Category Archives: Universal Church

Thinking about the New Evangelisation

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Every so often ideas will come while the ironing is getting done. This is one of them which deals with the New Evangelisation. Perhaps if it has merit someone will take it up and run with it. However it will take many paragraphs to explain, so if it takes a long time to get to the point, please be patient …

As regular readers would know our study group www.ofgraceandfaith.blogspot.com is going through part of the Catechism of the Catholic Church each week, and are currently towards the end of the part on the Sacraments. At night we are also reading out a bit of the Catechism, and have recently started the part which will lead to the teaching on the 10 Commandments. Recently we read the portion on what Christian freedom really is. So many people have a false idea about what freedom truly is, and it is one of those topics that lends itself well to creative expression.

At this point a few nebulous thoughts started to come together. The time is approaching when our youngster will need more faith interaction with his peers, and the local youth group from reports is in decline. Whether the current crop are good role models is up for discussion, because the last time I was at the 6pm Sunday Mass some of the girls showed how lacking they were in their understanding of what goes on in the Eucharist – else there would not have been chatting and texting going on. So having lived through some poor excuses for youth groups in my day – what would be worthwhile? Obviously the need to engage with the Catechism, and to actually learn what the Church teaches was uppermost in mind, together with prayer.

If you have had a look at the study group blog site, you will have seen some of the artwork produced from prayerful reading of the Catechism. It has certainly made the rest of us stop and truly think about aspects of the Catechism’s teachings that we often pass over too lightly. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to get a whole bunch of creatively talented people together engaging with the same portion of the Catechism and presenting the insights they have gained through their own chosen creative medium to the others! What a lot we would learn from each other, and what a lot of fun it would be!

Every so often the average parish puts out a questionnaire asking its members to tick the boxes on what kinds of gifts, talents and experience they have to contribute. People fill them out and those questionnaires often languish in a file somewhere because there isn’t sufficient imagination around to work out how those gifts, talents and experience could be best used in the service of the Gospel. What a waste! Unless you are interested in those hard-to-fill liturgical ministries or willing to give being a catechist or catechist-helper in the state schools your questionnaire probably never gets followed up.

The understanding which has come from experiencing the work of our study group artist, is that the creative talents have been given by God to people primarily for the spread of the Gospel, and that those creative talents are essential for getting the Good News of the teachings of the Apostles out to our modern world in a way that appeals to the un-churched of our day.

So what’s the vision?

To get the range of creative talent required is probably beyond a single parish, but not beyond a deanery (sub-group of a handful of parishes in a diocese). It would lend itself easily to being a monthly event from Feb – Nov which visits a different parish in the deanery each month. At each location a hall, or preferably a hall with a stage, and several meeting rooms would need to be made available. An easiIy updated website, one which multiple users can upload material to, and which can upload the full range of media types (audio, video, podcast, text, visual, animation etc) would need to be set up. To this website each monthly meeting day a new page of input would be added, containing not only the chosen Catechism text, but also all the footnoted texts (excerpts from Biblical texts, Church Council documents, Papal documents, Saint’s writings etc). These days sufficient people are carrying smart phones with internet access, which means that the creatives who come will have all the textual inspiration at their fingertips.

Not only the creatives are needed, but also all those with intercessory gifts – or who are at least willing to pray and intercede – and those with gifts of hospitality.

All would gather together to begin with – probably on a Sunday afternoon for 2.5 hours. In the first half hour, everyone prays together, the portion of the Catechism is read out, and the groups are organised. Then for the next hour the intercessors pray that the Holy Spirit will inspire the creatives as they work; those with hospitality keep the cappuccinos, biscuits and encouragement flowing; and the creatives join their own groups. Musicians go in one direction. Actors and script writers go in another direction to work on skits etc. Artists bring their own gear and set up in a well ventilated area away from the wind. Dancers find a spot to work in. All of the poets, bloggers, comedians and other text writers are allocated a place with good wi-fi to work in. Sound technicians and those with stage lighting skills wander from group to group getting a handle on what the production needs are. Computer geeks are on hand to scan artwork and input links from creative’s websites to the official websites. Photographers take photographs of artwork and performances to upload to the official website. Video-graphers capture the musicians and drama workers results for upload to YouTube and back-link to the official website. When the creative hour is over, everyone gathers for the presentations, which become in effect a holy talent show. Priests would need to be available to give the yeah or nay as to whether the creative caught the essence of the Church’s teaching or not – only the yeahs get uploaded – and what we most need, for the priests to give everyone God’s blessing at the end.

And the blessings? Our creatives get to experience what being inspired by the Holy Spirit is like, with all those people praying for them. They get to work with others who have been given similar giftings, which is so important for both the younger creatives and for the older ones to act as mentors. They get to showcase their work. (If you’ve seen a photographer in action and the results, you are far more likely to hire him or her for your daughter’s wedding) They get to use their God-given talents to promote the Gospel to those gathered on the day and to all who will access the website. Everyone gets to know each other better and to work together for a common godly cause, and to appreciate each others talents. Of the variety of creative mediums on the day, if one doesn’t touch your heart with God’s grace-filled message, another will. Over a period of a year or so, an excellent bank of catechetical material will grow and become a major resource for the New Evangelisation – let alone how many people will be inspired to live out the Faith they profess more fully.

