This Is A Hard Teaching; Who Can Stand It?: Theology of the Body, Contraception and the Eucharist

The sixth chapter of John’s gospel Jesus begins with the feeding of the multitudes with five loaves and two fish. The crowd, who wanted to crown him as king, followed Jesus the next day asking for a sign. Instead of giving them more food for their bellies Jesus gave them food for thought. Jesus challenged the sensibilities of everyone present; the poor and the wealthy, the uneducated and the learned, the laity and the priests and Pharisees. He told them that he was going to provide more than manna for them, that he had new heavenly bread that would give them eternal life. That bread was his very flesh and blood which he commanded them to eat and drink. He affronted their ideas of what God and their religion could or would ask of them. He challenged them to believe in something that was, in their thinking, impossible and outrageous.

The response of the crowd demonstrated how offended they were to be asked to believe such a thing:

“Who is this man? Who does he think he is?”

“How can he tell us to eat his flesh?”

“This is a hard teaching; who can stand it?”

Many of his followers left that day. These were disciples leaving, not just bandwagon jumpers following Jesus to get a free lunch or see a miracle or two. Jesus even challenged the apostles, those closest to him, to leave him, yet they stayed. Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of everlasting life.” Jesus cared not for the opinion of crowd or the popularity of his position. He didn't react to this desertion by changing his teaching. The truth is the truth and it is immovable even when all else around is shifting like sand.

This controversial teaching by Jesus spoke prophetically of the gift he planned to give to us in the Eucharist. It was fulfilled at the Last Supper when he broke and gave his body to the apostles. He poured out and shared his blood with the men that, through faith, refused to leave him when they couldn’t fully understand his teaching. Acting in and through his authority the apostles and their successors followed his command to “do this in remembrance of me”. By the sacramental grace he won at the cross the Church has participated in sharing his body and blood at every mass through the ages. It is through the gift of the Eucharist that the Church is nourished and enters into deeper relationship with Christ.

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul talks about the relationship between Christ and the Church. In chapter five he calls upon wives to be submissive to their husbands, just as the Church is submissive to Christ. Likewise, he challenges husbands to lay down their very lives for their wives, just as Christ sacrificed himself for the Church. Why? Paul understands that the marriage covenant speaks, mysteriously, of the relationship of Christ and the Church. Jesus is described elsewhere in scripture as the bridegroom and we as his bride. Understanding union with Christ within a marital relationship necessarily requires an understanding of Christian marriage as intended and instituted by Christ himself.

When asked about the question of divorce, Jesus pointed his questioners to the creation narrative by quoting from Genesis 1:27; 2:24. Following this example to gain an understanding Christian marriage, and by that insight into Christ’s relationship to the Church, it is necessary to look to God’s original plan for marriage as found in the creation stories of Genesis 1-3. What does it mean for man and woman to be created for each other and in the image and likeness of God? How did God intend that original unity to be expressed? In what way has original sin distorted God’s original plan for marriage and how is it restored in Christ?

To understand what it means to be created in the image and likeness of God requires an understanding of the very nature of God—to the extent that it can be understood. The revelation of the Trinity is the revelation of the eternity of familial love and relationship. God the Father possesses in himself the fullness and essence of fatherhood from all eternity. Human fatherhood is merely a finite representation of this divine reality. In the same way, God the Son possesses the fullness and essence of sonship from all eternity. The Father loves the Son completely and is eternally giving himself to the Son as a total self-gift of love, holding nothing back. This love is received and likewise returned to the Father from the Son in a mutual, perfect self-gift of love. The bond of this love is so perfect, so complete that it is itself the very person of the Holy Spirit. It is in this image and likeness that man and woman were created.

After Adam is created by God and given dominion over all of creation something odd happens. Until this point all of creation has been declared “good” by God, but now God declares something is “not good”. Adam is alone. He cannot fully reflect the image and likeness of the Trinity without someone to give himself to as a complete, life-giving gift of love. God creates Eve to be Adam’s helpmate, his wife, a person whom he can give himself to in love. Naked and unashamed because they are able to love each other perfectly and purely, Adam and Eve are joined by God and are able to fulfill the divine command to “be fruitful and multiply.”

