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July 10, 2011June 10, 2015

Not Everything is as it First Appears: On the Discipline of Discernment as an Antidote to the Deep Disappointments of Life

The video at the bottom of this page is a humorous and also stunning illustration that things in life are not always what they first appear to be. Life can have its little surprises that make us say, “Wow!” It can also have its shocking and deeply disappointing moments that rock us back on our heals and cause up deep hurt. Some of these hurts and shocks can be prevented or lessened by prayerful and careful discernment as we go through life.

Discernment is a spiritual discipline that is important for us to develop in our Christian walk. The word “discern” is derived from the Medieval Latin word cernere, meaning to sift, separate, or distinguish. Hence, as we can see, discernment is a discipline that counsels us to make careful distinctions and to avoid rash conclusions. While most people tend to place discernment in the realm of spiritual issues, spiritual direction, and vocations only, discernment has a wider application in how we understand the people and situations in our life. (It is this second area that I want to emphasize in this post).

It is an often troublesome human tendency to “size things up” too quickly, before we really have all the information and can carefully sift, separate and distinguish. There is also the human tendency to make conclusions that are too sweeping nor simplistic, given the limited information we have.We do this regarding both people and situations.

Regarding people, too often, we like to assess them quickly and put them into one category or another. Thus, we may conclude that “Jane is a really wonderful person!” based on very few interactions with her or very limited information. We do this a great deal with the famous personalities and “heroes” of our culture, seeing them in broad and simplistic ways. In fact we usually know very little of them, other than what we see in a rather cursory and public way. In lionizing and idealizing people, we are often setting ourselves up for deep disappointment. And this disappointment is rooted in our rushed and simplistic judgments about people. The fact is, people are generally a mixed bag, often possessed of great gifts, and also afflicted by human weakness and personal flaws. Scripture says, No one is good but God alone. (Mk 10:18 inter al). It also says, For God regards all men as sinners, that he may have mercy on all (Rom 11:23). This the human condition, gifted but flawed.

Hence we do well to carefully discern, that is to sift, sort and distinguish, when we assess one another. Not all things are as they first appear. And no one should be regarded simplistically. We are usually a complicated mix of gifts and struggles.

In the Scriptures there is the story of Samuel who was sent by God to find and anoint a King among Jesse’s sons. Arriving and seeing the eldest and strongest of the sons, Samuel was quick to conclude he must be the one: But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (1 Sam 16:6). Samuel was eventually led to anoint the youngest and least likely of the brothers, David.

Scripture also says:

Call no one blessed before his death, for by his end shall a man be known. (Sir 11:28)
And Paul cautions Timothy: Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure…Remember, the sins of some men are obvious, leading them to certain judgment. But there are others whose sins will not be revealed until later. (1 Tim 5:22,24)
Sometimes too, we fail to note the gifts of others. Here too Scripture says, So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! (2 Cor 5:16)

Discernment regarding people therefore ought to proceed with careful deliberation wherein we resist the urge to quickly size up and categorize people, and exercise careful discernment that is on-going, charitable and sober.

Regarding situations, here too, the rush to judgment is to be avoided. I have, in the past, been prone to criticize some of the judgments and decisions of the Church, and in particular, my diocesan leadership and religious superiors. Yet, in some of the matters about which I was most critical, I have come to discover that I did not have all the facts, and that my judgment was both rash and wrong. We often think we know the whole story. And often we do not.

Likewise it is often easy to take sides quickly in disputes and to assess blame in simplistic ways. In marriage counseling for example, I have learned to resist the urge to be too sympathetic to one or the other. In the past I would tend to be sympathetic to one who had called to make the appointment and whose side I had heard the most of already. But, a one sided pancake is pretty thin, and there is always another side. Very few marriages are in trouble because one is a saint and the other is the devil. There are usually issues on both sides, bad and good.

Thus, again, regarding situations, discernment, the careful sorting, sifting and distinguishing of things, must take place.

Disclaimer – Discernment should be seen as a middle ground between quickly claiming we know too much, and claiming we can know nothing at all. Discernment is not an affirmation that there is no truth to be found, or that we are locked away in a purely subjective and relativistic world where no judgments can be made at all. Rather it is a caution from making sweeping, simplistic or rash judgments that are not based on things we really know. It is a call to sobriety, for people and situations are often more complicated than we first grasp, and it takes time to make proper assessments.

Some (including me) have often criticized the Church for not operating in the fast speed zone of the modern world. We often want quick and bold statements to be issued. We desire rapid responses and bold initiatives made to every issue and crisis that emerges. Of themselves, these desires are not wrong. But they need to be balanced with an appreciation that discernment is often accomplished at slower speeds than we demand or wish. A more rapid response may sometimes be desired and even necessary. But there is something to be said about following the priority of the important rather than, merely, the priority of the urgent. And careful consideration and discernment is important and has its place.

To discern: to sift, separate, or distinguish.

Photo Credit: St Ildefonso (in prayerful discernment) by El Greco

Consider this video. I pray you won’t take offense at it and maintain a certain “sense of humor.” For while it may seem to make light of a serious spiritual matter, I am making use of it merely to illustrate that not all things are as they first appear. Even in the matter illustrated, the Church demands long investigation before concluding the worst and proceeding with the rites.

