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In 2015, my family went to the World Meeting of Families in Philly. (Gosh, it's hard to believe that was 10 years ago.) It was such a grace-filled week. I got to see some of my favorite speakers, venerated the relics of my patron saint, St. Maria Goretti, attended Mass every day, saw historic sights, waited for a long time with my best friend to see the pope, and at the end of the week, attended Mass outside with a million of my fellow Catholics. During the day, you could attend different talks. My husband and I always picked different ones from each other so that we could share something new when we meet up for lunch and dinner. One day, I attended a class that I was really looking forward to, though I don't remember the topic now. Ha! It was given by a professor and at one point in her talk, she said, "Don't evangelize Protestants! We all believe in Jesus so leave them alone!" Instantly, I was extremely angry. What a bunch of stupid advice. Here I was, a former Protestant, converted to the Catholic Faith by people who were willing to give me the truth. Yes, we both believe in Jesus, but, what the heck, do you not want to give them the truth of Jesus in the Eucharist???? Yesterday, I had a few people tell me to leave Protestants alone, don't debate with them. They just live in ignorance and believe in heresies, so don't worry about them or waste your time. I understand their intention was good. But, I will never not try to share the truth with Protestants or anybody, for that matter. If other Catholics had written me off and never tried to bring me to the fullness of the truth, I shudder to think about all I would have missed out on. At our baptism, we all are made priest, prophet, and king. As Bishop Barron says, "Priest to give right worship to God, prophet to go out and speak divine truths, and king to advance the kingdom of God." If I love people, it is my Catholic duty to evangelize, using my gifts and talents, to bring people to the fullness of truth found in the Catholic Church. I am called to do it in charity, prudence, and to not be annoying. We all must do that, Catholic Pilgrims, because our Catholic Faith was never meant to be kept to ourselves. Live the Faith boldly and travel well.
Continue ReadingWithin the past two weeks, I have received a lot of anti-Mary comments. Over and over again, people are coming at me with the argument that Mary is not the Mother of God. To which I say, "You better hope she is or what happened on the Cross did nothing." The ghost of Nestorian rises from the grave. I think all Christians can agree that Mary gave birth to Jesus. What some people have a problem with is what Mary gave birth to--they want to say just a man. Jesus the man, but not Jesus the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. When my mom gave birth to me, she gave birth to Amy (the person), a human (what I am, my nature.) That is why we can say that my mom is the mother of Amy. Nobody asks my mother, "So, you gave birth to Amy, what was her nature? Was she a plant? An animal? Angel?" No, they know that human mother's give birth to human babies. Jesus is different. Hence the whole reason we make a big deal out of Him. At the Incarnation, God--Jesus--became man. Jesus didn't lose His Divine nature at that moment. But, He did gain His human nature. This is why the Incarnation is so significant--Jesus (one Person) has two natures (Divine and human.) Jesus is one Person with two natures. He is not two persons each with His own nature. It's not as if Jesus the God person stayed in Heaven and Jesus the man was born. It's one Person--fully human and fully Divine. And you better hope that's Who Mary gave birth to, because without that reality, our sins were not atoned for on the Cross. If Mary gave birth to just Jesus the man, then it was just a man on the cross and his attempted atonement for man's sins didn't do much other than seem like a nice gesture. In order to atone for man's sins, you need a human, because humans are the ones that sinned against God, the Father. But...you also need Someone whose atonement has infinite value and can actually be a worthwhile sacrifice. You need an infinite Being--Jesus--the God man. So, because Mary gave birth to Jesus the God man, she is the Mother of God. It is a mystery and one we may not fully understand this side of Heaven, but without this reality, we would be in deep trouble. Mary, Mother of Our Lord and Savior, pray for us!
Continue ReadingWhen I was baptized at around 11-years old, I didn't really get what the next step was supposed to be. I believed Jesus was "my Lord and Savior," but for me, that was a bit like a safety net and my nonrefundable ticket to Heaven. Of course, I was 11-years old and wasn't steeped in theology or fully understood the ins and outs of our Christian faith, so you can give me a bit of a pass for my naiveté. In a way, though, the journey stopped there for me, because what else was there? I believed in Jesus and that was good enough. See, though, once you are feel assured of something, you give it little thought. I felt assured of Heaven and assured of a basic level of ease through life now that I was a Christian. Bad things certainly wouldn't happen to me. For a lot of people, once they get their kids through Confirmation or even their first reception of Holy Eucharist, they check out. "We've done enough." "We checked the boxes, did the things we are supposed to do, and now we can cruise on autopilot." Many stop going to Mass, stop reading their Bible, stop doing anything to advance their relationship with God. What I've come to understand now, and age helps, though these things can be taught to younger people, is that we are on a pilgrimage towards Heaven. That pilgrimage gets kicked off at our baptism--the starting point. But, as St. Paul tells the Ephesians and us, we aren't just strangers and sojourners wandering around aimlessly, or at least we shouldn't be. We are "fellow citizens with the holy ones, members of the household of God." We have an earthly spiritual home--The Church, and an eternal spiritual home--Heaven. We must realize that our pilgrimage has purpose--we have a purpose--and we can only find that and realize that when we strive to have a relationship with God. Our pilgrimage will have real trials, we will be tested, we will suffer, we will be asked to sacrifice--it will not be a life of ease. Just as Christ did not call His Apostles into a life of ease and comfort, He does not call us to that either. You simply cannot be made holy that way, Catholic Pilgrims. So, live the faith boldly and travel well.
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