St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians, part 3

This finishes my handful of posts on St. Paul's letter to the Galatians: picking up in ch. 4.

One helpful thing that I came across was via Catholic Radio.  Every so often, host Al Kresta (of Kresta in the Afternoon) has a Scripture professor as a guest, and they discuss a book of the Bible.  Somewhat recently, he had Peter Williamson (Sacred Heart Seminary scripture professor) on with the topic: "where do I start with Galatians?"

A number of things struck me with Ch. 4-6...

First, Paul's "thorn in the flesh," which he mentions specifically in 2 Cor 12:7 and alludes to it in Gal 4:14.  When I was in college, a priest was of the opinion that St. Paul struggled with masturbation, or at least that it was a plausible explanation.  I read somewhere else that the thorn was homosexual acts.  Sure, St. Paul was just as capable of sin as the rest of us, but neither of those things fit with other aspects of Paul's character.

William Barclay offered far more reasonable hypotheses than mortal sin, noting that it could likely have been epilepsy or migraines.  Paul says in 4:14 that "you did not scorn me"... and in the original Greek, it literally says "you did not spit at me."  It was a practice in the ancient world to spit when meeting an epileptic.  (yikes)  Also providing a clue is the location of the Christian community.  Galatia was farther inland and less populous than Pamphylia; Paul may have originally had the latter as the target, and was forced to go to the former.  Malaria was common in ancient Pamphylia, and one of the symptoms is migraines.  Either way, some sort of medical condition fits so, so much better than masturbation.

Justification is a big theological topic--it has divided Christians for 500 years.  I looked up the term in the Catechism and I was stunned at how short it was (#1987-2016).  In the 16th Century, Martin Luther, St. Thomas More, and scholar after scholar must've wrote volumes on the subject.

A verse to memorize: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail, but faith working through love." (Gal 5:6)  This verse was cited by the Council of Trent in the document about justification.  I haven't looked up the Protestant arguments against this yet, but I'd be interested to see them.

Barclay had a beautiful insight on the use of the word "Abba" (Gal 4:6): "It must have been often on Jesus' lips, and its sound was so sacred that men kept it in the original tongue." (pg. 35)

I often find that oft-repeated verses lose their weight in my mind.  Or, if a meaning is so obvious, then leave it alone and don't complicate it further.  In the case of the following passage...

Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.  For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.  And let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart. (Gal 6:7-9)  

Pretty plain, right?  The Ignatius Study Bible had an analogy that I adapted.  If you plant kale, don't expect an orange tree to sprout.  As an exercise, replace the two plants with something that's repugnant (kale needs a lot of help from other foods to be edible) and something that you like (an orange tree will have to do, as there is no mint chocolate candy bar tree).  It helped the passage sink in a lot better for me.  If I take an honest look, just how much kale have I sown?  We cannot be so foolish as to take the mercy of God for granted!  The things we do have eternal consequences.

St. Josemaria Escriva had a striking thought about an empty cross: the body it's waiting for is yours.

One thing I hadn't considered--was St. Paul a stigmatist?  In 6:17 he says, "I bear on my body the marks of Jesus."  Was he speaking allegorically or literally, or both?  Or was Paul referencing his sharing in Our Lord's Passion from all the beatings he got?  Here's a forum answer from EWTN a while ago.

Thank the Lord for His Word given to us!

St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians, part 2

Moving through the letter to the Galatians has continued to be fruitful for me, and it helps to paint the picture of the Church in apostolic times. 

Dissent in the Catholic Church today is disheartening to me, and it's frustrating as well.  Growing up, I remember there being a big push to go back to the early days of the Church, since they had it figured out more than we did.  If we could just be like the early Christians, everything would be fine!  Well... reading Galatians, they had just as many problems as we do.  Different problems, but the apostolic Church wasn't necessarily the idyllic communion that some have made it out to be.  I don't think we appreciate just how difficult the issue of "judaizing" was back then. 

Jewish converts to Christianity left behind not just a faith or philosophy.  They left behind (or were supposed to) an entire way of life.  Let's not forget that following the Mosaic Law entailed observing feasts, dietary regulations, and ritual purity washings.  Those affected the daily lives of Jews.  Is it any wonder that many of the adult Jewish converts had trouble leaving behind tenets they practiced their entire life?  They couldn't even enter the house of a Gentile--as illustrated in the story of the centurion's servant in Matthew 8:5-13.  The centurion's response to Jesus was made out of respect for Our Lord and with knowledge that Jesus would become ritually impure if He entered the centurion's house.  I think.  I can't seem to find a citation for that but will update (and correct, if necessary) this post if I do find one. 

St. Paul starts ch. 3 with a bang, calling out the "foolish Galatians" (3:1).  He continues to address the attestations of the Judaizers, countering their arguments with his rabbinic training.  Paul doesn't let up from 3:1 to 4:7--and then shifts tone starting in 4:8.  The frustration exhausts him; I hear him pleading, in a weary voice, "how can you turn back again to the weak and beggardly elemental spirits, whose slaves you want to be once more?  ...I am afraid I have labored over you in vain" (4:9, 11).

Out of that whole section (3:1-4:7), I really needed the help of the commentaries.  Again, I'm using the Navarre Bible, the Ignatius Study Bible, and William Barclay's commentaries--Barclay being the only non-Catholic of the group.  I hit a snag especially with 3:22: "But the scripture consigned all things to sin, that what was promised to faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe."  The gist of it was that all people, whether Jew or Gentile, were prisoners of sin; whatever the power of the Law, it could not justify man.  And, that was a big setup to the saving work of Jesus, who ultimately redeemed all from sin.

Besides the commentaries, looking at different translations helped.  I predominantly read the RSV-CE; I dislike the NAB as being too fluffy on one of my favorite verses.  Here is how Gal 3:22 appeared in other translations:

New American Bible: "In fact, however, Scripture has locked all things in under the constraint of sin"

Douay-Rheims and King James Bible: "But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin"

Knox (English Catholic Msgr. who translated the Bible himself) (!!!): "But in fact Scripture represents us as all under the bondage of sin"

Jerusalem Bible and New Jerusalem Bible: "Scripture makes no exceptions when it says sin is master everywhere"

New Revised Standard Version: "but Scripture has imprisoned all things under the power of sin"

For those of us that don't speak Greek, having a lot of interpretations helps fill in the message that Paul tried to get across. 

More to come!

St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians, part 1

I've begun reading St. Paul's letter to the Galatians over the past week or so.  I first read it through, and I'm now consulting some trusted commentaries.  I'm thankful for the commentaries, as I found the epistle to be complex.  I had to laugh, this epistle kind of fits in one of the more surprising lines in the Bible: "So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking from hthis as he does in all his letters.  There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction."  (2 Peter 3:15-16).  Ha!  I'm in good company if I find some of Paul's writings hard to understand.  May God keep me from the ignorant/unstable lot...

