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Why Tolerance Isn’t Enough

The battle cry of America today is toleration. But I want to challenge that word a little bit. Perhaps there is a better way to treat our fellow human beings. 

Happy 4th of July from all of us here at Diocesan Publications. Now go out and love!

As Diocesan Publications’ Solutions Evangelist, Shultz is committed to showing parish and diocesan staffs how to use our communication tools to their best advantage.  As an experienced speaker on all things Catholic, he has addressed topics such as the Sacraments, chastity, and boldly living the Catholic faith.  Tommy Shultz also served as director of youth and young adult ministries for the Diocese of Baker, OR. 

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Allow Yourself To Be Changed This Lent

[During Lent, Diocesan Publications offers daily Lenten reflections from a variety of guest bloggers. To receive these in your mailbox, please fill out the “Subscribe” box below the post. May you have a blessed Lent! – Editor]

 

Here we are one day into Lent! Some of us really know how to conquer Lent and don’t have a problem with it, while the rest of us lowly individuals probably forgot yesterday that bacon does in fact count as meat. I place myself in that final category.

I have always struggled with Lent, but I think that’s because I grew up with a misunderstanding about what Lent really is. I grew up thinking that Lent was a time to suffer, to give up the things we love, and to be miserable for the sake of being miserable. I think anyone with a brain would detest this idea of Lent and while Lent may include suffering and sacrifice, it is really about change.

Just as we have seasons throughout the year we also have seasons in the Church. I know that every year I get excited for fall. The leaves change, it gets a little colder, there are more bonfires, and I love Halloween and Thanksgiving. But the thing I love most is the changing color of the leaves. Every season brings with it some sort of change and whether we like that change or not, it helps bring us to the next season.

For example, I am not a huge fan of winter, but winter has to come in order for us to get to spring. It has to freeze so that eventually it can thaw and allow the trees to bud and bring about beautiful fruit. Sometimes we have to go through something that may not be ideal in order to get to the things that really make us joyful.

It is the same with Lent. Some of us may not be particularly fond of the sacrifice and struggle that comes with Lent, but the more we allow ourselves to change throughout this season, the more fruitful we will be in our daily lives.

Although sacrifice may sometimes hurt, it ultimately makes us stronger and brings us to greater joy. Instead of going into Lent with a negative attitude about sacrifice, let’s all look to the sacrifice of the cross and be thankful that Christ was willing to give the ultimate sacrifice in order that we might be changed.

“Jesus Christ has taken the lead on the way of the cross. He has suffered first. He does not drive us toward suffering but shares it with us, wanting us to have life and to have it in abundance.” ~St. John Paul II

“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” ~Luke 9:23

 

 

Change LentTommy Schultz is a full time speaker who was most recently the Director of youth and young adult ministries for the Diocese of Baker, OR. As an experienced speaker on all things Catholic, he has addressed thousands of teens and young adults on topics such as the Sacraments, chastity, and boldly living the Catholic faith. He has given many talks and hosted retreats across the nation. Driven by his passion for Theology of the Body, Tommy studied at the Theology of the Body Institute and has spoken at numerous Theology of the Body conferences. From 2012-2013, he served as a missionary of purity, speaking to over 20 thousand youth about the message of purity across the state of Pennsylvania. He is also a founder of the Corpus Christi Theology of the Body campus organization at Franciscan University. To book Tommy for an event or for further information please visit www.tommy-shultz.com.

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Now Is The Acceptable Time

[Beginning today, Diocesan Publications offers daily Lenten reflections from a variety of guest bloggers. To receive these in your mailbox, please fill out the “Subscribe” box below the post. May you have a blessed Lent! – Editor]

 

“Even now, says the Lord, “return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God.” These words from the prophet Joel in today’s first reading stood out during my morning meditation, more specifically, the word, ‘heart.’

Clearly, the Lord wants us to surrender our “whole heart” to bring about radical conversion during our Lenten journey. Conversion happens individually, in community, and through the Sacraments. On Ash Wednesday “we assemble the elders and gather the children and infants.”  With hungry hearts we come together and acknowledge our sinfulness, “a clean heart create for me, O God and a steadfast spirit renew within me.”

