Mk 16:15-20 Like No Other

Mk 16:15-20  Like No Other

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Jesus said to his disciples:  “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature...”  They went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.”

There are many issues that we face this year and in this election.  But all issues would be non-issues if the Life issue was not so heavily involved in all issues.  There could be no pursuit of happiness, no conversion stories, no justice, and no supreme love if there was no life.  That’s obvious!  And what’s even more obvious is that we will never solve the problem of racism, discrimination, violence, injustice, corruption and manipulation if there is no respect for life.  After all, why should I care about your life if your life is as meaningless as mine?

Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.  Before we go to Heaven, we have a ton of unfinished business to attend to.  We have some scores to settle.  We have a mission to accomplish. 

As a missionary priest, I was trained to fight a love fight; to pick a fight; to take no prisoners but release them.  I know what it takes. You need to know the enemy you love, and to do that, you need to get inside their brain and open some locked doors.  You need to go where they are and stay there just long enough to light a fuse inside to their heart. 

I have often wondered what it would be like to be a triple agent (or a re-doubled agent).  I think that would be the easiest way, and the less scandalous way, to get on TV.  I could be the priest that turns his back on Christ and is in favor of gay marriage.  I could declare myself in favor of the health care mandate.  Or better yet, I could be the priest that is in favor of abortion rights!  Imagine that!  Of course it would be another thorn in Christ’s crown but what a jewel in the devil’s.  Imagine all the doors that would be opened up to me!  I would be invited to give a commencement speech at Georgetown University; I would receive an honorary degree from Boston College.  I would be invited to receive a pen in the oval office from the President himself.  He may even say to me something he said not too long ago to a nun, “Thank you.  Without your support, this law would never have happened.”  

Maybe, just maybe, I would be invited to NARAL’s annual gathering of abortion providers.  How amazing would that be!  Hah hah hah hah!!!  There, I could plant a seed; a seed of doubt; a seed to get them thinking again not only with their manly brain but more importantly with their womanly heart.  I could tell them what they’re doing wrong; that is, why they are losing the battle, and how they could achieve victory with their own defeat!  I can see it now, a standing ovation, rainbow flags, and bright lights upon me.  And then, I would speak:

“Dear advocates, let me remind you that we are in a battle for our survival, not someone else’s. Although it is true we all passed through the womb, it doesn’t mean we all think alike.  There are those who are out to save us!  So we must fight so they do not succeed. 

We have a little problem, literally.  What exactly is the problem?   Well, it's not what we do, because that's our business.  It's our words.  It's what we say.  And what we are saying is becoming unsustainable because they have become contradictory to our lifelong mission.   

Recently, I heard on MSNBC one of our own defend late term abortions by saying they are rare and, in most cases, performed only when a woman’s life is in danger or when the fetus is unviable.  Why?  Why?  Why do we make such claims?  Why do we continue to make such horrendous errors in judgment?  Don’t you see how these statements are killing business?  Listen to me.  Why should we smile that late term abortions are rare?  Don’t answer that... It’s simply a rhetorical question.  Why do we share with our customers these troubling facts?  Why do we promote our business to the poor so poorly?  Don’t we see the contradiction?  If they are rare, then how will we sustain ourselves?  Why do we argue in such ways?  It almost sounds - but of course not - that we don’t like what we do!  Nonsense!  We love what we do!  Otherwise, we would only do it for the money. 

Don’t you know that most Americans are aware of what the real problem is with late term abortions?  That a mom can have one at any time and for any reason, and that it is perfectly legal?  Don’t you see that that is the issue that we need to emphasize?   Why do our enemies know our business better than we do?  Can’t we do better?    Must we give such dire reasons for such obvious reasons?  That will never sell.  We should be able to throw the baby out with the placenta!  Otherwise, without realizing it, we are developing a child out of a fetus, and that’s a problem.

