Working With What We Have

There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are they among so many? As Jesus demonstrated in John's Gospel , the lesson here is to work with what we have. Throughout the history of God's relationship with man He has demonstrated a number of things that we can take in our task of evangelization. First, God chooses us for a task. It is the goal of our vocation to hear His words and discover what that task is. Second, God works with what He has. The point her is two-fold. It is not necessary for us to become ready, pure, better suited for etc. to take what the Holy Spirit has given us and to pour forth the love in our hearts towards others. Likewise it is not necessary for us to expect others to be ready in a spiritual sense for our work to begin. We must work with what we have in the world we live in. We can develop our prayer and contemplative life in this time of cyberspace & emails. We can evangelize in a world that is disinterested in God and salvation. We can live the Gospel in each daily encounter using God's grace to build His kingdom. If you think your not holy enough, smart enough, not pure enough, think again. The time to act on the opportunities that the Holy Spirit brings us is now. Doing so will almost always lead to more doors opening and more opportunities. Work with what you have.

The Wisdom of St. James

Any of you who lacks wisdom must ask God, who gives to all generously and without scolding; it will be given. But the prayer must be made with faith, and no trace of doubt, because a person who has doubts is like the waves thrown up in the sea by the buffeting of the wind. That sort of person, in two minds, inconsistent in every activity, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Blessed is anyone who perseveres when trials come. Such a person is of proven worth and will win the prize of life, the crown that the Lord has promised to those who love him. Never, when you are being put to the test, say, 'God is tempting me'; God cannot be tempted by evil, and he does not put anybody to the test . Everyone is put to the test by being attracted and seduced by that person's own wrong desire. Then the desire conceives and gives birth to sin, and when sin reaches full growth, it gives birth to death. My brothers, do not let class distinction enter into your faith in Jesus Christ, our glorified Lord.Now suppose a man comes into your synagogue, well-dressed and with a gold ring on, and at the same time a poor man comes in, in shabby clothes, and you take notice of the well-dressed man, and say, 'Come this way to the best seats'; then you tell the poor man, 'Stand over there' or 'You can sit on the floor by my foot-rest.' In making this distinction among yourselves have you not used a corrupt standard? Listen, my dear brothers: it was those who were poor according to the world that God chose, to be rich in faith and to be the heirs to the kingdom which he promised to those who love him. You, on the other hand, have dishonored the poor. How does it help, my brothers, when someone who has never done a single good act claims to have faith? Will that faith bring salvation? If one of the brothers or one of the sisters is in need of clothes and has not enough food to live on, and one of you says to them, 'I wish you well; keep yourself warm and eat plenty,' without giving them these bare necessities of life, then what good is that? But someone may say: So you have faith and I have good deeds? Show me this faith of yours without deeds, then! It is by my deeds that I will show you my faith. You believe in the one God-that is creditable enough, but even the demons have the same belief, and they tremble with fear. Fool! Would you not like to know that faith without deeds is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by his deed, because he offered his son Isaac on the altar? So you can see that his faith was working together with his deeds; his faith became perfect by what he did. In this way the scripture was fulfilled: Abraham put his faith in God, and this was considered as making him upright; and he received the name 'friend of God'. 24 You see now that it is by deeds, and not only by believing, that someone is justified. There is another example of the same kind: Rahab the prostitute, was she not justified by her deeds because she welcomed the messengers and showed them a different way to leave? As a body without a spirit is dead, so is faith without deeds.

ST BIRGITTA

God's creation of the world and all it contains
took place in the instant of his will's expression;
and with that design and perfection foreseen by him.
Yet there remained still uncreated
another work of creation which would surpass what he had already done.
You, Mary, are, as it were, another world,
a world which God foresaw with greater joy,
a world the Angels were more pleased to contemplate,
a world of more benefit to those of good will
that the whole earth and all it contains.

Mary, we may see in God's act of creation and in all created things
an image of your creating.