Renewal, reconciliation and gratitude are essential elements in our relationship with Jesus and one another. As we sit with gratitude at the feet of the Master, His peace “will guard our hearts and minds” from the chaos of the world around us. At times, that chaos is even inside of us, yet our Father is always near calling to us, “harden not your heart.” During Lent, we are once again invited to go deeper into the silence of our hearts.

St. John of the Cross once said, “The Father spoke one Word, which was His Son, and this Word He always speaks in eternal silence and in silence it must be heard by the soul.” (Maxims on Love, in Collected Works) It takes great courage to enter into silence and ask the Holy Spirit to shine His light on the darkness in our heart; the darkness where temptation, brokenness and selfish desires reside.

“Do not be afraid, for I am with you,” says the Lord. So, we take one moment at a time, for this moment is all we really have. Our Lady will help undo the knots that bind us and lead us to deeper freedom through her Son Jesus.  

In today’s gospel, Christ shows us the way. “When you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.”  

He repays with mercy that allows us moments of rejoicing, even as painful renewal may be stretching us to our human limits. His strength brings forth beautiful graces. For me, this has happened while kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament preparing for the Sacrament of Confession. The Holy Spirit opened my eyes to see how my sinful behavior had caused friction in a family relationship. With great love, my Father revealed this to me, so healing could begin. When we take the time to humble ourselves and listen, God is there not with condemnation, but love to celebrate each step, understanding that change takes time and requires patience – with Him and with ourselves.

We are a new creation in Christ, not defined by our sin, but by His love. Will we step outside our comfort zone to share our testimony so that others, too, may turn their hearts to Jesus and be set free?

Today and throughout this Lenten season, each one of us is being called to “Trust in Jesus even more,” as the late Father George Kosicki, CSB, wrote on a 3×5 note card for me years ago, on a spiritual retreat. Our Father stands daily at the door of our hearts, inviting us to enter into a deeper relationship with Him through Jesus’ Divine Mercy.

Now more than ever, the world needs Christ’s love within us. The Church gives us this special season to bring us back into right relationship with Him so we can go out to serve one another. “For he says: ‘In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you. Now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Lent is the time for our hearts to be made clean so that we can freely meet Jesus and others with greater love and less judgement. May we unite together in the Heart of Jesus, with renewed spirit and be ready for radical transformation on the journey ahead.

 

Amy Oatley is a wife, mother, and Secular Franciscan (OFS), passionate about social justice, advocating for the dignity of every human life. She encounters Christ through Prison and Jail Ministry in the Diocese of Grand Rapids and as a Sidewalk Advocate for Life. A journalist for the past thirty years, she is currently a freelance writer for FAITH Magazine and works at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish. Her home parish is Our Lady of Consolation in Rockford, Michigan.

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An Eccentric Soul In Love With God: Carryl Houselander

Not many people know about Carryl Houselander, a British, Catholic writer. It’s a pity, because in her short life (she died at the age of 52), she produced some amazing poetry and spiritual reflections.

Houselander had a rough childhood. Her parents were “beautiful people,” who put great stock in appearances. Carryl was rather an ugly duckling, and was abused by her parents.

Had she been a less gifted person-she was, in fact, a mystic, a poet, and a woodcarver-she might well have ended up living the kind of lonely and impoverished existence that is the lot of so many eccentric souls.

Her spiritual teaching is a testament to the capacity of the human soul to wrest beauty and wisdom out of personal suffering, a witness to the power of grace to supply what is lacking in nature’s provision. Because she was an artist, Houselander’s teaching is infused with an intuition so strongly visual that it manifests itself as a kind of iconography. This extraordinary visual intuitiveness permitted her to write such vividly descriptive prose that it is impossible not to visualize what one reads in Houselander. More, perhaps, than any other spiritual writer of our time, she achieves the effect she desires by illustrating (rather than by telling us) what we need to know.