Each creative group would need a leader / co-ordinator, and there would have to be a planning meeting prior to each one. Ditto for the intercessors and hospitality groups.

I’d like to think that it if these ideas ever became reality that such an afternoon would quickly become the most anticipated deanery event of the month.

Into your hands and heart, Our Lady Help of Christians, and Mother of the New Evangelisation, these ideas and this vision is entrusted; knowing that all things are possible when you intercede for us before the Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

 

What do you look for in a candidate for the papacy?

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I’m sure that this question has been running around your thoughts, just as it has mine. That the good Lord has a specific Cardinal in mind is certain. Our job is to pray for the grace of the Holy Spirit upon the Cardinal-electors, that they may easily discern God’s choice. So let’s run through a list of the qualities that a good Pope needs….

Firstly, let us look at what Jesus saw in St Peter that set him apart for leadership among the Apostles.

Sincerity is what St Peter had in spades, and it is an essential virtue in any candidate. No one wants a candidate known for duplicity. Of all qualities, this is the most important one of all.

St Peter was someone to whom God the Father had revealed the divinity of His Son Jesus. So a profound experience in prayer of God’s self revelation is really important. We need someone who is absolutely convinced of the reality of God and of the incarnation of Jesus.

What else did St Peter have? He had enormous love for Jesus. In answer to the question of Jesus, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these others do?’ he responded, ‘Yes Lord, you know I love You.’

Private revelation indicates that St Peter also had a very strong, loving filial relationship with the Mother of Jesus. Of all the magificent Popes we have been blessed with in living memory, all of them – without exception – had ardent, conspicuous devotion to Our Lady. You could draw a very strong correlation between the long term benefits resulting from their papacy and their degree of love for the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In St Peter we also see someone willing to change his mind to conform to the mind of God. He struggled, but he got there in the end with God’s declaration that all foods were clean and in the acceptance of Gentiles into the People of God and in the removal of the circumcision requirement. It takes humility to be able to be shown where you haven’t fully embraced the Truth.

Secondly let us look at the qualities a Pope in our era needs for the times we live in.

We need someone who is a master, and not a slave, of the various forms of information technology and who is familiar with spreading the Gospel through the mass media.

We need someone who can take forward the vision of Blessed John Paul the Great and Benedict XVI for World Youth Day, and who can continue this Grace for your young people.

We need someone who can speak several languages fluently, and who won’t often need a translator.

We need someone who has a gift of discernment, of being able to quickly tell whether an idea comes from God, from man or from the evil one ; a gift of discernment which also enables him to recognise God’s choices for various Curial and other appointments.

We need someone who has a track record of calling forth the gifts of others for the service of God in the Church, and consequently a good judge of character. Is his home archdiocese humming with initiatives, begun in the last five years, which are successfully bringing people back to God and which are inspiring vocations?

Is his daily prayer life solid, and more necessary to him than breathing?

Does he have unshakeable trust in God, and in His Mercy?

Is he someone that the other cardinals will happily swear obedience to, and mean it? This means that he needs to have what it takes to win, and keep, the respect of others.

Does he have a track record of obedience to the teachings of the Magisterium of the Church? Since only those can truly lead who fully know what it is like to be led.

Does he have the charism of teaching, of being exceptionably able to help others come to love and to understand the fullness of the truth?

O Jesus, Divine Mercy, we trust in You that there is such a candidate for the papacy whom You have been preparing for this heavy burden of service to God’s people. Please grant your Graces enabling the cardinal electors to discover who he is, and enabling Your chosen Cardinal to say ‘Yes’ to this supreme calling.

St Peter, all the holy Apostles, and all the holy successors of St Peter, please pray for the man upon whom God’s choice falls in this conclave, and for all the cardinal-electors. Amen.

Prayer for the election of a new Pope

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Heavenly Father, We, the People of God, gathered in solidarity as did the disciples in the Upper Room, pray for the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the cardinals who will be in conclave for the election of the next Vicar of our Lord Jesus Christ. May the hearts of our cardinals be open to the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, beyond any human judgment, to elect the candidate most pleasing to You, Heavenly Father, and who will guide the Church at this momentous time in history at the beginning of the Third Millennium.

We invoke our Mother Mary, united in prayer with the disciples in the Upper Room, to intercede for our cardinals to select the next Holy Father in docility to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, her divine Spouse. Holy Mary, Mother of God and of the Church, we entrust this conclave to your maternal and Immaculate Heart, and offer these prayers for your guidance and protection over the choosing of the next Vicar of your Son:

1 Our Father
1 Hail Mary
1 Glory Be

Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us!

St Peter, and all the Holy Apostles and their Saintly successors, pray for us!

For a PDF of this prayer to print and distribute:

ConclavePDF

 

Would God understand?

