Holiday Time Off

As we take time out for family and friends during this Christmas Season (and New Years) there are likely to be many times that we are placed in social situations where we are likely to be asked to defend or explain why we are Catholic.  I would hope that we can all come up with some pretty good reasons (how many can you think of?) after the study that we are undertaking on Apologetics.  In our never ending hunt for new information on "things Catholic" the following blog entry turned up today on New Advent:

http://www.ourcatholicfaith.org/reasons.html

This is titled "150 Reasons I'm Catholic, and You Should Be Too" by Dave Armstrong.
I am going to link his blog site to this one, as it has a wealth of information on it.  Please have a look at this and pull it up on your computer.  If you read it there you can click on the Bible verses referenced and they will pop up for you!  Neat!!

During our time off I do hope to get to finish up a list of blog and web site links for this web site so that they will all be in one place for you.

I hope that you all will take a little time out of your busy days and/or evenings for a little reflection on why you are Catholic, on what it means in your daily life, and on what you are doing to share this most important part of your life with those closest to you.

Have a Blessed Christmas! (and of course, A Happy New Year!!)

SLG

Visibly Catholic

As Christians, and as Catholics in particular, we are called to a life of constant prayer.  We are to continually engage in a dialog with our Heavenly Father, and with his only son Our Lord, and with the Holy Spirit.  Or at least try to!  It is not an easy task and we, the children of God, are more often continually distracted (instead of engaged) as we deal with our existence in this worldly world of ours.  Fortunately for us our Catholic Faith provides many opportunities and mechanisms for us to, often with a simple glance, redirect our focus toward God.

Last week I asked us to consider the phrase "and you call yourself a Catholic" for discussion.  We had a wonderful dialog about this yesterday which I will summarize below.  As I thought this over afterward, particularly with regard to the significance of the content of our discussion, it became clear to me that what we are really asking ourselves in this question is "how active is your prayer life?"  We have a wonderful set of customs and traditions available at our disposal, not for the purpose of "showing off" (Matt 6:5), but for assisting us in re-directing and focusing our thoughts and prayers Heavenward.  This is often totally misunderstood by our Protestant brothers and sisters.

As we go through our day we should be visibly Catholic as a consequence of our reliance on and love for God.  It should show forth to all (Matt 5:14-16) we meet.  Clearly a tall order and a lofty goal for sure, and how often we fall woefully short!  So here is our list (from the discussion).  These are the things we Catholics can keep about us to help put us back on track as we go through our day.  I have organized it by location.

Home:
Crucifix
Holy Water font
Icons
Statues of Mary, Martha and other favorite saints
Rosary
Brown Scapular
Holy Palms
Picture of the Pope
Bible and CCC
Library
Catholic periodicals and other reading materials
see office below

Car:
Rosary
Statue or medal, St. Christopher
Brown Scapular
Bumper Stickers
Candles (Advent wreath, votives)
CDs (Lighthouse and others)
Catholic Radio
Judy's patented Spiritual First Aid Kit
Holy Water
Crushed Palms
Scapular
Rosary

Office:
See home above
Desk top on computer
Home page
Programs
Background music

Activities:
Sign of the Cross
Prayer at meals
Pray Rosary

Jewelry and Apparel:
Crucifix
Miraculous Medal
Brown Scapular
Tee shirts
Headcovering in Church/home for prayer

Conversations:
Mention your Faith
Be light-hearted when called for
Show the joy and love of The Faith
See Christ in others and respond


So the question "and you call yourself a Catholic" has evolved to "which of these will assist me in having a more active and vibrant prayer life as I go through my day?"  Have a good look at the list and see if there is something you can add to your environment that will remind you of your Faith and will bring you, with a short thoughtful glance, closer to the presence of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

In his new book "Signs of Life" Dr. Scott Hahn discusses 40 Catholic Customs and their Biblical Roots.  We often know that what we have and do is distinctly Catholic, but really do not know much about the origins and significance of these things.  This wonderful, very readable, book by Hahn can help with this and makes a wonderful addition to your library!

So go have fun, and exude the enjoyment of your Faith and your prayer life!  Go be a light!  Our modern culture needs all the light it can get!

SLG

And You Call Yourself a Christian!

