Sunday, October 21, 2012
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Bob and Marti
This will be one precious moment in my life that I will treasure...Thank You God! August 25, 2012, Vilano Beach (St Augustine area), Florida.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
My Friend Father Charlie
I have posted the content of a recent blog published by my friend on his Catholic Insights blogspot.
The blog started out with a reference to what I had encountered in my experience of conversations with many of our typical non-Catholic fellow Christian believers as a serious flaw in the Church's presentation of the Gospel message. It is the universal Catholic practice of referring to an ordained minister as "Father". The practice is judged as wrong based upon an inaccurate interpretation of a few Biblical passages and at its worst is seen as an arrogant and haughty contradiction of the entire message of the Bible as an assumption on the part of a man of a title and identity that belongs to God alone. This is not true of course, but for anyone who thinks it is true it can be a definitive obstacle for that person in considering seriously the claims of the Catholic Church that are actually true.
There is one such claim based upon a distinctive Catholic practice that to my surprise does not seem to be offensive to our non-Catholic friends. It is the practice of identifying ordained ministers as priests. There is an apparent parallel in our Catholic practice of referring to a man as Father seen by some of our non-Catholic friends as an assumption of an identity and title on the part of a mere human creature that belongs to God alone, and in our Catholic practice of referring to a man as priest if this is seen as an assumption of an identity and title on the part of a mere human creature that belongs to Jesus alone as the sole Redeemer of the entire human race and the sole fulfillment of the promise made to Adam and Eve that a Redeemer would come who would atone for sin.
An essential difference in these two Catholic practices lies in the fact our reference to ordained ministers as Father is not an assumption of the sole identity and title we profess in reference to our sole Creator, but rather a reminder and proclamation of our heavenly Fathers love, whereas the reference to an ordained priest is proclaimed by us as giving the ordained person a new real supernatural identity AS SHARING THE IDENTITY OF JESUS THE PRIEST. As in the case of calling a man Father, this practice is not a contradiction of or in competition with the identity and title of Jesus as Redeemer. Rather in God's design and with God's authority it identifies and proclaims such a close union with Jesus and the ordained human priest we see at the altar during Mass, that the ordained priest not just guides a worshiping community in memory of what Jesus said and did at the Last Supper, quoting Jesus as it were: "Jesus said This is My Body...", but actually takes the offered bread in his human hands and proclaims "This is My Body...", referring now to the Sacramental Body of Jesus. Our Catholic practice also recognizes the ordained priest as officially identified and authorized in union with Jesus to represent the people offering the sacrifice of the Mass, one of the conditions required in the definition of an official act of sacrifice.
Underlying all that I have been saying about Calvary, the Last Supper, and the Mass is the identity of Jesus as priest and the experiences of Calvary, the Last Supper, and the Mass as experiences of sacrifice, with Jesus exercising the role of priest in all three experiences. The unconditional trust and total love that is expressed in sacrifice is referred to as worship. The definition of sacrifice is: an offering to God alone by an official representative of the people of some material gift, with the change or destruction of what is offered in recognition of God's supreme dominion and our complete dependence upon God.
We know by faith it was God's design and plan from the very first sin that was ever committed down to the last, that Jesus was is and will be the fulfillment of the Father's promise to Adam and Eve in the third Chapter of Genesis. Jesus is the sole redeemer and His the only name in whom sins are forgiven and the love of God is restored to the sinful soul. That is solid secure Catholic theology.
Sin is a turning away from God, a separation from God, a betrayal of God's love. Love that is lost by sin is restored by the love of Jesus. Since Jesus the Man and the Eternal Word of God are two names for a single person , anything Jesus said or did could be of infinite value before the Father and thus sufficient to atone for any and all sin. Yet, since there is no greater love a man can have than to lay down his life in love for another, it was most fitting that Jesus should lay down His life, once on Calvary and again at the Last Supper, and again and again and again, all around the world, every day until the end of the world in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass so that sinners need not be afraid of God but rather come to Him and receive the gift of forgiveness and a new love through the sacrificial worship of Jesus the Redeemer of all who are redeemed.
Some of this fundamental Catholic theology may seem strange and unfamiliar even to Catholics who are regular church-goers Sunday after Sunday. The music, the preaching, and the prayers we pray may be enough for them to satisfy their intention and desire to praise and thank God for His goodness to us and His merciful forgiveness in and though Jesus His Son. But if this, wonderful as it is, be so, they are missing the essence of what is going on before them at the altar during Mass.
The blog started out with a reference to what I had encountered in my experience of conversations with many of our typical non-Catholic fellow Christian believers as a serious flaw in the Church's presentation of the Gospel message. It is the universal Catholic practice of referring to an ordained minister as "Father". The practice is judged as wrong based upon an inaccurate interpretation of a few Biblical passages and at its worst is seen as an arrogant and haughty contradiction of the entire message of the Bible as an assumption on the part of a man of a title and identity that belongs to God alone. This is not true of course, but for anyone who thinks it is true it can be a definitive obstacle for that person in considering seriously the claims of the Catholic Church that are actually true.
