Author: Msgr. Charles Pope

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Three Words That Can Change Your Life.

112013Sometimes we like to complicate things. Every now and again it is good to simplify, to make it plain and simple. The other day it occurred to me that three words well simplify the well being I have discovered in my physical, emotional and spiritual life. They are (in the same order): Move, Breathe, and Trust.

Lets look at each. Remember, “Move pertains to the physical, to the body; “Breathe” to the emotional and psychological, and “Trust” to the spiritual.

I. Move – Some years ago my doctor told me that the secret to good health, strength, and longevity, came down to one word: “move!” Becoming sedentary causes innumerable problems: weight gain, lethargy, fatigue, boredom, depression, muscular  atrophy, the bones become less firm, more brittle, breathing becomes shallow, posture becomes poor, the heart is weakened, pulmonary issues like asthma become more likely, the blood is less oxygenated, thinking is less clear…

Well you get the point: Move! Walk daily. Except for swimming, there is almost no better exercise. If joints are already arthritic or problematic, an elliptical machine is a good low impact option.

I was a runner earlier in life but my knees suffered. I don’t personally think the human body is designed for sustained distance running. There is too much impact on the joints. Injury is common, and some of the damage to the joints can be permanent. I thus took up walking about 15 years ago and walk at least two miles a day, six days a week.

Walking is low impact, and gentle. It promotes aerobic breathing, rather than the panting of running. It requires little or no equipment, and provides time for praying, listening to music or podcasts, talking with a walking partner or on the phone (recommend a hands free device so arms can naturally swing). I look forward to my evening walks!

The people of the Bible were amazing walkers. Mother Mary and St. Joseph, Jesus and all the Apostles make the yearly walk to Jerusalem on foot, 70 miles each way. They walked everywhere through very hilly and mountainous regions. Mary walked 70 miles to Bethlehem when she was min months pregnant. She and Joseph walked hundreds of miles to Egypt, carrying Jesus. And then back again. The people of the Bible were hardy people. They walked, often carrying heavy loads.

Move: Walk daily if you can. If you need to start by just walking half a block and back, start there and increase it every day. But move. Take the stairs when you can, walk instead of driving if you can. Get off the sofa. Some people even have a standing desk to work at in their office. (See photo above right).

There’s a handy little device called the “UP” bracelet that actually counts your steps each day. The goal for the average adult is 10,000 steps a day. Yours truly averages 12 – 15 thousand a day. There’s a video at the bottom that describes the “UP” system.

Move, it will change your life, improving not only your body but also your soul.

II. Breathe – My Psychotherapist has a plaque on her desk that just says, “BREATHE”. Most of us don’t know how to breathe. We breathe with our chest and only fill the top of our lungs.

It isn’t hard to learn how to breathe more properly, how to use the belly to breathe. Babies naturally do it, but as we get older and self conscious about our bellies we breathe less deeply. Once again, there is a video that shows the proper way to breathe deeply at the bottom of the post.

To breathe is to get in touch with our innermost self, and also our body. Breathing is very spiritual. As we breathe in, we receive the blessings of God. As we breathe out we let go of inner stresses and struggles. Exhaling is a form of release, inhaling a form of receiving.

Deep breathing can be very relaxing, it reduces stress and is a wonderful way to prepare ourselves to pray. Too many of us are out of touch with our body and our very self. Breathing can reconnect us to our self and to God. Too many of us store up a lot of stress. We need to learn how to exhale. Too many of us live on fumes. We need to learn how to draw more deeply from the life-breath God offers.

Breathe!

III. Trust – My Spiritual Director has often reduced his advice to one word: “Trust.” The root of all my anxiety, I have ever experienced, comes down to one fact, I did not trust God. To the degree that I have learned to trust God, I am less anxious. In fact I will say, I rarely get anxious anymore. It is the result of a 15 year journey out of panic disorder into trust.

I cannot write a whole article here on trust. But two things ought to be emphasized.

First the illusion of “control” is a big enemy of trust in God. Control is ultimately an illusion. You may have a few things under your control, such as what you will eat for dinner, where you will shop for clothes etc. But even the things and plans you have, and think you can control are based on innumerable things that you cannot control, like the next beat of your heart; that there will not be an accident that backs up traffic on the way to the store; that your car does not break down, etc. You have have no control over whether the store burns down or the item you want is in stock.

Thus, control, in any thorough sense, is illusory and limited. Thinking we can and should be in control is to seek to live in illusion,  and living in illusion is stressful, unhappy and very frustrating.

We always think that if we can be in control we will be less anxious. This is not so. The great paradox about serenity is that acceptance of the fact that there are many things we cannot control reduces anxiety and brings peace. “You are not in control” is a “hard” truth that brings great serenity and induces trust if we come to accept it.

Secondly, a central way to open the door to trust is the remembrance of gratitude. In the spiritual sense, to “remember” means to have deeply present in my mind and heart what God has done for me, so that I am grateful and different. To remember is to discipline my mind and heart to ponder how good and faithful God has been; to spend time every day considering the gifts and graces of God, how He has sustained and provided for me. This makes me grateful and different.

It also builds trust, and trust drives our fears, resentments, and all forms of anxiety. Through gratitude I become a man of hope. That is, I confidently expect God’s help and providence to see me through to my goal of being with Him in Glory.

An old song says, “Through it all, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in God….I learn to depend upon his word!”

That is my story. I’ve learned to trust. And over the years, in the laboratory of my own life, I have proved God’s word and his promises and found them to be true. Trust, learn to trust, to lean, to let go. God says, “I’ve God this, so you let go.”

