The Day I Fed Jesus

A while back I penned a blog about how I had met God and failed to feed him. It is true that God gives us all second chances.


About a year or so ago, Selena and I were walking into the local Dollar Tree store.  A young man, a drifter maybe, asked us for a couple of dollars for some food.

I told him to go over to the restaurant across the parking lot and wait for us. We only had to grab a couple of things and we would be right over and buy him something to eat.


Now, we both figured he walked over there thinking he would never see us again, that we were just sending him away. But we remembered the times we had failed to see Jesus in front of us and feed him.


We made our purchase and headed to the restaurant.  There he was, at the door waiting.  As we went inside he asked me what he could get.  I told him to get himself a meal, not to worry about the price.  He ordered a regular meal and I followed to pay the bill.  


As he sat down and thanked us I asked him his name.  This young, Hispanic man responded..."Jesus". A shiver ran down my spine and tears welled in my eyes as we walked out the door.


God shows Himself to us in many ways.  He may be the person you flipped off in a fit of road rage, or the elderly lady you held a door open for.  Treat everyone as if they were God...for deep down, we all are.  After all, we are created in His image.

You Don't Agree With Me? BIGOT!!!

Today I saw a story about pro-gay students wanting the Catholic priest at George Washington University fired for his anti-gay and anti-abortion preaching.  Aside from the fact that it is his job to preach the teachings of the Church, it should be noted that the Catholic Church is NOT anti-gay.  Not in it's teachings, not in its positions.

Here is the Catholic Church's position on homosexuality, as found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity,¹⁴¹ tradition has always declared that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.”¹⁴² They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.

No where, in that writing, does it say that we, as Catholics, should be anti-gay or that we discriminate against gay people. No, instead we are called to be respectful, compassionate, and sensitive.  So why then, am I a bigot because I don't think gays should be able to marry?  Why am I a bigot just because I don't think their lifestyle is proper?

I have been called a homophobe on many occasions.  According to Wikipedia, a phobia is, a type of anxiety disorder, usually defined as a persistent fear of an object or situation in which the sufferer commits to great lengths in avoiding, typically disproportional to the actual danger posed, often being recognized as irrational.  So by definition, if I have homophobia, I have a persistent fear of homosexual people.  Going back to Wikipedia to get a definition of homophobia, it is defined as  encompassing a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT).

It seems to me that a word's base meaning was changed to create a label for people who do not agree with something.  So to be clear, not agreeing with someone and believing something different than them should not label them.  Disagreeing with homosexual ideology does not make someone a homophobe.  I guess then, if I am a homophobe, then gays must be heterophobes.

Now let's look the other popular word being thrown at folks who don't agree with gay marriage or any other "gay rights" issues.  Bigot seems to be thrown at anyone who doesn't cave to the will of the liberal agenda, no matter what it is. 

The World English Dictionary defines a bigot as a person who is intolerant of any ideas other than his or her own, esp on religion, politics, or race.

That definition just described every person who has called me a bigot.  By that definition, I can say that most of my conservative friends, are not.  I have often stated my position on gay marriage, abortion, gun rights, etc and been called a bigot, homophobe, whatever have you.  I actually listen to the other side of the story, try to understand it, but still don't agree.  However, the other side of the story, is intolerant of my view and calls me names.  It seems a bit odd that the folks callign me a bigot seem to be the truest form of the word.

My Church is not perfect, we have had and still do have our issues.  One thing remains true, we are inclusive and love everyone.  What makes us seem intolerant and discriminatory is that we expect the members to follow the rules of the Church, not have the rules tailored to the members.  If you don't like the rules, stay out of the church and leave it alone.

That priest at George Washington University is not a bigot or a homophobe.  He is evangelizing the teachings of the Catholic Church.  This event is another example of the Catholic Church coming under attack from secular society.  We, as Catholics, must be ready to stand up for our beliefs and not turn our back on the church Jesus left us at his death.  The attack on our Church is under way and will only get worse.  It is only a matter of time before the government tries to force us to perform same-sex marriages.  Pray for the Church daily.

Viva il Papa! A Fresh New Look

To cheers of Viva il Papa!, Pope Francis became our next shepherd in the Catholic Church.  He has already come across as a very different Supreme Pontiff than what we have seen in the past.  A very simple, humble man, he has broken the mold on what the world expects to see when they watch the Pope.  The way he moves about the crowds must be driving his security detail crazy, but the people are loving it.

