Saint Andrew

St Andrew, the brother of St Peter, our first Pope, was the one who in the Gospel of John brought his brother to Jesus. Any time we have a memorial or a feast of an apostle, it is a good opportunity to remember to pray for vocations to the priesthood. The Spirit is calling men to the priesthood, but many are not listening. For many, it is because of celibacy. It is true that celibacy is demanding, and for many it is a struggle. It would not be a sacrifice of it were not demandning and a cross. To be honest, it is a big cross for me and for other priestst that I know. There are many days that I desire to live the life of a married man with children. And every day, I wake up and once again commit myself to celibacy for the sake of the kingdom. There is much sorrow in celibacy and much sorrow in the priesthood, but there is also much joy in celibacy and much joy in the priesthood. St Andrew, pray for us.

The Pope's condom remark

There are so many articles coming out on other blogs, including Fr Z's and Amy Welborn's, as well as comments by Janet Smith, Philip Lawler, and Fr Fessio, that I would not even attempt to add my own two cents here. Suffice to say that the mainstream liberal media, as well as the more conservative Fox News, are purposely misrepresenting the Pope's comments. No surprise. The media in the US and Great Britian as well are hostile towards the Church. But even the more liberal Catholic newspapers and periodicals, as well as liberal Catholic groups, are perpetuating a myth of what the Pope actually said. It's basic common sense. The Pope would never say that it is a moral act to engage in any sexual activity outside of marriage, so for the liberal media to claim that the pope said that everyone could use condoms to avoid infection from sexual diseases is a lie. The example used by the Pope is of a male prostitute. Pope Benedict is basically saying that the prostitute's use of a condom would signal to his conscience that actions have consequences and that he might, just might, be having a moment whereby he would see that a need for transforming his life from a life of disordered sexuality to one of chastity is possible. As was pointed out by Fr Fessio, this is not even a lesser of two evils argument. It's a subtle distinction that is being lost on the large majority of people who live by the soundbyte and by their own need to justify their own behavior. If you follow the teachings of the Catholic Church in regards to sexuality, then the use of condoms would play no role in any activity, whether for contraception or for the protection of various sexually transmitted diseases.

not much to say

It seems that the days have gone pretty quickly since the last posting. In that time, I have been checking out Fr Z's blog, www.wdtprs.com. He has some interesting pieces of information there. One post recently was a eprson writing in to him that he had attended a confirmation and was disturbed that many of the young teens in the pews were playing games on the phones during Mass and even when approaching the extraordinary minister of Holy Communion. What sadness!! It just confirms to me, though, that we do not have a shortage of priests. If the future of our church is to be made up of people who would rather play games at Mass than pray at Mass, then in a few more years, our churches will be even emptier than they are now. Pray not only for priests, but please also pray for an increase in devotion especially among our young people.

Hereafter

It's All Saints Day, the true meaning of Halloween (all Hallow's Eve), in which we honor the men and women who have come before us in our faith and are recognized as saints because of their holiness of life. It is a reminder to all of us what our true destiny is, and that is to be in heaven with all the angels and saints worshiping our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There is a new movie, directed by Clint Eastwood, called Hereafter, which deals with life after death as well as near death experiences. It is a very powerful movie with some intense scenes. Clint Eastwood avoids mentioning any religious creed in the movie (except for a very short scene at a funeral with what looks like an Anglican priest), but he hits the spirituality of the question of what happens after death. Of course, in the movie are the skeptics, those who believe that after we die we basically become food for worms. Reading comments about the movie ons ome websites, you will also find that the skeptics are all around us, usually saying that Christians who believe in a heaven are delusional and believe in fairy tales. I have a difficult time believing that the Apostles would risk their lives for a fairy tale. Why would those eleven men, plus St Paul, spread the news about Jesus Christ's rising from the dead if arrest, torture and death were the result of their preaching? In any event, everyone will eventually find out for himself whetehr there is life after death. In the meantime, let us pray for the intercession of the saints that more people would come to recognize Jesus Christ as our Savior, the Messiah, sent by God to free us from a life of sin.

