The Early Church - A Socialist Utopia In The Making???

First reading	Acts 4:32-37 ©

The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul

The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul; no one claimed for his own use anything that he had, as everything they owned was held in common.

  The apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus with great power, and they were all given great respect.

  None of their members was ever in want, as all those who owned land or houses would sell them, and bring the money from them, to present it to the apostles; it was then distributed to any members who might be in need.

  There was a Levite of Cypriot origin called Joseph whom the apostles surnamed Barnabas (which means ‘son of encouragement’). He owned a piece of land and he sold it and brought the money, and presented it to the apostles.

Good day comrades!  First of all, let me say that if you are looking at the graphic, you are probably saying, "Comrade Michael the Lesser, there is a difference between socialism and communism."  Comrade Michael the Lesser would respond, "Yeah, but this picture caught my attention so I thought I would use it."  But, the scripture passage is often used to state that the early Church was trying to set up a socialist utopia here on earth. Well, while it sounds like the seeds of socialism have been planted, they really were not.  The Church has never said one form of government is better than another, except it has condemned communism because of its atheist dogma and lack of respect for the human being.  The Church, on the other hand, has cautions for all types of government.  She wants governments to be servants of the people and not the people to be servants of the government. But what do we have here in our passage?  We have some of our fellow Catholics turning their possessions into money, which is then used to help less fortunate members of the Church.  This is a completely voluntary thing while in socialism and communism this generosity would be compelled by the state.  

With what we know today, wouldn't it be a great experiment to see if we could have the benefits of socialism?  No, not really.  Socialism has a tendency to fall apart.  Religious and pseudo-religious communities come and go, they all have a couple of things in common.  First, the surrendered property starts out helping everyone but soon enough the funds are diverted to help the founder of the group and his or her appetites get more and more extravagant.  For example, do you remember the televangelists Jim and Tammy Baker?  They hauled in millions and instead of using it for their ministry they used it to pamper themselves.  There were extravagances aplenty including jewels and furs for Tammy, vacations in hotels that featured gold plated toilets and sinks, antique Rolls Royce automobiles, two of them, I guess "his and hers."  Their ministry fell apart due to scandal, Jim was found in an intimate encounter with another man by Tammy. Then all of the excesses and theft from the church coffers came out, and Jim was sent to prison, initially for forty-five years which was later reduced to eight years.   

Perhaps more socialistic in nature was Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple.  Jim was an old-fashioned film flam man but he did not seemingly start this way.  He started as a person concerned with social change and the ending of racial segregation in our country. He gathered a large following and he became friends with politicians and thus had political clout and he knew how to use it.  Through the years the temple evolved into less of a religious organization and more of a political one.  At one point, Jim condemned the Bible as a book full of lies.  He demanded his followers sign over their property to him and that he would take care of them. Eventually, Jim decided to build a utopian community in Ghana. Several hundred of his followers left everything behind and went to Ghana with him.  He was a pill popper.  He took pills to wake up, to go to sleep, to walk, to talk, any reason was good enough for him to take a pill.  The effect of all of these drugs made him paranoid.  When a US Senator came to investigate rumors that people were being held against their will, Jim decided that the time had come and he induced his followers, nine hundred of them, to swallow poisoned Kool-Aid and they all, except a few that escaped into the jungle, died.  Jonestown was a monument to Socialism. 

What the scripture passage tells us is simply that the people in the early Church were inspired to be generous and inspired to help those less fortunate.  The Church was not setting up a new socialist government, the Romans would not have approved, but they were setting up, as Christ told them to do, the Kingdom of Christ on earth.  We can thank those early Catholics (Yes, Catholics) for the example that they showed us. We can thank them too for showing that Christianity is compatible with many forms of government.  

Lent - Day Five - Temptation and Grace

Gospel	Luke 4:1-13 ©

The temptation in the wilderness

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit through the wilderness, being tempted there by the devil for forty days. During that time he ate nothing and at the end he was hungry. Then the devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to turn into a loaf.’ But Jesus replied, ‘Scripture says: Man does not live on bread alone.’

  Then leading him to a height, the devil showed him in a moment of time all the kingdoms of the world and said to him, ‘I will give you all this power and the glory of these kingdoms, for it has been committed to me and I give it to anyone I choose. Worship me, then, and it shall all be yours.’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Scripture says:

You must worship the Lord your God,

and serve him alone.’

Then he led him to Jerusalem and made him stand on the parapet of the Temple. ‘If you are the Son of God,’ he said to him ‘throw yourself down from here, for scripture says:

He will put his angels in charge of you

to guard you,

and again:

They will hold you up on their hands

in case you hurt your foot against a stone.’

But Jesus answered him, ‘It has been said:

You must not put the Lord your God to the test.’

Having exhausted all these ways of tempting him, the devil left him, to return at the appointed time.

We arrived at the oasis late on Saturday night.  We tended the camels, put up our tents, and ate a wonderful dinner and sat around the campfire together.  Some of our number, myself included left the circle and went to the neighboring caravan where a party was being held and to say that we joined in would be the understatement of the decade.  The wine was flowing, the dancing was beautiful and after a hard day of labor, it was great to let loose.  That is where the problem came in for me.  My head was dizzy with wine and I saw her.  Her face was the face of the woman of my dreams, her nose was perky and her eyes shimmered in the light of the bonfire. Her movements to the music were like the moves the cobra uses to confuse and hypnotize his prey.  I was hypnotized and approached her.  She smiled at me and pulled me into the circle.   I began to move in time to the music always watching those dark, mysterious, shimmering eyes.  A shudder went through my body and I reached and touched her face with the back of my hand and felt cool, smooth flesh and I looked and her smile beckoned me to do more.  I had been in the company of bearded men now for five days and had not seen a woman in that time so I would have been interested in her even if she had a humpback, harelip, and smelled like a goat.  I was entranced.  She danced and I followed her every move and she got closer and closer to her tent and with a coy smile, she entered it.  I made the move to follow so as to sample the treasures this desert blossom would provide.  Then, something made me stop.  I was a married man, I had no right to sample the charms of this desert flower, the Master had explained how sacred was the bond between man and woman when they married that no one on earth could break that bond asunder.  I turned on my heal and ran from the party, the men sitting around who had been watching me laughed and pointed their fingers at me.  The vixen came out of the tent when I failed to enter and something made me turn and look at her.  I then saw that her beauty concealed danger.  And being laughed at or not, I made my way back to our caravan and with my head still spinning I took my place at the fire.  I noticed then that the Master was looking intently at me. He gestured to me and I came to Him and we adjourned to a private place away from the others.  We sat facing one another and I looked into His eyes.  There was no disdain or even judgment in them only a love that ran as hot as lava and as deep as the ocean.  I felt compelled by my conscience to tell Him everything that had transpired, how I had allowed myself to be tempted and how I willingly would have violated my wedding vows had I stayed at the party for even a moment longer.  He said this to me:

