Catechism Highlights

Some teaching worth reflecting upon as those of us in the United States prepare to vote:

1867 The catechetical tradition also recalls that there are "sins that cry to heaven": the blood of Abel,[139] the sin of the Sodomites,[140] the cry of the people oppressed in Egypt,[141] the cry of the foreigner, the widow, and the orphan,[142] injustice to the wage earner.[143]

1868 Sin is a personal act. Moreover, we have a responsibility for the sins committed by others when we cooperate in them:
- by participating directly and voluntarily in them;
- by ordering, advising, praising, or approving them;
- by not disclosing or not hindering them when we have an obligation to do so;
- by protecting evil-doers.

Why Politics Makes Me Hurt

Many people today put their political labels on such a pedestal that even the "compassionate" learn to harden themselves and even the logical learn not to think for themselves. It doesn't matter whether you are conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat, if you let your political persuasion decide your views for you, then you have lost sight of your humanness, at least just a little bit.

Let me give two examples: abortion and the poor.

First, let's examine poverty issues. While I do not think either of the major parties has come up with adequate ideas for how to help the poor, I think the Republican party often forgets to be compassionate. Not having a solution is quite different from not giving a damn because you think they somehow deserve it. And anyone who doesn't want the government to be part of the solution had better be doing something on a private citizen level to help, or he or she is a hypocrite of the most selfish kind.

Now what about abortion? The Democratic party makes such a dogma of it that its members frequently feel that being pro-choice is the litmus test for being a good liberal. Let's put that litmus test to the test. Again, while I do not think either of the major parties has come up with adequate ideas for how to ensure women's full rights, I think the Democratic party has forgotten the very concept of compassion in naming the right to kill a positive step. The Democratic nominee for president has gone so far as to put himself on record -- by legal vote -- as opposing the right of a born baby to remain alive. Even if you believe that a person does not gain legal personhood until birth, and that until then the baby is merely part of the mother's body, the mother is free to walk away once that baby is outside her body; how is killing him after the fact going to affect her right not to be pregnant? How does the death of a born child help the unpregnant birth mother?

I know that few Republicans are going to read this post and say "Oh, man! Now I realize that I can't stay Republican!" And Democrats are unlikely to say "Now I see that the Democratic party doesn't represent my perspective after all!" I am not asking you to change your affiliation, or your self-image as a liberal or a conservative. But I am asking you to take a moment and ask yourself if the things you support are compassionate to all people involved. Nobody can hear your thoughts; you do not have to feel disloyal for asking the question. It is all right to ask; thinking people do stop and consider sometimes.

If you are to be truly human, ask yourself hard questions. Put aside the rhetoric of your people, no matter which "side" they are on, and just face the questions as though you were looking at them for the first time. Then ask yourself "What can I do to help my brothers and sisters to work toward a kinder world, even in the places where compassion and rhetoric disagree?"

Daily Bread

A thought:
How often do I say "Give us this day our daily bread"?
How often do I go to daily Mass and receive Communion?

Hm. Maybe I need to work on that.

Two Scenes

Picture, if you will, two scenes.

In the first, Jesus is invited to the home of a Pharisee, where a notorious sinner cries on his feet in repentence, wipes them with her hair, and anoints them with oil. The Pharisee says to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner."

In the second, a worshiper is at Mass and notices that the young woman in front of her is wearing skimpy clothing. Snide comments cross her mind, and she wonders why the priest doesn't do something about the way people dress for Mass.

In the first scene, I bet most people see the sinner as representing us. We are sinners, we can't deny it; and we want to repent as wholeheartedly as this woman. We love Jesus, and we know that the Pharisee is wrong to judge Jesus for loving this sinner.

But if you see yourself as the worshiper in the second scene then maybe, like me, you've been casting yourself as the wrong character in the first scene.

10 Things that Keep Me Going

10. Guilt. I'm the master of it, and there's nobody I give it to more than myself. I must go on, because I feel guilty about all the things undone.

9. Sheer stubbornness. I do not give up easily.

8. Coffee. There's something reassuring about old routines, and I've always kind of associated coffee with security, since childhood when my parents would have their morning coffee in peace, with good conversation.