July 9, 2011June 10, 2015

From Informed to Transformed – A Meditation on the Power of God’s Word Taught to Us on the 15th Sunday of the Year

What do you expect from reading and hearing God’s Word? Do you expect to encounter something that will change you? Frankly from my discussions with people over the years, many people do not even understand the question and, after puzzled looks, return another question: “What do mean by, expect?” “Just what I said, What do you look to happen in your life having from having heard or read God’s Word? Puzzled looks and finally something vague like, “I dunno” or “Like, maybe, to get advice?” Some might even go so far to say that they expect to be encouraged or instructed. But in the end, most of the responses to my question are pretty tepid, lukewarm and uninspired. Most really don’t expect much and, frankly haven’t expected much. Reading or hearing God’s word is more of a tedious ritual for them than a transformative reality.

Here again, I lay a lot of blame at the feet of clergy who don’t really teach the faithful to expect much. But this Sunday it is clearly set forth that God’s Word is able to transform, change, renew, encourage and empower us. And we ought to begin to begin to expect great things from the faithful and attentive reception of the Word of God.

Let’s Look at what the Lord teaches in three steps.

1. Promise – That the Word of God can utterly transform us and bring forth a great harvest in our lives is clearly set forth in the first reading:

Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; my word shall not return to me void (Isaiah 55:10-11)

God’s Word has power! If we authentically and attentively listen to God’s Word, it will refresh us, and bring forth the fruit of transformation. No one can authentically attend to God’s word and go away unchanged. God’s Word, if listen to with any alertness, can open our minds to new realities, give us hope, teach us the fundamental meaning of our life, instruct us, thrill us, frighten us, make us wonder, repent or rejoice, it can also transform us. It can make us mad, sad or glad, but if attended to, it’s pretty hard to go away neutral from this Word, of which Scripture itself says,

The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Heb 4:12).
God says in the book of Jeremiah: Is not my word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? (Jer 23:29)
And Jeremiah himself said, But if I say, “I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot (Jer 20:9).
And Yet again, he cries out: My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry! (Jer 4:19)
Amos echoes: The lion has roared–who will not fear? The Sovereign LORD has spoken–who can but prophesy? (Amos 3:8)
The Apostles join the great company of preachers and declare: For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:20)
Yes, the Lord gave the Word, and great was the company of the preachers! (Ps 68:11)
And through his preachers the Lord wants to set us on fire! I will make my words in your mouth a fire and these people the wood it consumes. (Jer 5:14)
Yes, if we will let him, he will set us ablaze with his word. Thus he will also set the world on fire, through us.

Yes, God’s word, effectively preached and thoughtfully attended to, is fire that transforms. Pray for fiery preachers. Pray for ears attentive to God’s Word. Pray for a soul alive and alert to sound of God’s trumpet. Pray for a mind capable of appreciating God’s Word’s word in all its subtlety and all it’s plain meaning. It can change your life.

2. Problems – But the Lord also alerts us to some problems that can arise in the human person. For, while God’s Word does not lack power, neither does it violate God’s respect for our freedom and call to love.

God speaks to inanimate objects and they must obey:

And God said, Let there be light. And there was light. (Gen 1:3)
And to the sea, This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt Job 38:11. And the sea obeys.
And he says to the mountains “Move!” and they shake and melt like wax before his glance. (cf Ps 97:5)

But the human person is not inanimate. We are possessed of a soul and gifted with freedom so we may love. To us, God speaks and, remarkably, we are free to say, “No.” And the Lord Jesus warns us in today’s gospel that our freedom is ultimately respected. So the power of God’s Word remains, but God himself has made it depend on our yes. Consider then, some of the problems Jesus warns us of; some issues which can cut off or reduce the power of God’s Word:

A. Rejection – Jesus says of some that – they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand….Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and be converted, and I heal them. The Greek word translated here as “gross” is παχύνω (pachuno), meaning fat, thick or dull. By extension, it means having an insensitive or hardened heart. Hence there are some who have hardened their hearts to God and his Word.

God once observed through Isaiah regarding us, I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass (Is 48:4). This is another way of saying: I know that you are stubborn. Like iron, you are hardheaded. Like bronze, nothing gets through your thick skull. For many of us, this tendency to be stiff-necked is gradually softened by the power of grace, the medicine of the sacraments, instruction by God’s Word, and the humility that can come from these.

But for some, the stubbornness never abates. In fact it grows even stronger as a descent into pride, and an increasing hard-heartedness sets up. The deeper this descent, the more obnoxious the truth seems, and the less likely their conversion. As things progress, they are not just resistant to the truth, but hostile to it. They harden their hearts and stiffen their necks and at some point, it would seem they reach the point of no return.

There are some texts in the Scriptures that speak of God himself hardening the hearts of sinners. This is a very deep mystery and tied up in the deeper mystery of God’s primary causality of everything. But the text before us today emphasizes the hardening of the heart from the human perspective. And thus, those of hardened hearts have closed their eyes lest they see. They don’t listen either lest they be confronted with something they would rather not see or hear and sense the need for repentance and conversion.

