Marriage

This week my wife and celebrated our Twenty-Third wedding anniversary.  We drove to southwestern Michigan to my father's house in a blizzard. The journey which normally took three hours took over six hours. The next day dawned clear, the sky was so very blue and the sun so very bright. We drove from my father's house to a the county seat, Paw Paw Michigan.  There Mary and I exchanged vows in front of a judge.  We were civilly married. Our marriage was blessed two years later when Mary's annulment came through and we reaffirmed our vows in front of God and His Church.  From day one I have taken my marriage vows very seriously as I not only promised them to my bride Mary, but also to God.  I believe God brought Mary and I together, it was His plan and I am bound to fully cooperate with it.  

Our marriage is a marriage between one man and one woman. This is how marriage has always been from the very start. Go back to the story of Adam and Eve. Adam did not find a partner from among any of the creatures of the earth. God therefore created a special being for him, a woman.  All through Bible history most of the people God chooses for special tasks are men that have but one wife. God considers the bond of marriage a sacred thing, not just an ordinary relationship but relationship where man and woman can cooperate together and bring new life into the world.  This is the reason why a man leaves his family and clings to his wife, to join God in the creation of new life.

Gay marriage is something that does not exist.  Our Supreme Court may say it does, our president may paint the gay rainbow in light on the White House, but that does not make gay marriage any more legitimate. Marriage is about the creation of life. Two men or two women engaged in a sexual act cannot consummate the act to join with God in creating a new human being.  You can scream all you want to about "equality under the law" but the spiritual nature of marriage and the marriage act itself makes such equality something that is impossible to achieve in the Congress or in the courts. 

But why is the Catholic Church so homophobic?  Homosexual action organizations trot out the homophobic label when they detect any disagreement with their positions. It therefore removes a persons right to disagree with their position by in effect saying that those that disagree with them are in some way irrational.   The Catholic Church do not see homosexual men or women as sinful people. The Church, however, does see the sexual acts between people of the same sex to be contrary to God's natural law.  The Church can never approve of these acts as they are not able to produce life.  On the other hand those who are afflicted with same sex attraction are welcome to be Catholics practicing and living their live in a chaste and celibate way.  Does this seem unfair?  Hardly, the Church calls all her children to be chaste and celibate and to make use of the physical act of love in the way God gave it to us, to be used to pro-create between one man and one woman.

The Church also sees a redefinition of marriage to include same sex unions to be a danger to society. Same sex marriages lack the solemnity of genuine marriages. Same sex marriages are based solely on the feeling one person for another. It does not have the same depth as a genuine marriage because no matter what the two men or women can never use their procreative powers in the way that God intended.  The feelings of love one has at the start of a relationship change through the years.  With man and woman love becomes less of a feeling and more of a way of life.  A homosexual union will go through the same sort of change, the original feelings of love will give way and the relationship will no longer meet the emotional needs of the partners and they will split and go their separate ways. 

Well, maybe two men cannot mate and procreate but they can certainly adopt can't they?  Unfortunately this is true. The children pay the price for having two mommies or two daddies. A child needs both male and female influences for them to grow up emotionally.  This balanced nurturing is required for healthy growth. 

Finally, the proponents of gay marriage are trying to change society to recognize homosexuality as a normal way of life.  They are trying to achieve acceptance of the straight community for no other reason but to silence the nagging doubt in the back of their conscience that something is wrong in their life.  Legal pronouncements will do nothing to assuage their conscience, it will remain standing in the way of a complete joyful life because they are looking for something that does not exist nor has it ever existed. 

Am I homophobic?  No, I am not.  I am a realist, I am a Catholic, and the reading and research I have done tells me that everything we do in life that goes against God's natural law leads to sadness, sin, death, and eternal loss of one's place with God.  I also because of my beliefs have to stand up and point out that homosexual actions are wrong, are against God's law and will lead to pain.  I have to stand up for what is right no matter what rabid gays thing and say.  I am a gentle person, I love life, I love people but I also must stand tall and speak my beliefs.  I have this right and duty.    

Why Catholics Go To Church Every Sunday

The Main Ceremonial doors leading into St, Mary of Vernon
Church in Indian Creek, Illinois. 

