In God's Image and Likeness...

We are fundamentally social creatures.  We are not meant to be alone.  The Father decided that Adam should have a "helper" and that they should bear children.  All sins are considered by the Church to be sins against the community, that is one reason we confess.  We are not even meant to keep our deepest and darkest secrets to ourselves.  This is how much we are woven into the fabric of humanity.  Many of our challenges in this testing ground which determines our eternal fate, called earth, involve how we relate to others, how much we love them....how much we are willing to put our own desires aside.  So why did God make us social creatures?  Because HE is fundamentally "social" in His own nature, three in one, Father, Son and Holy Ghost....because we are made in His Image and Likeness.  Its not a perfect comparison, but it is significant.

Happy Valentine's Day.  Saint Valentine, pray for us.  Lord have mercy on us for our sins against chastity.  May we, in our own small way, console Your Heart on this day by remaining pure in mind and body.  May we continue to be a witness to the virtue of chastity, especially to our young people.  Amen.

What is Life?

An immersion in chaos.

When I look around my house and consider how hard I try and how "wrong' everything still is, I wonder.....how does anything work in the world?  I have been meditating lately on the immersive quality of life.  Life is an immersion.  We are placed into an environment full of the good, the bad and the ugly.  Babies have an innate ability to navigate this environment.  They just seem to know how to do it.  It's only as adults, after developing stodgy habits and ideas, that we can begin to forget.  We develop behaviors that are incompatible with life.  We want to control an environment that cannot be entirely controlled.  Life has its own agenda.

We'll never discover the Authentic Life if we don't understand the nature of life.  We'll never survive the coming days if we are not able to accept....to embrace....chaos.  We will navigate through much chaos.  And as the Body of Christ, the Remnant, we can do no less than accept this task with complete joy.  It is what we are given.  Just as Noah navigated the tumultuous deluge...it is all for a purpose.  And it is all good.

February is the Month of the Passion of Our Lord

Holy Church dedicates this month to Our Lord's Passion on that fateful Good Friday....such a terrible day, yet the day which wrought our Redemption.  So how can we remember and honor His suffering this month?  We honor His Passion every Friday by some act of penance and every Lent through various exercises and devotions.  How then, does the month of February distinguish itself?  Well, that is up to you.  We are at such a juncture in human history, in the history of the Church, when we need to take the bull by the horns and create new traditions that will last perhaps, till the end of time (which, by the way, may not be too long from now). 

So let's examine this month a little more closely....LENT begins exactly on March 1st, creating a nice clean cut between February and March!  That means the 2 1/2-week Time of Septuagesima, our preparation for the rigors of Lent, begins about halfway through the month.  What a great time to begin our commemoration of the Passion of Our Lord.  I'm not going to give you any ideas.  I assume if you are reading this blog, you must be intelligent enough to come up with something!

Shrove Tuesday also presents a wonderful opportunity to do a special meditation on the Passion...it is also the feast of the Holy Face of Jesus, given to Saint Veronica in the very midst of His suffering.  I also am a proponent of doing penance on this day, to atone for the over-indulgences (a nice way to put it) that go on during Mardi Gras celebrations.

Some unique features of this month:  a few feasts which call the New Testament to mind (Presentation, Chair of Saint Peter, Saint Matthias, Holy Face), 2 Cyrils and feasts pertaining to Lourdes and Fatima-the 2 most spectacular approved Marian apparitions of all time.

Here is a sampling of some upcoming feasts....I will begin to give the years associated with the saints, so we can have a better understanding of historical context....

2/2-Presentation of Our Lord (Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary/Candlemas)

2/3-Saint Blaise, 316-invoked for throat disorders

2/9-Saint Cyril of Alexandria, 444

2/11-Our Lady of Lourdes, 1858

2/12-Septuagesima Sunday (warning that Lent is coming!)/Seven Holy Founders Order of Servites, 1233 (trad)

2/14-Saints Cyril & Methodius, 869, 885/Saint Valentine, 269 (make reparation for sins against chastity on this day!)