We read that it pleased God to separate the darkness from the light
when he created the earth.
How much more it pleased him to enlighten you from childhood.
The darkness, the time of your infancy,
was made light by your knowledge of God,
your understanding of God,
and the will to love for God
which day by day led you on
to a love surpassed only by the love of God.

St. Bridget of Sweden

She Stooped to Look Into the Tomb

From John's Gospel we read of Mary Magdalene's encounter with the Risen Christ. Jesus had always included women in his ministry even though the culture & society of his times did not. Mary knew the price she had paid to follow Christ, Mary was much the sinner like we all are. Mary is inquisitive as she stares at the empty tomb. She is weeping but as John describes she stooped to look into the tomb. She sees Jesus and mistakes him for the gardener. How many times have we mistaken Him for someone else only to hear his voice and recognize Him? Mary Magdalene speaks to us in a way. We must, in our own individual way, have an encounter with the Risen Christ. There will be those who doubt us, there will be those who think we are unworthy, that we are silly, there will be those who will walk away not able to recognize the transformation in our hearts. It is through our encounter that we recognize that we no longer fear death. Death has no power over us, Christ has conquered death. Our worst fears like Mary Magdalene's fears when she approached the tomb are over. It is time to begin a new life to shed the old one. It is time to put the things of the world outside and put the love of Christ inside our hearts. We are walking the path with the Righteous One, the Lamb of God, who nourishes us, guides us, leads us out of the temptations of the world, gives us grace and forgives us. We step each day closer to living His will as Mary stooped into the tomb.

PRAYER TO MARY MAGDALENE

Saint Mary Magdalene,
woman of many sins, who by conversion
became the beloved of Jesus,
thank you for your witness
that Jesus forgives
through the miracle of love.

You, who already possess eternal happiness
in His glorious presence,
please intercede for me, so that some day
I may share in the same everlasting joy.

Amen.

Oh Bless My Soul

In the Scriptures, wisdom puts all of life in right order. Here the Psalmist celebrates the wisdom with which God has ordered time so that day and night, months and seasons all serve the purpose of life. Time reaches its intended culmination in the gift of everlasting life bestowed through Jesus Christ (courtesy of the Magnificat)

Psalm 104

Bless the LORD, my soul! LORD, my God, you are great indeed!
You made the moon to mark the seasons, the sun that knows the hour of its setting.

You bring darkness and night falls, then all the beasts of the forest roam abroad.

Young lions roar for prey; they seek their food from God.

When the sun rises, they steal away and rest in their dens. Man goes forth to their work, to their labor till evening falls.

How varied are your works, Lord! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your richness.

I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God while I live. May my thoughts be pleasing to God; I will rejoice in the Lord.

I find joy in the Lord, Bless the Lord my soul

The Competitve God

Ever since the 13th & 14th century philosophers and theologians determined that God was in essence "one of us" in the genus of beings. Man has perceived God as a competitor. Not in the sense that the ancient Greek philosophers did. They thought the gods were exactly like us, cunning, shrewd, immoral, involving themselves and interfering with the plans of the average guy. No, the God we have come to know is pitted against humanity. He imposes His will and we resist, we are reluctant to obey and resentful. This has lead to a state in Christianity, in which we have those who believe God arbitrarily selects those who are "saved" and others that no one is worthy enough and by proclaiming our belief alone we can be covered up and pure as white snow. In either case God is perceived as a combatant. Now after centuries of fighting this fight, the game has come down to this; we won't compete with God. We refuse to allow Him to enter the fray. We have taken our ball and gone home. God is no longer relevant in our lives. The truth be known God did become one of us and it is by Jesus Christ that we become holy. It is by centering Christ in our lives, by subjecting all we do through Him that we are able to journey towards salvation. We are not competitors but heirs to God. We must see Jesus as He is true love and by being Christ to others for "He lives in us" we bring His love to the world. No joy from any worldly thing can compare.

