Yesterday when I was participating in RAnn’s Sunday Snippets roundup, I stumbled on a link to the Catholic Bloggers Network. Sorry, I can’t find now where I got it in the first place or I would credit the person, but do you see how useful it is to be a part of Sunday Snippets?  Thanks RAnn for all the hidden opportunities you provide by hosting this meme.

The Catholic Bloggers Network will now be a permanent button in my side bar.  Be sure to visit their home page and learn about how your blog might fit in.  They have plans for making it easy to get your posts listed in certain categories through RSS feed and other interesting features, including an opportunity to link to eBooks you may be publishing.  I think most of us are doing the hard work of blogging because we want to participate in the work of Christ – to restore all things in Him and to advance His reign in the hearts of all people. This site will be a big help in that effort.

There is a page called Link Your Blog where you can find many participating writers. I was happy to see some of the blogs I frequent already signed up, such as Ebeth’s A Catholic Mom Climbing the Pillars.

If you are a Catholic blogger, take a look at this site and see if it fits in with your goals.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever!

(Click on the link above to read why I end my posts this way.

Baptism of Christ, 1493-94, Cima da Conegliano (b. ca. 1459, Conegliano, d. 1517/18, Conegliano), Oil on panel, San Giovanni in Bragora, Venice

Today the 1962 liturgy of the Church commemorates the Baptism of Christ in the Jordan, one of the three epiphanies referred to in the Roman Breviary on the feast of the Epiphany, today’s feast, and the wedding feast at Cana.  It’s also the feast of an interesting saint we don’t hear much about in America.

Like many saints of bygone days, Blessed Veronica (1445-1497) grew up in a rural area, the small town of Binasco not far from Milan.  She was dutiful in both housework and field work, but as she grew older, the fact that she couldn’t read bothered her.  She began to stay up at night to teach herself to read.  However, the Blessed Mother appeared to her and told her that other things were more important than learning to read, and gave her three mystical letters.

Meaning of the mystical letters

In  Butler’s Lives of the Saints: With Reflections for Every Day in the Year (Dover Books on Western Philosophy), a book I read for the saint of the day every day, we learn what those letters meant.

The first signified purity of intention; the second, abhorrence of murmuring or criticism; the third, daily meditation on the Passion. By the first she learned to begin her daily duties for no human motive, but for God alone; by the second, to carry out what she had thus begun by attending to her own affairs, never judging her neighbor, but praying for those who manifestly erred; by the third she was enabled to forget her own pains and sorrows in those of her Lord, and to weep hourly, but silently, over the memory of His wrongs.

In speaking of the hermeneutic of continuity as Pope Benedict XVI does, I am struck by the continuity with traditional Catholic spiritual practices saints have advocated over the ages.  In Blessed Veronica’s purity of intention we have the Morning Offering, composed by Father Francois Xavier Gaulrelet in 1844 for his Apostleship of Prayer which he founded that year.

The second, minding her own business and not being judgmental while praying for those in error we find in the practice of silence, refraining from gossip, and making holy hours in front of the Blessed Sacrament.  St. Francis de Sales in his TAN Classic: An Introduction to the Devout Life (Tan Classics) offers spiritual direction along these lines.

The third is in keeping with the Catholic practice saints throughout the centuries have recommended: meditation on the Passion.  We have the Stations of the Cross erected in every church to remind us of the price Jesus paid for us, and the Church offers special indulgences for making the way of the Cross any time.  Regular meditation on the Passion has always been a powerful way to avoid sin and grow in the love of God for Catholics.

These three mystical letters are biblically based and sound spiritual direction for any soul.  They are simple to keep in mind, too.

Life as an Augustinian

Blessed Veronica entered the Augustinian convent of St. Martha of Milan at age 22.  The community was very poor and her daily duty was to go out into the streets and beg for their daily food.  She always sought the hardest and most humbling occupations.  In 1497 at age 52, she died as she foretold after a six month illness.  If I had a couple of bywords for St. Veronica, they would be simplicity and humility.

I was struck by the urgency of a quote from her biography: “I must work while I can, while I have time,” a response she made to her sisters who knew she was in pain and urged her to seek exemption from some of her labors.  What courage and determination, and inspiration to keep simple and focused.  God has given us a finite amount of heartbeats and we must make every one of them count for the salvation of souls – especially, first of all, of our own.

Personal reflections

When I think of her begging in the streets every day, I shrink from the idea.  Fear of rejection, I guess plus an aversion to exposure to severe heat and cold and the filth of the streets of those days. I wonder how many of us could do what she did.  Not me without God’s grace.

As far as not judging others goes, the blogosphere is full of people exercising rash judgment on all sorts of topics. Some of us, even if we don’t say it or write it still fight making judgments against others in our hearts. Blessed Veronica would be a good person to invoke before writing anything and also someone to help curb a loose tongue.

Finally, I’m adverse to pain.  God in His infinite humor and wisdom has given me a lot of it.  Meditating on the Passion is probably good medicine for all of us, aiding us in forgetting our aches and pains as it helped Blessed Veronica do.

The Augustinians of the Midwest has a short bio with more information.  If you’ve ever wondered about Augustinian spirituality, this is a good resource.

Immaculate Conception c.1626, Peter Pauwel Reubens, oil on canvas, Museo del Prado, Madrid

Today is the 65th anniversary of my Baptism.  I’ve often thought how very blessed I am to have been received into the Church on this day when the Church celebrates Mary’s Immaculate Conception.

Now, on to the sensus fidelium part of this post. The Latin words mean “sense of the faithful”. It refers to doctrinal truth recognized (sensed) by the whole body of the faithful. This concept can be traced back to the early Fathers of the Church.

