Gimme Shelter Trailer

Gimme Shelter

Link - The History of the Scapular

Link – The History of the Scapular

Many people wear a scapular.  Many people have heard of the scapular, but many people don’t know much about it.  The article at the link below is a helpful resource.

http://catholicexchange.com/the-history-of-the-scapular

Thanking God for the Superbowl

Thanking God for

the Superbowl

Image from http://jim-heftyinfo.blogspot.com/2014/01/super-bowl-48-denver-vs-seattle.html

I have to admit that I love sports, football in particular.  So even though the sting of my beloved 49ers losing the NFC championship game by three inches of loft off a Colin Kaepernick pass is still a little tender, I can’t wait for the Superbowl.

Next Sunday, for about 5 hours, the whole country will seemingly shut down as everyone tunes in to the big game.  On some levels, it’s pretty silly.  After all, we act like it’s the most important event of the year and in the end, it’s just a game.  Could anything be more insignificant, really?

I was thinking about this the other day.  And I also got to thinking: since that fateful pass was intercepted in the end zone a week and a half ago, we’ve seen: another mall shooting; the 41^st anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision marked by the March for Life while the killing goes on unabated; a mass gay “wedding” at the Grammy’s; a governor say that pro-lifers have no place in his state; the President’s war on conscience push forward; and a judge order the execution of a child at the request of that child’s family.  And that’s just a fraction of the evil that’s happened in just our country.

We are a people of the Light, and yet sometimes the darkness feels overwhelming.  In the past ten days it has brought me to silence, to yelling, and to tears.  But in the morning as I work out, or on my drive home from work, I can hear analysis, argument, and prediction, all regarding this Sunday’s major, insignificant event.  I can enjoy, for a little while, something that is safe.

It reminds me of a story I heard of a sportswriter who ran into his New York police officer friend shortly after 9/11.

“Can you believe it?” the sportswriter asked.

“I know,” replied the officer, “What do you think the Mets should do about their pitching?”

The sportswriter looked at him in disbelief, considering the events of the recent few days.  “That’s not really important, is it?” he asked.

“No, of course it’s not,” answered the officer, “but it helps to pretend that it is.”

Well, I am looking forward, next Sunday, to forgetting about the culture wars we have to fight as Catholics, and pretending, for a few hours, that the issue of greatest importance is whether the league’s best defense can slow down the league’s best offense.

This is one of the glories of sports.  It offers us a respite, not to mention the beauty (which is always more powerful than the darkness anyway) of friendly competition, of seeing people make the most of their God-given abilities, and of spending quality time with family and friends.

Enjoy the game.

Papal Nuncio at the Walk for Life

Papal Nuncio at the Walk for Life

Action - Urge Gov. Perry to Save a Life!

Action – Urge Gov. Perry to Save a Life!

Update: http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/marlise-munoz-removed-from-life-support-baby-executed-by-judicial-tyranny-p

 
This weekend, a judge ordered the murder of an innocent person.  In a tragic story, Marlise Munoz suffered a pulmonary embolism and has been declared brain dead.  She is currently 22 weeks pregnant.  Texas law states that a pregnant mother must be kept on life support for the sake of the unborn child’s life.  Munoz’s baby is alive and many experts have contended it has an excellent chance of survival.

However, a district judge has ordered that Mrs. Munoz be taken off life support by Monday evening, which will kill the little baby.  Why?  Is Mrs. Munoz suffering by being kept on life support so her child could live?  No.  There would seem to be no benefit (besides the saving of a few dollars) to turning the machine off now.  The only consequence would be the death of the child.  I wonder if the fact that the child may have deformed lower extremities came into play.  Either way, Adolf Hitler would be proud.

I’m sure the family, stricken with grief, is thinking of Mrs. Munoz, and I don’t blame them.  But the law is in place for a reason, so that, during these emotional and trying times for a family, a child’s life would be protected.  Yet again we see a judge disregarding the law and ruling according to his own personal whims.

Could our system be more broken?  If anything is left to be done, we must do it.  We must urge Governor Perry of Texas to intervene to save this child’s life. 

And as always, we must pray.  We can not judge the motives of anyone involved in this case.  We must pray for them and for justice for this little child, and for its mother, may her last heroic act on this earth be the giving of life, and may she rest in peace.

Christian Unity

Christian Unity

I recently attended an education in-service about Socratic Seminars.  The instructor impressed on us that the goal was to promote dialog, not debate.  All positions were equally valid, there were to be no judgments made, and there were no right answers to the questions being asked.

Now, this was about analyzing literature, identifying figurative language, tone, etc.  Depending on the piece, the technique could be rather benign, but it certainly could promote poor habits of mind, and immerse students in a culture of relativism.

It reminded me, in fact, of a statement I once heard a young man make: “I don’t really like apologetics; I prefer ecumenism.”

I bring that up because this is the week of prayer for Christian unity.  That is certainly a time for ecumenism, but what the young man I spoke to didn’t understand is that apologetics and ecumenism go hand-in-hand.

Ecumenism refers to dialog between members of different Christian communities: Protestant denominations, the Catholic Church, and the Orthodox.  The key to understanding ecumenism is understanding the goal: unity.  This means reunion – one Church giving one witness.

Praying together, standing up together in the culture wars, and supporting each other are all important things.  They all help build a sense of brotherhood.  But in the end, our goal is, as Jesus Himself prayed, “That they all may be one.”

To achieve this goal, many things are necessary.  We need patience, a historical understanding, forgiving hearts, and we need apologetics.

The only way for the many Christian communities to really reunite is for all of us to recognize that there is an objective religious Truth.  Some believe baptism is regenerative, others believe it is merely symbolic.  Well, it is either one or the other.  Someone is objectively wrong.  Some believe authority can only be found in the Bible, others believe Jesus has given authority to the Church as well.  He either did or He didn’t.  Someone is wrong.

There are many issues like that.  We should get along, we should support each other, we should work together, but we should also admit that on many issues of objective truth, we disagree.

This is why dialog is so important.  We need to discuss these things.  And this is why debate (and apologetics) is so important.  If we can all come to understand what we all believe, and why, we can arrive at the truth.  Then there must be humility enough to act on that truth.

As Catholics, we are very confident that the Church has the fullness of the Truth.  And she does.  But our Protestant brethren are quite sure that she does not.  We must, as a Church, be willing and able to explain and defend the Faith, if we are going to inspire many of our separated brethren to come home.

And we need our own humility.  We may be on solid theological ground, but there are many things we need to be able to see through others’ eyes.  There are many historical events, for example, about which we must acknowledge our wrongdoings.  A perfect example is the sack of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade.  It is true that the Church did not order or approve the attack, and that in fact the pope strongly disciplined the guilty.  But that does not change the fact that Catholic knights sacked the Orthodox capital, and the impregnable Constantinople soon fell as a result.

We need apologetics if we are ever to have unity, and we need humility.  And most of all, we need prayer.  So let us remember, during this week of prayer for Christian unity, to join sincere hearts across Christianity and beg our Lord to grant us the graces to fulfill his prayer for unity.

Walk for Life

Walk for Life