A New Form Within

We, as Catholics, are often looked upon like we are a little bit crazy. We have the men who walk around in robes, wear funny, pointed hats and never marry; we even have ladies who shave off their hair before donning head coverings and vowing never to leave their cloistered environments. But the thing that sends people over the edge, when it comes to the Catholic faith, is the fact that they think we worship a piece of bread.

As a child, I had a fascination with that round, white thing that everyone but me was getting to eat at Church. I asked many questions to my parents, teachers, and our Priest. I was told it was Jesus but couldn’t figure out how he could be in all those little, white, wafers at the same time. My mind wasn’t able to comprehend the teachings about the Eucharist so, as I grew up, I received it and believed it, because I was told it was so.

God is mysterious and has presented himself to us in many ways. When we read the Old Testament, God appeared to Moses in a burning bush; yet, didn’t burn up the bush. He appeared to the Israelites escaping from Egypt as a pillar of fire to guide them. In the Gospel of Luke, the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove, and at Pentecost as tongues of fire upon the Apostles. God takes “another form” because we, as human beings, need a familiar or earthly form to wrap our minds around the complex being that is God.

When God made a covenant with Abraham and asked him to leave the comfort of his home and travel to a foreign land, Abraham listened to God and believed. The covenant was established with a sacrifice of animals and the shedding of their blood. God even tested Abraham’s faith with asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac (who was around 30 some years old and could have easily fought off his father) but was spared. The faith of both Abraham and the willing faith of his son Isaac to be a “type” of Jesus, knowing that God could bring Isaac back to life and having such all-consuming faith in God, shows us that we should have the same strength of faith.

When God sent Jesus to be in human form, it was for our benefit. Jesus fulfilled all the prophesies of the Old Testament about there being one final sacrifice that is completed for all mankind, and the forgiveness of sins. It is a form of a final covenant between God and man. Whenever there was a covenant between people, there was a sort of “formula” that was followed. After an agreement was reached, it was “sealed” with a meal. The meal included, bread, wine and usually some form of meat (which required killing and draining of blood.) Also, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church 1334, “In the Old Covenant bread and wine were offered in sacrifice among the first fruits of the earth as a sign of grateful acknowledgment to the Creator.”

Jesus uses what we know. He knew the symbolizing of the breaking of the bread, drinking of the wine were things the Jews knew to be important. When He told his disciples, “This is my body, and this is my blood” many left, saying it was too hard of a saying to be believed. Jesus wanted to leave something behind after his crucifixion for us to know that He would always be with us and He did so by establishing the Eucharist. St. Thomas says, “In this sacrament are the true Body of Christ and his true Blood and is something that cannot be apprehended by the senses, but only by faith.” This is why we don’t see any outward changes to the host which has changed interiorly. St Cyril says, “Do not doubt whether this is true, but rather receive the words of the Savior in faith, for since he IS the truth, he cannot lie.”

Changing of form wasn’t something unusual for Christ. He transformed himself on the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, John, and James. He also appeared to his disciples in “another form” after his resurrection on the road to Emmaus and wasn’t recognized by them until he sat down at a meal and broke the bread with them. Jesus changing the interior form without changing the outward appearances of the species of bread and wine, allow us to respond to His “other form” with faith and reverence. The Catechism of the Catholic Church also states, “Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and whole and entire in each of their parts, in such a way that the breaking of the bread does not divide Christ.” This helped me understand that Christ is fully present in the most minute piece of the species bread or drop of wine that is offered to us and we must inspect our hands for any particles and eat them, if receiving Him this way. We must also remember that we must not receive Him if we aren’t fully prepared to. This means fasting at least 1 hour before receiving, being without mortal sin, and being in full communion with the beliefs of the Catholic faith; otherwise, we can condemn ourselves by receiving Him unworthily.

As Jesus requested his disciples to “do this in memory of me” our priests were commissioned to continue to offer the Eucharist as a sacrifice by re-presenting to the Father, the Body of His Son, as an offering for us, for the forgiveness of our sins, for the Church, and all that we as the Body of Christ offer with Him in Thanksgiving and Praise of the One True God.

No longer do I look upon that little, round, piece of bread as something I was told is Jesus. I know what has taken place by the Holy Spirit and through the sacrifice offered up by the priest who is representing Jesus to us in “another form.” I recognize Jesus is truly with us and allows us to consume him, so he is within us in body and in spirit, and that will forever change MY form if I let it.