In the case of the Immaculate Conception we have the belief that Mary was conceived without original sin existing from the earliest days Church.  Throughout the centuries, this doctrine was commonly held by the faithful (sensus fidelium) without question.  It wasn’t until December 8, 1854, however, that the dogma was officially pronounced.  Blessed Pope Pius IX issued ex cathedra the Apostolic Constitution, Ineffabilis Deus, in which he said:

We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.

As Catholics, we give full assent to this dogma with our will and intellect.  The issuance of the Apostolic Constitution closed the door on any theological debate over this dogma forever, and the Pope only did it after hearing from all the faithful through their bishops.

We can look back to 1854 and see how important the official declaration of this dogma was.  With all the bold, ugly attacks on the Virgin Mary and Jesus by various kinds of people in the 20th and 21st centuries, the Catholic Church holds Mary up as the model to emulate in the face of all this blasphemy.  Moreover she watches over us brothers and sisters of Christ and never fails to encourage us to live the way God created us to live.

We celebrate her feast and honor her because God singled her out to be the immaculate Mother of Jesus, our Savior.  In the midst of secularism, materialism, and all the other “isms” in this world, we can glorify God for His generous love through the gift of Mary and her Immaculate Conception.

Many artists have portrayed the Immaculate Conception with similar themes.  My favorite is the one by Reubens.  You can see the references to Mary in Genesis and Revelation here, along with the symbols of purity and victory held by the cherubs.  What I like best is the gold Reubens used for the rays and the gentle, humble expression on her beautiful face.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever!

(Click on the link above to read why I end my posts this way.

Awareness of God

Welcome to Sabbath Moments hosted by Colleen at Thoughts on Grace. This Saturday meme prompts us to review our week and note times when we were “resting in the Lord” or encountering Him in the ordinary events of our life.

First Friday Adoration

A couple of months ago when I learned that my local parish was having Adoration on the first Friday of every month after morning Mass I decided to participate.  Sometimes my mind is rocketing around like an uncontrolled ping-pong ball, bouncing off walls, paddles, and tables.  After awhile during Adoration it calms down and I can focus much better. What I like is the great quiet time with the Lord where I can ask Him to help others, speak to Him about what’s going on in my life, and praise and thank Him for His loving care for me and all those I love and pray for.

Reading the New Translation

Yesterday I stayed longer than the usual hour of Adoration so I could read more of the new translation of the Ordinary of the Mass in the Real Presence of Our Lord. It is a huge step forward in terms of the potential for deepening the spiritual life of those who attend Mass regularly.  Although I already knew what some of the new translation was from reading Father Zuhlsdorf’s blog, looking at all of it was very encouraging.

First of all, in those prayers shared in common with the Extraordinary Form, the English translation is either close to or identical to what has been in use since the 19^th and 20^th centuries when vernacular/Latin missals became common.  That is, it is very faithful to the Latin original. Many of these shared prayers date from the early Church, such as the Gloria, the Credo, and the “Deliver us, O Lord…” to name a few.

Perhaps the most important change is the restoration of the vocative case in addressing God. Since 1969 when the Ordinary Form was approved (in Latin) by Pope Paul VI, the English translators have had us ordering God around.  “Do this, do that” as in “God, come to my assistance.”  “Lord, see to it that…”.  This approach disrupts our right relationship with God.  He is our Creator.  We are His creatures.  He is the Commander.  We are the ones to be commanded.  We are not and never will be equal to God. But remember, the serpent in the garden of Eden lied to Eve and told her otherwise (Gen. 3:5), a lie the world still would have us believe today – a lie that led to the woes of all our lives.

The use of the vocative case expresses our true relationship to God beautifully, creating subtle changes in our hearts that will help us be more humble and trustful of Him if we reflect on the words. This translation is counter cultural – it is fully Catholic.  It will help us drive the zeitgeist out of our souls so that we may more fully embrace the True Geist, the Holy Spirit and His promptings.

I don’t think it is possible to overestimate the importance of this much more faithful English translation of the Ordinary Form.  Lex orandi, lex credendi – the law of prayer is the law of belief. As St. Paul says, “faith comes through hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Ro. 10:17).  What we hear with our ears at Mass enters our hearts. What comes out of our mouths ascends from our hearts (Matt. 15:18).  I can see the possibility of a much better witness to the world on the part of Catholics if this new translation is fully taken to heart. I also believe that when non-Catholic seekers of Christ hear the words of this liturgy they will have an easier time recognizing that they have come home.

Pope John Paul II did a very good thing in reforming ICEL and forming Vox Clara. Pope Benedict XVI has done a very good thing in following through with his predecessor’s initiatives.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever!

(Click on the link above to read why I end my posts this way.

Joann at Into Stillness posted this video about Pope Pius XII.  She has other very interesting videos and posts so you might enjoy visiting her site.

I’ve mentioned this Pope of my childhood, a person I cherish in memory and life, in Eugenio Zolli’s Conversion and Benedict, the German Shepherd, but this video about one of the greatest men of the 20th century expresses best why I feel about him the way I do.

A Pope is father to all humanity, not just to Catholics. No one is excluded from the Holy Father’s love and concern.  Part of his leadership is to bring Christ to the world.  God blessed us all with this great man who stood staunchly in the name of Christ against every “liar and murderer” (John 8:44) of his time.

As we consider the threefold meaning of Advent which is the anticipation of the birth of Christ, Christ coming to us daily in our lives, and His final coming at the Last Judgment, we can learn a lot from the way by example that Pope Pius XII brought Christ to the world.  Most of us have not been called to do the great things he did on the world stage, but each of us in our own little way can bring the mercy and justice of God to the helpless, and to speak the truth with charity and courage as he did.

Want to subscribe to posts by email? Visit the third box in the sidebar.

V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever!

(Click on the link above to read why I end my posts this way.

Priest hearing confessions, Philipp Schumacher (1866-1940) via Wikimedia

This post is linked to Sunday Snippets at This That and the Other Thing.