"My son, I understand what happened to you for I was tempted sorely by the devil himself after a fast of forty days.  He offered me food, power, and treasure and I can honestly say that for just a moment, I thought that I might accept a small piece of bread for I was very hungry.  But then I realized that should I do so, my mission here would be over because the devil would have won.  He quoted scripture to me, and I spouted it back to him.  Eventually, I wore him down and he departed in disgrace.  What you did, drinking until drunk and then allowing the devil to tempt you with a loose woman was sinful because you made the choice yourself to drink and to consort with a prostitute and you walked that path with full knowledge that it would have you away from God.  Your punishment should you have had to stand before The Father would be terrible.  But I, your Master, offer you forgiveness if you grant me your word that you are sorry."

Tears formed in my eyes and I told the Master that I was heartily sorry for all my sins and with help of God's grace, I would sin more and stay away from things that were sinful.  He said that "This is all that is required.  Go and sin no more. I absolve you of  all of your sins."

One of my companions who had accompanied me on the excursion to the party sat down next to me and told me how all of the men in the other caravan were laughing and wagging their head at me because I did not prove my manhood by entering the tent of the woman.  He said that he did and was going to regale me with what happened when he happened to see the Master looking intently at him, gesturing him to come and visit.  My friend looked at the Master and shook his head, left the fire and retired to his tent to sleep off the wine.  The Master sat back in His chair, visibly saddened.  I looked at him, He saw me, our eyes met and the universe was made a better place by His smile.  Tomorrow was Sunday, we would rest here at the oasis and no labor other than the preparation of meals and the tending to the camels would be undertaken.  Considering the amount of wine I had consumed, this rest would be needed and would be a good thing.  I fell onto my cushion.  I heard the voice of Samuel speaking to one of his fellow camels and then I fell into a restful and very deep sleep.

A Servant's Work Is Never Done

Jesus said to the Apostles:
"Who among you would say to your servant
who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,
'Come here immediately and take your place at table'?
Would he not rather say to him,
'Prepare something for me to eat.
Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink.
You may eat and drink when I am finished'?
Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?
So should it be with you.
When you have done all you have been commanded, say,
'We are unprofitable servants;
we have done what we were obliged to do.'"

This passage from the Gospel of Luke is not one of my favorites.  In the "make you feel good scale" where one indicates a real bummer and ten puts you on cloud nine, I would rate this as a three. Now, just because I don't like it doesn't mean I don't appreciate what it says.

It is part of human nature to place a premium value on the time we have expended and effort made to complete a task.  For example, a movie star works for six solid weeks on the next blockbuster hit that will make him or her the talk around the dinner table nationwide, at least that is what they think.  The movie comes out and it is panned by the critics and people stay away from it in droves and the movie is quickly forgotten by all but the star of the same.  He or she worked very hard and did not get the recognition that they felt that they deserved.  Oh, did I mention, they were paid six million dollars for their part?  So this person held his/her labor at one sport on the spectrum while others did not hold it in such esteem.  But they were paid the wages that they agreed to accept for their work and that should make an end of it but inside the star was looking for more. 

In our relationship with Christ, we must always be ready to do more.  Even if we follow faithfully absolutely everything He tells us to do, we are doing only the minimum.  We have to be ready to come in from the fields and serve Christ.  There was no saint that was more cognizant of this fact than St. Francis of Assisi.  Francis worked his whole life building up his order of poor men.  His time was all spoken for,  He prayed late into the night and considered his welfare secondary to the welfare of his brothers.  When his time on earth was almost over, he told his brothers, "Let us begin now, for until now we have done nothing."  

Please Read, Please Help the Poor Souls in Purgatory 

We have a very loving God.  He sent us His only Son who took upon Himself all of the sins of the world, past, present, and the sins yet to be committed.  All of these sins were forgiven when Jesus died on the Cross.  For this, we must be forever grateful.  But, if Jesus died and all sins were forgiven why would a place like Purgatory be needed?  Isn't this slapping the crucified Christ and telling Him that His saving death was not enough?  Actually, no.  Read further and hopefully, my poor attempt at an explanation will help you understand.

Once I was playing softball in a vacant lot across from my childhood home.  In Chicago, we play Clincher softball.  A Clincher is a large softball and it is played using underhand slow pitch. I was up at bat and the pitcher sent me a beautiful pitch, it was coming in low and slow, just where I liked them to be.  I swung the bat but was a bit too early and I tipped the ball to the first base side and it hit the fence of the house behind our field and went through a window making a crash that I swear was heard around the world.  Suddenly, I was the only person standing in the field.  There was no point in running away, the neighbor knew who played in the field.  He came out and surveyed the damage.  I looked at him and was very scared. He saw I was alone and said to not worry, that this could be fixed. and that I was forgiven because accidents happen.  He measured the window and said he would be back soon with the glass.  Shortly he came back and he removed the broken pieces, laid in a fresh bead of putty and the window was as good as new.  He then turned to me and gave me the receipt for the glass and asked if I would please ask my parents to give me the money for the glass.  I looked at the receipt, it was for five whole dollars - a fortune for a kid who was making twenty-five cents a week for an allowance.  I gulped and went to see my Dad. There was no sense in seeing Mom about this, she would just send me to Dad.  He said he saw what happened, looked at the receipt and pulled out his wallet and gave me the five dollars.  He did not holler, he said accidents happen and he would front the money and I could do extra chores to pay him back. 