Three words that can change your life: move, breathe, trust.

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The Word of God is not a mere text, He is a person. A meditation on the Personal Relationship we must have with the Word.

111913Many people think of the Word of God as an “it” when in fact, the Word of God is a person, Jesus Christ. Jesus did not come merely to give us information and exhortation. He came to give us his very self. He is the “Word made Flesh.”

Pope Emeritus Benedict made this point in, the Post Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Verbum Domini. I want to give an excerpt and then reflect briefly upon it.

[There is a] statement made by the author of the Letter to the Hebrews: “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world ” (1:1-2)….. Here the Word finds expression not primarily in discourse, concepts or rules. Here we are set before the very person of Jesus. His unique and singular history is the definitive word which God speaks to humanity. We can see, then, why “being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a definitive direction ”.…. “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us ”(Jn 1:14a). These words are no figure of speech; they point to a lived experience! Saint John, an eyewitness, tells us so: “ We have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth ” ( Jn 1:14b). ….. Now the word is not simply audible; not only does it have a voice, now the word has a face….(Verbum Domini 11-12)

The Word of God is not merely on the pages of a book. The Word of God is not just an idea or ethical system. The Word of God is not just a set of teachings or doctrines. The Word of God is Jesus Christ. And to really grasp this Word to the degree that we come to know Him, and experience Him and His power active in our lives.

It is a danger to turn Scripture into an abstraction or just a text. St Thomas Aquinas says, The Son is the Word, not any sort of word, but one Who breathes forth Love. Hence Augustine says (De Trin. ix 10): “The Word we speak of is knowledge with love.” Thus the Son is sent not in accordance with [just] any kind of intellectual perfection, but according to the intellectual illumination, which breaks forth into the affection of love, as is said (John 6:45): “Everyone that hath heard from the Father and hath learned, comes to Me. (Summa Prima Pars, 43.5 ad 2).

Hence we cannot really grasp Scripture unless we come to know Jesus Christ. Further, to authentically read Sacred Scripture is to more and more encounter Jesus Christ there. Before we analyze a text of Scripture we are summoned to encounter the One who is speaking to us.

It is surely possible for some, even secular scholar to analyze a Greek text of Holy Writ and parse its verbs. Perhaps another scholar can analyze idioms, or the historical context. Such research can help us understand what the text is saying at a mechanistic level. But only a deepening and personal knowledge of Jesus Christ can help us to know what the text really means. It is this personal, historical, and on-going encounter with Jesus Christ that distinguishes true theology from mere religious study or literary criticism.

Indeed, theologians and Scripture scholars are dangerous if they do not personally know Jesus Christ. To “know” Jesus is not the same as to “know about” Jesus. I might know about Jesus Christ from a book or from some other person. But it is not enough to know “about” him. I must know him. To be a true “authority” in Scripture requires that we have met and know the “author.” Do you see the word “author” in “authority?”

Note how Pope Benedict quotes the Prologue of John’s Gospel ”.…. “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us ”(Jn 1:14a). and then says, These words are no figure of speech; they point to a lived experience! The Pope also says above in reference to the Hebrews 1 text: Here we are set before the very person of Jesus.

In the Liturgical context of Scripture this fact is enshrined in our ritual. As the Priest or Deacon proclaims the Gospel, all the people stand out of respect. For, it is Christ himself who speaks to them and whom they encounter in this proclamation of the Word. At the conclusion of the proclamation of the Gospel, they acknowledge that they are encountering Jesus as they say to him personally: “Laus tibi Christe!” (Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ).

Hence, Scripture, and the wider concept of the Word of God, authentically interpreted by the Church, is not merely a book or a set of ideas. It is an encounter with a living God, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Word of God is a person, Jesus Christ.

Perhaps a couple of quick stories to illustrate the difference between seeing Scripture merely as a text, and seeing it as an encounter with the Word made flesh, Jesus.

1. A rural Appalachian community was visited by a Shakespearean actor. They were amazed at his elegant but strange way of speaking. At one moment in his public recital he recited the 23rd Psalm. The words were elegant, pronounced in finest King James English with great drama and flair. At the end of his recitation a strange silence filled the room. Where applause would usually follow, an awkward silence ensued. Finally a poor farmer in the back of the room stood and apologized that no one knew to applaud and that they meant no offense but they just weren’t sure he was done. “See, out in these parts we say it a little different.” The poor farmer then began, “The Loerd is mah shayperd….” When he completed the psalm the room was filled with amens and “praise the Lord”s. The Shakespearean actor then told the poor farmer, “I was elegant, but your words had greater power. That is because I know only the technique, but you know the author.”

2. Some years ago I heard a Black AME Preacher address an ecumenical gathering at a revival. And he said to the gathered, “You know I heard some strange stuff in seminary! The professors said Jesus never really walked on water, that he didn’t really multiply loaves and fishes, he just got folks to be generous. They said, he didn’t really know he was God, or rise from the dead. He just lives on in our thoughts or something…..Can you believe they taught me that in a Christian seminary?!” Through his description of these wretched “teachings” the moans and disapproval in the congregation of Protestants and Catholics were audible. He built his litany of faulty scholarship and you could hear folks saying, “Lord have mercy!” and “mah, mah, mah.” And then he stopped and mopped his brow, and looked at them and said, “I tell you what! The problem with them wasn’t that they read the wrong books, y’all. The problem with them was that they ain’t never met my Jesus!” Well the house came down and folks were on their feet for ten minutes praising God. The Choir too leapt to their feet and began the familiar chorus: “Can’t nobody do me like Jesus, he’s my Lord!”

