God Doesn't Work For Me

Joseph: Protector of Husbands, Fathers, and Priests

As I get closer to the Big Day (wedding's only a few weeks away!) I am struck more profoundly on a daily basis just what a tall order it is to be a husband and, God willing one day, a father. We live in a world that seems to have completely lost its azimuth when it comes to following the direction God designed us to follow. The Catholic Church has always held up two beautiful, holy, challenging vocations to which God calls men. They are very distinct, yet they are complementary and both very necessary for advancing the Gospel. They are, of course, the Priesthood and Holy Matrimony. Both vocations demand that the parties entering into them give not just of their earthly treasure and time in some kind of contractual agreement. They demand our entire lives. Ordination to the priesthood and entrance into the married life are covenants, not contracts. They are not exchanges of goods and services, they are exchanges of persons. They are not based on feelings, emotions, potentially prosperous lifestyles, self-assertion, or even strong attraction. They are completely based on love. Love is sacrifice. Love is doing whatever is best for the beloved's sake, especially the beloved's soul.

For the priest, he gives his life entirely to God in service of Christ's Bride, the Church. The Church truly becomes the bride of the ordained priest. He is entirely for Her in all places, all settings, all times. He is never "off duty." Likewise, for the married man, his commitment to his wife and to the children God may send them can never be something he hangs up at the end of the night like a grilling apron. He himself is theirs, he is not his own. This is the Church's understanding of marriage and the priesthood precisely because they are images of God's spousal love for the human race. Look no further than the crucifix if you want a rather brutal summary of how unthinkable the notion of just giving us some of His love was to God the Father. He gives every last drop of blood to save us. He sacrifices everything He is for our own good. That's the model - a better one just does not exist.

Next to Mary, I don't think anyone ever lived with that kind of love to a greater extent than Saint Joseph. A fallen man, he was the one that the Father chose from all eternity to be his very representative in the human life of His Son. Joseph was, in a very profound way, the face of God the Father to the Christ Child. He protected him from harm, hid him from adversaries, traveled day and night through heat, dust, sand, wind. Joseph never, never stopped loving and serving Mary and Jesus. We have no record of him saying so much as one word in all of the New Testament. He just sought out the will of God, and he did it the best he could. He prayed. He worked. He didn't complain. He absolutely spent himself in devotion to Our Lord and Our Blessed Mother.

I can't think of a better model for me to emulate as I stand on the threshold of married life. In a time like never before, when the Church's beautiful, God-given image of marriage is being assaulted from every possible angle, we all need Saint Joseph. Priests as well as husbands and fathers need to humbly call out to Saint Joseph and ask for his intercession, his protection, and his guidance along the path that will require us to give everything away for the sake of our bride and our family. Indeed, it will require our very lives.

O Saint Joseph, patron of husbands and fathers, pray for us.
O Saint Joseph, patron of those who labor and those who seek labor, pray for us.
O Saint Joseph, patron and protector of the Church, pray for us.
O Saint Joseph, patron of departing souls, pray for us.

Saint Augustine's Sage Advice

JULY 4

LET OUR LIVES BE GOOD

Bad times! Troublesome times! This is what people are saying. Let our lives be good and the times will be good. For we make our own times. Such as we are, such are the times.

What can we do? Maybe we cannot convert masses of people to a good life. But let the few who do hear live well. Let the few who live well endure the many who live badly. (Sermon 30, 8)

PRAYER: O Truth, light of my heart, let not my shadows speak to me. Let me not be my own life, for I lived badly on my own power and was deadly to myself. In You, however, I live again. It is You Who speak and converse with me. (Confessions 12, 10)

(from Augustine Day by Day, Catholic Book Publishing Corp., 1986)

The Insufficiency of Self

It seems these days that there are far too many issues to count, too many topics to discuss, too many truths to defend. Where do we even begin anymore? The sanctity of true marriage which, as Christ defined it, has "from the beginning" been the one-flesh union between one man and one woman for life? Or should we pour all of our energy into the crucial effort to defend our most innocent and helpless brothers and sisters on earth, the unborn? Or what about our brothers and sisters who genuinely feel they ought to be recognized as a member of the opposite sex, even though no reassignment surgery could ever change the reality that at the chromosome level they are a man or a woman?