In his perfect wisdom God created man and woman as complimentary beings physically, emotionally, and spiritually. He created man and woman to give themselves each other in the marital covenant to become “one flesh”. For this reason, the Church has always taught that the marriage act has two equal and indivisible components: the unitive and the procreative. In God’s plan when marital love is expressed between husband and wife it is always life-giving and love-giving. The husband gives all of himself to his bride who receives him and in turn gives herself to him. The bonds of love are strengthened through marital intimacy and this love is open to the creation of new life itself.

This original design has been fractured and remains threatened by the presence of sin. After the Fall, Adam and Eve were “ashamed” at their nakedness. Sin had entered their hearts and impaired their ability to perfectly and purely love each other. For the first time, they saw each other as a means to an end, as an object to satisfy their desires. This fault carries down through the generations. It rips at the heart of marriages and marital love. Selfish desire leads to divorce and infidelity. Fears, insecurities and self-centeredness seek to close the marital act to the gift of love. Attacking marriage—the image and likeness of God, the model of the relationship between God and man—has been at the center of the plans of the enemy from the Garden down through the ages.

Enter Jesus Christ. Enter the Incarnation. Jesus comes to show what love looks like. It is self-emptying, just as he emptied himself to become human. It is forgiving, just as he extended the mercy of God to sinners. It is completely self-giving, just as he gave all of himself on the cross. It is life-giving, just like the new life he offers from the empty tomb. Jesus held nothing back in giving all of himself as a perfect gift of life-giving love to his bride, the Church. Nowhere is this more evident than at every mass celebrated every day.

At the words of consecration simple bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus. The bridegroom comes under the most humble of appearances to the bride. So in essence Jesus (the groom) gives his flesh & blood, his soul & all that he is as a total self-gift so that his Church (the bride) can receive him to become one in a unitive and (spiritually) life-giving act. The mass, more specifically communion, is the consummation of the marriage of Christ and his Church.

What happens when this gift of Christ is received but not returned? What about members of the bride that take what Christ offers, but refuse to allow that grace to penetrate their hearts or transform their lives? Is this any different than a marriage practicing contraception? One partner’s gift of self is rebuffed by the refusal to allow that gift of love to bear the fruit of life?

July 25, 2012, marks the 44^th anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Humane Vitae, which reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s condemnation of artificial birth control. In that encyclical Pope Paul spoke of the inseparability of the unitive and procreative dimensions of human sexuality. He warned of dire moral and social consequences if artificial contraception was widely accepted, and his predictions have unfortunately come to pass. Divorcing the unitive and procreative aspects of sexuality has resulted in the destruction of marriages, victimization of women, and draconian political population control.

How did many in the world, the laity, the theologians, the priests, and even some bishops respond to Pope Paul’s affirmation of centuries’ old moral teaching? Many responded the same way the crowd did to Jesus when he told them about the Bread of Life.

“Who does this Pope think he is?”

“How can he tell us what to do with our bodies?”

“This is a hard teaching; who can stand it?”

Once again observers, followers, and even the successors of the apostles were challenged to hear and accept God’s truth. The Church is called to respond like Peter, to accept and follow, hoping that understanding will come later. It is not an easy teaching. It challenges and provokes because it is personal and requires a response. Choosing to reply in faith, like those who heard and believed Christ’s call to “eat my body and drink my blood” is eternally rewarding.

A 2010 Beliefnet.com survey found that over 70% of American Catholics did not consider using artificial birth control a sin, and 59% admitted to using contraception. Another survey conducted by the Pew Research Center found that 45% of American Catholics did not know that the Church teaches that the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ at mass. Among the faithful there is a tragic loss of the original unity of procreative and unitive love intended for our marriages and our spiritual lives. If Catholics reject the teaching of Christ, willfully or out of ignorance, they cannot possibly enjoy freedom and strength that is promised to them through the sacraments. Is it any wonder then that the Church faces a time of trial and difficulty? The love of the Trinity and our calling to be the image and likeness of God becomes forgotten. Marriages are weakened. Souls grow indifferent. And the Church suffers from a lack of saints in our midst.