In my pagan college days I had a friend who lived on the same floor of my dorm who was a PK (preacher's kid).  He was tall, gangly, very smart and great fun to be with.  He was, however, a typical PK away from home and testing the limits of his new found freedom.  As most of us were prone to do, he was often doing something that was distinctly NOT in keeping with his Christian up-bringing.  We all took singular delight in pointing out what he, or anyone else for that matter, had done and always included the phrase "and you call yourself a Christian!" at the very end.  It got to the point that the phrase was all that was ever said.....the rest was understood and I am ashamed to admit how much "fun" we considered this to be.

Fast forward a few (I shall not count them up for fear of breaking the calculator) years to our discussion last week at OLM.  We started out discussing schism and apostasy, including what it means to truly be a Catholic, and ended up musing on how we can share our Faith with others.

  

Barb and I were discussing this on the way to Atlanta Sunday afternoon and she reminded me of a story from her childhood.  She had been to a party where some of the children present were Catholic.  She mentioned this to her mother when she got home and asked how she could tell who they were.  She remembers being told "you cannot tell someone is Catholic by looking at them".  Really?  Sadly, this is, for the most part, true.  But should it be true?

So I ask all of us to ponder this phrase....."and you call yourself a Catholic!".  So what does that mean to you?  How do you show it, or do you hide it?  On Fridays during Football season many of us are readily recognizable as a Vol, a Bulldog or a even as a, forgive me..... Gator.  Are we ever as visibly Catholic to the rest of our little world up here on Lookout Mountain or down off of the mountain while at at work?  If so, how, and if not, why not?

So let us give some thought to these questions and spend some time this coming week discussing the visibility of our Catholic Faith to those around us.

SLG

A Different Slant on the Tiger Woods Scandal

Here is the text of and link to a blog post I found on New Advent today.  

Personally Opposed

My Name is Tiger Woods. As many of you may have heard by now, I have been publicly accused of having numerous affairs with multiple women who are not my wife. Now, while we all might agree that adultery is not a desirable thing, we must recognize that it is often a difficult choice in the life of a man.

Sometimes, through no fault of his own, a man can find himself in a difficult marriage. He is sometimes faced with the difficult choice of staying faithful to his Swedish bikini model wife or committing adultery with barmaids and hostesses. This is particularly true for professional athletes.

There are those who think that they know what is best for every pro-athlete or even a regular man. There are women in high places, I think particularly of some female Buick Executives, who think they know what what every man should do in this situation. These women, who have never played professional sport at any level and cannot possibly understand the temptations, think they know what is best for ALL pro athletes. While some men may be in the position where they can choose to stay faithful, other men feel must make the difficult decision to commit adultery.

Now, while I am personally opposed to adultery, I do not believe that I can impose my anti-adultery views on the pro athlete community at large. I believe it is perfectly fine for a person to be privately anti-adultery, but as a prominent athlete I must be publicly pro-choice.

Some Buick executives suggest that because of my public position on adultery that they can threaten to withhold my paychecks because they say that I am in violation of the morality clauses of my contract. This is very unfortunate. I have been associated with Buick for many years and consider myself a Buick spokesman regardless of their threats. I am a Buick spokesman in good standing and to suggest otherwise simply because I am publicly pro-choice on adultery is ridiculous.

My contract states that I must be anti-adultery, and so I accept my contract. But this is a private contract and should have no bearing on the public policy I support or on my public behavior.

Perhaps, rather than trying to dictate to every pro-athlete how they should live their lives, Buick should just concentrate on making cars.

* * *

Sounds just as silly when Catholic politicians make the same argument about abortion.