Fellow spiritual writer Heather King says that Houselander “swore, drank, had an affinity for wounded children (her own childhood was nightmarish), [and] was a Catholic convert” What drew to her to the Church? Christ, of course. She saw His humanity, His desire for us to be joyful.  She saw the saints as a reflection of Christ.

[The grain of wheat] must be buried in earth, that is, in us, who are made from the earth. The seed of Christ is not buried in angels, but in men. It is to flower and bear fruit through human experience: through our loves, our work, our sorrows, our joys, our temptations. It is to be literally our living and our dying.

We are the soil of the divine seed; there is no other. The flowering of Christ in us does not depend upon pious exercises, on good works outside our daily life, on an amateur practice of religion in our leisure time. It is in the marrow of our bones, in the experience of our daily life.

Houselander’s life teaches us a number of things. First, any situation can be redeemed by God. Houselander’s rather wretched childhood gave her the ability to connect with others who were suffering, especially children. Rather than wallow in self-pity, Houselander chose to use her experience to help others. Although she was not a particularly out-going person, she allowed God to use her outside of her “comfort zone.” She likely would have been content to isolate herself, reading, studying, praying. But she didn’t; she reached out – opening herself and her home to those in need. In World War II England, that meant many children who were traumatized by the relentless German bombing. Houselander’s life reinforces what all the saints teach us: that Christ must be the focus of our lives. We must spend time with Him in prayer if we hope to ever share our gifts and talents with others.

If you’ve never read about Houselander or, better yet, read her work, take some time to do so. You’ll find a treasure, a modern woman whose life bore rich fruit precisely because of her love of God.

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We Become What We Love, So We Must Love Christ

The Chicago Cubs are in the World Series. If you’re a baseball fan, you know what a big deal this is. The Cubs have long been the lovable losers of baseball; some believe that a curse placed upon the team in 1945 has kept them from victory. They haven’t won a World Series since 1908. When the Cubs clinched the pennant before heading to the 2016 World Series, actor Bill Murray (a longtime Cubs fan) actually wept. That’s a true fan: someone who identifies so deeply with the team that the team’s victories and losses become one’s own. Murray isn’t just watching a game; he identifies with the team. He is a Chicago Cub.

As Catholics, are we “fans” of our faith? Do we identify so deeply with Christ, our Rock and our Salvation, that people see Him in us? Sister Ilia Delio, OSF, in her book Franciscan Prayer, discusses how Saint Clare of Assisi deepened her spiritual life with this vision of spirituality. Saint Clare described Christ as a mirror, by which we see a reflection of who we are in Christ.

The mirror of the Crucified tells us how we are most like God in this world through suffering, poverty and humility, and what we do to God in this world – crucify him. In this mirror, therefore, we see the greatness of the human capacity to love and the sorrow of human sinfulness.

In a way (remember: this is a metaphor!), we become a rabid fan: the ups and downs of “our team” get played out in our lives. But the love of Christ goes deeper than any relationship we have with a sport or a hobby. The more we “reflect” Christ, the more we become like Him. Our life becomes less and less a mere imitation of Christ, and more and more Christ-like. Delio:

We become what we love and who we loves shapes what we become. If we love things, we become a thing. If we love nothing, we become nothing. Imitation is not a literal mimicking of Christ; rather, it means becoming the image of the beloved, an image disclosed through transformation.

Saint Clare advised a young woman to gaze upon Christ, consider Him, contemplate Him. The more time we spend with Christ in prayer and contemplation, the more we become like Christ. Saint Paul states this boldly: I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ in me… (Gal. 2:19-20)

Many of us – like a Cubs fan – are willing to invest time and money in our pastimes and hobbies. As Catholics, we know that our faith is not a mere hobby; it is the means of our salvation. It is the person of Christ Himself. If we become what we love, we need to ask ourselves, “Do I truly love Christ? Am I invested in my relationship with Him? Do I desire to become more and more like Him? Who do I see when I gaze in the mirror that is Christ?”