Children Are a Detriment to the Selfish Masses

A world that is wrapped up in the pursuit of materials believes that children are a burden. Children are detrimental to the pursuit of bigger and better toys. Children require care, and time, and money and a generation too tightly wound up in itself cannot include children. There are whole nations that are dying a slow but definite death because they love themselves more than they love God and His creations. Heed the warning: without self sacrifice and without children there is no future. The United States is trending that way also.

Pope Benedict Falls Fractures Wrist

Pope Benedict slipped and fell at his vacation house fracturing his right wrist.

VATICAN CITY, July 17, 2009 — Pope Benedict XVI, who turned 82 in April, went to the hospital this morning in Aosta, in northern Italy, after slipping and falling during the night and fracturing his wrist, according to Italian press reports.

The reports said that a cast would be placed on his right wrist, but that otherwise the Pope was fine.

The Pope's Press Secretary, Father Federico Lombardi, said in a press release:

"As a consequence of a fall in his own bedroom, during the night, the Holy Father suffred a light fracture to his right wrist.

"The Holy Father during the morning nevertheless celebrated Mass and had breakfast, after which he was accompanied to the hospital in Aosta where he was doagnosed with a light fracture and it was determined to immobilize his wrist." COURTESY ZENIT

The Great Stem-Cell Research Scam

From the New York Post we have this article on how embryonic stem cell research is a complete failure yet the Obama administration insists on funding it and supporting it with a large P.R campaign.

Saint Bonaventure

Saint Bonaventure was born about the year 1218 in Bagnoregio, Latium. He studied philosophy and theology in Paris and having earned the title Master, he taught the fellow members of the Order of Friars Minor with great success. He was elected minister general of the order, a position he filled with prudence and wisdom. He received the name of Bonaventure in consequence of an exclamation of St. Francis of Assisi, when, in response to the pleading of the child's mother, the saint prayed for John's recovery from a dangerous illness, and, foreseeing the future greatness of the little John, cried out "O Buona ventura"-O good fortune! After being made cardinal-bishop of Albano, he died at the Council of Lyons in 1274. He is one of the 33 recognized as a "Doctor of the Church"

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha

Kateri was born in 1656 near the town of Auriesville, New York, the daughter of a Mohawk warrior. She was baptized by Jesuit missionary Father Jaques de Lambertville on Easter of 1676 at the age of twenty. She devoted her life to prayer, penetentail practices and the care of the sick and aged in Caughnawaga near Montreal (where her relics are now enshrined) She incurred the hostility of her tribe because of her faith. She was devouted to the Eucharist, and to Jesus Crucified, and was called the "Lily of the Mowhawks." She died in 1680 and was beatified June 22, 1980 - the first native American to be declared "Blessed"

Father Barron: Encyclical Connects "Life Ethics" With "Social Ethics"

SKOKIE, Illinois, JULY 8, 2009 (Zenit.org).- I've just finished a first reading of Benedict XVI's new encyclical "Caritas in Veritate." It is a dense and complex text, deeply in continuity with the mainstream of the Catholic social teaching tradition, but also fresh, filled with new ideas and proposals.

Let me highlight just a few of the major themes. Very much in line with his predecessor Pope John Paul II, Benedict XVI insists on the tight connection between love and truth. In a telling phrase, the Pope says that love without truth devolves into sentimentality, and truth without love becomes cold and calculating. The coming together of the two, which is the structuring logic of the Church's social teaching, is grounded in the God who is, simultaneously, Agape (love) and Logos (reason).

A real innovation of this letter is the connection that Benedict XVI makes between "social ethics" and "life ethics." He argues that Pope Paul VI's "Populorum Progressio" -- whose 40th anniversary "Caritas in Veritate" celebrates -- is best read in tandem with that Pope's controversial encyclical "Humanae Vitae." The radical openness to life, which Paul VI defended in "Humanae Vitae," should be the inspiration for the Church's social doctrine, which is intended to foster the full flourishing of communal life at all levels. Benedict XVI makes this point even clearer when he comments that societies that de-emphasize life, even to the point of fostering artificial contraception and abortion, suffer quite practical economic hardships.

