The Ascension

The Ascension

 

Image from http://whycatholicsdothat.com/ascension/

Yesterday we celebrated the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord.  This, of course, refers to Jesus’s ascending to Heaven 40 days after His Resurrection, as recounted in Acts 1:6-12.  We meditate on this Mystery every time we pray the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary, but I wonder how often we recognize the importance this event has in our understanding of the Incarnation.

Many times I hear converts say that they never really plumbed the depths of the mystery of the Incarnation until they became Catholic.  They had recognized that Jesus took on a human nature so He could die and atone for sin, but they never realized the full implications.

I do not pretend to plumb those depths here, but I would offer one thing to consider.  When Jesus Ascended to Heaven, He did so with both His Divine and Human Natures.  In other words, in Heaven, Jesus remains the God-Man.

Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, took on a human nature 2,000 years ago in the womb of his mother, and He still has it.  He did not divest Himself of that nature after the Resurrection.  He ascended into Heaven with it.  Archbishop Fulton Sheen points out that the Ascension is a clear indication that our human nature is not a barrier to Heaven.

Imagine God becoming Man.  Really, imagine it.  Though He remains God, He is truly man, and not only temporarily, not only as an actor might don a costume to perform a role; He truly becomes man.  God, who is completion, perfection, pure Being, ascended to Heaven, with a human nature, as we have a human nature, to prepare a place for us. 

We could meditate on this forever.  What does it mean, then, to be human?  How incredibly intimate our relationship with God can be!  How humble is our God, and what incredible Love must He have for us, that He would become one of us?  May this feast, and those beautiful ones upcoming - Pentecost, Corpus Christi, the Sacred Heart, the Most Holy Trinity – lead us to deeper prayer, understanding, and love of God.

 

Note: If you have a thought to add to this reflection, or if I have lacked precision or included any theological error in this post, please email me at servantofcharity@yahoo.com

He is Risen!

He is Risen!

Image from http://stainedglassinc.com/

Happy Easter!  Jesus is risen, Alleluia, Alleluia!  As Christians, we recognize that the Resurrection is the culmination of the Paschal Mystery, the central event of human history.  It is Jesus’s victory over death, the firstfruits of the resurrection of ourselves to everlasting life.  It is also the ultimate sign testifying to Jesus Christ.  The Resurrection proves undeniably that Jesus is who He says He is.

One of the disappointing (but not unexpected) things I saw this Easter was the prominence on Holy Saturday of television programming themed: “Who Really Was Jesus?” and, “The Lost Gospel of Judas.”  These sacred days are never lost opportunities for our pagan culture to revel in blasphemy.  Of course, one reality that our culture has no real answer for is the Resurrection.  As we witness to our atheist or pagan family, friends, neighbors and coworkers this Easter season, the Resurrection is a challenge we can pose to them that demands an answer because, as I said above, if the Resurrection is true, then Jesus is who He says He is.  In this article, I intend to show that the Resurrection is more than simply an article of faith; it is a historically verifiable fact.

To deny the Resurrection, one has to account for four historical realities: 1) Jesus of Nazareth was crucified and buried; 2) His tomb was empty within days of His burial; 3) Numerous people testified to seeing Him alive again; 4) The Church, which was built on the hope of the Resurrection, became the most powerful and enduring institution on the planet.

How do we know these four things are true?  The fourth is rather self-evident, but the first three are historically verifiable as well.  First, one needs not look at the Gospels as the Word of God to recognize that they are, historically, among the most reliable documents we have from the ancient world.  There have been wonderful books and articles written about this (Lee Stroebel, among others, has done a great service in this regard).  The Gospels were written essentially by eye-witnesses of the events they report, for eyewitnesses of the events.  They were written in close proximity in time and location to the events they report, and they not only corroborate each other, but are corroborated by other ancient records.  If the subject matter was not religious, any historian would take them as the most trustworthy historical documents we possess from the ancient world.

Also, the four facts I mentioned above are reported not only by the Gospels, but by ancient Jewish sources (Josephus probably being the most famous), as well as Roman records.  They are undeniable, which leaves the skeptic with the daunting task of explaining them with something other than the Resurrection of Christ.