When Virtues All But Disappear

I’ve been wanting to write for a while now; however, within the last month, I’ve witnessed such a gamut of hate, rejection, accusations, and bullying within my State and Country, I’ve just been at a loss for words. I’ve prayed for and sought guidance to understand what is happening to our society and it was finally revealed to me: we have lost or rejected God’s virtues.

So many people in our society “claim” to be Christian. As a matter of fact, in a 2017 Pew Research report, “80% of Americans say they believe in God or some higher force, while 99% of Christians say they believe in the God of the Bible.” Interestingly, the same study shows that only, “49% of those under the age of 50, and 43% of those under 30 believe in God.” This is a startling fact, especially when you consider our Country was based on the freedom to express our religious beliefs in God. Now, basically, half of our children do not believe in God and they are raising their children without any sort of belief in God, and we wonder what is happening to our Country.

So many of our separated brothers and sisters ( those who do not believe in the Catholic faith) believe they are “saved” by “Faith Alone.” For them, reciting the “Sinner’s Prayer” and accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior will “Guarantee” their salvation, no matter what they do with the rest of their life. It seems so un-fulfilling to me, that someone who makes this claim, will have nothing to work toward, other than a sort of “pyramid scheme,” of making sure they get another soul to pray the “Sinner’s Prayer” and on and on it goes. According to Dr. David Anders, ” Life is a rich, textured, many faceted thing with enormous beauty, pain, horror and amazing panoply of experiences. What meaning and value are these, if the only thing that I can do of eternal value, is to convert another soul or myself to be converted? Faith alone falls apart because it doesn’t take into account the essentials to living out our faith through Virtues.”

We are so fortunate, as our Catholic faith explains, to have the 7 Virtues which affect human beings in the material and spiritual aspects of life. All human beings can acquire the 4 Cardinal Virtues of Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance. With these 4 Cardinal Virtues, humans can use their intellect and free will to live a moral life. This opens the door to accepting God’s love; thus, receiving the Theological Virtues which helps to prepare us to live as children of God and prepare us for eternal life.

The first Cardinal Virtue of Prudence gives people the ability of reason to see what is good and evil. In today’s world, we are definitely seeing a lack of prudence due to the lack of moral choices. The Virtue of Justice allows humans to respect others rights, equality and to serve the common good. This has been twisted and perverted in our society, so much so, that if you don’t agree with a side purporting someone’s “rights” you are called evil, close-minded, and hateful.

We are called to use the Virtue of Fortitude almost on a daily basis as we need courage to stand-up for what is right and good. Often we find ourselves confronted by those who have been deceived by the evil one, thinking they are standing up for what they consider to be right – oftentimes, what is left out of their consciousness is the fact “It Is Not Good.”

The last Cardinal Virtue is Temperance. Our culture, especially in America, is a “more, more, more,” society. No longer do we moderate our desires for goods or pleasures. “If it feels good, do it” was a slogan that infiltrated past generations and has become “my right”, or “the norm,” in today’s world. Temperance is something we all need to start implementing and we can do so in our lives by doing such simple things as, decreasing our need for shopping, watching how we speak to others or holding our tongue when we really want to speak out. Skipping a favorite snack or dessert and/or denying ourselves a certain pleasure, every now and then, can be a small way we show our children and Our Lord how much we love Him for all the sacrifices He made for us.

I have often wondered how people can be so heartless, cruel, ruthless or just plain evil. The lack of Theological Virtues, especially Charity, explains this well.

When the Theological virtues are bestowed upon people, they will be drawn toward God. The first Theological Virtue of Faith allows people to commit themselves entirely to God and live out the Christian values and works He expects of us; however, without the gift of Charity (Love), the believer cannot increase in the Virtue of Faith and draw himself completely to Christ. I have personally experienced this. When you have hate in your soul, you are kind of spiritually “blocked” from drawing closer to The Lord. Think about it, if God IS love, why would He want someone who has hate in their heart to be near Him? Once the hate in my heart was gone, through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, prayer, forgiveness, and a miraculous blessing, I finally felt the burden of hate lifted from me and a peace filled my heart and soul and I was more able to receive the Theological Virtues.

