Daily Struggles

Why is it so often such a struggle for us to do what is right? We start each day with the very best of intentions, and then somewhere along the line we mess up.

For those of you old enough to have been raised on the Baltimore Catechism, you will recall the first question, “Who made me”. The answer was “God made me”. I chose to believe that as “a matter of faith”. If I believed in God, then it was an easy leap to believe He made me. Not only did He make me but also, He made me in “His image and likeness. That part took a bit more work on my part. The catechism of the Catholic Church says this about being made in the image and likeness of God:

Jesus himself is the answer. It means to be holy and loving, to give oneself for the sake of others even to the point of death, so we might share eternally in God's life, our souls united again with our risen bodies. (Catechism, 459, 460).

As I got older, my understanding of the story of creation in Genesis grew from a literal to a figurative and symbolic story. I no longer believed, for instance, that creation took seven days, as we experience seven days. The kind sisters at school helped me to reconcile science and faith and how beautifully they fit together when viewed through the lens of faith.

It is clear when reading Genesis that Adam and Eve were special from all the other creatures. Being made in God’s image, it was possible for them to be drawn toward truth and love, and all the other great attributes we apply to God. They also had what no other creature had and that was a soul. The tricky part was the free will.

When Adam chose to believe the tempter’s lie, “You will be like gods”, he earned for us a weakness in our abilities to always choose what is right and good. Are we completely corrupt, as some believe? Absolutely not! The majority of our hearts and minds are ordered for good, for the glory of God. But, we did inherit a weakness of spirit that tells us that we can be “as gods”, and worse, make it sound perfectly rational.

So, what are we to do, gentle reader? Awareness is the answer. We spend more time being aware of the dangers the world poses for our goods than we do to the dangers to our souls. We lock our houses, put alarms on our cars, and wear white at night. We need to remind ourselves every morning that we will be tested to choose good over evil. Every time we choose virtue, we will be strengthened and will be in conformity with the “image and likeness of God”.

Have a wonderful and temptation free day.

It's a Matter of Faith

What is faith? In Hebrews 11-1 it says, “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.”

I was blessed to have experienced a first rate Catholic education by way of Catholic grade school and Catholic high school. I was also blessed to have a first rate Catholic Mom who really knew her stuff. Almost daily we had wonderful theological type discussions around the house, but often we got to the place where my Mom’s answer was always, “it’s a matter of faith”. For a young person, that was the equivalent of; “Because I said so”. It was the signal there was to be no more discussion on that subject. Accept what I am telling you and believe it – because it is true and, “because I said so”.

And accept it I did, because it was true. Now, wasn’t that simple, gentle readers? When we turn into big people we have this need to make everything so complicated. We fret and stew over every little truth presented to us. We don’t study up on all this God stuff because it’s interesting or fun. Oh no, we rip it down to its tiniest molecule, pin it up on a board like a dead butterfly, and then congratulate ourselves for having “found” faith.

That’s not how we “get” faith. Faith is a gift from God. If you’re waiting for it to come to you by way of a burning bush, you may have a very long wait. God gifted me with faith through my Mother and the Sisters who taught me at school. Your faith may come through another quiet little source, but only if you ask and are prepared to get your ego out of the way.

Sunday Assignment

Good afternoon kids of St. George's.

This is what you will be doing this week. Please go here where you will find a video. Watch the video and then return here and leave a comment. In your comment please let me know if viewing this video changed how you feel about the life you are blessed to lead.

I expect to hear from you by Thursday at the latest. If you do not have a blogger account just use anonymous but, be sure and sign your name at the bottom of your comment.

Clay Pigeons

Over the years, I have encountered many fallen away Catholics. Most of them had pretty lame reasons for their split with the Church. My favorite is the grown man who is still ticked because Sister So Mean smacked his precious little knuckles. I always ask if he deserved to have his knuckles smacked, and he will readily agree that he was a hellion and deserved everything that Sister doled out in his direction.

Others ran right up against those boundaries that the Church in her infinite wisdom has given us, and decided their will should be done, not His. You can usually plug sex, alcohol or drugs into that little equation.

But the saddest of all are the ones who just drift away. Usually their religous formation was quite poor and life just got in the way.

I have a 75 year old friend from AA (who shall remain anonymous) who was what I call a "drifter". Raised in a convent, she was caught up in the life of an alcoholic, which just runs smack up against those boundaries. Sober now for 39 years, she just never made it back into the fold. Every so often over the past few years, I would ask her if she would like to go to church. I even snagged her one Easter with the promise of a big meal.