1)  The Death of Jesus:  No serious historian disputes this.  We have as much evidence and detail about this event as basically anything that occurred in the ancient world.  There are only two theories I know of that have ever been advanced to try and question it and both are ridiculous.  The “Swoon theory” suggests that Jesus didn’t really die on the Cross; He only appeared dead, and the foolish Romans took him down and allowed Him to be buried while He was still alive.  Then, after some rest in the tomb, He revived.  The notion that the Romans, experts on torture and death, wouldn’t know that a crucified man had died is silly.  It also ignores the fact of the lance to the Heart.  Not to mention, a scourged and crucified man would not have been able to move the stone from the tomb and in that condition would never have inspired his disciples to become heroes and martyrs like the Apostles were.

The other suggestion, advanced by Muslims, is that it was actually Judas who was crucified, and God miraculously prevented people from recognizing him.  This doesn’t answer the fact that Judas was found dangling from a tree by his neck.  It also would not be a claim made by atheists, and in dialogue with Muslims, we likely wouldn’t begin with the Resurrection, but rather more fundamental issues – the nature of God, the persons of Christ and Mohammed, etc.

2)  The Empty Tomb:  If the Resurrection never occurred, it would be the easiest thing in the world to disprove – just produce the Body of Jesus.   Case closed.  Yet, it has never happened.  Why not?  Because the tomb was empty.  The empty tomb was preached almost immediately, in Jerusalem, the location of the tomb.  Again, it would be very simple to disprove.  If the tomb were not empty, no one could have preached it right down the street from it.  Anyone could check.  I imagine that couldn’t have slipped the minds of both the Jewish and Roman leaders.

The other claim is that the Body could have been stolen.  No it couldn’t have.  There was a guard set at the tomb.  How were Peter and the others going to overpower the armed guards, removed the stone, stolen the Body, and gotten away unscathed?  Impossible.  Plus, this theory ignores the witness of the Apostles.  With the exception of John, the Apostles all died as martyrs.  I’m not sure how many of you played April Fools jokes this week, but I doubt any of you would die to testify to their veracity.  James was beheaded, Peter and Andrew were crucified, Bartholomew was skinned alive!  All they would have had to do to save themselves was deny the Resurrection, yet none of them did.  They went singing to their deaths, confident of a reward in Heaven.  No possible way each of them would suffer horrific deaths for the sake of what they knew to be a fraud.

3)  Numerous accounts of witnesses seeing Jesus alive:  Not only do we have the testimony of the Gospels to this, but Josephus, as well as Roman sources, report that people reported seeing Jesus alive after His death.  These claims were made immediately, by many people.  The notion of a mass hallucination doesn’t work because of the many different people who independently reported seeing Christ.  None of these people saw Him in a dream, or while they were in a trance.  Also, none of these people really expected the Resurrection.  And again, it begs the question of the empty tomb.  St. Peter did exactly what we would expect the disciples to do when confronted with stories of the Risen Christ – he checked the tomb.  Both friends and enemies would have done so when reports of people seeing Christ arose (remember, these first claims also started in Jerusalem).  And, of course, the tomb was empty.

4) The Rise of the Church:  The Resurrection was the event that turned a dejected band of seemingly defeated men into the most powerful group on earth.  These blue-collar nobodies – 11 to start – fulfilled the commission to baptize all nations.  They built a Church that outlived the great Roman Empire, tamed the barbarian Europe that was born of the Empire’s fall, evangelized the New World, and has survived attacks from without and wickedness from within for two millennia.  Not particularly likely if the Resurrection was a hoax or a fantasy, and if the Holy Spirit were not with them.

5)  The Shroud of Turin:  One last thing worth mentioning is the Shroud of Turin.  We are not bound by faith to accept the validity of the Shroud.  But just last week, scientific tests confirmed that the Shroud dates to the time of Christ.  There are so many wonderful books that give scientific and historical details testifying to the Shroud.  The image on the Shroud not only testifies to the death of Christ, but also to His Resurrection.