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Over at the study group (www.ofgraceandfaith.blogspot.com) two weeks ago we spent a long time discussing passage CCC 1387 from the Catechism of the Catholic Church : ‘To prepare for worthy reception of this sacrament (ie the Eucharist), the faithful should observe the fast required in their Church. Bodily demeanor (gestures, clothing) ought to convey the respect, solemnity, and joy of this moment when Christ becomes our guest.’ Every so often the comment would be made – in reference to less than perfect behaviour – ‘But surely God would understand’, and I’m not totally sure that this is the case.

In times past people would dress up to go to Mass, and especially when preparing for Sunday Mass. Afterwards you would change into ordinary clothes, play clothes or work gear. They were full of the awareness that they were going to worship God and that God, being God, deserved the very best they had to offer. They went to Church primarily to be with God, and used the moments before and after Mass to talk to Him in their hearts. In plenty of our churches these days it seems that going to Mass is primarily a social occasion, to catch up with friends and obtain the latest news, and that worshipping God is somewhere down the list of motivations.

‘Well, at least they are at Mass’. Yes, that is a minimum start. But wouldn’t we be horrified by someone who came to interview an important celebrity without doing background research, preparing questions to ask, and dressing in a professional manner?

Why are we so reluctant to set standards of dress when attending the Eucharist? To get into an RSL club there are minimum dress regulations (wear something with a collar, no shorts or thongs), and people abide by them. If you came to a performance of Opera talking loudly, chewing gum and playing a noisy game on your smart phone, the usher would soon escort you elsewhere. We dress up to go and see a performance of Shakespeare. So how is it that ‘anything goes’ is good enough for God, and ’surely He’ll understand that I didn’t bother to look my best for Him because ……. I was running late / remembered to go at the last moment / it’s just one of many things I’ve got to do today’.

Would God understand? When Jesus saw the Temple turned more into a marketplace than a place for worship, He was angry and drove out the money changers and their wares. He was full of zeal for God’s house and for God’s glory. So much did He want His heavenly Father honoured that He gave us ‘Hallowed be Thy Name’ in the Our Father. Honouring God and giving Him our best was a top priority for Jesus, so how is it that we don’t follow Him in this?

Would Jesus understand the ‘Come as you are’ mentality? Given the evidence above, I don’t think so. The popular song of that title was primarily about not delaying our return to God by repentance. It definitely wasn’t about how to dress when going to Mass, and yet those thoughts have seeped in to the collective psyche.

Currently we are collectively shaking our heads over a faith-filled mother who is permitting her teenage daughter to come to Mass in short-shorts and thongs. For all we know there may have been major arguments at home, and the ‘at least she’s here’ argument won the day. These are the teachable-moments that God gives us to remind our children and others that He is both worthy and deserving of our very best, and that offering Him our dregs is insulting to His majesty and glory.

One of the prayers of St Thomas Aquinas captures the attitude of heart that should inform our dress, demeanor and gestures in God’s presence :  ’I give You thanks, Lord, Holy Father, everlasting God. In Your great Mercy, and not because of my own merits,  you have fed me, a sinner and Your unworthy servant, with the precious Body and Blood of Your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.’

While we are unlikely to have much success persuading people with words to prepare for Holy Mass more consciously, leading by example is likely to be far more effective. It could be as simple as making a commitment to wear closed-in shoes each time you go to Mass. It could be as simple as putting on a collar and tie for gents and a skirt of ample length for the ladies together with necklines which show no cleavage. It could be as simple as setting aside a good outfit or two for ‘Sunday best’ and choosing when you have new clothes to wear them for the first time when going to Mass. It could be as simple as always putting on clean, fresh clothes before going to Church. It could be as simple as taking off all distracting ear-rings, bangles and jewellery and leaving all mobile phones in the car. When there is a choice between something flamboyant and something less flamboyant to wear, choose the one which will distract fellow worshippers the least. Such simple commitments would powerfully prepare our own hearts for the Eucharist and help us to value it more highly. Then should someone comment or ask why you are making an effort to be presentable at Mass, have your answer ready and give that answer with both truth and love.

In essence it is all about removing ‘practical atheism’ – all of those habitual actions in our lives which fail to mirror the faith we profess. eg If we believe that God is truly present in the consecrated hosts within the tabernacle, then we will behave reverently and prayerfully in Church, relishing that presence, and not exiting Mass as fast after Holy Communion as we can.

Particularly let us take the Solemnity of Christmas as our starting point for showing the good God greater honour in the way we dress and behave at Mass.

Divine Infant Jesus, protect and bless us, and guide us into true worship of the Heavenly Father. Amen.

