Here is your mother

Yesterday we celebrated the feastday of Pentecost. The Catholic Church believes that this event represents the birth of the Christian Church. In today's scripture reading (Acts 1:12-14) it describes the period of 10 days after Jesus' ascension to heaven and before the coming of the Holy Spirit. In verse 14 it describes the wait: "They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.". I have not noticed it before that Mary, the mother of Jesus was there in the upper room along  with the apostles and the other disciples (women and men). The church has always held a very high regards for the central role Mary plays in the birth and nurturing of the early church.

In fact, the other scripture read today is the scene of Jesus on the cross (John 19:25-34) where Jesus not only asked His mother Mary to look after the disciple He loved (assumed to be the apostle John), representing the church (which He loved and for whom He died), but He also told the church to look after their mother - our Mother: "When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.”  And he said to this disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home."

Today, May 21, 2018, marks the first celebration of the Feast of Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, instituted early this year by Pope Francis. The announcement came in a decree issued March 3, 2018, by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments... “The joyous veneration given to the Mother of God by the contemporary Church, in light of reflection on the mystery of Christ and on his nature, cannot ignore the figure of a woman (cf. Gal 4:4), the Virgin Mary, who is both the Mother of Christ and Mother of the Church.,” according to the decree. “This celebration will help us to remember that growth in the Christian life must be anchored to the Mystery of the Cross, to the oblation of Christ in the Eucharistic Banquet and to the Mother of the Redeemer and Mother of the Redeemed, the Virgin who makes her offering to God.”

I did not know my Blessed Mother that well for many many years living as a Christian. But now, I am becoming more and more acquainted with this amazing woman, who said YES to Jesus:
"Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." (Luke 1:38)

Because she said YES she became the mother of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Saying the Rosary everyday reminds me of the central role Mary plays to bring my petition to God, through Jesus, who loves His Mother and wants us to do the same.

Jesus' Presence

I had always been confused about this. When Jesus gave the great commission:

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20) 

He made a promise of His Divine Presence -  but how are we to experience this?

Before I reverted back to my Catholic faith, I had always understood that Jesus meant that His Spirit would be with me. And then I was told that both the Holy Spirit and His spirit (but without His body) were with me. This was fine when I didn't appreciate that Jesus, and we humans, are both body and soul (and not body, spirit, and soul, as some Protestants also believe), and it's very important to understand that correctly. With the wrong understanding, I made the  error of believing that my body was not that important once I am done with this life. So I had decided for cremation when I die. In fact I told my wife to scatter my ashes along Book Road in Ancaster (which is actually illegal to scatter human remains on public ground!), where I have always had a love for its beauty and peacefulness, every time I ride my bike on it (and I used to do my 20km training run on it during my Marathon days). So now instead of this my wife and I have recently decided to actually purchase a burial ground in this Catholic cemetery for a proper burial, in accordance to church teaching). The reason for treating my body with such dignity is that God created it lovingly and uniquely, along with my soul, and they are created in His image. And you know what, what God had created, it was very good (Genesis 1:31). 

So at the end of time my body will be resurrected along with everyone else. My body will be reunited with my soul then, and face the final judgment (the first judgment, called the particular judgment, will take place immediately after my death - according to the Catholic teaching).

So I used to believe in getting a "glorified body" quite different from the one I have now. And now I believe I will get back my own body which God created in the beginning - minus all the imperfections as a consequence of sins, of course. It won't be a totally new body which I'd like to imagine to be: Einstein + Brad Pitt + Lance Armstrong!

But of course it will always be a mystery, "I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. " (1 Corinthians 15:50-53)

All this leads back to the homily I heard yesterday (it was the Feast of the Ascension). The scripture text was from Acts 1:1-11). "This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." What are we to do without Jesus? His bodily presence is important to us! Well He sent His Holy Spirit (we will be celebrating the Pentecost next week!). But through baptism we can have access to his Divine Presence - body, blood, soul, and divinity (ccc 1374) through the Holy Eucharist of the Mass - every day if I want to. It is wonderful that Jesus instituted these amazing sacraments to help me experience His Presence, and to draw power and grace from them to go out to make disciples so that they too can be baptized and experience His bodily Presence, until the last day, when we shall spend eternity with Him - with my body and soul, of course!

