and visit relatives. You would think that with more time on my hands it would be easier to pray, but this is not always the case. If we remember that our prayer life is a battle, we cannot like Switzerland in the Second World War, declare ourselves neutral and stay out of the conflict. If we are not progressing forward we are likely sliding backwards.

With some effort we can plan our vacation so that in includes our spiritual life. Could we maintain a daily schedule of prayer, or read some spiritual book? Could we use the time to attend Mass more often? At a bare minimum have we planned out how we will make our Sunday obligation as we travel. With use of the internet it is difficult to claim ignorance. Of course this does mean we will spend the whole day in spiritual exercises. We can still go fishing, or hiking, boating. We can still spend time with family and friends.

As fathers we might also reflect on our responsibility to provide a healthy environment for our children. If you have teenage boys or girls and you plan a trip to the beaches in the south of France or Spain your family is likely to be shocked by the visuals. While clothing optional beaches might be the extreme, we might ask about the effect of regular beaches and swimming pool environments on our family. If you have the option to take a wilderness float trip, or hike instead this might be a better choice. Saint Josemaria Escrivá wrote about this in his book The Way,

'There's no denying the influence of environment', you've told me. And I have to answer: Quite. That is why you have to be formed in such a way that you can carry your own environment about with you in a natural manner, and so give your own 'tone' to the society in which you live.

And then, if you have acquired this spirit, I am sure you will tell me with the amazement of the disciples as they contemplated the first fruits of the miracles being worked by their hands in Christ's name: 'There's no denying our influence on environment!' (The Way 376)

Notice that Saint Josemaria talks about living in “a natural manner.” While we may make different choices than our neighbors, we don’t have to act odd or annoying in order to live our faith well. Our fashion choices and may be more modest and our beer consumption will hopefully be more tempered, but we can still have fun. We can develop our own environment wherever we might be. St. John Chrysostom notes, “It is possible to offer fervent prayer even while walking in public or strolling alone, or seated in your shop, . . . while buying or selling, . . . or even while cooking” (Ecloga de oratione 2).

It is also worth noting that God holds us accountable for our use of time. Recreational time is an opportunity for the cultural formation of our family. We might visit a museum, study a foreign language, or read a great book. We should try to lead our family away from the ever present screens. We might plan to travel to the Ozark Mountains where even AT&T has no bars of phone reception!

The main idea is to plan our summer and resist the easiest path which is frequently not the best one. Our spiritual life takes constant effort. We must not let down our guard.

SGM

Nativity of St. John the Baptist

June 24th is the feast of the Nativity or Birth of St John the Baptist. There are only three such “nativity” feasts in the Church’s calendar; Christmas, the Nativity of our Lady and the Nativity of John the Baptist.
Referring to John the Baptist, Jesus says that “among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11) and further that for those who can accept it “he is Elijah, the one who is to come” (Matthew 11:14). John the Baptist forms a transition in the history of God’s work of salvation. John brings to an end the old and heralds the new. Malachi had prophesied that God would send a “messenger to prepare the way” of the Lord and foretold the return of the prophet Elijah before the coming of God’s kingdom (Malachi 3:23). John the Baptist fulfills the role of the herald or final prophet pointing to the coming Messiah. While the former prophets foretold a future kingdom, John the Baptist pointed to the actual king, saying “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). While the former prophets where moved by the Spirit, John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit in the womb and greeted our Lord at the Visitation by leaping in the womb.
I would like to suggest that the graces received by John in the womb are a type or a foreshadowing of the graces we receive in Baptism. The grace John received gave him a very specific vocation. He was called to be a witness and a herald to the coming Messiah. For John this involved a call to live a life of prayer and holiness. This foundation of prayer led John to courageously live out his daily life in relation to his faith, and further gave him the authority to call others live a greater unity between their faith and their daily life.
The fathers of Second Vatican Council have pointed out that each of us has a specific vocation based on our Christian Baptism. In Baptism we have been joined to Christ and so every one of us is called to be a holy. Each and every baptized Christian is called to be a saint. This vocation requires that we be more deeply joined to Christ in prayer and that the foundation of our Christian life be a deep understanding of God as our Father. The inner transformation of our soul should result in an impact on our daily life.
During the Second Vatican Council the fathers noted that the “breach between faith and daily life among so many must be considered one of the more serious errors of our time” (GS 43). While this was certainly true at the time of the council it is even truer today. Many people today live their faith one way, but their marriage in another way. Others live their faith one way but their business practices another way. Others separate their faith and their politics, or their faith and their respect for human dignity. As remedy to this problem the council admonishes us to follow the example of Christ. Like Christ who worked as a carpenter, the faithful “must fuse all human effort, domestic, professional, scientific, and technical in a vital synthesis with religious values which coordinate everything in the highest way to the God’s glory” (GS 43). This vital synthesis might be called a living a unity of life.
On this Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist let us courageously allow our faith to impact every area of our life.
SGM