The Word of God can have no place in them for they reject it altogether and hence it’s offered power is cast aside.

B. Reflection – The text says, The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. The Greek word translated here as “understand” is συνίημι (syniemi) which means more, to put (or set) together, figuratively it means, to connect the dots, synthesize, understand. In other words the person give little thought or reflection to the Word of God. He does not try and connect it to his life, or understand it’s practical application. He does not “set it together” (synthesize) with his experience, or seek to apply it in his life. This Word will not last due to his inattentiveness to its meaning and deeper role in his life. Thus the Word stays only on the surface, and in the short term memory. Satan is able to take it away quickly, with little fight from the man, who has not really connected to his life anyway. Here too there can be little or no transformation for the power of God’s Word is little appreciated and not admitted to the deeper places of the man’s soul.

C. Rootlessness – The text says, The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. The image here is of a plant that thrives when the weather is good and calm. But let the wind pick up, the plant blows away for it has no roots. There are some who can rejoice in the Word of God, as along as it paints fair pictures and tickles their ears. But when the Word convicts them, or causes them any negative experience within, or persecution without they scram. When the wind blows, they are gone. A common line from the Old Spirituals says, “Some go to church for to sing and shout. Before six month’s they’s all turned out.” As long as the preacher is fair weather, and there are no consequences to the Word, they’re shouting amen and sing the refrain of the songs. But let that preacher step on their toes, or someone in the world raise an eyebrow and they’re gone, gone with the wind. Here too the power of God’s Word to transform is cast aside.

D. Ripples – the text says, The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety….chokes it off. This describes people who are simply too distracted by the things of the world to spend time with the Word of God. They allow the water of their life to be rippled and disturbed and there is never enough calm for them to be reflective. They obsess on every small ripple that rocks the boat, and do not trust God enough to relax and ponder his will and his Word. They are ever-busy making adjustments to their life, and responding to the alarms of life. The word “distract,” means to be drawn away. And hence they allow the world to draw them away from reflection on God’s world. This too limits the transformative power of God’s Word.

E. Riches – the text also speaks of the lure of riches [which] choke the word and it bears no fruit. Riches divide the heart. Scripture says elsewhere, People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Tim 6:9-10). The Lord says, For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matt 6:21). Hence, if our treasure is in riches, our heart will not be with God’s Word. Job says, I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food (Job 23:12). Only with a heart set on God’s Word as a treasure will we hunger for it and reflect on it enough to be truly transformed by it.

3. Produce – The text says, But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear….the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Here then is the promise reiterated that the Word of God is powerful and will produce a radical transformation in us of thirty, sixty or one hundredfold! Note this is for those who receive the Word with understanding. That is, as we saw earlier, those with συνίημι (syniemi) with a will to connect the dots, synthesize, those who seek to understand the Word and apply it to their life.

I am a witness to the power of God’s Word to transform and yield abundant fruit in my life. I have learned to expect a lot from God’s Word: a new mind, a new heart a new life. And God has not failed me. I have seen my life change dramatically for the better in so many ways. God has been good to me and he has been true to his Word which says, If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). I cannot take credit for this new life I have received. It is the gift of God and he has given it to me through the power of his Word and the grace of his Sacraments.

Yes, I am a witness; how about you?

This song is from Messiah and says, The Lord gave the Word. Great was the company of the preachers! It’s not as easy to sing as you might think. The long melismatic lines are difficult for the singers to coordinate and stay on tempo. It’s quite a little work out. Pray for fiery preachers!

July 8, 2011June 10, 2015

I Suspect There’s More Talking Going On, than Listening: Some Questions about Social Media

I have just about 3,000 friends on Facebook and about 1,500 “follow me” on Twitter. Every day I get hundreds of tweets, Facebook updates, invitations and pokes. Yes, indeed, a lot get’s thrown over my transom. And to be honest I can’t, and thus don’t, read most of it. Each day just a quick scroll down my news feed, a check on the wall and e-mail and I’m off to the next thing. I regret it but also suspect I’m not alone.

The other side of this equation is that I do post each day, usually links to this blog. I surely hope people see it and click through to read my latest post. But I wonder if they are like me, overwhelmed and incapable of the volume that comes across. I wonder if my Facebook postings go largely into thin air?

So here are my questions, is there more posting than reading going on? Are we all just talking to the air, adding to a cacophony, but not really reading or pondering what is posted and said to us? What percentage of your Facebook feed to you actually read? Do you really know and use most of your Facebook options?

Some people strictly regulate the friends they have and perhaps for them it is more of a real communication tool. And then there’s people like me who use it more to shoot up a flare and announce my latest blog or sermon post, but really have no time to read the “flares” of others.

I am interested in your use of social media, and if you suspect like me, that there’s a lot more going out than really coming in, in any sort of reflective way, a lot more talking than listening, typing than reading. What do you think?

The biblical and religious notion of “communication” includes the notion of “unification:” Com+unio+ation. So communication is a process by which we find unity with others. I wonder if you think Facebook does this? How well? How poorly?