He seems to be bringing a new invigoration to the Church.  His smile and humility has people looking at him differently and talking about him.  I know that I have an excitement about him and of the Church that has been rekindled since his election.

I have also noticed a very pronounced difference in what I read in the comments section below stories about him or the Church.  In the past, there were always berating, one-sided comments about how badly the Catholic Church has acted, and everything turned to the sex-abuse scandal, regardless of the topic of the story.  Lies, hatred, and venom were the only thing spewed...some of it even by the authors of the stories.  Now, however, I am seeing many more comments that are more positive or at least tempered with a bit more civility.  The best part?  I see more and more Catholics speaking up and saying some very accurate, and very positive things in response to any attacks.  More Catholics, and even non-Catholics, are standing up for the Catholic Church and its teachings.

If all Pope Francis does is bring a new vigor to the Church, he will have done a wondrous thing.  May God Bless his Pontificate and aid him in bringing a rebirth and new growth to God's Kingdom on Earth!!

Tis the Season to be Materialistic



What are we teaching our children?

This blog was written just before Christmas 2012 but never published.  I just ran across it and thought...well, I'll publish it now anyway, maybe someone will get a kick out of it.  So, while reading, please keep in mind this was written about two weeks before Christmas of 2012.


 The other day, one of my children approached me and told me what he wanted for Christmas.  I told him that was great, but that I already had the Christmas shopping done.  We then entered a phase that, in and of itself, will boggle most people and cause them to question my ability to parent.

I was basically chastised for having completed my shopping before Black Friday and all the "sales" I missed.  He tried to use my desire to save money against me.  He refused to accept my explanation that I try to shop throughout the year so as to lessen the blow at Christmas time.

At issue was not when I shopped, or how I shopped.  His real issue was with "what" I had shopped for.  It was not what he wanted, as far as he knew.  He had been asked, on several occasions, what he would like for Christmas.  Just like when he is asked about his birthday, he gave a complete non-answer.  At that point, I shop for what I think is fitting, using my own judgement or analysis of what he "needs".  The problem is, my "what" and his "what" are very different, especially when it comes to brand or price.

Let's use an example of clothing.  For most boys, jeans are a staple of their wardrobe.  I am able to shop for jeans and pay no more than $30 for a comfortable pair, comfort being the most important requirement. He, on the other hand, feels that his jeans must look good but first and foremost, have the proper label on them.

I purchased some jeans for him once that were quite expensive, even on sale, and were those skinny jeans.  They looked very uncomfortable and left no room for growth, a point I was sure to make clear.  Now, as he attempts to get more "expensive" jeans, his argument is that the others don't fit, even though they are in perfect condition.   Acknowledging the fact that the jeans do not fit, I suggest I get him some new ones.  The argument starts first with the fact that he doesn't want the kind I want to get him.  He wants Brand A which costs twice what I pay for myself.  The issue here is that I am the one buying them, not him.  I remember my mother getting me the SEARS Toughskin jeans, the kind you could run over barbed wire fencing and not tear.  They weren't the most comfortable, but they lasted.  I wasn't buying them, so my vote was no good.

This argument about the value of stuff, of certain stuff, of stuff that is considered a right or owed to him is not new in his generation.  I read an article a short time ago about how my generation is called Generation X and the one he is in is called Generation Y.  As in, Why do I need to work? Why do I need to wear decent clothes? Why do I need religion? Why do I care what others think about me?  Their first reaction to everything is "Why?"  This generation, more than any in the past, think everything should be given to them and a lot of it.  They seem to have no idea that those things that they must have, all cost money...everything comes with a price.

It is no longer OK for the 16-year-old to get a driver's license, he expects a car.  And not just any old car, an awesome car, one that is better than what his friends have.  It is not enough to have a cell phone, it has to be the latest and greatest smart phone.  And when the Grapfruit4 phone comes out to replace the Grapefruit3, he has to have it, even though his current phone is working fine and the new one doesn't do anything new that he needs.  Of course, he is not willing or able to do anything to help him get the phone.

Materialism has taken over Generation Y.  The more they have, the better it is, the better they feel.  It is not just Generation Y.  Plenty of Generation Xers are guilty of the same.  I just know I am not one, well, at least not to a huge degree, so I think I see it more.  I like to have stuff, but I don't need the latest and greatest.

The season already seems to be lost in the desire to receive instead of give.  JFK's oft-quoted words, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" fits during this Christmas season as well as in politics.  We have become a society of "What's in it for me?", instead of, "What can I do for you"? 