Another "novum" in this remarkable text is the Pope's insistence that, alongside of the contractual logic of the marketplace (one gives in order to receive), and the legal logic of the political realm (one gives because one is obliged to give), there must be the logic of sheer gratuity (one gives simply because it is good to do so). Without this third element, both the economic and political devolve into something less than fully human.

As many have already commented, Benedict XVI places special emphasis on the obligation to care for the environment. In fact, nowhere else in Catholic social teaching is there such an extended discussion of this issue. He makes the helpful clarification that, as believers in creation, we must avoid both an idolization of nature and an exploitation of it. As created, the world is not divine, but it is a kind of sacrament of God; hence it shouldn't be seen as absolute, but it should be cared for in a spirit of stewardship.

What might prove most controversial in the encyclical is Benedict XVI's call for a kind of world government, a truly international political entity with the requisite power to preside over world political and economic affairs. In saying so, he echoes Pope John XXIII's praise of the United Nations in "Pacem in Terris." One might be forgiven for suspecting that this proposal, given political realities on the ground, might be a bit utopian.

A final note concerning style. I must say that much of "Caritas in Veritate" didn't "sound" like Benedict XVI. Joseph Ratzinger is a very gracious writer, and his style is marked by a deep Scriptural and patristic sensibility. I must say I found this literary and theological élan missing in large sections of this letter.

Nonetheless, there is much to learn from this wonderful text -- a worthy addition to the impressive collection of papal letters that constitute the social teaching of the Catholic Church.

* * *

Father Barron is the Francis Cardinal George Chair of Faith and Culture at University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois.

LSU Professor Comments on Caritas in Veritate

LSU Professor Dr. James Stoner has taught at LSU since 1988 and has chaired the Department of Political Science since 2007. From ZENIT (www.zeniy.org) He writes this commentary on the Pope's new Encyclical:

James Stoner: Encyclical Forces Catholics Out of the Bunker

"Caritas in Veritate" Presents a Challenge to Everyone

By James Stoner

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, JULY 10, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Faithful Catholics in America today often seem tempted by cultural hostility to withdraw into our own circle of faith and family, asking of law and government only that we be left alone.

To this tendency, Pope Benedict's new encyclical on the social teaching of the Church, "Caritas in Veritate," is a thorough rebuke, for it is a call to engage the world—not only through evangelization, but through economic, social, and political thought and action; through commitment to the cause of integral human development and social progress.

One can see why liberal commentators quickly seized on the encyclical as friendly to their agenda. The Pope is critical of contemporary market society, with its "scandalous speculation," its emphasis on short-term profit, its ambivalent record in combating poverty, and its disregard of the cultural fabric of societies it would modernize; moreover, he calls for extensive global reform and even "for a reform of the United Nations...so that the concept of the family of nations can acquire real teeth."

One doubts liberals will cheer so loudly when they read more carefully, because he also insists that the culture of life needs to be recovered, that atheism and relativism are threats to genuine human development, that "a metaphysical understanding of the relations between persons" is essential, that cultural and religious syncretism is dangerous, and that freedom is not autonomous license but formation under the natural moral law.

And he warns against "a dangerous universal power of a tyrannical nature," which must be countered by the principle of subsidiarity.

On the one hand, the failure to think and act boldly for world-wide justice indicates a dearth of charity, while on the other, charity needs to be anchored in universal truth -- as the title of the encyclical makes plain.

Vast in its sweep of topics -- the Pope comments not only on major institutions of governance and finance but on the environment, on migration, on international aid, even on tourism -- there is much that will bear further study and ought genuinely to provoke fresh thought.

I found suggestive his notion that the categories of most 20th century Catholic reflection on social justice have been altered, as many economic and social institutions in contemporary global civilization cannot be identified as clearly public or private; to debate state versus market solutions to social problems is thus to miss the question.

