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Featured Article
Feb
29
What is the purpose of the Church? Does it exist to bring us happiness today or to lead us to salvation and happiness for the world to come? Father Dwight Longenecker raised this question in “The Tale of 2 Churches” which appeared in the February 10th issue of the National Catholic Register. He argues that rather than “liberal” vs. “conservative”, “right wing” vs. “left wing”, or “charismatic” vs. “traditionalist”, the answer to this question defines what type of Catholicism one believes in.
Longenecker is a convert to the faith and comes down squarely on the side of the Church existing for the world to come. As he states, “If this is your basic assumption, then your expectations for this life are realistic. You consider yourself and other people, while created in God’s good image, to also be sinners who need redemption and daily discipline. You believe in the reality of evil and consider this life to be the place and time to engage in spiritual warfare for the winning of souls.” Longenecker rejects the idea of organized religion as a self-help group. He claims that people will not find the “instant happiness” that they seek in religion and will soon become disillusioned and move on.
On the other side of the argument, “Dear Abby” recently asked her readers what was the cause of the most problems in the world today. One reader answered “organized religion” because it was too concerned with the world to come rather than focusing on the here and now.
What, then, is the purpose of religion, especially Catholicism? Should we view our faith purely in terms of the eternal, or should our focus be on the world within our grasp? Unlike Longenecker, I disagree that the two are mutually exclusive. I ground that answer in the role model that Jesus provided. Continue reading here…
Feb
29
Mark 12: 28 - 34
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28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?”
29 Jesus answered, “The first is, `Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one;
30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’
31 The second is this, `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that he is one, and there is no other but he;
33 and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any question.
Feb
29
Pope St. Leo the Great
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Every man’s treasure is that which he desires. If it is based on earthly ambitions, its acquisition makes men not blessed but wretched. But many people use their wealth as a tool of devotion. By distributing what might be superfluous to support the poor, they are amassing imperishable riches.
– Pope St. Leo the Great
Feb
28
Philippine colonel helps launch quiet revolution for peace-building
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By Paul Jeffrey
Catholic News Service
CARMEN, Philippines (CNS) — When Col. Pedro Soria walked into his first seminar on peace-building, his classmates eyed him suspiciously, wondering if the Philippine army officer was there to spy on them. But Soria stayed for the two-week course, winning the confidence of his fellow students and helping launch a quiet revolution with the Philippine military.
Soria, commanding officer of the 602nd infantry brigade in North Cotabato province, says that when he received his orders to attend the Mindanao Peace Institute he was not very interested. But orders were orders, so Soria threw himself into the study program sponsored by Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops’ relief and development agency.
The course is designed to teach participants peace-building and conflict-resolution skills while providing them with a better understanding of the historic roots of the dispute that became a war between the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Philippine government. Although a 2003 cease-fire remains technically in place, sporadic fighting between the two sides has displaced thousands of families in recent years.
“Many of my classmates were civilians with deep resentments about the military. They had been victimized by military abuses in the past and could never imagine talking with an army officer,” Soria told Catholic News Service.
“Yet I found the course interesting and educational. It gave me additional lenses through which we can see conflict. Before, when we went to a place, our expectation was always to fight. That’s what soldiers do. But now when we go to a place where there’s conflict, we’re focused on transforming that conflict and doing something to avoid violence,” the colonel said. Read more
Feb
28
by
Why go to Jesus’ mother when I could go directly to the Source of answered prayer? My relationship with God had always been a high priority. I wasn’t afraid of Him, and 
knew that He heard me. I did from time to time ask my friends to pray for me when things got tough, but that was different (or so I thought). The very idea of talking to Jesus’ mother held no appeal.
In the years that followed my conversion, slowly my outlook began to change. It all began with a romantic disappointment, which left me dreading going to Mass alone (my friend and I had always gone together). I mentioned this to “Marilyn,” a mature Catholic friend, and her response floored me. “Have you told Mary about it?” I shook my head. “Why would I do that?” ”She’s your mother, too, you know. She cares.” Opening her purse, Marilyn took out a little metal disk imprinted with an image of Mary and the infant Jesus. A blue piece of yarn was strung through it to form a necklace.
“Here. Take this. The next time you feel lonely, ask Mary to help you.” Not seeing a graceful way to get out of it, I accepted her gift. I put the medal on the passenger seat of my car and promptly forgot about it.