As Christians, Easter is a glorious time of hope, joy, and victory.  But the Resurrection is also a powerful sign to an unbelieving world.  Having even a rudimentary grasp of the basic facts proving the Resurrection (which is all I can claim for myself) can be a wonderful tool, if not to convince others to believe, at least to get them to think.  Open a door, plant a seed, and God will work wonders.

*Please note: The term ‘pagan’ is not meant to be pejorative or an insult to any particular people.  It is only meant to express a certain spiritual reality.

The Baptism of the Lord

The Baptism of the Lord

 

Image from uploads0.wikipaintings.org

This Sunday was the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, and liturgically ended the Christmas season.  There is much to be contemplated upon during this feast.  The first is, in looking at the baptism of Jesus, what does it reveal about our own baptism?  The second is the question, Why was Jesus baptized at all?

When we examine the baptism of the Lord, as presented in Matthew Ch. 3, verses 13-17, which we heard at Mass yesterday, we see some telling similarities to our own baptism.  The most obvious, of course, is that it is a water baptism.  When Jesus is baptized, the Spirit comes down in the form of a dove, and the Father’s Voice is heard to say, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”  (This is also a beautiful early hint at God’s revelation of the Trinity.)

When we are baptized, we receive the Holy Spirit; we become, in fact, temples of the Holy Spirit.  He lives in our souls and brings with Him the gifts that will be strengthened at our Confirmation.  We also become children of God, with souls perfectly pure, containing no stain of original or actual sin.  God at that time could say of us, “This is my beloved son (or daughter), in whom I am well pleased.”

A question that my students sometimes ask is, “Why did Jesus need to be baptized?  John was baptizing people for the repentance of their sins, and Jesus had no sin.  John was telling them to prepare for the Kingdom of God; Jesus was bringing the Kingdom of God.”

John himself, in verse 14, gives voice to this very objection.  I have found two answers to it in the writings of the Fathers of the Church.  The first is that Jesus was not purified by the water, but He purified the water for us.  By His baptism, Jesus sanctified the waters of baptism.  Remember that John’s baptism was not the Sacrament of Baptism.  Jesus would leave that to His Church Himself.

The second is contained to Jesus’s response to John’s objection, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”  John’s baptism was of God.  People would certainly be interested to see whether Jesus would endorse it.  Not to mention that Jesus was the leader of His disciples, and He has left us the perfect example of how to live.  It may not have been necessary for Jesus to be baptized, but it is necessary for us.  He was setting the example for us to follow. 

Imagine the humility of God on display in the act of being baptized.  John was baptizing sinners.  Who was coming to him?  Prostitutes and tax collectors…and the Son of God.  He got into those same waters and underwent the same baptism as we who are sinners.  There is no depth to the humility of God when it comes to love of us.

 

Note:  As always, when I reflect on Scripture, I am forced to remember my own limitations of knowledge and wisdom.  I ask for emails from anyone who has something to add.  

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas

 

Today, January 6, is the Feast of the Epiphany (celebrated at Mass yesterday), the Twelfth Day of Christmas.  In the nearly two weeks since Christmas Day, the Church has taken us on quite a journey, allowing us to meditate on many of the events surrounding the Nativity of Our Lord.

On Christmas and Christmas Eve, of course, our worship included prophecies from Isaiah about the Messiah, the beginning of St. John’s Gospel (“In the beginning was the Word…”), the familiar stories of the trip to Bethlehem, the shepherds, and Joseph’s obedience to God’s plan, which was so unexpected to him.

Then, December 26, while everyone is still feeling the bliss of their Christmas celebrations, we had the feast day of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr.  This feast is a reminder that by accepting the newborn king as our King, we will be called to pay a price.  On December 28, we are confronted with the Holy Innocents, those children who lost their lives because of Herod’s blood-lust for power.  This feast also challenges us to consider the millions of innocents in our own time who have been sacrificed on the altar of abortion, as well as those countless men and women who regret losing their children to abortion and are in need of help and healing.

On January 1, we ring in the new year with the feast of Mary, the Mother of God.  This can serve to remind us that we are part of a family, and that God has provided for us a mother, His own mother.

And now we celebrate the Epiphany, and the Magi coming to adore the Baby Jesus.  These pagans, Gentiles, led to Jesus, give witness to the words Simeon would speak at His Presentation, that He would be a light for all nations.