Let me give you another troubling observation from outside the womb.  We continue to justify and defend the right to abortions with examples of rape and incest.  But that won’t work anymore!  Far too many Americans know that far too few abortions are due to rape and incest (less than 1% of 1%).  And therefore, if we don’t start mentioning the real reasons, then Americans will begin to believe us and restrict us!  Let’s stop being so naïve in thinking others are naïve.  Let’s show some pride in what we do.  Let all America know that abortions are still cheaper than live births; that couples still prefer a specific gender or that if a child has a mild deformity such as a cleft lip, abortion is still safer than surgery.  What’s wrong with that?  Were solving problems not pregnancies, silly!  

My last concern is by no means my least.  When in God’s name will we stop saying that “Abortion is a choice between a woman and her God”?  This jargon is unsustainable! Do you understand what I am saying?  Do we say buying cereal is a choice between a woman and her God?  No!  Do we say that throwing out the trash is a choice between a woman and her God?  No.  Then why in God’s world would we want to include God in this decision?  Why do we want to admit that abortion is such an important decision and that we need to include God in it?  For God’s sake!  Is “the thing” human or is it divine? Who cares, as long as it is not human and divine, then boy are we in trouble! 

Today at 2:00 pm, a memorial Mass was held at Calvary cemetery for over 1,500 (aborted) babies found in a trash bin a few years back. 

May we never forget that every child is like no other.

Jn 16:23-28 Ask In My Name

Jn 16:23-28  Ask In My Name

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Jesus said to his disciples:  “Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.  Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.” 

There are so many things I never asked for and yet received.  I never asked for life.  I never asked to be a man.  I never asked to fall in love; to be a Christian; to be a Catholic; to be a priest.  I never asked for any of these blessings, and yet, I received them all. 

I am sure that if I put my mind to it right this very moment, I could think of so many other things I received and would not necessarily consider them to be a blessing.  But I won’t.  I won’t because I don’t know.  I don’t know if the bad I have seen or the bad I have experienced have not been a blessing in disguise.  Time will tell.  Eternity will answer it. 

Let’s start from a position of humility.  That’s a very good place to start.  Tony Blair, the former prime minister of England and recent convert to Catholicism, gave a speech a few days ago to a packed audience of over four thousand people on the importance of faith in society.  He said something remarkable.  As prime minister, he proposed to finish a speech simply with the words, “God bless Britain”.  An aide told him disapprovingly:  “I just remind you Prime Minister, this is not America.”  He said he then abandoned the idea for good. 

I am glad the former prime minister was humble enough to admit his mistake and have the courage to speak about it.  God forbid, in this day and age, we should trust in something Almighty, All-positive and All-possible.  God forbid that we should invoke His sweet name. 

Let me repeat a little my thoughts.  Let me say, once again: “This shouldn’t be happening in this day and age.”  I guess when it comes to England, “God” shouldn’t be happening.  But if God had not been, then logically speaking, nothing would have been, not even time.  Yet here we are, in time and place.  I say logically speaking for the following reasons.

I remember studying in my nuclear physics class that if the gravitational constant (G) or weak force constant (g_w) varied from their values by an exceedingly small fraction (higher or lower) – one part in 10⁵⁰ (.000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001) then either the universe would have suffered a catastrophic collapse or would have exploded throughout its expansion, both of which options would have prevented the emergence and development of any life form. 

Then I learned that if the gravitational constant, electromagnetism, or the “proton mass relative to the electron mass” varied from their values by only a tiny fraction (higher or lower), then all stars would be either blue giants or red dwarfs (like the vast majority of stars in our universe).  Then I found out that if the strong nuclear force constant were higher or lower than its value (15) by only 2%, there would be no hydrogen in the universe, no nuclear fuel or water; no life.  If the weak force constant had been slightly smaller or larger than its value, then supernovae explosions would never have occurred.  If these explosions had not occurred, there would be no carbon, iron, or earth-like planets. 