It's interesting to me that such an intense issue of the Judaizers is now a distant memory.  I'd think most western Catholics would need the help of a commentary to further understand the 1st century Jewish world.  Besides that, I think it's a great commentary on the truth of the Christian faith.  That which is the truth has a remarkable endurance; heresies and false teaching, perhaps taking from the truth but not being of  the truth, don't have deep enough roots to endure through the ages.  The Navarre Bible commentary cited St. Jerome on this:

"These people wanted to change the Gospel, to twist it; bout that is something they cannot succeed in doing, for this Gospel is suck that it cannot be true if it is tampered with."  (Pg. 171)

St. Paul's talk of the works of the law impacted me, first for the vehemence behind it.  His words are strong and pointed.  And it occurred to me: that tone is coming from a former Pharisee.  The Mosaic Law was his life!  He studied it, loved it, devoted himself to its practices, and celebrated its feasts.  He was present at the stoning of Stephen.   If we ever doubt God's ability to turn the hearts of man, look no further than Paul.

The reason for St. Paul's passion on this issue was the logical conclusion of the Judaizers' teaching.  The false teaching being that Gentiles entering the Church had to become Jews first before getting baptized as Christians.     If that were true, then justification (=getting right with God) depended on how well Christians kept the Mosaic Law.  And how is that any different than before Jesus came?  Why did Jesus bother with His Passion if it didn't change anything?

Things did change--drastically.  In St. John's vision of Revelation, Jesus tells him, "Behold, I make all things new." (Rev 21:5)  That was the second thing that impacted me about St. Paul's treatment of the works of the Law.  The sacraments are the fulfillment of the old practices!  God's chosen people is not limited to a ethic group; membership is offered to every nation and every people.  Grace was given before, but God now recklessly pours out His grace on humanity.

Those are a few points from Ch. 1-2 that struck me.  It's somewhat comforting to look at the internal conflict within the Church today, and to see the very same thing in the Bible.  Jesus transformed the Church, but human nature is still human nature.

Publications Round-Up

I was very glad to have a few articles posted on the Cora Evans blog since the last time I updated this blog.  It's too late for my daily Lenten reflections, but here are two others:

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, a reflection on his Breastplate prayer (breastplate = Lorica in Latin).  It's a really incredible prayer when you sit with it for a little while.  The most well-known part of it is the "Christ behind me, Christ before me" stanza, but the entire prayer is much longer.  Worth a read!

For Good Friday, a combination of the physical effects of the crucifixion and some reflections. 

Both articles were interesting topics, and I probably learned more in the writing than anyone will in the reading of them. 

Easter is Here and Lent is Gone--I mean, concluded... I mean, Lent is fine, but Easter is glory... I mean...

Every time Easter arrives, the feast is full of joy and glory.  It's the resurrection of Our Lord Jesus and the most singular important event in human history!  Embedded in the joy is the relief of Lent being over.  The St. Francises and St. Ignatiuses have eyes to see suffering as it really is: participation in the Passion of Jesus.  I am not in that category.  More often than not, I fight it tooth and nail.

An examination of my Lent is always disappointing.  I have a strange idea of myself that I should come out of Lent completely purified and perfect.  Bad habit x?  Eliminated!  Evangelism efforts?  Tripled!  Sacred Scripture?  Memorized, contemplated, and able to answer every possible question!  It took a few years to come to peace with this high expectations "false me."  Dealing with that kind of unrealistic expectation has one primary peril: I inadvertently assumed that I would be doing the serious heavy lifting.  Grace, the Holy Spirit, yeah yeah, but it was I that had to fix things.  There was no possible way I could ever live up to my own expectations, especially if I relied more on myself rather than God.  That disastrous approach has two outcomes: apathy or an OCD approach (although not in the Carmelite sense).  The former, why even bother if I can't do it?, leads to sloth.  The latter, being anxious and over-scrupulous, leads to even further pride.  I settled for some apathetic Lents in the past, and they didn't do me any lasting good. 

The key is to avoid pride and hit the mark in between two extremes, as our friend Aristotle would say.  Approach Lent with humility--knowing from the beginning our weakness and inability to fix everything ourselves in 40 days.  Also, I think a targeted approach helps during Lent.  In the past, I fasted just to fast.  It's that thing we do during Lent, right?  Instead, target a particular weakness and fast toward that end.  And, to be clear, it should be a spiritual end.  Fasting from a particular food for the sake of losing weight has some spiritual merit, but it's misdirected. 

This year, my wife and I decided to give up sweets.  That practice was my go-to for Lent from my childhood all the way up until college.  I hadn't fasted from sweets for a number of years; trying this year proved more difficult than I expected.  There are two somewhat embarrassing episodes that highlight this...

First, my wife made dinner for some friends who recently had a baby; there were some leftover cookies.  I have some Irish heritage and love St. Patrick, so we agreed that a single, leftover cookie on that day would be ok.  Leading up to St. Patrick's feast day, I found myself craving that cookie.  That was accompanied by a sobering thought: have I ever had such fervor for the Eucharist?  Seriously, I looked forward to a cookie more than the Body of Christ?

Second, my wife and I started the Divine Mercy Novena on Good Friday.  Halfway through the prayer for the day, my mind wandered (in itself, not uncommon)... to breakfast the next day.  Sausage or bacon?  Eggs, for sure... are we out of English muffins?

Yikes.  We both had the realization that, for one, this was a well-aimed penance for the weakness of our appetite for sweets.  In addition, that appetite was stronger than I initially thought. 

I believe our fasting did us a lot of good, and it provided an opportunity to become more humble than before.  To close, here's a passage from St. John Chrysostum.  For everything that changes in the world, human nature does not.  These words sound like he's talking directly to me:

"Sharpen your sickle, which you have blunted through gluttony— sharpen it by fasting. Lay hold of the pathway which leads towards heaven; rugged and narrow as it is, lay hold of it, and journey on.  And how may thou be able to do these things?  By subduing your body, and bringing it into subjection.  For when the way grows narrow, the corpulence that comes of gluttony is a great hindrance.  Keep down the waves of inordinate desires.  Repel the tempest of evil thoughts.  Preserve the bark; display much skill, and you have become a pilot. But we shall have the fast for a groundwork and instructor in all these things."  (Homilies on the Statutes, Homily III, #7)

Christmas is Nigh

Over the years, I've looked forward to a number of things at Christmas.  As a kid, it was Santa and presents.  As I got older, it became fun to give presents in addition to receiving them.  Christmas became more special once my wife was a part of my life, and even better now that we have our little son.