The New English Translation of the Roman Missal: The Greeting

 

Perhaps the most common dialogue in the Liturgy of the Roman Rite consists of the greeting :

Dominus vobiscum
et cum spiritu tuo

Since 1970, this has been translated as:

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.

As a part of the revised translation of the Roman Missal, now taking place, the translation of this dialogue has been revised, to read:

The Lord be with you.
And with your spirit.

St. John Chrysostom gives us a brief commentary on the greeting (Et cum spiritu tuo) And with your spirit.

"If the Holy Spirit were not in our Bishop [referring to Bishop Flavian of Antioch] when he gave the peace to all shortly before ascending to his holy sanctuary, you would not have replied to him all together, And with your spirit. This is why you reply with this expression….reminding yourselves by this reply that he who is here does nothing of his own power, nor are the offered gifts the work of human nature, but is it the grace of the Spirit present and hovering over all things which prepared that mystic sacrifice." (St. John Chrysostom, Homily on Holy Pentecost)

It seems that spiritu is a reference to the gift of the spirit the bishop/priest received at ordination.  In effect we are greeting the bishop/priest acting in the person of Christ through the powers of his priestly ordination.

On the Feast of the Sacred Heart of of Jesus

SGM

 

The Immaculate Conception of Mary

In the year 1854 Pope Pius XI proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.  He noted;

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.

This doctrine seeks to explain how Jesus could be born without original sin. Jesus was free from original sin because Mary was preserved from the stain of original sin from the moment of her conception.  Although this is a distinctively Catholic solution to the sinlessness of Jesus, Protestant theology also needs to provide an answer.  How was Jesus conceived without original sin? One might ask, is the doctrine of the immaculate conception scriptural?  Obviously the exact language of the immaculate conception isn’t found in Scripture but the same could easily be said for the doctrine of the Trinity.

The scriptural background to this doctrine is found in the words of the Angel Gabriel in Luke 1:28.  The Catholic edition of the RSV translates the greeting of the Angel Gabriel as;

Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!

The Angel Gabriel’s greeting begins, with the Greek word chaire or “rejoice.” In Latin this would be  “ave” which we traditionally translated “hail.”  This greeting is filled with Old Testament connotations.  In many Old Testament passages Zion is invited to rejoice in the coming messianic joy of the Kingdom (Joel 2:21-23; Zeph 3:14; Zech 9:9). There is a clear connection here between Zephaniah 3:14-15 and Luke 1:28.  The Catholic Jerusalem Bible preserves the poetry of Zephaniah;

Shout for joy, daughter of Zion;

Israel shout aloud!

Rejoice, exult with all your heart,

daughter of Jerusalem!

Yahweh has repealed your sentence;

he has driven your enemies away.

Yahweh, the king of Israel, is in your midst;

you shall have no more evil to fear.

One is particularly struck by the words “the Lord, the king of Israel is in your midst” in connection with the incarnation.  The Angel Gabriel continues, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" (Luke 1:28, RSVCE).  The Greek word behind RSVCE translation “full of grace” is kecharitōmenē.  This is a highly inflected form of the word charitoō.  This word is quite rare in the Bible.  Fr. Ignace de la Potterie notes the following points about this word;

The verb charitoō is a member of the class of verbs ending –oō called instrumental, causative, or factitive verbs.  In a religious context causative verbs would express the transforming of the person acted upon--the effect that grace has on someone.  The verb kecharitōmenē in Luke 1:28 is a perfect passive participle.  Being acted upon is also the normal sense of the passive voice and antecedent action is the basic meaning of the perfect tense.

