October 31, 2012

I promise, I will catch up! For now, I have a family obligation that requires my attention...

Bear with me!!! 

We should be back on schedule by the end of the week!!!!

Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?

Well, it's that time of year, ghosties and goblins roaming the neighborhoods...although these days, you are more likely to see a flock of Angry Birds and various incarnations of crime-fighting heroes mingling with the more traditional princesses, monsters and cereal -boxes.

And every year, the question comes up....should Christians be celebrating Halloween?

Our area is pretty conservative, and loaded with churches, Catholic, non-Catholic and non-Christian. The United Methodist church down the street from our house holds "trunk-or-treat."  Another area church sponsors "Eternal Destination- Hell House," which they do not outright describe, but you get the point.

With a heavy Hispanic population, we also have our Dia de los Muertos commemorations popping up, too.

What to do? How do you tackle the subject of the origins of Halloween with young, impressionable minds?

After raising seven young Catholic Americans, my advice ( take it or leave it) is this: let them have fun. Let them eat candy ( as long as they share with Mom and Dad). If you have enough kids, dress up as Snow White, Prince Charming and the Seven Dwarves. (Yeah. We did. We came in 2nd place to the Village People) And never let them forget the real meaning of Halloween: it is the eve ( vigil) of All Saint's day.

You see, the American incarnation of Halloween is just that: American. When I was in high school, our foreign exchange students never had any idea what was going on- can you imagine trying to explain it? "Kids dress up in costumes and knock on doors all over the neighborhood begging for candy. And almost everyone gives them some."

While some insist Halloween itself is pagan ( and there have been over the centuries and are pagan influences in its observance now), Halloween as a CHRISTIAN holiday dates back to the very early AD 600's: it is the night before All Saints' Day, a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics ( meaning we go to Mass either the evening of 10/31 or the morning of 11/1...unless either of those days is already a Saturday or Sunday).

On All Saints' day, we honor those who have gone before us, marked with the sign of faith. You see, while the Church tells us when investigation has shown we can be certain a person is in heaven, there are countless souls who have not received that official designation ( called canonization), but whose souls are in heaven. All Saints' Day is for them, their own personal feast day. And the following day- November 2nd, we celebrate All Souls' Day, remembering the holy souls in purgatory, awaiting their entrance into heaven.

(We'll talk more about purgatory in November, because we take the entire month of November to pray in a special way for those who have died.)

So...how to approach Halloween with young ones if you want to avoid to spooky stuff?

Look at the heroes of our faith: the saints.

When I taught at St Charles, I had the 7th graders dress as saints and we did a presentation for the younger PSR students. When I post this on Facebook, I'll be curious to see if any of my former students say anything remembering that day. Haley, Lizzie, Jessica, Stephen, Jackie- I remember Chris... I do remember Jenny as St Francis of Assisi and Debbie as St Gianna Beretta Molla. Bailey as St Elizabeth Ann Seton. Corey was---a bishop-- and he had his OWN mitre... I think he was St Charles... (I know some of you I had 4th grade, but not 7th...)

When I was Catechetical Leader at St John's, I encouraged the children- and teachers- to dress up for our Halloween party.... as a saint or any person, living or dead, who has been a holy example in their lives. I dressed one year as Sister Mary Johnene Wellman ( of happy memory, who asked me to start teaching PSR- I blame her :-) ) There were many great examples. Priests and nuns and aunts and -yes- the occasional canonized saint. Emily, Savanah, Maddie, Bryce, Nicole, Schylar, MacKenzie, Colton... and their folks- any memories? Lucas and Jason both dressed as priests, though different years... Andrew was his grandfather, our deacon. Bryce was his dad.

We also took that day of our party to write on crosses the names of loved ones who have passed away and parishioners lost in the previous year. We put them on a bulletin board and prayed for them at the beginning and end of every class during November.

It was what Halloween should be, a joyful celebration of life and of our hope in Jesus Christ, and thanksgiving for the holy men and women he puts in our lives, who truly are the heroes of our faith....and a reminder that we must never forget to pray for the souls of those who have left our sight on this earth.

Let's reclaim Halloween as the Christian holiday it is meant to be!

The First Glorious Mystery- The Resurrection of Jesus

The First Glorious Mystery- The Resurrection of Jesus

Several years ago, we started attended the Easter Vigil Mass (rather than Easter Sunday) again because our children as a group were old enough. The incident is recorded in the annals of Alderman history. Consider it our version of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.  I'll not go into it here. We'll just say that after the Mass, the associate pastor and the two of our offspring who were serving couldn't wait to hustle over and find out what was so outrageously funny in the Alderman pew.

The final incident in the string of you-can't make-this-stuff-up comedic moments...the one that sent us all over the edge, went like this:
       The pastor ( who was not my biggest fan to begin with) was giving his homily. He talked about the first commemoration of Easter after Christ rose from the dead- in essence, the first Easter Vigil. How the apostles built a fire and waited through the night. "They waited. And they waited. And do you know what they were waiting for?" he asked.

A small voice beside me answered loudly , "The Easter Bunny?"

Yeah. Boy, did I get a look from the pulpit.




Most of us have had the experience of standing at a graveside. The rite of committal is over, it is time to leave. Time to go home.

It seems difficult to do, though. It seems so final. No one wants to be the first to walk away...eventually someone does, perhaps with some parting words to the immediate family. A few people will linger longer than others,

Imagine how the followers of Jesus felt. They had rolled the stone in front of the grave to close it. It was time to leave, the sun was setting and it was the eve of a holy day. They had to go.

Confusion. Sorrow. Despair. Loneliness.

We know how they felt. How empty that evening and the next day must have been without their friend, their teacher. How painful it must have been, replaying the events of Friday, realizing how they had let him down, how they had not been there for him. Conversation was, I'm sure, difficult, as they each confronted their sorrow and guilt in their own way.

