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After one of my old college roommates became an atheist, she said to me one time, "How could God ever take someone too soon?" I asked, "Well, what's too soon?" "I feel like you should at least get 90 years." "Does God owe you that?" Mind you, this is all coming from someone who supposedly didn't believe in God anymore. As we talked, her thinking became more and more clear. What she wanted was for everybody to have the opportunity to do whatever they wanted for X amount of years and then, once the end was drawing near, then, you get right with God, if you want. This attitude is what Jesus is referring to in our parable today. "But, if that servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed in coming,' and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and rink and get drunk, then that servant's master will come on an unexpected day." If God owed each of us at least 90 years, many of us would live however we wanted until we got close to the end. Then, we would "shape up" and hope to get that chance into Heaven and that God would just ignore all the past and we'd be good to go. But this attitude lacks love of any kind. In fact, it is selfishness of the highest degree. In effect, we are saying, "God, you owe me. I'll live how I want here on earth. Then, once my days are done, I'll try to do what you ask, and I expect welcome arms waiting for me in Heaven. Also, Heaven better live up to what I'd like it to be." What lies at the heart of all this, is a lack of trust that God's Will can satisfy here on earth. Many believe that they need to be allowed indulge sin to have their fun and then once they are "too old" to really do anymore, then the God stuff can come along. God, though, doesn't owe us anything. Instead, we owe Him everything because our very existence would not be possible without Him. It is better, infinitely better, to be like the servant in the parable who is faithful and prudent and ready for whenever the Master comes. The truth is, a life squandered for self will never satisfy no matter how many years you get, Catholic Pilgrims. So, live the faith boldly and travel well.
Continue ReadingSo last week, I saw a video of a female "pastor" doing a "I'm a pastor" take on social media. Throughout the entire church, the going theme was rainbow flags and banners galore. And they weren't there because this "church" was super into Noah. It was weird because it looked like she had taken over a church and just gutted it, turning it into a place where maybe a mosh pit would be? I don't know. It was weirdly hollow...or maybe that isn't weird...but instead incredibly on the nose. Anyway, at one point, she said, "I'm a pastor, of course, I believe all lives are sacred, which means that women and those who can bear children should make the decisions that they, their doctor, their family, and their god believes is best for them." So many problems with the nonsense uttered here. I responded with, "I 'love' when they say, 'I believe all lives are sacred' and then go on to support women deciding that it's fine to murder their unborn babies. There's such a disconnect." To which I got this response: "How about we stay JUDGMENT FREE and continue to love thy neighbor, like Jesus taught?!" Beware the ALL CAPS, as we discussed a few weeks ago. So, I said back, "Loving people doesn't mean we just let them sink in sin. Also, your comment doesn't address what I said. Her nonsense belief that all lives are sacred and, also, unborn babies are fine to kill if the mom wants them dead, is contradictory and utterly wrong. Also, you showing up to tell me to be judgment free is a judgment call. We can and should judge actions as morally good and morally bad. What we can't do is judge souls to Heaven or Hell." "She never stated 'Unborn babies are fine to kill,' YOU said that. Vilifying someone doesn't make you right." "She couched her thoughts on abortion in a slew of euphemisms. I'm making it clear." "You interpret what in YOUR heart {sic}. Ask yourself what would Jesus do?! and do THAT. "No, I'm not interpreting what's in my heart. I'm using clear language because I know what abortion is--the murder of unborn babies. And Jesus would say, "Thou shall not murder." It's in the Ten Commandments, clear as day." And that was it. It's so important, Catholic Pilgrims, that we speak firmly, truthfully, and with clarity. When you have truth on your side, you don't need to shroud your language in euphemisms. If all lives are sacred, they are from conception to death. Live the faith boldly and travel well.
Continue ReadingNot too long ago at our base chapel, my husband and I took down the red altar cloths for Confirmation and put back on the green ones for the following Sunday. I've never been the one in charge of putting them back on, though I've watched it done several times. Now, I've laid out tablecloths on many a table throughout my life and there's nothing to it: Lay it out, adjust for equal length, carry on. Dressing an altar is different and I had never experienced the difference until I was in a quiet church, working with my husband to get the altar ready for the next Mass. We have two chapels on base. One is used almost exclusively by the Protestant community and the other is used primarily by the Catholic community. The chapel used by the Protestants has no altar; the sanctuary is just a stage. In contrast, our sanctuary has an altar and a tabernacle. In fact, we have two of each--one in the main church and one in a little Blessed Sacrament chapel. In the Old Testament, the altar was a consecrated object meant for sacrifice. It is was "a place of consecration and sacrifice, where God met man." --Catholic Answers We still have that today in our Catholic Churches--the Sacrifice of the Mass is still very much a reality. It is where God--Jesus Christ's Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity--meets man for Holy Communion. The OT altar was never meant to be discarded, it was meant to be elevated to hold Someone even greater. On our Catholic altars, the priest re-presents the Sacrifice of Christ in an unbloody manner. And so, as I was putting on the altar linens, the significance of touching the altar and treating it with loving care and respect was a very keen reality to me. Our altar in our base church is not as strikingly beautiful as the one in this picture taken in Portugal. But, because it has held Our Lord upon it, beautiful or not, it is infinitely significant. What struck me the most was how much of an honor it was to get the altar ready for the next time Jesus would be there and so I wanted to get it just right. Our Catholic Faith is so rich with meaning, Catholic Pilgrims, and we are truly blessed. Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Monday.
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