Feb
28
David’s Stone: Personhood
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By Michael Hichborn
The ongoing effort to save preborn babies from the culture of death is akin to the epic battle between David and Goliath. While the pro-life movement struggles just to maintain its grassroots support base, the massive and powerful culture of death has access to all of the money, political power and propaganda it could ever want.
At least David had the nerve to show up for the fight. Right now, in Colorado, a 20-year-old law student has taken up David’s sling and is prepared to throw the deadly stone while some self-professed pro-life leaders, politicians and clergymen cower because they believe that “now is not the right time.”
In November 2007, Kristi Burton, founder of Colorado for Equal Rights, won an important victory in the state supreme court allowing her to move forward with Proposed Initiative 36. The initiative simply states that “the terms ‘person’ or ‘persons’ shall include any human being from the moment of fertilization.” This initiative is the lynchpin for restoring the right to life for all preborn babies, because in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, Justice Harry Blackmun wrote, “If this suggestion of personhood is established, the appellant’s case, of course, collapses, for the fetus’ right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the [14th] Amendment.”
Over the past 35 years, nearly 50,000,000 preborn babies have been legally butchered in their own mothers’ wombs. The most we have to show for our effort to stop this carnage is an alleged ban on the heinous practice of partially delivering a baby, stabbing him or her in the back of the head and then sucking his or her brains out. Hailed by some as a pro-life victory, the so-called ban on partial-birth abortion isn’t truly a ban because the Supreme Court decision itself included instructions permitting doctors to circumvent the ban by injecting the baby with poison before completing the grisly procedure. What is so completely baffling, however, is that organizations like the National Right to Life Committee will pop a champagne cork for a ruling that won’t stop a single abortion, but will not support or will even directly oppose the personhood initiative – which would directly end all abortions – because they claim that “now is not the right time.” Read more
Feb
28
Every love bears within it a universal tendency. The world to which this you belongs has a different aspect since I love. One who loves would like to embrace the whole world in and with the beloved. My meeting with the One gives me the universe anew. Granted, love is a choice. It is directed, not to the “millions”, but to this one individual. But precisely in this choice, in this person, reality as a whole appears to me in a different light. Pure universalism, universal philanthropy (”be embraced, you millions”) is empty, whereas the very definite and determinative choice that falls on this one person gives me again the world and all its peoples - and gives me to them. This observation is important because it is a starting point from which we can begin to understand why God’s universalism (God wills all men to be saved) makes use of the particularism of the history of salvation (from Abaraham to the Church). Concern for the salvation of others must not lead us to ignore more or less this particularism of God: salvation history and world history must not be regarded as identical entities just because God’s concern for them must be extended to all. Such direct universalism would destroy the true totality of God’s action, which becomes whole precisely through the process of selection and election.
From: Auf Christus Schauen, pp.91-92
Feb
28
Luke 11:14-23
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14 Now he was casting out a demon that was dumb; when the demon had gone out, the dumb man spoke, and the people marveled.
15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Be-el’zebul, the prince of demons”;
16 while others, to test him, sought from him a sign from heaven.
17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls.
18 And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Be-el’zebul.
19 And if I cast out demons by Be-el’zebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.
20 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace;
22 but when one stronger than he assails him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoil.
23 He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.
Feb
28
The more we have denied ourselves during the day, the nearer we are each evening to the heart of our Lord.
– St. Madeleine Sophie Barat
Feb
27
Evangelization is Crazy Stuff
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by
We’re going to talk about a scary word today. At least it seems scary to some people: EVANGELIZATION.
Just saying the word can perhaps cause two spontaneous images to pop into the minds of many:
1. Rock star preachers in pin-striped suits who seem really ticked.
2. Nicely dressed folks knocking on doors on Saturday mornings.
These are pretty extreme. Neither are very appealing. The first is too imposing, the second is too… invading. Uncomfortably invading.
I think the spin doctors of the media culture like to paint evangelizing Christians as nice but nerdy solicitors leaving something in our door rather than as Navy Seals saving us from drowning. The funny thing is, evangelization is more akin to the Navy Seal than to the nice guy.
Many Catholics are painted as people leading lives of quiet desperation, doing lots of spiritual gymnastics, surrounded by their statues and stained glass rather than as walking tabernacles bringing Jesus into the dreary workplace, malls of mediocrity, and money-hungry marketplaces of the world to shake them all out of their complacency.
I think we have no idea what evangelization really is anymore. We live in such a pluralistic society. Anything and everything goes in the spheres of values and beliefs, paths to peace and self-contentment… “as long as it makes you happy.” But what does that mean? Happiness?