Consider too, God sends his Word to make us one with him. But he didn’t e-mail his Son, or list him on a newsfeed. He obviously did more. His Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Hence, Facebook and other social media sites, while valuable, should not take too much away from our real flesh and blood relationships. Are you able to balance this well or do you think Facebook takes too much of your time away from others really, rather than just virtually, present to you?

Also, there are signs that Facebook may have peaked. One blog reports:

According to the report 15 million users from US removed their account and approximately 5.5 million Canadians have removed themselves from Facebook Myron Blue of Wired Magazine said: “The party is over for Facebook. People are tired of all the add-ons and they are growing more and more concerned about their privacy. Most importantly, they are bored and have decided to move on”

More here: 15 Million have Left

Will you also leave me? (Jn 6:67) 🙂

At any rate, I’ve talked enough, time for me to listen. And I DO carefully read your comments.

July 7, 2011June 10, 2015

It’s Friday, But Sunday’s Coming – A Meditation on the Journey Up Yonder

Some years ago in a previous parish assignment, St. Thomas More, in Washington DC, I was accustomed to take a Friday afternoon walk to focus on my homily for Sunday. At the beginning of the walk I’d often stop by the nearby house of an elderly parishioner, Lillian, and give her communion. She was quite elderly, her mind was beginning to fail and for these reasons it was difficult to get to Church. In mild weather she often be in her wheel chair on the front porch and, as I’d walk up she’d say, “Oh Father! It must be Sunday!” “No, Lillian,” I’d usually say, “It’s actually Friday.” And she’d usually say, “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

I was thinking of the calendar most times I answered her, but she she was long past worrying what day the world said it was. And so, Friday after Friday, as I’d stop by she kept asking if it was Sunday. Friday it was, but she kept looking for Sunday. “Is it Sunday, Father?”…. “No Ms. Lillian, today is Friday.”

The world has a saying: “Thank God, it’s Friday.” But in the Church, especially among African Americans whom I serve, there is an older expression: “It may be Friday, but Sunday’s coming.” It is a thoroughly Biblical reflection wherein Friday represents our sufferings, our own “Good Fridays” and Sunday represents our rising from the dead, our joy and the fulfillment of our hopes.

When Lillian saw her priest, she thought of Sunday, she thought of Jesus and Holy Communion. So, in a way for her it was Sunday, for a moment. But, to be sure, Lillian was in the Friday of her life. She had all the crippling effects of old age: dementia, arthritis, weakness, hearing and eyesight problems, sugar, and you name it. “I’s gotten ooooold, Father.” Yes, Friday had surely come for Lillian.

At her funeral I could think of no other way to begin the homily than to say, “It’s Sunday Lillian.” And the congregation nodded, some just hummed, others said, “Thank you Jesus.” Lillian had gone to Jesus and Sunday had come. Surely she, like all of us, needed some of the cleansing purgation wherein the Lord wipes away the tears of all who have died (cf Rev 21:4) lifts the burdens of our sorrows, regrets and sins for the last time. For those who die in the Lord, die in the care of the Lord. The souls of the just are in the hand of God (Wis 3:1).

Yes, Sunday, glorious Sunday, for all those who trust in the Lord. The Fridays of life will come but if we trust, Sunday will surely follow.

“Oh, Father! It must be Sunday!” ….”Yes, Ms. Lillian, it is surely Sunday.”

July 6, 2011June 10, 2015

Three Characteristics of the Diabolical, And How they Are Manifest in the Modern World

The video at the bottom of this post is of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. It is a fascinating excerpt from a longer video he did, where he analyzes the diabolical (anything of or relating to the Devil), from several different perspectives. In the excerpt I present, he identifies three characteristics of the diabolical by examining the story of the Gerasene demoniac, depicted in the synoptic gospels. Here is the story as Luke presents it:

They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places. Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him.. (Luke 8: 26-30)

You will then recall how Jesus drove the demon(s) out and into the herd of swine.

From this story and also based on an insight from a psychiatrist of his time (the talk was given in the mid 1970s), Bishop Sheen sets forth characteristics of the diabolical:

Love of Nudity – For the text says: For a long time this man had not worn clothes.
Violence – For the text says: though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains. Mark 5:4 more vividly adds: For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him.
Division (Split Personality and divided from others) – for the text says, many demons had gone into him. Mark’s version has the demoniac reply My name is Legion, for we are many. (Mk 5:9). Further all the texts say the demoniac lived apart from others, in solitary places.

So here are three characteristics of the diabolic.

It does not take much analysis to see how these three characteristics of the diabolic are alive and flourishing in the modern world, at least the Western branch of it. Let’s consider them

1. Love of Nudity – This is clearly manifest at several levels. First there is the widespread tendency of immodest dress. We have discussed modesty here before and ought to note that modesty comes from the word “mode” referring to the middle or to moderation. Hence, while we want to avoid oppressively puritanical notions about dress that impose heavy burdens (especially on women) and regard the body as somewhat evil, we must also critique many modern forms of dress at the other extreme. These “fashions” reveal more than is reasonable and generally have, as their intent to draw attention to aspects of the body that are private and reserved for sexual union in marriage. Too many in our culture see little problem parading about in various stages of undress, wearing clothing that are more intended to disclose and call attention to, than to conceal the private areas of the body. This love of disclosure and titillation is surely an aspect of the Evil One’s love of nudity, and he has surely spread his obsession to many in the modern West.