The Theological Virtue of Hope is the trusting that Heaven is real, desiring eternal life with God, as well as, trusting in love that the promises of Christ are true and we will have eternal happiness with Him. Imagine, so many people have no Hope. They cannot trust or love because they have not been able to experience the Virtue of Hope. God designed us to progress through the Cardinal Virtues and develop those habits in order to open our hearts to the gifts of the Theological Virtues, through the most important Virtue which unites them all, Charity.

God IS love and the Theological Virtue of Charity is what gives all the other Virtues life! When we have the Virtue of Charity (Love) we Christians are able to experience the love for God and the love for others. Saint Paul teaches us that the greatest of the Virtues is Love. When we are applying Charity to the fullest in our lives, we are able to experience true joy, peace and mercy, as we start to see things through the eyes/perspective of God.

It is interesting how this has manifested in my life. All my life, I have been one who has to be constantly “moving” a part of my body in one way or another. Even as an infant, I rocked my crib so hard it moved it across the wooden floor of my bedroom. I often remember sitting quietly and having to move my leg or foot for some strange reason. Before going to sleep, I’d have to “wiggle” my leg or foot in order to put myself to sleep, to the unfortunate displeasure of my husband who would often ask me to stop moving. I never considered it to be an “issue;” however, when I received the gift of charity and the profound peace that entered my soul, I noticed the “moving” I’ve done my whole life, quite literally stopped. I often wondered if I had some interior anxiety that I was repressing but expressing with my movements. All I know is that now, I rarely “wiggle” unless I’m engrossed in a knuckle-biting sporting event, and for that, I’m thankful.

Humanity was designed by our Creator to incorporate the 7 Virtues of the Catholic faith; unfortunately, we are witnessing, at this very moment, a culture devoid of Virtues.

Regrettably, the badly Catechized lay Catholics have reproduced and ignored their faith and responsibility to grow/learn and teach the faith to themselves and their children. No longer do we see Churches filled, Parochial schools with waiting lists, or parents taking on their roles as primary educators of the faith to their children.

If we want Society to make an about-face rather quickly, we must instill Cardinal Virtues and call upon the Holy Spirit to infuse within us and our children, the Theological Virtues we receive by being true followers of Christ and the Holy Catholic Church that He founded. We know that we, and those who are in positions of leadership, are not perfect – just as Saint Peter was not perfect; however, he was chosen by Jesus to lead his sheep. Through the Graces we receive in the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, we can strive to be like Jesus in all we do, with love for Him and our neighbor.

Sign Off and Listen For the Whisper

You have to be made of tough stuff if you want to become holy. I was going to add, ” in this day and age;” however, when I read about the Saints and Martyrs of long ago, they also endured tough times – even more so than today. They were often trying to avoid physical torture, imprisonment or even death for their beliefs, whereas today, (at least in the United States) we have laws and rights allowing us our religious liberty without fear of governmental punishment. Unfortunately, our country is starting to become one in which our freedom of religious expression is being put on trial.

We hear about minority groups being “offended” or insulted by someone’s particular beliefs and usually, these groups are ones who have infiltrated large organizations who have some kind of influence on the media. It used to be that media reported news fairly and impartially; that is far from the truth in today’s world. Whatever particular agenda these groups have, they are able to manipulate those in their control to get that message out there to the public. Media, politicians, Universities and even religious sects can bombard us with so many versions of “the agenda” we become immune or worse, start to believe what they are “selling.” Being told things like moral relativism should be embraced, everyone can believe and live however they feel is right, and seeing violence, poverty, sexual impurity and hate, on a daily basis, is Satan’s way of manipulating our thoughts and minds. Those of us, who are trying to become holy, do not have to deal with the threats and punishments saints of the past had to; however, today, we are fighting with the torturing of our minds and death of our souls if we aren’t careful. With all of these influences, there is no way we can achieve holiness by our own power.