Sunday morning. The women go to the tomb to complete the burial rituals for which there had not been time.
Get your Bible.
Matthew 28:1-10
Mark 16:1-8
Luke 24:1-12
John 20 1-18

While the accounts differ slightly, that does not mean there is conflict among them. In fact, most of the details can easily be formed into one account.

So contrast the feelings on that first Easter Sunday with those on Good Friday. I'm betting they were still plenty confused, but were they starting to piece it together?

"Destroy this temple and I will raise it up in three days" John 2:19
"And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and [of] the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again." Mark 8:31
"From that time forth began Jesus to tell his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day."  Matthew 16:21

...it was more than they could dare hope.

Hope is the lesson of the First Glorious Mystery. We stand by the grave, and we hope. We hope that everything Christ is promised is true. We hope that those we love are in a better place. We hope that one day, we, too, will share in that promise. And we always must remember that we cannot get to Easter Sunday without first journeying through Good Friday.

The Fifth Sorrowful Mystery- Jesus Dies on the Cross

The Fifth Sorrowful Mystery- Jesus Dies on the Cross

When my youngest daughter was 3 1/2, we attended a Mass at Historic St Patrick's in Toledo, OH.

We sat in the pew before Mass began, and she gazed at the large crucifix which hung quite near us. It was a beautiful perspective that made me feel as though I was at the foot of the cross.... as though I was at Calvary.

Already rather precocious in her faith, my daughter gazed at the crucifix as I watched her. Without taking her eyes from it, she asked, "Mommy, why did Jesus have to die?"

Well, there's the $64 thousand-dollar question. Holy cow!

Why did Jesus have to die? How do you answer that for anyone, let alone a three-year-old??

And in one of those moments in which you know the Holy Spirit is right there with you, I put my arm around her and was able to give her an answer:

"Jesus had to die because we forget how to love one another."

After a brief "hey-that-wasn't-a-bad answer" gloat, I thought about it....it really is the answer, isn't it?

We forget how to love each other, and that is where a good chunk of the misery in the world originates.

We don't stop and think how deeply a wise-crack can cut.
We forget that to truly love a person, we must always make our choices for that person's benefit, not based on what we want for ourselves.
We forget that people we see every day carry hidden hurts that affect how they present themselves, and we judge them based on what we see.

We refuse to give up the sinful pride that goes all the way back to Adam and Eve- the pride that was the original sin that has reached through the ages and led to a little girl's question.

Why did Jesus have to die? ...Because we forget how to love one another.....The lesson of the Fifth Sorrowful Mystery.

The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery- Jesus Takes Up His Cross

The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery- Jesus Takes Up His Cross

Jesus told his disciples they must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him. (MT 16:24, MK 8:34, LK 9:23)

It sounds so sanitary...just pick up the cross and follow.  Even gazing upon the crucifixes in churches, they are ( for the most part) neat, clean... You'll even find parishes that have an atrocity known as the 'risen Christ' crucifix. we're jumping ahead, but Jesus died on the cross, he didn't rise from it.

But I digress.

Contrary to the 'health and wealth' or 'prosperity' gospel preached by some, my Bible reads differently. If we are disciples, we take up the cross, and we walk the path Jesus walked.

If you go to Jerusalem and walk the Via Dolorosa, you will be surprised at how it is marked. Simple Roman-numeral plaques mounted on walls designate each of the traditional Stations of the Cross, until you approach the last few which are all contained in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  Along the way, you are reminded of the insults, taunt and abuse that was all part of the sport of crucifixion. The crowd would join in- it wasn't only the soldiers.

And the condemned had to face it alone, crushed under the weight of the cross- or at least the cross-beam. It was a spectacle. A bloody, violent, humiliating spectacle.

And Jesus? He did it after the horrendous night before: betrayed by his disciple, abandoned by his friends, whipped, beaten, spat upon, crowned with thorns....and now- when it is difficult to imagine him having any strength left...he takes up the heavy wood and bears it alone.

Until Simon of Cyrene is pressed into service. Imagine how embarrassing it was for Simon, but he didn't have a choice.

We all have crosses, the trials and hardships of life. And I know, sometimes I wonder how I will get through them- especially when I feel so terribly alone.

But we are never truly alone. We have a Savior who walked the road before us...and is waiting for us at it's end.

The Third Sorrowful Mystery- Jesus is Crowned with Thorns

The Third Sorrowful Mystery- Jesus is Crowned with Thorns

MT 27:27-31, MK 15:16-20, JN 19:2-3

The crowning with thorns took place immediately after the scourging; Jesus' back, bruised and raw, was draped with a heavy scarlet (more of a purplish- red) military cloak, likely made of wool. The fabric would have absorbed the blood and stuck to the wounds. Then the soldiers wove a crown of thorny barbs and didn't just place it- crammed it- onto his head.

These guys didn't mess around.

It was a mob-mentality thing. Who can some up with a more humiliating, more vicious way to treat the prisoner? It was a game.

The descriptions in the Gospels are bad enough. it makes you wonder what they did to Jesus that didn't make it onto the pages.

 And when they were through, they tore the cloak off his back, re-opening the wounds from the scourging.


What lesson can we possibly learn from this?

How do we in any way mock and humiliate Jesus Christ?

How do you feel about the the Church's stand on artificial contraception?
Artificial/ In-vitro fertilization?
Divorce?
Female priests?
Abortion?
The Real Presence in the Eucharist?

How do you treat the gift of your sexuality?
How many porn sites have you visited?
Read 50 Shades of Gray?
Do you masturbate?
Pre-marital and extra-marital sex?
Lusted after anyone lately?

Are you completely and totally honest in your dealings with other people?
Are you on Facebook while you are at work?
Do you give back incorrect change?