2/17-Seven Holy Founders Order of Servites, 1233 (new)

2/18-Saint Bernadette, Seer of Lourdes, 1879 (lesser feast-it appears this date was chosen for its proximity to the date of the first apparition at Lourdes, but interesting to note there were in fact, 18 apparitions in total)

2/19-Sexagesima Sunday (even closer to Lent!)

2/20-Blesseds Francisco & Jancinta Marto, Seers of Fatima, 1919, 1920

2/22-Chair of Saint Peter

2/23-Saint Polycarp, Martyr, 166

2/24-Saint Matthias, Apostle-replacer of Judas

2/26-Quinquagesima Sunday (are you ready yet for Lent???)

2/28-Shrove Tuesday/Holy Face of Jesus

Waiting for the Miracle?

Leonard Cohen, may he rest in peace, has a song called "Waiting for the Miracle."  The protagonist asserts that there is "nothing left to do" when things have reached an all-time low.  The only option for him is to "go on waiting for the miracle to come."  I don't envy this person.  He does not know....the miracle has come.  And it is all around him.

Christ did not come and go.  He came and stayed.  The Most Blessed Sacrament lies in every tabernacle.  This is the Miracle.  And the only Miracle that matters.

So next time you feel completely lost, completely emptied, completely bereft.  Remember despair has no place in the Catholic soul.  It may feel like your last shred of sanity...appeal to this Miracle which you have received in Holy Communion.  And He will do the rest.

Thought for the Day.....

If you want to change your life....

You have to change your life!

Thought for the Day....

Life is like a casino.

It's always rigged in favor of the house.

I normally don't like explaining myself too much, because I never want to insult the intelligence of my audience and I also like to get people to think for themselves. What does evil do?  It enslaves, it destroys the self.  Good seeks to empower.  It seeks no power for itself, only to assist others.  I am very much of the mind...."If you wish to feed a man for a day, give him a fish.  If you wish to feed him for a lifetime, teach him how to fish."  However, I'd like to just say a few words about the above sentiment.  There is another saying, which Pope Francis is also acquainted with, which illustrates well, what I mean.  These are his words from a press conference two years ago, “God always forgives, we men forgive sometimes, but nature never forgives.  If you give her a slap, she will give you one."  This has everything to do with the search for the "authentic life."  Okay, I'll leave the rest to you and the Holy Ghost.....

Prayer for the USA

Following is a wonderful traditional prayer (abbreviated), written specifically for the United Stated of America, in 1791 by Archbishop John Carroll.  He was the first bishop, and later the first archbishop of this country, of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.  His cousin was Charles Carroll, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence....

Traditional Catholic Prayer for the United States of America

We pray Thee, O almighty and eternal God, Who through Jesus Christ hast revealed Thy glory to all nations, to preserve the works of Thy mercy, that Thy Church, being spread through the whole world, may continue with unchanging faith in the confession of Thy Name.  We pray Thee, O God of might, wisdom, and justice, through Whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with Thy Holy Spirit of counsel and fortitude, the President of these United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness and be eminently useful to Thy people over whom he presides, by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion, by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy and by restraining vice and immorality.  Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty.  We pray for the Governor of this state, for the members of the assembly, for all judges, magistrates and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare, that they may be enabled by Thy powerful protection to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability.  We recommend likewise, to Thy unbounded mercy, all our brethren and fellow citizens throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of Thy most holy Law, that they may be preserved in union and in that peace which the world cannot give, and after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal.  Amen.

Thought For the Day....

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

But sometimes, it grows legs and runs.

January is the Month of the Most Holy Name of Jesus (Nomen Christi) ~ Happy New Year!

[this post has been edited since publishing]

This is a bit late due to computer issues, but here we go....

