Mt 25:1-13 Ridi, Pagliaccio!

Mt 25:1-13  Ridi, Pagliaccio! 

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Jesus told his disciples this parable:  “The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  Five of them were foolish and five were wise.  The foolish ones, when taking their lamps brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.”

The wise one is the prudent one, and the prudent one is the one who learns from the past.

I am so glad I stayed awake last night to watch the Republican National Convention (RNC).  Not so much for the speeches or guest appearances and hoopla, but because I had forgotten that Cardinal Dolan would be giving the closing benediction.  I listened intently to what he had to say.  But I must admit, while he was praying, curiosity got the better part of me.  I began to wonder whether the other stations were televising this.  So, I began to flip through the channels.  To my astonishment, all the news channels were televising it, except for one:  MSNBC.    

Of course, I didn’t really expect MSNBC to break from their goal of being the nation’s premier humanistic and anti-Christian channel.  It’s hard to deny their cynical, harsh and judgmental attitude towards Christianity in the public square.  Last night, was just another example of that.  I know what you are thinking: Maybe, they were giving their viewers an alternative.  Maybe.  But an alternative to what?  To reality?  To an inconvenient truth?  That a major political party still invokes All-mighty God’s protection and help?  That the Catholic Church continues to be a major player in our God-forbidden society?  That Roman Catholic Bishops are still highly respected in America for their defense of the sacredness of life, marriage and family?

Let us see what MSNBC will do when Cardinal Dolan gives the closing benediction for the Democratic National Convention (DNC).  I have to admit, what I found even more interesting than all of this, is that soon after Cardinal Dolan accepted the RNC’s invitation to pray, he asked the DNC if they wanted him to do the same thing.  They declined the offer, and then immediately reversed their decision once they learned he had accepted the RNC’s offer.  Now that is interesting…

Ridi, Pagliaccio!    [Laugh clown, laugh!!!] 

St. Paul writes, “Where is the wise one?  Where is the scribe?  Where is the great debater of this age?  Has not God made the wisdom of the world foolish?” 

You bet he has!  And how it makes us laugh at such spectacles.  Not too long ago, I was speaking to a college freshman.  He told me that he is starting to believe that the world was created by accident.  I asked them if he knew what the word accident meant.  He said, “Something that happens by accident.”  I couldn’t believe it...a college student.  I felt pity for him.  So, I helped him.  An accident is an occurrence without an intention.  In other words, it’s like creating something without conceiving it.  Do you really believe this about our world?

Then I got to thinking.  Maybe this explains how art has become an accident; how we have gone from Michelangelo to Jack the dripper! 

Long ago, scientists decided to experiment with nature so that they could control it, do violence to it, twist it and finally subdue it in order to dominate it.  Social engineers have been trying to do the same thing, but to us!  And the results have been exactly the same.  Devastating!  Instead of making our world better, we’ve actually made it worse.  Instead of making man better, we’ve actually made him a lot worse.

Of course it is all by "accident".  They just keep creating without conceiving!  Or better yet, they keep creating by twisting.  Everything they call "new" is nothing more than the old “twisted”.  For example, a homosexual marriage is nothing more than a twisted marriage.  Nasal sex (not to say something already in existence) would be nothing more than twisted sex.  The “new family” is nothing more than a twisted family.  A human clone is nothing more than a controlled man.

We think the world we live in needs improvement.  Ridi, Pagliaccio! 

Stay awake!  Stay tuned!

“The foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.”  (1Cor 1:25)

Mt 16:13-23 Experiencing God

Mt 16:13-23  Experiencing God

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Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.  Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord!  No such thing shall ever happen to you.”  He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!  You are an obstacle to me.  You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

This morning, while preparing for a Mass at a Carmelite monastery, I asked myself this question:  How does a Jewish woman, who later became an atheist, become a Carmelite nun, a martyr and a Saint?

Today is the feast day of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, a Carmelite nun who, prior to entering the Carmelite order, was known in the world as Edith Stein.  Edith Stein, along with her sister Rosa Stein (a Third Order Carmelite), were gassed in Auschwitz and buried in a mass grave in 1942.