Pornography, though nothing new in this fallen world, has surely reached epidemic proportions via the Internet. Any psychotherapist, counselor or priest will tell you that addiction to pornography is a huge problem among people today. Pornographic sites on the Internet outpace all others tenfold. Multimillion Americans are viewing enormous amounts of pornography and the “industry” is growing exponentially. What was once hidden away in adult bookstores is now one click away on the Internet. And the thought that browsing habits are easily discoverable matters little to the addicts of this latest form of slavery. Many are on a steep slope downward into ever more deviant forms of porn. Many end up at illegal sites before they even know what has happened to them, and the FBI is knocking on their door. Satan’s love of nudity has possessed many!

The overall sexualization of culture also ties in to Satan’s love of nudity. We sexualize women to sell products. We even sexualize children. Our sitcoms chatter endlessly about sex in a very teenage and immature sort of way. We are, collectively, goofy and immature about sex, and our culture giggles like horny teenagers obsessed with something we don’t really understand. Yes, Satan loves nudity, and everything that goes with it.

2. Violence – We have discussed here before how we, collectively, have turned violence into a form of entertainment. Our adventure movies and video games turn violent retribution into gleeful entertainment and death into a “solution.” Recent Popes have warned us of the culture of death, where death is increasingly proposed as the “solution” to problems. In our culture violence begins in the womb, as the innocent are attacked and it is called “choice” and “rights.” The violence and embrace of death continues to ripple through culture through contraception, violent gang activity, easy recourse to war and capital punishment. The past Century was perhaps the bloodiest ever known on this planet and untold people in the hundreds of millions died in two world wars, hundreds of regional wars and conflicts, horrific starvation campaigns in the Ukraine, in China and elsewhere, genocides in Central Europe, in Africa and Southeast Asia. Paul Johnson, in his book Modern Times estimates that over 100,000,000 died in war and violent ways in the just the first 50 years of the 20th Century. And with every death, Satan did his “snoopy dance.” Satan love violence. He loves to set fires, and watch us blame each other as we burn.

3. Division – Satan loves to divide. Archbishop Sheen says that the word “diabolical” comes from two Greek words dia+ballein, meaning “to tear apart.” My own study of Greek, poor that it is, does not yield this result. Rather dia means “through” or “between” and ballein means “to throw or to cast.” Nevertheless, the Good Archbishop was a learned man and I ask you Greek Scholars to set me straight and defend Bishop Sheen.

But, even still, it is clear that the devil wants to divide us, within our very own psyche and among each other. Surely he rejoices at every division he causes. He “casts things between us” (dia+ballein)! Diabolical indeed. And thus, we see our families divided, the Church divided, our culture and Country divided. We are now divided at almost every level: racial, religious, political, economic. We divide over age, race, region, blue and red states, liturgy, music, language, and endless minutia.

Our families are broken, our marriages are broken. Divorce is rampant and commitments of any sort are rejected and deemed impossible. The Church is broken and divided into factions, so too the State, all the way down to the level of school boards. Though once we agreed on essentials, now even appeals to shared truth are called intolerant.

And within too, we struggle with many divisive drives and forms of figurative and literal schizophrenia. We are drawn to what is good, true and beautiful and yet what is base, false and evil also summons us. We know what is good, but desire what is evil, we seek love, but indulge hate and revenge. We admire innocence but often revel in destroying it or at least replacing it with cynicism.

And Satan dances his “snoopy dance.”

Three characteristics of the diabolic: love of nudity, violence, and division. What do you think? Is the prince of this world working his agenda? Even more important: are we conniving? The first step in over-coming the enemy’s agenda is to know his moves, to name them and then rebuke them in the Name of Jesus.

Thank you Archbishop Sheen. Your wisdom, God’s Wisdom, has never aged.

Pay attention to What the Good Archbishop has to say:

July 5, 2011June 10, 2015

Decaying West File: England to Permit Abortionists to Run T.V. Commercials

If I were to ask you what the purpose of advertising is, you would likely answer that it’s purpose is to increase the sales and profits associated with a product. And you would be right. Advertising also exists to build brand recognition and good will toward a product, making people more inclined to use it with greater frequency.

With this in mind consider the following excerpt from an article in the Telegraph, a newspaper in the U. K.

TV advertisements for commercial abortion clinics given go ahead

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Private clinics which carry out abortions will be allowed to advertise on television and radio for the first time, under new rules.

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By Laura Donnelly, and Jonathan Wynne-Jones
9:00PM BST 02 Jul 2011

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Under the draft recommendations, drawn up by the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice, which regulates TV and radio commercials, dozens of independent hospitals carrying out abortions will be able to advertise their services to consumers.

Until now, restrictions have meant abortion clinics can only advertise their services if they are not run for profit. Because of the rules, just one advert, by charity Marie Stopes International has ever been aired, last year, to great controversy, and more than 4,500 complaints.

