Author: Msgr. Charles Pope

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40 Reasons to Come Home – Reason # 18 – The Good Priests

Reason # 18 – The Good Priests. Much has been written lately about the sins of some priests who horribly committed sexual abuse. May God bless those who were victims of such priests. But the vast majority of priests are good, holy and dedicated men who given themselves selflessly to God and the service of his people. I can testify to many good priests who helped me along the way.  The priests who serve us in the Church are not perfect men but most all of them love God and his people. They work long hours and are present at some of the most difficult and joyful moments of our lives. Most of them are quiet servants, answering late night phone calls, celebrating early masses, sitting through long meetings and patiently listening to our concerns, struggles, joys and hopes, questions, and doubts. They celebrate the Sacraments with devotion, both for God and their people. And truth be told most Catholics love their priests, pray for them, respect them  and value their service.

So here is a reason to come home: many good priests are waiting to serve you and celebrate the significant moments of your life. Many good priests await your return.

Here is a beautiful Video that celebrates the ministry priests among us:

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Wondering About Wrath

Today’s Gospel read at Catholic Masses (where the “A” readings were not used) was about Jesus cleaning the Temple. Clearly in this passage Jesus manifests anger. Why is Jesus angry? Why is he throwing tables over and driving people out? Is this anger a sin? But Jesus never sinned! So how can we understand his anger? In fact, there are a lot of verses all through the Bible that speak of God’s wrath, or anger. How can we understand it and square it with his mercy and patience?

I preached a sermon on these topics today here at my Parish, Holy Comforter – St. Cyprian.  You can get it here: The Whys and Wherefores of Wrath

A more complete listing of my sermons is here: http://frpope.com/audio/recordings.php

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40 Reasons to Come Home – Reason # 17 – Jesus is Here Right Now

Reason # 17- Jesus is Here Right Now. If I were to credibly announce to the Washington DC area that Jesus Christ was going to come down from heaven and appear in my Parish Church of Holy Comforter – St. Cyprian, the place would be packed! Media Satellite trucks would line the block. Crowds in the hundreds of thousands might well gather; all to see Jesus. But the truth is, Jesus IS here, right now. He presides as High Priest at every liturgy we celebrate. He remains present in our tabernacle. He’s here! He preaches the sermon, stands at our altar and feeds us with his Body and Blood.

 The Choir in my Church often sings the Gospel song “Jesus Is Here Right Now.”  while we receive Holy Communion. Are you looking for Jesus? Here’s here, right now! A great reason to come home.

Here are two powerful videos that celebrate the True Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament: “God in the Streets of New York.”  Behold how Jesus walks the streets of New York and see the remarkable reactions of many people in the video. Some glance shyly, others reash out to touch, others cry out from a distance, one man throws open his window and cries “Glory.” The second video is actually the same footage, but a musical version, a remix or sorts.

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Custody of the Eyes and Ears

One of the difficulties of living in the modern world is that we can easily come under the influence of philosophies and errors that can mislead us. There are also many sinful influences that can corrupt our moral life. There is a traditional concept in the moral life known as “Custody of the Eyes” wherein a person is very careful as to what he allows himself to see. (cf Job 31:1; Mat 5:28; Psalm 119:37, etc.) And these days, in a world in which sound has a very profound influence, we also need to be very careful as to what we allow ourselves to hear.  We must be careful to avoid evil, erroneous, and tempting influences. To put it more positively, we must actively seek constructive and truthful influence. We do this by keeping careful company, attending to the daily reading of Scripture and the study of the faith, and intentionally exposing ourselves to what is good, true, and beautiful.

Paradoxically, the modern world with all its problematic influences also provides us with many opportunities to craft our world and its influences. There are many options today insofar as how we choose to get our information and what we will allow to influence us. In the past we were stuck with just three networks and a few newspapers and magazines. Now there are endless possibilities available through the Internet, cable TV, and individual devices such as iPods.

I seldom watch television anymore. When I do, it is carefully selected: usually DVD-based viewing. I spend alot of time with instructive and helpful websites and blogs to get my information. I also spend a lot of time walking and driving with my iPod loaded “Catholic.”

There are many wonderful podcasts out there today that can both entertain, edify, and instruct you in the faith and in wholesome matters. Why don’t we start sharing what some of those sites and podcasts are so that we can help each other in the “custody” of our eyes and ears?

Let’s be clear, the sites and podcast you suggest should be orthodox, edifying, and instructive in the true faith. Let me get started by suggesting a few podcasts and sites I find helpful. Use the comments section to make your own suggestions.