Do you want to be a saint?  I do.  I mean that I want to end up in heaven with God and all the others He created who are one with Him in charity.  Becoming a saint is impossible, though, if we depend on ourselves. Moreover, we must leave this world a saint in order to be one in the next.  Fortunately, nothing is impossible to God and His magnanimous love for each of His creatures.  All we have to do is cooperate with Him.

At the Last Supper Jesus consecrated all the apostles as priests.  In that event He set them apart so that they were no longer men like other men, but were instead to stand in His place in a special way.  That’s why we describe the priest as an alter Christus – another Christ.

Just hours after instituting the sacrament of the sacred priesthood Jesus was arrested, tried, and crucified thanks to the help of Judas. His remaining apostles, except for St. John, ran off and hid themselves behind locked doors.  Confusion, despair, grief and shame must have enveloped the souls of these newly ordained priests.  But inside of three days Jesus rose from the dead and came to where ten of the remaining eleven, including St. John, had gathered.  He didn’t knock.  He just came right through those doors as if they weren’t even there.

John 20:19-23 is a passage I love for many reasons, but especially because it tells of the institution behind those locked doors of the sacrament of Penance (Reconciliation), one of the ways we cooperate with God’s work in making us saints.

Now when it was late that same day, the first of the week, and the doors were shut, where the disciples were gathered together, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them: Peace be to you. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad [I think this is an understatement.  They must have been jumping up and down and hollering with joy], when they saw the Lord. He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.

And so it was that Jesus gave the apostles the power through the Spirit of Charity to stand in His place and forgive our sins, bringing us peace of heart.  Another aspect of the sacred priesthood where the priest acts as alter Christus.

This is why I look at every confession as an appointment with Jesus. Jesus is sitting behind the screen focusing His full attention on me and what I’m saying.  He hears not only the words but the language of the heart.  He gives the priest the grace to offer me useful guidance for amending my life just as He gives me the grace to confess what I’ve done that offended Him.

Jesus, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is the one who forgives my sins. The Roman rite Church gives the priest these theologically perfect words to remind me that my sins are forgiven in His name (1962 Extraordinary Form):

May almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you your sins, and lead you to everlasting life. R.: Amen.

May the almighty and merciful Lord grant you pardon, absolution, + and remission of your sins. R.: Amen.

May our Lord Jesus Christ absolve you. And I by His authority release you from every bond of excommunication (suspension) and interdict, in so far as I am empowered and you have need. And now I absolve you from your sins; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit. R.: Amen.

The priest may add, time permitting:

May the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, the merits of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and all the saints, whatever good you have done, and whatever evil you have endured, achieve for you the forgiveness of your sins, an increase of grace and the reward to eternal life. Amen.

In the Ordinary Form (1969 liturgical books) the priest says:

God the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Every confession sincerely done is an act of humility and trust in God’s mercy.  Every confession is a source of joy and of real peace, of resolution and of greater clarity and cooperation with God in ridding myself of rust. By looking at confession as an appointment with Jesus, I look forward to going.  I don’t worry so much any more about accusing myself of the same sins and faults repeatedly.  Nothing makes Jesus happier than to have somebody He died for coming to visit Him and giving Him an opportunity through free will to apply His healing grace.

Love is like that.  Love wants to bring peace and well-being to the tortured and stricken.  We are all tortured and stricken.  Love wants to heal, to rejoice, to pour Itself out on the beloved.  But Love forces itself on no one.

The beloved are you and I.  If we really love Him back, how can we not give Jesus the opportunity to love us through the forgiveness of our sins and the healing of all that afflicts our spirit? How can we refuse to cooperate with Him in making us a saint to live with Him forever?  How can we not make and keep regular appointments with Jesus in the sacrament of Confession?

Want to subscribe to posts by email? Visit the third box in the sidebar.

V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever!

(Click on the link above to read why I end my posts this way.

Awareness of God

Welcome to our weekly meme hosted by Colleen at Thoughts on Grace. Visit her to read other bloggers’ quiet moments with God. Note: next Saturday we will not have a post on this meme due to the Thanksgiving holidays.

Ups and downs and elderberries

This week was up and down for me with fibro pain and tiredness.  I had to take a heavy duty pain killer for the first time in a long time and was zoned out for a day.  But Friday was  gloriously sunny and I felt so great Roger and I went for a drive in the country to check out a hardware store in a small town north of Springfield.  We met some neat people while we were looking at hand guns and we enjoyed learning more about safety. Back home in town we stopped off at an antique store just for fun and bought some elderberry jam.

It takes 2,000 berries to make a pound, and 20 pounds to make a gallon of juice

Elderberries are a native Missouri plant that grow wild but can be cultivated for their edible flowers and berries.  The are the size of BBs but produce a huge amount of juice.  If you ever get a chance to taste elderberry wine, it is delicious as is just about everything else made from this plant.  Maybe I’ll put one in our yard next spring since we’re interested in gardening.  Then we’ll see who gets the berries first: we or the birds.

Of Korean interest

Inside the Vatican is one of my favorite Catholic publications.  This week I finally got around to reading the most recent issue and found an interview with Thomas Hong-Soon Han, South Korea’s Ambassador to the Holy See.  Regular readers know I am very interested in Japan, Korea, and China, and their history and culture so this article I read with great interest.

Han’s story is not only inspiring from a personal standpoint, his insight into the Catholic Church in Korea is most instructive. I learned that the Church in Korea was founded by Korean lay people, not missionaries. From reading a book by the great Chinese missionary Jesuit, Matthew Ricci, Korean scholars became very interested in the Catholic faith.  They sent one of their own to China to learn and be baptized.  When he returned, he baptized many others and founded the first Catholic community in 1784.  The Church survived without missionary priests until 1836 when the Paris Mission Society sent some.

