.png)
Note: The message of this post is about more than veiling and modest dress.
I used to follow this online Catholic group that was all about dressing modestly.
Oftentimes, ladies would show what they were wearing to church and, to be honest, it became a bit comical. In an effort to not show their womanly shape or their ankles or anything, some of them would layer so much, they ended up looking like the little brother in “A Christmas Story” when the mom shoves him into the bulky snowsuit.
They were strict adherents to veiling, which is fine. I’m not anti-veiling. But, what sealed the deal for me leaving the group was when one lady took a picture of herself going into church with a opened fast-food napkin on her head because she forgot her veil at home.
Because she thought this was a rule that had to be enforced, she did something completely undignified and ridiculous. Then in the comments, other ladies were encouraging her “creative use” of keeping the rule.
I was done.
As Catholics, we take a lot of heat for having too many rules. The truth is, though, the Church doesn’t.
There are only six Church Commandments that we are required to follow outside of the 10 Commandments, and obviously, the Two
Greatest Commandments given to us by Christ.
1. Attend Mass on Sunday and Holy Days of Obligation.
2. To fast and abstain on the days appointed.
3. To confess our sins once a year.
4. To receive Holy Communion during the Easter time.
5. To contribute to the support of the church. (There is no set amount)
6. Observe the Church’s marriage laws.
That’s it, however this is not a pitch for doing the bare minimum.
There are many other practices that the Church allows for or encourages, but they are just that—practices. There are also somethings that the Church allows for that you may not like and the good news is, is that you are free to do it in the way you would prefer.
If you demand or force people to follow “rules” that the Church does not recognize as binding, you are being like the Pharisees and laying heavy burdens on people. You have set yourself up as the authority and disregarded the teaching authority of the Magisterium of the Church.
We don’t want to be so whetted to enforcing what we want to be rules that we come off us joyless, burdensome, or ridiculous, Catholic Pilgrims.
Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Sunday.
*St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Napa, California
Many months ago, I saw a video of Allie B. Stuckey debating in the Jubilee forum. If you are unfamiliar with Jubilee, it's where one person with one set of beliefs gets debated by a room of people that are from the other mindset. Anyway, Allie B. Stuckey, a very faithful Protestant, was debating, I believe, a very progressive pastor. At one point he says, "Jesus would have been seen as a progressive as it related to Second Temple Judaism. He had a posture of, look, there are some things that have gone astray. You have heard it said, but 'I say to you.' So there's a part of Jesus that I see that had a posture of a progressive or being progressive." By "progressive" he meant all the ""progressive" talking points that we hear in Christianity today. Allie B. Stuckey does a really good job of defending the faith by saying that Jesus wasn't being a progressive, He was teaching about how things ought to be and that goes back to the beginning, to Genesis, to what the Word Made Flesh had always wanted. As I was listening to her talk, all I could think about was where Jesus said, "I did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it." And so, all I wrote in the comment's section was that. Jesus was not a progressive, nor any other modern label. He came to restore. He did not abolish any of the Ten Commandments, but instead, went even further. Killing isn't just bad, but even being angry with your brother. Adultery isn't just bad, but even lusting after a woman. Divorce, in Jesus' eyes, is an act of adultery, if another is married. Making a false oath isn't just bad, but swearing to God at all is wrong. These are not my words, but Christ's. We see that Jesus never takes away the law, but fulfills it by asking us to seek an even more perfect way of living. This is restoration of the perfection that was initially found in the Garden, not a "progressive" path meant to include all modern sensibilities. Jesus did not call us to whatever our heart desires, but to what His heart desires. And His heart never desires us to do anything contrary to what He taught. Have a blessed Sunday, Catholic Pilgrims.
Continue ReadingIn the Gospel reading from Mark today, Jesus lists off a bunch of actions which defile: unchastity, theft, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, etc. He is basically covering the Ten Commandments. At one time or another, I have broken all Ten Commandments in one way or another. I haven't murdered anyone, but I have raged so hard against a person that I'm afraid I aided in their leaving Christianity behind. I haven't committed adultery, but before marriage, I wasn't chaste. Sadly, though, I have blasphemed God, used His name in vain, neglected church, dishonored my parents, cut people to the quick, been unchaste, lied, stole, been greedy and envious. I am not usual, humans tend to struggle to follow the Ten Commandments. One reason that we struggle is because we all like to think we are a "good" person. How we decide this is we take the Ten Commandments and follow them out to the worst possible outcome. We will say to ourselves: "Well, I've never denied God." "I've never murdered anyone." "I've never cheated on my spouse." "I've never robbed a bank." "I've never lied under oath." We take everything to the extreme, conclude that we've never been "that bad" and therefore, we are a "good" person. "Sheesh, better than that guy over there." With the declaration that we are a "good" person, we slowly stop looking at our behaviors and keeping tabs on them to check ourselves. We feel we don't need Confession because that's for the big sinners. Sure, we'll acknowledge that we are a sinner just like the next person, but that's just something you're supposed to say. And yet, all the while, those small sins that we pay no attention to or brush aside, start to pile up and weaken our souls. They defile us and cloud our judgment and before we know it, we've slipped into mortal sin. I don't write this to be a downer. All that I've written here is what I know to be true in my own life and, for love of God, I don't want to be that way. So, stay close to Christ, recognize your need for Him and His grace, frequent the Sacraments, and be honest with yourself, Catholic Pilgrims. Live the faith boldly and travel well this Wednesday. *Santa Rosa Catholic Church, Lone Pine, CA
Continue ReadingLet's continue looking at the Sierra Nevadas today, shall we? This past weekend, my oldest daughter and husband got into a theological discussion that I thought was very interesting. My daughter was wondering that since we will get our bodies back after the Second Coming, and since time and matter are connected, will that mean there will be time in Heaven? We know from Einstein that time, space, and matter go hand-in-hand. So, my husband said: "Well, matter is something that changes and because it changes, time is part of the equation. God gave us free will. A lot of people don't see this as loving, but it is loving because it means that we aren't programmed robots built to "love." But, because we have free will, that means that we will make imperfect choices and do imperfect things, yet, God gives us time to change. Time is actually such a blessing because without the opportunity to change for the better and become more perfected and more Christ-like, we'd be doomed. Angels didn't get time, their decision to be with God or not was a one "time" decision. So, the greatest gift God gave us was existence itself and with that comes His love. Then, He gave us free will. And, He gave humans the gift of time, to learn to change and come to love Him, our Creator. What can be tempting then, and many of the great philosophers of the world have believed this, is to think that we can perfect ourselves. But nothing imperfect can perfect itself. This means, we need a Savior, and we need grace which is the Divine Life given to us. We can only get so far on our own. In Heaven, we will be perfected. Once we get our bodies back, they will be perfected and there will be no change. They won't decay, get old, need food, need sleep to recharge. They don't need time to change. So, while we don't know for sure what will happen in Heaven and how it will be, change will not be part of the equation and if there is not change, there is no time. Thought you might like to read this these thoughts from my husband, Catholic Pilgrims. And, I thought you might want to thank God that He gives us time. Have a good Tuesday.
Continue Reading.png)
.png)
.png)