So in our little story, we have an offense, a broken piece of glass.  We have repair of the issue and forgiveness, but we still had to deal with repaying my father for the money the glass cost.  I was forgiven, but the effect on the family budget had to be cured, I had to restore what I had broken. These extra chores can be likened in a very imperfect way to purgatory.  We all sin on earth and our sins are all forgiven but we have left on our soul the effects of our sins. The sin is gone, but the stain, caused by our attachment to sin, remains.  It is this stain that those of us in Purgatory are getting rid of.  Heaven is a place where no evil is allowed to exist because it is a place where we see God face to face.  

When we die in the grace of God, we will still have all of these stains that have to be bleached out. For example, when you died, you hated George because he stole your pencil (or whatever) and you left earth with this on your soul.  What would happen if you met George in heaven?  Discord at the very least would follow.  So you, yourself, will choose to go to purgatory because in your love for God you will know that this burden needs to be fully released.  

Purgatory is a painful place.  The pain comes from the fire of God's love and your longing to be with Him in heaven.  Purgatory is also a joyful place because all of the people there know that at one point in the future this suffering will end and they will be with God in heaven.  The souls in Purgatory pray unceasingly. The sad part is that they cannot pray themselves out of Purgatory.  The time for making up for temporal punishment for sins is while we are on earth through our prayers and sacrifices.  So the Poor Souls, some who have been there for centuries as we reckon time, need our help, our prayers, and our sacrifices to help them escape Purgatory and enter heaven earlier than they might if depending on themselves. Purgatory is a joyful place.  If you were to offer a poor soul the chance to come back to earth, he or she would reject that choice because of the great happiness they feel at being assured that they cannot offend God anymore and that soon they will be with Him face to face. That joy is greater than any joy we can experience on earth. 

How can we help them?  Well, we can offer our own prayers and sacrifices and we can offer them our mass attendance and the grace from every time we take the Holy Eucharist. The Mass and the Eucharist are the most efficient ways.  From the website "Our Catholic Prayers"  A link to their website is below. 

In purgatory, the souls of many of those who have died in God’s grace undergo purification so that they may enter heaven. The Prayer of St. Gertrude, below, is one of the most famous of the prayers for souls in purgatory. St. Gertrude the Great (pictured at left) was a Benedictine nun and mystic who lived in the 13th century. According to tradition, our Lord promised her that 1000 souls would be released from purgatory each time it is said devoutly.

 

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen

Our Catholic Prayers WEbsite

"I will do it. Be made clean."

When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.

And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said,
"Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean."

He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said,
"I will do it. Be made clean."

His leprosy was cleansed immediately.

Life in the time of Jesus was hard and while the Jews enjoyed many "modern" benefits and thanks to the religious rules they followed were healthier than the population at large there was still the scourge of leprosy that had to be dealt with.  Five percent of the people contracted the disease.  Ounce you were diagnosed with the malady you did not receive medicines and sympathy, no, you received banishment and shunning.  So, this bacteria was an agent of change in a person's life.  Once infected you left your family and friends and you had to depend on others for help.  The disease is not particularly contagious but can be spread by contact with the skin or a cough but this is exceedingly rare.  It is related to the tuberculosis bacteria which also was endemic during the period.  Leprosy is thought of a skin disease but it is more of a disease of the nerves.  The bacillus attacks the nerves and destroys the patient's ability to feel pain.  One modern leper, Father Damien who served the lepers in Hawaii discovered that he had contracted the disease when by accident he stepped into a pot of boiling water and felt no pain.  The disease does not kill, it just disfigures and desensitizes. 

So, in the time of Jesus, lepers were shunned.  They were to keep away from the population and stay with their own kind. Should a leper see a group of people approaching he was to ring a bell to catch the attention of the people and yell, "Unclean, Unclean!" so that the walkers could make their way around them.  They were shunned too because their affliction was seen to be a punishment from God for sins that they had committed. So in our reading today a couple of things jump out.  First, this leper disobeyed the first rule of being a leper, he approached a crowd of "clean" people. Jesus too broke a rule, he touched the leper, technically making himself unclean until sundown.  But Jesus was known to not always follow the common every-day rules.  The leper, displaying his faith in Jesus says that if Jesus' wills it then the leper could be cured.  Jesus, using the faith of the man, said that He did will it and the leper was cured on the spot. 

Sin is an awful lot like leprosy.  It starts small and can grow until it affects the whole person. It also resembles leprosy in that as it takes hold, we become less sensitive to the consequences of our actions until we develop a full blown infection and we walk away from God.  It may take some time before we realize what we have done to ourselves and how injured we really are.  When we do realize that we are infected, that we are unclean, we can always turn to the Lord and He will cure us of our ills. 

We Catholics are very fortunate indeed.  We have a sacrament where we can be absolutely and positively certain that our confessed sins have been forgiven by the Lord and His Church.  It is a shame that so many fail to take advantage of this Sacrament that the Protestants neither have nor do they understand.  In the Sacrament of Confession or Reconciliation, as it is also called, we experience first hand the mercy and love of Jesus as He, through his minister, welcomes us home.  When the priest extends his hand and utters the words of absolution no magic takes place, only healing and forgiveness.  Take a moment and ask yourself why you are so reluctant to go to confession?   If the last time you went was twenty years ago, so what!  The Gospel does not say how long the Prodigal Son was away from home, it only states that he came home and his father threw him a welcome home party.  Jesus already knows your sins, whatever you confess will not be a surprise to Him.  What confession does is it allows you to honestly look at yourself and to get the help that you need to live a happier life here on earth and to become closer to the Lord so that you can live with Him forever in Heaven.  