Fred Hoyle and William Fowler discovered the exceedingly high improbability of oxygen, carbon, helium and beryllium having the precise values to allow for both carbon abundance and carbon bonding (necessary for life).  This “anthropic coincidence” was so striking that it caused Hoyle to abandon his atheism. 

The odds against all these anthropic coincidences happening randomly is so exceedingly improbable that it could be compared to a monkey sitting in front of a laptop and typing out the entire corpus of Shakespeare perfectly by randomly tapping on the keys. 

Logically speaking, one correctly spelled word from our monkey would be possible.  But a billion words would be improbable. 

God save the world!

Which bring me back to Tony Blair.  He had a message for his audience, the world.  He said, “A world without faith would be a disaster!”  Why?  Because Christianity brings humility.  And humility is what makes the world peaceful.  Humility allows us to ask the best person.  Humility allows us to seek the right person.  Humility allows us to knock on His door.

“It is what allows us to make progress, it is what keeps us from ideology or thought processes that then treat human beings as if they were secondary to some political purpose.  For a long period of time, what people thought was that as society became more developed and as we became more prosperous, that faith would be relegated, that it would become a kind of relic of the past – what kind of ignorant people do but not what civilized, educated people do.”

“I think a world without faith would be a world on the path to tragedy and disaster, I really believe that.” 

So do I… It doesn’t take much to see why.

Be humble.  Why not ask in His name?  Why not speak His name?  Why not?  What do you have to lose?  What could you (and the world) possibly gain? 

Jn 16:20-23 This Shouldn’t Be Happening

Jn 16:20-23  This Shouldn’t Be Happening

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Jesus said to his disciples:  “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and morn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.”

I get it.  I know what Jesus is saying.  Unfortunately, there are things people say that I don’t get.  For example, I have often heard people say, “This shouldn’t be happening in this day and age.”   A few days ago, I stumbled on an article regarding a Protestant Pastor who is bi-sexual.  He laments the fact that the other Pastors won’t join him in any Church sponsored events.  The problem, to the Pastor’s disbelief, is his sexual orientation.  Shocked, the Pastor sighed and said to a sympathetic congregation, “This shouldn’t be happening in this day and age.” 

He’s right.  This shouldn’t be happening, regardless of what day or age it is.  But he’s wrong as to what shouldn’t be happening.  First, as a Christian, he shouldn’t be sexually active if he is not married.  Second, he shouldn’t be shocked if people still hold dear to them the teachings of Jesus Christ and his Apostles.  Third, he shouldn’t be shocked if people consider this behavior “unnatural”.  After all, that's the way it's been considered for centuries and in every culture.

Now for the things that shouldn’t be happening in this day and age.  For example, contraceptives shouldn’t be available to middle school kids.  Teens shouldn’t be scared to death to go to school.  Schools shouldn’t appear like Malls or jails.  Students shouldn’t be the worst behaved they’ve been since the idea of schools began!  You would think that after two hundred years of public education, our schools, with the latest and greatest technology and tools available, would be producing top students in droves, and that were second to none.  But instead, for the most part, we are producing junk.  And although the amount of money spent per child in high school has skyrocketed over the past twenty years, their test scores have remained flat over the same period of time.  Nothing seems to work.  Now, a gasoline company is trying to help with a catchy little phrase:  “let’s solve this.” Notice how they wish to stay positive?  They prefer to say, “Let’s solve this” rather than to say, “Let’s solve this problem”.  That might be the problem.  There shouldn’t be any PC nonsense in this day and age.

Last night, I got into a debate (I didn't start it.) in front of Tom Thumb with an atheist who ended our polite discussion with a very old and stale argument.  He said, “Well, that’s all very nice, but we all know that Jesus never really existed.”  I told this man, “Ah yes, interesting that YOU would say that.  But what is even more interesting is that the Roman’s never said that.  Nor did the Jews ever say that.  Nor did the Christians ever say that.  But, two thousand years later, someone like you came up with that.”  This argument shouldn’t be happening in this day and age! 

You will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy. 

