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From Brain Buzz To Peaceful Prayer

If this doesn’t happen to you, it likely happens to someone close to you: their brain buzzes. It won’t shut off. Maybe they skip from project to project, never quite getting anything done. Or you lay down at night to sleep, and suddenly every single thought you’ve had for the past three days starts firing off neurons like a pinball wizard. Our days are filled with information from computers and tablets and phones. We meet a friend for dinner and there are 17 TVs in the restaurant showing 12 different stations. Your feet hit the floor in the morning and you’re already planning for a 3 p.m. meeting.

Brain buzz.

Be still before the LORD; wait for him. (Ps. 37:7)

How can I be still?? I’ve got work, and soccer practice. I’m the snack mom for the game this week. My daughter has ballet.

My boss is breathing down my neck about this project. I’ve got men’s Bible study this week, and I’m the discussion leader. I haven’t even had a chance to crack open the book yet.

The car insurance is due. I’m having panic attacks over the election. My mom really needs my help with some things around her house. My girlfriend has been wanting to get together, and I keep putting it off – I’m so busy.

Be still before the Lord.

Yeah, but: my daughter needs help making centerpieces for her wedding in February. The dog needs to go the vet. I missed choir practice last week. I need a flu shot.

Be still.

Every time I walk in the house I remember that I have to call the contractor about that flooring for the laundry room. And don’t I still need to get a baby shower gift for ….

Be.

Yes. It is hard to switch into low gear. It’s hard to find quiet. We are so used to multi-tasking, we don’t even think of it as multi-tasking anymore; it’s just life.

But God wants us to be still. To seek out peace and calm and wait for Him. We have to push aside the brain buzz and be still. Fr. Henri Nouwen:

Sometimes we wish that we could stop thinking for a while; that would save us from so many worries, guilt feelings, and fears. Our ability to think is our greatest gift, but it is also the source of our greatest pain. Do we have to become victims of our unceasing thoughts? No, we can convert our unceasing thinking into unceasing prayer by making our inner monologue into a continuig dialogue with our God, who is the source of all love.

Let’s break out of our isolation and realize that Someone who dwells in the center of our being wants to listen with love to all the occupies and preoccupies our minds. (from Bread for the Journey)

Now, instead of brain buzz, try this:

Lord, I need to help my daughter with those wedding centerpieces. Please, Lord, bless the two of them. Give them a strong and deep love for you and each other.

Jesus, that project at work is overwhelming me. I know I need to do some delegating. Grant me wisdom so that we can finish this project well.

Heavenly Father, I’ve been putting off my girlfriend for too long. She is such a good friend and she deserves better from me. Thank you, God, for her friendship and guide us as we continue on this journey.

Maybe you won’t be able to do this all the time. Maybe brain buzz will creep back in. But, you’ve made a start. Be still for just a moment, and see what God’s presence does. Just be still, and wait for Him. He will join you wherever you are.

Find your delight in the LORD who will give you your heart’s desire. (Psalm 37:4)

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St. Francis of Assisi: Not A Catholic Dr. Doolittle

Tomorrow (October 4) is the memorial of St. Francis of Assisi. St. Francis played a major role in reforming the Church, founded an order of male and female religious, and received the gift of the stigmata. He was not a priest, but his fervor for spreading the Gospel took him places he never had imagined as a young man.

The world seems to”know” St. Francis as a guy who liked animals. He tends to be pictured with birds or a dog (it’s really a wolf!), and many people don’t really get much further than that in terms of getting to know this great saint. To imagine him as a Catholic Dr. Doolittle does him (and God) a great disservice.

Many times we read of saints who seem to have been pious since birth. Francis was not that guy. Born to a wealthy family, Francis was what we might today call a “party animal:” he loved song, women, wine. He had no interest in his father’s business (his father bought and sold cloth to be made into fine garments for the wealthy.) Francis did have one dream: to be a knight. One can easily image how the knight would be a “superhero” to a young man at this time: the armor, the sword, a fine horse and the victory of battle.

When Francis was about 20, Assisi and Perugia were at war – a petty war, but war nonetheless. Francis answered the call to defend his city. However, Francis was injured and taken captive; he was in captivity for about a year. After his release, he suffered a long illness. It was during this time that the dreams of knighthood changed to dreams of Christ, from dreams of the life of a soldier to the life of a Christian.

While lying helpless, a voice seemed to tell him to turn back, and “to serve the Master rather than the man.” Francis obeyed. At home he began to take long rambles in the country and to spend many hours by himself; he felt contempt for a life wasted on trivial and transitory things. It was a time of spiritual crisis during which he was quietly searching for something worthy of his complete devotion. A deep compassion was growing within him. Riding one day in the plains below Assisi, he met a leper whose loathsome sores filled Francis with horror. Overcoming his revulsion, he leapt from his horse and pressed into the leper’s hand all the money he had with him, then kissed the hand. This was a turning point in his life. He started visiting hospitals, especially the refuge for lepers, which most persons avoided. On a pilgrimage to Rome, he emptied his purse at St. Peter’s tomb, then went out to the swarm of beggars at the door, gave his clothes to the one that looked poorest, dressed himself in the fellow’s rags, and stood there all day with hand outstretched. The rich young man would experience for himself the bitterness and humiliation of poverty.