Our year commences with a month which Holy Church dedicates to the Holy Name of Jesus.  A Name which is so often disrespected in our culture, a sin against the Second Commandment of God, Lord have mercy.  How do we respond when those around us take this Name in vain?  It is in these moments when our friendship with Christ is truly tested.  Do we allow entertainment in our home which freely disregards the holiness of God's Name?  What effect does this have on us?  What effect does it have on our children?  Perhaps we can all do better in these matters in the coming year.  If we defend Christ before man, He will defend us before the Father!

Here are some of the notable feastdays of this month:

1/1-Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary/Circumcision of Our Lord (trad)

1/2-Most Holy Name of Jesus (trad)/Saint Basil the Great

1/3-Most Holy Name of Jesus (new)

1/4-Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

1/5-Saint John Neumann

1/6-Epiphany of Our Lord (trad)/Saints Caspar, Balthasar & Melchior, the Three Wisemen (non-standard)/First Friday

1/7-First Saturday

1/8-Epiphany of Our Lord (new)/The Holy Family (trad)

1/9-Baptism of Our Lord (new)

1/13-Baptism of Our Lord (trad)

1/15-Our Lady of Prompt Succor/Saint Paul the First Hermit

1/16-Our Lady of Refuge (non-standard)

1/18-Chair of Saint Peter at Rome (non-standard)

1/19-Saint Canute

1/21-Saint Agnes, Martyr

1/23-Espousals of the Blessed Virgin Mary (non-standard)

1/24-Saint Francis de Sales (new)

1/25-Conversion of Saint Paul

1/27-Saint John Chrysostom

1/28-Saint Thomas Aquinas "The Angelic Doctor"

1/29-Saint Francis de Sales (trad)/Saint Gildas the Wise (non-standard)

1/31-Saint John Bosco

The 12 Days of Christmas / Epiphany of Our Lord

Happy New Year and I hope all of you, wherever you are in the world, have had a wonderful Christmas!  I have been having computer problems, so I am behind on my posts.  I was going to write about the 12 Days of Christmas in a more timely manner, but now they are over, and we have arrived today at the Epiphany of Our Lord in the traditional calendar.  The Epiphany is celebrated this Sunday in the new calendar.  I have several other posts in the works, including the Month of January-will get that up as soon as possible!

About the 12 Days of Christmas, I wanted to share an idea I have been doing with my family for a number of years now.  I think I came up with this idea on my own and have written about it previously.  You may be aware of the theory that the song "The 12 Days of Christmas" originated as a covert teaching tool in England, during the persecution of Catholics.  I am not concerned about the theory itself, nor even the song.  What does concern me is the re-creation of authentic Catholic culture for our times.  What is wrong with creating new traditions?  I think we are at such an hour in history, when we must take the bull by the horns and move things forward aggressively (moving forward may at times require that we look back-if you have taken the wrong fork, you must go back before you can truly go forward). 

It is sad that the 12 Days of Christmas have largely been forgotten and no one seems to know how to celebrate them anyway.  One idea is to discuss points of the Faith on each of the 12 Days, that correspond to the particular number of the day.  You can be creative with it.  For instance, Day 3 could be about the Holy Trinity or the Three Theological Virtues.  Day 7, you could discuss the Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost or the Seven Deadly Sins.  In addition, you can say prayers and sing songs that also correspond to the topic of the day....the song "Holy Holy Holy" for the Holy Trinity....or a Litany to the Holy Ghost for the Seven Gifts.  The possibilities are endless and you can have a lot of fun with it!  So, now that the 12 Days of Christmas are over, just thought I'd share that idea:)

As for the Epiphany, there is a beautiful traditional Blessing of the Home that you can find online, which includes writing above your doorway with blessed chalk.  We must give our children something to love about the Faith....real, concrete ways to BE Catholic that they in turn will continue with their own children.  And these practices enrich life so much and add a dimension to life that simply cannot be fulfilled through any secular pursuit.  This is what the world does not understand:  that all things pale in comparison to the Holy Faith, the Body of Christ, the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.  This is what we must show them.  Love demands it!