There is one such claim based upon a distinctive Catholic practice that to my surprise does not seem to be offensive to our non-Catholic friends. It is the practice of identifying ordained ministers as priests. There is an apparent parallel in our Catholic practice of referring to a man as Father seen by some of our non-Catholic friends as an assumption of an identity and title on the part of a mere human creature that belongs to God alone, and in our Catholic practice of referring to a man as priest if this is seen as an assumption of an identity and title on the part of a mere human creature that belongs to Jesus alone as the sole Redeemer of the entire human race and the sole fulfillment of the promise made to Adam and Eve that a Redeemer would come who would atone for sin.
An essential difference in these two Catholic practices lies in the fact our reference to ordained ministers as Father is not an assumption of the sole identity and title we profess in reference to our sole Creator, but rather a reminder and proclamation of our heavenly Fathers love, whereas the reference to an ordained priest is proclaimed by us as giving the ordained person a new real supernatural identity AS SHARING THE IDENTITY OF JESUS THE PRIEST. As in the case of calling a man Father, this practice is not a contradiction of or in competition with the identity and title of Jesus as Redeemer. Rather in God's design and with God's authority it identifies and proclaims such a close union with Jesus and the ordained human priest we see at the altar during Mass, that the ordained priest not just guides a worshiping community in memory of what Jesus said and did at the Last Supper, quoting Jesus as it were: "Jesus said This is My Body...", but actually takes the offered bread in his human hands and proclaims "This is My Body...", referring now to the Sacramental Body of Jesus. Our Catholic practice also recognizes the ordained priest as officially identified and authorized in union with Jesus to represent the people offering the sacrifice of the Mass, one of the conditions required in the definition of an official act of sacrifice.
Underlying all that I have been saying about Calvary, the Last Supper, and the Mass is the identity of Jesus as priest and the experiences of Calvary, the Last Supper, and the Mass as experiences of sacrifice, with Jesus exercising the role of priest in all three experiences. The unconditional trust and total love that is expressed in sacrifice is referred to as worship. The definition of sacrifice is: an offering to God alone by an official representative of the people of some material gift, with the change or destruction of what is offered in recognition of God's supreme dominion and our complete dependence upon God.
We know by faith it was God's design and plan from the very first sin that was ever committed down to the last, that Jesus was is and will be the fulfillment of the Father's promise to Adam and Eve in the third Chapter of Genesis. Jesus is the sole redeemer and His the only name in whom sins are forgiven and the love of God is restored to the sinful soul. That is solid secure Catholic theology.
Sin is a turning away from God, a separation from God, a betrayal of God's love. Love that is lost by sin is restored by the love of Jesus. Since Jesus the Man and the Eternal Word of God are two names for a single person , anything Jesus said or did could be of infinite value before the Father and thus sufficient to atone for any and all sin. Yet, since there is no greater love a man can have than to lay down his life in love for another, it was most fitting that Jesus should lay down His life, once on Calvary and again at the Last Supper, and again and again and again, all around the world, every day until the end of the world in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass so that sinners need not be afraid of God but rather come to Him and receive the gift of forgiveness and a new love through the sacrificial worship of Jesus the Redeemer of all who are redeemed.
Some of this fundamental Catholic theology may seem strange and unfamiliar even to Catholics who are regular church-goers Sunday after Sunday. The music, the preaching, and the prayers we pray may be enough for them to satisfy their intention and desire to praise and thank God for His goodness to us and His merciful forgiveness in and though Jesus His Son. But if this, wonderful as it is, be so, they are missing the essence of what is going on before them at the altar during Mass.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Sarah
Two years ago tomorrow (July 7, 2010), Sarah left us in sorrow. When I heard the news of her death from Bob, I grabbed the Crucifix off my bedroom wall (while screaming Oh God!) and said to myself, Jesus know I understand more on why you prayed on your knees, cried, and suffered in Gethsemane.
For months I cried, felt numb to the world, could not sleep, and had to force myself to eat. The only hope I had was that God loved Sarah more than I did, and God is full of love and mercy. Jesus "sat on the mercy seat" and we have benefited. Unworthy creatures that we are.
Our family dynamics have changed. Cruel words have been spoken and many lies told. Family life is shallow and shattered. Sarah was so good to me, such a wonderful sister and listener. We talked on the phone just about every day sharing everything, or so I thought. Some days we called several times throughout the day. I knew she was sad, but never in my wildest dreams did I ever think she would end things tragically. I called her several times on the day she died...the last call at 11:11 a.m. The line was busy...was she going through her death ritual then??? So senseless...so many questions...no answers!!! I still cry in my heart and every now and then the cries come out in tears. Dearest Sarah I miss you so much. My vision of Sarah in my mind is beautiful. What she was in this life to me and so many others was priceless. Surely Sarah has to be in the presence of God with all the Angels and Saints....surely she does. FOREVER missing my dear Princess....forever
For months I cried, felt numb to the world, could not sleep, and had to force myself to eat. The only hope I had was that God loved Sarah more than I did, and God is full of love and mercy. Jesus "sat on the mercy seat" and we have benefited. Unworthy creatures that we are.