POSTED BY PATRICK ARCHBOLD AT 11:20 PM 

Link:  http://www.creativeminorityreport.com/2009/12/personally-opposed.html

SLG

Manhattan Declaration

Recently there has been much happening in the news to give us concern regarding the direction our country and our culture is heading.  There is, at least for me, a sense of futility that comes over me when I look at the big picture around here.  But then again we are called to be hopeful and now and then we are given a chance to do some small thing that will, perhaps, make a difference as we try to "fight back" and actually put in to practice our Catholic beliefs.
One of those things is to go to this web site (http://manhattandeclaration.org/) and sign the Declaration, which now has almost 200,000 signatures, one of which is mine.  It only takes about 10 seconds to do this. Please add another 15-20 seconds and forward this to as many folks as you can think of!  There is no reason that we should not be using the internet to promote OUR values!  If you have not heard of this here is a link to Catholic Exchange that has a short article with an explanation of this document.  (http://catholicexchange.com/2009/11/28/124490/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+catholicex+%28Catholic+Exchange%29)
Have a Blessed Day
SLG

A VERY Unappetizing Lunch

So…... today over lunch in the docs lounge I was acosted (not too strong a term, I believe) with questions about the Catholic priest who fathered a child out of wedlock for whom the church paid "hush money" to the mother for years in order to keep the woman involved quiet and to avoid scandal.  How could this be?  "The church that did this is not a church" pontificated one of my advesaries.  Now the child and the mother both have cancer and the Church refuses to help!  What did I think about that??  See, this proves that you Catholics have it all wrong and that priests should be allowed to marry.  Celibacy is un-natural and absurd.  This is what comes of it….On top of it all the priest did not have anything bad happen to him at all.  He was re-assigned and continues to perform his job and has not suffered in the least…..what did I think of that????........and on and on and on.

Having NO clue about what they were talking about I said so and was told that this was all over the news!  I needed to get with it!….no surprise there!  Anytime there is a hint of scandal in the Catholic Church the jackals in the press are running all over the place to put the worst possible spin on it.

Long story short I did what I could, in acknowleged total ignorance of the actual facts of the matter, to defend MY FAITH and MY CHURCH.

Here is the link to the New York Times (a well-known paragon of journalistic even-handedness, truth and virtue!  Keep in mind it recently ignored the story of an Orthodox rabbi in similar straits) story on this:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/16/us/16priest.html

So there are the "facts".  What would you have said?  More importantly,  What will you say?*

We shall discuss this on Sunday.  Please come prepared with your thoughts!

SLG

*I ask this because if you are doing what you are supposed to be doing (living openly the life of a faithful Catholic) you will be asked.  Perhaps it will come out of concern for your immortal soul by one of our Protestant brothers or sisters, or maybe by one of the unchurched out there who is actually curious, or possibly by someone just hoping to "stir the pot" and start up a good argument, but come it should.  Just a thought.

Ordination and Priesthood, Bonus.... Bishop Tobin

I will be out of town, and Mark Anderson has graciously agreed to take the class this coming Sunday.

We will have a look at:

Ordination and Priesthood

         Oatis pg. 26-29

         This is a very timely topic as this is the “Year of the Priest” in the Church.   Come prepared to delve in to the scriptural basis for the Catholic position on this topic and the answer to the question….

         “Why do you all need a priest??….all I need is me and Jesus.”

_______________________________________________________

Bonus:

I read this letter to Rep. Kennedy from Bishop Tobin today via the link on New Advent.  I am copying it in toto and including the link to Bishop Tobin (http://thericatholic.com/opinion/detail.html?sub_id=2632)

for your consideration.  

I found this letter to be a wonderful challenge and I think that it deserves a considered and heartfelt reading by all of us.  What does it really mean to us to call ourselves Catholic?  How will we live this out in our daily lives?  What sort of witness for our Faith do we provide for those with whom we come in contact in our increasingly secular society?  What is the cost to us?  You know, it is only going to get more expensive as time goes on.   We hold a treasured deposit of faith and we are going to be increasingly challenged to hold fast to it.  It may not be as public as this is, but it is none the less real and no less important even here on Lookout Mountain.   So here is the letter:

Dear Congressman Kennedy:

“The fact that I disagree with the hierarchy on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic.” (Congressman Patrick Kennedy)

Since our recent correspondence has been rather public, I hope you don’t mind if I share a few reflections about your practice of the faith in this public forum. I usually wouldn’t do that – that is speak about someone’s faith in a public setting – but in our well-documented exchange of letters about health care and abortion, it has emerged as an issue. I also share these words publicly with the thought that they might be instructive to other Catholics, including those in prominent positions of leadership.

