Face-Melting Quote of the Day

"It has come to this, that I can no longer suffer because all suffering is sweetness."

-St Therese of Lisieux

O Crux Ave, Spes Unica! (Hail to the Cross, Our Only Hope)

Giotto's Crucifixion scene in Assisi

Readings for Sunday, August 28: 

Jeremiah 20:7-9

Psalm 63:2-6, 8-9

Romans 12:1-2

Matthew 16:21-27

I love being Catholic. From the two-thousand years of history, the sacraments, and an incredibly rich theology, to the devotional life, social outreach and communal life, there is so much to love about our faith. But one of the things that I love most about being Catholic is the Crucifix. That visible reminder that Jesus died for me and that I am called to die to myself for others. The crucifix is the sign of what we ought to strive for ever day as Christians.

Last weekend we heard Peter’s profession of faith in Jesus “ You are the Christ, the Son of God!” The Lord’s response is one of affirmation, that He is indeed the Christ, and that Peter is the one upon whom His Church shall be built. There is a beautiful parallel here. We have often heard that the Church is the Body of Christ and this is absolutely true. We continue the work He Himself began 2000 years ago. And the beauty is that last week as Jesus’ own identity as the Christ is revealed, so too the identity of His Body, the Church, is revealed as a means to salvation also. To sum it up – if it happens to Christ, it happens to the Church.

This weekend we this theme of revelation continued. Immediately following last week’s account of Peter’s profession we hear Matthew telling us that the Lord revealed that He must suffer, be killed and be raised up again. He told them that suffering was absolutely necessary for Himself. And as Christ, so the Church. Thus Jesus continues, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” MUST deny himself. It’s not a suggestion. It’s not a strong encouragement. It’s a requirement. We MUST deny ourselves and pick up our cross to follow the Lord.

Every one of us has a cross to bear. In fact, I think it’s safe to say that all of us have a number of crosses to bear. Some small, some greater. It may be physical or mental limitation, emotional or spiritual suffering, the burden of caring for others or some cross which we’ve taken up ourselves. But the reality is that all of us have a cross and it is by carrying that cross in the path Christ walked before us that we are assured of our salvation.

One of the things that I love about being Catholic is that I know I’m not alone, but that millions or billions of saints have tread the path before and we can turn to them to learn how to bear our cross and to find encouragement in them. I’m certain that whatever cross we might be called to bear and any trial we are asked to endure, there is someone who has done it before and that person, now a saint in heaven, is praying for us as we strive to follow the command of the Lord.

One of my favorite saints is St. Philomena, a virgin martyr from around the 3^rd century. At 13 years of age, she had consecrated her virginity to Christ forever. The Roman emperor, however, wanted to take her as his wife. When she refused, she was whipped severely. They also shot arrows at her and tried to drown her in the Tiber River. And in the midst of all of this, she patiently bore the cross of persecution out of love for Christ and His Church. She ultimately won the crown of martyrdom because she bore her cross with courage.

Usually on the 28^th of August the Church celebrates the memorial of St. Augustine. Though not a martyr, he too endured great trials and suffering. A licentious youth, he sought fulfillment in fleshly pleasures and led a life compelled by lust. In the process of his conversion and afterward, he had to endure the perpetual temptations to return to that former way of life. He bore the cross of temptations and attachment to sin. And because he carried that cross well, he has stood as a model of conversion for millions through the Church’s history.

Closer to our own day we have the great witness of Blessed John Paul II. As Pope, he lived a vibrant life and certainly brought a youthfulness to the papacy that hadn’t been seen in many years. But one of the greatest gifts he gave to the Church was his witness of suffering. In his final years, and especially in his final days, he endured great physical trials and suffering. And yet, he boldly marched forward as a sign to the whole world that we ought not run from trials but embrace them as a means to growth in holiness and joy.

And while he’s not a saint of the Church, I believe him to be a living saint, Pope Benedict XVI provides us another type of witness. As a Cardinal, he has worked for many years in service to the Church and was at the age of retirement. He longed to simply find a place of solitude so he could write books he had been hoping to write for years and to live a quiet existence. And yet the Holy Spirit made it such that he was asked to set aside all of his hopes, dreams, and desires and lead the Church as Pope. The cross was offered to him; and heeding the words of Our Lord, he denied Himself and he took up that cross.