But there is hope. There is always hope in Christ. He is raising up a generation that is rejecting the lies of the enemy and rediscovering the beauty of unitive and procreative love in marriage and in the Eucharist. The way is not easy, but is possible by God’s grace and with the aid of the Holy Spirit.

Why loving Jesus doesn't mean I have to hate religion

So apparently there’s been a lot of buzz about Jefferson Bethke’s viral video rant/poem, “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus.” Some people think it’s the best thing since Martin Luther got himself some paper and a hammer. Others want to start piling up wood while they look for some matches.

Personally, I admire the guy’s passion and apparent love for Jesus. I understand where he’s coming from with his anti-religion/pro-Jesus position. There was a time not that long ago I would probably have been giving him a big thumbs up, but I would have been wrong and so is he. I think what he’s really upset with is “false religion”, aka hypocrisy, and that’s a good thing to be leery of, but we can’t allow ourselves to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Here’s some things he’s just plain wrong about.

What if I told you Jesus came to abolish religion?

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” – Jesus (Mt 5:17)

“The Law” refers to the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament. Maybe Jefferson needs to read some passages from The Law. Might I suggest Exodus 25-30? I see directions for liturgical feasts, calendars, vestments, and vessels. It describes using gold & silver, the finest linens woven by master craftsmen, and ornate jewels. There’s a good bit of effort put into explaining various rules and procedures both for how to worship and how to live. None of those ideas came from Moses, they were revealed to him by God.

If religion is so great, why has it started so many wars?

Religion doesn’t start wars. Man does. And we have started wars for all kinds of reasons: power, land, pride, good looking girls, etc. The 20^th Century saw more lives destroyed by wars initiated by religion-hating individuals than all of prior human history combined.

Why does it build huge churches but fails to feed the poor?

Once again, I’d like to defer to Jesus’ answer when asked a similar question.

May I also point out that religious organizations provide the greatest amount of charitable services to the poor than anyone else? The Catholic Church, for example, is the largest worldwide charitable organization at feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and comforting the suffering.

Jesus hated religion and for it called them foolish.

“Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.” Mt 23:1-2

“For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Mt 5:20

Jesus was against self-righteousness and hypocrisy, not against religion.

Let me clarify: I love the Church, I love the bible, and yes I believe in sin.

But if Jesus came to your church would they actually let him in?

He loves the Church that he’s been bashing throughout his poem. Apparently he’s also fond of proof texting and taking the bible out of context.

And Jesus actually resides in my Church 24/7/365. So yeah, we let him in.

Religion says do. Jesus says done.

Um, Jesus tells us to “do” a whole lot of stuff, and some of it isn’t easy to hear.

While being murdered he yelled "Father forgive them they know not what they do.”

Jesus wasn’t “murdered” he became our high priest and offered himself as a sacrifice for our sins. They didn’t take his life, he laid it down. See John 10:11-18.

Rethinking the Beatitudes

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven."
(Matthew 5:3-10)

I believe the beatitudes are a model or pattern for spiritual maturity with one building on another and ultimately looping back again in a continual path toward spiritual perfection. Rather than looking at them separately as if describing different types of people in the Kingdom of God, they lay down a blueprint for how to become a disciple. This seems to make sense within the greater context of the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5-7.

Matthew chapter five begins with the beatitudes. Jesus then goes on to tell his followers they are to be light and salt to the world. The chapter concludes with a discourse on Jesus’ mission to fulfill the Law. He discusses six different topics in the “You have heard it said, but I tell you…” format. In each of these teachings he elevates the Law of Moses, the Old Covenant, to new standards that will become the way of the New Covenant. He deals directly with anger, adultery, divorce, swearing oaths, retaliation, and attitudes towards enemies.