Last year, my wife and I had some quite time together on Christmas Eve.  I hope it becomes an annual tradition!  I had returned from singing in a small choir for our parish's midnight Mass at 9 p.m.  The church had a warmth to it that night, with the soft lights.  The choir with the exception of me, had incredibly talented musicians and singers.  It was a joy to sing "Silent Night" and "What Child Is This," listening to the harmony of the quartet's combined voices.  After I'd returned home and changed, my wife and I opened presents.  We settled in on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, listening to Christmas music.  No lights were on save those on the tree.  A soft glow permeated the room, the kind you see and feel at the same time.  Even with the music, quiet peacefully reigned in our house.

One of the great feasts of our faith... celebrating it in the liturgy... with the peace of Christ enveloping our home.  It was wonderful, and God be praised!  We do not have a sterile faith, nor one that's exclusively concerned with the intellect.  In contemplating the mystery of the Incarnation, God gives us multiple ways to connect with it.  We have the Mass, the love of our friends & family, and Christmas carols that sing the glories of God.  On top of that, we have all the manifestations of human creativity.  Have you ever stopped to think about human ingenuity, and how incredible it is?  It's one of God's greatest gifts to the human race.  The celebration of Christmas includes baking, cheesy movies on Lifetime & the Hallmark channel, ornaments, Christmas lights, and much, much more.

As we enjoy the beauty of the Christmas season, let's not forget to give thanks and praise to God, the source of all that is good about the season.

And, I'd like to share the "Midnight on Christmas Eve" playlist:

1. The King's Singer: Stille Nacht (really amazing choir)
2. Judy Garland: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (classic)
3. Gardiner Sisters: What Child Is This? (three sisters singing in harmony, in a great arrangement)
4. Celine Dion: O Holy Night (you need a powerful voice to sing this song and she nails it)
5. Nat King Cole: The First Noel (he makes singing sound easy & effortless)
6. Natalie Cole: The Holy & the Ivy (a lesser known Christmas carol but a really nice one)
7. The Daughters of St. Paul: Ave Maria (standard!)
8. Celtic Woman: The Christmas Song (some wonderful voices in Celtic Woman)
9. The Piano Guys: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (instrumental, a piano and cello.  Really good!)
10. Choir of King's College, Cambridge: Coventry Carol (another amazing choir)
11. Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles: O Come Divine Messiah (a hymn, sung beautifully.  From their Advent at Ephesus album)
12. Martina McBride: Away in a Manger (my favorite country singer)

Fatima for Today, right now!

I recently finished Fr. Andrew Apostoli's book on the great phenomenon of Fatima, called Fatima for Today.  First things first: go buy this book and read it.

Fatima gets lost in the shuffle as yet another avenue of Marian devotion, one among many.  Our Lady is well-traveled and in her great love for her children, she's visited many places.  Some people take a liking to different titles of Our Lady, whether they be Lourdes (my favorite!), Guadalupe, Peace, Grace, Walsingham, and so on, and so on.

Before I read this book, I figured Our Lady of Fatima was another one on that list.  After I read this book, I think that every Catholic needs to know about it.  Here are my reasons:

1) It's one of the most decisive events in the history of the 20th century.
Three poor, shepherd children, two of whom died very young?  Yes!  The messages they were given aimed to correct the errors of the 20th century: first, hell does, in fact, exist.  This had long been frequently denied or ignored, a century ago just as it is today.  Look at the no consequences philosophies permeating our culture!  Second, penance is key to the spiritual life.  Materialist cultures like ours don't see a value in penance, don't understand it, and reject it as archaic.  Third, without serious correction and reparation, the world was headed for terrible suffering.  The death toll from two world wars; the atrocities committed by Mao, Stalin, Hitler, Pot; war after war after war.  Our Lady was given the grace to know where our world was heading, and these messages were meant to warn us.

The apparitions at Fatima were decisive because of one of the largest controversies in the Church: the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  See below for my thoughts on the controversy, but Fr. Apostoli had a good take.  Look at how the Soviet Union "thawed" with Gorbachev... the manner in which the Berlin wall came down... how the U.S.S.R. dissolved without a shot being fired.

Imagine the alternative to each of those.

2) It's very important to learn the truth about the conspiracy theories, as not to get caught up in them.
A while ago, I googled the Fatima apparitions to learn more about them.  What a mistake!  I was surprised at all the garbage out there!  Various conspiracy theories claimed that the Third Secret finally revealed by Pope John Paul II wasn't the real Third Secret--Bl. Lucia wrote it on one page, and the photocopy had four pages!  The Sr. Lucia shown in photo X is not actually Sr. Lucia!  The Vatican kidnapped her and replaced her with an impostor!  There's still a fourth secret out there that the Vatican has suppressed!

Fr. Apostoli answers many of the common objections relating to Fatima... perhaps with the exception of Sr. Lucia being replaced with an impostor (which is silly).  

Sr. Lucia said herself that heaven accepted Pope John Paul II's consecration of the world as fulfilling what Our Lady asked at Fatima, to consecrate Russia.  It's really that simple.  No tales of intrigue, no rogue Curial bishops, no redactions from the Third Secret.  

Pick any hot-button moral issue today, and there's so much confusion.  What is the source of all the confusion about Fatima?  It's Satan!  He's attacked the message of Fatima to discredit it and sow discord within the Church... just as he did with abortion, contraception, euthanasia, gender confusion, and the like.  And sadly, he's done a damn good job.

3) The storms in our world are coming to a high point.  Our Lady of Fatima shows us the way through it--and her Immaculate Heart wins in the end.
These messages weren't just for the people of Portugal, Russia, or Europe.  The call to penance and conversion is a constant theme throughout the New Testament; there's nothing new there.  The difference at Fatima was first the insistence, and second, a reminder that our spiritual practices & life of penance (or lack thereof) has consequences.  She told the three visionaries that prayer & penance could've averted World War II, and the length of it was shortened.  So it is with our times!  Prayer/the rosary, penance, and frequent reception of the sacraments are the best defenses and weapons that we have against the evils of our time.

And lest we lose heart, she wins.  Evil loses.  There is hope!

There is so much to write about Fatima, and this will have to suffice for now.  Read about the Five First Saturdays here and start it this week!

Our Lady of Peace, pray for us.
Blessed Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta, pray for us.

Streams of Living Water

One of the subjects that captivated my imagination was the "water of life" theme from Jean Corbon's The Wellspring of Worship.  A really, really good book!  I attempted to write a serious article on it, and I may indeed try to get it published some day.  The idea of the water of life comes from a number of Scripture passages--from the Old Testament as well as the New Testament.  The first reading at Mass this morning (see the Sunday readings here) briefly mentions this theme, Is 35:4-7...