When's the last time you saw the inside of a confessional?

The Lord gave us his Bride, the Church, as a lawful authority and presence in our lives. The Church stands as the visible body of Christ, and we are compelled to obey the Church by our love of the God who loved us so much he didn't spare his own Son...just so we could be happy in heaven with him one day.

Spurning that lawful authority, we are the soldiers crowning Jesus with thorns, mocking him and spitting in his face.

That is the lesson of the Third Sorrowful Mystery.


For a more complete---practically exhaustive list of Sins That Must Be Confessed, ( in English and Spanish!) follow the link.  Write down each one you are guilty of, and be humbled. Then go to Confession and get rid of it all!!!!!!!!

The Second Sorrowful Mystery- The Scourging at the Pillar

The Second Sorrowful Mystery- The Scourging at the Pillar

MT 27:26, MK 15:15, JN 19:1

The Gospels are remarkably silent on the scourging. Pretty much all they say is "Pilate had Jesus scourged."

Which makes one wonder.... WHY? Why not say more?

The answer is simple- because their readers fully understood what scourging meant.

Some years ago, I read a book called A Doctor at Calvary by Pierre Barbet. It was a difficult read for two reasons. First, it was originally written in French, and was translated into English by a native speaker of French, so a lot of the phrasing was awkward. Second, the subject matter. Through extensive research, Barbet learned the physiology of Roman crucifixion, and the antecedent torture that usually accompanied it.

After whichever-Pope-it-was read it, he received Barbet and with tears told him, "We didn't know.No one had ever told us."

I have not seen- I refuse to see- "The Passion of the Christ", because I know what happens; A Doctor at Calvary was one of the references Mel Gibson used when writing the screenplay. Besides, I won't watch "Titanic" either.  [SPOILER ALERT: the boat sinks. I hope I didn't ruin it for you :-) ]

Long, gruesome story short, scourging was done with leather straps tied to a stick. Each of the straps had a lead weight at the end. The weights pummeled and tenderized the skin of the victim, then the leather straps eventually sliced open the bruised skin. It was so severe, many victims never made it to their crosses.


Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, While we thought of him as stricken, as one smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins, Upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed. (Isaiah 53:4-5)

In a coloring book about the Rosary that I wrote some years ago, this mystery is represented by a picture of Jesus back. The color-er was to add the scourge marks... remembering that each of them was inflicted by each of us individually. I did that. You did it, too. Every sin, Jesus took the hit. No one ever wanted to take the red crayon to that page. Until I went through an examination of conscience with them and asked them to make a mark every time they had committed a sin I mentioned. Most of the students were in tears by the time we finished.


Prior to the order to scourge Jesus, Pilate offered a deal to the people. He would release a prisoner to them. He really wanted to release Jesus, but when offered them a choice, they chose the prisoner Barabbas.

The prefix BAR. Means "son of."   ABBAS... was a title Jesus used addressing God the Father. It is the equivalent of "dad" or "father."   The people called for the release of Barabbas.... the son of the father. Hmmmmmmmm......... makes you think, doesn't it?

Now, let's get back to Pilate for a moment. He really did try to find a way to set Jesus free- especially after the dream his wife had to "not interfere in the case of that holy man." (MT27:19) Her concern was for her husband, not Jesus. Pilate repeatedly said he found no guilt in Jesus. yet he failed to stand up the crowd because he was afraid.

Lesson #1 of the Second Sorrowful Mystery- sin is an ugly word. And every time I sin, I add another lashing to Jesus' back. Kinda puts things in perspective, doesn't it?

Lesson #2- When your gut is telling you what is right, and the crowd says the opposite...do the right thing.

The HHS Mandate- What It Is and Why YOU Should Care

Isn't it funny...the people who tell the Catholic Church to stay out of their bedrooms are the same people who want the Church to pay for the paraphernalia for what they are doing in their bedrooms.  

This is NOT about an employer forcing an employee to do anything. The items in question are easily and cheaply available. This is about the government forcing employers to provide free to their employees items which are contrary to their deeply- held religious beliefs. We are talking about drugs that kill unborn children ( which is one way hormone-based contraception works; abortion drugs are mega-doses of hormonal contraceptives). We are talking about hormonal contraceptives which are considered Class One carcinogens by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer. ( look toward the bottom of page 2 )
They include:
Estrogen therapy, postmenopausal
Estrogen-progestogen menopausal therapy (combined)
Estrogen-progestogen oral contraceptives

Yeah.... Cancer-causing drugs really sound like health care.....

In January, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a mandate under the Affordable Care Act (also known as “Obamacare”) that requires all employer health plans to provide free contraceptives, sterilizations and abortion-inducing drugs, regardless of any moral or religious objections.  

From: http://standupforreligiousfreedom.com/docs/HHSMandateFactSheet.pdf

This means that every single employer- all of them- will be REQUIRED to offer health insurance coverage that covers contraceptives, sterilizations and abortion-inducing drugs at ZERO cost to employees. 

The religious exemption that President Obama promised? That only covers employers that meet ALL of the following conditions:

1. EMPLOY primarily members of their own faith
2. SERVE primarily members of their own faith
3. EXIST primarily to spread their own faith
4. NON-PROFIT STATUS per the IRS

As Archbishop Charles J. Chaput (shaa-PEW) so wisely noted, "Under this view, Jesus and his disciples would have been deemed not religious enough."

This means that the many non-Catholic employees of Catholic Hospitals, schools, parishes, and charities would be at risk for losing their jobs.

Can you imagine needing to present your baptismal certificate to be treated in the ER of a Catholic hospital?

But- WAIT- since the purpose of a hospital is not to spread the faith, IT DOESN'T QUALIFY as a religious institution!