St. Francis became a man of poverty. It was not simply a poverty of belongings or money, but a deep spiritual poverty. He strove to empty himself of sin, and to be nothing more than a “troubador for Christ.”

Francis wandered outside the city of Assisi, sleeping where he could and begging for food. He prayed, studied Scripture, and sought advice from holy men. Near San Damiano, Francis found a small church in ruins. Hearing the voice of God saying “Francis, rebuild my church,” Francis began the arduous task of putting brick upon brick in order to rebuild this church. Other men began joined him, and the Order of Friars Minor was born. Poverty was a mainstay of this order: they lived a radical poverty so as to be more and more like Christ.

As Francis matured, the order to “rebuild my church” became less and less literal and more about preaching the Gospel to all. Francis and his friars (both priests and deacons) traveled from town to town, preaching the good news. Francis desire to serve God took him across Europe, even to speak to the Sultan of Egypt in an attempt to bring peace but to bring the Gospel to Egypt.

When he was brought before the Sultan and asked his errand, Francis replied boldly, “I am sent by the Most High God, to show you and your people the way of salvation by announcing to you the truths of the Gospel.” Discussion followed, and other audiences. The Sultan, somewhat moved, invited Francis to stay with him. “If you and your people,” said Francis, “will accept the word of God, I will with joy stay with you. If you yet waver between Christ and Mohammed, order a fire kindled and I will go into it with your priests that you may see which is the true faith.” The Sultan replied that he did not think any of his imams would dare to enter the fire, and he would not accept Francis’ condition for fear of upsetting the people. He offered him many presents, which Francis refused. Fearing finally that some of his Moslems might desert to the Christians, he sent Francis, under guard, back to the camp.

Yes, there are indeed stories about Francis asking the birds to be quiet as he preached, finding a wolf that was terrorizing the town of Gubbio and asking the wolf to leave. However, St. Francis was not simply a man who spoke to animals; he regarded all of God’s creation as holy. His Canticle of the Sun praises creation not for the sake of creation, but to acknowledge that all creation praises God. It also reveals the joy that Francis had for Christ, a joy that carried Francis through many hardships.

St. Francis suffered greatly in terms of his own health, but he refused to stop preaching until he could hardly walk. In fact, his brothers needed to carry him to Assisi as he neared death. On his deathbed, he sang Psalm 141:

Do not let my heart incline to evil,
to perform deeds in wickedness.
On the delicacies of evildoers
let me not feast.
Let a righteous person strike me; it is mercy if he reproves me.
Do not withhold oil from my head
while my prayer opposes their evil deeds…
For my eyes are upon you, O Lord, my Lord;
In you I take refuge; do not take away my soul.
Guard me from the trap they have set for me,
from the snares of evildoers.
Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
while only I pass over them safely.

St. Francis of Assisi should be remembered as a man who lived a radical conversion to live in Christ. He answered Christ’s call to give up everything and to follow Him, and Francis led others on that same path. St. Francis loved God, and came to know God through all His creation. As the Church celebrates St. Francis, let us recall him through his own words: “Sanctify yourself and you will sanctify society.” If Francis managed this, so too can we.

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5 Reasons Catholics Should Read The Bible

Today is the feast day of St. Jerome, who lived during the first century of the Church. A man of brilliant mind, he lived as a hermit for years, in order to deal with his many sins. However, God needed his intellect and gift of language; thus St. Jerome is credited with translating Scripture into Latin under direction of Pope Damascus.

St. Jerome famously said, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” That thought alone should send us all scurrying for our Bibles! So, why should Catholics make regular Scripture reading and study part of their daily lives?