It may not seem so profound to us now, but to understand that the Messiah, the King of the Jews, is really the King of the Universe and the salvation of all men, is the greatest epiphany of all time.  It should lead us to immense gratitude and also remind us that we are a missionary Church, and our call is still that of the Apostles, to bring Jesus to all people.

May we be blessed this Epiphany with the grace in this new year to bring at least one soul to Christ.

 

Note:  One of the beautiful traditions on the Epiphany is the blessing of one’s home.  Find a traditional Epiphany home blessing at the link below. 

http://www.ecatholic2000.com/pray/prayer41.shtml

The Santa Controversy

The Santa Controversy

 

Above icon available from http://www.monasteryicons.com/

“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”  These famous words are part of a poetic response to a young girl’s innocent question.  To us they seem mere sentimentality, but I wonder if there is real wisdom there for parents dealing with the “Santa Controversy.”

What I refer to is the challenge many Catholic parents face regarding how to handle Santa during the Christmas season.  I’ve heard arguments on both sides of the debate recently.  On one side are people who say the traditions regarding Santa help open children to wonder at things that go beyond what they can see.  It is also a proper use of myth to direct children to ultimate Truths, when Santa is subordinated to and directed toward the birth of Jesus.

On the other side are those who would say that by going along with the popular culture’s version of Santa, we are lying to children.  If we tell them to believe in Santa, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny, and later they learn that these things are not real, will that not undermine what we have taught them about God?  (Though I would say that if parents’ teachings about Santa can in any way be compared to their teachings about Christ, their spiritual life probably needs a bit of a jump start.)

I have heard many good points on both sides of the issue, and though I have a few thoughts to add to the discussion, I can not pretend to have any more of the answer to the dilemma than anyone else.

In our home, we do hang stockings for Santa, but we do not promote the culture’s understanding of him as a jolly fat man who lives in the North Pole with flying reindeer and a workforce of elves.  (Though given the exposure our children get from the prevailing culture, I know that they may hold some of those assumptions, but we have not taught them.)

We celebrate the feast day of St. Nicholas on December 6, and our children know that he was a fourth century bishop who was imprisoned for his faith, later released, and was known for his charity to the poor and to children, especially at Christmas.

We teach the historical truths about St. Nicholas, and emphasize his love for Our Lord and desire to serve Him and His people.  (There is a nice animated video we use: Nicholas: The Boy Who Became Santa.)  We do not emphasize Santa during the season beyond that, and we try to participate in activities that direct attention on the Nativity.

Why, then, do we hang the stockings, and why do we not directly dispel the parts of the customary tale that are not true?  Are we not participating in the deception of our children?

It’s true that I like the wonder our children display at seeing their stockings, which always include at least one major religious item in them.  Long after they stop believing those stockings are filled by a fat man in a red suit (unless I invest in some red pajamas), I suspect we will continue the tradition.

I intend to explain to my children that the gifts they receive from “Santa” are from him, as a representative of the Communion of Saints who celebrate with them the birth of the Lord.  St. Nicholas was a generous man, devoted to Christ, who loved Christmas.  It is in his honor that we have filled their stockings all these years as a reminder that the people of God, and the worship of God, are not confined to this world.

This is not the “right way” to handle the Santa Controversy, but it is our way.  I pray that it helps our children in their love of God.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.  He is alive, in the presence of God, and he gifts you this Christmas and always with his prayers, that one day he may celebrate Christmas with you, in Heaven.

Link - Advent Marian Feasts

Link – Advent Marian Feasts

This week, the second week of Advent, we celebrate both the feast of the Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Guadalupe.  At the link below, Archbishop Raymond Burke gives a reflection on this special time.

http://catholicexchange.com/advent-two-feasts-mary

The Three Comings of Christ

The Three Comings of Christ

We often speak of three “Comings of Christ” into this world: His coming in history; His coming in mystery; and His coming in majesty.  This holy season of Advent is about all three.