What are the consequences if a religious institution does not qualify under the exemption rules and refuses to provide the required coverage? The fine is $100 PER DAY, PER EMPLOYEE. That's right $36,500 a year per employee.

For doing what is right.

As a side note, Obamacare has no provisions to add any doctors for the 30 million new covered patients (still leaving 26 million without any insurance coverage), but will add thousands of  IRS agents to collect those fines!

It's only fair, according to some....
According to Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, however, the Obamacare mandate is not a tax, although she told CNN the IRS would be the most effective enforcer.

“This is a penalty that will be assessed on the tax return if you choose to roll the dice and make us all pay for your being irresponsible and increase all of our health care costs,” she told Wolf Blitzer. “We’re not going to tolerate that any more in America. You have to be responsible and you have to pay a penalty if you choose not to be,” she warned.

Sigh. 

Now, you may say, in February, the President announced an 'accommodation' for religious groups! Do you know what is was? The EMPLOYER would not pay for the above-mentioned-unacceptable-items, but the INSURANCE companies will!  Isn't that nice!!

But what about the self-insured Catholic employer- the Diocese of Toledo, for example? Well, since they ARE the insurer, they have to pay! 

The most eloquent and easy-to-understand explanation I have seen belongs to Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, CT, who testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. It is below in its entirety, and well worth your time to read it.

Here’s Bishop Lori’s testimony as submitted to the Committee:

For my testimony today, I would like to tell a story. Let’s call it, “The Parable of the Kosher Deli.”

Once upon a time, a new law is proposed, so that any business that serves food must serve pork. There is a narrow exception for kosher catering halls attached to synagogues, since they serve mostly members of that synagogue, but kosher delicatessens are still subject to the mandate.

The Orthodox Jewish community—whose members run kosher delis and many other restaurants and grocers besides—expresses its outrage at the new government mandate. And they are joined by others who have no problem eating pork—not just the many Jews who eat pork, but people of all faiths—because these others recognize the threat to the principle of religious liberty. They recognize as well the practical impact of the damage to that principle. They know that, if the mandate stands, they might be the next ones forced—under threat of severe government sanction—to violate their most deeply held beliefs, especially their unpopular beliefs.

Meanwhile, those who support the mandate respond, “But pork is good for you. It is, after all, the other white meat.” Other supporters add, “So many Jews eat pork, and those who don’t should just get with the times.” Still others say, “Those Orthodox are just trying to impose their beliefs on everyone else.”

But in our hypothetical, those arguments fail in the public debate, because people widely recognize the following.

First, although people may reasonably debate whether pork is good for you, that’s not the question posed by the nationwide pork mandate. Instead, the mandate generates the question whether people who believe—even if they believe in error—that pork is not good for you, should be forced by government to serve pork within their very own institutions. In a nation committed to religious liberty and diversity, the answer, of course, is no.

Second, the fact that some (or even most) Jews eat pork is simply irrelevant.

The fact remains that some Jews do not—and they do not out of their most deeply held religious convictions. Does the fact that large majorities in society—even large majorities within the protesting religious community—reject a particular religious belief make it permissible for the government to weigh in on one side of that dispute? Does it allow government to punish that minority belief with its coercive power? In a nation committed to religious liberty and diversity, the answer, of course, is no.

Third, the charge that the Orthodox Jews are imposing their beliefs on others has it exactly backwards. Again, the question generated by a government mandate is whether the government will impose its belief that eating pork is good on objecting Orthodox Jews.

 Meanwhile, there is no imposition at all on the freedom of those who want to eat pork. That is, they are subject to no government interference at all in their choice to eat pork, and pork is ubiquitous and cheap, available at the overwhelming majority of restaurants and grocers. Indeed, some pork producers and retailers, and even the government itself, are so eager to promote the eating of pork, that they sometimes give pork away for free.

In this context, the question is this: can a customer come to a kosher deli, demand to be served a ham sandwich, and if refused, bring down severe government sanction on the deli. In a nation committed to religious liberty and diversity, the answer, of course, is no.

So in our hypothetical story, because the hypothetical nation is indeed committed to religious liberty and diversity, these arguments carry the day.

In response, those proposing the new law claim to hear and understand the concerns of kosher deli owners, and offer them a new “accommodation.” You are free to call yourself a kosher deli; you are free not to place ham sandwiches on your menu; you are free not to be the person to prepare the sandwich and hand it over the counter to the customer. But we will force your meat supplier to set up a kiosk on your premises, and to offer, prepare, and serve ham sandwiches to all of your customers, free of charge to them.

And when you get your monthly bill from your meat supplier, it will include the cost of any of the “free” ham sandwiches that your customers may accept. And you will, of course, be required to pay that bill.

Some who supported the deli owners initially began to celebrate the fact that ham sandwiches didn’t need to be on the menu, and didn’t need to be prepared or served by the deli itself. But on closer examination, they noticed three troubling things. First, all kosher delis will still be forced to pay for the ham sandwiches.

Second, many of the kosher delis’ meat suppliers, themselves, are forbidden in conscience from offering, preparing, or serving pork to anyone. Third, there are many kosher delis that are their own meat supplier, so the mandate to offer, prepare, and serve the ham sandwich still falls on them.

This story has a happy ending. The government recognized that it is absurd for someone to come into a kosher deli and demand a ham sandwich; that it is beyond absurd for that private demand to be backed with the coercive power of the state; that it is downright surreal to apply this coercive power when the customer can get the same sandwich cheaply, or even free, just a few doors down.

The question before the United States government—right now—is whether the story of our own Church institutions that serve the public, and that are threatened by the HHS mandate, will end happily too. Will our nation continue to be one committed to religious liberty and diversity? We urge, in the strongest possible terms, that the answer must be yes. We urge you, in the strongest possible terms, to answer the same way.

Thank you for your attention.

