With the inauguration of President Barack Obama, newspapers, reporters, and all types of media have heads turned and tuned into this historic occurrence that has blessed our life time. I use the term blessed because it is hard for some of us, my age group in particular, to realize the significance of such an event. Watching the event take place, I was filled with amazement as I saw such historic figures such as Muhammad Ali and Jesse Jackson. I heard constant reference to Dr. Martin Luther King and how unbelievable it is that an African-American is president of the United States. Folks of older generations stood in shock as they thought something like this would have never taken place in their lifetime.
It was an historic day indeed. But history was not made only with the inauguration of the highest office in this country. The second and third in command, so to speak, of this nation has fallen into the hands of Catholics. Catholics have been the victim of a silent bigotry in this country since colonization began. Anti-Catholicism is very prominent throughout American history and to this day we have only had one Catholic president. However the idea of a Catholic politician is something that raises eyebrows in this day in age.
After hearing a few blurbs on the radio about Nancy Pelosi’s comments about President Obama’s stimulus package regarding contraception, abortion, and other “healthcare” issues, I have been seriously thinking about the status of Catholicism in America. How can someone who claims to be “an ardent, practicing Catholic,” be so unaware of Church teachings? Has she chosen to ignore the teachings? Has her parish priests neglected to preach about these issues? Or has she simply become like the many other “cafeteria Christians” out there?
A term that is being used in Theology recently is “Baptized Non-believers.” This term is used to describe those who claim be raised Catholic but in one way or another have fallen away from the faith. (How many times have we heard that in conversation?) Has Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Biden fallen into this category? It seems remarkable to me that someone would claim to be an ardent and practicing Catholic, yet simultaneously actively promote laws and policies which are contrary to the Church teachings. (Government funded abortions, FOCA, Medicaid provided contraceptives, etc.)
Do not get me wrong, there are a few Catholic politicians who stand for what the Church teaches (Sam Brownback being one. He ran for nomination this past year, we can see how that went.) This ideology is not something that is exclusive to politicians. Ask anyone who claims to be Catholic what the Church has instituted since Vatican II or who their bishop is. Ask them what John Paul II taught about Theology of the Body. A majority of Americans who classify themselves as Catholic will not know the answers to these questions or even know where to look to find them.
The point of all this is not to say Catholics in America are stupid. The point is to show that there is so much to know about the Catholic Church. There are people who spend their entire lives studying the Church’s teachings and that is not long enough to know and understand it all. If Catholics knew what the Church called for in Vatican II, they would know that it is their duty to learn about their faith, love it, live it, and encourage others to do the same. When a question about the faith arises, do not dismiss it-ASK IT! If you do not agree with the answer, do not turn your back but ask more questions and come to understand your faith. As Catholics, we have come way to lackadaisical in our faith. We need to grow in our faith, not simply be complacent with it.
Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Biden may go to mass on Sundays and may have received the Sacraments of Initiation, but as Pope Paul VI said in his Apostolic Exhortation (fancy word for Papal Advice) “Above all the Gospel must be proclaimed by witness…they radiate in an altogether simple and unaffected way their faith in values that go beyond current values…” (Evangelii Nuntiandi “On Evangelization of the Modern World” paragraph 21) It is our duty as Catholics to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ by example even when common belief says otherwise. I pose a question to all of the baptized non-believers, all of the cafeteria Catholics, all of the Nancy Pelosis and Joe Bidens: What type of witness are you giving the world?
The witness that American Catholics are getting and have been getting due to this cancer within the Church is one of untruth. The witness American Catholics receive from people in such a high office is this: “Catholicism and the Church teachings that have been around for over 2000 years don’t have to apply to you if you don’t want them to. You can pick and choose what you want to believe.” This could not be further from the truth. This false witness is leading God’s children to lives of hurt, loneliness, and pain. This false witness is leading a society towards a government funded culture of death. This false witness is causing our Church to suffer. It is a cancer. I pray for a cure.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Epiphany on the Epiphany
So during a long day of planning, prayer, and preparation with the student leaders of our Campus Ministry, something struck me in a profound way. I guess you can say I had an epiphany on the feast of the Epiphany. I had created the newest section of my “Meditations of a Modern Mystic” (a short book of Catholic/Christian meditations) It’s not yet published. Don’t steal my title or ideas! This meditation focuses on the three magi who visited the baby Jesus after following pagan astrology and ancient prophecies. These three kings, as they are often described, traveled through the desert for days following a star. This star led them to where the King of Kings was to be born and thus fulfill the prophecies which they dedicated their lives to studying.