The Pope's attention to the centrality of "the astonishing experience of gift" or "gratuitousness," while not completely unknown in social science, might prove fertile in the development of paradigms of social and economic life that transcend the pinched model of economic man as rational maximizer, without falling into the trap of totalitarian socialism.

His discussion of technology, as simultaneously a testimony to the power of the human spirit and the characteristic engine of soulless materialism, is lucid; recovering respect for nature as God's gift is an imperative not only for planetary survival, but for self-knowledge.

Papal encyclicals studiously avoid being partisan documents -- that's one reason why they are sometimes hard to read -- but citizens who heed the Pope's call to enter the fray of political "praxis" in the search for justice and the common good will rarely be able to escape the pull of partisanship.

By giving each side a picture of its own strengths and failings and by urging sustained dialogue over global policy, the Pope deepens his project of reconciling faithful Christians and the children of Enlightenment. His term "praxis," an ancient Greek word for "action," "deed," or even "business," known to modern intellectuals chiefly through its use by Marxists, is, after all, in its plural form, the title of the New Testament's fifth book.

* * *

James Stoner is a professor of political science at Louisiana State University. He is the author, most recently, of "Common Law Liberty: Rethinking American Constitutionalism" (University Press of Kansas).

Being Ordinary

The current liturgical season for the Church is ordinary time. If you think about it there is an enormous good to being ordinary. Our secular society places so much emphasis on being extraordinary that there is a syndrome known as "15 minutes of fame". The truth of the matter is this: there is nothing easy about being ordinary. That is to say to live your life as Christ wants you to; dying oneself, being a servant to others, to make your life not about you. Try it some time. The Blessed Mother is the example of a person who lived the life we want to emulate. She was obedient to God's will from the very point that she was asked. In ordinary time we are not anticipating the birth of Christ as we do in Advent. We are not celebrating the Savior entering the world as in Christmastime, we are not in deep prayer, penance and spiritual reflection as in Lent, or suffering with Jesus on His walk to Calvary. We are not singing Alleluia as we witness the Risen Christ. We are rather enjoying the ordinary things of life; like that walk in the park, shopping with friends, having an ice cream, going to the ballgame, etc.. At the same time applying our spiritual lessons to the way we deal with all the ordinary things that happen to us all but call us to be courageous, patient, and to endure. Those ordinary things are hardships of life such as death, illness, financial troubles, broken relationships. They require that we be united with Christ who truly is extraordinary, that we may be strengthened with His grace and throughout out our pain, give witness to God's love and give glory to Him.

The Pope's Wednesday Audience July 8, 2009

Centered in Christ

The Christian does not need to leave his center in Christ in order to mediate him to the world, to understand his relation to the world, to build a bridge between revelation and nature, philosophy and theology. . . . This is what the saints are fully aware of. They never at any moment leave their center in Christ. . . . When they philosophize, they do so as Christians, which means as believers, as theologians. Father Hans Urs von Balthasar
My greatest sense of frustration in my faith journey is that often I leave Christ and venture in the world without Him. I really am not very good as a solo act. I disappoint the people I love on routine basis. I don't take action when I should and I speak when I should be silent. I let the things of the world influence me and I fall to the temptations I should avoid. I cry out as the psalmist; "Be a rock of refuge for me, a mighty stronghold to save me, for you are my rock, my stronghold. For your name's sake lead me and guide me" "Release me from the snares they have hidden for you are my refuge, Lord. Into your hands I commend my spirit. It is you who will redeem me Lord." Psalm 31 Everyday I feel like Peter sinking into the water. I haven't truly placed into my heart what my head knows. If it were not for My Lord I would surely drown. I will remain steadfast in my love and devotion for Christ. If I suffer, I suffer with Him.

Some Brief Thoughts on Pope Benedict XVI's "Caritas in Veritae"

I confess I am only a little over 1/4 way through the Pope's new Encyclical "Caritas in Veritae", here area number of lines from it that show the brilliance of our Pontiff.
The sharing of goods and resources, from which authentic development proceeds, is not guaranteed by merely technical progress and relationships of utility, but by the potential of love that overcomes evil with good (cf. Rom 12:21), opening up the path towards reciprocity of consciences and liberties.