******

Wasn't that great? So....should a religious employer- or any employer for that matter- be required to have its health insurance pay for services that are morally unacceptable to the employer?

The answer is a resounding NO.

Not in a free country.

Not in a country which has the First Freedom listed in its Constitution, FREEDOM OF RELIGION.

Not in America.

Ever.

The First Sorrowful Mystery- The Agony in the Garden

The First Sorrowful Mystery- The Agony in the Garden

After the Last Supper, Jesus went to Gethsemane to pray (Luke 22:39 and following). He knelt and prayed, "Father, if it is your will, take this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done" (vs 42). Luke tells us an angel comforted Christ, who prayed so intensely that his sweat 'became like drops of blood falling to the ground" (vs 44). He then found his disciples asleep.

Twenty-seven years ago this summer, I stood in Gethsemane while on my honeymoon. I was profoundly moved by the place, which is a simple olive grove with a requisite church commemorating Christ's prayer, betrayal and arrest there. I felt like I should pray, but what should I pray? I couldn't conjure a prayer.  An Our Father was the best I could summon as the tour group was moving on.

Fifteen years later during Holy Week, I found myself leaving the confessional with a prayer-penance that was....well....different, for me anyway. Not certain how to approach it, I returned the following day for guidance. I explained my dilemma to the (different) priest, who suggested, "Think of Jesus in Gethsemane."

Now, I did not know this priest well at the time ( it's Fr. Ross for those of you wondering :-)) , but I will tell you this: no amount of psychology, no amount of seminary training could have known how deeply those words reached me. Every Christian has a reaction to Gethsemane, but he had no way of knowing I had been there 15 years prior- with difficulty praying. Problem solved, just be in the Lord's presence in prayer, he'll take care of the rest.

Lesson # 1 of the First Sorrowful Mystery: We speak to and are spoken to by the priest in Confession, but never forget: it is really Jesus Christ doing the talking! He stands in persona Christi - and the Lord will speak to you through him- if you are willing to listen.

Fast-forward another five years. I was facing surgery for something I shouldn't have had to have surgery for. It wasn't my fault; I had done everything right...and I was not happy about it. I was 30 years old and the only surgery before that was a tonsillectomy when I was five. I was scared, I'll admit it. And I knew that despite the bad situation, the Lord could make good come from it... I just didn't understand why it had to be this way.

So I prayed. It was a Tuesday, so I prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries. I never got past the first decade, I got stuck in Gethsemane.

Remember waaaayyy back in the second blog entry- when I talked about meditating on the mysteries as you say the prayers?  I pictured the quintessential Gethsemane picture...Jesus next to a big rock, hands clenched, angel ... and the only words I could hear were: Father, if it is your will, take this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done....over and over again.

I knew the Lord was telling me, "We can do this your way, or we can do it MY way. In the long run, my way works out better....but you must drink from the cup."  I drank. Deeply. And amazing things have happened.

To this day, when I receive the Precious Blood, my prayer before I drink is : Lord, your will- not mine.  Some days, I know I'm not ready to say that, so I don't receive from the cup. (Which is fine, because we receive Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity even when we receive under one species only) Also, for those who pay attention to these things, I won't drink from a glass cup at Mass. And some days I don't receive from the cup because I don't feel well.

Lesson #2 of the First Sorrowful Mystery: When we do "drink from the cup" the Lord has for us, we are surrendering ourselves to God's will in our lives. Buckle up: powerful things will happen! 

The words "his sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground" had always mystified me. While there is a medical condition that occurs under severe stress that can cause the capillaries to burst and allow blood to leak from the pores and mix with blood, I'm not positive that is what happened. I always imagined Jesus sweat so profusely that it was literally dripping off on him. Either way, the guy was under a LOT of pressure, who wouldn't be?

And what are his friends doing?

They are asleep.

In other Gospels, we hear Jesus three times ask them to stay awake with him, even if just for an hour.

Lesson #3 of the First Sorrowful Mystery: When you have a friend going through a tough time, just be there. Even if you don't have a thing to say, not a single word of comfort. Your presence alone will be comfort beyond words, and your absence would be missed.

Oh- and keeping watch with the Lord for an hour? That is where the tradition of a Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament originates.

Will you keep watch with him for an hour?

Don't know what to say"

Just be in the Lord's presence in prayer, he'll take care of the rest!

The Fifth Luminous Mystery- The Institution of the Eucharist

The Fifth Luminous Mystery- The Institution of the Eucharist

This is- so far- the most difficult Mystery for me to write about, not because the subject matter is so difficult, but because there is SO MUCH to say! 

You know the story of the Last Supper. We hear the words at every Mass. ..."Do this in remembrance of me."

Those are very important words, and they sent a clear message to those who heard Jesus speak them. You see, "remember" had a far deeper meaning for them than it does for us, especially in the context of the Passover meal Jesus was celebrating with his disciples. In the Passover meal, the Jews believe they are joining at that moment with everyone who has ever eaten the Passover, and with everyone who will ever eat the Passover. It makes all time present in that moment, when they remember God bringing them out of slavery and to freedom. And the guest of honor at the Passover meal was the lamb. It was by the blood of the lamb that they were protected....but there was another specification: everyone present was required to eat of the flesh of the lamb that had been sacrificed, whose blood was poured out.

See where this is going? 

Now. Grab your Bible ( or Google) the Gospel of John, chapter 6. Read it now. Go ahead, I'll wait!

Hum-de-dum-dum....  Back already? Did you really read it?  Go on, even if you think you know what it says. 

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John 6: 54-58  ( from USCCB.ORG )

Whoever eats^* my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.55For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.57Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

****

Notice- not once, not twice but THREE times, Jesus says you must eat his flesh. Ever wonder why we say HOLY HOLY HOLY during Mass? Or repeat LAMB OF GOD three times? It is because in Hebrew, there are no comparative or superlative forms. So, you cannot say something is 'better' or 'best,'  but it can be GOOD GOOD or GOOD GOOD GOOD. Repetition was also used for emphasis.