Reflecting on "The Bread of Life" in "A Culture of Zapping"

"All of us, but especially the young, are immersed in a culture of zapping"

This is a quote from Pope Francis in his latest Apostolic Exhortation: GAUDETE ET EXSULTATE - ON THE CALL TO HOLINESS IN TODAY’S WORLD (point 167, page 35)

Father Marcus brought this quote to my attention yesterday in his homily. It really piqued my interest so I downloaded the Exhortation document above and I am more than half way through it. I also downloaded the Pope's other Apostolic Exhortations and am looking forward to reading them.

The scripture reading for yesterday's mass was on the "Jesus, the bread of life" discourse in John chapter 6.  
"Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”" (John 6:35)

Father Marcus pointed out that Jesus, through the apostle John, took an entire chapter in the Gospel to explain the mystery of the True Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. But in today's culture of zapping we may easily miss the significance of such a deep and powerful mystery that can empower our lives. Let me quote what Pope Francis has to say:

"167. The gift of discernment has become all the more necessary today, since contemporary life offers immense possibilities for action and distraction, and the world presents all of them as valid and good. All of us, but especially the young, are immersed in a culture of zapping. We can navigate simultaneously on two or more screens and interact at the same time with two or three virtual scenarios. Without the wisdom of discernment, we can easily become prey to every passing trend.
 
168. This is all the more important when some novelty presents itself in our lives. Then we have to decide whether it is new wine brought by God or an illusion created by the spirit of this world or the spirit of the devil. At other times, the opposite can happen, when the forces of evil induce us not to change, to leave things as they are, to opt for a rigid resistance to change. Yet that would be to block the working of the Spirit. We are free, with the freedom of Christ. Still, he asks us to examine what is within us – our desires, anxieties, fears and questions – and what takes place all around us – “the signs of the times” – and thus to recognize the paths that lead to complete freedom. “Test everything; hold fast to what is good” (1 Thess 5:21)."

One of the reasons for my returning to the Catholic Church is the availability of the Sacraments. Having regular Holy Communion and Reconciliation has helped me grow in holiness. I thank Jesus for offering himself, body, blood, soul, and divinity in the holy sacrament of the altar during each daily mass.

"At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet 'in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.'" (CCC 1323)

"“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”" (John 6:51).

Glory Be... who was, and is, and is to come

The three prayers that I say many times throughout the day are the Lord's prayer, Hail Mary, and Glory Be. The Lord's prayer is straight from scripture (Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 11:2-4). It is the prayer Jesus taught us. Hail Mary is also from scripture (Luke 1:28; John 1:14; and Luke 1:42). The Catechism of the Catholic Church (ccc 2676) "In Communion with the holy Mother of God" has this to say about the prayer:

Hail Mary [or Rejoice, Mary]: the greeting of the angel Gabriel opens this prayer. It is God himself who, through his angel as intermediary, greets Mary. Our prayer dares to take up this greeting to Mary with the regard God had for the lowliness of his humble servant and to exult in the joy he finds in her.




Full of grace, the Lord is with thee: These two phrases of the angel's greeting shed light on one another. Mary is full of grace because the Lord is with her. The grace with which she is filled is the presence of him who is the source of all grace. "Rejoice . . . O Daughter of Jerusalem . . . the Lord your God is in your midst." Mary, in whom the Lord himself has just made his dwelling, is the daughter of Zion in person, the ark of the covenant, the place where the glory of the Lord dwells. She is "the dwelling of God . . . with men." Full of grace, Mary is wholly given over to him who has come to dwell in her and whom she is about to give to the world. 

Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. After the angel's greeting, we make Elizabeth's greeting our own. "Filled with the Holy Spirit," Elizabeth is the first in the long succession of generations who have called Mary "blessed." "Blessed is she who believed. . . . " Mary is "blessed among women" because she believed in the fulfillment of the Lord's word. Abraham. because of his faith, became a blessing for all the nations of the earth. Mary, because of her faith, became the mother of believers, through whom all nations of the earth receive him who is God's own blessing: Jesus, the "fruit of thy womb."