 

 

 

When an objection comes your way…

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During the week our study group had gathered to learn from the next segment of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Being up to CCC 1362-1381, we were all looking forward to delving further into what the Church teaches about the Eucharist, when in walked a protestant friend-of-a-friend and sat down after plonking a rather nice soft-cover bible on the table. Coming in late, this person soon vehemently expressed the opinion that we should be studying the Scriptures and only the Scriptures. At the time, with this coming very much out-of-the-blue, good responses were hard to come by “on the spot”. So here are some responses obtained in hindsight which you might like to keep in your memory should an objection like this come your way in the future:

1. We might not be directly studying the scriptures, but we are certainly doing what the scriptures tell us to do. Consider Hebrews 13:7, ‘Remember your leaders, who preached the Word of God to you, and as you reflect upon the outcome of their lives, imitate their faith.’ In the Catechism we have a synthesis of the very best teaching of our spiritual leaders gathered from almost 20 centuries of Christian living, leaders who persevered in faith until the end. The vast majority of non-Scriptural quotations in the Catechism come from the writings of the Doctors of the Church, from the Popes and from the documents of the Second Vatican Council.

2. Each and every segment of the Catechism is generously sprinkled with Scripture quotations. In the part we were to study that day, there were no less than 16 quotations from Scripture. So we are studying the application of Scripture to our Christian lives.

3. Studying the Catechism teaches us the correct interpretation of the Scriptures. The New Testament Scriptures arose out of the lived experience of the early Christians in following the teaching of Jesus. Since the Church came first, and the Scriptures came second, as St Paul teaches in 1 Tim 3:15, ‘the Church…upholds the truth and keeps it safe’, or as another translation puts it ‘the Church is the pillar and bulwark of the truth’. Nowhere in the Bible is such a claim made of the Scriptures.

4. Many of those quoted in the Catechism were involved in determining the canon of Scripture, as such they authoritative sources for how to interpret Scripture and their writings are worthy of study. On the day in question there were quotations from Ignatius of Antioch (disciple of John the Apostle, died around 107), Monica (mother of Augustine), Augustine (d.430), John Chrysostom (d.407), Ambrose (d.397), Cyril of Alexandria (d.444) and Cyril of Jerusalem (d.386). Apart from Monica they were all bishops, successors of the Apostles, entrusted with passing on the faith of the Apostles to us. Even today you would travel distance to hear an exceptionally gifted person preach, and these men went through extraordinary trials for the sake of the truth of Jesus Christ, some were martyrs, some died in exile, some had several periods of persecution from heretics, all loved Jesus and knew the holy Scriptures better than we ever will. The Councils of Laodicea in 363, Hippo in 393 and Carthage in 397 took place during the lifetimes of these holy heroes.

5. If the Church in pre-printing press times took the trouble to copy out the writings of these Church Fathers by hand, many times over, entrusting their preservation to each successive generation for over 1600 years, then they contain valuable teaching for helping us to live in the holiness that God calls us to. Therefore to dismiss what the grace of God produced in these successors of the Apostles is to reject the giver of those graces.

6. Catholicism is a ‘both/and’ religion. We value both Scripture and Tradition, and know that if we only look at Tradition or only look at Scripture then we are not receiving the full truth that Jesus came to reveal to us.

Should you have any additional answers to this objection, please submit a comment.

Our Lady, Mother of the Church, Seat of Wisdom, pray for us.

 

The modern conundrum

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On Sunday, 4 Nov 2012, in Cardinal George Pell’s weekly column in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper he spoke about the growing trend of people liking to call themselves Catholic but who consider that the label is enough and that behavioural requirements that go with being a Catholic are irrelevant. To illustrate this, he passed on the gist of a conversation between a priest and a couple who had come to him to arrange a Catholic marriage.

From Cardinal Pell’s column:

Priest: ‘Where are you religiously? What about your relationship with God?’

Couple: ‘It is terrific’. They explained that they never prayed or went to Mass and claimed emphatically that they were not worried by any guilt about sins or wrongdoings.

Flabbergasted Priest: ‘What about Christ’s command to repent and believe?’

Couple: ‘No need to worry on that score because God loved them as they were.’

The challenge, the conundrum, is how to help a couple like this start the journey from where they are now to where God wants them to be as Catholics, spouses and potential parents.

One way to begin in a situation like this is to compare the relationship the future bride has with the future groom with the relationship each of them has with the priest. Questions could be about their top-3 likes and dislikes, favourite breakfast beverage, the most likely drink they will order from a licensed bar, where they went to primary school etc. The aim being to bring out that the future spouses know all these things about each other because they have a close relationship and that they know next to nothing about the priest because they have a very distant relationship with him.

Then, now that both ends of the quality of relationship spectrum have been explored, questions can be asked about whether they know God’s likes and dislikes – this will show whether their relationship to God is spousal, barely acquainted, or something in between. The Old Testament wisdom literature contains a list or two of these – which could be used as a guide, but the couple is unlikely to know of them, however the priest should know of them. This exercise will establish that their relationship with God is not as terrific as they thought it was. Then some exploration about how they might improve their relationship with God could begin.

The next task is to open the engaged couple’s eyes to what it actually takes to enter heaven. Of course, God does love us as we are, otherwise we would cease to exist. However God also keeps criminals, angels and demons in existence, so He loves them as they are too. If someone loves us they love us as we are, but they also desire us to grow and to develop into the best person we can be. Of all the sorrows in a parent’s heart, one of the greatest would be to see a talented child not using their gifts to the utmost of their ability. That would be one of God’s great sorrows, too.