The Church in Korea always stayed with the oppressed regardless of the type of government, and this has given it an authoritative voice in the culture.  According to Han, it will play an important role in overcoming the grave difficulties between North and South Korea.

Gamgok Parish Church (cathedral), Chungcheongbuk-do, Korea

Han is of my times.  We share similarities in our spiritual formation although we lived half a world apart and in far different circumstances.

He says,  “I spent my elementary school years in the period of the Korean War.  My family fled from the capital, Seoul, to the South.  The first thing my mother did was to take me to the school of the refugees which was in a huge tent.  I recall a lot of difficulties during the war.  After I returned back home to Seoul I spent my boyhood in a parish run by Irish missionaries.  I still vividly remember how my catechist, a German missionary sister, taught me how to pray.  The best moment to pray is when receiving Holy Communion, as the Lord has come into your body.”  He went on to say that the Legion of Mary was the school of formation of the faith for him.  He said of his work for God, “…do not be afraid.  He will be with you.  You are working with Mary for her Son.”

Catholic News Asia recently reported that the Catholic Church in Korea is the fastest growing in Asia with young people on fire for the Lord.  This relatively small country, I think, will some day play an important role in the recovery of the moral compass lost by the West and the communist nations bordering it – if it can staunchly resist the materialistic zeitgeist of our age.

Stories of faith inevitably provide Sabbath Moments for me.

Note: I lifted the cathedral picture from The Marmot’s Hole – Korea…in blog format which I will be visiting more often.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever!

(Click on the link above to read why I end my posts this way.

Offering Mass for the Poor Souls

November is the month in which we Catholics especially remember those who have gone before us to eternal rest but who have need of additional purification before being admitted to heaven.  Monday is the weekday devoted to the Poor Souls throughout the year.

Newsflash: the Catholic Church didn’t invent purgatory.  God did. The practice of praying and offering sacrifice for the Poor Souls, called that because they cannot any longer help themselves to acquire that perfect charity necessary for the beatific vision, actually began among the Jews long before the birth of Christ.

The Latin “purgo” means “to cleanse morally, purify, expiate.” Purgatory refers to the process of final sanctification of the soul who has not been directly admitted to heaven upon death.

The Catholic Church teaches from Sacred Scripture and Tradition that:

1.  We would die separated from Holy God, except:

2.  Jesus died in our place, taking our sins to the cross. Then he rose from the dead, to give us a resurrected life in Heaven.

3.  Those who accept this and seek forgiveness will have their sins removed and will live united with Jesus in Heaven.

4.  Those who understand this yet reject it will die in their sins, unable to enter Heaven, thereby choosing Hell.

5.  The souls who die loving Jesus but have failed to love others fully (what we do unto others we do unto Jesus; see Matt. 25:40) must be purified before they can experience the fullness of Heaven because “nothing unclean shall enter into it” (Rev. 21: 27) When we incur a debt to God through sin, the debt must be fully discharged or we die unclean even though forgiven.

6.  We are all sinners; even after we’ve been freed from Original Sin in our baptisms. We cannot become holy by our own efforts.

The necessity of purgatory can be likened to a man who murders another person, whether in cold blood or by accident.  When he is caught, he either confesses and is sentenced or is tried and found guilty on the evidence.  Even if he apologizes to the family and friends of the one he murdered and is forgiven, he must still go to prison to make atonement for his sin under the law.  If we have not atoned for our sins in this life, God, in his mercy provides for that final purification when we die because Christ opened the gates of heaven for us and we must be in perfect charity with God to enter.

When did the belief in purgatory originate?

It is impossible to say exactly when the Jews began to believe the doctrine of purgatory, but we find references to it in the Old Testament.  In Wis. 3:1-7, God tells us:

“But the souls of the just are in God’s hand; no torment will touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to be dead; their departure was reckoned as defeat, and their going from us a disaster. But they are at peace, for though in the sight of men they may suffer punishment, they have a sure hope of immortality, and after a little chastisement they will receive great blessings, because God has tested them and found them worthy to be His. He put them to the proof like gold in a crucible, and found them acceptable like an offering burnt whole on the altar. In the hour of their judgment they will shine in glory and will sweep over the world like sparks through stubble.”

We find additional allegorical (see my post on How to Get More From Reading the Bible) or outright references to purgatory in Dan. 12:10, Zechariah 13:9, Malachai 3: 2-3, and 2 Maccabees 12: 43-46.  Each of these verses tells of the need for purification or prayers for the dead.

For the sake of validity, we must also say here that all the books of the Old Testament recognized by the Catholic Church were in use and accepted as the Word of God by the Jews a full 200 years before Christ was born. The final ratification of the complete books of the Bible that were in use from the Apostolic age on occurred at the councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397).  The bishops and Fathers of the Church present discerned at those councils the canon of the inspired Word of God and so the Bible remained until the 1500s when various individuals under their own authority began excising books that did not support their new theologies.

Purgatory in the Jewish Tradition

The roots of Christianity are Jewish. Before Christ’s birth Rabbi Shammai (50 BC – AD 30), a key major teacher of early rabbinical Judaism, is on record as having interpreted Zechariah 13:9 as referring to a state of purification after death.  Rabbinic literature interprets Isaiah 66:15-16 and Malachi 3:2-3 as referring to the purgatorial process, and even the Talmud in Sabbath 33b mentions purgatory. [1]

The Jewish historian Josephus commented on the endurance of the Jews under siege in the year 63: “Just as if deep peace enfolded the city, the daily sacrifices, offerings for the dead, and every other act of worship were meticulously carried out to the glory of God” (The Jewish War).