One of the features of being a Catholic is the requirement that we attend Mass every Sunday and holy day of obligation.  For the average Protestant actual attendance at Church is not a requirement although there are many Protestants that attend both on Sunday and come back on Wednesdays, but this is not a requirement that binds under sin.  For a Catholic Sunday is the most important day of the week and attendance at mass is mandatory. Failure to attend is considered a very serious sin.  But, why is this so? Why is it considered so very important? There are any number of excuses that can serve to allow us to blow off Sunday Mass.  For example, we might just not feel like going, or we may feel that it is boring, or maybe we are convinced that we can worship God anywhere and do not need to be so formal about prayer and worship.  Maybe we think that we are too busy, too tired, or any number of other self-serving excuses. But as we will see, none of these excuses work very well. 

With thanks to Our Sunday Visitor here are ten reasons why Catholics believe attendance at Sunday Mass is so very important. 

• God asks us to make one day holy. We are to set aside one day to refocus physically, mentally, and spiritually. Going to Mass allows us to see things from a different perspective. We realize that not every idea that we have about God or how to live a Christian life is exactly on target. We exchange our agenda for God's.  We receive inspiration and strength for the week ahead. 
• Jesus gives us the gift of Himself. When we gather as a community we fulfill the command of Jesus to love and to be loved by God. We receive and are fed by the Word of God, the Scriptures that we hear proclaimed and we receive the very Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. 
• We need to be part of a community.  Man is a social creature. A human being who keeps themselves away from other human beings can become an authority in themselves in that they begin to believe that their ideas are the only view of the world that are correct. They have no one to answer to but themselves. This is scary. When we are in a Christian community we give each other support, we make each other accountable and we give encouragement to one another, sometimes just by being there.  We see that we are not alone and we are reminded that we are part of the Body of Christ. 
• God has a special message for us.  We come together and listen to the Word of God and the prayers of the Mass and God speaks to us in a special way.  Each Mass should allow us to walk away with one thought that will help us in our spiritual lives. We receive this gift simply by focusing on what is going on around us and we open ourselves to what God is telling us. 
• People need our prayers.  Scripture commands us to pray for one another.  Certainly we can (and should) do this at home but when we pray for others at Mass we pray in a special way.  We pray as part of the Body of Christ, the Communion of Saints, and heaven and earth are united and the bonds of space and time are loosened. 
• We need to stand up for what we believe.  Being a follower of Christ calls us to be counter-cultural. Think back to the early Church. People would attend the Breaking of the Bread knowing full well that they might be arrested and become entertainment for the emperor in the arena. Today too our attendance shows that we are not closet Christians but rather Christians that are testifying to the Truth by being publicly present at public worship. We pray the Nicene Creed and publicly proclaim what we believe and who we are.  
• We need to acknowledge our mistakes.  At every Mass we have an opportunity to review the previous week and see where we have fallen short in word, deed, and thought. We admit that we have sinned in what we have done and what we have failed to do and we seek the forgiveness of God.  This serves as a reality check.  Are we as "good" as we think we are? Before communion we acknowledge that we are not worthy and ask God to heal us. 
• We need ritual in our lives.  Mass is a ritual. This means that through the prayers, movement and the changing of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ we are formed, disciplined and consoled. The sameness of the Mass carries us along the spiritual journey and we pray even if we don't feel like praying. 
• We need to experience something bigger than ourselves.  At Mass we share in the death and resurrection of Jesus and enter into God's great plan for our world to bring the Gospel message to all people. At Mass heaven and earth are joined in expressing praise to God and we join the choir of angels and sing the eternal praise of God when we sing; "Holy Holy, Holy..."  The Mass gives meaning and purpose to our lives and gives us a sense of wonder and awe.  

So you can see that for a Catholic going to church each Sunday while it is an obligation, it also provides many benefits.  I think that regulations, such as the "obligation" to go to Mass every Sunday are written for the people that only want know what the minimum requirements are.  For most Catholics attending Mass on Sunday is the high point of each week and they attend willingly and are very sad indeed when serious circumstances do not allow them to attend. 

May the Lord Jesus Christ brighten your life this week and may you feel a part of the Communion of Saints. 