Well, you get the point, when you’ve met Jesus Christ you just don’t doubt that he walked on the water, multiplied loaves, raised Lazarus, knew perfectly well that he was God and stepped out of the tomb on Easter morning.

The Word of God is not merely a text. It is a person, Jesus Christ, the Logos, the Word made flesh. And once you’ve met him his spoken (and later written word) begins to make greater and greater sense and there is just no doubt that this Word is true and powerful.

Let me let Pope Emeritus Benedict conclude as we recall his words above: the Word finds expression not primarily in discourse, concepts or rules. Here we are set before the very person of Jesus….These words are no figure of speech; they point to a lived experience! Saint John, an eyewitness, tells us so: “ We have beheld his glory, the glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

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A Meditation on Love and Lament for the Church

111813As a priest and pastor I work very closely with others, both clergy, religious and laity, who work for the Church and also volunteer. And of course all of us work for the Church, often for lower salaries than we could command elsewhere, because we love the Church and her people.

But along with that love comes, at times a disappointment, hurt or even disillusionment. Perhaps it is just the local problems of parish that are found in any gathering of human beings: gossip, hurtful actions, hypocrisy, power struggles, wrongful priorities, favoritism, injustice and so forth.

And while these things happen everywhere, many somehow hope there will be less of it in the Church. So who have come to work for the Church began by thinking, “What a wonderful thing, to work for a church (instead of in the cut-throat business world etc). Perhaps they envisioned a place where people prayed together and supported each other more, perhaps a place where there was less competition, and strife.

Alas, such hopes are usually set aside early for any who work for the Church. We are after all running a hospital of sorts. And just like hospitals tend to attract sick people, so the Church attracts sinners and those who struggle. Jesus was found in strange company, such that the Pharisees, were scandalized. He rebuked them saying People who are well do not need a doctor, sick people do. I have come to call sinners, not the righteous. (Mk 2:17)

And thus idealistic notions of working in and for the Church often give way quickly when the phone rings with an impatient parishioner on the line, or when two group leaders argue over who gets to use the hall, or when the pastor is irritable and disorganized, or when the maintenance engineer is is found to be drinking on the job, or certain members of the choir are making anything but harmony, or when some parishioners who are favorites get attention and access from the old guard leaders, and newcomers are resisted.

And then, of course there are the more serious and wider issues such as the betrayal of clergy sexual abuse; or the deep disappointments that sometimes come from a lack of courage and leadership from bishops and priests; the scandal of dissent in the highest levels such as universities, seminaries and so forth; the acceptance of money from questionable sources; questionable partnerships with anti-life and and anti-Catholic organizations; the breakdown of discipline; the strange severity over some infractions, and the almost total laxity toward other problems. The list could on.

In all these sorts of situations, be they mere irritation, disappointment or deep disillusionment, I keep a little prayer card near my desk, that I sometimes read for my own benefit, and sometimes to share with those who feel discouraged at what happens (or does not happen) in the Church. At critical moments, I slide the card out and read it to myself or to others, especially those who love the Church and work closely with her.

It is a beautiful mediation for it recalls how great love often generates the deepest disappointments. But in the end, love still abides.

I realize that many who read here have great love for mother Church, and also deep disappointments. And I apologize that I cannot post all your comments in this regard. But I do understand, great love can also provoke great shock and anger. But, at the end of the day, this is a blog that seeks to instill greater love for the Church and for faith, not to further inflame anger.

That said, we all know that people disappoint, and thus the Church, filled with people, disappoints too. I DO understand even if I cannot always grant the forum desired to vent those concerns.

Consider however the following words. They are perhaps overstated in places. But love has its excesses. Take these words as a kind of elixir that, even if excessive, will hopefully speak to the pain that love sometimes causes. But in the end, love is what remains. Here are the words I often share with those freshly hurt:

How baffling you are, Oh Church,
and yet how I love you!
How you have made me suffer,
and yet how much I owe you!
I would like to see you destroyed,
and yet I need your presence.
You have given me so much scandal
and yet you have made me understand what sanctity is.
I have seen nothing in the world more devoted to obscurity,
more compromised, more false,
and yet I have touched nothing more pure, more generous, more beautiful.
How often I have wanted to shut the doors of my soul in your face,
and how often I have prayed to die in the safety of your arms.

No, I cannot free myself from you,
because I am you, though not completely.
And besides, where would I go?

Would I establish another?
I would not be able to establish it without the same faults,
for they are the same faults I carry in me.
And if I did establish another,
it would be my Church,
not the Church of Christ. – Carlo Carretto in “The God Who Comes”

Yes, where else would I go?

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Do you want a place at the table so you can direct the course of history? Try this.

111713-A   I sometimes like to joke with my parishioners that our church building which is located on the same street as United States Capitol has quite an exulted status.

For, indeed, just up the street from my parish of Holy Comforter, is the United111713-B States Capitol.  It is arguably one of the most powerful buildings on the planet. In it the decisions of the enormous importance are made, decisions about war and peace, decisions about spending money at an enormous levels, decisions about laws that affect hundreds of millions of people.

Yes, the United States Capitol, is a very important building, the second most important building on East Capitol Street, in Washington DC.

The most important building on East Capitol Street is Holy Comforter – St. Cyprian Roman Catholic Church. And while I say this in some jest, and with no intention to sound triumphalistic, nevertheless, there is a fundamental truth to what I say.