Thus says the LORD:Say to those whose hearts are frightened:Be strong, fear not!Here is your God,he comes with vindication;with divine recompensehe comes to save you.Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,the ears of the deaf be cleared;then will the lame leap like a stag,then the tongue of the mute will sing.Streams will burst forth in the desert,and rivers in the steppe.The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water.

I think one of the things I love the most about the "living water" motif (which is not the ability to sound pretentious, using words like 'motif') is the visual.  I imagine a parched desert... tumbleweed blowing across... the cry of a bird of prey echoes throughout the landscape... the ground is dry and cracked where there's dirt, and the sand is more arid than something really arid.  (NB: good vocabulary isn't always part of my imaginings) (is using NB: pretentious too?  I'm on a roll!)  Out of this will come streams?  A desert gets barely a hint of rainfall and is the utter antithesis of fertile ground.  Pools?  Rivers?  Springs of water?  The odds of that happening naturally are so infinitesimal that it would be impossible.  

Latch onto that image of the desert.  See how incredibly absurd it would be for the desert to all of a sudden burst forth with streams, rivers, and pools.  With this illustration, Isaiah's prophetic words are showing us: SUCH IS THE POWER OF GOD!  What's naturally impossible is no barrier to Him.  Even the tiniest amount of His grace is stronger than the greatest evil.  

And it's no less absurd when His grace acts in us.  Humans have free will, and thus the power to magnificently screw up our own lives.  Our souls can resemble that desert--dry, parched, and barren.  When we sin, we do so against God and our fellow man.  By all rights, we've earned every tumbleweed and every grain of arid sand in our souls.  For us to fix ourselves, on our own?  Make that barren soul a life-giving, fertile soil?  Impossible.  

Here is God, coming to save fallen humanity.  Here is Jesus, promising "living water" and salvation.  It's not just salvation for (=heaven), but it's also salvation from the barrenness of sin within us.  Come to Him, be healed!  Drink of His living water and never thirst again!

Fr. Barron's "Priest, Prophet, and King"

I somewhat recently watched Fr. Robert Barron's "Priest, Prophet, and King" series, and I loved it.  There are six episodes, and each runs about 20-30 minutes.  I think it's designed that way to make sure that Fr. Barron didn't overload his listeners with depth of content, as well as to fit nicely into an hour-long discussion group format.  I really enjoy Fr. Barron's material; I like his approach, delivery, and I appreciate how he can be profound and simple at the same time.  Here are some of the highlights of the series for me...

1. No competition between the baptismal and ministerial priesthood.  We share the same mission, and there is no misogyny, prejudice, or hate behind it.  Everyone can offer sacrifice, but not everyone can offer the Eucharistic sacrifice.  Does that devalue or erase the laity's sacrifices?  No!  We're co-laborers in the same vineyard.

2. The role of the priest is to reconcile God & humanity.  If someone had asked me to summarize what a priest does, I don't think I would've come up with something so simple as this.  Priests do lots of things, but what do they do?  They serve the people of God in the person of Christ, doing the same thing He did for us: healing us so that we can enter into right relationship with God.

3. How key the Temple was... and how the Mystical Body of Christ is the new temple.  The Jerusalem Temple was the literal place of reconciliation for the Jews.  By offering animal sacrifices, the Jewish faithful maintained their right relationship with God.  Had Jesus employed a PR firm, they they would have had an aneurism after hearing his saying, "something greater than the temple is here." (Matt 12:6)  The Temple was the meeting place of heaven and earth, and no place could be more sacred.  The transformation of the new covenant can be seen in St. John's marvelous vision:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away."  And he who sat upon the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new."  (Revelation 21:1-5)

4. False worship is not harmless.  The story of Elijah and the 400 prophets of Ba'al is an entertaining read and one that carries a lot of spiritual wisdom in it.  One of the highlights that Fr. Barron pointed out was that false worship always leads to some sort of spiritual harm.  The 400 prophets, when Ba'al didn't respond in a timely fashion, started cutting themselves, as if to cry louder to their god.  (1 Kings 18:28)  Although unseen, we do ourselves great spiritual harm when we worship something other than God.

5. Bad kingship starts with self-indulgence.  Although not all of us are ministerial priests, we are all still part of the baptismal priesthood; and thus we can offer sacrifice.  Similarly, although we do not possess kingdoms like David, Midas, or Henry, we are still to govern our own "kingdom": our body, home, and family.  King David fell into serious sin with Bathsheba; not only adultery, but murder.  Where he lost the spiritual battle?  He got lazy.

In the spring of the year, the time when kings go forth to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.  It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking upon the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful.  (2 Samuel 11:1-2)

First, he sent Joab to do his military campaigning for him.  Second, he either slept in until the afternoon or took a long nap in the middle of the day.  Vices often come in bunches--trouble with one leads to trouble with another, and even new vices may pop up as a result.  When David woke up that afternoon, he probably didn't intend to seek out another man's wife, defile her, and then kill her husband.  His sloth made him unable to fight the temptation.  A good lesson for all of us, though the details may (and hopefully do) vary.

6. The gates of hell not prevailing.  Fr. Barron ended the series with this, and it made me want to get up and go to battle.  We know the passage well:

"Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.  And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matt 16:17-19)

I'd only ever thought of this with the Church in the defensive posture.  The Church would be assailed, and Satan would send every last warrior to break through the walls.  Fr. Barron flipped the imagery, which I found AWESOME.  The Church and the Mystical Body of Christ is on the attack, sieging the gates of hell.  Through the power of Jesus Christ, the most fearsome warriors of hell stand no chance.  Hell cannot win against the power of His grace any more than a toothpick could overpower a flamethrower.

Fight the good fight of faith (1 Tim 6:12) and be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might (Eph 6:10) 

Article #5

I'm still fortunate enough to be able to write articles for the Cora Evans blog.  This latest assignment was to write about an extraordinary conversion, and I picked John Pridmore's story.  It's a fantastic story and a great reminder that God's grace is stronger than any sin or weakness we have.

John's website: http://johnpridmore.yolasite.com/ (has a store with his books and CDs)

Lighthouse Catholic Media: http://www.lighthousecatholicmedia.org/store/speaker/john-pridmore (just his conversion story & book; can download CD or mp3)

http://www.coraevans.com/blog/article/conversion-stories-john-pridmore

Questions without answers

One of the biggest challenges in the history of the Church is communicating the Gospel to the world.  This stretches from age to age: from the apostles, to the evangelizers of northern Europe, to the missionaries that traveled to the Americas and Africa, to the present day. 