And then the Glory Be prayer. Where does it come from? Until this morning I had no clue. Then the scripture passage I read came to light. In Revelation 4 "Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:

“‘Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,’
who was, and is, and is to come.”

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
    to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
    and by your will they were created    and have their being.”" (Revelation 4:8-11)

Gloria Patri, as this prayer is also known, "is found in the books of Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, 1Timothy, Hebrews, Peter and Revelations. St. Paul uses these doxologies in almost every one of his epistles in some variation." (Catholic Answers) "The dictionary defines doxology as “an expression of praise to God, especially a short hymn sung as part of a Christian worship service.” The word doxology comes from the Greek doxa, (“glory, splendor, grandeur”) and logos, (“word” or “speaking”). Most doxologies are short hymns of praise to God in various Christian worship services, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns." (GotQuestions.org). "The earliest examples are addressed to God the Father alone, or to Him through the Son and in or with the Holy Ghost. The form of baptism (Matthew 28:19) had set an example of naming the three Persons in parallel order. Especially in the fourth century, as a protest against Arian subordination (since heretics appealed to these prepositions..).. the custom of using the form: "Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost", became universal among Catholics. From this time we must distinguish two doxologies, a greater (doxologia maior) and a shorter (minor). The greater doxology is the Gloria in Excelsis Deo in the Mass. The shorter form, which is the one generally referred to under the name "doxology", is the Gloria Patri. It is continued by an answer to the effect that this glory shall last for ever." (slightly modified from the New Advent)

Glory Be is a quick prayer to remind me of the heaven I so long for. Like the four living creatures and the twenty four elders, I can now practice the joy of worshiping my heavenly Triune God in heaven, while I sojourn on my remaining days on this earth.

Those who have clean hands and pure hearts - a reflection on Psaml 24

Another Psalm I read quite frequently from reading the Liturgy of the Hours is Psalm 24 (or maybe this is true only through the Lent season). This Psalm is sometimes used to refute the Protestant teaching on Salvation by Faith Alone (Sola Fide). Dr. David Anders (a convert from Calvinism to Catholicism) from the EWTN program Called to Communion has this to say:
(Taken from comment 139 in "The Witness of the “Lost Christianities”")
That’s not what Scripture says:
Romans 2:13: “For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.” (Romans 2:13);
James 2:24: “You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.”
Romans 13:8: “whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.”
1 John 3:7: “The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
Psalm 24: 3: “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy place?
The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not trust in an idol
or swear by a false god.”

Catholic Answers has a good article on Faith and Works. The opening comment is important:
"“Protestants believe in faith alone, while Catholics believe in faith and works.” You hear both Protestants and Catholics say this all the time. But it’s a misleading oversimplification. If you tell a typical Evangelical, “You believe in faith alone, but we Catholics believe in faith and works,” you will cause him to think that the Catholic Church teaches something that, in fact, it says is false."

The Catechism of the Catholic Church is rich in its teaching on Grace and Justification:
A few points taken from the In Brief section:
2017 The grace of the Holy Spirit confers upon us the righteousness of God. Uniting us by faith and Baptism to the Passion and Resurrection of Christ, the Spirit makes us sharers in his life.
2018 Like conversion, justification has two aspects. Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, and so accepts forgiveness and righteousness from on high.
2020 Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ. It is granted us through Baptism. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who justifies us. It has for its goal the glory of God and of Christ, and the gift of eternal life. It is the most excellent work of God's mercy.
2022 The divine initiative in the work of grace precedes, prepares, and elicits the free response of man. Grace responds to the deepest yearnings of human freedom, calls freedom to cooperate with it, and perfects freedom.
2024 Sanctifying grace makes us "pleasing to God." Charisms, special graces of the Holy Spirit, are oriented to sanctifying grace and are intended for the common good of the Church. God also acts through many actual graces, to be distinguished from habitual grace which is permanent in us.
2025 We can have merit in God's sight only because of God's free plan to associate man with the work of his grace. Merit is to be ascribed in the first place to the grace of God, and secondly to man's collaboration. Man's merit is due to God.
2029 "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (Mt 16:24).