For, the US Capitol has many powerful people: senators and congressmen, indeed there is the Speaker of the House, there is the Majority Leader of the Senate, and the Vice President who presides.

However, in Holy Comforter-St. Cyprian Church, the King of the Universe tabernacles! All things came to be through him, and in him all things are, and hold together (cf Jn 1:3; Col 1:16-17). Heaven and earth shall pass away, but his Word and his Kingdom shall never pass away (cf Mt 24:35; Daniel 7:27).

And in this Catholic Church of the Holy Comforter exists also the most powerful prayer and event on earth: the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. If anything good comes out of the second most important building on East Capitol Street, it is only because in the most important building on East Capitol Street, prayer has preceded, and God has inspired and blessed it. Nothing that comes from United states Capitol, will be good, or lasting, unless the King in the most important building on East Capitol Street empowers it. Do you want to change world history? Do you want a place at the most important “table” on the planet? Go to Mass, for the most important table isn’t a negotiating table, it’s an altar.

For indeed, the most powerful and efficacious act on the planet takes place in the first and most important building on East Capitol Street, and at the altar in every Catholic Church.

Nothing is more efficacious, nothing more powerful that the Holy Mass. It is more powerful than the trillion dollar budgets passed the second-most important building, it is more powerful than the great war machine that the second most powerful building can activate, its power to renew is more vast than the hundreds of billions of dollars in education funds. And on and on the list could go…

At the bottom of this article is a beautiful video that lists many quotes from the Saints and the Fathers of the Church, indicating the glory and the power of just one Mass. I want to list a few here, and invite you to view the video to see the rest. Consider these quotes.

If we really understood the Mass, we would die of Joy – St. John Vianney

It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun, than to do without Holy Mass – St. Padre Pio

Oh Lord, how can I thank you?! He replied to me, ‘Attend one Mass’– St Teresa of Avila.

I believe that if it were not for the Holy Mass, as of this moment, the world would be in the abyss. – St Leonard of Port Maurice.

Put all the good works in the world against one holy Mass; they would be as a grain of sand against a mountain. – St. John Vianney

He who is in the habit of devoutly hearing Holy Mass shall in death be consoled by the presence of the angels and saints. – Jesus speaking to St. Mechtilde

Yes, the glory of the Mass and the presence of the King of the Universe in every Catholic Church. This makes Holy Comforter – St. Cyprian Catholic Church the most powerful building on East Capitol Street,  in the most powerful city on the planet.

And now, let me ask you, do you believe these quotes? Someone may say to me, “But Father, but Father! If the mass is so powerful why is the world in such a mess?”  Yes, why!?

Could it be that too many Catholics never think of the Mass this way, never really fervently join their prayers to it? High expectations unlock many blessings, low expectations block blessings. The Bible says, You have not because you ask not (James 4:2). Even many church-going Catholics, find mass a sleepy affair, more of a tedious ritual to get through than transformative reality that changes all things. As a consequence, we do not ask, and therefore we do not receive.

If people knew the blessing of one Holy Mass, they would be breaking down the doors to get in the Catholic Church, and everywhere they would insist that Mass be celebrated around the clock. They would not even allow the priest to leave the sanctuary.

Yes, believe. There is no event more powerful on earth than the Holy Mass, none whatsoever. Get your seat at the table, the Altar where you can help guide the events of world history. Admission is free, though donations, and tithes are gladly accepted.

Enjoy this video for more quotes:

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The Passage through a Passing World. A homily for the 33rd Sunday of the year

111613In the month of November the Church has us ponder the Four Last Things: death judgment, heaven and hell. As the golden gown of autumn gives way to the lifeless look of winter we too are encouraged to see that our own lives are on a trajectory that leads ultimately to autumn and then the winter of death. But for those who have faith this passage to death leads ultimately to glory.  Scripture says, And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides for ever (1 John 2:17).

In today’s gospel the Lord Jesus gives us a kind of road map of life and calls us to have a sobriety as to the passing and perilous nature of this world in which we live.

There is an historical context in which our Lord speaks. There were political rumblings in Israel in the early 30s AD that would eventually lead to war. Hatred of the Romans is growing among the Jews. The Zealot party and other factions are building power. Jesus, in this passage, prophesies that war will come and lead to Jerusalem’s ultimate destruction. Everything that they knew was going to pass away. By the Summer of 66 AD a three and half year war ensued that resulted in the complete destruction of Jerusalem and the death of 1.2 million Jews. Josephus records the war in great detail in his work The Jewish War.

That is what this text we read today meant historically. But we also need to know what it means for us today. So let’s look at the text from that perspective. The Gospel can be seen in three major sections.

I. PORTRAIT OF PASSING THINGS – The text says, While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus said, “All that you see here( the days will come when there will not be left  a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.” Then they asked him,  “Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?” – Notice how they admire the temple and its beauty. But the Lord reminds them that, glorious though it now is, it is all going to be thrown down. We too must hear that whatever glory we see or experience in this world will not ultimately last. It is all going to pass away.

The Temple is a portrait of passing things. Just as it was in splendor and now is gone, so too everything we see now and admire will pass. This is a sober truth we must come to accept, even if it is difficult. Other scriptures remind us of this truth. For example, The world as we know it is passing away (1 Cor 7:29). And again,  And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides for ever (1 John 2:17). Hence this world is passing and we too are passing from it one day soon.