God created us to be saints. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 2013) states, ” All are called to Holiness.” Only with God’s grace can we become saints. We must cooperate with God and follow where he leads, even in our ordinary ways of life. God is interested in our friendship and love. We must spend time with God in order to develop that friendship and love he so desires of us. Tuning out, turning off, and letting go of our technologically driven life for a few minutes each day will allow us to draw closer to Him. How can we expect to develop a friendship if we don’t give our undivided attention to Our Loving Father and His Son each day? It is often said that God speaks to us in a whisper. If we have everything “turned on,” how can we expect to hear that whisper amidst the chaos? Many times, people say they cannot be alone or they cannot stand the silence, I wonder why. Learning to be alone, not always having to be “doing” something, embracing the silence, and allowing yourself to be open to drawing closer to God and listening for that whisper will change your life. With these little changes in our behavior, we learn that, “To be a saint requires nether extraordinary actions or works nor the possession of exceptional charisms.” Pope Benedict XVI We only have to let God work through us – who’d have thought it would be that easy!

Once we have allowed God to work through us, truly guiding our lives, we can begin to grow in holiness and understanding that God has always been with us. We begin to understand that there isn’t a single moment God is not communicating with us in some way. He may use nature, interior thoughts, a loved one or friend or any particular event. As we grow deeper in our Spiritual life, we will realize that every event is a word of God to us. He is in everything that happens and it requires a deep faith to recognize Him in everyday, ordinary incidents. It is difficult to think that the God of the Universe can be present in our individual daily lives. We expect to see a heavenly Christ who reigns above all; however, to believe God can be so human and involved in our mundane lives is not only difficult for us, it was difficult for those during the early Church.

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus returns to his native land and those who knew him couldn’t accept that he was truly the Son of God. They questioned how he gained his wisdom, how he could perform his mighty deeds, wasn’t he just a carpenter, a relative of many and was born the son of Mary? They had Jesus right in front of them and couldn’t see Him for what he is! They couldn’t accept his humanity and the influence he could make upon their lives. We may do the same thing by not recognizing someone who is saintly among our acquaintances unless they do something extraordinarily holy. We have difficulty believing someone we know could be so ordinary could be so holy; unless of course, they suffer piously or we discover something about them after they die that elevates them to “sainthood” in our eyes. We must remember that our faith teaches us that Christ lives within our hearts and we should pray for our eyes to be opened to seeing Christ in others, even those who may bother us, annoy us or even be related to us! Let us remember to take the time to tune out Satan’s distractions and develop the friendship and love for God our Father and Jesus Christ his son. Once we can do that, we will see the world and God’s people in a whole new way!

backlit clouds dawn dusk — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Unexpected Time Out for God

In the last year, my life has changed pretty significantly. I’ve had to deal with a physical issue that has caused my professional career of 29 years to come to a screeching halt. I enjoyed my career; however, like most people, was looking forward to the day I didn’t have to wake by an alarm and could do what I wanted. I have to tell you, it’s a lot different when you are planning on retiring from your profession versus having to quit.

I’ve come to realize that God wanted me to take time out for Him, and He probably wasn’t going to get the time He deserved from me, without having to physically stop me in my tracks, because I’m one of those people who have always had something going on. I love to hike, bike, explore, try something new, learn and in general, be active. I had always thought I would have time for “being more Holy” later on, when I couldn’t do all those active things I was doing. Apparently, God decided that time was sooner than later.

Mentally, I was upset that my body failed me. I was always proud of the fact that I could quickly pass younger people on a hike or really get my speed up on a bike ride at my ripe old 50-something age. I didn’t want to face the fact that 29 years of a very physical job did me in and not only would I have to stop working, I could no longer do some of the active outdoorsy things I loved. I could sense myself starting to get a little depressed, down or frustrated, especially during my recovery period and I can fully understand how some people could spiral downward if they didn’t have a relationship with God. Now, I’m not saying I had the best relationship; however, a couple of years earlier, I had made the commitment to attend Adoration every week and I believe that was the catalyst that started me on my journey into learning more about my faith and wanting to become as Holy as I could be with my time here on earth.

When thinking about what it takes to become Holy, one might think they are to pray constantly, attend daily Mass, give to the poor, feed the hungry and on and on. I know that is pretty much what I thought becoming Holy was all about. When you look at it like that, the majority of people who are working or attending school, wouldn’t have time for everything “required” to becoming Holy, and I knew that physically, I wouldn’t be able to do much of anything except prayer for a while. The Catholic Church says that we are all called to be Holy and this Universal Call to Holiness is based upon Matthew 5:48 – “Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect.” From the very first pages of the Bible, we see the call to holiness expressed in the Lord’s words to Abraham: “Walk before me, and be blameless”.