Without the perspective of eternal life, human progress in this world is denied breathing-space. Enclosed within history, it runs the risk of being reduced to the mere accumulation of wealth; humanity thus loses the courage to be at the service of higher goods, at the service of the great and disinterested initiatives called forth by universal charity.

Technology, viewed in itself, is ambivalent. If on the one hand, some today would be inclined to entrust the entire process of development to technology, on the other hand we are witnessing an upsurge of ideologies that deny in toto the very value of development, viewing it as radically anti-human and merely a source of degradation.

A vocation is a call that requires a free and responsible answer. Integral human development presupposes the responsible freedom of the individual and of peoples: no structure can guarantee this development over and above human responsibility. The “types of messianism which give promises but create illusions” always build their case on a denial of the transcendent dimension of development, in the conviction that it lies entirely at their disposal. This false security becomes a weakness, because it involves reducing man to subservience, to a mere means for development, while the humility of those who accept a vocation is transformed into true autonomy, because it sets them free.

As society becomes ever more globalized, it makes us neighbours but does not make us brothers. Reason, by itself, is capable of grasping the equality between men and of giving stability to their civic coexistence, but it cannot establish fraternity. This originates in a transcendent vocation from God the Father, who loved us first, teaching us through the Son what fraternal charity is.

We recognize, therefore, that the Church had good reason to be concerned about the capacity of a purely technological society to set realistic goals and to make good use of the instruments at its disposal. Profit is useful if it serves as a means towards an end that provides a sense both of how to produce it and how to make good use of it. Once profit becomes the exclusive goal, if it is produced by improper means and without the common good as its ultimate end, it risks destroying wealth and creating poverty

Yet it should be stressed that progress of a merely economic and technological kind is insufficient. Development needs above all to be true and integral. The mere fact of emerging from economic backwardness, though positive in itself, does not resolve the complex issues of human advancement, neither for the countries that are spearheading such progress, nor for those that are already economically developed, nor even for those that are still poor, which can suffer not just through old forms of exploitation, but also from the negative consequences of a growth that is marked by irregularities and imbalances.

I would like to remind everyone, especially governments engaged in boosting the world's economic and social assets, that the primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is man, the human person in his or her integrity: “Man is the source, the focus and the aim of all economic and social life”

One of the most striking aspects of development in the present day is the important question of respect for life, which cannot in any way be detached from questions concerning the development of peoples. It is an aspect which has acquired increasing prominence in recent times, obliging us to broaden our concept of poverty and underdevelopment to include questions connected with the acceptance of life, especially in cases where it is impeded in a variety of ways.
Openness to life is at the centre of true development. When a society moves towards the denial or suppression of life, it ends up no longer finding the necessary motivation and energy to strive for man's true good

God is the guarantor of man's true development, inasmuch as, having created him in his image, he also establishes the transcendent dignity of men and women and feeds their innate yearning to “be more”. Man is not a lost atom in a random universe: he is God's creature, whom God chose to endow with an immortal soul and whom he has always loved.

Charity does not exclude knowledge, but rather requires, promotes, and animates it from within. Knowledge is never purely the work of the intellect. It can certainly be reduced to calculation and experiment, but if it aspires to be wisdom capable of directing man in the light of his first beginnings and his final ends, it must be “seasoned” with the “salt” of charity. Deeds without knowledge are blind, and knowledge without love is sterile.
I love Pope Benedict XVI. He is truly the voice of Christ in the world, a world devoid of the true message of hope and salvation. Pray for him.