Yes. I know Jesus spoke Aramaic. Yes, I know the Gospels were written in Greek. But Jesus also spoke Hebrew ( he could read from the scrolls in the temple), and the literary form of repetition for emphasis was understood then- and is even used in writing and speaking today, because it works, it gets the message across. 

This is what the  United States Council of Catholic Bishops say about the above-cited passage: 

[6:54–58] Eats: the verb used in these verses is not the classical Greek verb used of human eating, but that of animal eating: “munch,” “gnaw.” This may be part of John’s emphasis on the reality of the flesh and blood of Jesus (cf. Jn 6:55), but the same verb eventually became the ordinary verb in Greek meaning “eat.”

When you look at the big picture, there can be no doubt in the reasonable persons mind: Jesus said we must eat his flesh- the flesh of the Lamb whose blood was poured out - if we want to have eternal life. 

When we join in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we are present for the ONE sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And we are doing exactly what he asked us to do.

In the Fifth Luminous Mystery, we remember what we may take for granted: the Eucharist is the Real Presence of Jesus Christ, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.

The Fourth Luminous Mystery- The Transfiguration

The Transfiguration appears in the synoptic Gospels (Matthew 17:1–9, Mark 9:2–8, Luke 9:28–36)  Peter, James and John climb the mountain with Jesus, whose appearance becomes radiant, blinding as the sun.

So, the question is WHY?

It stumped me for a long time.

OK, first we have the obvious significance of going to the mountaintop, which scripturally indicates an encounter with God is coming soon. (Think- MLK Jr.'s "I Have Been to the Mountaintop" speech- when he said that he had seen the Promised Land. He gave the speech the day before he died!!!!!)

So, we know an encounter with God is coming.

When Jesus is transfigured, Luke tells us that they "saw him in his glory." (LK 9:32)  There is an inkling that this was indeed, divine glory. Some believe this was an anticipation of Jesus' body glorified in the resurrection.

But why Moses and Elijah?   Various theologians have said  they were there to show Jesus is Lord of the living and the dead. Others believe that ( in light of the words God speaks in the account) it is to show that we should listen to Jesus instead of Moses and/or Elijah.

That didn't quite do it for me. Then it dawned on me: Moses and Elijah came as close as anyone ever did to meeting God face-to-face. The close encounter was enough to turn Moses hair white. But neither actually beheld the face of God, because no one could see the face of God- and live. (Ex 33:20) *

But Jesus IS God!

And there, on Mount Tabor, Moses and Elijah could finally do what they had not done: stand in the presence of God, look him in the eye... and live.


God had always been present to his people, but they could never see him. In Jesus, God makes himself visible and physically present to us...and the Transfiguration was a foretaste of the ultimate physical presence of Jesus Christ...which we'll discuss tomorrow!

The Transfiguration teaches us to long for holiness and being in the presence of God.  Twice now in the Luminous Mysteries, we have heard God the Father proclaim Jesus Christ as his Son, telling us to listen to him. There is only one way to God. While all religions have some elements of truth ( or they could not continue), there is only one truth, Jesus Christ. He started one Church. Only one. It is not easy to be a member of that Church, because you will suffer for telling people the truth out of love for them. There is no glory with first suffering, there is no Easter Sunday without Good Friday.  Do you have the courage to be a disciple?


*Two great stories from the Hebrew Scriptures are Ex 33:18-23, when God describes holding Moses so he is face- first into the mountain as God passes him...so all Moses gets to see is God's backside.  Another is Elijah's encounter with God on the mountain top in 1Kings 19.    Moses was given the covenant; Elijah's job was to restore it. They both received their commission on the mountaintop- in the presence of the Lord, but not seeing him.

The Third Luminous Mystery- The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God

The Third Luminous Mystery- The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God.

This Mystery is found in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 5, and may be recognized as the Sermon on the Mount.

Here we find the Beatitudes. Blessed are the poor in spirit...blessed are they who mourn...blessed are the meek...

None of them sound very promising on the surface, do they? I don't want to mourn. I don't want to be persecuted. I guess being meek and merciful is OK. But, really? That isn't what gets you ahead is this world!

And that is the point. The Beatitudes make no sense on the surface.

My St Charles friends... take a look at the doors next time you go to Mass. The stained glass ones. There are eight of them.

Take a look at all the stained glass, for that matter. Fr. Ross was brilliant when he had the concept for them a dozen years ago. I still marvel at them! The cupola contains the days of Creation, the side windows are the Corporal works of Mercy. The bell tower is "Peace and Justice."

Look at them from the outside. I specifically want you to look at those doors, because each one is a Beatitude, and there is above each door a plaque telling you what it is.

But from the outside, they don't make sense. They are grey and dark and formless.

From the inside? Ah, from the INSIDE, you can see what is happening!

The Beatitudes are the same way. It is only from INSIDE the church that they have meaning, when the light of the Son ( see what I did there? ) is shining through, illuminating them.

Then we can see: the mourning shall be comforted, the meek shall inherit the earth, the peacemakers shall be called sons of God... the persecuted for God's sake will have a great reward in heaven.

The Kingdom of Heaven will never make sense to those outside the Church, because the ways of the world are not the ways of God. But when we live the Beatitudes, his light shines through us and allows us to bring peace, and mercy and consolation and holiness to a world so desperately longing for them.

And that is the lesson of the Third Luminous Mystery.

The Second Luminous Mystery- the Wedding at Cana

The Second Luminous Mystery- the Wedding at Cana.( JN 2:1-12) 

My husband ( raised a Protestant) was taught the wedding at Cana was actually JESUS' wedding, perhaps to Mary Magdalene.  Scripture shows the cannot be true.