becoming catholic

Interestingly, I received a phone call from a gentleman who listened to the show on October 24th. He was not a very happy man. He took offense with some of the comments about the teaching of the Catholic Church. Correct me if I am wrong, but if you are a Catholic priest, then you would be expected to teach and explain the teachings of our faith, including the church's stance on artificial birth control, celibacy for priests, and the male only priesthood. He took offense with all three of these teachings, and he added the teaching on infallibility. Basically, as far as I understood what he was trying to say, he was arguing that the church needed to be more openminded and that if priests were married and were both male and female, then the scandals would not have occurred. I agreed with him that there were some people in the church, including bishops and priests, that had failed and were guilty of unspeakable crimes against children. You can argue that the system of a celibate male priesthood infected certain prelates and helped to foster an attitude that these celibate men knew better that the parents of those who were abused. But this attitude is also prevalent in all other walks of life and other denominations and other religious traditions. Children were abused before the time of Jesus Christ. Celibacy does not lead to sexual abuse. And for someone to think that abuse would disappear if women were ordained and held high positions in Rome is also highly mistaken. I agreed with this gentleman that those priests who were found guilty should have been held accountable and not only incarcerated but stripped of their priestly state. We kept going back and forth, but I think the biggest offense he took from my show was that I had said that I wish all people in Boston would be Catholic. Of course, I also mentioned that I have many Protestant friends and some non-Christian friends, and they are wonderful people and probably even more loving and merciful than some of my Catholic friends. It was a simple offhand remark of how much I love my Catholic faith and how I think that if it is lived properly, it can transform you into a new creation andfree you from a life of sin. If I did not believe that, then why would I be a Catholic, let alone a Catholic priest. We agreed to disagree, but I stand by what I said.

walls

One of the things that we are all susceptible to is putting walls up around our relationships. We use all kinds of excuses for shutting people out of our lives, including friends, and we justify our poor behavior towards them because they hurt us, in some form or another. Usually, it is a perceived hurt, which could be healed with sitting down and having a conversation with the person. But we continue to place those walls up so that we do not have to sit down with someone who has hurt us. Yet, St Paul reminds us that the walls are already down when we are members of the Body of Christ. So, if you belong to the Body of Christ, why is it that you feel justified in treating other members with scorn and disdain? Why is it that the work of reconciliation is out of reach? Why is it that the fruits of the Holy Spirit are not being lived? Only you can answer why you refuse to offer forgiveness and seek reconciliation. We are all called to bring each other to Christ, and to be Christ for one another. Love and forgiveness is the answer, because Christ is the answer.

so late

Here I am, ten days into October, the month of the Holy Rosary, and I have neglected posting on the blog. Mea culpa. October is a wonderful month, for not only is it the month of the rosary, but it is also the month of St Luke, who traditionally is the one who painted the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. This is a devotion that means a lot to me, especially since four years ago, this month, I experienced a miracle in my life that was from the hands of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. This miracle led to a conversion of heart and soul, especially in regard to music. Paula K, my co-host for feed my lambs, is a senior vice president of a Christian radio station, which plays contemporary Christian music, like Third Day, Mercy Me, Chris Tomlin, Jeremy Camp, and a variety of others. Now, there are many Catholics who would prefer that all music be of the classical, or Gregorian chant variety and that many of the evils of society have occurred through the advent of rock and roll music. And for many of these people, Christian music is only positive lyrics but they are intertwined with the beat of rock and roll and it is this beat that leads to the passions being ignited. I cna say that yes, there is a big difference between Palestrina and Jeremy Camp, and Palestrina is more uplifting for your soul. Nothing compares to Mozart or Gregorian chant, but the contemporary music of today on many Christian radio stations can also be positive for your soul and lead you to a worship experience of God in other ways. But I will say that the music at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass should be of highest quality and uplifting of the soul, and it is here that Mozart, Palestrina, Victoria and above all, Gregorian chant, is proper and, in my humble opinion, which is shared by many scholars and liturgists, as well as Pope Benedict XVI, the best way of worshiping God.