The Psalm itself is quite easy to memorize (only 10 verses!). The most important reminder of living out our faith is found in verses 3 and 4, and the most beautiful call to worship is found in verses 7-10.
1 The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
    the world, and those who live in it;
2 for he has founded it on the seas,
    and established it on the rivers.
3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
    And who shall stand in his holy place?
4 Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,
    who do not lift up their souls to what is false,
    and do not swear deceitfully.
5 They will receive blessing from the Lord,
    and vindication from the God of their salvation.
6 Such is the company of those who seek him,
    who seek the face of the God of Jacob.

7 Lift up your heads, O gates!
    and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
    that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is the King of glory?
    The Lord, strong and mighty,
    the Lord, mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O gates!
    and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
    that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is this King of glory?
    The Lord of hosts,
    he is the King of glory.

O that today you would listen to his voice: harden not your hearts - revisit

I wrote this blog in November 2014. My spiritual journey has had a dramatic change since then. My renewed Catholic faith encourages me to read the Liturgy of the Hours from the Divine Office to begin my day. I have only been able to do the Office of Readings in the mornings consistently. So today - Friday of the 3rd week of Lent, I began with the usual Invitational Psalm. The antiphon "O that today you would listen to his voice: harden not your hearts." is from Psalm 95. Yes, I always begin my day with this Call to Worship and Obedience from Psalm 95. Why is it so important to begin my day with this Psalm?

Charles Spurgeon, the famous Protestant bible teacher, wrote this lovely introduction to Psalm 95:
"This Psalm has no title, and all we know of its authorship is that Paul quotes it as "in David." (Heb 4:7.) ... It is in its original a truly Hebrew song, directed both in its exhortation and warning to the Jewish people, but we have the warrant of the Holy Spirit in the epistle to the Hebrews for using its appeals and entreaties when pleading with Gentile believers. It is a psalm of invitation to worship. It has about it a ring like that or church bells, and like the bells it sounds both merrily and solemnly, at first ringing out a lively peal, and then dropping into a funeral knell as if tolling at the funeral of the generation which perished in the wilderness. We will call it THE PSALM OF THE PROVOCATION. "

The Psalm can be divided into two sections:

(I) Invitation with Reasons (Verses 1-5)
O come, let us sing to the Lord;
    let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
    let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the Lord is a great God,
    and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
    the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
    and the dry land, which his hands have formed.

(Verse 1) The author of this song had in his mind's eye the rock, the tabernacle, the Red Sea, and the mountains of Sinai, and he alludes to them all in this first part of his hymn. God is our abiding, immutable, and mighty rock, and in him we find deliverance and safety, therefore it becomes us to praise him with heart and with voice from day to day; and especially should we delight to do this when we assemble as his people for public worship. (Verse 2) The perfection of singing is that which unites joy with gravity, exultation with humility, fervency with sobriety - thus we are reminded "let us make a joyful noise" twice. (Verses 3-5) These verses supply some of the reasons for worship, drawn from the being, greatness, and sovereign dominion of the Lord.

(II) Invitation with Warnings (Verses 6-11)
O come, let us worship and bow down,
    let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
For he is our God,
    and we are the people of his pasture,
    and the sheep of his hand.
O that today you would listen to his voice!
    Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
    as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
when your ancestors tested me,
    and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
For forty years I loathed that generation
    and said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray,
    and they do not regard my ways.”
Therefore in my anger I swore,
    “They shall not enter my rest.”