Observant Jews today chant the Kaddish for their loved ones.  The Mourner’s Kaddish asks God’s forgiveness for any sins the departed may have committed, begging Him to grant the departed eternal peace.  The Jews also offer alms and good deeds for the dead as is tradition in the Catholic Church. [2] We can see from this that the belief in purgation after death is very ancient. Jesus and the apostles would have considered the doctrine of purgatory a given and all Jews hearing their words would have understood the meaning just as today nobody needs explanations of Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

The New Testament on purgatory

If the Jews were wrong about their belief in a place of purification, Jesus would have surely corrected this in His preaching. However, He reinforced it, as did Matthew, Paul, Peter, John, and the writer to the Hebrews. In Matthew 5: 26 Jesus says:  “Amen I say to thee, thou shalt not go out from thence till thou repay the last farthing.”

Note that Jesus does not say “until I pay the last farthing for you.”  He justifies us with His blood, and without Him nothing we do of ourselves will merit heaven, but we must take responsibility for our actions and be cleansed before entering the presence of our heavenly Father (Rev. 21: 27).  This cleansing may take place on earth or it will take place after death.

St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 says:

“Every man’s work shall be manifest; for the day of the Lord shall declare it, because it shall be revealed in fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work, of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide, which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work burn, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire.”

The quote is in concordance with the verses of Zechariah and Malachai cited above regarding the refiner’s fire.  Other New Testament references are: Timothy 1:16-18, Hebrews 12:14, Hebrews 12:22-23, 1 Peter 4:6.

Early Christian practices expressing belief in purgatory

Church doctrines derive from the written Word and oral Tradition handed down from the Apostles, the last of whom was John and with whom revelation ended.  The tombs and catacombs of the early Christians contained graffiti or inscriptions with words of petition for peace and rest.  It is also known that the practice in Apostolic times was to use a diptych at the altar which contained the names of the dead to be remembered at Mass.  These practices of the early Church show belief in purgatory because those in heaven have no need for our prayers of supplication on their behalf.

Purification

Saint Catherine of Genoa is known for her treatise on the Poor Souls.  In Fire of Love!: Understanding Purgatory she documents her understanding of the state of souls awaiting the beatific vision.  In a similar mode, Pope Benedict XVI writes of purgatory in Spes Salvi #47 clearly in reference to 1 Cor.:

“Some recent theologians are of the opinion that the fire which both burns and saves is Christ himself, the Judge and Savior. The encounter with him is the decisive act of judgment. Before his gaze all falsehood melts away…. Yet in the pain of this encounter, when the impurity and sickness of our lives become evident to us, there lies salvation. His gaze, the touch of his heart heals us through an undeniably painful transformation “as through fire”. But it is a blessed pain, in which the holy power of his love sears through us like a flame, enabling us to become totally ourselves and thus totally of God. In this way the inter-relation between justice and grace also becomes clear: the way we live our lives is not immaterial, but our defilement does not stain us for ever if we have at least continued to reach out towards Christ, towards truth and towards love. Indeed, it has already been burned away through Christ’s Passion. At the moment of judgment we experience and we absorb the overwhelming power of his love over all the evil in the world and in ourselves. The pain of love becomes our salvation and our joy.” [3]

From both Scripture and Tradition we can say confidently that the doctrine of purgatory is true; some souls do endure a state of final purification because they have not died in perfect charity; it is temporary; the people in this state have been assured of salvation; and we can help them in their purification with our prayers, almsgiving, sacrifices, and good deeds on their behalf.  By remembering the Poor Souls this way, we are exercising charity and participating in the communion of saints which we profess in the Apostles’ Creed.

The Church prays in the Tract of All Souls Day (1962 liturgical books):

Absolve, O Lord, the souls of all the faithful departed from every bond of sin.  And by the help of Thy grace may they be enabled to escape the avenging judgment and enjoy the bliss of everlasting light.

[1] http://www.fisheaters.com/purgatory.html

[2] http://www.yahrzeit.org/qak.html#Catholics%20do

[3] http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20071130_spe-salvi_en.html

Sometimes when we’re exploring something deeply, we need to not only say what something is, but also say what it is not.  That is, differentiate what is from other, perhaps similar things that could cause confusion in our thinking.  This is especially important when we are looking at something that affects our eternal life.  If we end up making false assumptions about our vocation we will inevitably make mistakes in decisions and judgments that will cause us trouble.

What vocations are not

Carpenter at work

Vocations are not occupations. An occupation is what we do for a living and implies certain times when we engage in it and certain times, like vacations or coming home from work, when we don’t.  A married person doesn’t get a vacation from being married and a priest doesn’t get a vacation from being a priest and so on. It is a state in life proper to an individual.  We can change jobs and occupations, but marriage is until death do us part.  A priest is always a priest and a religious with solemn vows is always a religious.  We don’t get time off from our vocations.

An example:

In speaking with priests who were formed in diocesan seminaries of the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, I have heard a number of times that they were trained to think of themselves as social workers and their vocation as an occupation.  The ownership of homes, boats, cabins at nearby lakes and other such worldly things came to be customarily sought after by priests in certain dioceses as a reward for dispensing the sacraments.  Thus, men who were naturally compassionate and caring came to see themselves as a man just like any other man and not one specifically ordained to offer sacrifice and to serve as the alter Christus in a permanent relationship with the Bride of Christ. It became all to easy to justify giving up the sacred priesthood for other pursuits in the same way a married man who starts keeping company with a woman other than his wife justifies divorce.

Michael Rose’s book Goodbye, Good Men: How Liberals Brought Corruption into the Catholic Church gives a fair view of the means by which seminaries lost their focus in forming priests.  It’s reasonable to say that St. John Vianney, patron saint of all priests, would not recognize that formation as leading to a faithful living of the vocation of the sacred priesthood.

Donna Steichen’s Ungodly Rage: The Hidden Face of Catholic Feminism tells the sad story of religious women who lost their understanding of the meaning of their vows as does Anne Carey’s Sisters in Crisis: The Tragic Unraveling of Women’s Religious Communities.