Chapter six continues laying down the new expectations of the Christian disciple. Jesus challenges his followers to form new attitudes about alms giving, prayer (including the model of the Our Father), and fasting. He admonishes his listeners not to follow the way of the Pharisees, but to pursue humility in these practices. The chapter concludes with Jesus encouraging them to make their true treasures in heaven and to trust in the loving providence of God to care for them.

The Sermon on the Mount concludes in Matthew chapter seven. Once again Jesus lays down new expectations for his disciples. He cautions them against judging others and encourages them to be persistent in seeking the Kingdom of God. He warns of false prophets and that the path to heaven goes through the narrow gate requiring not just lip service but obedience in our actions. The Sermon concludes with the parable of the two foundations; one on sandy ground and the other on solid rock.

From beginning to end the entire Sermon on the Mount provides the foundation for how to live the Gospel as a disciple of Jesus. It provides spiritual and practical advice and instruction. It’s within this context that we are challenged to re-examine how we look at the beatitudes. An important principle of public speaking or teaching is that you start by telling your audience what you’re going to say, then you say it, then you tell them what you said. The beatitudes introduce the Sermon on the Mount. In them Jesus tells us the pattern for becoming a disciple. The rest of the sermon lays out the details. The closing parable tells us again how to be a disciple.

Blessed are the poor in spirit. To be poor in spirit is to recognize our total dependence upon God, that before him I have nothing to offer of my own. Without first coming to this most basic realization no real, sustainable spiritual growth is possible.

Blessed are those who mourn. Once we have recognized our dependence upon God we become keenly aware of our sins and faults. We mourn for ourselves, but more importantly for how our sinfulness and selfish desires keep us from drawing closer to God.

Blessed are the meek. When we recognize our dependence on God and our own sinfulness we develop a true sense of humility. Humility is not self-loathing; rather it is an honest assessment of our true standing before God and one another.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. As we grow in humility we begin to hunger and thirst for the things that please God. A desire to do what is right and to see justice done around us begins to grow and color how we live and treat others.

Blessed are the merciful. The desire for righteousness grounded in true humility and awareness of our own shortcomings leads to the next step on the path to true discipleship: seeking and offering mercy. We recognize that we fail in our desire for righteousness and that others have failed us as well. To be merciful is to extend forgiveness and grace to others and to ourselves.

Blessed are the pure in heart. Purity of heart certainly calls to mind a moral purity, but there is a deeper purity of heart. As we continue to grow in grace to become a disciple of Jesus we realize that our hearts must be purely for him. They cannot be conflicted or divided. We cannot allow our hearts to be troubled by the things of the world, but rather be consumed with love for Christ.

Blessed are the peacemakers. Once we have reached the point of allowing our hearts to be focused on God we once again turn outward towards our neighbor. Peace is not merely the absence of conflict, nor is it merely appeasement. True peace is only found in right relationship with God. Often this means the disciple is called to confront the sinner for the sinner’s own good so that he may know the peace of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted. Being formed into the image of Christ as his disciple is going to bring conflict with the world. As we attempt to make peace those not interested in Christ’s peace will persecute us just as they persecuted him. Persecution strips us and reveals to us those parts of us that don’t want to suffer or die to the world.

So the beatitudes present a summary of the Sermon on the Mount as a spiritual blueprint for Christian discipleship. The disciple begins with the recognition of his dependence upon God which leads to an awareness of and sorrow for his sins. This becomes the foundation for authentic humility and stirs up a desire for holiness. In the process of seeking righteousness the disciple’s heart is moved to seek and extend mercy. In order to continue the pursuit of God the disciple must become single-hearted for God. This purity of heart compels the disciple to bring about the peace of God rooted in truth, love and justice. Because the world has rejected the peace of Christ it will reject and persecute the disciple who then comes to a deeper realization of his dependence upon God. This causes the disciple to circle back to the very beginning of the process and start anew to become a disciple on a deeper level.