7. Daydreams. Someday, I would like to be, to do, to have, to make...

6. A good night's sleep. Once in a blue moon, at least.

5. Hope. No matter how bad things get sometimes, I always have hope -- sometimes a desperate hope -- that things can improve.

4. My children. I guess everyone needs to be needed, and these little needers are also some exceptional people.

3. My love for my husband. I want to be there for him for the next 40-80 years.

2. My husband's love. Knowing that there's someone who cares that I'm here makes a huge difference.

1. God's love. It really is the one thing that would keep me going if everything else disappeared overnight. When I feel all alone, I know I am not. When I have nobody to talk to, He listens. Just knowing that I am not alone makes all the difference. The one biggest sorrow for me is knowing that there are people out there who fight Him with such a vengeance that they seek to convince others that He is not there, does not love them, or is some impersonal force. So many people seek to educate people out of their faith, or away from any possibility of finding faith. But faith is more than only my salvation in a theological sense; it is my salvation in every other sense, too. It saves me emotionally, psychologically, even physically. It gives me a reason to grow, a reason to be kind, a reason to learn and to seek joy and to love. To those who do not have or feel they need a personal relationship with God, all I can say is this: please, in the name of mercy, do not think you do a favor by "educating" people away from having one of their own. The need to see others share your doubts is not a generous, tolerant, or enlightened thing; it is harmful, and ultimately selfish.

Consider this a new meme: you're tagged.

Thought for the day

Prayer should always be an act of love.

If I pray self-righteously, I'm doing it wrong.

Thought for the day

When you feel like the gopher the cat dragged in, stop and ask yourself: is there anything in your life that is not a blessing from God? Now stop laughing as you think about that thorn in your side, that that couldn't possibly be from God, and remember Job's words. The Lord gives, the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Try to remember that each thing in your life is a gift from God, even when it doesn't look like one. The dirty house is a roof and a shelter. The nagging child is life and the future. The exhaustion is life spent productively. God gave you this life because He loves you. Just like you might make a four year old eat his vegetables because you love him.

Blessed be the name of the Lord... in good times and challenging.

Confession

I admit, I went way too long without the sacrament. About 7 months, and for at least the last few, I needed it. You see, I was angry and lethargic, and it was hard at one point not to blame God.

But that wasn't the really rough part. You see, I got over the anger. But I didn't get over the knowledge that I had allowed a wedge between myself and God. So, while I continued praying, it felt rather like an awkward meeting with an estranged relative. I love Him, and I wanted things to be right between us, but I couldn't just pretend like nothing had passed. When you love someone, and He loves you, you want to be on good terms. And it hurts like (well, pardon the language, but it's appropriate) hell to have that distance of unrepaired bridges between you.

I won't go into too much detail about why it took so long to get back to Him, but suffice it to say that it really was beginning to feel like someone was out to get me. Car breakdown after car breakdown. Illness. Hubbie having no choice about working weekends. And so on. But it was enough to really make me examine my motives, and to think and pray for a way to get to confession. God made me really want it. It wasn't going to be enough to go through the motions this time.

So today, I finally got there. It was two or three minutes, without any pouring out of emotion or sage advice. It was one of those really simple (though not necessarily easy) confessions where you sit down and just lay it on the line. "I did this. I did this other thing. I did such and such." And I received a fairly simple penance of praying before the Blessed Sacrament.

And the prayer was so simple. Simple as light filling a room. Simple as warmth flooding through your body when you come in from the snow. Simple as a few words from me, and a few words from the Lord. "See how easily I forgive?"

And for the first time in months, I feel unburdened. I can go to God without a feeling of shame, just one of overwhelming gratitude.

My friends, if you have not been to confession in a while, please go soon. Someone is waiting for you with open arms.

A reminder

God doesn't just love "people."
He loves YOU. He knows every fault and every fear, and He can't get enough of you.

God is love, but He is more than a concept of love. He is someone who loves you more than you ever, ever imagined.

Maybe this has something to do with being born again?