  1. It is the living Word of God. There are many ancient texts in the history of the world. Many of us, in high school and college, read The Iliad, I Ching, and the Tao de Ching. They are all worthy of study, but what sets the Bible apart? It is the living Word of God. It has no equal, and it is as relevant today as it was when Jerome labored over its translation. Further, the Word of God is Christ: In the beginning was the Word,and the Word was with God and the Word was God. (Jn. 1:1 ) Thus, every encounter with Scripture is an encounter with Christ.
  2. Sunday isn’t enough. Indeed, the Mass is full of Scripture. We hear the Word proclaimed from the Old and New Testaments, the Psalms, and the Gospel. We hear the Word sung in our hymns. The prayers at Mass are full of Scriptural quotes and references. And yet … it’s not enough. It’s easy to miss parts of the Word as it’s proclaimed as Mass: we get distracted, the Word is not proclaimed well, we don’t quite hear it. In order to prepare well for Mass, we should “read ahead:” find the readings for Mass and read them prior to Mass. How are they connected? What is God’s message for His people today?
  3. God’s Word keeps us grounded. It is very easy, in the midst of our sloppy, busy, stress-filled days, to lose touch with who we are: God’s children. Taking time to read Scripture every day keeps us grounded, reminds us of who we are. Reading Scripture helps us to recall, every day, that Christ is with us – even in the sloppiness, the busy-ness, the stress.
  4. Scripture reminds us of God’s covenant. God made a promise to our forefathers in faith, the Jews. He told them, “I will be your God, and you will be my people.” Even though the Jews (like us!) did many things that should have destroyed that covenant, God’s promise is eternal. A covenant is unbreakable, because it is God’s truth. Then, with the coming of Christ, we received a new covenant: “This is My Body and this is My Blood. Whoever eats and drinks of it shall have eternal life.” The Bible, from start to finish, is the story of God’s unbreakable promise to us. That’s pretty important.
  5. Reading Scripture helps us to pray better. Every one of us needs to pray better. Prayer is our lifeline to God. Scripture can help us to pray better. We see ourselves reflected in the sorrow, pain and faithfulness of Job. We understand Jonah’s reluctance to do the job God has set before him. We rejoice, laugh, cry and challenge God with the psalmist. We understand the shame of the woman about to be stoned. We tremble with fear, abandoning Christ, just as most of the Apostles did when He most needed them. To enter into God’s word helps us to see, hear, feel and understand basic human responses … and then do better. We rise above our fears, our sorrows, our shame, because we know God is with us. Always. He never abandons us. Scripture is the story of God’s eternal love and faithfulness.

St. Jerome knew all this. He spent his life carefully and faithfully translating God’s word. He did it not because it was yet another text that smart people wanted to read in their own language. No, he understood that Scripture is the living word of God, as relevant to us as it was to the Jews in their many triumphs and struggles, as it was to the earliest Christians during St. Jerome’s life, and now, in a world where we have so much information at our fingertips it would make St. Jerome’s head spin. But there is no website, no book, no podcast, no Facebook post that equals God’s word. Do not be ignorant of this word, lest you be ignorant of Christ.

Liturgy of the Eucharist
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The Liturgy Of The Eucharist: Real Presence Of Christ

The Catholic Church teaches that the Eucharist is “the Source and summit of the Christian life.” (Lumen Gentium) All that we do, both at Mass and in our daily lives, should be directed toward the Eucharist.

Why does the Church take the Eucharist so seriously? Because Christ did. In the Gospel of John, chapter 6, Jesus clearly tells his disciples, “I am the Bread of Life.” In addition, He told them that all must eat His Body in order to have eternal life.

Many of the disciples said to each other, “This is too hard. We can’t accept this.” And they left. They left Jesus, the one who had  walked on water, who had cured the sick, made the lame walk. They believed He was the Messiah … but the idea of Him being the Bread of Life made them walk away.

Jesus did not call them back. He did not stop them and tell them, “No, you misunderstood me. Here’s what I really meant to say…” He allowed them to leave. If they could not handle this hard truth, they could not be His disciples.

Catholics believe that, at every Mass, the bread and wine we bring to the altar is changed: to the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ. We call this “transubstantiation,” because the very substance of the matter (bread and wine) undergoes a change. While the appearance of bread and wine remain, the very substance is changed into the Body and Blood of Christ.

Why do we believe this? Because Jesus told us it was true. Why do we do this? Because Jesus told us to. When we receive the Eucharist, we are as close to Jesus as we will be in Heaven. We feast on this Bread from Heaven that is our Savior. Because of this gift, we grow in holiness, in grace, in faith. Receive your Savior worthily, for the King of Heaven and Earth is now yours.

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The Liturgy Of The Word: God Speaks To Us Through Scripture

Did you know that the Mass is a prayer? It’s not a bunch of prayers stuck together in some sort of mystical way every day, every Sunday. It is the prayer of God’s people, stretching back two millennia. The very earliest Christians gathered to share God’s word and celebrate the Eucharist, as Christ told his Apostles to do at the Last Supper. There are two billion Catholics throughout the world who pray together, entering into the Mystery of the Mass every day.

The Mass consists of two parts: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. We believe that Christ is present in both, but in distinct ways.

The Mass is full of signs and symbols. We pray with our entire bodies, through gestures and postures. We are surrounded by music, images and art. All of these have meaning, and enrich the prayerful atmosphere. However, the Mass is the same whether it is celebrated in the most humble of chapels, on the back of a jeep with soldiers gathered about, or in St. Peter’s Basilica.