My Terrible Addiction

When I was a kid I was terribly addicted to something and I could not wait to get my fix each month.  What was this horrible thing that grabbed my soul every chance it got?  Why it was Mad Magazine which to this day is the bible of satire.  One cartoon that I remember from so long ago is one where it was discussing how to be a good parent. In the first panel, it shows a boy and girl fighting over something, the boy is striking his sister to try and force her to see where she is wrong.  Panel two shows the mother intervening in the melee.  She snatches up the boy and pummels him while shouting, "Don't (whack) hit (whack) your (whack) sister!"  Who says comic books cannot teach real life lessons?  

In the Gospel reading today Jesus quotes what is known as "The Golden Rule."  The golden rule predates Jesus and is expressed in different words in Leviticus where it says, "Love thy neighbor as thyself." Versions of it were quoted by Confucius, also we read it in ancient Hindu and Buddhist texts so it is a common thought shared by many people over vast stretches of time and in lands that were far apart.     One thing that we humans are good at is taking revenge.  In ancient times if someone insulted you, you beat him. If someone where to hit you, you killed him.  If a family member was killed by a neighbor, you gathered up a posse and you wiped the offender and his family out.  Ahh, the good old days!  Well, maybe not so good or so old if recent history is taken into account. Leviticus was written in about 1400 B.C. and Jesus quoted the Golden Rule about 2000 years ago, give or take. We humans do not seem to have gotten the idea yet. 

One thing we humans admire is justice.  In the Old Testament model of escalating violence we do not see justice being done, we see vengeance being taken.  God has taken a lot of time and has gone through a lot of trouble to teach his wayward creations. The fact that the golden rule can be found in so many cultures even before Christianity shows that it is one of the rules He has written into our hearts.  What makes the Golden Rule important is that finally and authority figure, Jesus Himself, has come out and has given the rule a new life.  It is no longer just a wise sounding suggestion, it is part of the way Christians are to live, a command to do unto others what you would like them to do unto you. 

Yikes! What have I got myself into, I hear you cry. Can a modern person live in this cruel and alien world following the golden rule? Well, yes we can. (Sorry for stealing your slogan Obama).  Nothing could be more simple: 

If he is hungry, feed him.

If he is thirsty, give him a drink. 

If he lacks clothing, give him something to wear.

If he is ignorant, instruct him. 

If he insults you, beats you, talks down to you, forgive him.

The Christian has to make the first move, we cannot expect someone schooled in the ways of the world to do so.  Treat everyone that comes across your path with tender loving care and your example will do wonders to make the Golden Rule become the only rule we humans will need to follow.   God Bless 

New and Improved

April 17, 1964, was a warm day in Chicago.  The day prior was a record-setter when the mercury climbed to 84 degrees F.  In the Southwest Side neighborhood of Brighton Park, on 40th Place, the talk was of the new Ford Mustang which had premiered that day.  Jimmy Kane, God rest his soul was out with his skateboard on this early spring day doing what passed for tricks back in the day. Skateboard conjures up visions of young Olympians doing tricks on the half pipe. When I say skateboard, I mean a roller skate nailed to a board.  Even if we had the half pipe back then, there would be no way in heaven that the rickety gizmo called a skateboard would be able to take the pounding that the modern boards do.  Jimmy's tricks consisted of first remaining upright on the board and second going through a course of empty soda bottles without knocking them over.  He was pretty good at it. But skateboarding was not the topic of conversation that day.  The brand new 1964 Mustang had been revealed and it was the talk of all the twelve-year-olds in the neighborhood.  The car was pronounced "boss" by all of the boys and there were arguments as to how fast the car could go, which color was the best and promises that when we were old enough we all would have one of these beautiful new race cars.  As it turned out, I didn't own a Mustang until the 1980's and it was called a Mustang II.  As for Jimmy Kane, I was told he died some time back, drugs claimed him.  An aside here, Jimmy always had whatever Jimmy wanted.  He was one of the few neighborhood boys that actually made it on a Little League team at Kelly Park (not everyone automatically got to play in the 60's and 70's you had to try out) and his house always had fireworks on the Fourth of July, and if they ran low, his folks would get on the expressway and drive to Indiana and get some more.  There was a lot of good in the boy and he was a handsome red head and popular with the girls and he had lots of friends.  But I guess something was missing inside his brainbox that caused him to give himself over to drugs.  Anyway, back to our theme for the day. 

"So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away;

behold, new things have come. And all this is from God..."

When we have turned our lives over to Christ, we become a new creation.  Gone is the being that was controlled by impulse and greed and in its place, there is a person who knows that love and sharing are the most important things in life.  Well, maybe it does not happen that fast.  I know for me at least the process is just that.  When I was Baptized and died with Christ, there was presented to me a "new" soul.  It was the same as my old soul, of course, except it was now ready to be filled with the beauty of Christ and his teachings and his instructions on how to live life.  Knowledge of Christ is one thing.  I can know a lot about Christ but I have to delve into His teachings and make them a part of my life.

 I don't get too excited about the new models anymore.  But, I  am excited to be a new creation in Christ.  I just have to make an effort every day to remind myself that I actually am a new creation and that I should live in the world but not be of the world.  I have to make my life conform more closely to that of my Redeemer.  His love for me is such that if I were the only sinner in the world, He would have gone to the Cross for me. 

It seems to me that my first step in the New Evangelization should be to allow the glow of Jesus to shine forth by making kindness and mercy things that are I practice by choice every hour of every day.  This, of course, is a learning process.  My teacher provides lessons every day, I just have to keep an eye out for them.  It's a great school.  It has the world's largest classroom which is called earth. 

A new car model, even a 1964 Ford Mustang, is nothing compared to a person who has allowed themselves to become a new creation and who also allow themselves to be filled with the joy and hope that being a follower of Christ brings to life.   God Bless! 

