New Papal Document!!!

For those who follow the world of Catholic Reporting, you will likely have heard that the Holy Father released a new papal document yesterday. It is a Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation entitled Verbum Domini, or The Word of the Lord. This document is significant for a number of reasons:

1-It has taken three years for the Pope to complete it, taking many notes from the Synod (gathering of bishops from around the world) on Sacred Scripture that took place several years back. This timeframe means that much effort was put into it and it is desirable that it be taken up by theologians and laity alike to reflect on the Church's teaching on the Scriptures.
2-It is the first papal document on the Sacred Scriptures in over half a century.
3-The Scriptures are arguably the most significant aspect of Pope Benedict's pontificate.

I hope, in the coming weeks, to be able to read through this document and post some quotes and reflections here so that you too might be able to hear some of what the Church and Holy Father are speaking to us today with regard to this most important of topics. I do encourage you, however, to not rely on my reflections on it but rather to go get the document and read it for yourself. The Holy Father is an incredible theologian and writer and there will certainly be much in this document worth reflecting on for ourselves personally. You can find it at the Vatican website. You can also find more on the importance of this document at The Sacred Page blog. Again - please go get the document and read it for yourself. Even if you take it a paragraph a day, it will be well worth the read.

Christ and Truth

Readings for Friday, November 12/Memorial of St. Josaphat:
2 John 4-9
Psalm 119:1,2,10,11,17,18
Luke 17:26-37

"Anyone who is so 'progressive' as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God; whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son."

This powerful verse from the Second Letter of John drives home rather forcefully the connection between  Christ and the teaching of the Christ received through the Apostles. If you reject one, you reject the other. It is obvious - because John is addressing it - that there was a problem of some Christians becoming so 'enlightened' by the wisdom of the age that they began to stray from the truths of the Christian faith. They thought their brothers and sisters in the Lord just didn't have the grace to enter into the wisdom as they had. And so John reminds them and their fellow Christians that if they stray from the Truth that are the teachings of Christ, then they stray from Christ Himself, Who is the Way, Truth, and Life.

I've been to several conferences where they address this topic that we as Catholics - and really all Christians - don't really have a choice of what is True. Rather, we simply have the choice in whether we will submit ourselves to it or try to make our own truths. One speaker spoke about taking the Catechism of the Catholic Church - the compilation of the teachings of the Church founded by Christ - and we tear out the pages we don't agree with. And if everyone does that, then in the end the Truth will be simply the cover of the book. So, we must accept it all or accept the fact that we cut ourselves off from the Lord. I can't help but think of it as someone looking up into a tree and thinking, "This tree would be better without that limb," and then climbing up, perching on that limb and cutting it off, allowing both the limb and their own self to fall to the ground. The limb is dead - the person certainly injured, if lucky. It's laughable to think that someone would do such a thing, and yet it happens so frequently that souls cut themselves off by pridefully turning away from the Lord because they believe that others are the ones who simply aren't enlightened enough to see the 'real truth.'

Let us pray that we might always abide in the Truth that is Jesus Christ and that those who have strayed away from His teaching might be grafted back onto the Vine Who provides us all life, both today and in eternity.

My Own Prison

Readings for Thursday, November 11/ Memorial of St. Martin of Tours:
Philemon 7-20
Psalm 146:7-10
Luke 17:20-25

"I urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment..."

One the face of things, this sentence isn't that important. After all, it's just one more among many sentences giving us some background before we can finally get to the meat of the Word of God. Right? Or is there something more to this passage?