Most obviously it is about Christ’s coming in history.  This refers to the historical fact that 2,000 years ago a Baby was born in Bethlehem, and that Baby was God.  (Actually, His coming really occurred nine months earlier at the Annunciation.)  During this season it is good to meditate on the fact that the world had been waiting for many thousands of years, since the fall of Adam and Eve, for the promised Redeemer.  During this three-to-four weeks of Advent, it is important to reflect on the importance of that event.

God became Man.  Why?  There are many reasons, but primarily, to die.  Archbishop Fulton Sheen said, “Every man in history, save one, was born to live.  One was born to die.”  Jesus Christ, the God-Man, was born so that He could die for the sake of our salvation, and build an eternal covenant, opening the gates of Heaven for all eternity to all who would choose to enter.

He became so weak that He depended on His own creatures even to eat.  He was vulnerable to their wrath and scorn.  And He was first made known to all but a few on that first blessed Christmas.

It is no coincidence that the readings for the first week of Advent focus on the end of the world.  Advent should also remind us of Christ’s Second Coming, His coming in majesty.  Christ will come again.  We know that.  And when He does, it will not be hidden, as a vulnerable infant in a stable in some no-name town.  He will come riding the clouds with His angels, to separate the sheep from the goats (Mt. 25: 31-46).  John the Baptist hints at this in the Gospel for the second week of Advent.

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord, we should also reflect on His Second Coming.  We should be getting ready.  That is one key to the Christian life to begin with – always being ready for Christ.  It should come as no surprise that while the world considers Advent the shopping season, the Church considers it a penitential season.

Finally, this Advent should lead us to deeper contemplation of Christ’s coming in mystery, specifically in the Eucharist.  Jesus told His Apostles, “I will be with you always, even to the consummation of the world” (Mt. 28:20).  This promise has been most beautifully kept in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.  In the Eucharist, Jesus Christ has been with us, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, in every age, from the time of the Apostles to the present day, and He will continue to be, until the end of time.

I’d like to share a meditation I had recently.  This is no supernatural vision, simply a meditation.  I was praying the third Joyful Mystery of the Rosary, the Nativity, and in my imagination I approached the manger.  Mary was sitting there holding the Infant Jesus, and she handed Him to me.  I stood caressing the tender, precious, fragile God of the universe for a few moments and reached out to hand Him back to Our Lady.  She kept still, however, and said, “Take Him with you.”  At that the Infant transfigured into the Eucharist and took rest, shining brightly in my heart.

It was a very profitable meditation and reminded me that the wonder we have over the Baby in the manger should be present at every Eucharist.  He has come to stay.  Eucharistic Adoration would be a very appropriate preparation for Christmas this Advent.

So as we plunge ahead with our shopping, cooking and decorating this season, let us not forget what it is truly about.  And may we help others to remember as well.

Link - The Immaculate Conception

Link – The Immaculate Conception

Due to the Second Sunday of Advent falling on December 8 this year, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is being celebrated today, December 9.  At the following link, Tim Staples gives some profitable reflections on the dogma and, as is his style, plenty of apologetics.

http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/hail-mary-conceived-without-sin

What is a Jesse Tree?

What is a Jesse Tree?

 

Image from http://domestic-church.com/

As mentioned earlier this week, people all over are buying, erecting and decorating Christmas trees.  But many Christians are also creating Jesse trees for Advent.  What is a Jesse tree?  Why is it so appropriate for Advent?

“Jesse” refers to the father of King David, a key figure in the human genealogy of Jesus.  For each day of Advent, people add one ornament to their Jesse tree, with a symbol that represents a key figure or event in the Old Testament.

The Jesse tree is an appropriate Advent activity because the season consists of approximately four weeks of waiting to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  The Jesse tree reminds us that God’s people had been waiting for thousands of years for the birth of the Savior.  During that time, though, they were not ignored.  God worked through the history of His people to prepare them for their Messiah.

As each ornament is added to the Jesse tree, there is a corresponding Scripture reading from the Old Testament and usually a meditation highlighting how the Old Testament event or person was a preparation or prefiguration of Christ.

The Jesse tree is a great tradition to help children and adults alike see how God has worked in the history of Israel, and recognize the continuity of the Old Testament with the New.  We can’t really understand the depth and meaning of the Old Testament without relating it to the revelation given to us through the Incarnation of Christ.