Note however, for them as well as for us, one world was ending, but another was beginning. The Old Testament, Old Covenant and ritual order of the Temple was ending, but the New Testament age of the Church was beginning. It was already breaking forth, even as the old was coming to an end.

And so for us, we should not lament the end of this current world or even our death, for a newer great world of heaven awaits if we are faithful. In fact, through the liturgy and sacraments that new world is already breaking forth if we partake of it.

II. POINTS OF PASSAGE TO PROMISED THINGS – Having been informed at the passing of all things,  the apostles ask for signs that will precede the coming end to the temple and all things they know. We too can learn from what Jesus teaches them and apply it to our lives.

Jesus warns them of four perils on the passage to the promised land of the New Testament of the age of the Church. We too will experience perils in our journey to the Promised Land of Heaven.

A. FALSE MESSIAHS – The text says,  “See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying,  ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’ Do not follow them!– Do you want Jesus Christ to be the Lord of your life? Then you’ve got to get rid of false messiahs.

There are just too many people giving worldly  things and people greater authority in their life than Jesus Christ and what he teaches. Fads, fashions, philosophies, all those people, things and philosophies we  submit our lives to in hope that we be happy.

The danger is that something or someone is reigning in your life other than Jesus Christ. Perhaps it is someone in power we admire, or someone in the media whom we give authority and allow to influence us inordinately. Perhaps it is political positions that we allow to trump the scriptures and the teachings of the Church. Perhaps it is just our own convictions or ideas that over-rule God’s teachings.

A false messiah is any one or any thing that is telling you how to organize your life other than Jesus Christ. Before Christ can reign unambiguously in your life false powers and influences have to go.

Too many people look only to science, popular culture, economics, medicine, education, politics and the like. They have been deceived.

It is not that we can’t use these things at all, but they are not the Messiah. None of these things or people every died for you. Only Jesus did that.

The power to save you is not in the statehouse, courthouse, or White-house – it’s in the blood, the saving blood of the Lamb, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

B. FIERCE MILITARISM – The text says: When you hear of wars and insurrections,  do not be terrified; for such things must happen first,  but it will not immediately be the end.”  Then he said to them,  “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. A war was looming for those ancient people.

And we too are in a war, a battle. Before Christ can reign unambiguously in you the false powers in you have to be defeated. They will not go without a fight. The world, the flesh, and the devil can be expected to wage a fierce battle to keep their power.

Are you in a battle?  You should be! Too many Christians have lost the sense of battle. Scripture says, Resist the devil and he will flee from you(James 4:7). And yet  too many not only do not resist him, they welcome him. Scripture also says, Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace;  besides all these, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Eph 6:14).

An old hymn says, I’ve seen lightning flashing, and hear the thunder roll, I’ve felt sin-breakers dashing, which tried to conquer my soul; I’ve heard the voice of my savior, he bid me still to fight on. He promised never to leave me never to leave me alone.

On our way to the promised land of heaven we will encounter necessary battles. Battles for what is right, battles against sin, battles for proper priorities.

C. FAR-FLUNG MARVELS – the Text says: There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues  from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky. In the time of Jesus and the era just preceding the war there were in fact many earthquakes, droughts and even heavenly signs. Historians of the time speak of a comet and strange views of what we know today as the Aurora Borealis.

But what of us? For us What are earthquakes of life? Earthquakes involve the shaking of the ground! The shaking of that which is most stable and basic to us. What are you basing your life on? What is the foundation of your life?

For most of us the foundations of this world are things like, Money, Politics, Friends, Family, our own skills. All of these things are shaken in life and all of them will eventually fail. Our talents and personal powers fade as we age, family members and friends die, move or fail us. Political power and worldly access fails. Haven’t we all experienced our world shaken, our soul famished, the plagues of sin that infect our world and ourselves?

Further, haven’t the stars, all the things that orient us, fallen from the sky from time to time and the sun, the light we see by darkened. Has not the world turned upside down? Maybe it was the sudden death of a loved one, the loss of a job, trials, tragedies, testings, and tumult, a diagnosis of cancer or Alzheimer disease.

This is why God has to be our ultimate foundation, and our ultimate navigation point. Either Jesus is our foundation, or something else is. Without God as our foundation we cannot stand. The foundations of this world will cave, Christ must be our sure foundation.

D. FEARFUL MALICE – The text says, Before all this happens, however,  they will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors  because of my name…..You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends It will lead to your giving testimony.  Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking  that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. and they will put some of you to death.  You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. The early Christians had much to suffer through persecutions. Most of us in the Christian West have had less to suffer but more difficult days may well be ahead as the secular West grows increasingly hostile to the traditional Christian Faith.

Persecution however is an expected part of the Christian journey to the promised land of heaven. Even if we’re not handed over it is a truth of our time that many of us are not taken seriously, are written off or called names even by our closest family and friends?

Christ tells us not to worry of such things. They are part of the normal Christian life. And even if some of us eventually lose our life for the faith, the Lord promises that not a hair of our head will be harmed. That is, our souls will be saved. The world can only harm our body but not our soul, unless we allow it.

So these are the perils that we must soberly accept on our journey home to the promised land of heaven. This leads to the final exhortation of Christ.

3. PRESCRIPTION for the PASSAGE to PROMISED THINGS – The text says, By your perseverance you will secure your lives. Despite these perils we can only journey on and not lose faith or lose heart. There is glory waiting for us if we persevere.