For the moment I’d like to set aside the discussion of health care reform, as important and relevant as it is, and focus on one statement contained in your letter of October 29, 2009, in which you write, “The fact that I disagree with the hierarchy on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic.” That sentence certainly caught my attention and deserves a public response, lest it go unchallenged and lead others to believe it’s true. And it raises an important question: What does it mean to be a Catholic?

“The fact that I disagree with the hierarchy on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic.” Well, in fact, Congressman, in a way it does. Although I wouldn’t choose those particular words, when someone rejects the teachings of the Church, especially on a grave matter, a life-and-death issue like abortion, it certainly does diminish their ecclesial communion, their unity with the Church. This principle is based on the Sacred Scripture and Tradition of the Church and is made more explicit in recent documents.

For example, the “Code of Canon Law” says, “Lay persons are bound by an obligation and possess the right to acquire a knowledge of Christian doctrine adapted to their capacity and condition so that they can live in accord with that doctrine.” (Canon 229, #1)

The “Catechism of the Catholic Church” says this: “Mindful of Christ’s words to his apostles, ‘He who hears you, hears me,’ the faithful receive with docility the teaching and directives that their pastors give them in different forms.” (#87)

Or consider this statement of the Church: “It would be a mistake to confuse the proper autonomy exercised by Catholics in political life with the claim of a principle that prescinds from the moral and social teaching of the Church.” (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 2002)

There’s lots of canonical and theological verbiage there, Congressman, but what it means is that if you don’t accept the teachings of the Church your communion with the Church is flawed, or in your own words, makes you “less of a Catholic.”

But let’s get down to a more practical question; let’s approach it this way: What does it mean, really, to be a Catholic? After all, being a Catholic has to mean something, right?

Well, in simple terms – and here I refer only to those more visible, structural elements of Church membership – being a Catholic means that you’re part of a faith community that possesses a clearly defined authority and doctrine, obligations and expectations. It means that you believe and accept the teachings of the Church, especially on essential matters of faith and morals; that you belong to a local Catholic community, a parish; that you attend Mass on Sundays and receive the sacraments regularly; that you support the Church, personally, publicly, spiritually and financially.

Congressman, I’m not sure whether or not you fulfill the basic requirements of being a Catholic, so let me ask: Do you accept the teachings of the Church on essential matters of faith and morals, including our stance on abortion? Do you belong to a local Catholic community, a parish? Do you attend Mass on Sundays and receive the sacraments regularly? Do you support the Church, personally, publicly, spiritually and financially?

In your letter you say that you “embrace your faith.” Terrific. But if you don’t fulfill the basic requirements of membership, what is it exactly that makes you a Catholic? Your baptism as an infant? Your family ties? Your cultural heritage?

Your letter also says that your faith “acknowledges the existence of an imperfect humanity.” Absolutely true. But in confronting your rejection of the Church’s teaching, we’re not dealing just with “an imperfect humanity” – as we do when we wrestle with sins such as anger, pride, greed, impurity or dishonesty. We all struggle with those things, and often fail.

Your rejection of the Church’s teaching on abortion falls into a different category – it’s a deliberate and obstinate act of the will; a conscious decision that you’ve re-affirmed on many occasions. Sorry, you can’t chalk it up to an “imperfect humanity.” Your position is unacceptable to the Church and scandalous to many of our members. It absolutely diminishes your communion with the Church.

Congressman Kennedy, I write these words not to embarrass you or to judge the state of your conscience or soul. That’s ultimately between you and God. But your description of your relationship with the Church is now a matter of public record, and it needs to be challenged. I invite you, as your bishop and brother in Christ, to enter into a sincere process of discernment, conversion and repentance. It’s not too late for you to repair your relationship with the Church, redeem your public image, and emerge as an authentic “profile in courage,” especially by defending the sanctity of human life for all people, including unborn children. And if I can ever be of assistance as you travel the road of faith, I would be honored and happy to do so.

Sincerely yours,

Thomas J. Tobin

Bishop of Providence

This week and last

Well folks we have begun to delve in to Apologetics a little more deeply. Last week we finished up our 2 weeks on Sola Scriptura, and this week we had an abbreviated class due to the fundraising breakfast (which was GREAT, by the way!). Today we did discuss "Vain Repetition" and "Crucifixes" using this outline:

____________________________________________________________________

Tebow Time: Col 3:23

“Whatever you do, do from the heart, as for the Lord and not for others,”

Vain Repetition

Mt. 6:7 “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words.”