It occurs to me that the womb is a precursor to life in the world as the earthly life is a precursor to eternal life. While in the womb, a baby has little idea what awaits him. He does not understand that the womb is not all there is, because it is all he has experienced. He probably does not have any clue how much joy and anticipation surrounds his entry into the world, among those who await him... how eagerly his Mama awaits his entering into her life in a fuller, more visible way.

And so it is, with us and heaven. Maybe something or Someone tells us that something better awaits us, but it is difficult for us to really understand in the depths of our being that this life is only the beginning, only a sheltered sample of true Life, the life that awaits us when we exit this womb and enter into the fullness of God's life, where the saints await us with eagerness and joy.

If we knew the love that awaits us outside this earthly womb, we would have so little fear of death.

The Positive Side of DNA Technology

I've expounded, in the past, on the negative uses of DNA testing and manipulation: cloning, eugenics, abortion, and a general decrease in appreciation of individual humans. Today, though, we see a positive application of this same technological field in the news. A mother, Luz Cuevas, whose infant daughter had been kidnapped six years previously and was believed dead, spotted and recognized the six year old at a party, and obtained strands of hair to prove by DNA testing that the child was indeed her missing daughter.

If you look around the internet at the articles and quotes concerning Ms. Cuevas, you will note that her command of the English language is not terribly strong; yet nobody can accuse this woman of not being bright. Not only did she have the quickness to spot, after six years, a child she had only seen for ten days as a newborn, but she quickly thought of a way to prove it.

Aside from bespeaking this mother's impressive maternal instinct, the story exemplifies the often repeated comment that evil is a perversion of good. First, the action of the kidnapper was a perversion of the maternal instinct. Second, the story shows that DNA testing can be a very positive thing, with moral and worthwhile applications, even if the stories that make the news are often about the ways this technology is perverted to moral wrongs, such as the deliberate creation of embryos for the purpose of destroying them.

I think the lesson in all of this is that we cannot blame technology for man's sinfulness. DNA research isn't responsible for the evils that have occurred using its resulting technology; human greed, fear, and lack of compassion are. Even the wrongful use of aborted embryos in stem cell research originates in a desire to show compassion for the ill; and "therapeutic abortion" originates with a parent's desire to have a baby who will not suffer.

The way to rid our society of the misuse of our technological abilities, then, is not to eliminate technology but to pray for the grace to use it morally.

20 Reasons to Pray for Chaz

In his pamphlet 20 Reasons to Abandon Christianity, Chaz Bufe devotes one chapter to each of the rants he has against Christianity. Most of his reasons for opposing Christianity are based on a faulty understanding of the faith; but a few show clear understanding of what Christianity teaches... in which case, his comments only hold water if Christian teaching is indeed false. The entire premise of most of his criticisms comes from an initial assumption that Christianity is false, and that there is no God.

It would be easy to gloss over the fact that most of his arguments rely on other religions being false as well. However, one can't help noticing that it's a lot easier in liberal circles to slam Christians than it is to slam Jews or Muslims. The fact is that all three believe in God, and all three share similar value systems. Chaz just chooses the easiest target in a politically correct world; because if he had attacked Jewish and Muslim people, he would (rightly) have to acknowledge being anti-semitic. Yet his arguments are anti-semitic, even if he never mentions Semitic races by name, because they still promote a false and hateful view of people who hold the truths that Jewish and Muslim, as well as Christian, people hold in common.

Now, at the risk of being long-winded, I will point out some of the more obvious flaws in Bufe's criticisms.

• Christianity is based on fear

The fears he cites are death, devil, and hell. Christianity does not build up fear of death, but relieves it; because in faith, one has hope of afterlife with God. Death itself is a reality, so the fear of it is not false at all. If the author denies this, then he's farther from reality than he realizes. As for devil and hell, if Christianity is correct, then the devil and hell should be feared. So the only workable argument here is to prove that the Christian faith is wrong, not to criticize it whether it be wrong or right.

• Christianity preys on the innocent

Clearly he does not understand Christianity. Christianity teaches us not to prey on the innocent. If all people practiced Christianity and followed the teachings of Jesus, there would be no predatory behavior on earth.

• Christianity is based on dishonesty

This argument is meaningless without evidence. Essentially he is saying "Christianity is wrong because Christianity is wrong." Brilliant, Chaz.