These wise men may or may not have believed that the prophecies were true or that they would find a baby who would save the world lying in a manger. However they followed a star, blindly. They went on through sand storms and risk of danger and harm due to desert thieves and bandits. What made them continue on?
When they arrived, they found that all they had studied was true. Everything had come to be and they knelt before the King of Kings. They were among the first to participate in Adoration of our savior. They were the first Christians.
At this point in the meditation, is when I had my epiphany. I realized that God made pagan astronomers believe in Him. They were speechless. They fell to their knees in wonder and amazement at the sight of God made man-Emmanuel. They offered Him some of the finest gifts of the time. Why? God makes men and women do some pretty unexplainable things
For instance, St. Paul, formerly Saul, had Christians killed and God made him do a complete 180 and Paul began to evangelize the world. Mother Theresa cared for and loved the poorest and sickest of people. People wake up every Sunday morning and go to a building where they repeat prayers that have been said for thousands of years—prayers and words that are routed in scripture. These people eat and drink their God! Why?
The epiphany, my friends, is this. There is a reason why we call our faith a mystery. There is a reason why for thousands of years theologians and philosophers, believers and non-believers have been trying to explain God. He is just that AWE-some. In every sense of that word. That word is tosses around in frat houses and college campuses very frequently. But think about it—awesome—full of awe. God has an unexplainable presence that He reveals to us each and every day in the Eucharist. Why have we grown numb to the wonder and awe experienced by the wise kings 2000 years ago? Why do we not fall to our knees and offer Him all that we have and all that we are? Why are we struggling to go and spread the good news to all as the kings did and as St. Paul did?
My challenge for us all is this—1. Follow His guiding light, 2. Adore and praise the King who has come, 3. Offer Him all that we are, 4. GO HOME and bring Him to those we love.
These wise men may or may not have believed that the prophecies were true or that they would find a baby who would save the world lying in a manger. However they followed a star, blindly. They went on through sand storms and risk of danger and harm due to desert thieves and bandits. What made them continue on?
When they arrived, they found that all they had studied was true. Everything had come to be and they knelt before the King of Kings. They were among the first to participate in Adoration of our savior. They were the first Christians.
At this point in the meditation, is when I had my epiphany. I realized that God made pagan astronomers believe in Him. They were speechless. They fell to their knees in wonder and amazement at the sight of God made man-Emmanuel. They offered Him some of the finest gifts of the time. Why? God makes men and women do some pretty unexplainable things
For instance, St. Paul, formerly Saul, had Christians killed and God made him do a complete 180 and Paul began to evangelize the world. Mother Theresa cared for and loved the poorest and sickest of people. People wake up every Sunday morning and go to a building where they repeat prayers that have been said for thousands of years—prayers and words that are routed in scripture. These people eat and drink their God! Why?
The epiphany, my friends, is this. There is a reason why we call our faith a mystery. There is a reason why for thousands of years theologians and philosophers, believers and non-believers have been trying to explain God. He is just that AWE-some. In every sense of that word. That word is tosses around in frat houses and college campuses very frequently. But think about it—awesome—full of awe. God has an unexplainable presence that He reveals to us each and every day in the Eucharist. Why have we grown numb to the wonder and awe experienced by the wise kings 2000 years ago? Why do we not fall to our knees and offer Him all that we have and all that we are? Why are we struggling to go and spread the good news to all as the kings did and as St. Paul did?
My challenge for us all is this—1. Follow His guiding light, 2. Adore and praise the King who has come, 3. Offer Him all that we are, 4. GO HOME and bring Him to those we love.