We Can Love Them

One of my favorite movies is A River Runs Through It. It is based on a true story of Paul and Norman Maclean, two brothers who grew up in Montana at the turn of the twentieth century. It is told through the eyes of Norman who was a writer. Their father was a Presbyterian minister who taught his sons about God, life, and his favorite pastime fly fishing. Paul, (my namesake) is the more adventurous of the two, even reckless, there isn't anything he can't do better than Norman. However Paul is self destructive, he drinks and he gambles and finally it catches up with him. He is murdered over a gambling debt. There is a scene after Paul has died when his father is giving a sermon, he describes his past situation with Paul, without mentioning his name. He preaches that "we can seldom help those who are closest to us" This is true for each every one of us. There are those family members who for whatever reason, shut the door on us. They cry for help, but they reject it. The pain inside can become too much and tragedy results. We are left with the what ifs and we should haves. We feel quilt, but really the only thing we could have done is to pray for them and leave it in God's hands.

Ho Kurios Mou Kai HoTheos Mou

"Blessed are those who have not seen and believed. Seeing is believing is as the slogan goes, but as St.Paul reminds us that Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 Thomas had witnessed many of Jesus miracles, heard his sermons, spoke with him in quiet evenings by a charcoal fire and still he could not break from the slogan. He needed more. I know in my life there are times when I need more. When the world has thrown a blanket over me and I am consumed with my own self indulgences . Thomas is in all of us, he is in a sense a spiritual benchmark along the faith journey. As venerable John Henry Newman wrote "Jesus praised easiness of belief and condemned hardness of belief . To be easy in believing is nothing more or less than to have been ready to inquire; to be hard of belief is nothing else but to have been loath and reluctant to inquire" Faith is God's gift to us, it is only when we abandon it do we ask for proof, something we can measure it with...seeing is believing...but in reality seeing is not believing. When the consecration of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ occurs that is our Thomas moment. The time to proclaim Ho Kurios Mou Kai HoTheos Mou, literally the Lord of me and the God of me.

Looking Toward God

A sacramental celebration is woven from signs & symbols. In keeping with the divine pedagogy of salvation, their meaning is rooted in the work of creation and in human culture, specified by events in the Old Covenant and fully revealed in the person and work of Christ. Catechism of the Catholic Church 1145
Signs of the human world. In human life, signs and symbols occupy an important place. As a being at once body and spirit, man expresses and perceives spiritual realities through physical signs and symbols. As a social being, man needs signs and symbols to communicate with others, through language gestures, and actions. This holds true for his relationship with God. Catechism of the Catholic Church 1146

Dr. Robert Moynihan writes Pope Benedict XVI has always been deeply concerned about the liturgy — the way the Church carries out her public worship.

He has written numerous books about the liturgy, spoken repeatedly about it, taken important decisions about it as Pope (for example, restoring the celebration of the Mass according to the old, pre-Vatican II rite).

Concern for the liturgy is a constant in his life. But why this interest? Is it because he is concerned about the external things of the liturgy, like vestments, incense, all the gestures of religious ritual? No. Or at least, not primarily.Then why? What is the primary interest? His primary interest in the liturgy stems from the fact that the liturgy is a type of doorway, or passageway, leading to the vision of God, that is, leading to eternal life. And since eternal life is the ultimate hope of man, the doorway or passageway that leads to that hope — the liturgy — is of the utmost importance. This does not mean that external things likes vestments, incense, and ritual gestures, are of no importance. No. But it does mean that they are of just relative importance.They adorn the doorway; they are not the doorway itself.The adornments of the doorway are not as important as the reality of the doorway itself.

"Man becomes glory for God, puts God, so to speak, into the light (and that is what worship is), when he lives by looking toward God," Joseph Ratzinger wrote in his great book on the liturgy (The Spirit of the Liturgy, Ignatius Press, 2000, p. 20)

The liturgy, Ratzinger writes, is "a kind of anticipation, a rehearsal, a prelude for the life to come, for eternal life, which St. Augustine describes, by contrast with life in this world, as a fabric woven, no longer of exigency and need, but of the freedom of generosity and gift." (The Spirit of the Liturgy, p. 14)