One Plus One Is One

And I have given them the glory you gave me,

so that they may be one, as we are one,

Here is a stumper for you, explain the Trinity.  Is our God actually three Gods?  Those of you of ancient times might remember the Baltimore Catechism's definition of who are God actually is.  Do you remember?  Well, the answer is that The Trinity is Three Divine Persons in one Divine Being. There, we got that figured out now don't we?  Or do we?   St. Patrick used to arrive at a village and the first thing (the story goes) he would do would be to find the meanest, strongest, bad boy living there and beat the tar out of him.  This got the citizens attention and then he took out a shamrock and used it to explain the Trinity, one plant, three leaves, all united.  Is that a true story? I don't know, but it sure is a good tale.  It makes one good point, that the Trinity is united, they are one even though they are separate and distinct.   The idea of three Divine Persons in One Divine Being is hard, no, impossible to get your hands around.  It is one of those things that we may never, in all eternity understand.  

The most important thing about the Trinity, as I said is that they are united, they are one.  Jesus prayed that all of His followers be of one mind but when we came to the fifteen-hundreds, we kind of messed that up now didn't we?  I am not going to get into a finger pointing session here because there was enough blame to go around.  Luther was too prideful and the Church didn't listen as well as she should have. 

Unity in our religions is something that we need to work towards.  The Catholic Church cannot move any closer to our separated Protestant brothers and sisters by changing doctrine that has remained unchanged since the Church was founded.  She can and should to try to attract her lost children back to her. We do not do that by pointing out the error of our brothers' ways and shaking our fingers at them. To do this would make us no better than old Jack Chick and his poison tracts. We must attract them by showing them what a real Christian community is like.  This is something that we have not been too good at since Luther banged a few nails into a church door.  

How do we do this?  We make the light of Christ brighter and brighter in our church communities that they cannot fail to see that we are different and that difference is the life of Christ in us shining out. We must open doors and windows.  We must be ready to be friendly and loving to those who might not really trust us because we bear the label Catholic.   The new evangelization is not new at all. It is something that we should have been doing all along.  You don't need to become a street preacher, you need not say even a word. You may let your actions do your talking for you.  What I suggest is that we take some time and look around and find a need and fill it.  Listen for the Lord to speak to you.  He is looking for men, women, and children to build his Church.  Enthusiasm will generate enthusiasm!   Love will generate love in return.  The hardest part is to start.  

That is all for today.  I hope I have given you something to think about.  God bless and don't be afraid to leave a comment.  

Remembering

"In the world, you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world."

Today is a day for remembering the people that have made your life what it is today. As I get older, my list of people that I have to remember becomes longer and longer.  I look at the tragic circumstances that took some of these people from me.  For example, there was a boyhood acquaintance, not a close friend, but a classmate, who was hit by speeding train. I remember to this very day his young body laying in that casket.  I remember going to the funeral of my father's "Uncle George."  He was found alone in his apartment laying on the floor.  And of course I remember with great sorrow the death of my mother who was a victim of the medical arts, a victim of a doctor who just did not care.  Then there was my father, a victim of R.J. Reynolds, who died gasping for breath after a lifetime of smoking. 

I am sure that you can remember the deaths of people in your family, or people that you knew.  Take your car and drive into the country and you will see evidence of tragedy everywhere as large plots of land have been set aside for the burial of ourselves, our relatives, and yes, even ourselves.  So what is this nonsense that Jesus said that he had conquered the world? 

Thank heavens, Jesus HAS conquered the world.  Part of this is, of course, that he has conquered sin and death. Before Christ, death and the devil laughed at the plight of the human race. After Christ, it is us that do the laughing because when death stung Jesus, death stung itself to death! 

On this memorial day, take a few moments and remember those that died before us.  They are now in heaven enjoying the Beatific Vision, being with God and the saints forever.  They are in a place where there is no pain, there is no suffering.  They know everyone and everyone knows them. 

Take a few moments as well to remember those who died so that you can be free to worship as you want to.  This year I will remember in my prayers in a special way a local man who gave his life for his country:

Army Spc. Wesley R. Wells 

Died September 20, 2004

Naka, Afghanistan 

I Want You !

They strengthened the spirits of the disciples

and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying,  

"It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships

to enter the Kingdom of God."

The 21st Century has brought to the Church more martyrs for the faith than were created in the early years of Christianity.  What is it about the name of Jesus that fills the pagans with such fear?  Is it that they know, instinctively that the victory of Jesus against His enemies is a done deal and they want to try and change that?  Is it that the power of Love that Jesus represents is too powerful for them to overcome so that they have to resort to violence?

On July 26, 2016, Father Jacques was peacefully saying Mass for his congregation when two Muslim men entered the church and murdered him by slitting his throat. Jacques was reported to have said, "Satan go" when he was confronted by his killers. Both of these Muslims pledged allegiance to the so-called Islamic state. 

Jacques is but one of many modern martyrs that have been killed by followers of a perverted version of Islam. What distinguishes a Christian martyr from an ordinary believer?  Well, of course, there is the fact that the martyr is dead. But it is before death that the martyr distinguishes him or herself. This type of person has given their all to Christ and they have held nothing back.  Their life is one of service and of love. Well, many good Christians live that way and are they any less holy than a martyr?  No, because holiness does not come to us because of our actions, it comes to us because of the attitudes we hold inside.  To be holy, one does not have to stand on the street corner shouting scripture but one must hold that scripture in their heart and act on it.  A martyr goes one step further in that they will act on scripture even in the face of death.  Their commitment to Christ and His Church is total.  Their whole life is a testimony to the love of God and their loyalties are forever united with the precepts of Christ.  They are in effect, whole people, or holy. Of course, you can be holy without being a martyr, or can you? 

