Building the City of God

The Catholic Word of the Week for this week: TYPOLOGY.

Typology, you ask?

Fr. Alfred McBride defines it as the “recognition of persons, places, or things in the Old Testament as types to be fulfilled in Christ….” Quite simply it means being able to see Christ in the Old Testament prophecies, even when He is not specifically mentioned.

Example of types of Christ in the Old Testament include Adam, the high priest Melchizedek, and many more. The Great Flood and the parting of the Red Sea were types of the Sacrament of Baptism, which kills sin and offers us protection from slavery to further sin. The manna that fed the Israelites as they wandered the desert was a type of the Eucharist, which feeds the faithful as they journey toward the true Promised Land.

Fr. McBride continues: “Typology demonstrates the unity of God’s plan of salvation seen in Scripture.” Indeed, one and the same Word is spoken throughout all of Sacred Scripture: Jesus Christ, the Eternal Word.

Pray for all who study Scripture, that they might be able to recognize the face of Christ in every passage.

God Bless.

For the last several days, I have been looking for a Psalm of praise to pray during my time in front of the the Blessed Sacrament. I have even been wondering why my desire to praise God was not being met.

My wonderings and minor frustrations proved misguided, as usual. Today, the Lord provided His in the form of the Responsorial Psalm during today’s Mass. I feel like such an untrusting fool!

Nonetheless, I prayed that Psalm as though I had never praised God before. I hope that some of you might pray it, too, to glorify our Creator.

I love you, Lord, my strength,
Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer,
My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, my saving horn, my stronghold!
Praised be the Lord, I exclaim!
I have been delivered from my enemies.
The breakers of death surged round about me;
the menacing floods terrified me.
The cords of Sheol tightened;
the snares of death lay in wait for me.
In my distress I called out: Lord!
I cried out to my God.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry to him reached his ears.

The Lord certainly does wonderful things, as the Psalmist reminds us here. I am eternally grateful for all that He has done for me, who am most unworthy. He is my Rock and Refuge from the death and destruction wrought by the Enemy.

Pray in thanksgiving for the Lord’s gifts, and His mercy!

Last evening, I had the pleasure of listening to the meditational music of John Michael Talbot for nearly two hours! It was an amazing experience for me because I was able to think, reflect, and pray with almost no interruption for the entire time. The best word I could find to describe the whole experience was “peaceful.”

If you have never been acquainted with this ministry of prayer and music, I highly recommend that you do. You will not be disappointed. Moreover, you will most likely grow closer to Our Lord.

Please continue to pray for ministries in the Church such as these that seek to bring the Gospel to the world.

God Bless.

I wanted to share these thoughts with readers on Wednesday, but the work schedule was quite hectic. Thus, I share them with you two days later, but they are no less relevant.

…

One can find a bundle of things written on the Mass: its history, its proper celebration, and its theology are the most common topics of discussion. One aspect of the Mass that remains hidden, however, is the intense love that is poured out upon the faithful according to the measure that they are ready to receive. What I mean to say is that participants who are properly disposed to receiving the grace of God will receive a foretaste of Heaven, something more amazing than they have ever experienced in their entire lives. So intense is this experience that it cannot be put into words.

Something of that sort was my experience as I participated in a celebration of the Sacred Mysteries. Throughout the Gospel reading, the priest’s homily, and the prayers of the faithful, my mind and heart were focused intently on listening to what God wants from my life, especially from my work. Then, as I entered the communion line, I was overcome by an intense desire for union with Jesus Christ, and a realization that I was about to experience something not of this world. Finally, the priest placed My Lord on my tongue, and a rush of emotion came overwhelmed me. As I returned to my pew and knelt to pray, I was absolutely speechless (something quite unique for me).

As much as I wanted to pray, I could not find sufficient words to express the way I felt inside. Instead, I only knelt with my arms open, begging God to allow the gift of His life and love to be present in me at every moment, to dwell within me forever. It truly was one of those transformative moments in a person’s spiritual life. I pray that I will be able to draw abundant grace from that moment, and that my life will truly reflect what I experienced.

Pray that God’s people will work toward the proper disposition to celebrate Mass, and that He will provide them with all the necessary tools to transform their lives.

God Bless.

There is nothing in Nihilism other than ridicule, isolation, and envy. Those traits just so happen to be the opposites of Faith, Hope, and Love, the theological virtues of Christianity.

As I teach in my Church History courses, and as Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa preached to the pontifical household last week, Nietzsche’s philosophy paved the way for the “politics of atheism,” that is Nazism and Socialism. Think about it. What good came of those systems that had no foundation in a Supreme Being, Divine Providence, or…ahh…God? Quite simply: nothing!

Let us pray for nations, including our own, that are perilously close to walking the path of atheism.

God Bless.

I must preface this post by stating that I have no intention of this post becoming some sort of “political commentary.” See my original post on this blog if there is any doubt. However, there are certain politicians, public figures, and commentators who like to call themselves Catholic, and those people need to have the error of their ways revealed to them.

Fr. Thomas Euteneuer, President of Human Life International, attempted to do just that with Sean Hannity, one of America’s foremost conservative talk radio hosts. In his efforts, Fr. Tom was met with nothing less than fallacious arguments, cliches used to “justify” morally reprehensible actions, and outright contempt by the latter personality.

So that readers have some background on the issue: Hannity is professed Catholic who PUBLICLY dissents from the Church’s teaching on artificial birth control. As such, he creates scandal for other Catholics who listen to his show. He leads them to believe that the Church places this particular issue in some sort of “moral gray area.” Believe me: that is absolutely not the case!