• Christianity is extremely egocentric

Apparently wanting to go to heaven is egocentric. So, too, according to this man, is the belief that God loves us. Here, he displays not just a total ignorance of Christianity but an ignorance of human nature itself. Love is a total giving of self; to love Someone enough to want to spend eternity with Him is completely loving. Of course, he uses contradictory logic here. The person who gives love is being preyed on; the person who receives love is self-centered. It sounds like what he's advocating is a complete disdain for anyone but self. And if you ask me, that is the height of egocentrism.

• Christianity breeds arrogance, a chosen-people mentality

And Chaz Bufe does not?

• Christianity breeds authoritarianism

Every "system" of governance breeds or is the result of some form of authoritarianism. The person who is not governed by ethics or morals is governed by law. One must hope that the law that governs him is at least ethical.

• Christianity is cruel

People are cruel. More specifically, some people are. And some will be cruel in any group. Some Christians are cruel (and they sometimes get into positions of power). Some atheists are cruel; some politicians, and some doctors, and some pamphlet writers are cruel. All forms of governance have sometimes slipped into cruel policies, Christianity included; but the inherent teachings of Christianity do not promote cruelty.

• Christianity is anti-intellectual, anti-scientific

It's hard to argue with that one, because different denominations approach science differently. However, as the Catholic Church teaches, truth cannot contradict truth; so the findings of science can be hotly debated on both sides without needing to check one's faith at the door.

• Christianity has a morbid, unhealthy preoccupation with sex

I had to do a double take when I read this one. Who has a morbid, unhealthy preoccupation with sex? A faith that, across most denominations, teaches that sex is sacred and beautiful, and should be an expression of love and tenderness, or a largely atheistic society that insists that sex must rule everything, from cologne ads to children's cartoons?

• Christianity produces sexual misery

See above.

• Christianity has an exceedingly narrow, legalistic view of morality

What qualifies him to define what is narrow? Even if he is correct, "narrow" and "legalistic" are only bad if the morality they describe is wrong.

• Christianity encourages acceptance of real evils while focusing on imaginary evils

Again, what qualifies him to define what is evil and what is not? He shows extreme intolerance.

• Christianity depreciates the natural world

I'd wager he's never heard a Christian sermon. Every church I've ever attended has taught the importance of stewardship, and caring for the natural world.

• Christianity models hierarchical, authoritarian organization

And why is hierarchical organization bad? Is it bad merely because he intolerantly says so? As for authoritarian, see above.

• Christianity sanctions slavery

Again, he doesn't know what he's talking about. No Christian church I've ever heard of sanctions slavery.

• Christianity is misogynistic

Actually, atheism is misogynistic. Atheism encourages people to use one another for selfish motives, because it has no moral incentive to require considering other people's needs. Specifically, the value system this author seems to be promoting is one that considers a woman's feelings irrelevant when using her body. The free sex mentality teaches that a man is justified in making a woman feel good "right now" in order to get sex, disregarding any emotional pain or physical disease she may suffer later, as a result.

• Christianity is homophobic

Sorry, but Chaz needs to get a dictionary. Disapproving of a behavior does not mean being afraid of people who practice it. As a matter of fact, Christians who seek to help people live chastely are showing a love for the souls of other people. It would be egotistical and unloving to seek one's own eternal life while not caring whether or not the next guy attains it.

• The Bible is not a reliable guide to Christ's teachings

How is a non-believer qualified to state what Christ's teachings are, better than either a believer or the Bible?

• The Bible is riddled with contradictions

This is too long a topic to cover adequately, but suffice it to say that what appear to be contradictions generally are not. In some cases they are different Biblical writers emphasizing different aspects of the truth. In other cases, seeming contradictions are reminders not to forget one thing in our zeal to pursue something else. Are justice and mercy contradictory?

• Christianity borrowed its central myths and ceremonies from other ancient religions

Perhaps, just perhaps, those other ancient religions began to grasp some truth that they had insufficient revelation to understand fully. Christianity is not a new truth; it is a fulfillment of truth previously not understood.

Let's pray for the conversion of Chaz Bufe.