An awkward but extremely accurate translation would be, "Rejoice in the transforming grace you have received, for the Lord is with you!” A much more succinct translation would be “Hail, [Mary] full of grace”.  It is possible in translating the participle to emphasis either the verbal aspect as indicated in the above translation or to turn the action into a title “the-one-having-been-transformed-by-the-grace-you-have-received.” This explains the NAB translation which renders the verse, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.”  Yet following the NAB it is difficult to communicate the full impact of the Greek verb in the title “favored one.”  Mary is the “favored one” because God has chosen to transform her with his grace to prepare her for the incarnation.

While the Church has supplied the the exact moment that Mary received this transforming grace as the moment of conception, Luke 1:28 clearly points to this.  At some point prior to Mary receiving  the angel’s greeting she had already been transformed by grace in preparation for the incarnation.  The formal definition of the dogma simply clarifies the details of the nature and timing of this grace;

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.

Luke 1:28 is clearly a strong scriptural support for this doctrine.  Holy Mary, Our hope Seat of Wisdom, pray for us!

On the Feast of Corpus Christi

SGM

The Perpetual Virginity of Mary (part II)

In part one of this post I discusses the famous “until” of Matthew 1:25.  Another type of evidence that is taken by modern Protestants as self-evident proof that Mary did not remain a virgin is the fact that the New Testament Scriptures frequently speak of the “brothers” and “sisters” of the Lord.   We can see that there was a group of persons closely connected with the Jesus in the New Testament who are called “his brothers or sisters” or “the brothers of the Lord” (Matt 12:46, 13:55; Mark 3:31-32, 6:3; Luke 8:19-20; John 2:12, 7:3-5; Acts 1:14; I Cor 9:5). 

The normal use of the word “brother” is for one who is the son of the same parents.  This would naturally seem to imply that  Mary and Joseph entered in to normal conjugal relations after Jesus was born.  What initially seems self-evident can sometimes dissolve in cloud of possibilities.  I personally have a brother but we were both adopted and, therefore, this fact does not say anything about our biological relations to our parents.
Three Views Since Antiquity:
In fact there have been three views on this subject since antiquity.  It seems that the tradition of the Church strongly remembers Mary’s perpetual virginity.  The consensus both East and West was that Mary had remained a virgin.  This consensus was challenged by Helvidius in the late forth century.  Helvidius maintained that the Scriptures, by naming the brothers and sisters of Jesus, demonstrate that Mary did not remain a virgin.  This view was condemned by the Church as a heresy.  It might be interesting for modern Protestants to realize that even Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli, acknowledged Mary's perpetual virginity.  How then did the Church answer what seems today as self-evident in Scripture?

The early forth century bishop St. Epiphanius recorded the Eastern tradition that the “brother and sisters” of Scripture were in fact children of Joseph by a previous marriage.  According to this tradition Joseph as a young man married a woman who was not Mary and had a family.  Later his wife died and as older man he marries the virgin Mary who intends from the start not to have relations with him.
This view affirms that the perpetual virginity of Mary since the brothers would merely be "half-brothers" of Jesus, at least in the eyes of the public (Jesus has no earthly father).  It would be natural in a blended family to refer to each other as brother and sister without more careful qualifications. 
In the West St. Jerome proposed  that the “brothers and sisters” were not the children of Joseph or Mary but were cousins of Jesus. 
During my teaching career in public school I taught English as a Second Language for a few years and I recall one instance where I was teaching a group of South Asia students from the Punjab province of India.  I asked one of the young students how many brothers and sisters he had and he answered with a surprisingly large number that I now cannot recall, but I think it was something like 16 or 21.  The other boys then laughed and spoke to him in Punjabi and he said, “Oh, I mean three.”  The boy was speaking English which clearly distinguishes between “brother” and “cousin” but because this boy was thinking in Punjabi he made a mistake in English.
Jerome proposes a similar problem in the Biblical text. He argues that the confusion which exists between “cousin” and “brother” in Aramaic affected the use of this term in the Greek New Testament.  Jerome proposes that the “brethren” are actually the sons of Joseph’s brother Clopas who is also married to a women named Mary. 
One could take the possibilities further and ask what might have happened if Clopas had died and Joseph had taken over the care of both families.  Clearly the mere fact that Scripture mentions individuals call “the brothers of the Lord” does not conclusively prove anything.  One must reconcile the data of Scripture with the strongly held memory of the Church both East and West that Mary remained a virgin.  As I also pointed out above this memory was not even abandoned by the Protestant reformers! Apparently what is self-evident depends on whether you are wearing ancient or modern glasses.

