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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Love the Sinner

Sin is certainly horrible.  It can cause immense pain.  Many are suffering today due to their own personal sin and the sin of others.

There is nothing "positive" about it.  Sin cuts us off from God (mortal sin cuts us off completely).  There can be eternal consequences due to sin.  One should never downplay or minimize the effects and reality of sin. 

However, Christ came to forgive sin, therefore something positive can come from it (His mercy and love).  We are called to ask for forgiveness as well as to forgive and love others, especially great sinners.  When we do this, our own sufferings due to sin become more bearable.  

As abominable as certain crimes are, as long as the sinner lives, not only can he repent (and this would give immense joy to Angels in heaven), but however stained and filthy (for there is such a thing as moral filth), God’s image is still in him. The Christian message is clear indeed; your love for the sinner is proportionate to your hatred of his sin.

A sincere lover of a “pornographer” sinner for example is the greatest enemy of pornography. In his Purgatory, Dante wrote the following words concerning Malfredi:

Orribili furon li peccati mei
Ma la bonta divina ha si gran braccia
Che prende cio, che si rivolge a lei. (iii, 121 ff)
The message is clear: there are sins which are nothing short of horrible, but God will never turn down a repentant sinner. As a matter of fact, we do not even have to implore for God’s mercy: it is always offered, but the terrible fact is that man can turn it down, preferring damnation to mercy, thus the reality of hell.
Dr. Alice Von Hildebrand

Monday, January 28, 2013

Creation is Good

Christians should realize that creation is good.  We mistakenly think that because our sufferings are sometimes manifested physically, the body is a bad thing.  Remember even our bodies are redeemed on the last day.  Therefore, Christians should embrace creation and make use of the created order for salvation (through the Sacraments). 

The book The Analogical Imagination explains Catholicism as analogical, meaning that the divine is seen by Catholics as being actually present in the material. This means that God is present concretely, as in the sacraments. Creation, therefore, is good, “revelatory of the Holy.” The Church being “the body of Christ” means that community is key to salvation in the Catholic world view. Catholics have a “fundamental trust in the goodness of persons and institutions.”

The Protestant is dialectical. Luther, Kierkegaard, Barth, Niebuhr, Tillich—all Protestant thinkers—“insist on the radical difference separating” God and me. This implies that we humans are estranged from God, and must be individually saved. For our salvation, we depend not on a Church but on our individual reading of the Word, the Book, the Scriptures.

Catholicism, then, is communitarian; Protestantism individualistic.

The failure of the Church's sin through scandal arose because Catholics have a tendency to “collapse” the analogy between God and man. We Catholics are too quick to assume that the Church not only represents the Kingdom of God, but is the Kingdom of God.

“The best Catholic theologians always warned that the similarities that define the divine presence in the material forms evaporate if the tension between divine and material realities is collapsed into one: the Kingdom is not just the church; Jesus is not just the Bread; being born again is not just being baptized; repentance is not just going to confession. Loyalty to the church and its institutional needs is not always, in every case, loyalty to Christ and the Gospel.”

A final chapter, “The Last Acceptable Prejudice?,” answers its question with the title of a work by medieval theologian Peter Abelard, Sic et non, or Yes and No. It is essential that while the Catholic faith maintain its validly analogical nature, we Catholics not forget the critical importance always of being dialectical at the same time, of saying yes and no. Obedience to the Church? Yes. Blind obedience to the Church? No.

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Saturday, January 26, 2013

Baptism

We are baptized into Christ's life and death.  Therefore, suffering (and the grace to endure it) is incorporated into it.  We MUST be baptized in order to face suffering as Christ did.

God uses creation (dust of the earth) to create us, and breathes His Spirit into us. The human being is not created “ex nihilo” like all the rest of creation, but out of what is existing. We bear both creation AND God’s image. The human being is called the “microcosm” of creation by the Fathers. Man was to be the “bridge” between the creation and the spiritual world because it was only man that had elements of both. Rom. 8 speaks of the connection between the human being and creation’s salvation and redemption from corruption. Man failed in that “job” so Christ, in His flesh united divinity and the creation again opening the door for the human being and ALL THE COSMOS to be brought together, or as St. Paul says “summed up in Christ” (Eph. 1:3,10, Col. 15-20. The Garden was a created place. It had two trees, one brought knowledge of good and evil and the other was the Tree of Life. When Adam and Eve sinned an angel was put to guard the Tree of Life lest they eat and live forever. A MATERIAL TREE BROUGHT PHYSICAL ETERNAL LIFE.
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Today we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus: the Child, the son of the Virgin, whom we contemplated in the mystery of his birth, we see today an adult emerging himself in the waters of the Jordan River, thus sanctifying the waters and the entire cosmos - as evidenced by the Eastern tradition.
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Wednesday, January 23, 2013

God, Music and Healing

Music is an expression of the love of the Lord in our hearts.  Listening to and singing heavenly music can be a source of healing and comfort during times of suffering.  The Church has traditionally recognized  this and has made music an essential part of Her liturgy.

The origin of worship and music goes back to Christianity's Jewish roots.  According to the Renaissance Jewish Rabbi Judah Ben Joseph Moscato, God is the perfect embodiment of music in His essence, as reflected in His creation of all heavenly bodies and creatures: the nine spheres resonate with music and the angels intone their songs. The Holy Name (YHWH) encompasses the principal consonances: octave, fifth, fourth, third, and their compounds. Man, created in the image of his Maker, is ordered in intervallic ratios: harmony is implanted in his soul, which, attracted to song, reacts to it by producing a song of its own. He is likened, in his musical construction, to a kinnor, yet for his potential kinnor to play properly, i.e., to actuate the music in his soul, he must pursue a path of righteousness: hearkening to a divine instrument, he responds by duplicating its pitches.