Transforming ourselves to reflect Christ to the world is so much more than a World Series victory. It is the triumph of sin over death; it is the victory that conquers the world.

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America: Peace Be With You!

The upcoming U.S. presidential election is on everyone’s mind. Every citizen who has the right to vote should vote, but this year’s election seems especially difficult. As Catholics, it is imperative that we are informed voters, that we have sought out prayerful guidance and formed our consciences to the best of our abilities before stepping into the voting booth.

In 1979, St. John Paul II made his first papal visit to the United States. His seven-day visit was a whirlwind of activity: New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, Chicago. And everywhere, he was greeted by enthusiastic crowds. People waited hours and hours just to glimpse this charismatic pope.

This papal visit was filled with iconic American symbols. For instance, he said Mass at Yankee Stadium, and his first homiletic words to America there were: Peace be with you!

Our country, right now, is not a country at peace. Partisan political divides are deep. Racial divisions – some old wounds, some new – fester. Drug abuse is rampant. Our police officers’ actions are questioned and confronted., sometimes violently. Families are torn apart by divorce, addictions, religious issues. No, we are not a country at peace.

Perhaps it is good for us to revisit St. John Paul’s words 37 years ago, in one of America’s great cities, New York, in a symbol of American fair play and cherished dreams, Yankee Stadium.

Catholics of the United States, while developing your own legitimate institutions, you also participate in the nation’s affairs within the framework of institutions and organizations springing from the nation’s common history and from your common concern. This you do hand in hand with your fellow citizens of every creed and confession. Unity among you in all such endeavors is essential, under the leadership of your Bishops, for deepening, proclaiming and effectively promoting the truth about man, his dignity and his inalienable rights, the truth such as the Church receives it in Revelation and such as she ceaselessly develops it in her social teaching in the light of the Gospel. These shared convictions, however, are not a ready-made model for society (cf. Octogesima Adveniens, 42). It is principally the task of lay people to put them into practice in concrete projects, to define priorities and to develop models that are suitable for promoting man’s real good. The Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes tells us that “lay people should seek from priests light and spiritual strength. Let the lay people not imagine that their pastors are always such experts that to every problem which arises, however complicated, they can readily give a concrete solution, or even that such is their mission. Rather, enlightened by Christian wisdom and giving close attention to the teaching authority of the Church, let the lay people assume their own distinctive role” (Gaudium et Spes, 43). [emphasis added]

It is good for us to remember that our leaders, whether religious or political, do not carry the vast weight of change and justice on their shoulders; we – the laity, the citizens – carry it on ours. Even in the complex issues of today, we the American people must seek out and then carry out solutions.

St. John Paul II was no stranger to political upheaval. He came of age in World War II Poland, under the devastating rule of Nazis. Secretly ordained near the end of the war, he then had to lead his people – first as a priest, then a bishop – under the rule of Communism. When this pope spoke of our political duties, he was immensely aware of the challenges. And yet, he challenged us further:

[F]resh spiritual and moral energy drawn from the inexhaustible divine source is needed. This energy does not develop easily. The life style of many of the members of our rich and permissive societies is easy, and so is the life style of increasing groups inside the poorer countries. As I said last year to the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Commission Justice and Peace, “Christians will want to be in the vanguard in favoring ways of life that decisively break with a frenzy of consumerism, exhausting and joyless” (November 11, 1978). It is not a question of slowing down progress, for there is no human progress when everything conspires to give free rein to the instincts of self-interest, sex and power. We must find a simple way of living. For it is not right that the standard of living of the rich countries should seek to maintain itself by draining off a great part of the reserves of energy and raw materials that are meant to serve the whole of humanity. For readiness to create a greater and more equitable solidarity between peoples is the first condition for peace. Catholics of the United States, and all you citizens of the United States, you have such a tradition of spiritual generosity, industry, simplicity and sacrifice that you cannot fail to heed this call today for a new enthusiasm and a fresh determination. It is in the joyful simplicity of a life inspired by the Gospel and the Gospel’s spirit of fraternal sharing that you will find the best remedy for sour criticism, paralyzing doubt and the temptation to make money the principal means and indeed the very measure of human advancement. [emphasis added]