Last night Joanne Hill, from the pro-life charity Life expressed “utter disbelief” at the recommendations, which she described as unacceptable. She said: “To allow commercial abortion providers to advertise on TV, as though they were no different from car companies or detergent manufacturers, is shocking and exceeds the bounds of responsible advertising. “By suggesting that abortion is yet another consumer choice human life is trivialised and the distress and heartache faced by a woman making this irrevocable decision, which ends the life of her child, is glossed over.”

The new code for TV and radio advertising, on which consultation began last week, has also angered pro-life groups because it says that if they run commercials promoting services offering counselling to pregnant women, they must make explicit the fact they would not refer for terminations.

Ann Furedi, chief executive of bpas said: “BPAS [an abortion provider] is a charity that promotes choice; we have no interest – financial or otherwise – in encouraging women to have abortions.

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Full article is here: Abortion Ads

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Well, of course the final line is questionable at best. Since the purpose of advertising is to increase sales, and BPAS make its money on the abortion, it is rather a stretch to ask me to believe that they are not trying to drum up an increased number of abortions. According to a section of the article not excerpted above, financial statements from abortion provider BPAS list increases in the number of terminations as significant goals achieved [in the last fiscal year]. Clearly their goal is to “sell” more abortions and that is why they want to advertise, to use their own words, “increase the number of terminations.”

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In this country Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers often claim that their only goal is to provide “alternatives” to women. They like, in their annual reports, to cloak the true numbers and percentages of abortion “services” they offer. But in 2010 a closer look at their data shows that 97.6 percent of pregnant women going to Planned Parenthood were sold abortions while 2.4 percent of pregnant women received non-abortion services including adoption and prenatal care [1, 2]. Almost 40% of its income is derived from selling abortions. Planned Parenthood is heavily invested in and dependent on selling abortions. They and other abortion “providers” have little interest in reducing the number of abortions.

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Speaking of Ad campaigns, you may recall that back in Christmas of 2008 Planned Parenthood outrageously ran their “Choice on Earth” campaign and included Christmas “gift certificates” that could be used for abortion services. It was a hideous reversal of the Christmas Feast that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. Planned Parenthood audaciously invited people to celebrate the Christmas season by purchasing gift certificates to help others terminate life by abortion and prevent it by contraception. Not so Merry Christmas indeed.

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Advertising, in any form has the goal of selling more of the product. Remember this, for TV ads promoting abortion providers will soon come to this land too. They will be thinly veiled as providing “alternatives” to pregnant women. But remember the goal. Ads may have a minor goal in providing information, but their major goal is always clear: sell more of the product and thereby, increase the profit.

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July 4, 2011June 10, 2015

Tedious and Tepid or Transformed and Tremendous? A Consideration of the Normal Christian Life

Our Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose for us. In so doing, He has not only cleansed us from our sins by His Precious Blood, but has also made available for us an entirely new life by the power of His cross. St. Paul says, If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, the old things are passed away, behold, all things are made new (2 Cor. 5:17). Now this is not a slogan. St. Paul is describing a reality that he and the early Christians actually experienced. He is describing the normal Christian life.

So then, what is the normal Christian life? It is to see our lives dramatically changed and transformed by the power of the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. By this power the Lord puts sin to death and brings forth the grace of His life within us. How could it be that the Lord died and rose for us and we should still be struggling with a tepid spirituality, a mediocre moral life, boredom, worldliness, and so forth? Is this the best that the death of the Son of God can do? Impossible! Jesus died and rose to give us a completely new life, a life that is increasingly victorious over sin, and marked by zeal and the joy of being in living conscious contact with God at every moment of our day. Yes, this is the normal Christian life; this is what Christ died to give us.

Yet, too many reduce the Christian faith to an abstraction, or to merely an intellectual set of ideas. They presume it is enough to know about God and about the faith. But God offers something far greater, not merely to know about Him but to actually know Him. In the Scriptures, the verb to know almost always implies something far greater than intellectual knowing. Rather, it usually describes something closer to what we call experience. To know means to have personally experienced in a deep and intimate way the truth about which we speak.

Consider some of the following scriptures and prayers from the liturgy and, as you read them, consider carefully that they are not to be understood as slogans or merely wishful thoughts. They are describing the normal Christian life:

If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, the old things are passed away, behold, all things are made new (2 Cor. 5:17).
As Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4).
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Cor 3:18)
Our testimony about Christ has been confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor 1:6-7)
He rescued us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father (Gal 1:4)
In him a new age has dawned, the long reign of sin is ended, a broken world has been renewed and man is once again made whole (Easter Preface 4)
Grant, we pray O Lord, that we may always find delight in these paschal mysteries, so that, the renewal constantly at work within us, may be the cause of our unending joy. Through Christ our Lord (offertory prayer 4^th Sunday of Easter)

So, if we consider these texts, we begin to see some of the elements of the normal Christian life:

Deliverance from sin and the world of sin
Walking in newness of life
Experiencing ever deeper transformation
A closer walk with God
Deeper love for God and for neighbors, even my enemies
An ever greater possession of the gifts of God
Having our faith confirmed by the evidence of our very lives
Joyful and eagerly looking for Christ to come

Is this what you expect from your relationship with Jesus Christ? It is rather sad actually how little most people expect from their life in Christ. To a large extent I have to lay the blame at the feet of us who preach. For, truth be told, there are not many sermons that teach God’s people to joyfully expect dramatic and powerful transformation. Too many sermons are just mini exhortations that we to try and do a little better. There is little of the vigorous hope and announcement of new life expressed scriptures above. Hence, most Christians don’t expect much more than to muddle through and make a little progress, and basically be mediocre. True sanctity is just for the saints.