It's a common experience of humanity that we encounter difficulties and trials at various points throughout life. These trials can come in the form of simply having a bad day, being stuck in a situation that you don't know how to get out of, or any number of things. And one easy way to deal with those times is to simply avoid dealing with what is at hand. We can think back to times gone by when things were better. We can look to things in the future of how everything will be different. We can sit and moan and groan about how things are for us and throw ourselves a great 'pity party' of sorts. I have done these things myself and still find myself doing them on occasion. But if we spend time with this passage from St. Paul, we come to find that in his great trials he kept his eyes on what really mattered. He would have had every right to be downtrodden. He had experienced great things and done incredible works and yet he finds himself imprisoned. How easily I would begin to moan and groan if that were the case for me! And yet, in that time he instead turned toward the Lord and continued to do the work of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is in his time in prison that Onesimus is 'born' of Paul, speaking to the spiritual fatherhood of Paul bringing about the gift of faith in the man. Instead of turning toward himself, Paul turned toward the Lord and toward others, realizing that even in the worst of situations, God still works incredible miracles and changes hearts. Ultimately, then, it's about recognizing where the Lord is in the midst of everything and keeping ourselves focused on Him so that when He speaks, we might hear and heed His voice. So when things are getting rough or when we find ourselves in a tough situation - and even in the good times and routine-ness of daily life - let us turn toward the Lord, that He might speak to our hearts and we might in turn nurture the faith of those who walk with us on the journey.

To lighten things up a bit...

I don't know the song that this is put to, but that is not the important thing...as you will see.

Even in Tears

Readings for Friday, November 5:
Philippians 3:17-4:1
Psalm 122:1-5
Luke 16:1-8

"For many, as I have told you and now tell you even in tears, conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction. Their God is their stomach; their glory is in their 'shame'."

I hope that these words of St. Paul to the Philippians make you pause for a moment and reflect. It always strikes me how he doesn't just say "I have told you..." but rather "I have told you and now tell you even in tears...." In tears he reminds them of the fact that there are some who have made themselves enemies of the Cross of Jesus Christ, glorying in a life of sinfulness. Though I am not brought to physical tears, I too experience a great sadness of soul when I look around me sometimes. St. Paul speaks about people glorying in their shame - what else is this other than being prideful of one's own sinfulness? There is certainly no shortage of this - turn on any 'reality TV' show and you'll soon find a small army of people boasting of their sinfulness, though they wouldn't phrase it as such. And because it is so commonplace it is easy for us to accept and treat as if it's the norm. But what St. Paul's words should spark in our hearts is the realization that it shouldn't be accepted, but rather we ought to morn that they lack the joy and life of Christ that abides in the hearts of those who follow in His ways. We too are called to weep, at least internally, at the sorrow of their ignorance of the Truth, Jesus Christ. And what's more, we ought to pray for them, that they might one day come to know Him.

Another important point that needs expressing is the fact that St. Paul sheds tears for two reasons: 1- his total love for God and sorrow at seeing His love rejected and 2 - he himself was once one of those who made himself an enemy of the Cross of Christ. St. Paul isn't just speaking as a man who was always a pious Christian. He speaks as one who formerly persecuted Christians and sought to destroy the Church; but experiencing the love of God, he converted and sought to build up the Church. He knows the darkness of his former life because he knows the brightness and joy of his new life in Christ. And for that reason he weeps, knowing how much more those 'enemies of the Cross' could have than they did. We who have come to know more deeply the love of God for us are also called to point out the way to Jesus Christ and to pray that our world might have the grace to follow in it.

New Layout

Just curious about your thoughts on the new look of the blog...

The One

Readings for Thursday, November 4/ Memorial of St. Charles Borromeo:
Philippians 3:3-8
Psalm 105:2-7
Luke 15:1-10


"What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it?" 


When Jesus asked this question to those that sat around him, surely the vast majority, if not all, of the men would have found this inquiry foolish. What man, after all, would leave behind the great wealth that he has in order to pursue a lesser good? Why not just cut your loses and carry on with the plan? It would be foolish to do otherwise. And yet this is exactly what the Lord Himself did in taking on human flesh. He emptied Himself of all of His glory to take on the form of a slave; a man born of the flesh, one who experiences all things except sin. And why? For you. For me. For each and every person in the course of history. But He didn't just do this to save all of humanity in general, but save each soul personally. In the eyes of Christ, each of us is that one sheep that He left his wealth behind in order to pursue. How blessed are we to be loved so deeply and so personally by Our Lord.