Evangelical efforts have always been a mix of success and failure.  This trend is there in Acts of the Apostles—at Pentecost, the very beginning.  Over 3,000 souls chose baptism that day (Acts 2:41), but they were side-by-side with a group that derided the apostles, calling them drunk (Acts 2:13).  Similarly, St. Paul’s preaching at the Areogapus was going fine until he started talking about the resurrection.  Dionysius and others thirsted for more, but still others mocked St. Paul for his teaching. 

In all of our efforts to evangelize, we have to keep a healthy tension between reasonable and positive expectations.  On one hand, the grace of God has power beyond our imagining.  In Mexico, for example, Our Lord sent the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Juan Diego.  In a brief time, millions converted thanks to that miraculous intervention—accomplishing more than earthly missionaries had in years of effort.  On the other hand, original sin eliminates the chance of converting the entire world to Christ before the end of the world.  There will be no perfect society, no “Christendom” as we would like.  St. Thomas More coined the word “utopia” as the name of his fictional, perfect society.  He made a new word out of two Greek words, which etymologically means “no where.”

I’ve participated in this evangelical challenge at the parish level, as a volunteer with youth groups and religious education classes.  It’s the same question—how do we communicate the Gospel?—with different methods.  Youth group uses a combination of fellowship, catechesis, retreats, and fun activities to try to get the point across.  Religious education goes about it as a school would: classrooms, curricula, text books, and sometimes homework. 

Maybe that’s too lengthy of an introduction to say… whatever the Catholic Church in America is doing on a broad scale to catechize its own members, it’s failing.  There are bright spots and vibrant parishes.  There are other pockets of… well, the opposite.  I’ve already written about it here, but I’ve had more religious education experience since then.  Here are my thoughts, followed up by questions… the thing is, I don’t have the answers, and I don’t pretend to be an expert educator, pastoral minister, or anything close.  I’m a layman who’s been around a lot of clergy and a lot of parishes, that's all. 

And my thoughts really just apply to the parish level, not to parents or families.  That's definitely a conversation worth having--how can parishes help families, the first classrooms of catechesis?

1) Knowledge is key.  I can’t tell you how many small groups I’ve been a part of over the past 10 years… Questions of a religious nature can be answered with vague platitudes that don’t ultimately mean anything.  At the last confirmation retreat I helped chaperone, it became an inside joke in my small group.  Every question could’ve been answered with “peer pressure” or other phrases.  Every time the teens would use those answers, I’d press for more.  

How can we believe in something we don't know much about?  Almost ten years ago, I had a coworker who was a big San Francisco Giants fan.  I am a Dodgers fan (there is nothing more awful to a Giants fan than the Dodgers), so naturally this coworker gave me grief about it.  He asked for the starting lineup of the Dodgers, and I didn't know--he laughed at me, "you call yourself a fan and you don't even know who's on the team?" 

Question: What is the key knowledge that we need to be passing on?  Like I mentioned in my post from a couple years ago (here it is again), I’m not talking about heavy theological knowledge—just the basics.  What brought this question up in my mind is an old Sunday missal from 1941.  At the back, it had lists of prayers and devotions.  One of the sections was called “Prayers to Be Memorized” and had at the top of the page, “Every Catholic Should Know.”  It made me wonder… what would we put in this section now?  It doesn’t seem to fit the catechetical philosophies around today; such a list might be seen as a return to the “pre-conciliar days” of the Baltimore Catechism (my impression is that animosity still exists against that time among the elder generation of the Church).  There would be fights about diversity, social justice, and inclusive language before any updated list of “Every Catholic Should Know” could be completed.

Question: Am I being too cynical on this?

2) Encountering Christ.  Pope Benedict and Pope Francis have talked repeatedly about the need for our encounter with Christ.  Perhaps this is done with regular holy hours, or a retreat, or special groups (e.g. Communion & Liberation, Neo-Catechumenal Way).  Certainly, great ways to encounter Christ are through the sacraments (see #3 below), but some of us need a push to come to a better appreciation of the sacraments. 

Question:  How do you get a “but I’m so busy!” culture (laity and priests included) to buy into the idea of a retreat, or holy hour, or prayer group, etc.?

3) Sacraments!  This probably should’ve been first on the list.  Indeed, if we’re not bringing people to the sacraments, what’s the point of evangelization?  Still, I’d think it would be hard for a non-denominational Christian, a non-Christian, or a lapsed Catholic (who supposedly already knows about the Mass) to attend Mass without them having some knowledge ahead of time (#1) and having enough of an encounter with Christ (#2) to pursue the truth. 

This is also an area in dire need of re-catechesis.  By that, I wonder how many Catholics stand up, sit down, kneel, and receive Communion without really knowing what they’re doing.  I can go through Mass all or in part with my mind elsewhere, even though I’ve been taught how amazing the Mass is. 

Question: Have we reformed the liturgical reform enough?  I don't think so.  As I get older and time goes on, the more I think Mass needs to become more sacred.  The more familiar it’s become, the less special it is.  And if Mass is not all that special, if it’s become “protestantized” (as some conciliar reformers wished and deliberately acted), why bother going to a dull Mass if the local mega-church has better music, better preaching, and a coffee stand?  Ad orientem and music are the two places I think they should start.  Unfortunately, I don’t see the bishops getting behind that anytime soon. 

4) Fellowship outside of Mass.  This is a personal thing for me, and I know not everyone has this need like I do.  Still, I look at the examples of the mega-churches.  They have a small group for everything!  In addition to youth groups and junior high groups, they have them for men, women, moms, young adults, older adults, Bible studies, book clubs… and on and on.  Whatever the interest, whatever the need, most likely there’s a group for that.

We’re all spiritually part of the Body of Christ, and we experience that par excellence in the Sacrifice of the Mass.  My guess is that the goal of these groups is to provide a follow-up, more visible sign of unity within a parish. 

Question: How do you convince priests to get behind something like this, over and above the regular ministries that already take a considerable amount of volunteers and effort?

There.  I feel better now. 

Why We Need a Savior

Lent is the perfect time to be reminded: we do need a savior.  Regardless of what we may think sometimes, we are not just fine on our own, we would not have everything sorted out perfectly if we were left to our own devices.  Underlying that tendency, I'm terribly impressed at the human person that God fashioned.  Intellect... will... heart/soul... capable of incredible things.  It's no wonder that humans occasionally (I'm being optimistic) think they don't need God.  Men and women are remarkable creatures!  Yet creatures we remain.  I've come across a couple things that have helped me remember how much humanity needs a savior.  