Monday, November 10, 2008
I Eat and Drink my God
When thinking about the Eucharist, the question always comes to mind, “How is that His body and Blood? To me it looks and tastes like bread and wine.” Even trying to talk about this with friends and family who may or may not be Catholic seems to be a struggle for many people. Why are we so afraid to believe this? Often when the debate on Jesus’ real presence in the Eucharist comes up, many people say that it was meant to be done as a symbol. However, Jesus never said, “Do this as a symbol of me,” or “Pretend that this is me.” Jesus says to do this in remembrance of me. This paper will address the meaning and significance of the Word of God—the creative words of our Heavenly Father that nothing is impossible for. Through a brief analysis of certain words of God, we can come to a small understanding of the mystery of the Eucharist. Whether our questioning is about the transubstantiation or representation of Christ, through mediation, prayer, and reading of the Sacred Scriptures, we can come to know the Eucharist.
In Raniero Cantalamessa’s book Eucharist, Our Sanctification, he explains the Eucharist as an event. At every mass, we celebrate with Christ the last Passover meal. We are not imitating what happened or simply remembering an event that took place two thousand years ago. Instead, we are actually in the presence of Christ and His disciples. We are celebrating Jesus’ last meal, His death, and His resurrection. In the first Chapter of The Eucharist Our Sanctification, Cantalamessa writes, “The word that meets with the greatest ecumenical consent today is the verb represent, understood in its strongest sense, re-present or , make present again…we mysteriously become contemporaries of the event.”[1] How is this possible? We are celebrating mass on a Sunday in the year 2008, yet at the same time we are celebrating it in the first century. To an unfaithful person, that sounds just as crazy as eating and drinking the Body and Blood of our God. However, if we look to the Word of God in Scripture we can see the truth in this. During the Last Supper, Jesus said, “This is my body…This is my blood…do this in remembrance of me.” The word spoken created the Eucharist as we know it. The “this” that Jesus spoke of is what we have now at every mass. The “this” that Jesus spoke of was not meant to be a symbol. The exact words were “Do this in remembrance of me.” This was a command spoken from the mouth of God to His disciples, His first priests. The mass, the Eucharist as an event was created through the spoken word of Christ Himself.
It is important to note that without faith, none of this can be understood. To constantly question, “Why?” or “How?” is the sign of an unfaithful person. I often find that my parents get upset when people allow their children receive the Precious Blood during communion. They always ask me, “How old do you have to be to receive the wine?” When I respond with, “After you receive your First Holy Communion,” they wonder how the church can allow children to drink wine. Trying to explain to them transubstantiation, that actual changing of substances from bread to flesh and wine to blood, is always a treat to under take. My parents’ mentality, however, is a scary thing. How many Catholics out there do not believe they are receiving Jesus’ body and blood? How many think they are just getting some free booze before noon and that the Church solicits alcohol to minors? The truth is that we cannot fully understand the mystery of the Eucharist. If we truly saw the Eucharist as the body and blood of Jesus Christ, we would be in Heaven. Our humanity blocks us from seeing the fullness of God on Earth, yet we must have faith in order to recognize Him in the Eucharist. We must look to His word and see the truth of it all.
In John’s Gospel, Jesus says “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will not have life within you.” He does not say, “Unless you eat bread that symbolizes my body and drink wine that symbolizes my blood, you do not have life within you.” The entire Gospel of John prepares us to understand that Jesus is the bread of life. For the unfaithful, the Bread of Life discourse in the sixth chapter of John can be frightening. Usually, one will hear the words, question them, and selfishly disagree and use their rationale to create a conclusion, rather than delving deep into why the Church teaches this and why for over two thousand years, people have been gathering around a table to eat and drink the Body and Blood of their God.