As we prepare our consciences’ for the November elections, let us meditate on these words. St. John Paul II reminded us then and now: the laity is responsible for creating just structures for all Americans. As Catholics, we must study and pray so that our consciences can guide us in carrying out the Gospel and in choosing political leaders who understand that peace and justice are paramount. When we are criticized, doubtful or greedy, we must be inspired by the joyful simplicity of Christ. Most of all, we must be the peace of Christ for our families, our co-workers, our neighbors, our nation. Peace be with you!

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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.

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Mother Teresa: Nobel Peace Prize Recipient

In 1979, Mother Teresa of Kolkata was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. According to the Nobel Prize Committee:

… the Peace Prize is to go to whoever “shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses”. The prize includes a medal, a personal diploma, and a large sum of prize money (currently 8 million Swedish crowns).

It was one of 124 prizes and awards she received over her 69 year religious life. As one might imagine, the tiny nun known for her work among the very poorest of the poor was not always thrilled with the recognition her work brought. She was always firm in telling people that it was not she who did the work, but God – always God.

Nevertheless, she traveled to Norway in 1979 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. In her lecture upon receiving the prize, she asked those assembled to pray together. Then she reminded those assembled (and the world) that they should be open to the will of God in the same way the Virgin Mary was, and it was Mary’s willingness to serve God that brought the very Prince of Peace into our world.

And as if that was not enough – it was not enough to become a man – he died on the cross to show that greater love, and he died for you and for me and for that leper and for that man dying of hunger and that naked person lying in the street not only of Calcutta, but of Africa, and New York, and London, and Oslo – and insisted that we love one another as he loves each one of us. And we read that in the Gospel very clearly – love as I have loved you – as I love you – as the Father has loved me, I love you – and the harder the Father loved him, he gave him to us, and how much we love one another, we, too, must give each other until it hurts. It is not enough for us to say: I love God, but I do not love my neighbour.

She spoke of the accolades and recognition she and her Sisters had received for their work, but she was stalwart in pointing always to Christ. And then she challenged all those listening to seek out the poor in their lives; not necessarily the monetarily poor, but those who craved love. For this lack of love, she said, was the greatest poverty our world experiences.

Because today there is so much suffering – and I feel that the passion of Christ is being relived all over again – are we there to share that passion, to share that suffering of people. Around the world, not only in the poor countries, but I found the poverty of the West so much more difficult to remove. When I pick up a person from the street, hungry, I give him a plate of rice, a piece of bread, I have satisfied. I have removed that hunger. But a person that is shut out, that feels unwanted, unloved, terrified, the person that has been thrown out from society – that poverty is so hurtable and so much, and I find that very difficult. Our Sisters are working amongst that kind of people in the West. So you must pray for us that we may be able to be that good news, but we cannot do that without you, you have to do that here in your country. You must come to know the poor, maybe our people here have material things, everything, but I think that if we all look into our own homes, how difficult we find it sometimes to smile at each, other, and that the smile is the beginning of love.

This tiny woman from Kolkata was unafraid to speak of Christ and His love for each of us, even in front of the most finely-dressed and most prestigious people on the planet. She was also unafraid to force them to examine their own lives – even in uncomfortable ways – to follow Christ’s example of love for the poor, the unwanted, the outcast. Surely, her words are as true today as they were 37 years ago.

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A Cross And A Crucifix: Is One A Better Symbol Than The Other?

Both the cross and the crucifix are the two of the most identifiable symbols of Christianity. No matter the setting, the country, the building, a cross or a crucifix marks that place as Christian. To see someone wearing a cross or a crucifix also identifies them with faith (for now, let’s set aside pop stars who flash these as mere jewelry.)

Yet, there are differences between a cross and a crucifix, ones so distinct that even a small child can manage to point them out. Even more distinctly, a crucifix is generally identified with the Catholic and Orthodox traditions, and a cross with Protestant. So, why the difference?