But what is this warning which follows? Alas, it was sorrowfully needed by the Lord's ancient people, and is not one which the less required by ourselves. The favored nation grew deaf to their Lord's command, and proved not to be truly his sheep, of whom it is written, "My sheep hear my voice:" will this turn out to be our character also. God forbid. "To day if you will hear his voice." Dreadful "if." Many would not hear, they put off the claims of love, and provoked their God. "To-day," in the hour of grace, in the day of mercy, we are tried as to whether we have an ear for the voice of our Creator. Nothing is said of tomorrow, "he limited a certain day," he presses for immediate attention, for our own sake he asks instantaneous obedience. Shall we yield it? The Holy Spirit says "To-day," will we grieve him by delay? We cannot soften our hearts, but we can harden them, and the consequences will be fatal. Today is too good a day to be profaned by the hardening of our hearts against our own mercies. While mercy reigns let not obduracy rebel. "As in the provocations, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness" (or, "like Meribah, like the day of Massah in the wilderness"). Be not willfully, wantonly, repeatedly, obstinately rebellious. Let the example of that unhappy generation serve as a beacon to you; do not repeat the offenses which have already more than enough provoked the Lord.












"These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come." (1 Corinthians 10:11)

Examination of Conscience

I admit this has not been as easy as I would like. I have been trying to do a proper examination of conscience before each Confession, which I try to do at least once a month. During Lent I try to do this daily. I follow the questions based on the Ten Commandments from these good resources:
http://www.beginningcatholic.com/catholic-examination-of-conscience
http://www.ewtn.com/library/prayer/examconscience.htm
These are the questions most relevant to me (with minor edits and emphasis).

"HAVE I..."

First Commandment
Despaired about my salvation or the forgiveness of my sins?
Presumed on God’s mercy (committing a sin without conversion and practicing virtue)?
Loved someone or something more than God (money, power, pleasure & sex, ambition, etc.) 

Second Commandment
Used the name of God in cursing? Used vulgar, suggestive or obscene speech?
Failed to keep promises that I have made to God?
Watched television or movies, or listened to music that treated the sacred things irreverently?
Belittled others in my speech?

Third Commandment
Set time aside each day for personal prayer to God?
Missed Mass on Sunday or Holy Days (through own fault w/o sufficient reason)?
Received a sacrament while in the state of mortal sin?
Been stingy in my support for the Church & the poor with my time, talent and treasure?

Fourth Commandment
Prayed for my children’s salvation?
Showed disrespect for those in authority, government or church? Not expressed my moral values to them? Supported or voted for a politician whose positions are opposed to the teachings of Christ and the Catholic Church?

Fifth Commandment (Wow, this is a long list! Many are directed towards those I love.)
Committed an emotional or verbal abuse? Mean or unjust to anyone?
Held a grudge or sought revenge against someone who wronged me?
Pointed out others’ faults and mistakes while ignoring my own?
Complained more than giving compliment?
Been ungrateful for what other people do for me?
Torn people down rather than encouraged them?
Hated another person, or wished him evil?
Been unforgiving to others, when mercy or pardon was requested?Sought revenge or hoped something bad would happen to someone?
Prejudiced against people because of their colour, language or ethnic-religious background?
Actively or passively cooperated with an act of euthanasia or abortion?
Sixth & Ninth Commandments
Not avoided the occasions of sin (persons or places) which would tempt me to be unfaithful to my spouse or to my own chastity?
Encouraged and entertained impure thoughts and desires?
Claimed my own marital right without concern for my spouse?

Seventh & Tenth Commandments
Let material concerns or the desire for comfort override my duty to God?
Envied others on account of their possessions?
Given generously to others in need?
Cheated on taxes or in business?
Stolen? (Take something that doesn’t belong to me against the reasonable will of the owner.)
Tried to live in a spirit of Gospel poverty and simplicity?
Misused natural resources?

Eighth Commandment
Told a lie (or exaggerated) in order to deceive someone or spread rumors which may ruin someone’s reputation (sin of calumny or slander)? Betrayed another’s confidence through speech?
Failed to make reparation for a lie I told, or for harm done to a person’s reputation?
Been guilty of rash judgment? (Assuming the worst of another person based on circumstantial evidence.)
Failed to speak out in defense of the Catholic Faith, the Church, or of another person?
Do I love to hear bad news about my enemies?