The 2016 Convert - A - Catholic Challenge is underway. I am looking to be saved from the Catholic Church and looking for your most compelling arguments as to why I should join your denomination.  Write me by clicking this link.Click Here 

Ten Answers to Your Questions About the Catholic Church

Happy New Year to all of you. I am starting 2016 with a top 10 list.  These are the top ten questions that Protestants ask Catholics about the Catholic Faith.  I am indebted to Our Sunday Visitor for the information that I am going to share with you today.  Catholics are often misunderstood by our Protestant brothers and sisters. Sometimes it goes deeper than misunderstandings for example Chic publications prints what they know to be untruths about the Catholic Church and unfortunately people believe the stories he tells.  There are also great tomes, such as Roman Catholicism by Bettner that spreads lies about what Catholics do and what we believe.  So I want to take this opportunity to answer the top ten questions Protestants ask about the Catholic Church. 

Question 1: Are your beliefs found in the Bible?

"All Catholic beliefs can be found in the Bible in some form, whether plainly or by indirect indication."   The Bible itself does not teach that all beliefs Christians should have need to be in the Bible.  For example Paul says; "Stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth  or by letter. (2 Thes 2:15)  The early Church did not have a Bible to open to settle differences. They held councils which made binding decrees.  (Acts 15: 1-29)  The canon of the Bible was not decided by the Church until the late fourth century so Tradition and Authority were necessary for us to even have a Bible to open today! 

Question 2: Why do you obey the Pope? 

Jesus knew that he would be returning to heaven. He knew that His Church would need to have a leader. In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus said to Peter; "And I tell you, you are Rock and upon this Rock I will build My Church.  He also told Peter that "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 16: 18-19)  The Pope can make infallible pronouncements binding the faithful under certain conditions. The Pope is protected by the Holy Spirit from teaching error.  This does not mean that the Pope is sinless, he is a man and he can sin.  As a matter of fact the Pope generally goes to confession at least once a week.  Some of the worst popes, the ones with secret children, concubines also had this faculty to and even these Popes never taught heresy.  the worst among them were too busy enriching themselves to bother with teaching anything. Because of the Pope and the Cardinals we have an authority to look to for correct interpretation of scripture. This because of Papal authority the Church, unlike the Protestant denominations believe one truth and are unified in worship as Jesus prayed for at the Last Supper. 

Question 3: Why do you call your priest "father"?  Christ said "Call no man father."

Jesus did say call no man father in Matt 23:9 but you have to understand what he meant. He is not speaking in an absolute sense.  If he was then what we call the husband of your mother?  Jesus is saying that the ultimate authority is God the Father. Jesus Himself uses the term Matthew in Matt 15: 4-5 and several other places. In the story of Lazarus Jesus has addressing Abraham as Father Abraham, twice (Luke 16:24, 30) St Paul also writes in 1 Cor 4:15 "I became your father in Christ Jesus through the Gospel." 

Question 4: Why do you pray for the dead? Dead is dead.

For the Christian, death is not an end but rather a change. We exhale our last breath on earth and take our first breath standing before the Lord to be judged. In 2 Maccabees the living prayed for the dead who died because they were wearing idols that were forbidden for them to wear.  St. Paul writes of being baptized on behalf of the dead.  In this case the term baptized indicates prayer and fasting for the dead.  Also Paul is praying for Onesiphorus in 2 Tim 1:16 -18.  

Question 5: Why do you pray to idols (statues)?

The answer to this question is very simple.  We do not worship or pray to statues. What does a statue and baseball bat have in common?  Both are made of wood by human hands.  Neither of them have any extraordinary powers. Statues serve the same purpose as photographs of loved ones that most people carry around in their wallets. The pictures in our wallets remind us of our loved ones and statues remind us about our loved ones in heaven.  No Catholic prays to a statue. We pray to the saint that is in heaven and ask them to pray to Jesus for us.  It is no different than you asking me to pray for your surgery to be successful.  The statue can be there or not, our prayers are just as effective and are heard. 

Question 6 Why confess your sins to a priest? 

The picture to the left is slightly out of date because in most churches today the confessional is a room where there is a kneeler and a screen where you can confess your sins without the priest seeing who you are and a couple of steps away from the screen there is a chair that you can sit and confess face to face.  This is the method most people use today.  Jesus gave the Apostles the authority to forgive sins when He said in Matthew 16:19 "If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven, if you retain them they are retained."  With these words Jesus instituted the sacrament of Reconciliation, AKA confession, AKA penance.  If we don't confess our sins out loud to the priest how will he know which ones to forgive and which ones to retain?  See also Matt 3:5-6, Acts 19:18 and 1John 1:9. 