It is sad to think that one of my children has lost sight on gift giving and has become materialistic.  Lucky for me, I can't take all the blame.  After all, his peers are no different, and some are worse.  So for the rest of you Generation Xers out there, keep up the good fight and try to fight off our materialistic society with what our parents taught us. 

Prayer to End Abortions

Prayer to End Abortions



As we mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade this past week, let us look at what the cost of that decision has been.  Just shy of 56,000,000 million babies have been killed within the protective walls of their mothers.  The safest place for a child should be in the womb, yet it has become the most dangerous.  We tell mothers not to eat poorly, or drink, or smoke while they are pregnant...yet we allow them to legally murder their child.  The President is always saying how he wants abortion to be readily available at any time, to any woman, and that he wants them to be rare.  56 million is not rare...it is disgusting...and terribly sad.

So I say this prayer....

Lord God, I thank you today for the gift of my life, and for the lives of all my brothers and sisters.  I know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion, yet I rejoice that You have conquered death by the Resurrection of Your Son.  I am ready to do my part in ending abortion.  Today I commit myself NEVER to be silent, NEVER to be passive, NEVER to be forgetful of the unborn.  I commit myself to be active in the pro-life movement, and never to stop defending life until all my brothers and sisters are protected, and our nation once again becomes a nation with liberty and justice not just for some, but for all, through Christ our Lord.  Amen!

I have been chastized before because I post too many pro-life comments on Facebook, that I say too much.  Well...I made a pledge to NEVER be silent...and I won't be.  Please join me and become a voice for the unborn children who have no voice.

The Catholic Vote was Heard!

Unfortunately, it was the wrong voice that was speaking.  If Catholics had voted in accordance with Church teachings, not Church orders, but by its teachings, our president would not have been re-elected.  First, let me go over Catholics today and then I will cover those issues that caused the President to win.
 
Today, we have a lot of "cafeteria Catholics".  Those are the Catholics who pick and choose those things about Catholicism that they like and can live with.  They are the people who like to say they are Catholic, but find that being a true Catholic is a lot of work.  These are the Catholics who voted for the President.  A true Catholic, following the Church's teachings should NOT have voted for President Obama.  Here are just a couple of reasons why:

Abortion:  Abortion is an intrinsic evil as taught by the Catholic Church.  No matter how you slice it, abortion is wrong.  To vote for someone or be involved with an abortion makes you an associate of that evil.  President Obama is the most Pro-Abortion president we have ever had.  Four times he voted against a law that would protect a baby born from a botched abortion.  He supports abortion on demand throughout the duration of a pregnancy as well as the procedure known as Partial Birth Abortion. You cannot be Catholic and pro-abortion.  To say you are is a lie...and a stance you will have to defend on judgement day.

Religious Freedom:  The HHS Mandate that the Obama administration is pushing onto religious organizations is NOT a Catholic issue, it is a Christian issue, a religious issue.  We constantly hear about the Separation of Church and State...when people want religion to stay out of abortion laws, etc.  But when Government wants to tell a religious organization that they MUST provide a service to someone that goes against their beliefs and conscience, we see no issue?  This is not about birth control and access to pills and abortion.  It is about the government telling religions what the will do...or else.  Honestly, I see it also as a thinly veiled attack on the Catholic Church specifically by the President, who is no fan of the Church.

Euthanasia/Assisted Suicide:  This has become a new thing in our country.  Massachusetts called it "Death with Dignity" on their ballot.  The culture of death that the Democratic Party tends to espouse is a moral affront to everything the Catholic Church teaches.  Pro-Life is not just about abortion.  The Church teaches that life is sacred from conception to NATURAL death.  So, take out Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide, and the death penalty in all but severe cases.  The point at which we start deciding who will live and who will die based on age, health, legal matters...is scary.  In Europe there has been a suggestion that people should be able to "post-birth abort" their child who may have gotten sick, have a health issue, or is just a financial burden; up to one year after it was born.  Is that a route we want our country to follow?  Have we become that morally sick?

Same-Sex Marriage:  This really should be a no-brainer, but we are seeing more and more Catholics treating this issue as if it is no big deal.  It completely goes against the natural order and God's law.  The Church does not hate homosexuals.  Quite the contrary.  We are told to be compassionate and not to judge.  We are also told that homosexual acts are wrong.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church is quite clear on the Church's position.