Another way to look at the ‘God loves us as we are’ position is to use an analogy. Consider the father of a large family. The father will indeed love each of his children deeply and tenderly. With any large family some children will still live in the family home, some will live nearby, some will live a few suburbs away, some will live at considerable distance away and some will leave home never to be seen nor heard from again. This latter group have been doing their own thing without a thought for the father at all; they don’t pick up the telephone; they don’t visit; they don’t come to family gatherings; they don’t send gifts at birthday and Christmas; siblings they come across once in a while they choose to ridicule because they take the father’s dictums seriously. To all intents and purposes the latter group live completely cut of from the family. When it comes time to distribute the inheritance the father prepared for them, a member of the latter group coming home for the first time after the father’s funeral in the hopes of receiving the inheritance planned for them, and saying ‘Dad loved me just as a I am’ will receive a very frosty response. ‘Yes, Dad loved you very much, but did you love him? Where’s the evidence of your love for him? You’re only here for the money, so be off with you!’.

The father is our Heavenly Father. We are all His children. To pick up the telephone is to pray. To visit is to spend time in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. To go to family gatherings is to go to Mass, especially on Sundays. To send gifts is to do penance and to perform supernaturally loving actions towards others. To suffer any persecution is to be recognized as His child. What kind of child are we?

Another way to break through the ‘God loves me as I am’ barrier is to refer to Revelation 21:27 which states that ‘no imperfect thing will enter heaven.’ . Ask them to honestly tell what in their lives is perfect. Then ask them, ‘Do they know the way to make the less-than-perfect parts of themselves perfect – and perfect according to God’s standards?’

Let us pray for all those like this engaged couple, who are living their lives without any reference to God and yet who fully expect to enter heaven when they die. The old name for this kind of thinking was presumption. We need to avoid the deadly extremes of despair of God’s mercy and presumption on our way to our homeland of heaven.

May Our Lady intercede for us and for them, and for all those like them.

Reminders to seek holiness

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Today, 2 Nov 2012, is the feast day of All Souls and yesterday was the solemnity of All Saints. Both days remind us that life has a purpose, and that purpose is complete union with Jesus in Heaven. Yesterday we shared the joy of those who have attained the happiness of Heaven and today we pray in solidarity with those being purified from sin so that they too may enter Heaven.

To help not only the Holy Souls in Purgatory, but all those who want to grow in their union with Jesus, a PDF version of ‘An Unpublished Manuscript on Purgatory’ was uploaded to the Resources page today. Each and every time I re-read this little book I get inspired and encouraged to do more of those things that please God.

The “Manuscript” is the record of interactions between a nun and a deceased member of her religious order. Because the deceased had not lived an exemplary life, her Purgatory was a long one. In His goodness and mercy, God permitted the deceased to visit the nun and to answer many questions about Purgatory and the spiritual life. These interactions took place between 1874 and 1890. Frequently the deceased reminds the nun that the speed of her progress through Purgatory is closely linked to the nun’s progress in holiness. The closer to God the nun is, the more effective her prayers and penances are to the deceased. For these many urgings to grow in holiness alone this Manuscript is worth reading and sharing with others.

Here are a few snippets to whet your appetite for more….

July 16th 1876. “The Holy Eucharist must be as a magnet for you, drawing you always more and more powerfully. This Sacrament must be the main object of your life.”

August 28th 1876. “Have no other desire than to love God always more and more. Try to be ever more closely united to Him. Endeavor to lead each day a more interior life, a life more closely united to your Jesus. This interior union with Jesus is brought about by your sufferings of body and soul, but above all by your longing love for Him. May you indeed conform to God’s plan by this interior life. He insists on it so pleadingly. I cannot tell you now the degree of sanctity and union with Himself to which He will lead you or what graces He has in store for you. I have, of course, spoken of some of these graces. The others are unknown to me. Guard well your actions, your very presence must inspire devotion.”

Un-dated. “I receive far more relief from one of your actions done in union with Jesus, than from a vocal prayer, because what is it that God hears? He hears all that is done with an interior spirit. The more closely a soul is united with God the more readily does He grant all it asks. A soul intimately united with Jesus is the mistress of His Heart. Strive then after this union which Jesus has desired to have with you for so long. You want to please Him? Well, this is the only way. You approach closer to His Heart by great attention to the least manifestation of His holy will. He must be able to twist and turn you as He likes and He must never find any resistance on your part. When you have arrived at that point you will begin to see and understand His goodness. Be really in earnest about working for God alone.”

November 1880. “Seriously reflect how many venial sins one who is careless about her eternal salvation commits in one day. How many minutes does she offer up to God? Does she think of Him seriously at all? Well, there are 365 days in one year, and if there are many such years, that person dies charged with a multitude of venial sins which have not been blotted out because she has not even thought of them. When such a soul appears before God to be judged there is scarcely a spark of love left in that soul when she comes to render an account of her life to Him who demands it back from her. Such all but sterile lives have to be begun all over again, when they reach this place of expiation. Lives lived without love for God will have to be atoned for here in Purgatory with intense sufferings. Whilst on earth, they did not profit by the mercy of God, but lived merely for the sake of the body. Now to regain their first splendour, they have to make satisfaction to the last farthing. This is what happens to indifferent souls. For souls of greater guilt, it is far worse.”