When God stopped me in my tracks and I had the time to sit and reflect, I discovered that the Council of Vatican II stated, “Holiness is first of all a gift of grace, the gift of love by which we love God above all things and our neighbor for God’s sake. But in order for love to grow, we must cooperate with this grace, completing what God has begun in us.” We first receive grace through Baptism and the Holy Spirit. Allowing the Holy Spirit to work through us depending on our situation or obligations will allow us to grow in Christ’s love for one another.

Using our specific strengths or talents, each one of us can become more like Christ; thus, becoming more Holy. We need to remember to accept our specific gifts with love, know they are from Christ and use them for God’s will, out of love for Him. This is what so many people (including myself) need to understand. Many of us may not be able to physically do for others; however, we may actually be doing more for someone’s soul by praying for them, seeking reparation for souls who are in purgatory, or offering your sufferings for others. I’ve read about many a saint who, while confined to their sickbed, asked not for a cure to their ailment(s) because they were doing more good for souls by offering up their sufferings for them. We have to remember that it is out of charity and love for others we do these things.

Some people, many Protestants and even some Catholics, mistakenly think we Catholics are all about doing good deeds. They believe we are tallying up a list of our good deeds to present at the gates of Heaven, as our ticket to get in. The Catholic Church teaches that our moral life, the righteous life that God desires from us and is one we need to live to become Holy, is precisely fulfilled in our interior disposition toward God and neighbor. If I love God and love neighbor, my heart toward God has changed from opposition and animosity, to one of faith, love, trust and filial dependence on God. Through this gift of love for others and to live a virtuous life as Christ did, we are called to do good deeds. This is just an extension of the gifts we are given through faith in Christ. We can recall St. James 2:17 saying, “Faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead” and in James 2:22, “You see that faith was active along with his works and faith was completed by the works.” We must have both to fulfill God’s will for our lives.

Deepening our Faith through scripture, the Eucharist, prayer and other sacraments, will allow us to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit more fully and recognize the times we can be more charitable, virtuous and Holy in our lives. For those of us who have physical limitations, it is wonderful to know that God made us able to help the souls of others through the offering of our sufferings to Him. We may not be aware of all we do for others in this lifetime; however, one day we will be shown just what our prayers and offering up has done for souls. I, for one, am looking forward to that day.

Holiness-We are All Called, but are You Listening?

I love late-Spring mornings; not too early mind you, but early enough that I can see the dew on the grass, hear the birds chirping and feel the peace of quiet stillness as the world wakes up.

Usually, it’s at this time of day when I feel the closeness of Jesus. I may not be praying in the “normal” sense of the word, but I acknowledge the presence of Our Lord in the stillness, the birds and the beauty of the world I get to observe, and I’m thankful.

Of course, in my quest of becoming a holy person, I try to have times of prayer, reading of the scriptures or spiritual books and even listening to Catholic radio or podcasts during the day; however, I need to remember to ask Jesus for help in achieving the holiness he wants out of me, and everyone for that matter. I realize making a plan to cultivate the interior life, of love for Jesus, requires me to do the same things I would do if I were making a goal of losing weight or starting an exercise routine, and that is a critical part of growing in holiness.

We hear from the Vatican that there is a Universal Call to Holiness, but what does that really mean? Basically, it is to imitate Jesus by allowing his life to transform ours. Pope Benedict and Pope Francis both mentioned how Jesus’ life could be described in the 8 Beatitudes described in the Gospel of Matthew. In the Beatitudes, they give us a basic outline for living as Jesus did and echo his mercy, spirituality and compassion for others. When we practice the virtues of humility, charity and brotherly love, we transform our inner person because love is the motivation and God is love, itself.