There are other issues that makes our current President a wrong vote for Catholics, but these are the big ones that were prominent in this election.  It is not easy being Catholic.  We have a lot of rules to follow and many of them are not easy.  A former priest at my home parish once answered a question about why the Church doesn't change and modernize to attract more people by saying, "It is not God who needs to change for us, but we who need to change for God".  I believe that is what Jesus told us during his time on Earth and yet, here we are 2012 years later trying to tell Him he is wrong.

So if you say you are a Catholic, BE a Catholic.  Let your actions, your words, and your vote show your Catholicity.  When we say we are Catholic and fail to act as our church teaches, we confuse those who aren't Catholic and present a false position for our Church.  Like I said, it is really hard being a Catholic, but I am proud to say I am one!

For Better...and For Worse

I recently had a discussion about marriage with a coworker and remembered my promise to cover that topic in my "evangelization" of the Catholic Church.  Unfortunately, divorce is part of the discussion as well.  If only divorces were not so common.

Our discussion had started over the topic of annulments and why they were important for Catholics and why we were the only church who really cared about them.  The start of the conversation thus began with us discussing marriage as a Sacrament, a bond entered into with the blessing of God.  It is not a simple civil contract like you get when the Justice of  the Peace marries you.  You are professing, in front of God and your witnesses that you will take your spouse forever.  No conditions, no escape clauses...forever!!  In the Catholic Church, a marriage is considered a covenant between the husband and wife, much like the covenants God made with His people. 

"But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female. For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. Therefore now they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder" (Mark 10:6-9). In other words, man has no right to break the covenant.  Marriage is the religious and legal bond uniting husband and wife for mutual help and assistance, for the begetting and rearing of children, and, after the fall of our first parents, for the regulation of the sexual instinct in accordance with the dictates of reason.

So even should a man and woman divorce, they are still considered married in the eyes of the Church and cannot, therefore, participate fully in the Sacraments if they were to remarry without an annulment.  If a couple simply divorces and does not remarry, there is no harm done as far as the Sacraments go.  Years ago, divorce was considered a great sin.  That belief has changed, however.

Marriage, in the eyes of the Church, is meant to bring a man and a woman together to become one and to bear children.  That does not mean that if the marriage produces no children it is not blessed, but the idea is to bear children.  This is one of the reasons the Church defends marriage between a man and a woman so vehemently.  Contraception and fertility treatments where an outside party is needed to become pregnant are not in line with the teachings of the Catholic Church.  Medicinal treatments or fertility drugs are acceptable as they are meant to assist the couple without there being an unnatural action necessary to conceive.  Contraception is covered in an earlier blog.

So what happens when a marriage ends in a divorce?  What if the couple did everything they could to make it work but just couldn't do it.  Why is it necessary to get an annulment and what is an annulment anyway?

Quite simply, an annulment is a process a couple must go through in order to be allowed to remarry in the Catholic Church and be able to participate fully in the Sacraments.  It involves showing that at the time of the wedding, a sacred bond was not made.  Therefore, the Church states the marriage annulled and wiped from the books.  An annulment does not mean that the Church makes null something that was valid. An annulment in the Catholic Church_more properly called a decree of nullity_is a declaration that there was not a true marriage from the beginning, even though it may have had all the outward appearances of being one.

Many people find this annulment business a bunch of foolishness and completely unnecessary.  However, when you look at it, you see the beauty and the genius behind an annulment.  The Church puts such a value on marriage that they do not recognize divorce as an easy way to get out of a marriage.  The Church expects a couple to do everything they can to make it work.  With these purposes in mind, the Church requires prenuptial instructions, investigation of freedom and intention, publication of bands, and marriage before a priest.

The annulment process can be a healing process as well.  It requires a couple to look back over the marriage and tell the story from beginning to end.  If done honestly, a couple will be able to identify shortcomings and faults, not only for their spouse, but for themselves.  Often times, revealing things about themselves that they did not realize.

If all marriages were treated with the level of importance and respect as the Church does, the divorce rate would be much lower.  Unfortunately, society treats marriages as a contract that is easily broken.  Add to this the now acceptable practice of having children out of wedlock, same sex marriages, and the killing of the unborn, you can see how the sanctity of marriage and the importance of the family is in danger.  When we allow our values to be attacked and derided by society and we do not stand by them, the domino affect on our lives is devastating.  The family is the linchpin that holds society together and marriage is the cotter pin.  If we continue to allow marriage and the family to be attacked and weakened, we dare not be surprised when our society has problems.