Rabbi Moscato

Friday, January 18, 2013

Humility and Holiness, Striving for Perfection

Suffering can humble us.  In this way suffering can be seen as a gift.  When we are humble (before God) we are are more inclined to obey Him and do His will rather than our own.  This leads to sanctity which in turn to the promise of eternal life.

According to Br. Damien Evangelista O.S.B., some people argue that God accepts us as we are.  This is true, but only the beginning.  In this life God expects us to advance in virtue by cooperating with His grace and mercy.  He calls us to be holy because God Himself is holy.  Although spiritual perfection is not possible in this life, we should never stop striving for it.

All our actions and thoughts should be grounded in humility.  Complacency is a subtle form of pride.  Like the ten virgins we should be vigilant against this.

The saints did not hold a false humility, they were given the grace to see their sinful condition more clearly.  This motivated them to take steps to improve in the spiritual life.  St Alphonsus Ligouri said:

When a person is making headway, they will want to keep going forward.  The further they advance the more they keep growing.  As the light grows brighter, they think they are less virtuous and are doing little good.  If by chance they do notice the good they have done, they see it as imperfect and of little account.  As a result, they keep striving toward perfection, obtaining the grace not to grow tired.  (Classic of Western Spirituality).

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Lies and Negativity

Our own personal suffering and misery can result from the lies we tell ourselves.  One, small lie leads to another then before we know it, we are surrounded by negativity. 

You lie to yourself that you're ugly. You lie to yourself that you can't succeed. You lie to yourself that no one can love you. You lie to yourself that you are being honest!

Everyone does it. Everyone forgets that it's the truth that sets us free. Everyone falls from time to time into self-deception.

Lies attract evil because the prince of lies is Satan who wants to drag you into discouragement or falsely puff you up -- telling you things about yourself that lead you away from God's Plan.

Be honest with yourself. You cannot be happy if you aspire to be what you are not. Let God define your mission, not the world.

Pray, meditate on bible passages, attend Mass regularly, commit to making Holy Hours, and live a Sacramental life.  In This way we will surround ourselves with TRUTH and God's plan for our lives will be made manifest. 

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Saturday, January 12, 2013

St. Joan of Arc

The Christian Saints are good role models (and helpers).  Their lives offer aid and inspiration during times of suffering, persecution and trial.  To imitate the saints is to overcome.

St. Joan of Arc is an example of this.  While facing suffering (and eventual death) she persevered through the grace of courage, faith, loyalty and love.

She had the courage of her convictions and was willing to stand by them no matter what it cost her, even her life.

She was faithful and loyal to Holy Mother Church even though some of its prelates were cruel and unjust to her and ultimately betrayed her to the hideous death of being burnt alive.

She was faithful and loyal to GOD and the MISSION that HE gave her.

She loved the oppressed people of France. She showed her love by striving to end the long standing Hundred Years' War which caused the people so much suffering.

Ask St. Joan of Arc in your prayer for the grace of these virtues.

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Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Good Exists

In a culture (and media) so focused on evil, sometimes it's easy to forget that good exists.  In fact good is stronger than evil. 

When dealing with our own personal suffering it is important to reach out to this goodness which brings healing (through God and the help of others).  The Holy Father recently commented on this:
Sometimes, it is hard to see that goodness exists in this world and that it will win "since evil causes more noise than goodness. A brutal murder, widespread violence or major injustices will make the news. Acts of love and service or the daily chores done with faithfulness and patience will be overshadowed, from the limelight. For this reason, we should not stop at the news if we want to understand the world and life. We must be able to wait in silence and meditation as well as calm and lasting reflection. We must be able to stop to think. This way, our minds can be healed from the injuries of daily life and go deeper into the facts of our life and the world to reach the wisdom that allows as the evaluate matters with fresh eyes. When we collect our conscience, in which God speaks to us, we learn how to look truthfully to our actions and the evil that is in and around us and start a journey of conversion to make us wiser and better, capable of solidarity and communion, to defeat evil with goodness. Christians are men and women of hope, also and especially against the darkness that often exists in the world, which does not depend on God's plans but on mankind's wrong choices for they know that the strength of faith can move mountains."

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Sunday, January 6, 2013

St. Gemma

LEARN to suffer.  St. Gemma once said, “If you really want to love Jesus, first learn to suffer, because suffering teaches you to love.”

Interesting.  Suffering to some can be valuable.  She goes on to state:
“…Jesus in His infinite charity continued His graces and favors to me. One day He said to me lovingly: 'Daughter, what should I say to you, when in your doubts, your sufferings and your adversities, you think of going to others rather than coming to Me, and you seek alleviation and comfort other than Mine.'

"I knew that I deserved these reproofs, nevertheless I continued as usual, and Jesus rebuked me again saying, "Gemma, do you realize that you are offending Me when in your great need you come to Me last, after other creatures who cannot give you consolation? I suffer, My daughter, when I see that you forget Me.'

This last reproof sufficed and served to detach me from every creature in order to turn myself to our Creator." "It is true Jesus, if I think of what I have gone through as a child and now as a grown up girl I see that I have always had crosses to bear; But oh! how wrong are those who say that suffering is a misfortune!"
 

Go to Jesus in the Eucharist during times of suffering.

Suffering teaches you to love

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Mass Gives Comfort

We should go to Mass, especially during times of intense suffering.  Just as Jesus suffered at the Mount of Olives as a preparation for his sacrifice, we too should attend Mass to get down on our knees and pray (for protection against the evil one).  We too should bring our agony to God and completely submit to His will. 

This isn't the ultimate reason for participating in the Sacrifice of the Mass, however.  We go because God will eventually strengthen and comfort us, thus fulfilling the Day of Rest in the Torah.