About six months ago, she came up to me after our AA meeting and asked if she could go to church with us the following Sunday. Careful to keep my expression neutral, I simply said, ok. After church, she suggested that it was time to perhaps have a meeting with Father Bill, our fearless leader. More neutral face - ok.

Father Bill graciously went to her home and the rest is history as they, whoever the heck "they" are, says.

Several weeks later, she was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer. I'm on my way this morning to take her breakfast and bring her communion. Food for the soul and food for the body. What an unbeatable combination!!

What's the point? Glad you asked. When my Catholic friends get frustrated about the "state of the church" or the "drifted away", I simply tell them to concentrate on the "one" and forget the "many". The "many" is made up of lots and lots of "ones". That is the reason you don't use a shot gun in a shooting gallery. These folks have become my "clay pigeons", and I pick them off one at a time. Just picture a shooting gallery with all these little clay pigeons scooting along, and as they go by, you just pick them off - one by one.

I suggested to Father that we should be able pick a prize, perhaps a purple stuffed St. Francis, for each returning Catholic. We could even hang all our prize choices behind the altar as an incentive. He tabled that suggestion along with the one for selling indulgences as a way to raise money for the building fund.

Have a glorious and holy day.

Boundaries

The official word from the Catholic Church, the Body of Christ here on earth, is that it exists to continue Christ's mission on earth, the mission of his Incarnation. The mission of love. We're here to proclaim God's love and the good news of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. We're here to make disciples of all nations. It exists to sanctify and teach.

One of the most important things it does is set boundaries. We all need these boundaries, these rules. Without them we tend to go a little crazy. Watch a child that has never been given boundaries or, even worse, one whose boundaries change depending on what kind of day Mom is having. You will find an unhappy, crazy little kid who then is slapped with the label "brat".

Big people need boundaries and structure, too. By following the teachings of the Catholic Church we don't have to start each day wondering where the cheese is hidden. We are free to just get on with the business of life.

Catholic Dog

Elle' is a truly, true Catholic Dog. She even has blessed biscuits on Sunday. Often she uses Pope Benedict's Jesus of Nazareth as a head rest when she naps. Just absorbing the word through her little skull.

Ordinarily she wears a much more holy bandanna but her groomer thought a Halloween theme was in order.

Rules

Since this blog is new I thought it best to give an idea of where it may be headed. I will be posting rules on the sidebar but a lengthier explanation is in order.

One of the biggest complaints I hear from our RCIA students is when some of the teachers speak over their level of comprehension. As a result certain words will be banned although the punishment for using them will not be added to a person’s Purgatory sentence. Since I am likely to refer to the hierarchy of the church as its “pecking order” or “the food chain” and Nicodemus as something used to help a person quit smoking, it is a criticism I have avoided.

Hermeneutics, exegesis, anything in Latin and, God forbid, concupiscence are wonderful words. They are just words that may run off the very folks I want to attract. Peter Kreeft, who is one of my all time favorites, writes simply and to the point. No doubt he knows lots and lots of big ten dollar words but doesn’t feel the need to use them.

Please don’t misunderstand; I love all those big important words. I wallow in the words like a pig in a mud puddle. I even maintain a notebook with all the big important words written down with their definitions. That means I really want the rest of you to sling them around like confetti on New Year’s Eve. Just try not to use them here.
May God bless all of you for the wonderful work you do on your blogs and providing all of us with so many new insights into our wonderful Catholic faith. A special thanks to Uncle Jim and Adoro for holding this newbie up in their prayers.

What Would be the Reason for Living?

During one of my first classes with the 7th - 12th graders this year we were discussing the ways in which it was possible to know there was a God. I suggested to them it may all be a huge joke and therefore we had no reason to be spending our Sunday mornings together learning about the Catholic faith.
As I led them through the different ways to know God we came to the question of what life would be like if there was no God. One of my brightest little gals, a 7th grader, looked up and said, "What would be the reason for living". Indeed!!

I must be the dumbest blogger ever!!

Well, here I am after a long spell of avoiding this new endeavor. Since I am seriously ADD it is no wonder that I've been hiding out.



Just sitting here sniffling with a cold and wondering how to actually do anything with this blog. Spent the past two or three hours on various blog blogs (now that's cute) that are just for newbies like myself. But, looking around I see people that are not near as smart as I am just blogging their little hearts out. On the other hand, I also see people that scare me because they are obviously way, way smarter than yours truly. Just the prescription for paralyzing an adult with ADD.



I see Father Tim has visited me - Hi! Father Tim. Be patient with me as I figure this all out.