Each of us has a decision to make. Do we follow the world or do we follow Christ?  Do we acknowledge Jesus as Lord of All, including Lord of us?  If we do, then the stuff of martyrs is within is. A blood martyr has given their all and sacrificed life for Jesus and has given us an example of total commitment.  On the other hand, there are modern day people that give their all in an unbloody way by caring for the poor, the homeless.  There are those who sacrifice comfort and safety to help those that cannot help themselves. These people are the bloodless martyrs and they, like those who sacrificed their physical life, are shining examples of what we should be like. 

In America, it is becoming more and more likely that we may see our fellow Christians, Catholics, and Protestants alike may be called to the ultimate sacrifice for Jesus.  The craziness of radical Islam is not unknown in America.  Each of us has to be ready to step forward when our name is called.  We must be proud and loud and ready to serve our Master. 

They Asked. He Spoke, They Didn't Listen

My sheep hear my voice;

I know them, and they follow me. 

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. 

No one can take them out of my hand. 

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,

and no one can take them out of the Father's hand. 

The Father and I are one."

Well, here He went and did it.  The crowd asked Jesus to tell them plainly who He was and he did it.  "The Father and I are one." Those words could not be plainer. The crowd heard what he said and immediately picked up rocks to stone Him. He walked away from them and went across the Jordan River. 

The people in our story could hear, but they did not listen. One hallmark of a Christian is that they hear the voice of Christ in their life.  They try, through the daily tribulations of life, to do what He commands. The command of Jesus is simple but powerful.  He commands us to love others as He has loved us.  At the Last Supper, He showed us by washing the Apostles feet.  The next day He showed us by dying on the cross for us.

It is this love we are to show one another.  It is a love that can be expressed only with the help of Grace in our lives. This Grace comes upon the wind, in the voice of the Good Shepherd.  We, His flock, must listen for His voice.

 The voice of the world will be much louder and at times more persuasive. But we listen for His voice and we are not drawn away from Him because it is His voice that we yearn for, and only His voice impels us to move. 

Today, the Lord has something to say to YOU.  Listen to what He says. Follow His voice and you will be doing His will and you will be safe with His arms around you as you feel the beating of the Sacred Heart as it beats as one with yours. 

Lent Day 2 - Take Up Your Cross

Jesus said to his disciples:

"The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected

by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,

and be killed and on the third day be raised."

Then he said to all,

"If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself

and take up his cross daily and follow me.

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,

but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

What profit is there for one to gain the whole world

yet lose or forfeit himself?"

It is not a question of whether or not we are going to have to carry a cross in life, no that is not the question at all.  The question is s how are we going to react to the cross or crosses we are given to carry? No man or woman has gone through life without a cross to bear. In this world that we live in a cross, pain and suffering are things to be avoided at all costs. Mind you, I am not a person who would volunteer to wear a hair shirt, or put rocks in my shoes, or kneel on rock salt while saying my prayers. But I can see the value in suffering if it comes to us.  All too often we waste the pain and outrages that happen in life.  We do not have to go looking for suffering, but when it comes we should not waste it.  We should offer it up to God in reparation for our sins and the sins of others. Jesus tells us that if we reject the crosses we are given, we only win in the short term.  

Taking up our crosses can take many different forms.  Matthew Kelly gives this illustration.  You open the refrigerator and see the last can of soda.  Your body says, "Yes, Yes! Grab it, I want that." To discipline your body you tell it, "No. We will have water."  This saying "no" to yourself is a good way to discipline yourself.  This is a cross that you pick up voluntarily.  

But what about those crosses that come unbidden?  What do we do about those?  You receive a diagnosis of a chronic, life-changing disease, or you watch a loved one in great suffering but you are unable to do anything for them, what do we do about these crosses? We accept them of course.  We do as St. Paul tells us to do and we join them to the sufferings of Jesus on the cross.  We bear what we can bear patiently and ask the Lord to help us to bear what we seemingly cannot.  Suffering of any sort reminds us that we are but a creature and allows us to rely on God for the strength to come through it all.  We remember, we have a God that has been through great and tragic suffering.  Jesus, in his early life, suffered the death of his father Joseph.  He consoled his mother on her loss.  Jesus felt the pain of betrayal when Judas Iscariot gave him up in the garden and again when Peter denied Him.  Jesus suffered a brutal beating at the hands of the Romans and was nailed to a cross and felt the loneliness of death.  He has been there and he defeated all of these things including death. 

Finally, remember that Jesus will help you bear any cross that is given to you. Be open to the help he sends through others.  Be patient and know that He is God.  

Looking for Alleluia

I grew up in the 1960's which was the period of time between the Old Church and the Vatican II Church. So I have seen Lent from both sides of the street. Early in my career at Saint Joseph and Saint Anne School, I was a good do-be.  I rose early enough to get to daily Mass to please God for my devotion to Him but more importantly to ingratiate myself to the good sisters of Saint Joseph who infested, ahh, I mean who taught us bright and willing baby boomers. We were all well trained and entered and exited the pews with military precision, each one of us genuflecting while the next child waited for his or her turn. After genuflecting we either moved to the end of the pew waiting for the sit-down signal or if we were exiting the pew we began moving towards the communion rail where we would kneel to receive communion or execute a smart about face, kid style, and make our way to the exit. There were a whole lot of other things the prudent student would observe.  First and foremost, of course, was the position of one's head. It was kept facing towards the altar. A kid's head facing left or right or God forbid facing backward was certainly not praying for the success of the mission of the Sisters of Saint Joseph or to pass that day's spelling test.  No! It was either preparing to talk or actually talking to one's neighbor.  The nun in charge of security immediately went to the offender and reminded him (it was never a girl) what he should be doing.  If the miscreant happened to be amongst the first three children in the row, the guard, I mean sister, might just assist the child by grabbing both of the kids ears and re-training his gaze onto the altar again.  The other thing the sisters insisted upon was good posture whilst kneeling. A boy with his butt resting on the seat of the pew while kneeling could expect quick rebuke and assistance from the sister who observed the sloppy posture. It was never a girl that would offend with sloppy posture because girls always did what was right, at least while sister was looking.  I think that the worst Catholic service to be at when you were a kid was the stations of the cross. I say this because first of all, they were so long!  Secondly, it was the closest thing at SJSA to a gym class because you knelt and stood and knelt and stood some more until you thought it would never end.  The only good thing about it was that we got out of school forty-five minutes early.  All eight grades participated in this ritual.  It was awe inspiring to see hundreds of kids silently participating in a troop movement that used all of the exits of the school, culminating with every grade silently in their places ready to go in five minutes.  I think the only boy that loved the stations of the cross was Jackie Gleason.  No, not the Jackie Gleason of the Honeymooners, this was a boy who did EVERYTHING perfectly. He walked with his hands out of his pockets. He had the straightest posture possible. He was always smiling. He ALWAYS got one-hundred on his spelling tests and he knew how to diagram sentences like a pro. He was forever volunteering for whatever would get him more brownie points. He always knelt straight and true and the sisters pointed out all of his good qualities when correcting a boy in need of correction. Needless to say, he was hated by all of the boys in class but was exempt from playground retribution because not even the worst bully in the school would want to bully a living saint, besides, he played all sports well. 