Question 7: Why do Catholics worship Mary?

Once again the answer to this question is quite easy, we don't.  We venerate her. Worship is reserved for God alone.  Mary is the greatest of all the saints in heaven. We show her veneration, or great respect because of who she is.  She is the Mother of God!  Think of this if you want to understand why Mary deserves the respect we give her.  She was the first Christian. She believed she was carrying the Messiah in her womb. Mary began life without the stain of original sin. This was done to her by God as a special gift to her who would be the Mother of God. Remember, God is not bound by time or space. He knows what will happen and He could see the redeeming death and obedience of His Son on the Cross. Mary needed to be saved and so He applied the merits of Jesus' death on the Cross to Mary at the time she was conceived, thus we call her The Immaculate Conception as one of her titles.  Mary is very humble and while she does not speak much in the Gospels what she does say conveys her humility and she never points to herself but always to Jesus.  What did she say at the wedding feast at Cana?  "Do whatever he tells you."  Good advice both back then and now. 


Question 8:  Why do you worship wafers?

The bread and wine that are consecrated at mass are not simple wafers, they are the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus. Most Protestants are not too familiar with the Gospel of John, especially the sixth chapter. Protestant ministers have a hard time dealing with this chapter as they deal with the rest of the Bible. Protestants generally believe that the bread and wine are mere symbols and the act a simple memorial of the Last Supper. The Gospel of John reports Jesus saying repeatedly that "he who eats my body and drinks my blood has eternal life." Also, Paul tells us that if you take communion unworthily that you are guilty of profaning the Body and Blood of the Lord (1 Cor 11:27).  We cannot sin against the body of someone by destroying their picture which is a symbol of the person.  Also, read in the accounts of the Last Supper and look at the words of Christ. He does not suggest that the bread and wine are mere symbols, the word eat that he uses in Greek is the word that is used for gnaw or chew, the actions you use when you eat something real.  Finally, Jesus is portrayed as the Lamb of God and our Passover. Go back into the Old Testament, what did the children of Israel have to do so that the angel of death would pass over their house?  They had to mark the doorposts with the blood of the lamb and they had to eat the lamb. Jesus is the Lamb of God.

Question 9: If you died tonight would you go to heaven?

I have assurance of salvation if I am faithful and keep the commandments of God.  If I die in this state I will immediately enter heaven. But since nothing unclean can enter heaven I might need further purification to purge these imperfections from my soul. This purging takes place in purgatory.  It purges the soul of anything that is imperfect.  Once again let us look to what Paul says about this subject in 1 Cor 3:13, 15, "Each man's work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose because it will be revealed with fire and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done...if any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved but only as through fire." 

Question 10: Are you saved? 

Short answer is YES. I as a Catholic am as sure as anyone else that I am in God's good graces. But because God has given me free choice, the gift of my salvation can be cast off any time I choose.  Once saved always saved is not a Biblical concept which makes no sense at all. For example on day one I say the sinners prayer (where is that found in the Bible anyway?) and according to the principle of once saved always saved, I've got it made. From that day forward I live a good, clean, Christian life. I  pray, I tithe, I go to church.  Then one day I wake up, grab my pump shotgun and rob a bank and in doing so I kill no less than three innocent people.  As I am leaving the bank I walk into a hail of bullets and am killed. Would it be fair for me to enjoy the bliss of heaven with the blood of three people on my hands?  Can you imagine this unholiness being in heaven?  Yes, for most of my life I was "saved" but in the end I chose to throw my salvation away in pursuit of money.  My friendship with God is completely voluntary and I can walk out of relationship with him by making sinful choices at any time.  Notice please that it is I that walk away from God. He never leaves us.  He is always but arms length away from us even when we are like the prodigal son wasting our inheritance on riotous living. So even at the last moment of life I can turn back to Him providing am contrite for what I have done.  

I hope that these ten little paragraphs help you understand the Catholic Church a little better.  I am one of the luckiest people ever born on this earth. No, I've not won Publisher's Clearing House or the Power Ball lottery. I was born into the Catholic Church and through it have access to the complete truth of the Gospel, guaranteed by the Holy Spirit.  I am a member of the one true Church founded not by a mere man but by Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God.  Through her I receive grace through her Sacraments including forgiveness of my many sins through the Sacrament of Confession and I receive the very Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ in the Holy Eucharist.  I am the luckiest man alive. 