The middle of the Sermon on the Mount presents the details and examples for following this pattern. All of Jesus’ teachings in these chapters elaborate on these principles. He tells us how to embrace humility in prayer and action, how to avoid anxiety by trusting God, and how to extend love and mercy to others while pursuing justice and peace.

The final parable of the two houses echoes the beatitudes and pulls the rest of the Sermon together. The house built on solid rock has Christ as its foundation. The walls of the house are built brick upon brick just as one beatitude is built upon the other. The storm represents trials and anxieties of life as well as persecution. Those disciples who put the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount into practice will weather the storm.

Osama, Obama and JPII

I'm probably going to catch some flack for this.

As I woke up this morning I was greeted with the news that Osama bin Laden was killed by US forces in Pakistan. I watched the news as I was getting ready for work and listened to the radio on my drive to the office. I was struck by a couple things.

I must admit that I felt relief that bin Laden was dead. While I recognize that terrorism will continue after his death; I appreciated the sense of justice and closure brought by this news.

I was disheartened by the reactions I witnessed in the news reports. People were gathering and chanting 'U-S-A! U-S-A!" and singing "God Bless America" in the streets. While I can understand their sense of relief and even victory, something in me just didn't sit right with the idea of celebrating the death of another person, even if that person was bin Laden. There was just something in me that immediately recognized that this was not a "Christian" response to this news.

Then I read this quote from Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi, SJ:

“Osama bin Laden, as we all know, bore the most serious responsibility for spreading divisions and hatred among populations, causing the deaths of innumerable people, and manipulating religions for this purpose.

“In the face of a man’s death, a Christian never rejoices, but reflects on the serious responsibilities of each person before God and before men, and hopes and works so that every event may be the occasion for the further growth of peace and not of hatred.”

I was just thinking about 9-11 and its lasting impact on our country earlier yesterday afternoon before this news broke. I was thinking about how our country reacted to the deaths of nearly 3,000 people that day. We started two wars, incurred trillions of dollars of debt, created new levels of government, and surrendered personal freedoms all because of the events of that horrible day.

I was reflecting on these things in light of the feast of Divine Mercy and the beatification of John Paul II who preached the Gospel of Life throughout his pontificate. I was reflecting on how we as a nation reacted to 2,977 people being murdered by terrorists and how little we care for the approximately 3,700 babies aborted EVERY DAY in America alone (over 120k worldwide everyday-see the counter on my sidebar). That means that since 9/11/01 about 13-million Americans have been legally murdered.

Osama bin Laden kills 3,000 people and he becomes enemy #1, relentlessly hunted down for nearly a decade and killed. People reacted by singing God Bless America.

Barack Obama runs on a radical pro-abortion platform. As a state senator in IL he was against banning partial birth abortions and against a bill that required medical care for aborted babies that were born alive. People reacted by making him president.

John Paul II tirelessly preached the Gospel of Life, but more than that he lived it. He met with and forgave the man that tried to assassinate him. He endured a progressive, debilitating disease with dignity and purpose while demonstrating how we can unite our sufferings with Christ's. He lived a life dedicated to loving God and relying on His mercy. People reacted by packing the streets of Rome for his beatification.

Lenten Meditations on the Last Words of Christ - Week 6

"It is finished" (John 19:30) and "Father into your hands I commend my spirit." (Luke 23:46)

When the Allied Forces successfully invaded France on D-Day it marked the beginning of the end of World War II. That victory all but assured the ultimate defeat of the Nazis. It was only a matter of time to finish the job. Certainly there were many more battles to fight, but once the Allies were able to establish their front lines there was no hope for a German victory.

Jesus came preaching, "The Kingdom of God is near!" Jesus spoke more about the establishment of God's Kingdom than anything else. All that he did was oriented towards this message. The miracles he performed were signs of the presence of the Kingdom. He cast out demons, healed the sick, gave sight to the blind and forgave sins all to demonstrate that in the Kingdom of God there is no enemy, no disease, no blindness, and no sin. In short, Jesus came to establish a beachhead for the Kingdom of God to defeat the works of the devil and redeem our fallen world.