Many of us have experienced the seeming impossibility of discussing any of these issues from the basis of our faith, our firm commitment to the truth and reason, or our deep sense of authentic compassion without incurring hateful slurs, intellectual bullying, or angry ridicule.

Emotion, no matter how sincere, can never replace true reason and genuine love and respect for every human person, no matter what they believe. But emotion rules our society, and no reasonable argumentation can likely break through to hearts and minds that are so rooted in the soil of emotions and passions.

Love is not an emotion. It just isn't. Love is an act of the will. Love means willing someone else's good, that which is truly in their best interest, most especially their eternal life. It means choosing to think, say, and do whatever is right, regardless of how that person feels or how I feel about it. Love is putting someone else's needs before my own wants (or even my own needs!) Ultimately, love is always about the other, not about me.

Our culture is drowning in a sea of confusion that goes far beyond mere individual behavior anymore. Now the confusion has spilled over into the realm of trying to redefine reality itself, and I believe that it all stems from one deep wound that must be treated urgently. We have refused the true love in whose image we are each made. We have instead remade "love" in our image. We have allowed ourselves to believe that we can define love for ourselves. This can never work, and nothing but more pain, anger, heartbreak, and confusion awaits us if we don't recognize that.

Pope Saint John Paul II was one of the few people in the world brave enough to challenge our focus on radical self-assertion. It's our favorite activity (look at the popularity of "selfie-sticks"). We keep trying to go deeper and deeper into ourselves in order to find the answer to who we are, why we are here, why we exist, what love is, and how to be happy. But that's a problem, because my "self" is insufficient to answer those questions. No one is self-sufficient. We are made for love, for other. We are made precisely to go outside of self and to humbly receive the grace and truth that is never ours to define or declare on our own. When we dabble in redefining reality itself, like what "marriage" or a "human person" are, our first parents' sin in the Garden of Eden reechoes throughout the world, and the wound, the rift between us and our Creator, opens even more. In the end, to pursue only "self" is to self-destruct. 

I pray deeply that we will have a profound change of heart. I pray for a miracle.

Lord Jesus, teach every single one of us to joyfully embrace the great gift of humility. Teach us how to lay down our weapons of pride, hate, anger, and jealousy at the foot of your cross once and for all. Finally, Lord, I beg you to fill our hearts and minds with the truth, for you yourself are that truth. You are the truth that enables us to finally be our true selves, the sons and daughters of God the Father whose sole purpose in this world is to bear your love and glory to all creation. Protect your children throughout the world, and be with us now more than ever. I ask this in the name of Our Lord Jesus, for "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).

What does "natural" really mean?

"I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts. I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes, careful to observe my decrees. You shall live in the land I gave your fathers; you shall be my people, and I will be your God."   (Ezekiel 36:25-28)

Did you catch that little part in the middle? For some reason it hit me this morning like never before:  "I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts."

Other translations render "natural hearts" as "hearts of flesh" but either way, this is an amazing statement to me. How often do we hear from others (ourselves for that matter) that this or that sin is "natural"? I think we throw the word around far too carelessly. From drug use to any kind of sexual behavior imaginable to even violence toward others, it's not uncommon to hear human actions declared to be permissible or even good because they are "natural."

But here's the question I think the reading above should lead us to consider: Is something automatically morally good just because it's "natural"? More to the point: What does "natural" really mean, anyway?

Usually, we seem to use the word to generically describe 1) anything that we find in nature (like marijuana) and its usage in a number of ways, and 2) just about any behavior that an animal exhibits. In this way of thinking, it would be just as natural for me to kill someone I have a disagreement with as it is for a dog to kill a groundhog. But for this to hold, we have to make some pretty broad and incorrect assumptions:

1. If something appears in nature (is "natural"), then I can use it however I want.
2. We are nothing more than animals, driven and even controlled by biological instinct.

Cuddle buddy or death wish?