God bless you on this Feast of the Epiphany when Jesus was recognized by the three wise men.  May the light of the Christ Child light your way today.

The 2016 Convert-a-Catholic Challenge has been made and I am waiting for one of you to accept the challenge and to convert this cradle Catholic to your denomination.  Just prove to me where the Catholic Church went wrong and I will convert to your denomination,  Click here to begin.  

Thanks to Our Sunday Visitor for their pamphlet "Top Ten Questions Catholics are Asked"  

Feast of The Holy Family JMJ Makes Sister Emerita Smile

One fond memory I have from my years as a student of St. Joseph and St. Anne School on the Southwest Side of Chicago is the fact that if you wanted to really please Sister you would place squarely in the center of your paper the legend JMJ.  This of course stands for "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph" the Holy Family.   

Today the Church reminds us that Jesus came to earth to serve and not be served. The Gospel reading for today is the story of Jesus being found in the temple.  Can you imagine the fear that Joseph and Mary felt when they could not find the Child that had been placed into their care?  Like any parent they probably thought the worst.  Then can you imagine the relief and maybe just a bit of parental anger they must have felt.  Mary asked Him, "Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been searching for you with great anxiety?"  Jesus then responds by giving a reply that at the time could only be understood by Mary and Joseph when He told them that He had to be in His Father's house.  The incident closes and we are told that Jesus became obedient to them and advanced in wisdom before men and God. 

A human being is born dependent on a family.  If a baby was born and ignored and left to his/her own devices they would soon die. The human family is the unit God has decided will be the way a human child will learn how to live in the world. The family will teach by example.  The child will learn the "who to's" of life while under the protection of their mother and father.  The parents are also responsible for teaching their child about God and the Kingdom of God and the child's place in it.  The latter is probably more important that the former. 

Today the concept of family is under attack on many fronts. To begin with the concept of marriage being between one man and one woman has come under attack.  Today in the United States and other countries marriage has been re-defined and now includes people of the same sex.  There are a couple of things wrong with same sex marriage.  First and foremost a same sex union can never procreate. Same sex families with two daddies or two mommies are not good for the child.  The ideal family, such as was Our Lord's contains both contributions from the female and male point of view. Sure, a same sex couple can be loving and nurturing to a child but the dual points of view are missing and they are very important in growing a child. 

There are other problems that assault the family as well. Even in those households where there are a traditional mother and father sometimes career and social lives take precedence in life and while the children are cared for physically they lack the care of their psyche that children from previous generations received from their parents. 

When I was growing up my mother, God rest her soul, made sure that dinner time was a time where family came together.  The television, which was visible from the kitchen where we took our meals together, was turned off.  The radio was silent and we ate our meals and actually talked to one another.  Attendance at dinner was mandatory in our household and we remained in each other's company until the meal was completed by all.  We never thought much about it, it was just how it was done and our family was not the exception, almost all of the neighborhood families followed the same ritual. 

Today when people gather around the dinner table they are most often accompanied by their smart phone. These electronic masters serve as distraction and conversation between is thus limited at best.  People feel less loyalty to their family and more to friends and organizations. 

We will eventually reap the results of our letting the family disintegrate.  We see some of the results already today. In former times aging parents were helped by their children. Today aging parents are seen as a problem to be conquered and we place Dad or Mom into the care of others and we lose the great assets that they could give us, namely their wisdom. 

People are also putting off having families later and later in life while they pursue their career and because of this we are losing the cohesion of inter-generational relationships by placing our old out on an figurative iceberg to await their call home to God because we have to sacrifice to the new god of retirement. 

Finally, we can see the results of our assault on the family and family values in any mall or store in America.   You can see many fine examples of children whining, crying, demanding, and even striking their attending parent.  These children are crying out for discipline and to be shown what to do.  Unfortunately, in many cases the parent has not a clue because he/she did not receive instruction by example from his/her family. 

Is it hopeless? Are we doomed?  For the near future I fear things will get worse but eventually their will be a revival of family values.  Someone will discover what is missing and being a family will become popular again.  On this Feast of the Holy Family resolve to show real love to your children and teach them how they should walk. 

Go with God this day and may He, through His Son Jesus bring love into your heart and through the Holy Spirit, light to follow him day by day.