The Perpetual Virginity of Mary

One of the key defined Marian doctrines for Catholics is the Perpetual virginity of Mary, or the belief that Mary was a virgin before, during and after he birth of Jesus.  When we dialogue with Christians from outside the Catholic Church this belief does not strike them as intuitive.  Many times they will bring up the verse from Matthew’s Gospel which reads;

When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, but knew her not until (= Greek: heôs hou) she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus(Matthew 1:25).

Following the normal understanding of the word “until” in English the verse seems to imply that Joseph and Mary began to have normal conjugal relations after Jesus was born.  The Greek words heôs hou in Matthew 1:25 can be can be translated either: “until” referring to a past fact or “while” referring to a contemporaneous event.  The grammar is also complicated by the preceding negative.

It is interesting to observe other passages of Scripture which employ the same construction in Greek.  In Matthew 5:25 we read “Settle with your opponent quickly while (heôs hou) on the way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge,. . .”   Similarly in Matthew  14:22 we read “Then he made the disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side, while (heôs hou) he dismissed the crowds.”  In this last example if the words were translated “until” is would mean that Jesus continued to dismiss the crowd for the entire length of time it took the disciples to sail across the sea of Galilee!

The leading  three volume critical commentary on Matthew notes on Matt 1:25:

“This retrospective observation does not necessarily imply that there were marital relations later on, for heôs following a negative need not contain the idea of a limit which terminates the preceding action or state (cf. Gen 49.10 LXX; Mt 10:23; Mk 9.1)” [W. D. Davies and Dale C. Allison, Matthew (International Critical Commentary) Vol 1, p. 219].

What seems intuitively true in English is not so clear in the Greek. The over-riding truth is that the Church remembered the life of Joseph and Mary and proclaimed that Mary remained Ever-virgin.

Will There be Sex in Heaven?

When teaching college students I have frequently been asked this question. Jesus gives us the answer in today’s reading.  In Mark 12,  Jesus has a encounter with the Sadducees who do not believe in the resurrection from the dead.   In response to a absurd fictional scenario, Jesus replies,

Are you not misled because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? When they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they are like the angels in heaven. (Mark 12:24-25)

In his second encyclical, Pope Benedict XVI proposes a similar distortion;

But then the question arises: do we really want this—to live eternally? Perhaps many people reject the faith today simply because they do not find the prospect of eternal life attractive. What they desire is not eternal life at all, but this present life, for which faith in eternal life seems something of an impediment. (Spe Salvi 10).

Many people today have a very distorted picture of Heaven.  They are afraid that Heaven might be boring or that heavenly existence might leave out some important earthly pleasure or attachment they personally value here on earth.  We must remember that the God who created the earth and all that is in it and declared it to be “very good”  (Genesis 1:31) is the same God who created Heaven.  Simply being in the presence of God will be the fulfillment of every desire.  We will not be missing any earthly thing. St. John tells us in the new heaven and the new earth God “will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain” (Revelation 21:4).

 

Having said this, must we view Heaven as an other worldly experience with no continuity to our present life? Is heaven a kind of eternal choir practice among the clouds?  First it must be recalled that we will have bodily existence in Heaven and that if we take hints from Jesus resurrected appearance we may still eat and have a social existence (Luke 24:42).  There is another interesting note in the book of Revelation Chapter 21 were we are told about the New Jerusalem.  We are told that the kings of the earth will bring in their treasure into the heavenly city and that “the treasure and wealth of the nations will be brought there” (Revelation 21:26).  Rather than suggesting that God will make all things new, I think this suggests that he will make new all things.  Rather than beginning creation over with a blank slate, God will remake creation with a continuity to what is holy in the previous creation.  Obviously there won’t be complete continuity, but I don’t think we need to think of eternity as having no correspondence to our current earthly realty.  As St. Therese of Avila is reputed to have jokingly said, “God and chocolate is better than just God.”  Of one think I am certain, Heaven will not be boring!