What’s the Lord saying?  It’s been said that Saints are boring, while sinners know how to partyyy!!!  It’s been said that Christians live with a noose around their neck, while pagans know how to loosen their tie.  I only have one thing to say in response to this: “This shouldn’t be said in this day and age!”  Not after all the tears, horror, premature deaths and weird diseases and syndromes these days and at every age. 

We’ve forgotten something over the centuries.  We’ve forgotten why we party.  The reason why we party is because we have something to celebrate.  In other words, we party because we’ve earned it; we’ve accomplished something. 

Wedding nights were once true celebrations because couples earned their right to that very special night.  Now, wedding nights are simple acknowledgments and repeat performances.  Can we challenge our youth to greater heights?  Can we speak about these things to them?  I think we should.  I know they deserve it.  I know they appreciate it.

College grads can throw their caps into the air because they’re earned the right to celebrate.  All their tears, all their sacrifices have earned them a spot at the party.  Unfortunately, too many of our youth don’t get it, and too many adults never learned it.  They never wept or mourned.  Instead, they relaxed and enjoyed. 

Parties prior to real accomplishments?  Celebrations before achievements?  Heroism before sacrifice?  Joy before sweat and blood?  “Atta boy” before marriage?  This shouldn’t be happening at this day and age.

By now, we should be convinced that the wages of sin is death (Rm 6:23).  There’s no honor in lies, in affairs, in infidelity, in drugs, in alcohol, and in gangs.  There’s no glamour in sexting, STD’s, oral or anal cancer.  We should know that by now.  There’s no maturity in being “responsible” but really irresponsible; that is, wearing a condom and having sex at the age of thirteen.  We shouldn't have elementary school kids worried about their weight, middle school kids worried about a date or teens worried about being good at sex!  Ah, this shouldn’t be happening in this day and age.

Solution?  If you choose to accept your mission…Start helping others to see the shallowness and superficiality of our culture today.  Start promoting with your words and actions the Good News.  Vote for politicians that believe and will defend the Good News.  Start encouraging pastors to stand up to biblical truths.  Start encouraging family members to go to Church and to pray.  Start having friendly but serious conversations with neighbors and friends.  Start doing some weeping, sweating, bleeding, mourning, sacrificing and dying (to oneself) so as to breathe some life into others. Start with the obvious.  Get to work.    

Then, I promise you, there will be plenty of time to party!

Mk 16: 15-20 God’s Side

Jn 16: 16-20  God’s Side

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Jesus said to his disciples, "A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me...Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy."

On their front cover of this month’s issue, Newsweek magazine declared Mr. Obama “The first Gay President”. The President recently said, “History is on our side.”

I would think that similar words must have been said by Julius Caesar with regards to himself and the Roman Empire: “Citizens of Rome!  History is on our side.”  And it was, until brutal facts set in and the Barbarians burst in. 

After his life was spared from a failed assassination attempt, Hitler declared, “Here you have it: proof that Providence is on my side.”  And so he thought, until the Allies arrived and they found him like they had found millions of others:  burned to ashes.

Of course “history is on our side”…at one time or another.  You see, empires rise… and fall.  Republics rise…and fall.  Dictators come…and go.  Presidents live…and die.  Policies come…and go.  Liberties are given…and taken away.  Do we really think two hundred years is a very long time?  Try two thousand years and counting!

Recently, I spoke to an Irish woman who was really trying to convince me that the Catholic Church in Ireland would soon disappear.  I told her I believed the Irish people would disappear before the Church did.  I reminded her that that is exactly what people have been trying to do for centuries.  The Irish Pagans tried to do it but St. Patrick wouldn’t go away.  The English Protestants thought they could terrorize the Church away, but they didn’t.  Now, it’s the Irish Prime Minister’s turn to think he can do it.  And he won’t, because the Church is larger than history.  If history is supposedly on our side, then I am pleased to say that the Church is on everybody’s side, including God’s good side.