In conclusion, the struggle for the unfaithful is a continuous battle of questioning and unconscious personal rationale. The truth is written out in the word of God, stating that Jesus is true bread, without eating the Body and Blood of Jesus we do not have life, and we celebrate the Eucharist in remembrance of Him. Yet, somehow people are still blind to the truth. Some may not even want to know the truth. Some think that they already know the truth and don’t even know they are receiving their condemnation when the priest places the Body of Christ in their hands and they respond, “Amen,” which means yes, I believe. The unbelief of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, transubstantiation, and this blindness to the truth is a cancer within Christ’s mystical body, the Church. We must find a cure for it; otherwise we will cease to be Catholic.
Bibliography
New American Bible.
[1] Raniero Cantalamessa, The Eucharist Our Sanctification. (Minnesota: Liturgical Press,1995) 13.
In Raniero Cantalamessa’s book Eucharist, Our Sanctification, he explains the Eucharist as an event. At every mass, we celebrate with Christ the last Passover meal. We are not imitating what happened or simply remembering an event that took place two thousand years ago. Instead, we are actually in the presence of Christ and His disciples. We are celebrating Jesus’ last meal, His death, and His resurrection. In the first Chapter of The Eucharist Our Sanctification, Cantalamessa writes, “The word that meets with the greatest ecumenical consent today is the verb represent, understood in its strongest sense, re-present or , make present again…we mysteriously become contemporaries of the event.”[1] How is this possible? We are celebrating mass on a Sunday in the year 2008, yet at the same time we are celebrating it in the first century. To an unfaithful person, that sounds just as crazy as eating and drinking the Body and Blood of our God. However, if we look to the Word of God in Scripture we can see the truth in this. During the Last Supper, Jesus said, “This is my body…This is my blood…do this in remembrance of me.” The word spoken created the Eucharist as we know it. The “this” that Jesus spoke of is what we have now at every mass. The “this” that Jesus spoke of was not meant to be a symbol. The exact words were “Do this in remembrance of me.” This was a command spoken from the mouth of God to His disciples, His first priests. The mass, the Eucharist as an event was created through the spoken word of Christ Himself.
It is important to note that without faith, none of this can be understood. To constantly question, “Why?” or “How?” is the sign of an unfaithful person. I often find that my parents get upset when people allow their children receive the Precious Blood during communion. They always ask me, “How old do you have to be to receive the wine?” When I respond with, “After you receive your First Holy Communion,” they wonder how the church can allow children to drink wine. Trying to explain to them transubstantiation, that actual changing of substances from bread to flesh and wine to blood, is always a treat to under take. My parents’ mentality, however, is a scary thing. How many Catholics out there do not believe they are receiving Jesus’ body and blood? How many think they are just getting some free booze before noon and that the Church solicits alcohol to minors? The truth is that we cannot fully understand the mystery of the Eucharist. If we truly saw the Eucharist as the body and blood of Jesus Christ, we would be in Heaven. Our humanity blocks us from seeing the fullness of God on Earth, yet we must have faith in order to recognize Him in the Eucharist. We must look to His word and see the truth of it all.
In John’s Gospel, Jesus says “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will not have life within you.” He does not say, “Unless you eat bread that symbolizes my body and drink wine that symbolizes my blood, you do not have life within you.” The entire Gospel of John prepares us to understand that Jesus is the bread of life. For the unfaithful, the Bread of Life discourse in the sixth chapter of John can be frightening. Usually, one will hear the words, question them, and selfishly disagree and use their rationale to create a conclusion, rather than delving deep into why the Church teaches this and why for over two thousand years, people have been gathering around a table to eat and drink the Body and Blood of their God.
In conclusion, the struggle for the unfaithful is a continuous battle of questioning and unconscious personal rationale. The truth is written out in the word of God, stating that Jesus is true bread, without eating the Body and Blood of Jesus we do not have life, and we celebrate the Eucharist in remembrance of Him. Yet, somehow people are still blind to the truth. Some may not even want to know the truth. Some think that they already know the truth and don’t even know they are receiving their condemnation when the priest places the Body of Christ in their hands and they respond, “Amen,” which means yes, I believe. The unbelief of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, transubstantiation, and this blindness to the truth is a cancer within Christ’s mystical body, the Church. We must find a cure for it; otherwise we will cease to be Catholic.