_____

I've taken to downloading podcasts--mainly of sermons.  A great Catholic podcast I decided to try was Taylor Marshall's podcast.  He's a Catholic layman with a doctorate in theology.  His podcasts are a nice mix of theological material and practical application of that material to everyday life.  

Podcast #67, "How Your Fears Are Hurting You Spiritually", takes on fear.  The bad side effect it has in our spiritual lives is that it drives out faith.  He used the example of the complaining Hebrews after wandering in the desert.  God had just delivered them from the army of the Egyptians, given them manna and quail, and still they grumbled.  Rather than have faith in God's promise, and believe that He was leading them to the Promised Land, they wanted to return to Egypt as slaves.  Taylor brought up a point that I hadn't considered before: how happy do you think the Egyptians would've been to see the Hebrews?  After the ten plagues?  After the crossing of the Red Sea?  It highlights the desperation of the complainers; horrible living conditions, if not death, surely awaited them in Egypt.  

Taylor's second point that stood out to me was that we're no different with our sins.  How many times to we look longingly to the grass on the other side?  "If we could only ditch ____ Catholic moral teaching, life would be so much easier."  "If we could believe whatever we wanted to on ____, it would be so much nicer."  Egypt represents sin; just as Moses led the Hebrews out of slavery into almost the Promised Land, Jesus the New Moses freed humanity from slavery to sin.  

Could we have done that by ourselves?  Nope.  We'd still look behind us, remembering the sins of our past, not willing to leave them behind.  Jesus had to come to show us the way forward.  This time, it's not a land of milk and honey--but the eternal promised land, heaven.  

____

The other thing that struck me recently was a passage out of Pope Benedict's second Jesus of Nazareth book.  It covers Holy Week and the Resurrection.  I intended it to be a lenten read, but it's Good Friday and I just cracked chapter 4.  Oops.  

Pope Benedict drew a parallel between Peter's "God forbid that should happen to you!" and his initial refusal to have his feet washed.  It's a good point that I never considered.  They're both manifestations of the same line of thinking--

"It is the response to Jesus that we find throughout history: You are the victor, you are the strong one--you must not lower yourself or practice humility!  Again and again Jesus has to help us recognize anew that God's power is different, that the Messiah must pass through suffering into glory and must lead others along the same path."  (pg. 70)

Lord Jesus, thank you for saving us!

Article #4

In keeping with a Lenten theme, this latest article is on confession.  Which reminds me, I need to go this week...

http://www.coraevans.com/blog/article/the-sacrament-of-confession

Article #3!!!

My third article was posted today!  

http://www.coraevans.com/blog/article/the-seven-sacraments-and-the-dwelling-of-christ-within-us

7 Quick Takes: Spiritual lessons from a 4-week old, 2/15/15

Here is yet another baby-themed 7QT.  Having a baby in the house is not only a huge adjustment, but it's also taught me some spiritual lessons.  Who knew?  Little Leo is only 4 weeks old and he's already teaching me things.  

1) Oh boy, I'm a selfish person.  This being our first child, it's a tough realization that our time is no longer our own.  When I'd rather do this, or that, or get something done... I only can if the baby's not being fussy, if my wife doesn't need a hand, etc.  It's an easy thing to say, that we have a put others before ourselves.  It's far more difficult to do on a daily basis.  Quite the learning process!

2) I've seen some analogies, too.  First, poo = sin.  This fits in terms of scale: sharts vs. normal diapers vs. how did that much come out of such a little body?  There is also a scale of sin (cf. 1 John 5:17), and things that are easy to clean up/difficult to clean up.

3) Many of us would just as soon sit in our sin/poo than get cleaned up in confession.  For the  most part, Leo hates getting his diaper changed.  Granted, he's focused on the discomfort of it, and reason doesn't enter into it.  For adults, there are sins that we like, or behaviors we're not willing to change.  If I left Leo in a dirty diaper and never changed it, he'd develop a rash and other worse things.  Sin works the same way, if we stay in our figurative dirty diapers:

"Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.  Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death." -James 1:14-15

4) Another analogy: we're the infants, God is the Dad.  We're completely dependent on God--and just as Leo doesn't have a full idea of how much he needs my wife and I, neither do we fully grasp how much we need God.   

5) Our family and friends have been incredibly generous to us.  My wife received many gifts at her baby shower, including a number of hand-made things.  My mom knitted a hat and some booties, and two of her aunts sewed blankets.  I really felt loved and embraced by both our families and the community.  I also had coworkers who gave me baby gifts--ones who I don't even work with on a regular basis.  How humbling it is to be the recipient of such overwhelming generosity!

6) Watching Leo and how he acts when he wants something... does our habit of fit throwing change that much as we grow older?  We react differently than an infant (in most cases), naturally.  I notice it at work... when a coworker does this, when a boss won't let us do that, it can really get on my nerves and get me into a fit.  Sure, I don't wail and cry.  Do I always handle it as a mature adult?  I tell other people how injustly I was treated, with the hope that they'll get irritated and hold a grudge against that person.  

p.s.  I'm not looking forward to Leo turning 2.

7) Prioritization is really key.  I'm amazed at the time that we can waste--though not like I've never done that before.  When we've been up with the baby all night, it feels like we only have the energy to watch TV or surf the internet.  That's fine to a certain extent.  Laundry and dishes are ever present, though, as are the usual household chores.  I've found that I have to take advantage of Leo's naps to get things done rather than relax.  I'm not good at taking advantage of that time, but I know I have to.  :)

For more quick takes, visit www.thisaintthelyceum.org!

3 Secrets to Heaven: Humility, Humility, & Humility

The older I get, I notice the passage of time in small bits of daily life more than anything else.  My hair disappears a little more; extra physical activity reminds me that I'm not a teenager; although I think of myself as sort of young at heart and cool, the reality is that I'm a 35 year-old that can't stand some of the trends that the kids like these days.  New Years' Eve used to be more of a benchmark for me than it is now; it was a big deal and an occasion to party.  Mind you, partying for me in college was getting together with my friends to play Goldeneye on Nintendo 64.

In my advanced age, I now look at New Years' Eve as a pseudo-Friday night.  The first of the year is a national holiday (=no work!!!) and this year it was a welcome break in the middle of the week.  What impacted me most for New Years' this time around wasn't getting together with friends, watching anything, or playing video games.  It was going to Mass on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.  As we knelt during the creed--"and by the power of the Holy Spirit, He was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man"--I attempted to pray that as humbly as I could.  I pictured myself in front of our Blessed Mother, profoundly bowing as an attendant at a royal court (without all the frilly clothes and funny hats).