I was watching the closing Mass for the World Youth Day in Madrid Spain and it was a very touching thing to see. Two million youth there at the Mass and in the midst, Pope Benedict, clearly aging and becoming weaker from the burdens he bears. And while he certainly doesn’t have the voice of an angel, to hear him chant the prayers and pray the Eucharistic Prayer at Mass was awesome. I couldn’t stop watching because I was so drawn to this man who was visibly bearing the cross in the sight of the entire world, for love of Christ and His Church.

From these holy men and women of ages past and those who are in our midst today, even in the pews around us, we can find great strength and encouragement in heeding that call ourselves. Be they small crosses or large ones, we are not alone. We can turn to others for encouragement, ask the saints in Heaven to pray for us, and see in their lives a concrete witness of how to bear the cross well. But most of all, turn to Our Lord because as promised, His grace is sufficient for us to do all that He asks. We need only ask for it and our prayer will be granted.

Music and the Soul

HERE is a great little clip from Bishop Sam Aquila about music today. A must read. H/T to Fr. Z and those he notes on this.

Skin and Snouts

As we celebrate today the Apostle Bartholomew, also known as Nathaniel in the gospels, we find that there is not much of anything said about him outside of his being named in the Twelve. Some historical accounts have him evangelizing the people of India; some accounts have him in Egypt. I say why not both!? Anywho, the story of his life is not the point of this post, but rather that of his death. As we have no verifiable accounts of his life, his death also remains somewhat a mystery. That said, there is one interesting story that seems to have been widely believed in the early church and it is that he was flayed to death, also known as being skinned alive. Again, this is not verifiable, but it certainly makes for a powerful story of faith and willingness to suffer for the Lord. And in his honor I post the image that depicts him flayed - holding his skin in hand. St. Bartholomew, pray for us!

And on a lighter note: 

Fr. Z at the WDTPRS blog posts about some interesting animal reactions to the East Coast Earthquake HERE. Seeing this got me interested in a new funny looking animal that I would greatly enjoy having around the house - the elephant Shrew. What a cute little creature.

Gloria in excelsis Deo!

Readings for Tuesday, August 23/ St. Rose of Lima:
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Psalm 139:1-6
Matthew 23:23-26

"That is how we speak, not as trying to please men, but rather God, who judges our hearts."

In the realm of Spiritual Theology, we speak of a number of 'ends' of man, things that we are tending towards; goals, in a sense.We hopefully have regular goals of striving for one virtue or another and eliminating some vice that we find in ourselves, but these are all oriented towards a greater goal - holiness. In the gospel today we find the Lord challenging the Scribes and Pharisees because they lack holiness. They do a little bit here and there but miss the main point. They don't know the real goal but simply settle for the things that please themselves. In stark contrast we find Paul speaking to the Thessalonians about his intention to speak so as to please God rather than to focus on pleasing men. Here we find one who has the goal in sight: glorifying God. This is our ultimate end or goal. We were created to glorify God and we do this by being saints in heaven. We become saints by being living witnesses of God's holiness in this life on Earth. Pray that we all might keep our eyes on the true goal and not settle for anything less. 

Keys and Confessions

Readings for Sunday, August 21:

Isaiah 22:19-23

Psalm 138:1-3, 6, 8

Romans 11:33-36

Matthew 16:13-20

It seems like every time I sign on to my email or go on any other webpage there’s always an ad on the side of the great new diet that guarantees we’ll lose 10 pounds this week or an exercise program that can give me six-pack abs in 5 weeks. There’s this constant focus on the appearance of our bodies, and in a sense it’s a good thing. After all, our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. But while it’s easy for us to focus on the state of our body, we also recognize that we are both body and soul. So, the question we must ask ourselves today is what is the state of our soul?