EWTN has some great podcasts of its shows here: EWTN PODCASTS. I especially like the “Open-Line” call-in shows during which listeners to EWTN Radio call with questions about the faith.

EWTN and Catholic Answers also offer a huge number of talks, debates, and classes as mp3 downloads here: Catholic Talks and Teaching

I Podcast my own sermons, talks, and Bible Studies here: Sermons by Msgr. Pope

Lots of varied Catholic podcasts and other media formats are available here: SQPN

Patrick Madrid, a Catholic teacher and apologist, has a lot of material (some free, some for purchase) available here: Patrick Madrid

John Martignoni,, another Catholic teacher and apologist, offers a lot of free mp3 downloads here: Bible Christian Society

A 12-part Series by Scott Hahn on Mary is here: Hail Holy Queen

I know there are countless others but that’s a start. Please suggest others.

So here it is. Custody of the eyes and ears does not mean just shuttering your world and living with your head in the sand. It means directing your gaze in the proper direction and listening to what really helps. Load your iPod and get started. Before you know it, your mind and heart will begin to change, and little by little, you will acquire the mind and heart of Christ. Load those iPods with something Catholic and start walking (it’s a great way to lose weight too)!

,

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40 Reasons to Come Home: Reason # 16

Reason # 16: Protection From Error. One of the great advantages of making our home in the Catholic Church is that we are at the feet of a wise and experienced teacher who has seen it all. The Scriptures, the Catechism, the lives of the Saints—all the Church’s teaching is a wealth of knowledge and experience for us.

At this point I would like to let G.K. Chesterton to do the talking:

The other day a well-known writer, otherwise quite well-informed, said that the Catholic Church is always the enemy of new ideas. It probably did not occur to him that his own remark was not exactly in the nature of a new idea…Nevertheless, the man who made that remark about Catholics meant something; and it is only fair to him to understand it rather more clearly than he stated it. What he meant was that, in the modern world, the Catholic Church is in fact the enemy of many influential fashions; most of which…claim to be new. [But] nine out of ten of what we call new ideas are simply old mistakes. The Catholic Church has for one of her chief duties that of preventing people from making those old mistakes; from making them over and over again forever, as people always do if they are left to themselves…There is no other case of one continuous intelligent institution that has been thinking about thinking for two thousand years. Its experience naturally covers nearly all experiences; and especially nearly all errors. The result is a map in which all the blind alleys and bad roads are clearly marked, all the ways that have been shown to be worthless by the best of all evidence: the evidence of those who have gone down them. On this map of the mind the errors are marked…[but] the greater part of it consists of playgrounds and happy hunting-fields, where the mind may have as much liberty as it likes.  But [the Church] does definitely take the responsibility of marking certain roads as leading nowhere or leading to destruction…By this means, it does prevent men from wasting their time or losing their lives upon paths that have been found futile or disastrous again and again in the past, but which might otherwise entrap travelers again and again in the future. The Church does make herself responsible for warning her people against these; she does dogmatically defend humanity from its worst foes… Now all these false issues have a way of looking quite fresh, especially to a fresh generation. ..[But] we must have something that will hold the four corners of the world still, while we make our social experiments or build our Utopias. From Twelve Modern Apostles and Their Creeds (1926). Reprinted in The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton, Vol. 3 Ignatius Press 1990

So here’s a reason to come home and stay home: the protection and guidance of a wise and experienced teacher—Holy Mother Church. You might say she’s been around the block a few times. She’s seen it all. Come home and benefit from centuries of experience.

Here’s a little snippet of wisdom from the treasury of the Church’s Wisdom in the lives of the Saints. It warns us to avoid greed and materialism, two common and repeated errors of the world.

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Understanding the Roman Catholic Church

I found a very balanced and respectful video describing the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. What is interesting to me is that it is produced by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. While there are a few things with which I might quibble (for example, I think that it was more than just the controversy about indulgences set off the Protestant Reformation, and that the sampling of American Parish life is too limited), nevertheless the video is well-produced and quite thorough.

Here is the YouTube description of the video:

The purpose of this video is to help Protestant Christians and others develop a better understanding of the Roman Catholic Church, its history and basic beliefs by listening to Roman Catholics tell their own story...

The 35-minute program is organized into three parts: Roman Catholic beliefs, Church history, and Catholic Renewal. The program includes interviews with Roman Catholic theologians, scholars, pastors, and lay people. Portions of this program were recorded in Rome, Assisi, Trent, and Casino, Italy.