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) says this about the Liturgy of the Word:

In the Liturgy of the Word, the Church feeds the people of God from the table of his Word …. The Scriptures are the word of God, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In the Scriptures, God speaks to us, leading us along the path to salvation.

The Responsorial Psalm is sung between the readings. The psalm helps us to meditate on the word of God.

The high point of the Liturgy of the Word is the reading of the Gospel. Because the Gospels tell of the life, ministry, and preaching of Christ, it receives several special signs of honor and reverence. The gathered assembly stands to hear the Gospel and it is introduced by an acclamation of praise. Apart from Lent, that acclamation is “Alleluia,” derived from a Hebrew phrase meaning “Praise the Lord!” A deacon (or, if no deacon is present, a priest) proclaims the Gospel.

Either a deacon or priest may give the homily, which is meant to be a reflection on the Word of God that was just proclaimed, and should educate and edify the congregation.

Following the homily, there should be a short period of silence for reflection. Then the Nicene Creed is proclaimed (or in some circumstances, the Apostles’ Creed). This is the declaration of our faith and beliefs as Christians, both as individuals and a community.

The Liturgy of the Word concludes with the Prayer of the Faithful. These prayers, while unique for every congregation, are meant to follow a rubric: prayers for the Universal church, for public matters and global concerns, for those afflicted or burdened, the local community and for the dead.

On Wednesday, we will look at the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

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The Church Triumphant: “Holy, holy, holy”

We’ve spent a few days examining the three states of the Church: militant, suffering, triumphant. The Church Triumphant is not our triumph, a victory of our own doing. No, the Church Triumphant is the triumph of Christ over sin and death. The Church Triumphant is the eternal glory of God. The Church Triumphant is the eternal fellowship of those whom Christ has saved and who have given over their lives to Him. These souls become, in essence, citizens of Heaven.

A citizen of Heaven is a saint. Some of them have been given the title “Saint” by the Church, but others go unrecognized by the Church Militant. Peter Kreeft:

Saints are not freaks or exceptions.  They are the standard operating model for human beings.  In fact, in the biblical sense of the word, all believers are saints.  “Sanctity” means holiness.  All men, women and children, born or unborn, beautiful or ugly, straight or gay, are holy, for they bear the image of God.

Saints are not the opposite of sinners.  There are no opposites of sinners in this world.  There are only saved sinners and unsaved sinners.  Thus holy does not mean “sinless” but “set-apart:” called out of the world to the destiny of eternal ecstasy with God.

You are called to be a saint, meant to be set apart and holy for God. You have a passport to Heaven, should you decide to use it. Yes: you. Your eternal soul, now embodied, is meant for a life before the throne of God, in His company and the company of all the angels and saints forever. That is the Church Triumphant.

Impossible, you may say. I am no saint. Saints are people like nuns who spend their whole lives praying the Rosary. (There are not any nuns who do this, by the way.) Okay then; a saint is a Jesus freak, talking about Him all the time to the point of annoying others. (Well, a saint may be annoying, but every saint was at some point a person who had to get up in the morning, make the coffee, go about his or her daily business, whether as a parent, a spouse, an accountant, a priest, a truck driver, a teacher. Nothing freakish about that.)

Yes. You are meant for sainthood. Your sainthood will lead you, should you put all your energy into sainthood, to the Church Triumphant. Your sainthood will not look like anyone else’s, because you are unlike anyone else. God created you in a unique manner, for a unique task. Yet ultimately, He created you to be a saint.

At Mass, just after the Eucharistic prayer, we pray the Sanctus:

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

That is the hymn of Heaven. In Revelation 4, John gives an account of his vision of Heaven. Those before the throne of God sing this hymn. That means that, during the Mass, at that moment when we sing this hymn, we are joined with all the angels and saints. This is our destiny. This tiny little glimpse of Heaven that we have during the Mass is meant to be our home forever.

So many of us stumble about, searching for our heart’s deepest longing. Some look for it in sex or drugs or work. We search obsessively for it. We may not even know what we are looking for, but God made our hearts for Him and for Heaven. So, what is the “secret” of the Church Triumphant? Thankfully, it is no secret at all; again, Peter Kreeft:

The existence of heaven, the desire for heaven, the nature of heaven, and the relevance of heaven are all important questions. But there is only one question that’s absolutely essential, one question compared with which how we might save the world from a nuclear holocaust is trivial: “What must I do to be saved?” When I’m honest enough to look through the door of death, infinite joy or infinite joylessness loom up as my only two possible destinies. What decides for joy? What is heaven’s entrance ticket? What is the Way, the Truth and the Life?

I am horrified to report that I’ve asked this question of hundreds of Catholic college students, and far fewer than half have known the answer. This means that the Church’s religious education has been not a failure but an inexcusable disaster. Most reply either “God is good to everybody” or “I’m basically a good person.”