Holy return on investment, Batman, you'd think I'd never prayed a humble prayer before in my life.  It set the interior tone for me the rest of Mass, and a subtle, embering joy filled me.  It was awesome!    

Then I recalled having a similar experience at the 9 p.m. Christmas Eve (a.k.a. midnight) Mass.  As I was screeching singing in the choir, I had the joyful feeling that I was joining my voice to that of the angels in heaven.  I praised God with the angels, as if they were standing right next to me!   As weak/small/unworthy/so on as I am!

The result?  I cantored the Psalm and it was the best cantoring I'd ever done in four or five years.  I was confident (I always get nervous cantoring), I didn't hit too many off notes (can't hit 'em all), and I wasn't stressed (which I am every time I do it).  Singing the rest of the Mass filled me with that same subtle joy.  Here again, it was a humble prayer that set the spiritual tone.

I'm very thankful for those experiences, on a few levels.  First, I'm glad for the experience themselves.  I may verbally participate in the Mass every week, but I hadn't interiorly participated in Mass like that in a while.  Probably longer than I care to admit...  Second, for all the talk of a sublime joy, I have an awful lot of subtle pride.  I consider myself a good guy, and not arrogant in the stereotypical jerk way.  Not all proud people/actions are complete jerks!  Third and finally, I have something to push toward and a virtue to cultivate.

Breaking through Apathy, Catechetical Enemy #1

Sometime last year I participated in Eucharistic adoration with a little praise & worship music thrown in; I helped with the musical side of it.  Being in the front, I had a clear view of the whole church--and the kids who, by their body language, couldn't care less about what was happening.  I don't mean that in a judgmental way; there's no way I could possibly know what was going on in their mind or their soul.  Were seeds planted?  Were they interiorly enjoying it while exteriorly loathing it?  Who knows...

I found out later that day that the adoration was specifically for a confirmation class.  After learning that, I wasn't surprised.  Sorry folks!  The teachers of those classes and the associated youth ministers are great.  They do something very difficult and thankless.  The kids?  Man.  I've volunteered with confirmation class kids in religious education/youth group in multiple parishes, three in Oregon and one in California.  My experience at adoration was entirely consistent with all three parishes.

Here's how I'd summarize my confirmation class experiences to date, as a catechist:

1) For the most part, the kids were there because their parents made them.

2) Based on their level of knowledge of the faith, it seemed like most of the kids' families were not practicing.  And here I'm not critiquing an incorrect pronunciation of 'anamnesis'; it was basic matters of faith.

3) The sacrament seemed like a stamp on a passport, or a culturally expected formality.

I don't think my experiences were unique to me.  Here are some thoughts and feelings:

Sorrow.  It breaks my heart for a few reasons.  First and foremost, I have to admit, is my pride.  This is my faith, my church, and, well, my music that they're brushing off.  In addition to any selfish reasons, it's sad that a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit is treated on the same level (or worse) as an after-school club, a sports team, or any other extracurricular activity.

Something's wrong with our system...  Joanne McPortland wrote this blog post a while ago that ignited a maelstrom of discussion on the subject of children's catechesis.  Her main takeaway is a good one: if the parents & adults aren't catechized, even the most effective catechesis might not stick.  It's really simple math:  

[Religious education for one hour a week + Mass for one hour a week (hopefully) = 2 hrs/week] vs. [school all day, Mon-Fri + TV, movies + video games + sports after school and on the weekends = waaaaay more than 2 hrs/week]  

Solutions?  I'm not an expert educator, and I don't have the most extensive parish experience.  Still, I have two thoughts on what to do.

The biggest challenge, in my eyes: how do you communicate this is special?  Part of this is the witness of the teacher.  I remember from an old confirmation class years ago, one of the volunteer teachers was asked by a kid about the Catholic teaching on abortion.  She conveyed what the Church officially taught in a voice that sounded like she was rolling her eyes.  The connotation in her voice said so much more than her words!  On the other side of the coin, listen to someone like Mark Hart give a talk.  He's excited and he's very convincing that he's convinced about the truth of the Catholic faith.  In all likelihood, very few catechists have the ability/experience to be a dynamic speaker like Mark Hart.  Still, everyone who loves their faith has something they can say.

In my archdiocese, confirmation is done in high school.  At this age, I think a confirmation program ideally should have a specific goal: helping transition the kids from a child-like faith (not in the biblical sense, see Matt 18:3) to an adult faith.  How exactly to do this?  heh heh... good question... the kids should have a mix of things: experiences with different types of prayer, learning about the faith, reading the Scriptures, and frequent sacraments.  In essence, what every adult believer should have as part of their life.

I hope the landscape changes.  In the meantime, I'll be working on becoming a better witness.

St. John Bosco's Dreams

I picked up a book of the dreams of St. John Bosco recently, looking for something light I could read before bed.  I haven't been disappointed, it's a easily readable but very substantial book.  I bought the Tan edition of Forty Dreams of St. John Bosco after reading his dream of the two pillars.  It was at once a comforting dream as a sobering one.   I won't spoil it, it's worth reading.

I was mostly ignorant of St. John before reading this book; I only knew of him as the patron of youth. After reading this, I see him as a spiritual master, an expert in spiritual warfare, and a mystic.  The book of St. John's dreams is worth reading.  Each of the forty dreams has its own chapter; they're pulled from his memoirs and the memoirs of his confrers.  The anecdotal style make them an easy read--but don't mistake 'easy' for 'fluffy.'

St. John frequently had dreams that identified the boys in his Oratory.  One of those, "A Dream About St. Dominic Savio," featured St. John being reunited with one of his pupils, St. Dominic.  At the end of their conversation in the dream, St. John asks about how he can help the boys at the Oratory.  St. Dominic hands him three lists: unconquered, casualties, and overcome by evil.  The first list was small, noting the names of the boys who had not been conquered by evil.  The second group, casualties, was comprised of boys who had previous run-ins with evil, but had been healed through Confession and the Eucharist.  The final group is a fairly obvious one, with a twist.  When St. Dominic handed St. John the list, he forbade him to open it in his presence.  It gave off an unbearable smell that, in his dream, forced St. John to vomit uncontrollably.

On one hand, we're curious creatures and want to know the future, our fate, and so on.  On the other hand, there are things that--even if only subconsciously--we would rather not know.  Reading this particular dream, two questions raised in my mind.

First, which list would I be on?  It isn't a question of which list I think I should be on.  The lists came from the Lord, Who sees and knows our hearts; He Who created us; He Who will be our judge.  What list would the Lord put me on right now?  There were many names on the final, stinky list that surprised St. John.  Who's to say that I'm any different?