You can read the public records of the civil courts to see case after case of how marriages went wrong, vows were broken, and lives upended because vocations were abandoned.

Sometimes we have to look hard at what goes wrong in following a state in life in order to rediscover the original meaning and purpose of a vocation as opposed to an occupation.

Vocations are not apostolates.

An apostolate is usually associated with a charism – a gift that one uses for the salvation of souls. This is why we can have diocesan priests, religious priests, hermit priests, etc.  Apostolates are exercised under obedience to a superior such as a bishop, religious head such as an abbot or abbess, or director of an institute of apostolic life such as the Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.  An individual may be called by God to exercise a particular apostolate while following his vocation.  Judie Brown, by vocation a married woman, founded American Life League which is her apostolate, for example.

In our lives we may, over time, have many different apostolates.  For awhile my apostolate was to educate people concerning the traditional sacred liturgy and seek the restoration of the 1962 liturgical books according to the wishes of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.  Before that I had an apostolate as director of sacred music at a parish while I fulfilled my occupation as a professional photographer living in the married state.  Now my apostolate is this blog.

In our vocations, our occupations, and our apostolates the one thing common to all is doing God’s will, cultivating a solid prayer life, and exercising self denial in imitation of Christ.  We will always have problems to overcome, days of darkness and feelings of despondency, and moments of great joy.  It’s all part of the journey to eternal life.  The one thing we don’t and mustn’t do is put our hands to the plow and then look back (Lk. 9:62).

The next post in this series will probe the process of discernment of one’s vocation.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever. Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

One of the biggest challenges to us in our lives as Christians is doing God’s will, listening to His voice, and trusting in His loving leadership.  Our fallen nature is selfish and narcissistic.  Through living out our vocation we obtain the necessary graces to keep ourselves in check.  So what are the states in life that God might call us to?

Vocations in the Church

Broadly speaking we can identify six distinct vocations God uses to bring about His plans for the salvation of souls:

1.  The sacred priesthood which also includes permanent deacons.

2.  The religious life

3.  The married life

4.  Consecrated virgins

5.  Hermits

6.  The single life

God’s grace enables us

Since God never asks the impossible from anyone, we can rightfully assume that whatever vocation He calls us to, He will generously provide all the necessary graces to fulfill it. Some vocations look nearly impossible to fulfill, especially when examined through the lens of the world. Really, who wants to be a hermit and not have access to radio, TV, movies, parties, hot cars and gourmet foods?  Who wants to go into a convent or monastery and be told when to get up, when to eat, when to be silent, what to do, who to associate with, and, if contemplative, be locked behind walls and only go out in public to the doctor or dentist?

As long as we’re on the subject, who wants to be told to stick with a spouse through thick and thin, never look at the opposite sex with lust, raise a bunch of kids, pay for their schooling, change messy diapers, wipe bloody noses, worry about paying bills, keep the children out of trouble with bad companions, put up with irritating habits of a spouse, etc.?  My point is, every single vocation has its corresponding sacrifices and unattractive aspects as well as its appeal to those called to it.

If any of us had to live our vocations without God’s help we would fail miserably.  The grass is never greener on the other side of the fence no matter how delicious it looks.  But if we are already on that other side, it is indeed delicious and nutritious if that’s where we belong.

Sequential vocations

God does call certain people to more than one vocation as their life goes on, but the call is always to build on the past and take on the more difficult in terms of personal sacrifice and the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience. For example, God may call a widower who has met all his family responsibilities to his children to enter the sacred priesthood.  He may call a married man to the permanent diaconate.  In both cases, the new calling exacts more renunciation of self for the many than the first.  A woman or man in religious life or the sacred priesthood may be called to the solitary life of the hermit.  The renunciation of life in community is for an even stricter way of living.

God does not revoke a calling nor does He issue a new calling that would cause an abandonment of the duties and obligations of one’s current state in life. I think often of the several times St. John Vianney began a trip to abandon his parish and seek entrance to the cloister.  In each case, he turned back, recognizing a temptation from the devil.

The heart of all vocations

The heart of all callings is obedience: to God’s will, His laws, the laws of the Church, one’s superior or spiritual director, and the two great commandments.  We can’t be obedient if we’re not humble and and if we’re not humble we will always think we know more than we really do, leading to spiritual blindness and a rebellious spirit.

One of the most important things we can do to stay focused and resolute in answering God’s call is to pray often, live simply, and put the good of others ahead of our own as Christ did.  Then our vocation is truly a path to sanctification as God intends.

Our next post will explore what vocations are not.

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever. Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

This is the first in a series of posts on vocations: what they are, are not, and how to discern one, prompted by a video and post at Evan’s Cove titled Monday Message.  I hope readers will find this series useful whenever the subject of vocations comes up, and that it may even prompt an exploration of some of these callings on a personal level.

In recent weeks I posted on the vocations of the consecrated virgin and the hermit, something I’ve had in the back of my mind to do for some time.  Afterwards it occurred to me that the word “vocation” ought to be defined.  We use the word freely in the Church, but I’ve found that it doesn’t mean the same thing to everybody. Yet the Church does have a defined meaning.  It just takes a little digging to find it.

When I looked at the Catechism of the Catholic Church I saw the word used, but not defined.  Same with the Baltimore Catechism, the Catholic Encyclopedia and Father John Hardon, S.J.’s most excellent The Catholic Catechism: A Contemporary Catechism of the Teachings of the Catholic Church.

However, Father Hardon’s Pocket Catholic Dictionary does define vocation:

A call from God to a distinctive state of life, in which the person can reach holiness.  The Second Vatican Council made it plain that there is a “universal call [vocatio] to holiness in the Church” (Lumen Gentium, 39).