For non-Christians, these symbols can seem odd, at the very least. The cross is an instrument of death. It seems, to non-believers, the same as wearing a small electric chair on a chain around one’s neck. Even the early Christian community preferred not to use the cross as a symbol of faith because it was still being used in the torture and death of people. With the passage of time, though, the cross ultimately stands as the instrument of our salvation. It is the beginning of the end of death’s eternal hold on us.

Eventually the Christian community came to grips with the cross, but initially only as a symbol of triumph. In this form the cross had no corpus (figure of Christ) but was elaborately decorated and often even jeweled to represent Christ’s victory over death that made an object of shame into a beautiful thing. This type of cross is called a crux gemmata, and it was the first widespread form of the cross in Christianity.

The most marked difference between a cross and a crucifix is the corpus or body of Christ on a crucifix. Some Protestants object to the crucifix because of the belief (which we Catholics share!) that Christ is resurrected, not still on the cross and thus, (some believe) He should not be depicted that way. Others find the prominent Catholic use of the crucifix in our churches and homes borders on idolatry.

Of course, Catholics use both symbols frequently. While the crucifix holds a prominent place in most churches, you’re just as likely to see a simple cross in use by Catholics. For instance, many bishops choose to use the cross, rather than a crucifix, as their pectoral cross. Many Catholics choose to wear a cross as a symbol of their faith.

It should also be noted that most crucifixes include the sign INRI across the top. INRI is the Latin abbreviation for “Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum” or Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews. Recall in the Gospel of John:

Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.” Now many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that he said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

St. Rose of Lima said, “Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven.” Catholics understand that both the simple cross and the crucifix are symbols of our faith, helping us to recall Jesus’ great sacrifice for us. Both give us a profound visual reminder of His Death and Resurrection, His sacrifice and His triumphant annihilation of sin and death. Yes, there are differences, but Catholics should hold both signs in high esteem, acknowledging both as powerful reminders of the Truth that is Christ.

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Speak Praise, Not Poison

Are you wearied of bad news? Of the social media hashtags that beg us to pray for yet another city mired in violence? The seemingly endless culture wars and political battles? I know I am.

There are times when we need to shut out the world and immerse ourselves in prayer. Ann Voskamp, author of One Thousand Gifts, knows this. Lest you think Voskamp is a hermit or a cloistered nun and therefore has the time and ability to shut out the world and pray far more easily than you or I, think again. She’s a wife. A mom with six kids. Married to a farmer and a homeschooler. But she knows about prayer. Here are some of her thoughts:

God doesn’t need us to praise him but he needs us to praise.

What else keeps us from bitterness? …

Words praising Christ or wrangling to be praised ourselves.

This seeping of bitterness or straight spires of blessings …

I’m not sure how my life stands. How my inner and outer walls stand, how I make a home. Unless we make it a habit to give thanks we habitually give our family grief.

Unless we consistently speak praise, we consistently speak poison.

Unless we are intentional about giving God glory throughout the day, our days unintentionally give way to grumbling …

It’s in praising a Savior in all things that we are saved from discouragement in all things …

Father God, make me speak praise today, not poison; make me intentionally give you glory throughout the day, that my day doesn’t unintentionally crumble in grumbling. In thanking you in all things, I am saved from discouragement in all things, and this today is my earnest prayer: Make me do doxology, not destruction.

You can find more of Voskamp’s work at her blog, A Holy Experience.

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The Rosary: Praying The Gospels

The Rosary is likely one of the best known symbols of Catholicism. It is a treasured prayer of popes and paupers, praised both for its simplicity and its deep meditative qualities. (If you’ve never prayed the Rosary, or forgotten how, check out this page for a guide.) This week, we will look at the Rosary, its place in Catholic prayer and the Mysteries that walk us through the life of Christ.

In 2002, St. John Paul II wrote on apostolic letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae (The Rosary of the Virgin Mary). He said the Rosary “simple yet profound” and “at heart a Christocentric prayer.”