The thing that I remember about these pre-Vatican II days is how grim and solemn the mass and decorations were. I remember that we did not do much singing back then. Rather we had an organist with an adenoid issue slaughtering Gregorian chants that we could not understand. I remember thinking at the time that any minute an undertaker was going to be pushing in a casket and a funeral mass would be starting.  Back then, the word "Alleluia" was just another word in a foreign language and quite honestly I do not know if too many people noticed that it was missing.  I knew that the Gloria was missing because the mass was shorter and that was okay by me!

Vatican II came and went and during the Kumbaya period of the liturgy, I was taking my teenage sabbatical from church.  I guess that those early years of change were quite traumatic for some of the adult members of the Church back then. The quiet time where they could say their Rosaries now had become times where they were expected to participate, in English!  I can't get into how in some respects we went too far at that time and threw the baby out with the bathwater.  Imagine my surprise when I returned to the Church and found the priest facing the congregation, the old time choir that handled music was gone and we, the people, who were known now as "the people of God" participated in worship by raising our voices in song.   Can you imagine the first time I experienced the sign of peace?  I have to tell you, it was very hard for me to break years of discipline and turn around in the pew.

Okay, all of the above is the background to the subject of this post which is the word Alleluia.  I hope when you were at church this weekend you enjoyed singing the Alleluia before you heard the Gospel reading. It will be the last time you will hear the Gloria and the Alleluia until Lent is over.  Why is this?  The Gloria and the Alleluia are the songs of the angels in heaven and our singing them is a reminder that heaven has begun for us here on earth through the Church.  So, are we being punished?  No, the Church is not punishing us.  Rather, it is reminding us that while heaven begins on earth, we are still on a journey.  During Lent, we are to walk closer with the Lord in our life.  Over the next five weeks, we are called to think about our lives and how to bring ourselves closer to Christ and to more closely model His life in ours.  As the time goes on we want to shout Glory to God in the highest!  We want to let the Alleluia's ring out. But we can't and this longing increases as the time of Lent extends.  Then, on Easter, when we hear the joyful new proclaimed that Jesus has risen, our Alleluia's will be more heartfelt and more joyous than at any other time of the year.  So as the last alleluia fades from your ear, remember that when you complete your Lenten journey you will be able to praise God with the angels again.  

So, one more time for old time's sake let's sing, "Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!" 

Creation in 7 Days or Evolution - Why Not Both?

On one side of the aisle, we have the people who believe that God created the world in seven days while on the other side we have those who believe in evolution.  Those that believe in creationism believe because the story is written down in the Bible for us. Those that believe in evolution have their story showing in the very rocks we walk on.  Who is right and who is wrong? 

I do not think that how this world came into being is something where one can be right or wrong. Both beliefs have points that are well taken and both beliefs culminate in the same point in time, the arrival of mankind on the earth. 

What we are dealing with here is cause and effect, or rather, the ultimate cause and effect. In the creation story featuring Adam and Eve, the cause is easy to see, God created light and created everything from that point including all plants and animals, fish of the sea, creeping things and as His crowning achievement, He created man in His own image. 

In the story of evolution, we are still dealing with cause and effect, or rather, once again, the ultimate cause and effect.  Science has proven that the universe as we know it started with a big bang, an explosion that sent matter to all of the ends of the universe.  The matter in some cases became stars while in other places the matter formed into planets that orbited the stars. In one particular place in the universe, on a rather small planet covered with liquid water, life formed in the primal ooze. Years passed and simple forms of life became more complex and eventually, mankind appeared and took charge of the earth.  Creationists are horrified that this story is believed by anyone. It seemingly removes God from the equation, making Him unnecessary. Nothing could be further from the truth. God is the ultimate source of life and it was he who created the big bang.  I've always thought of the big bang as God creating light.  After all, in Genisis, we are told that everything was a formless waste.  God, in instituting the big bang created light and began the process of creating life.  That was the first day of creation. The Psalms tell us that for God one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day, which is one way of saying that for God a day can be a long time as humans measure time. So for God, a day or even seven of them could be millions of years as our clocks tick away hours.  

As a Catholic, I am free to believe either of the scenarios.  I choose to believe both of them.  I know for certain that God in his love for us set the entire universe into motion. I believe that he is the Ultimate Cause in the universe.  I believe He is a loving Father who always does what is best for His children. How he created the universe and our world is not so important.  What is important is that he did so.  

Attitude Is Important

The Sodom Chamber of Commerce Welcomes You!
What happens in Sodom stays in Sodom. 