Scripture says elsewhere: But he who endures to the end will be saved (Mat 10:22) and again, For yet a little while, and the coming one shall come and shall not tarry;  but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”  But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and keep their souls (Heb 10:37).

An old Spiritual says, Hold on just a little while longer, everything’s gonna be alright.

In this regard the end of the Book of Daniel also seems pertinent: So [Daniel asked the Archangel Gabriel],  My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?He replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are rolled up and sealed until the time of the end. Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand….“As for you, go your way till the end. You will die,  yet at the end of the days you will rise to receive your reward.” (Daniel 12:8-10, 13)

Yes, on our passage through this passing world it is necessary to persevere unto the end. If we do, there is glory on the other side. If we do not, there will be only worse woes that will usher in.

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There are no Quick Fixes in the Spiritual Life, as seen in a commercial

111513One of the cultural challenges we face in both living and proclaiming the faith is that the true faith doesn’t often fit our frantic pace and instant expectations. Consider that may today, including we who believe, demand the “Quick Fix.” What ever the situation, be it sickness, a needed repair of something we own, the delivery of something we have purchased, a resolution of family troubles, or even deeper issues such as inner peace, we want a quick fix.

But many things do not admit of a quick fix, especially the deeper things of the human soul. And the faith we proclaim does not propose something so simple. In this sense, the faith is less “marketable” to our quick fix culture. We do not (cannot) say “Simply Come to Mass for six, sequential Sundays and your problems will be over.” Rather, we say, “Give your life to Christ.”

The solution of God and of the true faith insists on an often slow but steady movement toward God wherein he draws us in stages, ever deeper to Him, to holiness, to perfection. Little by little, our fears fade, sins diminish, we become more loving, patient, compassionate, chaste, serene and so forth. The process usually takes decades, no quick fix here.

And many medicines need to be consistently applied: daily prayer, daily Scripture and spiritual reading, weekly Mass and Communion, frequent confession, and communal life in the Church to include helpful friendships, faith-filled relationships and works of Charity.

There is an old saying that “Grace builds on nature.” That is to say, that God’s grace respects the way we are made by him. And just as it pertains to our physical nature to change slowly, almost imperceptibly, (but surely), so our spiritual nature usually follows the same pattern. And, while there may be growth spurts, it is more often the subtle and sure growth that makes the deepest difference.

I can surely say this has been my experience. I have been serious about my spiritual life for the last 30 of my 52 years: daily Mass, daily Scripture, daily holy hour, weekly confession, fellowship with my people, holy friendships and spiritual direction. And wow, what a change! But it has taken 30 years to get here, and most of my growth was imperceptible, day to day. I’m not what I want to be, but I’m not what I used to be, a wonderful change has come over me.

Not the quick fix, not the fast rush, just a inching along like a poor inch worm (as an old Spiritual says). But praise God I am where I am today.

Lifelong plans may not “sell” but they are the way God insists on working.

On Fridays I have often tried to keep the post a little shorter and have tried to use a commercial to make my point. So how about this one:

  1. In the commercial, below the is a man, Jerry, who is in a “State of Regret.” In a certain sense (as we shall see), Jerry represents all who stray from the Church and God’s life long plan of faith, looking for a fast rush, and quick fix elsewhere, apart from the faith and the Church.
  2. Sure enough, Jerry’s regret is that he has dropped his “State Farm” Insurance and went with the “other company,” let’s call that company “Quick Fix Auto Insurance.” I allowing State Farm to represent the Church, I intend no endorsement, but do recall that “farming” is no quick-fix business. It involves a lot of patient waiting and persistent working. Such is the work of the Lord and his Church, no quick fix, but more like farming.
  3. Jerry complains to his former agent “Jessica” (but lets call her “Mother Church”). His complaint is: It only took me 15 minutes to sign with that other company but it’s taking a lot longer to hear back. OK, so now he’s learned that there really is NO SUCH THING as a “quick fix” when it comes to many things. And so must we learn this same truth. The world, the flesh and the devil, often make such promises and sow seeds of impatience in us when God does not act instantly, when the Church bids us to be patient and persistent. But Now Jerry’s impatience has brought him further troubles, as we shall see.
  4. Jerry explains he’s had a “fender bender” The truth is Jerry has bent far more than a fender. He is in real trouble. We too often like to minimize our state when we have made bad decisions.
  5. Jessica (Mother Church) is sympathetic but wonders what she can do, for Jerry has ended his relationship with her. Without a relationship, how can she help him? Here too, Mother Church often wants to help us, but must have a relationship with us to help. God too, seeks communion with us, in order to help us. But communion, a relationship, with the Lord and his Bride the Church are necessary for help to be extended.
  6. Indeed Jessica (Mother Church) knows Jerry well, and seems, like a mother, to know implicitly and exactly what he has done. She knows he’s in real trouble and has “put his car up a pole” (again). There’s just something about Mother Church, she knows her children and what we do, she knows, and understands.
  7. Hearing Jessica’s (Mother Church’s) knowing but compassionate words Jerry breaks down and says “I miss you Jessica!” The ad then says, “Let it out Jerry! Then come back to State Farm.” Yes, indeed. And so too for us. Soulful and tearful repentance and a restoration of our relationship with the Lord and his Church, are the way out.
  8. Quick Fix Insurance Company can’t cut the deal. Come back to the Lord and his Church. The solution may not be “quick” but it will be sure if we stay the course.

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The Beautiful Story of how Kirsten Powers Found Jesus. What’s Your Story?