1-  in Jn 2:2 we read, "Jesus and his disciples had likewise been invited to the celebration." ( in addition to Mary, his mother.   The groom is not 'invited' to a wedding, his is the guest of honor. 

2- Mary informs Jesus "They have no more wine." (Jn 2:3) If it were Jesus' wedding, she would have said WE have no more wine.

3- Jesus replies, " How does this concern of yours involve me?" (Jn 2:4) If her were the groom, it most certainly would have been a concern of his.

Nope. Cana was not Jesus wedding.



Mary knew Jesus could help when the party ran out of wine ( 

a tremendous embarrassment ); the words she speaks in this passage are the last words of Mary in scripture: Do whatever he tells you.

See what she did there? She turned the attention back to Jesus. Again.

The First Luminous Mystery: Jesus sanctifies traditional marriage...he shows us that whatever we set before him, he will turn into something wonderful... and we learn to listen to Mary- who once again turns our attention away from herself and toward Christ- she tells us "DO WHATEVER HE TELLS YOU."

The First Luminous Mystery- the Baptism of Jesus

The Luminous Mysteries were added to the Rosary by Pope John Paul II ( the Great) in 2002. They fill inthe gap between the Joyful and the Sorrowful Mysteries.  A little different in character than the original ( Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious) mysteries in that they are not seen through Mary's eyes, they still keep the tradition of eventsin the life of Jesus Christ in which we see God at work, though we may not fully understand how or why.

First Luminous Mystery: The Baptism of Jesus. (MK 1 :1-11, also in other gospels) It seems ridiculous, doesn't it? John preached a baptism of repentance, Jesus had no sin to repent of. But- as 

in all things- Christ set the example for us through his own baptism. The CCC says this about Jesus's baptism:

537 Through Baptism the Christian is sacramentally assimilated to Jesus, who in his own baptism anticipates his death and resurrection. The Christian must enter into this mystery of humble self-abasement and repentance, go down into the water with Jesus in order to rise with him, be reborn of water and the Spirit so as to become the Father's beloved son in the Son and "walk in newness of life."

In this mystery we learn obedience and how to begin to conform our own lives to that of Christ.

The Fifth Joyful Mystery- The Finding in the Temple

The Fifth Joyful Mystery is the Finding in the Temple.

The Gospel of Luke tells of Jesus accompanying Mary and Joseph to Jerusalem for the Passover. On the trip home, a day and a half passed before Mary and Joseph realized he was not in the group ( he likely would have been with the other boys his age, and it was a large group....before anyone accuses his earthly parents 

of neglect :-) ). 

They found him in the Temple, listening and asking questions, and all who heard him were impressed by his intelligence. When Mary asked why he had caused them to worry, Jesus replied, "Did you not know I would be about my father's business." Some translations read "Did you not know I would be in my father's house?", He then returned home with them, was obedient to them and grew "in wisdom and age and grace before God and man." 

From Luke 2, vs 41 and following. Jesus was missing for 3 days total, a foreshadowing of another time he would be 'missing' for 3 days- and be about his father's business during that time. Notice also, he was not teaching, but asking questions.

I've often wondered what he asked them. His response to Mary shows us he had knowledge of why he was here. Were his questions perhaps Socratic? Regardless, he was showing the proper respect a 12 year-old boy should show in that situation. 

What do we learn from the Fifth Joyful Mystery? Respect for legitimate authority- teachers, parents, the Church.... Humility. Obedience. And all of these because we simply do not see as God sees. We must learn to trust that the wisdom and providence of God is better than anything we can come with on our own. If we do not, we run the risk of seeing ourselves as more omnipotent then God himself.

The Fourth Joyful Mystery- The Presentation

The Fourth Joyful Mystery is the Presentation.(LK 2:22-40) 

The Presentation (celebrated by the Church on February 2nd- 40 days after Christmas) recalls Mary and Joseph taking the infant Jesus to the temple for the ritual purification of Mary and the Jewish custom of the redemption of the firstborn. Here is our evidence that the Holy Family w

as, indeed, poor because their offering of small birds was allowed in Leviticus. The wealthy would offer a bull or a goat; the destitute could offer flour. Even though they had no need to make a sin offering for Mary's purification, they did anyway. This shows their desire to live according to the Law and their acceptance of God's will in their lives.

Simeon, upon seeing the child, recognizes him as the long-awaited Messiah and makes a prophecy about him; Anna tells every who will listen that she has seen the child.

Again- notice- the focus is on Christ. 

Candlemas (another name for this feast) is traditionally the day when candles are blessed for use at Mass during the year. The following day- Feb. 3rd is the Feast of St Blaise, Bishop and martyr...it is a tradition to bless throats with candles on St Blaise Day.

A beautiful Catholic tradition based on the Jewish custom has fallen out of use. It was called the "churching" and was a special blessing given to a mother the first time she returned to church after giving birth. If I had known about it when I was in baby-making mode, I would have asked for it!

The lesson of the Presentation? Parents are the first faith educators of their children. We set the example. When our children see us attending Mass every Sunday and Holy Day, when they see us go to Confession, when they see us pray we are teaching them far more than we could ever imagine...and we all know:our children watch what we say and do. All of us have the responsibility to raise children in the faith and to set the example of faithful following of the Lord and his Church.

The Third Joyful Mystery- The Nativity of Christ

The Third Joyful Mystery is the Nativity of Jesus Christ. 

God could have sent his son into the world any way he wanted. He chose to send him as a helpless infant. Why? 

Step back a moment and think about this -albeit absurd- example. You are a child and you can't get the lid off the peanut butter jar. There are two men who can help you: a mighty king on a throne, regaled in jewels and obvious sp

lendor, or a guy in jeans, t-shirt and sneakers, who actually looks a lot like you. Who is more easily approachable? 