If anyone out there is unsure of the correct answer, then for the love of God get out your Bible and study for your finals! To save you time—since you may die while reaching for your Bible—I will quote God’s scandalously simple answer to the most important question in the world, how to get to heaven: “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).

Lift your voice and sing, with all the angels and saints: Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Hosts. And then, set about today on the road to Heaven.

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The Church Militant: Fighting The Good Fight

The Church, the Mystical Body, exists on this earth, and is called the Church militant, because its members struggle against the world, the flesh and the devil. – Fr. William G. Most

It is hard to argue with this vision of the Church. For any Catholic who has a modicum of sense, the struggle (as they say) is real. For some, persecution or the threat of persecution is a daily horror. Refugees from Syria, for instance, tell of losing their entire families. Egyptian men kneel before religious extremists and lose their lives as they proclaim their faith in Christ. In the U.S., we watch as the government appears to bully a group of Catholic sisters whose mission is to care for the dying poor, those who have no place else to go. And on a personal level, we all seem to have a family member or a loved one who has turned their back on the Faith, or someone who appears to hate the Church.

Yes, it certainly seems like a war to stay hopeful in the promises of Christ. The days are long, the battles hard. We carry our crosses, we pray. We rejoice in fellowship, and we console others in sorrow. At night, we lay down our burdens and examine our consciences, so that tomorrow, we may have the strength to do fight again.

Vietnamese Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan was imprisoned his government for 13 years. He spent 9 of those years in solitary confinement. Yet, reading his words, one hears and sees only hope.

After his release, Pope John Paul II asked the Cardinal if he would give a Lenten retreat at the Vatican. The Cardinal chose the theme of “hope.” Imagine, a man whose freedom was taken from him, who spoke only to his captors for 9 years, still chose “hope.” It was from this Lenten retreat that his book, Testimony of Hope, was born.

Even within the very limited existence Cardinal Van Thuan had in prison, he focused on his work as a spiritual leader and as a follower of Christ. At one point, he expressed his ideas on love. Love, he said, must consist of six things:

  1. Love first.
  2. Love everyone.
  3. Love enemies.
  4. Love by giving your life.
  5. Love by service.

How, one might ask, is a soldier of Christ, a member of the Church militant, to go about loving one’s enemies? Cardinal Van Thuan tells of a conversation with one of the guards assigned to him.

“Do you love us?”

“Yes, I love you.”

“But we have kept you in prison for so many years, without a trial, without a sentence, and you love us? That’s impossible! Perhaps it’s not true!”

“I’ve been with you for many years, you’ve seen that it’s true.”

“When you are free, won’t you send  your faithful to burn our homes, to kill our families?”

“No! Even if you want to kill me, I love you.”

“But why?”

“Because Jesus has taught me to love everyone, even my enemies. If I don’t, I am no longer worthy to be called a Christian.”

“It’s very beautiful, but very hard to understand.”

This is the essence of the Church Militant: to know what God wants of us, to set out to do that very thing and to love all we encounter with the love of Christ, even our enemies, our persecutors, our tormentors. This is a hard lesson, and (as Cardinal Van Thuan’s jailer said) very hard to understand. It is not a “mushy” or sentimental love. It is a love that stands its post, that follows the orders of the leader, that fights for what is right and true and good. However, it is a love whose weapon is the Cross, a weapon that is not wielded in anger and bitterness. No, it is a weapon that is planted before the enemy in love.

The Church Militant is an army of the followers of Christ, who teaches us sacrifice and love, even under the most bitter and harshest of circumstances. May we always have the grace to do battle with evil, with the Cross and the love of Christ Jesus as our weapons.

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The Church Suffering: Purgatory

Last week, we discussed briefly the states of the Church: military, triumphant and suffering. This week, we will take a closer look at each.

The Catholic Church teaches that each human being has an immortal soul, created in God’s image and likeness. It is our personal responsibility to make sure that our soul is in a state of grace – free from sin. This is not to say that we do not sin, but rather that we seek forgiveness for our sins. Should we harm another person, we must seek their forgiveness. Should we violate God’s commandments and Church teaching, we must seek forgiveness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

We all know, however, that sin has lasting effects. When we harm a relationship with a loved one, we know that it takes time, trust and honesty to rebuild that relationship. And so it is with God.

Every immortal soul has but one of two eternal destinations: Heaven or Hell. Yet God, in His infinite mercy and wisdom allows for purification of souls even after death, which we call Purgatory. From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

1030 All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:

As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.

1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: “Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.” From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God. The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead:

Let us help and commemorate them. If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.

This is the Church suffering: souls who know that the glory of God awaits them, but who must first be purified of sin.

Every Sunday, as a Church, we pray in the Creed of our belief of “one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.” The Church suffering is part of that unified Church. They are not souls relegated to some other place where we have no relationship with them. They are not behind some sort of celestial barrier or imprisoned forever. No, they are our brothers and sisters in Christ, in need of our prayers.