Prior to 1965, in Catholic schools and parishes the word “vocation” was used exclusively to mean a calling to the sacred priesthood or the religious life.  We had a general idea what hermits were, but thought they had died out centuries ago, while the vocation of the consecrated virgin actually had disappeared.  Nobody referred to the married state or the single state as a vocation.  Lumen Gentium reawakened vocation’s Biblical meaning.  The 1983 Code of Canon Law, the final Vatican II document, along with liturgical rites proper to most vocations give structural clarity to the various distinctive callings.

The Spiritual Meaning of Vocation

The Calling of St. Matthew, 1621, Hendrick Terbrugghen (b. 1588, Deventer, d. 1629, Utrecht), oil on canvas, Centraal Museum, Utrecht

The word “vocation” comes from the Latin noun vocation meaning “a calling, a summoning”, derived from the Latin verb vocare, meaning “to call.”  The Person who summons us is God. If we don’t understand this basic idea, we aren’t going to understand why marriage is “until death do us part” and why priests and religious cannot abandon their calling for whatever reason.  The Church takes the meaning of vocation so seriously, only the Apostolic See can dispense some religious from their vows, laicize a priest, or declare a marital union “null.”

In The Catholic Catechism: A Contemporary Catechism of the Teachings of the Catholic Church Father Hardon writes on page 433:

In the Catholic Tradition, holiness has always been mainly and pre-eminently the result of God’s gracious mercy.  “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you” [Jn. 15:16] is written large across the portals of the Church’s history of sanctity.  Nevertheless, though divine grace is prior and paramount, it is not isolated from man’s free response and much less coercive of his deeply personal liberty. No doubt Christ called the apostles to follow Him, but they had to decide to follow him. Their commitment was the answer to His vocation.  And the tasks to which He called them became their mission from Him to the world they were to evangelize in His name.

Vocations are personal

Everybody has a vocation.  But if we dig deeper into the matter of vocation, we cannot escape the fact that our vocation is completely personal and individual. God infused a soul into us at the very moment our parents cooperated with Him in our creation – when the sperm and egg united to form us.  He chose our parents, the exact time and country we were to be born into, our particular sex, the talents He gave us, and all with one purpose in mind: that we should one day join Him in heaven and that through our life on this earth we should bring others to know, love, and serve Him so that they might gain heaven, too (cf. Is. 49:1, 5-6, Mt. 5:14).

God intended from the moment of our creation the specific vocation He has called us to.  We have, by our free will, the ability to refuse Him and go do our own thing, but if we turn God down, we will not receive certain graces He intended for us had we followed His call, and we will also not be a source of grace to those He intended for us to meet and serve had we answered His call.

Can we go to heaven by going our own way?  Yes, but it’s going to be a lot harder.  Why mess up a perfectly good arrangement intended by a loving God whose plans are always perfect for us? The Master Planner has His reasons for everything and those reasons are not only for our personal good but for the common good of all mankind. While God can always bring good out of evil and bring a positive effect out of our mistakes, wouldn’t  it be better not to make it necessary for God to fix something we broke? Therefore, discerning one’s vocation is a matter to be taken most seriously and one we will take up in another post after we explore the subject of vocations a little more.

Want to subscribe to posts by email? Visit the third box in the sidebar.

V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever. Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

Welcome to Sunday Snippets, a meme hosted by RAnn at This That and the Other Thing. Please join us at her place to read other Catholic bloggers’ posts for the week.

26 Martyrs is a link to a trailer for a short that will accompany All That Remains.  The animators have done a great job bringing this small part of Church history to us.

A Hermit in Our Midst is about the vocation of present day hermits. This first person account opens a window onto something rare but growing in the Church today.

Sabbath Moments mentions a few times this week when God was with us in a special way.

God bless all my readers and have a beautiful Sunday.

St. Basil the Young, hermit, d. 952

In the November, 2006 issue of Una Voce Arkansas Ozarks Regional Newsletter I published an article by Sister Judith Ann Marie, h.s., a hermit in the Little Rock diocese. I’m offering it again here to prompt more thinking about this particular vocation which seems to be on the rise again in the Church.

A religious hermit or solitary is ordinarily understood to be a religious living alone (not in community) – who according to Canon Law 603 ” …is recognized in law as one dedicated to God in a consecrated life if he or she publicly professes the three evangelical counsels (poverty, chastity, and obedience)…into the hands of the diocesan bishop (who is the superior according to obedience); and observes his or her own rule of life under his direction”.  In addition “they devote their life to the praise of God and salvation of the world through stricter separation (not in community or bound in community life); the silence of solitude (not using radio, television or even music for companionship); prayer and penance”.

The spiritual life of the hermit has always involved to a great extent

1) a profound liturgical life;

2) meditation upon Holy Scriptures (the Word of God – The Tablets);

3) adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (The Manna); 4) devotion to the Mother of God (Ark of Covenant).

The hermit life was the very first form of religious life and dates back to the early centuries of the Church. This vocation to silence and solitude witnesses to the fact that life is not measured by doing but by being. The work of prayer and penance is not only for the local church (the local parish/diocese in which the hermit resides), but for Christ’s Body everywhere. This vocation as all Christian vocations, calls each one to holiness of life.

The life of the hermit is not mystical or “otherworldly”- just as the life of those who called to religious life in community (whether active or contemplative), is not mystical or “otherworldly”.  My “work” is to pray and do penance for the glory of God, for salvation of souls and to “strive” toward total transformation into the likeness of Christ.  This is the vocation of all Christian Catholics – to be transformed into the likeness of Christ.  In addition, I have been called to dedicate this vocation for the sanctification and salvation of priests and for a greater outpouring of holy vocations to the priesthood. [Sister's personal charism.]