111513-PopeLast Week I wrote my testimony of meeting Jesus on a fateful day in November of 1995 (HERE). I have also written of the need that Christians have to better witness in a personal way to the faith, and to the relationship they have with the Lord.

The other day I read a beautiful conversion story, a witness story of a woman I have long admired, Kirsten Powers. She is a Fox News Commentator. And while I do not always agree with her political perspectives, she is a solid journalist, she gives fair consideration to all issues, and is, to my mind, a very classy lady.

She wrote recently in Christianity Today of how she met Jesus. I would like to share some excerpts of the story with you here so that, once again, you and all of us who are Catholics can see modeled how to tell our own particular story o faith, and what witness looks and sounds like.

Her full article is here: Kirsten Powers and how She Met Jesus What follows here are just a few excerpts with some comments by me in red text:

Just seven years ago, if someone had told me that I’d be writing for Christianity Today magazine about how I came to believe in God, I would have laughed out loud. If there was one thing in which I was completely secure, it was that I would never adhere to any religion—especially to evangelical Christianity, which I held in particular contempt.

And thus we learn to stay in the conversation with people. There was a time in my life that I too was hostile to the Church and hostile to Jesus. No one, no matter how settled they think they are in opposition to God or the Church is a lost cause. Speak the truth, with charity and clarity. You just never know when or how, but some, indeed, more than some, eventually find the Lord. Thank you Jesus!

I grew up in the Episcopal Church in Alaska, but my belief was superficial and flimsy….

Yes, some of us are in reaction to a poor experience with faith growing up. Perhaps it was perfunctory observance, perhaps we even experienced painful realities in the Church. But often such struggles send us afar. But in the end, the Lord does not cease to call, and He can even work the miracle of helping us to overcome tepid, bad or painful experiences.

Ms. Powers goes on to talk of how she began to date an Evangelical Christian who invited her to his Church and asked her to keep an open mind. She began attending Upper East Side Redeemer Presbyterian Church, an Evangelical Presbyterian Church. The Pastor Tim Keller impressed her with his thoughtful preaching. She says,

Tim Keller’s sermon was intellectually rigorous, weaving in art and history and philosophy. I decided to come back to hear him again. Soon, hearing Keller speak on Sunday became the highlight of my week. Each week, Keller made the case for Christianity. He also made the case against atheism and agnosticism. He expertly exposed the intellectual weaknesses of a purely secular worldview. I came to realize that even if Christianity wasn’t the real thing, neither was atheism.

So faith comes by hearing. The preaching task is critical. Pray that the Lord will send laborers, effective preachers and teachers to clarify doubts and sow the seeds of truth. Scripture says, How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?…As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”…So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.(Rom 10:14-15, 17). Yes, pray for good and effective preaching and teaching!

She adds,

I concluded that the weight of evidence was on the side of Christianity. But I didn’t feel any connection to God.

But someone must have praying for Kirsten. For soon enough, she met Jesus:

Then one night in 2006, on a trip to Taiwan, I woke up in what felt like a strange cross between a dream and reality. Jesus came to me and said, “Here I am.” It felt so real. I didn’t know what to make of it.

Hallelujah! Someone was praying. Thank you Jesus.

I tried to write off the experience as misfiring synapses, but I couldn’t shake it. When I returned to New York a few days later, I was lost. I suddenly felt God everywhere and it was terrifying. More important, it was unwelcome. It felt like an invasion. I started to fear I was going crazy….I was desperate. My whole world was imploding. How was I going to tell my family or friends about what had happened? Nobody would understand. I didn’t understand.

It is interesting. Not everyone has an experience with the Lord and comes away serene. In fact most Theophanies in the Bible leave the recipient disconcerted, sometimes flat on their face to the ground! Yes, even Mother Mary was “troubled” at the visit of Gabriel (Lk 1:29), and even John the Evangelist who had been so close to the Lord in his earthly ministry, fell on his face to the ground when he saw Jesus in glory (Rev 1:17). There is authenticity in Ms. Power’s description of distress. It makes sense given her background of skepticism,  but also makes sense given the Glory of the Lord.

She sought explanation by attending a Bible study, but in the end, the Lord connected the dots for her:

Everything had changed. I’ll never forget standing outside that apartment on the Upper East Side and saying to myself, “It’s true. It’s completely true.” The world looked entirely different, like a veil had been lifted off it. I had not an iota of doubt. I was filled with indescribable joy.

But surely the World, the Flesh and Devil would not take this sitting down! She writes:

The horror of the prospect of being a devout Christian crept back in almost immediately. I spent the next few months doing my best to wrestle away from God. It was pointless. Everywhere I turned, there he was. Slowly there was less fear and more joy. The Hound of Heaven had pursued me and caught me—whether I liked it or not.

Yes, The Lord has won. And I pray that Kirsten Powers will grow strong in faith and deep in conviction that Jesus is Lord and the lover of her soul.

“But Father, but Father….!” I hear some of you saying, “She did not become Catholic! How can we praise this!?” Well, all I know is that we are all on a journey. And the Lord has surely led some of the best Catholics through the Evangelical denominations ultimately to the Catholic Church.

And I will add that their time there (in the Evangelical denominations) was not a detour or wasted. In fact some of the greatest converts to the Catholic Church bring many gifts from their time as Evangelicals: Love for Jesus, the understanding of a personal and intimate walk with the Lord, a love for Scripture, and a zeal for souls.

At a personal level I would love for Ms. Powers to one day find herself in full union with the Catholic Church. For now I am joyful she found Jesus and I trust Jesus to lead her. Rejoice with me, rejoice with her, Jesus is joy, he is Lord and Shepherd. He shepherds us rightly.

