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I finished this book last night and I’m still sitting here wondering what to think about it.
Never have I read a book that more clearly shows how mortal sin utterly sinks a soul.
Dorian Gray is a young, wildly handsome man who captures everyone he meets. Basil Hallward, a painter, is enraptured with his perfect looks and wants to paint him. He creates his “magnum opus” by painting a very realistic and superb painting of Dorian which he ends up giving to him.
Lord Henry is a “friend” to both men and is a man who believes that the purpose of life is to basically just look for the next pleasurable experience to engage the senses. Beauty and youth are everything and he encourages Dorian to live a hedonistic life while he’s still young and handsome.
The impressionable Dorian basically sells his soul in exchange for always remaining handsome and youthful. Ever listening to Lord Henry’s advice, he lunges into a life lived only for the senses and for pleasure. This utterly sinks him.
Mysteriously, Dorian never ages or loses his good looks but the painting of him seems to absorb his wickedness and begins to externally show the inward state of Dorian’s soul. Tortured by this, Dorian hides the hideous painting away.
If you are a sensitive soul, I don’t know that I can recommend this book, as it will disturb you. Nothing is overly graphic, but the author, Oscar Wilde, does such an effective job of making you see the cost of sin, that you will be sick at reading the state of Dorian’s soul. At least, I felt that way.
Lord Henry represents the voice of the world calling out to people and encouraging them to only be ruled by their passions and whatever makes them feel good. He has no regard for the state of anyone’s soul because he doesn’t believe in it. Consequently, he is an utterly shallow, weak, apathetic, and pathetic man who leads Dorian into destruction.
After I finished this book, I thought to myself, “Thank you, Jesus, for Confession. Thank you for mercy and forgiveness.”
We have never sinned so badly, Catholic Pilgrims, that we are beyond God’s help. When we forget that or don’t believe it, hope is lost. So, don’t forget it.
Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Wednesday.
For the past two years, my oldest has been serving as a Focus missionary at Berkeley. I’ll be honest, I was a little nervous to have her go there, but we can’t shy away from going into places where Jesus is needed most. Rhianna has always been up for a challenge and has never been one to shy away from the hard things. It has been incredible to watch her and her team work so hard to help students grow in relationship with Christ and each other. Dustin and I have had the privilege of hosting some of those students at our home and it has been a blessing for us. To know my Rhianna is know that she thrives on human connection. Focus gives her ample opportunities to connect through coffees, Bible studies, mission trips, late-night talks, grocery store runs, spontaneous picnics, and retreats. I know she has planted many seeds, and I know, that God has blessed her immensely through the people she has met. Her time at Berkeley ends today. As a military brat, she knows moving and leaving very well. It’s always sad to leave behind friends and places, but duty calls elsewhere. Rhianna will now be the team director for the Focus missionary team at the Air Force Academy. I can’t think of a better fit for her. She grew up living the Air Force life, she’s knows the lingo, the lifestyle, and she’s high energy. So, she and my mom are rumbling down the road to the next mission field. Please pray for their safe travels. As we sing in the Air Force…”Off we go, into the wild blue yonder..” 🎶🎶 Have a blessed day, Catholic Pilgrims.
Continue ReadingIt took me years into my conversion to Catholicism to invite Mary into my faith life. After converting, it wasn’t that I was against her, it’s just that having a relationship with the Saints felt foreign. Growing up Protestant, I was never taught to have relationships with the Saints. Mary is really only mentioned at Christmas. You are taught that you don’t “talk” to people in Heaven because that’s “talking to the dead.” Well, except your grandparent who is now “an angel” and who you ask to watch over you. That’s fine. So, I just didn’t know how to invite Mary into my life. My early attempted conversations with her went something like this: “Hey, Mary. How are you? Good? Cool. So…thanks for being Jesus mom. K-bye.” Through the years, I’ve learned to naturally bring Mary and other Saints into my faith life. As baptized believers, we make up the Body of Christ. A body’s parts are connected. To cut off body parts from other body parts means to sever a once working relationship. Then, the body doesn’t work properly anymore. The Saints are still a part of the Body of Christ and they are the healthiest parts of the Body. It makes no sense that God would cut us off from each other. My conversations with Mary go more like this, these days: “Mary, I’m struggling right now. I feel impatient and grumpy. Would you please pray for me?” Today, we honor Our Lady of Fatima, Catholic Pilgrims. Here is the beautiful church at Fatima. Like a good mother, Mary often comes to warn us and encourage us to draw closer to her Son. That’s what she wants more than anything—a world united in love for Jesus. Live the faith boldly and travel well this Tuesday.
Continue ReadingThe priest at Mission San Diego said something interesting yesterday in his homily. “The early church had to work out fully who Jesus was. How crazy was it that God would become one of us? Or vice verse, it’s crazy that a human was also God. Many couldn’t get this and so Jesus was merely an amazing man. But, if you only ever know Jesus as a great guy, nothing much will change in your life. However, if you fully embrace Jesus as the God-man, everything changes in your life.” He concluded that people still try to do this with Jesus today: “He was a wise sage.” “He was a social justice champion.” “Jesus didn’t resurrect actually.” “Much of what Jesus did was symbolic.” “Yes, He resurrected, but He definitely didn’t come up with the Eucharist. That’s a bit much.” In all these ways, people are trying to make Jesus simply human, because Jesus being human is easier to get our minds around. We try to limit God. The more people try to do that, the less and less Jesus transforms their lives, until, He fades and nothing changes. Jesus is fully God, fully man. When you trust in that and fully embrace ALL His Divine teachings and ALL His miracles, well, everything changes for the better. Life the Faith boldly and travel well, Catholic Pilgrims. *Mission San Diego
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