Ever since the fall of man, the world has been operating upside down!  Think about it.  What is in common with all empires, dictators, most politicians, and too many demonstrators?  If you want to be great then crush.  If you want to be feared then you must terrorize.  If you want to be respected, then show no mercy.  If you want to be first then push and push and push.  If you want to be heard then scream!  If you want to be superior, then highlight the inferior.  

We thought we could build a tower and burst our way into Heaven.  We failed.  We failed because there was a better way.  God wanted His Son to come to us.  He did and He conquered.  We have to change our ways of doing things.  We have to start thinking more like Him and less like ourselves.  Our way of doing things will always fail if we start at the top and work our way down.  WE have to love like he loved. The Lord took delight in the meek and humble of heart.  He loved the loser, the diseased and the crippled because he knew they could be so much more.  But He also loved the prideful, the arrogant, the obnoxious and the intelligent because he knew they could be so much better.

Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.  What is the Gospel?  What are the means?  If you want to be great, then be small.  If you want to be served, then serve.  If you want to be worshipped, then love.  If you want to ascend into Heaven, then descend on earth.  If you want to be lifted up, then lower yourself.  If you want to be first, then be last.  He who humbles himself shall be exulted.  St. Augustine wrote, “The only one who has ascended into heaven is the one who came down from heaven.”  That’s it!  That’s the secret!  You cannot ascend into heaven until you have fallen in love on earth!  Let’s turn the world right side up.

Humility is a tough sell.  Humiliation is an even tougher sell.  But God told us, I will be on your side.  Go.  Allow the Lord to be with you.  Speak the truth that no one wants to hear.  Love others like no one really loves.  And you will start walking in his footsteps:  Humiliation.  Betrayal.  Rejection.  Judged.  Sentenced.  Executed.  Entombed. 

And then and only then, no more steps.  He will lift you up.  Your grief, like His, will become joy!

Start small.  End great.  Climb ever higher!

John 16:12-15 One Glass of Truth

John 16:12-15  One Glass of Truth  

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Jesus said to his disciples:  “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.  But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.” 

Jesus said to his disciples.  In the past few days (maybe even weeks) I have started every single one of my meditations with these words.  They are important.  They are included in our Lectionary.  They are a simple yet strong reminder that the Lord is not only speaking to disciples of two thousand years ago, He is also speaking to us.  “Jesus said to his disciples”.  Are you listening?

The Spirit of Truth.  I use a microscope to see the tiniest details in things.  I use a telescope to see the furthest things from me.  But in all that I see, I use my eye to capture it all.  I use my brain to process it all.   Well, the same holds true for the Truth.  I use my senses to capture it all.  I use my brain to process it all.  But I must also use the Holy Spirit to correctly interpret it all.  Are you doing that too?

How far can you see?  Oh, say can you see…  How far can you go?  Alone...not far at all; but with the gift of the Holy Spirit, I can reach the furthest heights and depths of things.  I can reach where no ear has heard or eye has seen.  Let’s do it.  Let’s get to the bottom of things.  Let’s get to the truth of things.

I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.  Why Lord?  What stops us from becoming more like you?  Are you to blame?  Is there a defect within your design?  Did you make our hearts too small to love?  Did you make our Will too weak to follow?  Did you make our intellect too loose to grasp?  No.  I know the truth.  It’s not that at all.  Come now friends, we know it’s not that at all.  We know what it is.  Come; let us accept things for what they are.  Let us stop blaming the Lord for our mistakes.  Let us stop praying to the Lord that he “come to us” or that he "never abandon us” or that he “help us.”  Why do I speak this way?  Why do I speak as if he never came into the world?  We all know what he did.  We all know why he died.  Must the Lord speak to us directly?  Must he breathe for us as well?  Is that the problem?  I have a better idea.  Let us turn our prayers to the Lord for trust.  Trust in Him!  More trust in Him and less trust in our selves!  More trust in His Truth and less trust in our collective mindedness.  More trust in the teachings of His Church and less trust in our own theories.  For truth goes beyond our times; personal experiences; personal discoveries; our culture; even our life.  And we know it.  We just don’t like to admit it.  Our pride keeps getting in the way of things, like truth. 