In the Diocese of Little Rock, there are three publicly vowed hermitesses.  Each one lives in a different part of the diocese.  We have been formed in religious communities prior to being called to this life and have spent several years in formation for the eremitic vocation prior to making our solemn vows.

During this time of formation and discernment – we develop a Rule and way of living that rule which governs our daily life. As the life is lived, this rule gets fine-tuned.   The Bishop must approve the Rule and Way of Life prior to public profession as hermit. This rule and plan of life spells out our daily “horarium” – what we do and how we do it (even the limitations of social interaction).  The Rule and Plan of life spells out how and when to communicate; the work we may do to support ourselves as well as all other decisions that come with daily living.

Why this life, many might ask?  Simply because one hears God’s call and in love respond to the small voice calling within. The hermit is not an escapist running away from the responsibilities of the world.  We remain part of the world even as we pray, do penance and live that silence of solitude for our brothers and sisters all over the world.

Solitude is not a method for achieving anything.  It is simply an expression of one’s total gift of self to God. There is a risk to saying yes to this life.  Unlike those vowed to communal life, there is no security. We have no salary, no insurance, except through the work of our hands. At one time Christian hermits could take themselves to the desert or claim a bit of land and subsist.  This is not possible in our day because someone owns the land, the cave or the desert.

How to assure income and not be a burden and remaining “apart” is a constant struggle.

Some hermits produce crafts to support themselves (as I do).  Others are able to use other skills learned – such as doing work on a computer in the hermitage.  One hermit in Philadelphia rides his bike (his only means of transportation) to work one day a week and lives in a house he bought years ago for $1.00 that he has renovated!

When I entered a cloistered community years ago, my intention was – with God’s help – to remain there until death.  But over a period of time, I began to hear a voice calling – and like Samuel, one I did not recognize at first.  But with spiritual counsel and discernment, I finally was able to “hear” the call to solitude and to be “alone with the Alone”.   I was given permission to test the call to the eremitic life.  I was given three years to make a decision.

Thirteen years ago I came to Arkansas to begin “my novitiate” and to “test this call” to the eremitic life.  A year later, I wrote to the community, thanking them for helping me to discern God’s voice – that I would not need the three years, and to be released from vows.  (One cannot be in vows within community and make additional vows under a Bishop).

The “vocation within the vocation” had been confirmed.  Nine years ago on Divine Mercy Sunday, I made solemn vows as a hermit in the Diocese of Little Rock.   Spring of 2004, it became necessary to find a new hermitage.  After prayer and discernment with Bishop Sartain the final decision to come to St. Michael’s was made after a parishioner donated land to build the hermitage.  Aside from the donation of the land, the major reason for coming to St. Michael’s was because of Perpetual Adoration. And this alone makes St.Michael’s is a very special Parish – as many of you already know.  Along with Perpetual Adoration, there is available within the Parish so many different ways of living our faith/spirituality.  God has given so many such deep desires to grow and mature in the Lord.  This parish is so full of life.  It is a family of deep faith and commitment.

The hermit stands before God with arms outstretched – seeking to lead others to that same prayer of silence, penance and compassion.  I leave you with a quote from another hermit monk Thomas Merton: “Unless we learn to listen in silence, we shall have nothing to say that is worth saying.  Our lives are so cluttered with words that we no longer know how to handle silence.  For our society, silence is simply a fruitless pause between words rather than a creative movement out of which deep and authentic words may emerge.  If our life is poured out in useless words, we will never hear anything, will never become anything, and in the end, because we have said everything before we had anything to say, we shall be left speechless.”

N.B. “h.s.”after Sister’s name stands for “hermit sister”.  A man would be “h.b.”, “hermit brother”.

Do you know of any hermits in your diocese?  Do you know someone who you could point in the direction of this vocation?

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V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever. Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

On September 26 I wrote about All That Remains, a film in the making about Dr. Paul Takashi Nagai whose cause for sainthood is advancing through the efforts of the diocese of Nagasaki, Japan. Accompanying this film is an animated  short titled 26 Martyrs.

Click on the link to see the trailer of the companion film to All That Remains. The art and music is beautiful.

The history of Catholicism in Japan begins in Nagasaki and the story of the 26 martyrs links over the centuries to the life of Dr. Nagai, as it does to all Catholics who kept the faith through the hundreds of years when the Shogun forbade its  practice and banished the missionaries.

If today we didn’t have access to priests and the sacraments, were denied free assembly to practice our faith, and were killed for being Christian, would we be able to pass on our faith and remain steadfast as long as the Nagasaki Catholics did? Would we be prepared to die or would we compromise?  The story of Christianity surviving in Japan is one of the most remarkable in the history of the Church and one we may, in the not too distant future in America, be required to imitate.

Want to subscribe to posts by email? Visit the third box in the sidebar.

V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever. Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

Welcome to Sunday Snippets, a meme hosted by RAnn at This That and the Other Thing.  I’ve met so many really neat bloggers participating in this roundup, and learned a lot, too.  Why not join us with your contributions and comments?

This week I excerpted some of Dom Guéranger, O.S.B.’s exegesis on last Sunday’s Gospel, The Man Sick of Palsy. Any time I can understand the Bible better, it’s exciting and my prayer life improves.  The post led me to dust off an old article and rewrite it for this blog on How to Get More from Reading the Bible.

I’ve been meaning for quite some time to write about The Vocation of the Consecrated Virgin, something the Church revived in 1970.  If you’ve never heard of it, don’t be surprised.  I hadn’t either until I met one and we got to talking.  Every diocese should have as many of these wonderful women as possible.

At Sabbath Moments I wrote a little about friendship with God and our apostolate as Christians.

Finally, the Rule of St. Benedict prompted me to write a short post on Refraining from Doing Good? A quote from St. Bernard puts everything into perspective.

God bless all my readers.

Want to subscribe to posts by email? Visit the third box in the sidebar.

V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever. Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)