Fr. Tom attempted to rectify the issue by engaging in a PRIVATE dialogue with Hannity; he put forth an invitation to meet for open dialogue and the beginnings of Hannity’s conversion. No response was received.

Then, on a recent Friday during Lent, Hannity made a wise-crack about being condemned to Hell because he took a bite of chicken on a day of mandatory abstinence from meat. Maybe he was joking, or maybe he was misinformed about what the Church teaches about such a sacrifice. But, in the end, that point becomes irrelevant. (For the record, the Church is very clear about what she teaches on both issues. The distinction, however, is that one issue–artificial birth control–is a grave moral evil.)

Fr. Tom happened to hear about Hannity’s wise-crack and wrote his weekly e-newsletter on the scandal caused by the latter’s public dissent on the issue of birth control. That was immediately met with an invitation, by Hannity’s staff, for Fr. Tom to appear on Hannity and Colmes to “debate” the “devout Catholic.” (Click here to link to the video.)

The encounter showed Fr. Tom as a well-educated, reasonable man who had Hannity’s, and the nation’s, best interests at heart. He was a true pastor. On the other hand, Hannity was his usual self. He never allowed Fr. Tom to complete a coherent thought by constantly interrupting, he twisted Fr. Tom’s words until they were unrecognizable, and he used “arguments” that never returned to the real issue–his heretical stance on artificial birth control.

There were several points on which Hannity was overtly wrong. A “profound believer in life” and “someone who doesn’t want to see abortion” should recognize that all forms of birth control prevent life, and that many forms of birth control don’t prevent conception but cause the death of a fertilized egg (a life). The fact that not all humans “share the Catholic faith” has no bearing on whether or not their bodies were created to bring forth life, and that a fertilized egg is the very first stage of that process. Statistics prove that birth control is not a simple means of preventing abortion. Finally, that “the Church does support a form of birth control–natural birth control,” is absolutely false. A man who “studied theology” and Church teaching in the seminary ought to know that Natural Family Planning is not to be used as “birth control” but is to help married couples understand, engage, and be comfortable in their sexuality while being “open to life.” (Many people, not only Catholics, use NFP to get pregnant, not simply to avoid pregnancy.)

On Monday of this week, Fr. Tom wrote a special edition of the e-newsletter to address the treatment he received by the so-called “devout Catholic.” Again, Fr. Tom proves to be rational and, most importantly, pastoral. Hopefully, he has opened a door for the conversion of many Catholics who dissent from the Church on this and other issues.

Let us pray for Sean Hannity, for dissenters from the True Faith, and for Fr. Tom in his effort to evangelize and preach the Truth.

God Bless.

Lent is always one of the busiest times of the year for youth ministers (as I’m sure it is for many other faithful Christians). This year is no different.

Through the first half of this penitential season, I have been smothered not only by a perpetually-full slate of activities, but also by serious questions about my spirituality, my family, and my job. There is no doubt that I will be closer to Christ on Easter Sunday than I was on Ash Wednesday…if I survive, that is. I won’t lie: it has been quite difficult so far.

However, this particular post is not meant to be a venue for moaning and grumbling on my part. Rather, I mean to help you see that all of the excess stuff and worries can be overcome; I mean to share with you how I find peace in the midst of all that surrounds me.

I pray every morning, I sit daily in Adoration, and I make my way through The Imitation of Christ. While doing those things, I am constantly reminded that Jesus Christ has lived a fully-human life, during which time He surely dealt with stress and anxiety. In fact, the types of stress and anxiety He endured…being the Savior of the World and all…probably cannot be comprehended by any of us.

The fact that He dealt with such things in His own life brings a wonderful peace into my life that I would not otherwise have. Because Jesus bore these things, I am confident that He will give me the grace to do the same. The only condition is that I must continue to allow my life to be used for His glory. That I am willing to do!

Until next time, pray for lasting peace within all human hearts, and pray that internal peace will bring external peace.

God Bless.

Even if you didn’t ask, I’ll share with you some details about my joyful weekend.

(Maybe this recurring feature should become the “Catholic Word of the Month” in light of the long duration between posts…)

In the spirit of the Lenten season: the Catholic Word of the Week is PENITENCE.

Rev. Peter Stravinskas offers several definitions in his edition of Catholic Dictionary.

(1) Spiritual change that enables a sinner to turn away from sin; (2) [t]he virtue that enables human beings to acknowledge their sins with true contrition and a firm purpose of amendment; (3) [t]he form of amendment or expiation.

The process laid out by those points is essentially thus: the Holy Spirit enlightens our mind and heart to our sinfulness; we become sorry for our sins that have offended God and we resolve not to do those things again; we are assigned a Penance by the priest who hears our confession, which serve as the “consequence” of our actions.

Throughout the period of six weeks from Ash Wednesday to Holy Thursday, Christians should use this process to guide them closer to Our Lord. Being penitent, which is usually expressed through sacrifice during the season (giving something up or adding an additional spiritual practice) leads us deeper into God’s life.

What is the point of all this? By the time the Easter celebration rolls around, you (yes, YOU!) should be more holy than when Lent started.

Perhaps we should incoporate this concept into our lives throughout the year…. Ahh yes! The Church already teaches that!

So, be penitent and do penance!

God Bless.

I know I’m late in spreading this hysterical image…but I know that many of my readers will get a huge kick.

This is my idea of a great apologetic explanation of Ash Wednesday and Lent.

May God richly bless your journey toward Him during this penitential season.

Lord, Have Mercy!