But, as has already been said, mediocrity is not the normal Christian life. We cannot be content with anything less than living conscious contact with God who is more real than anything around us. Our faith should be the most real thing we experience. Christians have got to lay hold of the normal Christian life, begin to powerfully experience it and become personal witnesses to the truth of what we proclaim. The Gospel is not just information; it is transformation. And we are called to actually experience its power in our life.

If you don’t mind a little self promotion, I would like to say that I have recently published, through Now You Know Media, a series of 12 audio talks that explore the normal Christian life, a kind of “Theology of Transformation.” In the series which I’ve wanted to do for a long time, I explore some aspects of what it really means to know, that is, to experience, the new life that Christ died to give us. We consider how we can grasp this life more deeply and experience how the Lord ministers to us in our lives, through His Word, the Sacraments and the sacred liturgy. In the series we consider how the Gospel, the “good news,” is more than information, it is transformation. The Word of God does not merely inform, it performs.

The titles of the 12 talks are these:

Experiencing The Good News – Series Overview
Experiencing the Lord Personally – Living by experience rather than inference
Experiencing the life of Baptism – Dying with Christ and rising to new life
Experiencing the Freedom of the Children of God – What Chapter are you on?
Experiencing the Liturgy – Tedious rituals or transformative realities?
Experiencing Scripture – More than spectator sport
Experiencing the new mind – Not conformed but transformed
Experiencing the Father – Abba
Experiencing prayer – Learning from the Lord to pray
Experiencing the Moral life as transformation – Description more than prescription
Experiencing confession – Examine your examen
Experiencing growth – I’m not what I want to be but not what I used to be.

If you are interested in finding out more about the talks and purchasing a set either on CD or by download you can go here:

Experiencing the Good News: A Consideration of the Normal Christian Life by Msgr. Charles Pope

Since you read the blog there is a 10% off coupon code to be used at checkout: CP553

At any rate, if you would find these talks helpful, I am glad to make them available to you. There are also a lot of good talks and seminars by other speakers and teachers available at Now You Know Media that I have found helpful.

If you want a sample, the “video” (just an audio track actually) is here below. It is the first talk in my series.

July 3, 2011June 10, 2015

A 4th of July Meditation on True and Distorted Notions of Freedom

On the Fourth of July, in the United States of America we celebrate freedom. In particular we celebrate freedom from tyranny, and a government that is not representative; freedom from unchecked power and unaccountable sovereigns.

Yet, as Christians we cannot overlook that there are ways of understanding freedom today that are distorted, exaggerated and detached from a proper context. Many modern concepts of freedom treat freedom as something of an abstraction. Consider the following imaginary conversation:

Q: What do we celebrate on the 4th of July?
A: Freedom…dude!
Q: But what do you mean by freedom?
A: I dunno, Freedom is like….not letting anyone tell you what to do.
Q: Really? Is that all? Does that mean absolutely no one can tell you what to do?
A: Like….you know…..yeah!
Q: Are there any limits to freedom?
A: like…..I dunno…maybe?
Q: So freedom isn’t absolute?
A: Hey man….I didn’t say that!

OK, perhaps a poor and stereotypical conversation with some “dude.” But the point is that many speak of freedom in the abstract and have a harder time nailing down the details.

Most people like to think of freedom as pretty absolute, as in: “no one is going to tell me what to do.” But in the end freedom is not an abstraction and is it is not absolute, it cannot be. As limited and contingent beings, we exercise our freedom only within limits, and within a described context. Pretending our freedom is absolute leads, not to freedom, but to anarchy. And anarchy leads to the collapse of freedom into chaos, and the tyranny of individual wills locked in power struggle.

One of the great paradoxes of freedom is that it really cannot be had unless we limit it. Absolute freedom leads to an anarchy wherein no is really free to act. Consider that