[T]he most important reason for strongly encouraging the practice of the Rosary is that it represents a most effective means of fostering among the faithful that commitment to the contemplation of the Christian mystery which I have proposed in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte as a genuine “training in holiness”: ‘What is needed is a Christian life distinguished above all in the art of prayer’. Inasmuch as contemporary culture, even amid so many indications to the contrary, has witnessed the flowering of a new call for spirituality, due also to the influence of other religions, it is more urgent than ever that our Christian communities should become ‘genuine schools of prayer’.

Too many Christians dismiss the Rosary as a prayer to Mary. Yet, we do no pray to Mary. We beg her intercession in prayer to Christ, her Son. The last recorded words of Mary in the Gospels are “Do whatever He tells you,” (Jn 2:15) as she first instructs the waiters at the wedding at Cana and then us, the followers of Christ. St. John Paul II says that we learn Christ from Mary, who has the most profound knowledge of our Savior.

The first of the ‘signs’ worked by Jesus – the changing of water into wine at the marriage in Cana – clearly presents Mary in the guise of a teacher, as she urges the servants to do what Jesus commands (cf. Jn 2:5). We can imagine that she would have done likewise for the disciples after Jesus’ Ascension, when she joined them in awaiting the Holy Spirit and supported them in their first mission. Contemplating the scenes of the Rosary in union with Mary is a means of learning from her to ‘read’ Christ, to discover his secrets and to understand his message.

This school of Mary is all the more effective if we consider that she teaches by obtaining for us in abundance the gifts of the Holy Spirit, even as she offers us the incomparable example of her own pilgrimage of faith.  As we contemplate each mystery of her Son’s life, she invites us to do as she did at the Annunciation: to ask humbly the questions which open us to the light, in order to end with the obedience of faith: ‘Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word’ (Lk 1:38).

The Rosary is a prayer of meditation and contemplation. It is not a mindless or rote recitation of prayers. Rather, the prayers, counted on the beads as they slide through the fingers, become a sort of “background music” as one ponders deeply the events of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. Traditionally, these events are categorized as joyful, sorrowful, glorious and luminous. Those four words simply and beautifully describe the life of our Lord and the Good News He brings.

Tomorrow, we will discuss the Joyful Mysteries.

serving others
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Serving Others In A Self-Serve World

In the movie, Back To The Future, teenager Marty McFly (played by Michael J. Fox) travels from his 1980s life to his parents’ 1950s world. As he tries to get his bearings, Marty is astounded to see a car pull into a gas station and a crew of uniformed men rush out to service the car. They efficiently pump gas, clean the windshields and check the tires’ air pressure. All Marty can do is gape; he’s never seen this type of service.

For better or worse, we live in a self-serve world. We scan and bag our own groceries, pump our own gas, and spend Saturday mornings wandering through immense hardware stores looking for someone (anyone!) whom might know where we can get a switch plate to match our old one. Like Marty McFly, when we do get great service, we are caught off-guard.

While we may have to live this way in some parts of our lives, as Christians, our lives should be oriented around serving others. In Matthew 25, Jesus tells his disciples that when the Son of Man comes into his glory, there will be a strict judgement, with the righteous gaining eternal life, and the rest to eternal punishment. The criteria? Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the imprisoned and ill. And it’s not just for those we know; Christ clearly says we are to reach out to the stranger.

Christ holds us to a very high standard. We need to serve those we know, those we don’t know, those we like, those we don’t. We are to treat everyone we see as if that person is Jesus Christ Himself. And we should not be in it just for the reward, or acting out of fear of punishment. Ultimately, we must act out of our love for Christ.

St. Augustine said, “What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.“

It doesn’t take much more than 15 minutes of the evening news to realize that our world is severely lacking love. It is no coincidence that love and service are so closely bound in the Gospel. Love that does nothing is not love; it is only lip-service. Service done without love is a mere obligation, a tedious task to be completed. Service born of and united with love is something far greater: it is the Kingdom of God.