The Mass is and should be for us Catholics and opportunity to meet the Father, in Christ and the Holy Spirit. We can best accomplish this by fully participating in the liturgy. Perhaps read the readings prior to Mass, meditate on them, to come to Mass with an attitude of joy and celebration as we revisit Calvary (God's ultimate love for man) and partake in the Eucharist (God's ultimate gift to man)

The Desire for God

The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for: The dignity of man rests above all on the fact that he is called to communion with God. This invitation to converse with God is addressed to man as soon as he comes into being. For if man exists it is because God created him through love, and through love continues to hold him in existence. He cannot live fully according to truth unless he freely acknowledges that love and entrusts himself to his creator. Catechism of the Catholic Church Chapter 1
He never stops searching for... Everyone who breathes and lives is in a quest to know the truth. We may not realize it but each one of us has desire to know our purpose. We possess a "philosophy" that makes us get up from bed every day. At times it is buried beneath the layers of junk piled on by years of looking for it in the wrong places. We are quite capable of self destruction, especially if we completely block out God from our quest. We fill the void with bodily desires, we numbed the senses through drugs and alcohol, we speed past it by being self absorbed in work, or we have constructed are own little dynamic world filled with logical precepts all based on a false notion. The desire never goes away, because God never stops seeking you. The poet Francis Thompson wrote about the Hound of Heaven who despite the miserable condition and miserable places we put ourselves, God still pursuits us, he desires our love. Take time reflect on this: we are the Creator's creation. That makes us very special. The Creator has a purpose for all His creations, we must discover this by moving towards Him. This takes effort on our part, but not on God's part. Prayer is the key to unlocking and removing those chains that keep us from God's love.

Father Junipero Serra

Blessed Junipero Serra was in the words of Pope John Paul II "an exemplary model of the selfless evangelizer". In 1750 this Franciscan missionary arrived in Mexico City whereupon he baptized over 6000 natives to enter the Catholic faith. He founded 9 of the 21 missions and was instrumental in the foundation of the state of California. From his biography we read:

Junípero Serra decided to become a missionary in 1749. This was a dramatic change of path considering his many accomplishments, which included a doctorate in Sacred Theology conferred by Llullian University in Majorca in 1742, and his career as professor of philosophy at Convento de San Francisco.

Father Sera sailed from Palma to Málaga and Cadiz, the first leg of his 5,000 mile sea journey to Mexico. During the voyage, the ship is blown off course by a violent storm that threatened shipwreck. His traveling companions (twenty Franciscan and seven Dominican priests) decided that they should make some promise to call down on them the Lord’s mercy. They decided that each should write on a piece of paper the name of his favorite saint. The names were put in a bowl and invoking the Holy Spirit, they recited the prayer of All Saints so as to know who would be their special patron and protector. Serra wrote down Saint Francis Solano, and Father Francisco Palóu (Serra's former student and biographer) wrote down Saint Michael. But they did not win. Saint Barbara did, and it turned out that on her feast day, December 4, at night, the ship sailed back toward port, and all felt happy and confident.

In Mexico during 1751 and 1755 he supervised the construction of five mission churches, which are still in use today. He learned the Pame Indian language, composed a native catechism, and used visual methods of teaching religion to attract and Christianize the Indians. He improved farming and agricultural methods by introducing new tools, communal planting and harvesting, and oxen, cows, mules, sheep, goats, and pigs.

Father Serra was fond of music, using songs and hymns to inspire the Indians. He reenacted the events of religious holidays and choreographed a Pastoral Nativity play at Christmas, performed by Indian children.

During Lent he carried a cross on his shoulder at outdoor Station of the Cross processions which, Father Palóu wrote “was so heavy that I, stronger and younger though I was, could not lift it”.

His sermons were dramatic. Some of his methods were to hold lighted candles to his chest to illustrate Hell, and to encourage confessions, he silently confessed to Palóu from the sanctuary of the church, in full view of the congregation.

Junípero Serra died in the Mission of San Carlos on August 28, 1784 at the age of 70. He was buried exactly 35 years from the day he sailed for the New World. (Courtesy of Bay Are serra club)