We would not be free to drive, if all traffic laws were ended. The ensuing chaos would making driving quite impossible, not mention dangerous. The freedom to drive, to come and go, depends on us limiting our freedom and cooperate through obedience to agreed upon norms. Only within the limited freedom of traffic laws and agreed upon norms can we really experience the freedom to drive, or to come and go.
Grammar or Goofy – Right now I am writing you in English. I appreciate the freedom we have to communicate and debate. But my freedom to communicate with you is contingent on me limiting myself to the rules we call grammar, and syntax. Were there no rules, I would lose my freedom to communicate with you. And you also would not be free to comprehend me. What if I were to say: Jibberish not kalendar if said my you, in existential mode or yet. And you were to respond: dasja, gyuuwe %&^% (*UPO(&, if sauy ga(&689 (*&(*)) !! We may be exercising my “freedom” to say what we please, but our insistence on that freedom in too absolute a way really cancels the experience of freedom, for communication shuts down and nothing is really happening. When we demand absolute freedom from the limits of grammar, syntax, vocabulary and so forth, we are really no longer free to communicate at all. Anarchy leads not to freedom, but to chaos.
Music or mumble – When I finish writing this post I am free to go over to the Church and play the pipe organ (which I think I’ll do). But I am only free today to do that because I once constrained myself, for many years of practice under the direction of a teacher. I am also only free to play if I limit myself to interpreting the musical notation within a series of rules and norms. Within and because of these constraints and rules, I am free to play the instrument. I my wish to refuse to follow the rule that I must first switch the power on, but I am not going to get very far, or really be free to play unless I obey.

So the paradox of freedom is that we can only experience freedom by accepting constraints to our freedom. Without constraints and limits, we are hindered from acting freely.

This is a very important first step in rescuing the concept of freedom from the abstract and experiencing it in the real word. Absolute freedom is not freedom at all. SInce we are limited and contingent beings we can only exercise and experience our freedom within limits.

This is also an important lesson to our modern world. For too many today push the concept of freedom beyond reasonable bounds and insist merely on their rights to act, but without accepting the reasonable constraints that make true freedom possible. Many today demand acceptance of increasingly bad and disruptive behavior.

But in rejecting proper boundaries, we usually see, not an increase of freedom but a decrease of it for all of us. Thus, our culture becomes increasingly litigious as burdensome laws are passed by a “nanny-state” seek to regulate every small aspect of our lives. Among the sources of growing and intrusive law is that some refuse to limit their bad behavior, some refuse to live up to commitments they have made, some abandon self control, some insist on living outside safe and proper norms. Many insist that the solution to protect them from others who abuse their freedom, is more laws. And many are successful in getting increasingly restrictive laws passed.

Again, the lesson is clear, without some limits freedom is not possible, and when reasonable limits are cast aside the paradoxical result is not more freedom but far less of it. Freedom is not absolute. Absolute freedom is not freedom at all, it is the tyranny of chaos and the eventual erosion of freedom.

Alexis De Tocqueville said Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith. In America today we are seeing the erosion of all three in reverse order. Those who want to establish freedom in the abstract will only see that freedom erode.

Jesus and Freedom – This leads us to what Jesus means when he says that If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (John 8:31-32).

There are many people today who excoriate the Church and the Scriptures as a limit to their freedom. Unfortunately many Catholics are also affected by this notion. To such as these, they say the Church is trying to “tell them what to do” and Christians are trying “to impose their values on the rest of us.” Now of course the Church cannot really force anyone to do much of anything.

Yes, many hold that the announcement of Biblical truth threatens their freedom, and does not enhance it. But Jesus says just the opposite, it is the truth that sets us free. Now the truth is a set of propositions that limits us to some extent. If “A” is true then “not A” is false. I must accept the truth and base my life on it to enjoy its freeing power. And the paradoxical result is that the propostions of the truth of God’s teaching do not limit our freedom, they enhance it.

Image – As we have seen, absolute freedom is not really freedom at all. It is chaos wherein no one can really move. Every ancient city had walls. But these were not so much prison walls, as defending walls. True, one had to limit himself and stay within the walls to enjoy their protection. But within the walls there was great freedom, for one was not constantly fighting off enemies, or distracted with a fearful vigilance. He was freed for other pursuits, but only within the walls.

Those who claim that the truth of the gospel limits their freedom might also consider that the world outside God’s truth shows itself to be far less than free than it claims:

Addictions and compulsions in our society abound.
Neuroses, and high levels of stress are major components of modern living.
The breakdown of the family and the seeming inability of increasing numbers to establish and keep lasting commitments is quite significant.
A kind of obsession with sex is evident and the widespread sadness of STDs, AIDs, teenage pregnancy, single motherhood (absent fathers) and abortion are its results.
Addiction to wealth and greed (the insatiable desire for more) enslave many in a kind of financial bondage wherein they cannot really afford the lifestyle their passions demand, and they are unsatisfied and in deep debt.

The so-called “freedom” of the modern world, (apart from the truth of the Gospel), is far from evident. These bondages also extend to the members of the Church, to the extent that we do not seriously embrace the truth of the gospel and base our lives upon it. The Catechism says rather plainly:

The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes. There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just. The choice to disobey and do evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to “the slavery of sin.” (CCC # 1733)

In the end, the paradox proves itself. Only limited freedom is true freedom. Demands for absolute freedom lead only hindered freedom and outright slavery.

Ponder freedom on this 4th of July. Ponder its paradoxes, accept its limits. For freedom is glorious. But because we are limited and contingent beings, so is our freedom. Ponder finally this paradoxical truth: The highest freedom is the capacity to obey God.

This video is one of my favorites. It shows a “Jibberish interview.” It illustrates how we are free to communicate only within the contraints of grammar and rules of language.

Photo Credit: G.Krishnaswamy in the The Hindu