Hanging on the cross, Jesus was aware that he had accomplished his mission. By his death and coming resurrection he would guarantee God's victory over sin and death. He had withstood all that Satan and this world could throw at him. He wrestled with the weakness of human nature and triumphed through obedience. He took on our loneliness, fear, and pain. He endured insults, curses and temptation. He did it all, and when the last enemy, death itself, came to claim him he proclaimed, "It is finished" and entrusted himself to his Father. He gave his life; it was not taken from him.

Jesus' victory on the cross won our salvation and liberated us from sin and death, just like the people of Nazi occupied territories were freed by the Allies after D-Day. There are still many battles ahead and the way is not easy. The enemy stills claim victims and inflicts casualties while fighting a losing effort. But we can draw strength from knowing that while there are battles to fight the war has been won. If we endure we will win. This is what Paul means when he writes:

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom. 8:37-39)

As our Lenten journey draws to a close let us look forward with hope that we too can experience the power and presence of God's Kingdom in our lives as we wait for the day when the last battle is done and we can enter into the rest that Jesus has prepared for us.

Lenten Meditations on the Last Words of Christ - Week 5

"I thirst." (John 19:28)

It’s approaching three o’clock in the afternoon. For nearly 20 hours Jesus has endured torturous treatment at the hands of the chief priests and Romans. He’s been tried, beaten, scourged, dragged his cross through the city and finally nailed to it. Since noon he’s hung on the cross, the hot sun beating down on him. He called to mind Psalm 22 when he said, “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?” That Psalm goes on to describe his condition when it says, “My mouth is dried up like clay, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.”

But, Christ's thirst was for more than water, and his words call out to each of us today just as they did to those at the foot of the cross. Jesus thirsts for us. Stop and think about that for a moment. God longs for us. His desire for us isn't born out of necessity, as if there is something lacking in God, but springs from his love for us. He longs for us to know him because he knows that only then will we be fulfilled. The only thing that will bring us true joy and healing is relationship with him and he thirsts for us to enter into that peace.

At the same time we thirst for God whether we realize it or not. In the words of the Psalmist, "As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God. My being thirsts for God, the living God." (Ps 42) When Jesus called out from the cross those standing nearby offered him a sponge soaked in vinegar to drink. Have you ever tried to drink straight vinegar? It's not exactly a thirst quencher. Yet every day we choose the vinegar of sin to try to quench our thirst rather than come to Jesus who offers living water.

Jesus calls out from the cross to let us know that he longs for us who unknowingly thirst for him. This Lenten season may we choose to drink deeply of the living water Jesus offers through having a personal relationship with him.

Lenten Meditations on the Last Words of Christ - Week 4

"My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46)

Where was God when the earthquake and tsunami struck Japan? Is he all powerful but uncaring, or is he all loving but impotent? Why did he allow so many innocent people be washed away? Where is God when over 1 million abortions take place each year in United States alone? Why did God allow the cancer to return? Where is God when life hurts?

“Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” Jesus cried out from the cross with the very questions that shake our faith. The great Catholic theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar reflected on the depths of the suffering Jesus endured for us on the cross. In his homily, “The Scapegoat and the Trinity”, he said, “Jesus, the Crucified, endures our inner darkness and estrangement from God, and he does so in our place. It is all the more painful for him, the less he has merited it ... there is nothing familiar about it to him: It is utterly alien and full of horror. Indeed, he suffers more deeply than an ordinary man is capable of suffering, even were he condemned and rejected by God, because only the incarnate Son knows who the Father really is and what it means to be deprived of him, to have lost him (to all appearances) forever. It is meaningless to call this suffering ‘hell,’ for there is no hatred of God in Jesus, only a pain that is deeper and more timeless than the ordinary man could endure either in his lifetime or after his death.”

As Catholics we reject the notion that the Father could forsake the Son; that God could turn away from God. But Jesus was not merely God, he was the God-man and in his humanity, hanging on that cross it is not beyond reason to see that he felt abandoned and forsaken. In that moment, in the midst of suffering that goes beyond what we could imagine, in the fullness of his human nature Jesus experienced that dark night of the soul when it seems that even God has turned away.

