Growing up I was taught that “tradition” was a bad thing. In fact, one of the Churches I went too prided itself on the fact it never did the worship service in the same way. (click the link hear more)

June 21, 2017
Memorial of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious
Lectionary: 367
2 COR 9:6-11
PS 112:1BC-2, 3-4, 9
MT 6:1-6, 16-18

Growing up I was taught that “tradition” was a bad thing.   In fact, one of the Churches I went too prided itself on the fact it never did the worship service in the same way.   One day they’d preach first, sing some music, then have an altar call.   The next day they’d altar call first, sing some music, preach, and then maybe even sing again!  At the time I didn’t realize that in and of itself was a tradition.  Tradition can be beautiful!   We humans seem to thrive on structure even though we often don’t realize it.   Having habits can be both good and bad.   Good habits increase our lives, bad ones send us spiraling down.

In both the readings today we are reminded that what we do not only has an effect on what comes back to us in this life and the next, but it also affects those around us.   Jesus in His message today isn’t condemning public prayer or worship.   He isn’t telling us that there isn’t a proper place to have the tradition or that we should just get rid of ‘religion’ altogether.   In another place, He tells us “Those on the seat of Moses are hypocrites, but do what they teach you not following their example.”  Clearly, He didn’t mean for us to stop having a relationship with God that showed the world we were different, holy and set apart.   What He did mean is that hollow religion, actions done for the wrong reason, are worthless.

That’s why it is so important that we actually believe what the Church teaches and understand why.   So many homes are broken and divorce has become something of a standard practice these days.   Don’t get me wrong, there are times when it’s necessary for sanity and health.   I myself am a divorced man who received an annulment and am remarried in the Catholic church.  I don’t expect anyone to stay in an abusive relationship, neither physical, emotional or spiritual.   What I do realize, especially as a stepdad, is that those broken relationships don’t just hurt the couple who split up…  They harm society itself.   The children are in direct line of the shrapnel from the explosion, and all their friends are impacted as well.  Our faith shouldn’t be hidden for the sake of hiding it.   It should impact every part of our lives and show a lasting change.   It’s not enough to say I believe all of these things and then be an impatient curmudgeon when the world encounters me... And believe me, I can be just that.

That’s what we can learn from Saints like the one from today.   This man knew his faults and would continue to stand with his eyes on the ground anytime a woman would be around him.  Not because he was shy, but because he didn’t even want to take a chance at having a lustful or improper thought.   He went on to die in the service of others, contracting the plague in a hospital while trying to help the sick and infirm.  His actions were all the public prayer he needed.   When we pray the rosary or the divine office in public, we must make sure we are doing it for the right reasons… not to be noticed, but to show our love for God.   In all instances though, we are to be at service to those around us.   Some think they should build a prayer space or a hidden closet in their home, and that’s commendable.  I have a few spaces set up in my own home for that purpose.   That shouldn’t be our only prayer.   Rather we should have a space set up in our own hearts, building a hidden room where all of our actions are lifted up to God with contrition and love.   That way our life can become a pleasing sacrifice, united with the Work of Christ on the Cross, and Our Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.

His servant and yours,
Brian Mullins

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my rock, and my redeemer. - Psalm 19:14

In the Hands of Mercy and Grace

In tomorrow's reading we see Paul continuing to prepare his followers for his departure.  For a time he has been teaching them, working alongside them, joining them for dinner and fellowship.  It's time though for him to move on.   Time for him to follow Christ where he leads, and in this case it leads him to uproot his life and journey back to Jerusalem for Pentecost. He doesn't leave them empty handed though.  "And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified." (Acts 20:32)  Grace.   Paul leaves those he loves, those he has come to know, in the hands of God and God's grace.