Falling stars. We have caught a glimpse of them.  Read your old text books and catch a glimpse of the stars that fell from the sky.  Stars like Thomas Malthus and Margaret Sanger, Charles Darwin and Richard Dawkins, Karl Marx and Joseph Stalin. We have seen what happens when we think we know it all.  We convince one another and end up at war with all. 

Come, let’s do it.  Let us admit our pride and how it turns our minds inward and all wiggly; and wow, how it can wiggle itself out of just about anything:  out of fault, out of guilt and out of our minds!  We know what we can do.  We can justify just about anything in our life, can’t we?  We can blame our family for all our ills; blame a spouse for all our woes; blame our children for growing old; blame a Church for all our guilt.  And best of all, blame ourselves for nothing at all. 

Come, let us go through the Litany of Litanies: 

“I am a sinner!” what did you expect? 

“I am only human!” what more did you want?

“I am what I am!” I was born this way.

Ah yes, all sin and no space for grace.    

Stop being so negative!  The “experts” tell us.  Close your eyes and count to ten and wish all your problems away. 

But they don’t go away.  They come back, and with a vengeance, because we simply refuse to fill our half-empty or half-full glass .  Do I put my hand over the glass and refuse a re-fill?

Yes, “I was born a sinner”, but I can die a Saint.  Yes, “I am limited by my humanity”, but I can evolve through Christianity!  Yes, “I am what I am” , but “who I am” is based entirely upon me, by the decisions I make in my life.

Why be content to keeping the glass half-full or half-empty when the Lord took what belonged to Him and gave it to us!  He said, “The Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth…He will take from what is mine and declare it to you.” 

“I came to serve, not to be served” (Mt 20:28).  The Lord waits on us.  When our glass was half-empty (or half-full) he came over to us and filled it up.  “Come to me all who are thirsty” (Mt 11:28).  He is the solution to our thirst.   He is the solution to our worries.  He is the solution to our woes.

“Give us solutions”, you say.  Lead us and we shall follow!  How will you follow if you continue to drive yourself insane?  How will you achieve anything if you continue to blame God for everything, including your own problems?  Judas questioned the Lord in everything, and it drove him insane.  Actually, his problem was not that he questioned everything.  His problem was that He refused to accept the Lord’s answers. 

I AM WHO I AM.  Get it?   There is no other Lord than I the LORD.  Get it?  I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.  Get it?  No one comes to the Father except through me.  Get it?

Go ahead. It’s time to make a decision. The devil’s web is getting larger and larger and evil’s grip is getting tighter and tighter. You can sit and mope, complain all you want about the rules and give up and die.  Or you can leave behind your pride, your vanity and your sensuality and follow the Lord. 

We can fight and tackle each other on worthless things or we can tackle the world’s problems and fight for Christ and heavenly things.

One free glass of Truth should help you decide.  Refills included.

John 16:5-11 Holy Spirit and Eye Sight

John 16:5-11  Holy Spirit and Eye Sight

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Jesus said to his disciples:  “Now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’”

Today’s Gospel reminds me of John Denver’s classic, “Country roads, take me home, to the place I belong...”  So where exactly do I belong?  West Virginia?  No, I think that’s far too short-sighted. Then where in the world do all roads lead to?  Home?  Yes.  And where on earth is home?  Rome. 

What would you think of a Muslim who tried to have Mass celebrated in a Mosque?  Or of a Jew that tried to hang a cross in a Synagogue?  What would you say to these individuals if they defended their actions by stating that they felt it was the right thing to do? I know what I would say, I would say, “If you want to see a Cross, go to a Christian Church.  If you want to participate in a Mass, then go to a Catholic Church.”  I would not defend them at all.  I would not encourage them and say, “Well, it just goes to show you how insensitive some people can be!” 