Fr. John Hardon, SJ, was a renowned theologian and speaker. Here are some of his teachings on Purgatory and the souls of the Church suffering:

The Poor Souls are the souls of those people who died in the friendship of God. But they still have some suffering to undergo for the sins they had committed during their lives on earth. It is the infallible teaching of the Catholic Church that there is a purgatory. As the word itself indicates, purgatory is the state of those who still have to be cleansed of the penalty which they owe for their past offenses against God…

It must seem strange to speak of devotion to the Poor Souls. But it is not really strange. Devotion to the Poor Souls has two sides: our side and the side of the souls in purgatory.

On their side, the Poor Souls are united with us in the one Kingdom of Christ. They can pray and obtain blessings for us here on earth. They are united, as the Second Vatican Council teaches, with the pilgrim Church in the Communion of Saints. We are therefore encouraged to invoke their aid, with a confidence of being heard by those who understand our needs. They know from their own experience what it means to carry the cross here on earth.

On our side we are to do everything we can to help the Poor Souls in the Church Suffering. The sufferings in purgatory are not the same for all. They depend on each person’s degree of sinfulness. St. Thomas Aquinas held that the least pain in purgatory is greater than the worst pain in this life. St. Bonaventure held that the worst suffering after death was greater than the worst suffering on earth, but the same could not be said regarding the least pain in purgatory. In general, however, we should say that the pains of purgatory are greater than those on earth.

Remember that devotion to the Poor Souls is really a covenant between them and us. We pray and sacrifice for them, They can pray and suffer for us. They appreciate whatever help we give them, to lessen their suffering and to shorten their stay in Purgatory. They will continue to show their appreciation when we join them in a heavenly eternity. [emphasis added]

Again, the Church is united, our souls in need of each others care and prayers. While the Church suffering may seem harsh, it is the act of a loving God: to allow for the cleansing of preparation of souls before they are able to be in the presence of God. Further, what a terrific act of love by God that we are able to be in community with these souls, and they with us. We pray for each other, we suffer (always in unity with Christ) for each other, we look forward to being in the presence of God together for all eternity. And so we pray:

O gentle Heart of Jesus, ever present in the Blessed Sacrament, ever consumed with burning love for the poor captive souls in Purgatory, have mercy on them.
Be not severe in Your judgments, but let some drops of Your Precious Blood fall upon the devouring flames.
And, Merciful Savior, send Your angels to conduct them to a place of refreshment, light and peace.
Amen.

three states
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Our Church: Suffering, Militant, Triumphant

When most of us think of “Church,” we tend to think of a physical building or place. Perhaps it is our parish church or the church where we grew up. Maybe we see soaring spires or stained glass windows donated by immigrant families a century and a half ago. Perhaps it is St. Peter’s we envision, with the pope on the balcony addressing the crowds.

Yes, indeed. All of these are “church.” But since Church is also the Mystical Body of Christ, we cannot say that any of those places are only Church. Jesus said that where two or three are gathered in His name, He is present. That is Church as well.  Our homes, where prayers are taught, forgiveness and mercy are learned, and the covenant of marriage lived out is the domestic church.

Beyond this even, we belong to a Church that defies both time and space, because God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – defy all laws of physics. We have been given mortal bodies but immortal souls, souls marked with the sign of the cross at our baptism and that sign is eternal.

Theologians have long taught that the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, has three states: suffering, militant and triumphant. 

The Church, the Mystical Body, exists on this earth, and is called the Church militant, because its members struggle against the world, the flesh and the devil. The Church suffering means the souls in Purgatory. The Church triumphant is the Church in heaven. The unity and cooperation of the members of the Church on earth, in Purgatory, in Heaven is also called the Communion of Saints.

If you are reading this, you are part of the church militant. That’s a strong phrase, isn’t it? We think of soldiers in dress uniform, parading by officers. Worse, it conjures up images of soldiers in trenches, with explosions and noise and peril.

But if you think of these images in spiritual terms, they are quite accurate. We work hard to do our very best for God, to not only look good on the outside, but the inside as well. This takes training and practice, and leadership . Further, in our world today, we are surrounded by violence, attacks on our faith and families; we must fight for our faith and our freedom.

While our souls are immortal, our bodies are not; it hurts to lose our loved ones, but we rest assured in faith that their souls – should we care for them properly – will enter into the glory of Heaven. Some souls are not prepared at the time of death to face God, not because He is mean or angry or vengeful, but because we must be purified in order to stand in front of His awesome glory. We truly must be cleansed.

In very simple terms, it’s like the little boy who has been outside playing all day. He has dug hols to find worms, inspected mushrooms on his hands and knees, snuck over to the neighbor’s orchard to steal an apple or two, caught tadpoles and frogs, teased the neighbor girl with a snake. When he arrives home for dinner, his mother tells him they are going to have dinner with Father’s boss, and the boy needs to be cleaned up. He is subjected to Mother’s scrubbing: behind the ears, under the nails. literally cleaned from head to toe. When he is done, the boy is fairly glowing (maybe even a bit raw) from his “purification.” And so it is with Purgatory.