Bibliography
New American Bible.
[1] Raniero Cantalamessa, The Eucharist Our Sanctification. (Minnesota: Liturgical Press,1995) 13.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Obama WILL BE President--Accept it and Respect it
I do not agree with the majority of Barack Obama’s views. However he has been elected as our next President. As a Catholic Christian, I believe that ALL life is sacred, including Barack Obama’s. He was created in the image and likeness of God with a dignity—he was created out of love for love. I am not saying that we have to agree with everything he stands for or that we shouldn’t be writing to our congressmen to fight some of the laws he wants to pass (ie. The Freedom of Choice Act). What I am saying is that we must have faith in the American people and our government that our new president will do his job the way it supposed to be done—to take into account ALL views of the American people, not just the democratic party.
I am so proud to be part of history. Think back to the struggles African Americans went through in this country. Slavery, of course is the most predominant occurrence of the African-American struggle in this country, but what about the Anti-bellum era, the 1950s and 60s? What about their struggles today? I was overwhelmed on the night of the election when I noticed most of my friends reacted so emotionally to an Obama victory—and rightly so. This election meant so much more to one particular race in this country than just issues and campaigning. This was a milestone in American History, more importantly, Black-American history. After 236 years of white presidents, a black man has been ELECTED to the highest office in the world.
As a white male, I have grown up with white presidents, mostly white school teachers, mostly white classmates (until college) and what is known to some as the “white advantage.” I was completely taken back by the number of my friends who posted “I cannot believe it. I am crying tears of joy. We did it. Finally!” How many times have you heard a white person say, “I am so happy that there is finally a white person in this particular job,” That would be absurd. There is something to be said about the overwhelming sensation over overcoming a giant obstacle—something that because of its commonality in the white community is taken for granted. Why is that joy missing from the rest of the American people?
So I congratulate Mr. Obama for his election. My prayers go out to him as my future leader. I hope that he will stay true to the values that shape this country. That the values of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are protected and not discarded. I pray that he does a great job as a leader and can prove me wrong for not supporting him. I pray that those of us who are struggling to find the good that can come from an Obama presidency to have faith. I pray for those who are doubtful that these people open their eyes and look at the common good and understand that Barack Obama will swear to uphold the Constitution of the United States to the best of his ability. We cannot judge him or condemn him—his actions lie between him and God. We must stand firm and stand up as Americans and as a people who serve their God and their country. God bless America.
I am so proud to be part of history. Think back to the struggles African Americans went through in this country. Slavery, of course is the most predominant occurrence of the African-American struggle in this country, but what about the Anti-bellum era, the 1950s and 60s? What about their struggles today? I was overwhelmed on the night of the election when I noticed most of my friends reacted so emotionally to an Obama victory—and rightly so. This election meant so much more to one particular race in this country than just issues and campaigning. This was a milestone in American History, more importantly, Black-American history. After 236 years of white presidents, a black man has been ELECTED to the highest office in the world.
As a white male, I have grown up with white presidents, mostly white school teachers, mostly white classmates (until college) and what is known to some as the “white advantage.” I was completely taken back by the number of my friends who posted “I cannot believe it. I am crying tears of joy. We did it. Finally!” How many times have you heard a white person say, “I am so happy that there is finally a white person in this particular job,” That would be absurd. There is something to be said about the overwhelming sensation over overcoming a giant obstacle—something that because of its commonality in the white community is taken for granted. Why is that joy missing from the rest of the American people?
So I congratulate Mr. Obama for his election. My prayers go out to him as my future leader. I hope that he will stay true to the values that shape this country. That the values of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are protected and not discarded. I pray that he does a great job as a leader and can prove me wrong for not supporting him. I pray that those of us who are struggling to find the good that can come from an Obama presidency to have faith. I pray for those who are doubtful that these people open their eyes and look at the common good and understand that Barack Obama will swear to uphold the Constitution of the United States to the best of his ability. We cannot judge him or condemn him—his actions lie between him and God. We must stand firm and stand up as Americans and as a people who serve their God and their country. God bless America.
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