What does this have to do with answering questions about evil in the world? How does this apply to the problems of our pain and suffering? Because the Son of God passed through the way of suffering he was able to redeem our pains. It means that though this world is fallen and broken we must pass through the way of suffering, the way of the cross, if we want to experience the joy and glory of the resurrection. The good news is that we have a Savior that will go through it with us, or as Catholic author Melinda Selmys explains, “For Christ, in being forsaken on the cross, entered into this, the deepest of human sufferings, so that even in the greatest darkness we will never be alone.”

Lenten Meditations on the Last Words of Christ - Week 3

"Woman, behold your son…Behold your mother." (John 19:26-27)

We celebrate this Third Sunday of Lent just a couple days removed from the feast of the Annunciation. As we listen to the final words of Jesus before his death and resurrection we also call to mind the words of Mary to the angel, "Be it done unto me according to your will." How similar is Mary's abandonment to the will of God as her own son's prayer in the garden the night before he died, "Not my will but your will be done." Here at the cross the obedience of Mary and Jesus come together to free us from our slavery to sin so that we may use our will to say yes to God as well.

In these simple words Jesus entrusts his own mother to the Church, represented by the beloved disciple, and the Church to his mother. We can be confident that as we look to Mary she will always lead us to her son. She was there when he was conceived, there when he performed his first miracle, there when he sacrificed his life for us, and there when he poured out the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Scripture tells us that along the way Mary pondered these things in heart. She is our model for living a contemplative life of reflecting on what God has done, is doing, and will do in our lives.

During this season of Lent may we follow the example of the beloved disciple and take Mary into our homes. May we learn from her humility and faith in God. She said yes when it wasn't convenient to do so. She trusted God even when she couldn't fully understand how he would fulfill his promise. She accepted the joys and sorrows equally because she ultimately knew that God was in control and could be trusted to "work all things together for the good of those who trust in him." May our Lenten prayer be that Mary, our mother, will reveal her son to us in ways that are new and meaningful to transform our lives by the power of his cross and resurrection.

Lenten Meditations on the Last Words of Christ - Week 2

"I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:43)

Tradition tells us the name of the Good Thief was St. Dismas. We know nothing of his life other than the fact that he was sentenced to crucifixion for being a criminal. Many would say that his final act was to steal heaven on that Good Friday. After the first thief mocks and scorns Jesus, Dismas rebukes him and offers a simple request to be remembered by Jesus. Somehow he recognized in the beaten, bruised and broken body of Jesus what the crowds of Jerusalem could not or would not see. Somehow he was able to see Jesus as the King of Kings ready to enter into his kingdom. His simple act of faith was rewarded by Christ’s promise of salvation.

It’s easy to be skeptical of death row confessions. We hear how hardened criminals suddenly “find Jesus” when it seems most convenient for them and it’s difficult not to react with some level of incredulity. We often ask ourselves how God could be so gullible as to accept the last minute “conversion” of someone who appears only to be trying to avoid going to hell. It seems unfair that someone who devotes their life to serving and following God and someone who ignores God until their final days would both be welcomed into heaven together.

In Matthew 20:1-16, Jesus tells a parable about a landowner who goes to town in the morning and hires men to work in his vineyard for a set wage. The man goes back to town near noon and again in the late afternoon each time hiring more workers for his vineyard. At the end of the day he pays all of the men the same amount. The men hired in the morning grumbled because they thought they should get more. He reminds them that they agreed to work for the price they were paid and tells them not to be envious of his generosity.

Does this mean that we can put off conversion so we can do what we want? Certainly not, for no one knows when their life will be required of them. Jesus and the scriptures are clear that we must remain faithful and vigilant. The moral of the story is not that the wicked prosper by fooling God, but that God's mercy knows no bounds and is always available to us. Indeed, it is God who makes a fool of the devil by mercifully accepting those who call on him even with their last breath.