But Father, But Father, as a democrat, what does she think of abortion? As far as I know, she is against it. Consider what she has written HERE and HERE or HERE And and if you wish she were clearer here or there about this or that, stay in the conversation. Amor omnia vincet.

I rejoice that Kirsten Powers has met Jesus. I rejoice I have met him. How about you? What is your story? See her testimony as model and write your own. Your children and grandchildren, your friends and others are desperate to hear it!

Testimony is essential. There is no true evangelization without it.

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A Reflection on the Modern Error of Preaching Mercy without Repentance

111413There are of course many ways of describing the pastoral, liturgical and theological struggles of our day. But one very simple way of describing current problems that touches on all these areas is simply this:  that a presumptive attitude of mercy without repentance is both taught and widely held by far too many modern Catholics, and other Christians.

There is much talk of how God loves us, is rich in mercy, is kind and forgiving. And all of these things are true. But another essential truth is that these gifts, these essential attributes of God, are accessed by repentance. It is repentance that opens the door to mercy, forgiveness, and kindness.

Perhaps an analogy will help. Consider a man who is in very poor health. Perhaps he has  a host of problems that surround obesity such as hypertension, cholesterol, diabetes etc. Now modern medicine has a lot to offer people who are struggling with poor health. The healing help includes everything from medicine to surgery, to information on nutrition etc. But in order for this man to access that healing help, a number of things are first necessary:

  1. He may need others to testify to him some concern for his health, for many exhibit various levels of denial as to their condition especially when it involves things like overeating, smoking, or drinking.
  2. He then needs to accept that his condition is serious enough that needs both help and change.
  3. He needs to decide to seek the help of the medical profession and follow through on that decision by scheduling and keeping an appointment with a doctor.

Now, when he does this, AND ONLY when he does this, will the healing help of the medical profession unfold for him. It is not enough for him to say, “Well isn’t it great that there are doctors, medical professionals, information, and medicine that can help me! It’s just wonderful that there are so many caring and professional people out there who can help and save me!” No,  that is not enough. He has to make a change and actually reach out and develop a relationship with the medical community. He has to actually take the medicine. It is not enough to praise the medicine, he has to take it. It is not enough to feel reassured that there are people out there, he actually has to go to them, interact with them, and set a new course.

And this is an analogy for the spiritual life and repentance. God’s offer of mercy and healing love stand, and are offered to everyone. But these magnificent gifts must be accessed through repentance. That is to say, we must come to understand the seriousness of our condition, turn to God, call upon his mercy, and begin to receive the glorious medicine he offers: the medicine of his Word, of the Sacraments, of prayer, and walking in fellowship with the Church, which he established as his ongoing presence and voice in the world (cf Acts 2:42).

The Greek word that is usually translated as repentance or repent is metanoia and it means more than simply to clean up our act. Most literally it means to come to a new mind, or a new way of thinking. This is why God’s word, the teachings of the Church, and preaching are so essential for all of us. Whereas perverse councils separate us from God, (Wisdom 1:3), God’s truth proclaimed in the Scriptures and the teachings of the Church summon us back to him, summon us to a new mind, a new way of thinking. It convicts us of error and sin, but also announces the Savior who is the saving Truth who sets us free.

But of course it is not enough for us simply to hear of this new way of thinking, we must actually come to it, decide for it. Repentance is to actually embrace this new mind, and this unlocks all the blessings the healings, the mercy, and the salvation that is promised. We must allow the grace of God, interacting with our freedom to effect an actual change, a decision in our life that changes the way we think, the way we act, and puts us into a saving relationship with the Divine Physician Jesus.

Like the patient above, we must be brought to understand the seriousness of our condition, come to know that there is saving help available, and then by positive decision, rooted in grace, actually reach out to lay hold of that help.

Repentance is the door, is the key that unlocks mercy.

Yet too often today mercy is preached without reference to repentance. Too many who preach and too many who hear have come to see mercy as granted without any human engagement. One simply has it automatically, no matter what.

Yet that is not what Scripture teaches. Most notably, Simon Peter on Day One of Pentecot and the going for of the gospel preached a sermon laying out who Jesus is, and how we, in our sin and rebellion killed the very author of life. The text from Acts says,

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:37-38)

Thus, when asked what they are to do, Peter does not say, “Don’t worry, all is well, God is mercy. He says, “Repent and baptized.” In other words, come to a new mind, come to your senses, reject your sins, be washed clean and come to Jesus. And this will unlock the supreme blessing of the Holy Spirit of God, who is the mercy of God, the love of God the very life and grace of God!

And how is this accessed? Repentance.

Isaiah had said, The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,” declares the LORD (Is 59:20).

And to the Disciples in Emmaus Jesus said, This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. (Luke 24:46-48)

And thus preachers and teachers in the Church, who are Christ’s witnesses, must proclaim repentance that unlocks the forgiveness and mercy of God.

St. Paul warns, In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30).

Thus those who preach and teach mercy without repentance are deceivers and likely themselves deceived. And those who think of mercy without reference to repentance are deceived.

Faith and repentance are the supernaturally transformed and assisted human element that is necessary to unlock mercy and the graces of God. To ignore or deny this amounts to a denial of human freedom and does not help God’s people. Rather it hinders them, for mercy is accessed through repentance, and without it, the door cannot open. Repentance must be preached to all the nations because repentance, by God’s grace opens the door.