Our family dynamics have changed. Cruel words have been spoken and many lies told. Family life is shallow and shattered. Sarah was so good to me, such a wonderful sister and listener. We talked on the phone just about every day sharing everything, or so I thought. Some days we called several times throughout the day. I knew she was sad, but never in my wildest dreams did I ever think she would end things tragically. I called her several times on the day she died...the last call at 11:11 a.m. The line was busy...was she going through her death ritual then??? So senseless...so many questions...no answers!!! I still cry in my heart and every now and then the cries come out in tears. Dearest Sarah I miss you so much. My vision of Sarah in my mind is beautiful. What she was in this life to me and so many others was priceless. Surely Sarah has to be in the presence of God with all the Angels and Saints....surely she does. FOREVER missing my dear Princess....forever
Saturday, June 23, 2012
ANXIETY
Anxiety is an experience I have been living with since my late
teens. Unless you have been there, you really don't know what I am
talking about. I read something this morning that more or less I did
know about God and his love and care for me, but had not been presented
to me in this way. So here is what a Dominican Priest from England
(RIP 1934) wrote that inspired my day:
His
hands are strong and powerful hands, and we can confidently rest
there. Can we not sometimes see in the hands of a clever artist, or
surgeon, the strength and deftness expressive of the mind that directs
their power, and not only the hands of wisdom, but of love, and it is
only when we leave all things in His hands that we find complete
serenity; and then a great peace shall come into our souls.
"DO NOT WORRY"
Never
look forward to the future with anxiety. "Be not solicitous.
Consider the lilies." The present is the will of God. Therefore no
over-compunction for past faults, no worrying over the future, no
anxious peerings into the darkness. "Watchman, what of the night?" We
can safely leave all that in God's hands. They are the hands not only of
a clever, but of a wise architect, and all power is in them. In our
Lord's last hour, when he seemed utterly forsaken, and gave the cry, "My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Even then He yet realized
that it was by His Father's will that He suffered, and presently, when
dying, again cried out, "Father, into Your hands I commend my spirit."
Whatever
happens to us through God's will is always the best possible thing for
us. God is not only good, very good, supremely good, but the only
good. Therefore His will is and must be always the best for us...
So
we see that all circumstances, however adverse they seem to be to us,
are always favorable to God's plan, always, always, as to the blind man,
the best thing for us.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Sunday, January 1, 2012
January 1, 2012 "God so loved the world"
Yesterday, December 31, 2011 I read a meditation for the day and found what Father Jacob Kayayil (a priest from India) wrote to be inspiring. It will be a good way for me to start out 2012 reflecting on Fr. Jacob's words again.
'GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD'
Christmas means Emmanuel, God with us.
And that till the end of times.
It is the unfolding of the everlasting
love with which God loved us.
It is God making Himself a gift to us.
In return, He bids us to abide in His love.
It is the first and greatest Commandment,
the love of God and good will to men.
In loving God I love myself most wisely,
most fully, most purely.
Because He is the center of my being,
the fountain of my life, and the source of my well-being,
contentment, satisfaction, and happiness.
As I understand His boundless goodness, wisdom, power, and love for me, I can easily prefer His will for me.
I know I am not created for naught.
God has committed to me some work, given me a mission which He has not committed to another.
I shall be fulfilling that mission, doing His work, and therefore, doing good, as long as I do His commandments.
Therefore, I trust Him. I know I can never be thrown away, whatever, wherever I am. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in sorrow, my sorrow my serve Him. He does nothing in vain.
He knows what he is about. He may take away my friends, He may throw me among strangers.
He may make me feel desolate, make my spirit sink, hide my future from me. Still He knows what He is about.
As my appreciation of God deepens, my heart will overflow with gratitude. I shall have a stronger desire to express my love through prayers, good will, and service to my fellow men. (FATHER JACOB KALAYIL)
THANK YOU LORD FOR 2012 AND MAY I ALWAYS DO YOUR WILL!
'GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD'
Christmas means Emmanuel, God with us.
And that till the end of times.
It is the unfolding of the everlasting
love with which God loved us.
It is God making Himself a gift to us.
In return, He bids us to abide in His love.
It is the first and greatest Commandment,
the love of God and good will to men.
In loving God I love myself most wisely,
most fully, most purely.
Because He is the center of my being,
the fountain of my life, and the source of my well-being,
contentment, satisfaction, and happiness.
As I understand His boundless goodness, wisdom, power, and love for me, I can easily prefer His will for me.
I know I am not created for naught.
God has committed to me some work, given me a mission which He has not committed to another.
I shall be fulfilling that mission, doing His work, and therefore, doing good, as long as I do His commandments.
Therefore, I trust Him. I know I can never be thrown away, whatever, wherever I am. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in sorrow, my sorrow my serve Him. He does nothing in vain.
He knows what he is about. He may take away my friends, He may throw me among strangers.
He may make me feel desolate, make my spirit sink, hide my future from me. Still He knows what He is about.
As my appreciation of God deepens, my heart will overflow with gratitude. I shall have a stronger desire to express my love through prayers, good will, and service to my fellow men. (FATHER JACOB KALAYIL)
THANK YOU LORD FOR 2012 AND MAY I ALWAYS DO YOUR WILL!
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