Response?

We are NOT praying like pagans, but instead like the heavenly hosts who are shown in Scripture to be constantly singing God’s praises…see Rev. 4:8

Oatis pg 87

Hahn* pg 227

Crucifixes

Why do you Catholics always have Crucifixes above the alter and everywhere else for that matter?

Response?

Symbol of the Paschal Mystery …..to share in the victory of the resurrection we must unite our suffering with that of the Lord in his passion.

Oatis pg 90

Hahn* pg. 169

*Scott Hahn’s new book: “Signs of Life 40 Catholic Customs and their Biblical Roots”

____________________________________________________________________

For the non-Gators in the group, ie most of you, Tebow (Tim Tebow) is the quarterback of the currently #1 Florida Gators. He always has a Bible verse painted on the blackout below his eyes.....there for all to see on National TV! Quite a witness to the Faith!!

Here is a link (http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/oct/17/tim-tebows-religion-on-the-field/) to a short article about this remarkable young man. In addition to all of this he is really a marvelous football player and is fun to watch! So even if you are not a Florida fan you might want to have a look at him play this year, as it is his senior year at Florida.

____________________________________________________________________

One final thing....in the discussion on the Crucifix this am it was pointed out that we need to be reminded of the suffering our Lord went through for our individual salvation. We are united to Christ in our suffering. It is the only way to make any sense of it really. Here is a quote from Pope Benedict to contemplate:

The ability to accept and weather suffering is a fundamental condition for succeeding as a human being. Where it is never learned, existence is doomed to failure. Being up-in-arms about everyone and everything contaminates the ground of the soul, so to speak, and turns it into barren land. The priest must learn how to cope with pain -- formerly one spoke of asceticism in this context. No one likes this word any longer; it becomes more palatable when we translate it from Greek into English -- training. Everyone knows that without training and the will-power that goes with it there is no success. Nowadays one trains for all kinds of skills with enthusiasm and persistence, and in this way record performances in many areas are possible that were once deemed inconceivable. Why does it seem so outlandish to train for real life, for the right life -- to practice the arts of self-denial, of self-control, and of freeing ourselves from our addictions? Pope Benedict XVI

Class on October 25

All

We will be out of town at the 7th Annual Deep in History Conference in Columbus, Ohio this weekend. This is put on by the Coming Home Network International and Marcus Grodi. The title is "The Pillar and Bulwark". We are really looking forward to this and will bring a full report. In the meantime, Judy Anderson has graciously agreed to lead the session after Mass this coming Sunday. Our topic will be Sola Scriptura and we will look at some of the passages listed in Oatis starting on page 122. We will likely continue this for a couple of weeks, and I will do what I can to bring back a distillation of the conference for you all as well.

Anyway, have a wonderful week and I will see you all next time. Please come to class on Sunday ready to discuss this with Judy! Have fun!

SLG

Fr. Barron on Protestantism and Authority

I just found a wonderful 8 minute discussion by Fr. Barron on Protestantism and Authority. It ties in very well with our discussion this morning.

Please have a look at if you can. Copy and paste in to your browser.

Here is the youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWYwBDqFsuE

He has some wonderful short videos on his website, and he is very clear in his thinking and develops his ideas using logic and thoughtful analogies.

I am going to add his site to our links list at some point (it is getting late and I am tired!), but for now here it is: http://www.wordonfire.org/

Getting Started

Well folks, here is our own little blog out there on the World Wide Web for all to see. It is my hope that this will be a useful tool for all of us in our study of the Catholic faith. Please check in to the Blog regularly and I will be sending you, via email, the blog postings. In the future this will replace the emails that I have been sending in hopes that this will be more efficent. Please feel free to decline and we can certainly remove you from the list. I do hope, however, that you will stay and participate not only in the class meetings and discussions but here as well. There is a comment section and I would love to see it used for such, including questions that you would like to see addressed, comments on specific topics that you find of interest, suggestions on web sites or other material to link this blog to and whatever else suits your fancy. This could include images, as I can certainly post some of those as well if you will be so kind as to send me a digital file of same. I will be adding more material to the site soon, including some great links.