Second, can you imagine the effect on the boys of the Oratory?  St. John related his dreams to the boys, and used them as teaching tools to effect further conversion of heart.  When he read the lists in his dream, he knew many of the boys on them.  Even further, he talked to the boys on the stinky list individually.  "Hey bro, can we talk?  That dream I told all you guys about... you're on the wrong list and on the path to hell."  Not that I'm disparaging St. John; better that the boys would know, and hopefully they turned their hears back to God.

Our Lady also figured prominently in some of St. John's dreams.  In "A Fiendish Elephant," the large beast (=Satan) starts attacking boys on the playground.  Our Lady's mantle became enormous and she threw it around the boys to protect them; all their wounds are healed when they're taken in by her.  She cries out, "Venite ad me omnes!" Come all to me!

It made me smile.  Here is Our Heavenly Mother, loving us, fighting for us, protecting us.  From that dream, St. John gave advice to his boys that we can all take to heart: "Turn to her; call on her in any danger.  I can assure you that your prayers will be heard."

St. John Bosco, pray for us!

Msgr. Knox and the Parables of the Kingdom

I wrote previously on the parables of the Kingdom in the Gospel of Matthew.  They fascinated me then, and I read a great reflection on them that continued the wonder.  Alongside reading the Gospel of Matthew, I've been making my way through In Soft Garments by Msgr. Ronald Knox.  He uses the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven to put a frame on the issue of the Church and human progress.

Here are some extended quotes, and any attempt at a summary wouldn't do him justice.

"... the growth of the mustard seed shows you the Christian Church as a body which swells in size, whereas the spread of the leaven shows you the Christian gospel as an influence which radiates fore and communicated it to its neighbourhood.  The tree takes something from its surroundings; takes nourishment from the earth and the moisture and the sunlight, and so grows bigger: and the Church takes something from her surroundings, takes the souls of men from the world and incorporates them into herself.  The leaven gives something to its surroundings, infects them with its own life; so the Christian gospel gives something to its surroundings; communicates to mankind its own spirit of discipline and its own philosophy of life." (pg. 166-167)

"One word needs to be added, not less important.  Our Lord says that the mustard tree is to grow out of all recognition; he doesn't say that it is to grow indefinitely; does not mean us to understand that there will ever be a time at which the whole of mankind will be even nominally Christian.  His prophecy that his Gospel will be preached in the whole world is sufficiently fulfilled if all mankind has a real chance of hearing it.  Similarly, when he says that the leaven hidden in the meal spread till the whole was leavened, I don't think we are necessarily to understand this as meaning that there will be a time at which the principles of Christian charity towards one's neighbour will dominate the counsels of humanity.  We are to understand that the Christian message will make itself felt throughout the world which harbours it, not necessarily that it will triumph.  Don't be disappointed, therefore, if it appears--it may perfectly well come to appear so in your lifetime--as if things were going backwards instead of forwards, as if the world were relapsing into barbarism instead of following along the path marked out for it by what we call civilization.... the social influence of the Church is in reality a by-product of her activity; it is not her life.  Her business, ultimately, is with the individual soul, and the promises by which she lives are not limited within the these narrow horizons.  The leaven is there, and it does not lose its virtue with the centuries.  But whether in our particular age the time is ripe for its manifestation, that we cannot know."  (pg. 172-173)

The latter quote put the modern world into good perspective, I think.  Couldn't Knox be writing for today, and not the 1930s?  Doesn't the world seem to be going backward instead of forward?  It slips my mind frequently, but it's key to our spiritual life: Christ has won the war, yes, but the victory will not come in this world until the end of time.  Until then, we are in the midst of the battles.

7 Quick Takes: Etc. & Lighthouse Catholic Media favorites edition, 8/29/14

--- 1 ---
We're having a baby boy!  It's surreal and wonderful seeing the baby on the ultrasound.  He was much bigger (of course, which is a good thing) and his little head has grown a lot... he's going to be a good looking kid, that's for sure.  One of the highlights of my life: seeing the little guy play with his foot on the ultrasound. 

--- 2 ---
Happy birthday to my big sister Kristy, who turned __ a week ago today!  (age removed to protect the innocent)   

--- 3 ---
There were some college football games earlier this week, but Notre Dame opened their season with a nice win over Rice today.  In Oregon, football season reignites the major rivalry between the Ducks and Beavers.  Seriously, it's a big deal.  Sure, you hear about college football being big in Texas, and the Midwest, etc.  But it is here too, it's just big everywhere!  I remember teaching a parish CCD class that was made up of 3rd and 4th graders.  We did a coloring activity one night, having the kids trace an outline of their hand and color them.  Yeah, out of the 6-8 kids in the class, at least two or three colored their handprint in Beavers or Ducks colors.

My son will be a Notre Dame fan and can just be amused when people go crazy with Ducks or Beavers fervor.

--- 4 ---

I'm still part of the CD of the month club with Lighthouse Catholic Media.  I highly recommend it!  At the very least, their website is worth checking out.  There are talks from the most well-known Catholic evangelists as well as many other gems.  To fill up the rest of my quick takes, I'll list some of my favorites.  

First up: Scott Hahn's Abba or Allah?  Ecumenical efforts can be confusing sometimes.  In some cases, actual unity/reconciliation is possible with other Christian denominations.  In other cases, like the dialogue with Islam, unity is utterly unrealistic.  For the latter cases, dialogue seems to take a look at the things we do have in common, and working together on those fronts.  Do you want an authentically Catholic take on the similarities/differences between Catholicism and Islam?  Check out this talk.


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Fr. Robert Barron has been getting more and more well-known over the last few years.  In my humble opinion, it's well deserved.  I really like his cultured & philosophical take on the Catholic faith.  His Sunday sermons are reliably good, too.  His talk, Who Do You Say That I Am?, asks of us the question that Jesus asked His disciples in Matthew 16:15.  Jesus claimed to be God, and the Church has taught that very tenet since her first breath.  

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I love a good conversion story, and John Pridmore's is a dramatic one: From Gangland to Promised Land.  (Lighthouse also sells his book with that same title)  I sometimes underestimate the power of God's grace, and stories like Pridmore's remind me.  Imagine a thug in the London criminal underground converting to the Catholic faith.  And then imagine that same guy becoming a missionary, speaking at schools, jails, and parish missions throughout the British Isles.  A great listen!

P.S.  I'd recommend reading his blog or liking his Facebook page.  He sends out updates of his mission work and testimonials of his listeners who returned to the Lord.  It's uplifting!  

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How about an apologetics tome within a conversion story, a la Rome Sweet Home?  Both my wife and I have listed to Steve Ray's Born Again?  Faith Alone? talk from Lighthouse multiple times.  He's engaging and incredibly knowledgeable about the Catholic faith. 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!