The Church triumphant consists of saints: those known to us and those known only to God. This should be the goal of every Christian: to have lived a life worthy, so that when it comes to an end, we may to stand in front of Almighty God with a soul as pure as it was the day we were baptized.

Monday, we’ll continue discussing t he three parts of the living Church, the Body of Christ.

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A Mother’s Anguish: Our Lady Of Sorrows

Mary is the model Christian. She gave herself totally to God, assenting to His will despite not knowing what lay ahead. She simply and always said, “Yes” to God.

Far too many Christians believe that if they are indeed Christians, they will somehow be insulated from sorrow and heartache. After all, they are good people and God rewards good people, right? Mary’s life is an excellent argument against that type of thinking.

Imagine a young mother, bringing her infant to the Temple, the holiest place on earth for Jews, in order that He might be presented and dedicated to God. On this momentous and happy occasion, an elderly man, well-known for his holiness and gift of prophecy, tells her, “Your heart will be pierced by a sword. You will know sorrow.” Can you imagine? Mary must have clutched that Baby a bit tighter, and wondered and worried what it all meant. There is no mother in the world who does not know sorrow and fear and trials and distress over her child or children; Mary is the model for all mothers who come to know that motherhood is not all about the delight of a baby’s gurgle, a first step or the light of understanding in a child’s eyes.

Today, the Church recognizes Mary as Our Lady of Sorrows. It is the remembrance of a mother’s love for her Son and her willingness to allow God to take her wherever His will dictates, even to the foot of the Cross. Fr. William Saunders:

St. Bernard (d. 1153) wrote, Truly, O Blessed Mother, a sword has pierced your heart…. He died in body through a love greater than anyone had known. She died in spirit through a love unlike any other since His.

Focusing on the compassion of our Blessed Mother … Pope John Paul II, reminded the faithful, Mary Most Holy goes on being the loving consoler of those touched by the many physical and moral sorrows which afflict and torment humanity. She knows our sorrows and our pains, because she too suffered, from Bethlehem to Calvary. ‘And they soul too a sword shall pierce.’ Mary is our Spiritual Mother, and the mother always understands her children and consoles them in their troubles. Then, she has that specific mission to love us, received from Jesus on the Cross, to love us only and always, so as to save us! Mary consoles us above all by pointing out the Crucified One and Paradise to us!

There are several prayers and traditions that focus on Our Lady of Sorrows. There is a litany, attributed to Pope Pius VII. There is also a chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of Mary. (A chaplet is much like a typical rosary: a string of beads on which to count prayers while one meditates on a deeper mystery.) The Seven Sorrows of Mary are:

1) The Prophecy of Simeon
2) The Flight into Egypt
3) The Loss of Jesus in Jerusalem for Three Days
4) Mary meets Jesus carrying His Cross on the way to Calvary
5) Mary standing at the foot of the Cross as Jesus Dies
6) Mary receives the dead Body of Jesus as He is removed from the Cross
7) The Burial of Jesus

You can learn how to pray the chaplet here.

Today’s memorial reminds us as Christians that our life will not be free of pain and loss. Jesus tells us we must pick up our crosses and follow Him. That directive alone informs us that the life of a Christian will not be easy. No one knew that better than Mary, and yet she still always chose the cross. She always said yes to God, despite the hardships and sorrows that entailed. Meditating on her sorrows can only lead us deeper and deeper into the mystery that is our Lord Jesus Christ.

O God, in whose Passion, according to the prophecy of Simeon, a sword of grief pierced through the most sweet soul of Thy glorious Blessed Virgin Mother Mary: grant that we, who celebrate the memory of her Seven Sorrows, may obtain the happy effect of Thy Passion, Who lives and reigns world without end. Amen.

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One Step Away From Mercy

As a Church, we continue to celebrate the Year of Mercy. What a blessing this year has been to so many of us: a time to reconcile, a time to find peace within ourselves and with God. Pope Francis continues to use the theme of mercy to teach us about the ways of God, our Father.

This past Sunday, in the pope’s Angelus address, he spoke of the parable of the prodigal son.

Pope Francis said that what is most striking about the parable of the prodigal son is not the sad story of a young man who left his father and fell into sin, but his decision to “arise” and go to his father.

“The way back home is the way of hope and new life. God awaits to forgive us out on the road, waiting for us patiently, he sees us when we are still far away, he runs towards us, embraces us, forgives us. So is God! So is our Father! And his pardon erases the past and regenerates us in love,” the Pope said.

“When we sinners convert,” he continued, “we do not find God waiting for us with reproaches and hardness, because God saves, he gathers us home with joy and partying.”