There are numerous variations of the Jesse tree.  The link below gives one example of ornaments and related Scripture.  A simple Internet search can produce other ideas and accompanying meditations.  Catholic stores or companies often have Jesse tree kits for purchase as well.

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=545

Link - The Advent Wreath

Link - The Advent Wreath

Yesterday I posted an article about the history of the Christmas tree.  At the link below, Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur explores the history and meaning of the Advent wreath.

http://catholicexchange.com/history-advent-wreath

St. Boniface and the Christmas Tree

       St. Boniface and the Christmas Tree

          Millions of people have begun flocking to stores to buy their Christmas trees.  It's a nice tradition of the holiday season, but many have stripped it of its religious significance and many more have no idea where the tradition came from.

          I've known people who refuse to have a Christmas tree because they claim it is a pagan tradition.  While it is true that paganism does play some part in the history of the Christmas tree, it is a thoroughly Christian custom.

          We can trace the Christmas tree to St. Boniface in the eighth century.  Boniface was an English Benedictine missionary sent to evangelize the pagan tribes of Germany.

          The pagans of southern Germany used trees in their worship and in a famous, historically documented story Boniface used this to bring about their conversion.  At the time of Christmas in the year AD 723, Boniface saw that a young man was to be sacrificed under Odin's oak.  Boniface responded by taking an axe to the sacred tree. Not only was Boniface not struck dead, legend has it that at his first blow, a miraculous wind blew the tree over.  The people recognized the power of the true God and mass conversions began.

          Boniface took the customs of the local people surrounding tress and “baptized” them.  It was customary for people to bring trees into their homes around the time of the winter solstice, so Boniface decided this custom could be transformed into one that honored the true God.

          At Christmas, the people brought in evergreen trees, symbolizing peace and life, and pointing toward Heaven, and decorated them to honor the birth of the Lord.

          The rest, as they say, is history.  The tradition spread to England and eventually to the United States and the Christian West.  So this year as we trim our trees, may they point our eyes Heavenward, and may we use these beautiful gifts of nature to be offerings to the true God, the Baby born among nature's beasts in a stable so many years ago.

The Advent Revolution

The Advent Revolution

Christ the King

Christ the King

Image from http://cs-lyrics123.blogspot.com/2011/11/christ-king-sunday.html#chitika_close_button

This Sunday, the last Sunday of the liturgical year, is the feast of Christ the King.  This feast was established in 1925 by Pope Pius XI, in his encyclical Quas Primas, in response to a rising secularism that denied Christ’s authority in this world.

The feast of Christ the King reminds us that Jesus is not just Lord of Heaven, but of earth as well.  The king of this world is not the government, or the United Nations, or the popular culture; it is Jesus Christ.

With secularism in our time taking the false notion of “the separation of Church and state” to ridiculous conclusions, it is a good time for us to meditate on just Whose world this is, and where true authority comes from.

This Sunday’s feast is also a reminder that Christ must be the King of our hearts.  Does He rule in our hearts?  In our lives?  Is He the end toward which we strive?  Do we allow Him to guide our thoughts, our words, and our actions?  And do we submit ourselves to His authority, which He has left us in His Church?

As we approach Advent, when we will be preparing to welcome Christ anew by celebrating His coming in history, these are essential questions to ponder.  And hopefully our meditations surrounding the feast of Christ the King can help us to make changes in our own lives if need be.  Once we, His people, unashamedly allow Christ to be the King of our hearts and submit ourselves to His loving authority, we can lead our culture down the same path. 

The Catholic Roots of Thanksgiving

The Catholic Roots of Thanksgiving

Image from http://happyheartsmom.typepad.com/sweetness_and_light/hearth_and_home/

In just a couple of weeks we will be celebrating Thanksgiving.  Most people know the history of the holiday, from the first Thanksgiving celebration with the Pilgrims and American Indians, to its official proclamation as a national holiday by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863.