Yesterday I was driving in the car listening to some music and a song came on from a band that I used to listen to all the time during high school. It was a new song and so I wanted to hear what it sounded like, if they had changed much. And as I listened to it, I was repulsed. After 30 seconds I couldn’t take any more of the hatred and profanity that filled the lyrics of the vocalist and had to change the station. As a teenager I was used to that because I was so immersed in it myself that it didn’t seem a problem.  Getting to such a rough state doesn’t happen overnight though, but rather over a long time.

Around the same time, I had a Ford F-150 with an extra cab and at some point during my high school years it became my own personal trash can. It probably started with a coke bottle tossed back behind me while driving. Then a bag from lunch at a fast food joint. Then a little bit more and before long, I literally had junk piled up to the top of my seat. And when I finally cleaned it out, there was so much junk I was amazed. I had been carrying it around all the time and never really thought about it being there. And we do the same thing with our sins – we keep tossing on one after the other throughout our days and before we know it we’re carrying around a ton of baggage. And where are we supposed to bring that? Confession.

When we begin to talk about confession we, of course, have to acknowledge sin. It’s not something we talk about much these days. But the truth is that sin is a reality and it’s a serious one. Though we don’t often think about it, every single sin is an offense against God. The impatience I show at the red light. The little frustration that I have when trying to deal with things throughout the day. These sins are all things that Our Lord died for on the cross. And so they are things that we can bring before the Lord and seek grace to overcome. This happens in the sacrament of confession.

I’ve often heard people say that they don’t know why they need to go to confession to a priest when they can go straight to God. My first response to that is if they’re not going to confession, then they better make sure to actually do so rather than just talk about being able too. But more important – we don’t have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to forgiveness of sins. Jesus set up the sacraments for us to use them, not to work our way around them. It’d be like if I had someone cut my grass while I was out of town for the week and I gave them the keys to the garage and lawnmower and came back to find them trying to cut the yard with a weed eater. You’d have to wonder why they didn’t use the means that was effective and proper. The same applies to the sacrament of confession – we need only go to the sacrament, not try to find other ways.

Also, I have often heard people say that going to confession is really difficult. I can certainly relate; after all, it isn’t easy to open up and reveal your faults to someone. But the reality is that priest is not there simply as another person; we are there to simply be a conduit of grace and forgiveness. We’re not there to judge, but rather to simply forgive. Moreover, there is no reason to fear that we will tell because – we don’t remember what you say. I can tell you honestly that I’ve got many more things that I’d rather remember – things about the faith, important dates and events, and, more notably now, the names and stories of all of you and the many other parishioners here. I don’t see you and recall your sins. Rather, the sins are given over to the Lord and when I see you I simply rejoice at your presence here at the parish and hope to get to know you.

Finally, one of the problems that people have is why to confess to a priest. I struggle with the reality myself. I am often amazed at the reality that the words of absolution, even on the lips of a sinner like myself, are able to free people from sins. And yet, it is true and we find it confirmed in our readings today.

As I’ve said before, Jesus points out that which has gone before and fulfills it, often elevating it to a new level of importance or from a physical to spiritual reality. In the book of the prophet Isaiah we hear about this person Eliakim who is given the key of the house of David. The holder of this key was like the second in command to the King of Judah. When the king was absent, Eliakim or the one holding that office made decisions that had the authority of the king backing them, offered the sacrifices that the king was obliged to do, and had keys that literally opened and closed the gates in the temple area. He was the one to discern who could enter and who remained outside and this authority was given and carried out on behalf of the king. We should have this all in mind when we hear Our Lord telling Peter that He is giving him the keys to the kingdom. The keys Peter is given are not keys to a simple building but to the Church herself and to the kingdom of Heaven and he exercises that authority in the name of our king, Christ the Lord. And so when it comes to our sins and eternal life, we need not get creative. We need only humble ourselves and go to the ones with the keys; the ones who can guarantee that entry to the kingdom. 

Litany for Vocations

I've been searching for a specific prayer that I could regularly pray for vocations and this is one of the better ones that I've come across, so I felt compelled to share it. The field of souls is ripe, let us pray that workers might be sent out to harvest them for eternal life.

Litany of Vocations (from the Diocese of Wichita)