Still, we all know how hard it is to make that decision to “arise” and ask forgiveness. We want to, but we are afraid. What if we are not met with open arms and joy? What if our Father is still angry with us? What if we are just too far gone to ever get back home?

The Christian band, Casting Crowns, answers this last question in their newest song, “One Step Away.” The song reminds us that no matter how far we have traveled, how big a mistake we may have made, we are still only one step away from our Father’s forgiveness.

It doesn’t matter how far you’ve gone
Mercy says you don’t have to keep running down the road you’re on
Love’s never met a lost cause

“Love’s never met a lost cause.” Every one of us has spent some time thinking we are a lost cause. Whether it is because of our own sin and arrogance, a loss in our life that we can’t seem to get over, or the pain and hurt we’ve felt when we are betrayed by someone we love, we’ve all said to ourselves, “This is a lost cause.”

But God has never met a lost cause. He has never looked at any of his children and thoughts, “There is not hope there.” No, God is nothing but hope, love, mercy … and he is always willing to forgive and gather us home.

Lumen Gentium
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A Brief Look At “Lumen Gentium”

In 1959, Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council. Unlike previous Church councils, this one was not convened in order to combat a heresy in the Church. Rather John XXIII believed it necessary for the Church to face the challenges of the modern world. Little did he know how challenging that modern world would become in the next few decades.

Many scholars believe that, out of all the documents produced by the Council, Lumen Gentium (Light for the Nations) is likely one of the most important. One thing to keep in mind when studying church documents such as this, is that the Church, with its 2000 year history, tends to move slowly. That is, even 50+ years later, Catholic (both religious and lay) are still mining the riches of Vatican II, including Lumen Gentium.

Douglas Bushman says that the document has four clear areas of theological interest:

1) As Christ is light for all the nations, so the Church is called to bring that light to all of mankind.

2) “Light for the nations” is a theme that links the Old and New Testaments. Jesus, the light of the world (Jn 8:12), fulfills Israel’s vocation to be light for the nations (Is 42:6 and 49:6), as Simeon proclaimed (Lk 2:32). This highlights the unity of God’s plan of salvation, Israel’s privileged place, and the fulfillment of the plan in Christ.

3) The Church relates to Christ as John the Baptist to Jesus. John is not the light; his mission is to bear witness to the light (Jn 1:7-9). So too, the Church exists in order to bear witness to Christ. The Church makes her own the spirituality of the Baptist, who said, referring to Jesus: “He must grow greater, I must grow less” (Jn 3:30).

4) The preaching and life of the Baptist caused the religious leaders to ask him: “What do you say of yourself” (Jn 1:22). This is precisely the question that the Church responded to at Vatican II: Ecclesia, quid dicis de te ipsa(“Church, what do you say of yourself?”). As John defined himself in relation to Christ, so does the Church.

Let’s face it: reading Church documents like this can be intimidating. They are full of theological and philosophical language that most of us haven’t encountered since college, if ever. These documents have boatloads of references and footnotes. They are definitely not “lite” reading.

However, these documents are not just meant for priests or bishops. They are not musty, dusty writings hidden in deep Vatican corridors. They are meant for all of us. Again, when Pope XXIII convened Vatican II, he knew the Church was going to face many challenges. And he was right! As Catholics living in a time in history where Christians are heavily persecuted around the world, where the practice of the Catholic faith must go “underground” in many places, and where our most basic understanding of humanity, sexuality, Scripture and faith are challenged on a daily basis, all Catholics need to know what the Church teaches and how to convey that when necessary.

The opening paragraph of Lumen Gentium reads:

Christ is the Light of nations. Because this is so, this Sacred Synod gathered together in the Holy Spirit eagerly desires, by proclaiming the Gospel to every creature,(1) to bring the light of Christ to all men, a light brightly visible on the countenance of the Church. Since the Church is in Christ like a sacrament or as a sign and instrument both of a very closely knit union with God and of the unity of the whole human race, it desires now to unfold more fully to the faithful of the Church and to the whole world its own inner nature and universal mission. This it intends to do following faithfully the teaching of previous councils. The present-day conditions of the world add greater urgency to this work of the Church so that all men, joined more closely today by various social, technical and cultural ties, might also attain fuller unity in Christ.

This is what we are meant to do: bring the Gospel and the light of Christ to all nations. You and me: the ordinary folks who sit in the pew. This is not a document written for a bunch of cardinals; it’s meant for us. We MUST show the whole human race the light of Christ: with great urgency.

Maybe you’re not going to sit down tonight and read Lumen Gentium from one end to the other. But you should and can read it. Take it a paragraph at a time. Ask yourself, “How is God speaking to me here? What am I meant to do with this? If I truly believe that Christ is the light of the world, what can I do to make His light shine even brighter in my little corner of that world?”