Jesus’ words to the Good Thief should give us all hope. While we have breath, it is never too late for any of us to turn to Jesus. It's not too late for the friend or family member we love who has turned from God to come back to him.

Lenten Meditations on the Last Words of Christ - Week 1

"Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34)

Dr. Bernard Nathanson passed away on February 21, 2011. Dr. Nathanson was a leader of the pro-abortion movement and founding member of the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL, now the National Abortion Rights Action League). He estimated that he had supervised or performed over 75,000 abortions including the abortion of his own child. He admitted that he and his associates purposely feed misinformation to the media and deliberately attacked the Catholic Church in order to change public opinion to support legalizing abortion in the late 1960’s. Then something happened. Dr. Nathanson started to question the pro-abortion claim that the unborn child was merely a collection of cells and not a human life.

A longtime atheist, Nathanson still continued to support abortion rights despite his growing doubts until the mid-1980’s when he finally became convinced through advances in medical science that abortion was, in his words, "unjustifiable murder." He then helped to produce one of the most famous pro-life videos, The Silent Scream. Nathanson devoted the rest of his days to fighting legalized abortion. More significantly, he came to faith in God and was baptized into the Catholic Church in 1996.

At the moment of his baptism, every sin he had ever committed, every abortion, every lie, was forgiven. Think about that for a moment. The guilt of 75,000 murders was wiped away, cast as far as the east is from the west. It doesn’t seem fair. It doesn’t seem right. Shouldn’t he have to pay for all those innocent lives he claimed? Welcome to the scandal of the cross.

When I think about it, really think about it, I want Bernard Nathanson to be completely washed cleaned. I don’t want him to have to pay for his sins because I know I can’t pay for mine. If God can forgive Dr. Nathanson then I know he can forgive me. The cross means there is nothing I can do that’s too big for God to forgive. This is what St. Paul had in mind when he wrote, “For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Cor. 5:21)

Forgiveness is the meaning and purpose of the cross. Jesus focuses our attention on this fact by praying for the forgiveness of his executioners. Most victims of crucifixion shouted out curses at their executioners, Jesus cried out for mercy for them. Nowhere else is the scandal of the mercy and grace of God on display more than at the cross. Humanity’s greatest sin, killing God's Son, is met by God’s greatest display of love, the life of his Son given for us.

So, what’s with the pink?

Long before Susan G. Komen made pink fashionable the Church has been breaking out rose colored candles and vestments on the third Sunday of Advent. Unlike the Bucs’ tangerine unis or the Rays baby blues it’s not just a marketing ploy for a liturgical version of an alternate jersey. So why do we switch from purple to pink? Why do we change colors on the third Sunday of Advent just to go back to purple for one more week?

To understand why the Church changes colors on the third Sunday of Advent we’ve got to understand what all these colors mean in the first place and why we use them. The Church follows a liturgical calendar that begins on the first Sunday of Advent and ends on the Solemnity of Christ the King. The liturgical year is made up of different seasons and each season has a specific color connected with it. Advent and Lent are primarily purple, a color that symbolizes repentance. The Christmas and Easter seasons use white to represent light and glory. White is also used throughout the year on feasts of Mary and other saints who were not martyred baptisms, weddings and Eucharistic celebrations. Ordinary time, the rest of the year, uses green to call to mind life, growth and hope. Red is used on specific feast days to symbolize the blood of martyrs or Christ (Good Friday) and also the fire of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost).

Rose may only be used on two Sundays in the liturgical year: Guadete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent, and Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent. The names are taken from the first few words of the introductory psalms for those liturgies. These Sundays are the midpoints of Advent and Lent, two seasons focused on repentance, fasting and preparation. The Church has designated these two Sundays to call us to remember that even in the midst of fasting and penance we are to be filled with joy. We are called to take a respite from our solemn journey and call to mind the joy of our salvation.

This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient, and may contain material that is privileged or confidential and legally protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient or have received this message in error, you are not authorized to copy, distribute, or otherwise use this message or its attachments. Please notify the sender immediately by return e-mail and permanently delete this message and any attachments.