Jesus Christ came as an infant, a helpless child, and lived the life we lived. He felt love. He felt friendship. He felt anger. He felt betrayal. He laughed. He grieved. He bled. He died. He loved us enough to enter our human experience so that we might enter HIS life. Like us in all things but sin, he took on our humanity so that we might have a share in his divinity : eternal life with him in heaven.

Why should we expect this life be easy for us, when our Lord didn't even make it easy on himself? His life is our example, his death our redemption, his rising our hope. 

The lesson of the Third Joyful Mystery is this: we can never know what greatness lies in the smallest of human life (even the pre-born). We must protect it, cherish it and nurture it for our Lord sanctified human life by taking on human flesh. He became our brother so we could become children of the Most High. Not bad for a homeless kid born to an unwed, teen mom.

 ***Now before you go chiding me, yes, I know Mary was betrothed, but she had no business being pregnant- which is why Joseph was going to divorce her. And they were traveling, not homeless...WORK WITH ME HERE :-) ***

The Second Joyful Mystery- The Visitation

The Second Joyful Mystery of the Rosary: The Visitation

Unable to pick up her cell and call her relative, Elizabeth, Mary set out to see for herself if what Gabriel said was true: Elizabeth- in her old age- was pregnant. When Mary entered Elizabeth's house, she called out to her, and what does Elizabeth say? " Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb!" (LK 1: 42) This 

is the next part of the HAIL MARY- yes, that is right! The HAIL MARY IS SCRIPTURAL!!

Now listen to Liz's next words: "But who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" (LK1:43) Yes, folks, you read it in the Bible: inspired by the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth calls MARY THE MOTHER OF THE LORD! Woo-Hoo!!!

Once again, though, Mary turns our gaze back to GOD! She begins her beautiful Magnificat: My soul magnifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my savior, for he has looked upon his servant in her lowliness and all ages to come shall call me blessed." (LK 1:46 and following- read it- it's quite beautiful)

SO---- Anytime you call that girl from Nazareth the BLESSED Mother- YOU, yes YOU are fulfilling Biblical prophecy. How cool is that!! LK 1:56 tells us Mary remained 3 months with Elizabeth. Gabriel had said Elizabeth was 6 months along....Mary likely (and this is my conjecture) stayed to help with the birth of--------JOHN THE BAPTIST, who as we saw in LK 1:41, already recognized the presence of Christ when the two were in their mothers' wombs. So- the first time they met was in a little house in Bethany. Pretty neat!

What do we learn from the Visitation? We need to be both Mary and Elizabeth: We must BRING Christ to others and we must learn to SEE Christ in others.

The First Joyful Mystery: The Annunciation

The First Joyful Mystery of the Rosary is the Annunciation of our Lord.

One of the the first things anyone must learn about the Rosary is that, although it seems centered on Mary, it is actually Christ- centered: it is the life of Christ seen through his mother's eyes.

The Annunciation ( celebrated on March 25th- 9 months before Christmas) recalls the angel Gabriel coming to Mary and asking her to b

ecome the mother of Israel's long-awaited savior. He greets her :" Hail, full of Grace! The Lord is with you! Blessed are you among women." (Luke 1:28) This is the first part of the HAIL MARY. Note- Gabe says she is full of GRACE. If one is full of grace, she has no room for sin!

In Mary's fiat: "I am the servant of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word" (LK 1:38) she turns our gaze back to God and sums up how Catholics view Mary.... she is fully human and humbles herself in service to God. We are to 'be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect" ( MT 5:48), but we can only attain that perfection through God's grace in Heaven.

Here on earth, we can aspire to be like Mary: as best we can in our humanity, we can strive to always do as the Lord wills us to do.

And that is the lesson of the First Joyful Mystery: the Annunciation of our Lord.

What is the origin of the Rosary?

Various legends surround the origin of the Rosary.  The traditional rosary ( the beads) I described in the last post is attributed to St. Dominic, and is called the Dominican Rosary. Legend has it that the Blessed Mother gave Dominic the beads and instructed him in their use.

Another version calls the Rosary the 'poor man's Psalter.'  There are 150 Psalms; at one time, the learned would memorize them and pray them every day. The uneducated would pray 150 Our Fathers, originally by counting out beans or pebbles from one bowl to another, evolving into a string of beads. eventually, those 150 Our Fathers were grouped into sets of ten. Somewhere along the way, the Hail Mary prayer and the Mysteries were introduced.

The reason the month of October is dedicated to the Rosary dates back to the Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571.  In this battle, the Ottoman empire was threatening to invade southern Europe. The Holy League, under the ultimate command of the Pope and comprised of soldiers and sailors from: Venice, Genoa, Tuscany, Hapsburg  Spain, the Papal States, Naples, Sicily, Savoy and Malta  faced the aggressors  ( at the time, those areas of what we now know as Italy were independent countries/territories).

Each of those regions spoke a different dialect/ language. Most of the men who came to fight were farmers. No power on earth would have expected the Holy League to win. But Popes do not rely on earthly power. Pope Pius V sent word to those remaining behind to pray: pray the Rosary, asking for victory in the battle

Seriously out-manned, the Holy League crushed the Ottomans, saving Europe from coming under Muslim rule.

The Christians lost 17 ships; the Muslims- 187 ships captured or sunk
The Christians lost 7500 men; the Muslims- 20,000 dead, wounded or captured.

Pius V declared October 7 to be the Feast of Our Lady of  Victory, which has become Our Lady of the Rosary. That is why October 7 is the Feast day of the Diocese of Toledo, whose cathedral is Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary. And the entire month of October is traditionally dedicated to the Rosary.


Our Lady of Victory, Our Lady of the Rosary: Pray for us!!