Eternal Rest grant unto all the Holy Souls in Purgatory O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. May their souls and all the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.

My Jesus, Mercy!

 

 

 

 

 

To baptize or not to baptize?

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In order to become an official member of the Society of Saints, which comprises all of those who have been made children of God through the death and resurrection of Jesus, the sacrament of Baptism is necessary. However there seems to be a growing number of parents who are not seeking membership of the People of God for their children. Why is this?

One of the main arguments appears to be that the parents don’t want to be hypocrites and to begin the initiation of their children into something they themselves either no longer believe in or don’t see as relevant would be hypocritical in their eyes. In addition to this they often say that matters of faith are something their children can decide for themselves when they are old enough. Naturally those with faith who are older and wiser can see some truth in the arguments of these young parents, but also know that there is also a lot wrong with these arguments although they may not be able to explain why.

As to the grain of truth, the Code of Canon Law 868 agrees with them. Baptism can only be administered to infants lawfully if at least one of the parent’s consents and there is some hope that the child will be brought up in the Catholic religion, or without consent if the child is in danger of death.

The big questions then become : Do the parents know enough about Baptism to know what it is they are rejecting for their child? If the parents were married in a Catholic Church, do they realise how serious a thing it is for them to go back on their vow to God and public promise to bring any children up in the Catholic faith? How seriously are the parents going to give their child sufficient information from both sides of the argument for the child to come to an informed decision as to whether to seek Baptism or not? How seriously have these parents come to the decision not to baptize – have they been unconsciously drifting away from anything to do with God? have they done their own homework or are they following their peers because it seems the cool thing to do?

It is very reasonable for faith-filled relatives to worry when someone announces that they will not be seeking Baptism for their child. In the very act of not seeking Baptism they are rejecting God, His ways, and any faith they grew up with. For many it is a proclamation that their lives are too busy with work, sport, and socialising to make a commitment to worship God on a weekly basis with the Christian community. For a minority it might be a protest about living within the behavioural boundaries of the 10 commandments (thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not covet, thou shalt worship God alone, honour your parents etc).

Perhaps as a Christian community we have not been very vocal in promoting the benefits of Baptism. They do exist. However we are more likely to talk to someone about how great it is to have a relationship with God than we are to speak about how wonderful it is to be Baptised. Only with the recent reflections on Vatican II and the universal call to holiness through Baptism – which came with the start of the Year of Faith – and the ‘Of Grace and Faith’ study group going through the section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church on Baptism (see www.ofgraceandfaith.blogspot.com )have I done any thinking about the benefits of Baptism in a long, long time.

What are the consequences of not being baptised?

Without Baptism you cannot receive any of the other sacraments. This means that you cannot receive the sacrament of marriage and cannot thus feel God’s blessing and power of love flowing through your marriage. This means that you cannot receive the profound gift of sacramental absolution of sins through the sacrament of Penance (Confession). Without Baptism you are unable to truly recite the Our Father as a child of that heavenly Father, only as a creature of the Creator.

Without Baptism you cannot receive the spiritual gifts which come with Baptism. To please God more than human virtue is needed, and the sacrament infuses the supernatural gifts of faith, hope and charity. Speak to anyone who wants to have faith that God exists and you soon come to realise just how big the gift of faith is. As a child of God through Baptism you share in the power of forgiveness won by the death and resurrection of Jesus. Every parent knows that sooner or later their child will be hurt or betrayed badly by others. Lack of forgiveness cripples a person on the inside, and can also cripple them psychosomatically as well. For big hurts a person needs more than the power of human forgiveness, they need a share in the divine power of Jesus in order to be set free. Every parent has also lived long enough to realise that evil and malice exist, and one of the first steps in overcoming an addiction through the 12 step programme is to believe in a higher power. Through the exorcisms in the baptismal rite and through the divine protections given to all children of God the baptised are shielded from many attacks of the evil one and are in a stronger position to reject temptations when they come.

Can someone get to heaven without Baptism? Yes, but it is a far more difficult road. You have to consistently seek truth, goodness and beauty and to act according to the lights that conscience gives. It is similar to the difference between someone with a push-bike (non-baptised) and someone with a motorised pushbike, with helmet, knee and elbow guards, GPS, first-aid kit (baptised) travelling with others on similarly kitted out motorised pushbikes. The destination is heaven, and the baptised have a much greater chance of getting there. A non baptised person participates in ordinary human virtue. By virtue of Baptism into Christ Jesus, every good action of a baptised person in a state of grace acquired immortal value, because due to Baptism consciously or unconsciously those good actions are done in union with Christ and His Church.