Edith Stein was the last of eleven children born in 1891 to Siegfried Stein and Auguste Courant.   Although her parents were observant Jews (and her mother remained loyal to her faith her entire life), by the age of fourteen, Edith made the conscious decision not to pray anymore.  She distanced herself from the Jewish faith and from God. 

How did she discover God?  Through philosophy.  Edith was a brilliant student, with an amazing craving for knowledge.  But how did someone so studious, so intelligent and so analytical become so spiritual? 

Edith obtained her doctorate (summa cum laude) in Philosophy in 1918 under the guidance of the world famous phenomenologist, Edmund Husserl.  There are four core disciplines in philosophy.  Ontology is the study of beings or their being – what is; Epistemology is the study of knowledge – how we know; Logic is the study of valid reasoning – how to reason; Ethics is the study of right and wrong – how we should act.  If we were to add Phenomenology to our list, then it would be the study of our experience – how we experience.

Edith Stein became a believer in phenomenology.  Her problem with God was simple:  If God exists, then how would we experience Him?

Her answer came one evening in March 1921.  While visiting the home of philosopher friends, the married couple Theodor and Hedwig Conrad-Martius, she came across the autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila.  She read the entire book in a single night and found the answer to her question.

How do we experience God?  By dying to oneself.

“God forbid, Lord!  No such thing shall ever happen to you.”  No wonder why Jesus’ reaction to Peter’s concern was so swift and so brutal!  “Get behind me Satan!”  The worst thing that anyone could ever pray for is to undo God’s Will!

How do we come to know God?  Yes, intellectual knowledge of God is important.  Reading about God is important.  But if we really want to come to know God then we must experience Him ourselves.  And the only way to know Him and love Him is to serve Him.  “If anyone wishes to follow me, then they must pick up their cross and follow me.” 

Saint Edith Stein, pray for us!

Mt 9:1-8 Life and Love

Mt 9:1-8  Life and Love

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After entering a boat, Jesus made the crossing, and came into his own town.  And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher.  When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.”  At that, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.”

The God-particle.  Brainy scientists just recently discovered the “God-particle”, a sticky field that acts as a drag on other particles.  It explains how elementary particles are imbued with mass.   This historic discovery did not come easy.  It took hundreds of scientists, researchers and engineers to do it and thousands of hours to accomplish it.  It was another “one-small-step-for-man, one-giant-leap-for-mankind” moment.  But let’s not forget: before the brainy scientists were smart enough to discover it, God was smart enough to create it and utilize it.   

When asked if there were any practical results from their research, the answer came back, “Not directly.”   What???  Not directly???  Isn’t this particle responsible for building atoms and making life possible?  Isn’t that practical enough?  I find it amazing how smart people can be so dumb.  Maybe I should give them some slack. Maybe what they were trying to say was that they didn’t know how they could one day control it, manipulate it and twist it for our use…or misuse.  Maybe they were thinking of that rather than how God used it. 

The Christ-particle.  Today’s reading and yesterday’s discovery reminds me of the “Christ-particle”; that grace that drives some friends insane and brings enemies closer together.  Its sticky nature explains just how God can bind us to one another and to himself.  Not only does it give life a fighting chance, it also lifts up the soul and acts as a drag to fighting and war.  This ‘particle’ not only creates life, it also recreates it.

What is it?  Forgiveness.   

The greatest truth ever spoken came from Peter:  “You are the Son of the living God.”  Today, we have the greatest possible ending to a heart wrenching story:  “Take heart, my child, your sins are forgiven.”  But with the greatest love story lived came the greatest attack ever seen:  “This man is a blasphemer!” 

Are there any practical results from the “Christ-particle”?  You bet!  The forgiveness of our sins leads us to Christ’s heart and to a better understanding of what we are.  It is the first fruit of love and is necessary for all human life.  Without it we fight, we destroy, we kill, we die.  But with it, we laugh, we smile, we cry, we grow, we thrive!   It explains how we can live surrounded by a vacuum of evil and death.  It explains how God was able to create beauty in the midst of chaos; how he was able to reconcile all things to himself.

We can’t live on bread alone.  We can’t live on air alone.  We can’t even live alone!  The world is made up of tiny particles.  Man is made up of tiny particles.  But what is truly amazing is how these tiny particles can add up to life and love.