There are some serious problems here. To the first point, just because something originates in "nature", it certainly does NOT follow that we can use it in any way we want. If you don't believe me, try replacing your washcloth with poison ivy. Or try cuddling with a rabid wolverine. Yes, poison ivy and wolverines are "natural." Playing around with them is not a good idea, though. Viruses and bacteria and UV rays are natural, too. So is marijuana, but does that mean that smoking it is morally neutral or even permissible? What is your criteria for answering that question?

"Natural" washcloth

To the second point, it's just simply not true that we are exactly the same as every other animal in the world. We are rational beings. We don't merely act on instinct, though we certainly share the instinctual drive of the animals. But human nature is different. It is not a set, permanent, unchanging fact of my being. As Dr. Peter Kreeft has pointed out, we are the only species in God's creation who can fail to achieve our nature. Trees are always and everywhere "treeish" and dogs are "doggie" and mountains are "mountainous." But we can truly be "inhuman."


This is because we alone among the animals operate on the moral spectrum. We don't just pick between neutral actions. We choose between good and evil. Our thoughts, words, and deeds have moral and eternal consequences, both for us and for everyone else in the world, for we are one human family. The Catholic principle of solidarity emphasizes this: we are all united and the choices I make either bring humanity up or down. Sin is not merely a mistake. Every sin, from the little white lie to grand theft auto to murder is an act of nature-mutilation. Everything we do makes us more human or less human. This is a tremendous responsibility, but it is also an unfathomable gift from the God who made us to bring His presence into creation at every moment.

So next time we're tempted to lower the bar even further, maybe we should tap the breaks and ask ourselves this question: "What does the One who designed me say I should do right now?" After all, who has more of a right to say what my "nature" really is than the one who made me?
 

HE IS RISEN, INDEED!

Disciples John and Peter on the Way to the Tomb (Burnand)

The morning of the third day has brought something utterly incredible, unthinkable, even impossible. Mary Magdalene has returned in haste from the tomb with shocking news - she claims that Jesus, lifeless and entombed since Friday afternoon, HAS RISEN FROM THE DEAD!

Peter and John race towards the tomb. John, the only one of the Twelve who followed Christ to the cross itself. John who watched Jesus die the most agonizing of all deaths. John who knew better than the others that there was no doubt - their beloved Master was truly dead.

Peter, the chief of the apostles. The man who had walked on the tempestuous sea toward Christ. The one whom Jesus had renamed "Rock" and to whom he had promised the keys of the kingdom - the new steward of the royal household who had authority to bind and loose (see Isaiah 22:15-24). Peter who had, in terrible fear, rejected the Lord three times. Peter, to whom Christ had said: "Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31-32).

And so they run. John, the younger of the two, runs faster. Peter runs as best he can. John, filled with anticipation: "Could it really be? Please, O Father, let it be so!" Peter, filled with hope but also a deep and painful shame: "Please, Master, please... Please forgive me!"

They finally arrive. John waits for Peter, acknowledging his primacy. Peter enters first. The tomb is empty. The Lord's wrappings lie there, the cloth that had covered his face in another part of the tomb, folded. What grave robbers would have taken time to unwrap his body? What is going on here?

They return with more questions than answers. Little do they realize that he will soon come to them in the very room where they had last eaten with him, and things will never be the same - for them and for the whole human race.

Holy Saturday (an Ancient Homily)

I post this selection from today's "Office of Readings" each year because I can't think of a better reflection on Christ's descent to the dead. Enjoy!

 

Second reading

From an ancient homily on Holy Saturday

The Lord descends to the dead

Something strange is happening—there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.

He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.” Christ answered him: “And with your spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated.

For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Judeans in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.

See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.

I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.

Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.

RESPONSORY

Our shepherd, the source of the water of life, has died. The sun was darkened when he passed away. But now man’s captor is made captive.
– This is the day when our Savior broke through the gates of death.

He has destroyed the barricades of hell, overthrown the sovereignty of the devil.
– This is the day when our Savior broke through the gates of death.

CONCLUDING PRAYER
All-powerful and ever-living God,
your only Son went down among the dead
and rose again in glory.
In your goodness
raise up your faithful people,
buried with him in baptism,
to be one with him
in the eternal life of heaven,
where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.