Grace is the means by which we have faith.  Grace is the help God gives us to respond to our vocation of becoming his adopted sons. It introduces us into the intimacy of the Trinitarian life. (CCC 2021) Grace is the very means of our salvation, it is the prime mover in the process of our justification.  It is the very Word of God itself which indeed will "build you up."   The Catholic Church has from its very beginning venerated those sacred writings that constitute a portion of the Deposit of faith.  They are not all we have though.   It is not just Sacred Scripture but Sacred Tradition that complete that deposit.  What the Apostles were given was not handed on in the form of a book, but rather was given to their disciples in an oral fashion. Later a portion of that Tradition was written down.  That's what we know today as Sacred Scripture.

The Church then revealed to us more of this sacred deposit of information by continuing to write down more and more, until we have what we know today as the Catechism.  Isn't it interesting that many Christian denominations reject all of the other things outside of scripture?  Even when scripture itself declares that it is the Church that is the "pillar and foundation of truth." (1 Timothy 3:15)  John even informs us that he only wrote down some of what Jesus did "so that we might come to believe." (John 20:31)  Then he goes on to say that if anyone attempted to write down everything Jesus said or did, "the whole world could not contain those books."  (John 21:25) Yet, we try to put God in a box.. and limit His grace.  The thing is, either we believe the words of Scripture, or we don't.   If we choose to agree with only those things in the Sacred Scripture that we agree with and ignore those we don't?  Well it isn't God we are believing in, it's simply ourselves.

So what has the Church then given us?  An outpouring of grace.  The keys were given to Saint Peter who then gave them to his successor and so forth, until we have the modern day Roman Catholic church.   Does it look exactly like the first century church?  No.   It has been influenced by men over the centuries, but it still has that divine rudder, that steers man who leads it.   In fact, if you read the writings of Justin Martyr you can see the echoes of the Mass as we know it today, sometimes even verbatim.  Here is where we believe that the Holy Spirit has preserved our Church that the 'gates of hell may not prevail against it.' (Matthew 16:18)  That even though men are involved and make mistakes, and boy have we made them, the Holy Spirit will protect His Church and continue to guide us.

How then do you and I get access to this grace?  It's freely given in the Sacraments.  These are the Ordinary means by which we receive the grace of God.   The Church in it's infinite wisdom has seen that when you are properly disposed to receive God's grace, when you are truly repentant of your sins, and you come to the Church asking God to forgive you and change you; then through the very words of Christ himself amazing things will happen!  Bread will become flesh, wine will become blood, and sinners will become Saints.  Don't get me wrong.. the Church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for Saints.   Every man and woman who walk through those doors has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  The thing is though, with God all things are possible... even a sinner like me can be used by him to be transformed and to help go forth to transform the world.

How though?   By discerning our vocation, by discerning God's call, by asking Him first and foremost what He wants of us.   We do that again, through Grace.

The Holy Spirit is "the principle of every vital and truly saving action in each part of the Body." He works in many ways to build up the whole Body in charity: by God's Word "which is able to build you up"; by Baptism, through which he forms Christ's Body; by the sacraments, which give growth and healing to Christ's members; by "the grace of the apostles, which holds first place among his gifts"; by the virtues, which make us act according to what is good; finally, by the many special graces (called "charisms"), by which he makes the faithful "fit and ready to undertake various tasks and offices for the renewal and building up of the Church."  (CCC 798)

Just like Christ himself, who is both fully God and fully man, the Church is both divine and human.  We make mistakes, and we should be willing and ready to call ourselves on it.   Yet, the moral teachings, the dogmas of the Church, have never been wrong.  They call out to us of a divine origin, of a Sacred Deposit, of a treasury and storehouse filled with mercy, love, and justice.   The Chair of Peter has that key, and he has declared it open in this year of mercy.   Why not step forward and let that Grace wash over you?  Let God fulfill that prayer that Jesus prayed over his disciples in you today, Let him consecrate you in Truth!  Jesus is that truth, the Eternal Word of God.   He'll never force you into a relationship though.. he'll never make you do anything you don't with your own free will choose to do.. so make that choice today.. to step forward and say, "God I am ready for a true relationship with you, guide me through your Church, through your Sacraments, and through your Word, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, Eternal in the Heavens."  

His servant and yours,
Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

Test the Spirits...