But many people don’t know that our modern holiday of Thanksgiving actually has roots firmly planted in Catholic history.  Besides Veterans Day, November 11 is also the feast day of St. Martin of Tours.  Martin was a fourth century pagan soldier who once saw a poor beggar freezing in the cold.  He cut his own heavy cloak (meant to keep himself warm) in half and gave half to the beggar.  That night he had a vision of Christ Himself wearing the cloak.  Martin left the army, converted his family, and moved to Gaul to live a monastic life, where he was eventually made the bishop of Tours.

In medieval Europe it was customary to celebrate St. Martin’s feast day by having a Thanksgiving feast, thanking God for the harvest.  This custom survived in Protestant communities even after the time of the Reformation, and was one the Pilgrims brought with them to the New World.

So it is not surprising that they chose to offer thanks with their Native American friends that first Thanksgiving with a feast similar to that which they held back home.

There have been a few minor changes, of course, the most obvious of which is the date.  Also, the Thanksgiving feast celebrated on Martinmas featured goose as the customary main dish.  The Pilgrims did in fact celebrate that first Thanksgiving with goose, along with some of the abundant wild turkey they had hunted.  In America, of course, the turkey has wrestled control of the holiday away from the goose (not that many geese are likely to complain).

So as we prepare for Thanksgiving this year, it is nice to remember that it truly is a Catholic holiday, and perhaps we can ask the prayers of St. Martin, without whom we may never have had this annual over-stuffed, football-frenzied day of grace.

All-Hallowed's Eve

All Hallowed’s Eve

 

          Halloween is just around the corner.  It can pose some interesting challenges for us as Christians.  Some completely shun the holiday because they say it is the celebration of a pagan festival.  Some don’t give any thought to it and figure it’s just an innocent opportunity for kids to have fun and ruin their oral hygiene.

          Growing up, that was the approach we took, and there was an innocence to that which I think was beneficial.  However, even since I was a kid I’ve noticed the character of Halloween change in our society.  It has gotten more morbid, and there is a growing fascination with a darker, even demonic character to the event.

          Certainly this is not true everywhere, and Charlie Brown and his Great Pumpkin still have a place in the popular culture of Halloween.  But a disturbing trend among kids has been an interest in things like vampires and the occult, and Halloween has tapped into that recently.  That sort of thing is no joke and every parent, Christian or not, has to be vigilant in protecting their children from such things.

          Add to that the designation of “Christmas” as a dirty word by secular society, and it can all become pretty offensive to those of us trying to raise our children in the Faith.  So what are we to do?  I can’t give any authoritative answers, but I’ll share what we have done with some success thus far.

          First of all, we reclaim Halloween as a Christian celebration, All-Hallowed’s Eve.  The following day, November 1, is All Saints Day, a Holy Day of Obligation, and a day infinitely more important than October 31, although ignored by the secular culture.  We remind the kids how important All Saints Day is, and that we’ll be going to Mass.  All-Hallowed’s Eve is important in its relation to All Saints Day, like Christmas Eve is important in relation to Christmas Day.  We finish off our celebration by taking the kids to a cemetery to pray for the dead on All Souls Day, November 2.

          Our kids dress up like saints when they go trick-or-treating.  They love telling the neighbors who they are.  Now our kids are young, so they go out with us.  I imagine the challenges will be multiplied when they want to trick-or-treat with their friends instead.  We have a great neighborhood, with many parents enjoying the evening out with their kids, and of course, ours are confronted with witches, goblins and haunted houses.  We just do our best to explain that different people celebrate in different ways.  They’re at the age now where they accept that since they are having so much fun the way we celebrate.  Our hope is that when they are old enough to question what haunted houses have to do with saints, they will also be old enough to understand that they are Catholics living in a secular culture, and that the culture will not always do things the way they do, but that God has called them to be a light in this world.  We are hopeful, as just this week our oldest son responded to a store’s Halloween display by saying, “They don’t know that Halloween is about God, not spooky things.”

          I know that many people have approached this dilemma with better ideas than we have, and please email me with any ideas you have.  There are a couple of online resources that may be of help.  You can download pro-life pumpkin cut outs on the Internet to turn your Jack-O-Lantern into a tool for evangelization.  Also, the web site nightoflight.org has many resources and ideas for celebrating All-Hallowed’s Eve in a Catholic way.