Yesterday, I read how a pair of lesbians from a Catholic High School crashed their school’s prom by showing up as a couple.  School officials asked them to leave. I believe they did the right thing.  The school simply followed what it believes.  But it appears as though the couple was offended.  What I don’t understand is why the couple did not apologize to the school?  After all, whose school is it?  Is it a public school?  No.  Is it a charter school?  No.  It’s a Catholic School that belongs to the Catholic Church.  Does the Church not have the right to be what it wants to be?  Does the Church not have a right to teach what it wants to teach?  So, why on earth, did this couple feel as though they had a right to crash a Catholic School’s prom?  Is it their prom?  Yes.  Is it their school?  Yes.  Is it their rules?  No. 

But the media doesn’t seem to get it.  They seem to think that this couple had the right to show up however they wanted to.

But once again, let me ask some simple questions:  Would the media be offended if Muslim officials asked a Muslim to leave his Mosque if he was trying to hammer a Crucifix in the wall?  No.  Would they be offended if a Jew was asked to leave his Synagogue because he was trying to read aloud the “Our Father”?  No.  So why in the world would the Media (along with this couple) take offense at school officials when they defended who they were?  And let me remind all of you who are reading this and saying, “Well, we are supposed to love everyone.”  Yes.  That’s true.  But to love everyone does not mean you have to agree with everyone and/or accept everything.

Why do we have such a hard time understanding this?  Answer:  Because we have been groomed by our earthly masters to be accepting of everything, including sin. And we are...except in defending religious beliefs.  As children we were given glasses to wear to make us see clearer.  And we do…in very secular ways.  But when it comes to religious things, these glasses make us blind.  We have been given role models to follow.  And we do….but only the secular types we are allowed to know in school.  Hence, our world, like our life, is not like the Sun but rather like the Moon, with half of it left in the dark. 

Come Holy Spirit!  Fill the darkness with your light!

We think we can have it all; that we do a good job defending the one and all.  But far too often we crush the one to raise the other.  We know that because we have experienced it for ourselves.  We know how the Media can pump up gay marriage as being the best thing ever, whereas being Married with Children the worst thing ever!  We know how Spielberg can make every child a hero and every parent a clown or a villain. Another similiar tactic is this:   ignore the negatives and feed only the positives of the group being promoting.

For example:  I am still waiting to see, on cable TV, a gay couple argue in front of their children.  Currently, you would think that never happens.  Also, I am waiting for the day when Oprah, or someone like her, interviews children of  gay couples that wished they had a mom and a dad.  Are we to believe that they don't exist?

We have all been told to imagine the negative impact the Ten Commandments could have on the sensibilities of one student, but we don't need to imagine, because we already know, the positive impact the Ten Commandments could have on the life of one student.    

How clumsy the world is.  I can’t even believe what I have recently seen:  An anti-bully activist acting like a bully and receiving applause for being a bully at an anti-bully rally!!!

Where are you going, Lord?  To your death?  To your grave?  Into the ground? 

No, the Lord responds, don’t you wish.  Rather, “I am going to the one who sent me.” 

The Lord is going to the one who sent him.  And in return, the Lord is sending His Spirit to remind us that life is not half empty or half full, but complete, full, in abundance.  He is the glass.  And without the glass, life is a mess. 

Holy Spirit, my Advocate and guide, enlighten my thoughts, words and actions so that I can see as you see, speak as you speak and live as you live.  I ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

John 15:26-16:4a The Spirit of God

John 15:26-16:4a  The Spirit of God

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Jesus said to his disciples:  “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me.”

In Japan, a lack of babies could mean the extinction of the Japanese people.  Birth control has done more than control the Japanese population.  It has destroyed it.  In America, social scientists claim that childhood obesity diminishes when children sleep with their parents.  In other words, when children feel they are provided and protected for, they tend to worry less and eat less.  Now we have scientific proof of a relationship of epidemic proportions between the problem of childhood obesity and the problem with our families.  In America, we spend billions of dollars protecting our nation from outside attacks.  Yet we spend nearly nothing in protecting traditional families, authentic marriage, and wholesome values from inside attacks. 