After centuries of mistrust, indifference, and even hostility, attitudes between Roman Catholics and other Christians are changing. Dialogue, cooperation, and understanding is healing old wounds, both locally and up to the highest organizational levels.

The Roman Catholic Church is the largest block of Christianity in the world. In the U.S., 65 million Roman Catholics are organized into 200 archdioceses and dioceses and more than 19,000 local Catholic parishes. Each year over one million infants and 70,000 adults are baptized in U.S. Roman Catholic churches. Yet for all its great size, influence, and long history, many non-Roman Catholics understand very little about the largest Christian denomination.

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How to Go to Confession

   

          The Sacrament of Confession

 

Part One:

A Brief Examination of Conscience

 

I. I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have strange gods before me.

 

– Have I been more concerned with what people think of me than what God thinks of me? Have I been impious by ridiculing sacred things or rites? Have I engaged in superstitious practices of any kind? Have I been indifferent about the Lord’s teachings as proclaimed in the Scriptures and the teachings of His Church?

 

II. Thou Shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain.

 

– Have I always spoken with reverence about God, the saints, and holy things? Do I use the name of the Lord often in Prayer?

 

III. Remember to keep Holy the Sabbath Day.

 

– Have I attended Mass on each Sunday and Holy Day of obligation? Have I seen Sunday as a day of rest set aside for the Lord or do I treat it like just any other day? Do I engage in unnecessary work on Sunday or pressure others to do so?

 

IV. Honor thy father and mother.

 

– Do I show respect and love for my parents? If I no longer live with my parents, do I call or write them often to show my love and concern? What about other lawful superiors and authorities in my life; do I honor, respect, and obey them as I ought?

 

V. Thou shalt not kill.

 

– Do I show reverence and respect for human life from conception to death? Have I in any way approved of violent or vengeful behavior? Have I nursed hatred in my heart for others? Have I endangered the lives of others by reckless behavior? Have I endangered the spiritual life of anyone by encouraging them to commit serious sins or by giving bad example?

 

VI. Thou shalt not commit adultery

 

– Have I entertained impure or lustful thoughts? Have I committed impure actions either with myself or someone else? Have I tempted others to impurity by immodest dress or suggestive talk? Have I ridiculed or downplayed the virtue of chastity? Have I intentionally looked at indecent magazines, movies, or pictures?

 

VII. Thou shalt not steal.

 

– Have I unjustly and intentionally damaged the property of another person? Have I cheated in any way or engaged in dishonest practices? Have I made illegal photocopies, audio, or video recordings? If I am an employer, have I paid a just wage? If I am an employee, do I give an honest day’s work for my wage? As far as possible, do I pay my debts in a timely manner?

 

VIII. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

 

– Have I lied about others? Do I care for the good name and reputation of others, or do I often endanger it by gossip and the spreading of rumors? Am I a truthful person? Have I rashly judged others? Have I told secrets about others that I am bound to keep?

 

IX. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife

 

– Have I entertained sexual desires or thoughts about someone who is not my spouse? Do I love my own spouse and thank the Lord for him or her?

 

X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods.

 

– Do I envy the success of others? Am I angry that others seem to have more than I do? Have I sought the things of earth more than those of Heaven?

 

  

 

Part Two:

The Celebration of the Sacrament

 

The penitent sits or kneels, makes the sign of the cross and says,

Bless me Father, for I have sinned

My last confession was __ (days, months, years) ago.

 

Then the penitent tells the priest the sins committed sin the last confession. Usually this is concluded by this or a similar phrase:

 

For these, and other sins which I cannot recall

at this time, I ask pardon and forgiveness.

 

Now the priest will offer some advice or encouragement to the person and then assign a small penance to be performed. He will then ask for an act of contrition. The following act of contrition is commonly recited, but others may be used.

An Act of Contrition

 

Oh My God, I am heartily sorry

for having offended you by my sins.

I detest all my sins

not only because I fear

the loss of heaven and the pains of hell

but most of all

because they offend Thee my God

Who art all good and deserving

of all my love.

I firmly resolve with the help of Thy Grace

To confess my sins

To do my penance

and to amend my life.

Amen.

 

The priest then gives the absolution by extending his hand over the penitent and saying these words:

 

God the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son, has reconciled the world to Himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins. Through the ministry of the Church may God grant you pardon and peace and I absolve you from your sins in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The priest will often bid the penitent farewell by saying,

 

“Go in Peace”

 

 

The following video is a little silly (due to its rather mechanistic format), but it actually does a pretty good job of laying out the process of going to confession.