Imitating Jesus and allowing his life to transform ours can be difficult. We have the initial struggle due to the stain of original sin, our tendencies toward sin, and the pressures of the outside world to contend with. Often, we struggle with what we want to do and what we should be doing, or we don’t feel like we are progressing on our spiritual journey because we aren’t sensing any consolation after a trial or we dont have any feelings of closeness from Our Lord. In the book, ” The Fulfillment of All Desire,” Ralph Martin says, ” When we start looking for or seeking a certain feeling or sensation in our spiritual activities rather than God Himself, we have departed from the straight path of faith and have begun to seek ourselves rather than God.” Likewise, Saint John of the Cross mentions those who are beginning on the spiritual path to holiness, “often want God to desire what they want and they become sad if they have to desire God’s will and feel an aversion toward adapting their will to God’s.” It didn’t occur to me right away that part of my road to holiness would take the turns that God willed and not the turns I mapped out. That was a pretty significant lesson for me; however, my little twists and turns were hardly worth mentioning compared to some saints I’ve read about. These holy men and women often had to undergo tremendous external and interior trials on their path to holiness and they all accepted it as God’s will for them and bore the physical and spiritual trials willingly. We have the recent Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta who went through decades of “the dark night of the soul,” where she didn’t have the sensory delights or affirmations of the Lord but knew she was being lead by God to a deeper trust and abandonment to His will. There were also numerous saints who suffered terrible physical ailments and even torture but never lost their faith. I’ve questioned my own faith at times after reading about so many brave saints and wonder if I’d have been just as faithful.

We know that for most people, with age comes wisdom, and we can also conclude those who are seeking to become holy require many years, if not a lifetime, to reach some level of holiness, if they are lucky. Even Jesus chose disciples who at first glance were flawed men that abandoned Him in his time of need. Yet, they were chosen and perfected through time and had moments of success as well as failures. They ultimately achieved such a high level of sanctity they were willing to die for the love of the Lord. So, if these flawed, ordinary men could be chosen and perfected why not us?

We, as chosen members of the Body of Christ, have been given the chance to grow and be “perfected” through faith and Baptism in order for us to reach Heaven. We know that the Bible tells us nothing unclean shall enter heaven and Jesus calls us to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect. This perfection isn’t something related to our everyday life in the sense of being a perfectionist about everything, it is the perfection of the soul. We are called to a higher standard even though we are imperfect, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can apply the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles to love one another and grow in that love. Saint John talks about this love by saying, “In this love brought to perfection among us, that we have confidence on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world.” (1 Jn: 4:17) And I love this quote by Ralph Martin when he said, “Holiness begins with the fear of the Lord and ends in a love without fear.”

My goal in growing in holiness is to achieve the love of God insomuch that I go through the times of trials and sufferings without desolation and know there will be a purification of my soul and in that I will find joy. It is hard and I think as I grow closer and allow the will of God to become my will; I will be challenged even more as my faith is tested. With the help of the Holy Spirit, I think I’m up to the challenge….are you?

Good or Virtuous, That is the Question

Lately, I’ve been trying to read something about the “Saint of the Day,” or a particular Saint that pops into my head when I wonder how on earth someone could be “saintly” when they dealt with war, poverty, or death of family members. Usually, or rather, in every case, I read that they were virtuous or was raised by a person of virtue. I made the general assumption that “virtue” was another word for “good.” Little did I know there was a lot more to it than just being good.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good. It allows the person not only the ability to perform good acts, but to give the best of himself.” (CCC 1803) I can’t remember the last time I truly gave the best of myself to something. If the saints are virtuous people, that means they are giving the best of themselves ALL THE TIME. Boy, do I have a long way to go; but I guess that is the goal, to lead a virtuous life so, we can become saints and be more like God.

The Catholic Church says we have basically three types of virtues: Human, Cardinal and Theological. All of these Virtues have Gifts and Fruits – things we receive from them and things we see working through us, as a result of attaining these virtues. Within the Human Virtues, we have Moral Virtues and these are basically achieved when one does morally good acts and allows us human beings to use all our skills and senses to be in communion with divine love; after all, God is the moral law giver. Our human effort is required to obtain these moral virtues, and anyone can do so. It makes you wonder why Atheists are moral, if the creator of Moral Virtues/Law is God, and they have no belief in such a being; but then again, we call ourselves Catholic Christians and sit in churches all the while lacking in Moral Virtues and steeped in sin. But I digress, all I know is that morality exists outside of humanity and it was created by God who wants us to be more like Him in all things.

Cardinal Virtues are virtues all other virtues are grouped around. There are 4 Cardinal Virtues which are: Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance. In layman’s terms I’ll attempt to define them.

Prudence is allowing our reason to discern true good in every situation and to choose the right way of achieving it. Basically, using our conscience to guide us in moral principles and others virtues by setting up rules and guidelines which will help us avoid evil.