A reflection based on the

readings for Daily Mass 1/4/16

Today we were talking to our students in Religious Education class about the need to truly listen to what people are saying, but to be careful and discern what is true.  All too often there is just enough truth in something to make it seem like it makes sense, but when you compare it with what you already know to be true... it comes out to be just a little off, or in some cases greatly different.  We talked about the Gospel of Thomas for instance.   How that it sounds beautiful, in fact some of it is very beautiful and even orthodox.   It contains many of the very statements that Mark and Luke write about as well.  On a cursory glance it would even seem that it could almost be in the bible... except once you look at it closely... you see this strange statement:  Simon Peter said to them, "Make Mary leave us, for females don't deserve life." Jesus said, "Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven."

Does that sound like the Jesus we know?  Does it sound like the Catholicism that has been handed on by the Apostles?  Of course not. It's clear when we truly read for ourselves that we find why this was rejected by the church, but we still find people trying to make up conspiracy theories about hidden gospels, or gospels that should be there and aren't.  That's why it's so important to truly test for ourselves and ask, is this the Jesus I know?  Is this the Jesus that was taught by the Church for 2000 years?  Is this in fact the Christianity that was handed on to the Apostles and by the Apostles?   What did the church believe in the first century for instance?  All good questions to ask yourself.

Beloved, do not trust every spirit
but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God,
because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Our scriptures themselves warn us to not only test the spirits, but to draw towards Orthodoxy.  To cling to what we have been taught by the Apostles, and to reject any new and strange teaching.  Yet, we seem to go that route in this day and age.   We reject the Christianity that existed from the beginning and form new versions, new denominations, strange new teachings.  We must be careful to look for the truth.  To draw to the One True Church, and to give our hearts to Jesus in the way and manner he himself taught us to do so, through the seat of authority that he himself established.

Elizabeth Ann Seton knew this.   She went through a very rough time.  Her father in law died leaving her to care not only for her own children, but her husbands younger siblings.   Then her husband contracted tuberculosis and died while in Italy seeking a cure.  In order to support her large and needy family, she founded a school and began to teach.  It was a very tough time for a single mother to eek out a living and she turned to the church to do so.  In the end, she found herself drawn to the faith and converted to Catholicism.

The result was a quick loss in students.  People were quick to turn their back on a religious school, especially a Catholic one.  Instead of despairing she founded one of the first free Catholic schools in America, followed by a religious order of her own, the Sisters of Charity.  She tested the spirits, and followed God's lead.   She didn't give up when times got tough.   She could of easily become bitter, angry, hurt that God had allowed all of this to befall her.  Instead she followed him through his Church to lead others to Him as well.

In the Gospel we see people flocking from all around the area, thousands of men, women, and children coming to see him.  Looking for answers.  Looking for healing.  Looking for his voice.  There are so many voices out there today.  Pulling us one way or another.  Come on live like the world does.   Come on party.  Come on drink with us.  Come on it's just sex.  Come on... Come on.

Listen to the voice of John as he proclaims:

You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them,
for the one who is in you
is greater than the one who is in the world.
They belong to the world;
accordingly, their teaching belongs to the world,
and the world listens to them.
We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us,
while anyone who does not belong to God refuses to hear us.
This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.

Jesus left us a church.  Saint Paul tells Timothy that the Church is the pillar and foundation of truth.  That when he has questions all he has to do is turn to the Church to find them.  John tells us that anyone who listens to the Apostles, belongs to God, because they belong to God.   The teaching authority of the Apostles was passed on to the Church, and through them to us.  So whose voice are you listening to today?  Test the spirits and ask yourself, do they align with the teaching of the Apostles?   Do they align with what Christ handed on to us through his disciples?  Or are we listening for our own voice?  Epiphany was yesterday.  A day when we celebrate the revelation of Christ to the world through the arrival of three kings.  Everyday needs to be an Epiphany.   He is there.. sacramentally present in His Church.  Do you see him?  Are you seeking him?  Or are you only seeking yourself?

His servant and yours,

Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."