The older and wiser members of the faithful sense that letting a child decide matters of faith for themselves is unlikely to produce a happy outcome. Who would let a child determine the right way to cross a busy road as a pedestrian by themselves? Who would let a child determine the safety of a naked flame by themselves? Who would let a child decide for themselves whether studying mathematics was a worthwhile subject or not? Yet we have parents giving children in State Schools permission to not attend Scripture classes from the early years of primary school. How are they going to be able to decide the pivotal question in the meaning of life - the existence of God – if they never get to learn about what the Christian community believes about Him? If God exists then heaven, hell and judgment are real, with eternal consequences. Any wise person knows that ignoring this question is foolhardy.

What is the likely outcome for a child of parents who think they are doing the sophisticated and enlightened thing by letting the child decide for themselves when he or she is old enough? Generally the child will look to the parent’s actions and non actions. If the parents have no room for God in their lives, the chances of a child working out how to include God in his or her life are slim indeed. If the parents could not be bothered to determine for the sake of the child whether God is real or not, why should the child bother? If parents took the time to read the accounts of those who came from atheism to belief in Jesus and compared them to the accounts of those who grew up in Christian homes, drifted a bit and then came to an adult faith, the choice to baptise or not baptise would become much clearer. ‘Atheist to Catholic : 11 Stories of Conversion ‘ compiled by Rebecca V. Cherico, any of the books in the ‘Surprised by Truth’ series compiled by Patrick Madrid, or viewing several episodes of EWTN’s ‘Journey Home’ programme with Marcus Grodi are good places to start such investigations.

On this day, 21 Oct 2012, when seven holy members of the Church are canonized, let us ask them to pray for all the yet-to-be baptised that they may be granted this stupendous gift of God.

Before the Year of Faith begins

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Tomorrow (10 Oct 2012) is the e-conference on ‘Vatican II – an Event of Grace’, and the day after (11 Oct 2012) the Year of Faith begins, so today is my last opportunity to ponder – without external influence –  the role the documents of Vatican II and the Catechism of the Catholic Church have played in my life up to this point. The more I ponder, the more I am convinced of the necessity of this Year of Faith.

Towards the end of Vatican II the wonderful Grace of the Sacrament of Baptism was given to me, so I have lived my whole life under the influence of the Council and have no true concept of ‘before and after’. The earliest recollection I have is of long thin green Mass booklets with Latin in one column and English in the other. In many ways I feel hampered in my understanding of the Second Vatican Council because I’ve only seen it through the lens of hindsight and not in its full cultural context at the early 1960s.

As a youngster you tend to ‘go with the flow’ with whatever is happening in the Church because at that age you don’t know what the other options are. Thus I lived through hymns with catechetical content being thrown out in favour of folk hymns, and all sorts of youth Masses that were helpful at the time but which I would probably shudder at today. Many things were proposed and done in the name of ‘Vatican II’ that all seemed wonderful and exciting at the time, but which a reading of the actual documents would shown to be false interpretations. With a bit of age and wisdom I now carefully check to see whether anyone commenting on Vatican II actually provides quotations to back up their claims.

The sad thing is that with so many documents produced by the Council Fathers and the Post Conciliar Fathers the majority of us were more than willing for someone else to read them for us and to give us the gist of the message. Even sadder is the fact that the documents are, and remain, inspiring masterpieces of Church teaching which few people have ever read and appreciated. My ‘Flannery edition’ copy of the documents dates from the early 1980s and at that time I did read a few of them and found them full of truth, beauty and wisdom, but I eventually got bogged down in the less interesting bits and stopped reading. Since that time of enthusiasm I have to admit that I haven’t referred to the documents except when there has been an interpretation problem or point of controversy that required going back to the sources. Many were the years that the book didn’t get opened at all. The sections I have looked into the most have been the ones on Liturgy and the Church.

If I am an example of average moderately well-read Catholic, then the encouragement of the Holy Father, via the Year of Faith, to get familiar with the Documents of Vatican II is more than timely. Only by reading through these treasures for ourselves can our minds come into conformity with the true thinking of the Church and of the mind of Christ. Only by reading for ourselves can we receive the sacred deposits of truth and wisdom and pass them on faithfully to the generations to come.

It is a similarly sad story with the Catechism of the Catholic Church. As soon as it was (finally!) translated into English a copy was obtained for our home. I’ve tried to read it starting from the front, but as I may have mentioned before, got bogged down in the section of the Creed referring to the Ascension of Jesus – not even 25% through. On Thursday night, with the encouragement of the Year of Faith, I will begin again where I left off. Apart from the times when I have needed finer points on the Sacraments for sacramental preparation classes or the times that sections on Prayer have been read in conjunction with a Medjugore novena, the Catechism has largely sat on the shelf. Once in a while a question will come up in conversation and I’ll go searching in the Catechism for an authoritative answer. In the Index has proved very useful, but it has to be used creatively. The subject headings in the index never seem to have the same words that the question was framed in, so the mental thesaurus of ‘church-speak’ gets put to work, new index words are consulted and generally an answer is eventually found.  

Reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church is one of those ‘I must get around to it’ things on the lifetime ‘to do’ list. After all it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit inspired deliberations of the Council Fathers and countless other holy and saintly servants of God from all the centruries of the Christian era. So it is with gratitude that come Thursday and the beginning of the Year of Faith that I start again to read it. At home it will just be a page or so a day, but at the study group (www.ofgraceandfaith.blogspot.com) it will be 3-5 pages a week. Having started preparing for the pages on Baptism from paragraphs 1210-1228 I am already beginning to appreciate what a gift of Grace this study will be. Today I started looking up the footnote references that captured my imagination most, and came to a whole new appreciation for St Thomas Aquinas, St Ambrose and St Gregory Nazianzen and for the sacrament of Baptism itself.

The stream of Graces that the Year of Faith is offering us through taking the time to read, ponder and implement the contents of Vatican II and the Catechism begin to flow on Thursday. What a crying shame it would be if that stream of Graces passed us by without our obtaining some for ourselves! What a renewal the Church would undergo if each member took the challenge of the Year of Faith seriously! Who knows when the next major encouragement to study the major non-Scripture documents of our Faith will come again? If you, like me, haven’t read much from them, then it is necessary that we take this precious and privileged opportunity with both hands if we want to serve God and His Church not only with our hearts but with our minds as well. 

Our Lady, Mother of the Church, pray for us.

Getting ready for the Year of Faith

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In just a little over 4 weeks, the Year of Faith will begin on Thursday 11th October 2012. Now is the time to start thinking about how we intend to take part in this special Year during our daily lives. If we take the Year of Faith seriously, we will experience an amazing, joy-filled renewal in our spiritual lives. Here’s what I intend to do…. (Maybe it will help you in your own preparation.)

During my online searches to see if there was an official prayer for the Year of Faith, I came across this article from the UK Catholic Herald. According to that article Pope Benedict XVI has been handing out prayer cards for the Year of Faith with an image of Christ on the front and the Nicene Creed printed on the back. It expressed the hope that the Creed would become a daily prayer, learned by heart. To pray the Nicene Creed each day, especially with the newly revised words, is quite an achievable goal; so that’s the first part of my plan.

In recent years I had started to read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, but only got as far as the section on the Profession of Faith about the Judgment of the living and the dead (paragraph 678). Since I’d like to read through the whole thing at least once in my lifetime, the Year of Faith is the needed impetus to get back to it. Being a realist I know that the only way this is going to happen is if I read out loud a couple of paragraphs a night as part of the family’s ‘going to bed’ prayers. That’s achievable, too; so it’s the second part of my plan.

When the Year of Faith begins, our parish study group will cease studying the Gospel of St Mark and start discussing the Catechism of the Catholic Church week by week. If you have been reading the discussion summaries at www.ofgraceandfaith.blogspot.com you would already be aware of how much joy, inspiration and challenge they have been producing. Studying the Gospel we hear so frequently at Mass with holy parishioners has made hearing the Gospel fresh and exciting again. Going through a similar process with the Catechism should bring it alive in a whole new way. For more details about which parts of the Catechism we will be studying, and why, have a look at http://ofgraceandfaith.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/the-year-of-faith-approaches.html This part of the Year of Faith I am really looking forward to; and this forms the third part of my plan.

A long time ago a big step in my adult conversion began when I went to a couple of simple talks about the different attributes of God. Each week I would leave those talks excited and re-invigorated in faith because I had been reminded about just how wonderful God is. We need to know God more in order to be able to love Him more, and generally that means learning more about God and letting that new knowledge guide and shape our lives and our prayer lives. Studying the Catechism will do the same for us. What a joy it will be to be exposed to centuries worth of prayerful reflection and lived Christian experience in the Catechism! In particular I look forward to deepening my appreciation of the Sacraments and being inspired to pray better.

The last part of the plan (so far) is to participate in as many diocesan events for the Year of Faith as possible. The first one is an e-conference which anyone around the world can participate in as long as they have an internet connection, starting mid-morning 10 October 2012 Sydney time and downloadable for several weeks afterwards. Happily the theme for this e-conference is ‘Vatican II :An Event of Grace’.

I’ll also be keeping an eye on all of the great content being amassed at the English version of the official Vatican Year of Faith website :  http://www.annusfidei.va/content/novaevangelizatio/en.html. Together with that I’ll be waiting to see whether the Apostolic Penitentiary decrees any indulgences for the Year of Faith, because they give the clearest guidance about the spiritual practices holy Mother Church thinks will be best for us during the Year of Faith.

Whatever happens, don’t let the opportunities of Grace in the Year of Faith pass you by.

Our Lady Help of Christians, Seat of Wisdom and Mother of the Church, pray for us that we may receive all that God wants to give us in the Year of Faith. Amen.

20 Oct 2012. Since the Year of Faith has started, another idea has come. If you, like me, try to include a quotation from Scripture or something else inspirational in your greeting cards (birthday, anniversary, sympathy etc), then for the Year of Faith consider rummaging through the documents of Vatican II for your quotations. The quotations I have found thus far for this purpose have been thought provoking and full of encouragement. It is a simple way of keeping the teachings of Vatican II in our lives in bite sized chunks.