Oh Lord, help me to trust in your Church.  Throughout its history, the Roman Catholic Church has had to endure powerful individuals who openly opposed one or more of her teachings.  In the depths of their heart, they knew they were right.  And so, in order to not appear schizophrenic, they took the logical step and stepped outside the Church. 

But recently, it has become fashionable to be a religious schizophrenic; that is, to be in opposition to some of the teachings of the Church and still remain a Catholic.  That novelty goes even further.  We now have individuals who oppose the most significant teachings of the Church and claim to be not only Catholic but a faithful Catholic as well.  I don’t think I need to mention by name any of them.  Suffice it to say, they can be found among our most powerful politicians, secretaries and spouses. 

While I was studying for my B.S./M.S. in Imaging Science at RIT, I took a class entitled “Introduction to Philosophy.”  Our text book was a popular novel of the 1970’s or 80’s entitled, “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.”  Our professor decided to skip all those “old guys” like Plato, Aristotle and St. Thomas and immediately made us jump into what was of interest (1) at that time, and (2) to him.   And what exactly did interest him?  Drugs and Eastern philosophy. 

None of us suspected any type of brain washing.  I enjoyed the class, and I truly believed I knew something about philosophy.  Seven years later, when I was sent to Rome to study philosophy, I was told that I would have to take an introductory class in Philosophy.  I protested.  I said, “I already took this class in College.”  They insisted.  And so, it wasn’t until seven years later that I truly took an “Introduction to Philosophy”; this time in Rome, and under the guidance of philosophers with real PhD’s in philosophy.   

Most heretics pride themselves in the fact that they were educated in Catholic schools and Universities.  They even give credit to the “good” priests and nuns that taught them to question everything, including their faith.

But the truth is quite different.  These young minds were never really taught to question everything.  They weren't even taught to question their faith.  The only thing they were taught to question were the same exact things the "good" priests and nuns questioned themselves:   vows, morals and sex. 

Is it just coincidence that these same things that were being questioned in our schools were also being questioned in society?  Did anyone ever question society?  Were these students ever taught to question their personal decisions, the morality of their actions or their professors bias and prejudice against a teaching authority that was thousands of miles away yet almost two thousand years old?  No, of course not.  Why?  Don't you know?  Didn't you know the Holy Spirit only works at the personal level (like the "me" level), local level (U.S. only, like U.S. Catholic Church not Roman Catholic Church) and only part time (not past or future but only now)?

Today, we have priests and nuns who really think their vows are much more difficult now than they were two thousand years ago; and so the vows need to change.   Today, we have children who question everything - including their parents - but not their friends.  Today, we have parents who question teachers on everything (but not really, just anything to do with their child).  Today, we have Politicians, billionaires and the local junky who think they have been able to study a topic to such great depths and lengths that they feel qualified enough to oppose the teachings of the Church that took centuries, Saints and the Holy Spirit to formulate.  Wow!  Talk about being inspired... today!!!  

We have always had heretics.  But the schizophrenic religious is something new.  However, what is not new is how these destructive personalities can create some of the most horrific fruits this world has ever seen.  Most schizophrenic religious are harmless, but some have the billions or position to pursue and persuade millions of people throughout our country and world. 

There is much evil they have already done.  There is much more to come…  It is not His Spirit they wish to share.  It is their own that is left behind...with one long dark shadow.

Oh Lord, you are the giver and sustainer of life.  Your words are humble and true.  You sent Your Spirit upon us so that we could trust in your Bride, the Church.  Help us all to be more like you:  meek and humble of heart.  May we never fall into the comfort of my own thoughts; may we never see things as they are but as you have created them to be.  We ask this through Christ Our Lord.  Amen.