Today in this world we have created for ourselves, a world where little by little God is being edged out and being replaced with what seems good, or feels good, or doesn't offend, we Christians have a grave duty.  It is a duty to our to our God, to our Church and to our fellow human creatures.  Our duty is to be the pain in the ass for the world. (I cam't believe he said that!) It is the easiest thing in the world to be politically correct, just sitting back and letting what happens around us happen. We need not participate. No we just need to stand by and watch it happen. This will promote peace and harmony among all of the people and isn't that what we are after?  Peace is a good thing after all isn't it? Well, there is peace and there is peace. In 1938 Neville Chamberlain stumbled off of his airplane clutching a piece of paper in hand and proclaimed that he had brought back "peace in our time." We all know what happened. On September 1, 1939 NAZI Germany started World War II which caused millions of deaths world wide. 

The men and women living in ancient Sodom kept things politically correct, they were at peace with one another and we know what happened to them. I am afraid that peace is something that is going to be hard to achieve in our world. We Christians have the duty to point the way, to be a lighthouse that points out the rocky outcrops that litter the pathways of life. This duty is not going to make us popular with the people around us that have chosen to turn their back on the law of God and to follow their own law. It is very important that in being a PIA we do so keeping in mind that those we are trying to help are beloved by God our Father just as we are. The most rabid homosexual activist, the Muslim who bathes in the blood of the innocent, the abortion doctor who has filled his wallet with money by creating baby cadavers, all of these are loved by God who is just one step away from them with His arms outstretched waiting for them to return to Him. 

In a soul where God is absent, ego grows to imperfectly fill His place. A soul without God can never be satisfied because no matter what he/she obtains in gratification of their wants still leaves them wanting more.  They are in a most pitiful shape because they cannot see the trouble that they are in. When we point out an issue where Christians and they are on opposite sides their ego shuts off their ability to see and they that cannot see, will not see. 

Okay, lets get to the bottom line. We must love our brothers and sisters back to life. Do you remember Chinese handcuffs? You put your fingers in them and if you pull hard, they hold more tightly to your fingers and you cannot get out of them. Release the pressure and your fingers slip right out. While we have to confront people about behavior that is sinful we must do it in a loving and respectful way. We must always remember that we are the planters and God Himself is the harvester. If we sit back and say nothing then we are guilty as if we committed the sin ourselves.  If we attack frontally and insult our brothers and sisters, we can only expect them to hold on to their beliefs even more strongly. We must love them back to health. Our good example and gentle prodding will do more good than anything else. 

God bless all of you. Please leave a comment, even if it is only to say you think I am nuts! Michael 

Really Really Bad Popes

The Coat of Arms of Vatican City 

It's time to fess up. The Catholic Church, the Church that Christ began has had some of the worst leaders imaginable in the twenty centuries since Jesus appointed Peter as it's first leader.  So how does this affect the claims of the Catholic Church, her teachings and her authority?  Lets first examine a few of the rotters that occupied the Chair of Peter. 

Pope Julius III

This pope was in office for five years and during that time he looted the church treasury to fix up his home. He was known to be a child abuser and flaunted it.  Not exactly what one would expect of a pope. 

Pope Paul III

This pope ruled during a time of turmoil. He adopted a public anti corruption stance but offered offices in the church for sale. He had lovers on the side, the most famous was the Constanza Farnese, his daughter! 

Pope John XII

Pope John XII was haunted his whole life with lust. This can be explained perhaps as he assumed the throne of Peter at age 18 when hormones are raging.  He did not take NO for an answer and his list of crimes includes having sex with his niece.  It is reported that he died as the result of the punitive action of a jealous husband who found him in bed with his wife. 

Pope Benedict IX 

His contemporaries had a lot to say about this man. St. Peter Damian said "he is guilty of feasting on immorality." He also described him as a "demon from hell in the guise of a priest."  He also was deposed, got an army together, became pope again. He then sold the papacy and had sellers remorse, came back with an army and took it back.  He was forced out, refused to stand trial for his crimes and was excommunicated. 

Pope Stephen VII

He dug up Pope Formosus and tried him. Yes, he tried a corpse, found Formosus guilty and had the papal vestments removed from the the corpse, dressed it rags and eventually had the corrupted corpse thrown into the Tiber. For some reason, the people of Rome thought Stephen was insane. They rioted and eventually killed Stephen. 

Pope Alexander VI

This man worshiped one god, money. He is often thought of as the worst of the worst. He cared little about religion and was famous for throwing wild orgies. When money became a problem he arranged for the rich to have their treasures confiscated and if they refused well, there was the death penalty to consider. As you can readily imagine he made many enemies and some of them succeeded in getting him to step down from the throne of Peter by feeding him a wonderful poisoned pasta plate which he consumed with gusto, washing it down with most likely tainted vino.  

Okay, there you have it. My picks for the absolute worst popes of all time.  Have I shot myself in the foot?  Have I given ammunition to the anti-Catholic trolls out there?  No, not at all!! The Catholic Church has had 266 popes including Peter. The Pope is a fallible human being. A pope can commit sin and it is said that Saint Pope John Paul II went to confession at least once a week.  Out of all these men there was bound to be some who did not measure up to the standards we would expect a man in charge of the Church that Christ built.  But if you delve into church history a bit you will find one amazing fact.  Never in the history of the Catholic Church has a pope taught heresy or error. The Holy Spirit sees to that.  

There was a pope in the sixteenth century named Sixtus V.  He was a good pope, he brought order to the northern Italy, refilled the treasury but he was deficient in one thing, as far as his Latin went, well, he sucked. He assigned the task of translating the Bible to a group of scholars and they took what Sixtus thought was a long time. He fired them and undertook the translation himself, providing a Bible that was full of error and mis-translations.  He prepared the paperwork to tell the Church this was now the official translation that will be used. The night before he was going to issue the papal bull, he died, of natural causes.  This is an example of how the Holy Spirit protects the Church and the Pope from teaching error. 

So, when your non-Catholic friends point out a bad pope, you can point out the fact that Jesus has kept His promise and continues to keep it.  The gates of Hell will never prevail against His Church. 

 "Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it"