Justice is a moral virtue that requires a man to respect the rights of others and to treat each other justly and fairly. Also, to “Give God justice through the ‘Virtue of Religion.'” (CCC 1807)

Fortitude can also be described as courage and it requires one to have a firm resolve during difficulties in the pursuit of good. It helps us in the big and small trials of life and allows us to resist temptations, overcome fear, face persecution and even death in defense of a just cause.

Temperance allows us the ability to resist desires of pleasure and to moderate our appetites and maintain levels that are good and honorable.

The more we practice virtues, the more we are purified and elevated by God’s divine grace. “The virtuous man is happy to practice them.” (CCC 1810) We receive God’s grace by Christ’s gift of salvation. We should ask for this grace to be able to be more virtuous and if we are more virtuous, the more graces we shall be granted! I can attest to this. Once I started practicing ( often getting back up and trying again) to be more virtuous, I noticed the “fruits” of the gifts of virtues being given to me.

The last of the virtues are Theological Virtues which are Faith, Hope and Charity. Those of us Catholics recognize these three words as we pray for an increase of these virtues every time we recite the Holy Rosary. We find the very foundation of a Christian’s moral life must begin with these virtues because they directly relate to God. One cannot claim to be a Christian without believing in God, believing all He has said, and doing His will through the virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity.

We have to remember that being a member of a “Religion” which only believes in one of these Theological Virtues, or separates the virtues into individual categories without the need of uniting them, is a false religion. You cannot have faith alone or hope alone or charity/love alone – they must be intertwined.

To clarify, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “If faith is deprived of hope and love, faith does not fully unite the believer to Christ and does not make him a living member of his Body.” (1815) For “By Faith, man freely commits his entire self to God.” (CCC 1814) “Service and witness to the faith are necessary for salvation.” (CCC 1816) You might recognize this as the beginning of the Faith and Works disagreement we have with our separated brothers in Christ. They often are taught that Faith alone is sufficient for salvation and are diminishing the necessity of the virtues of Hope and Charity.

The virtue of Hope is when we desire eternal life in the kingdom of heaven and place all our trust in Christ’ promises. We cannot rely on our own strength to achieve hope eternal and that is why Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit, to strengthen us. Through the graces given to us by the Holy Spirit, we aspire to happiness through the virtue of Hope and can have faith in Jesus’ preaching, promises and love for us. We nourish our hope through a relationship with Our Lord through prayer, charity and doing his will.

Charity is “The virtue by which we love God above all things for His own sake and our neighbor as ourselves, for the love of God.” (CCC 1822) The Apostle Paul often spoke of the virtue of Charity and said, “Out of the virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity, the greatest of these is Charity.” ( 1 Cor 13:13) “Charity binds everything all together in perfect harmony.” (Col 3:14) Charity helps us to love one another as God loves us. It is the command that Jesus gave to us when He implored us to love our enemies rather than just those who love us in return. “We experience a purifying of our human ability to love and raise it to the supernatural perfection of Divine love” (CCC 1827) when we reach this goal of Christian life.

We are so lucky that our Catholic Faith teaches us these concepts of virtue and how they should be woven into our daily thoughts, feelings and actions. I feel that those outside our faith aren’t told about the necessity of infusing the virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity/Love together into their lives. For those who are taught that all they need for salvation is Faith alone, they aren’t able to rely on the Spiritual freedom we receive from God when we practice these virtues so, they often use the Calvinist theory of being hidden (from the wrath of God) by the blood of Christ in order to be “saved.”

“If we turn away from evil out of the fear of punishment, we are in the position of slaves. If we measure the enticement of wages, we resemble mercenaries. Finally, if we obey for the sake of the good itself and out of love for him who commands it, we are in the position of children.” (St. Basil) “If children, then heirs, heirs of God, and fellow heirs with Christ.” (Rom 8:14, 17) Thus, there is no need to be hidden in the sight of God. God is love itself. St. Augustine once said, “We enjoy the “fruits” of Charity which are joy, peace and mercy. Love is itself fulfilled in all our works. There is the goal; that is why we (Catholics) run toward it, and once we reach it, in it we shall find rest.”

Saints really get it. Often, they have gone through both physical and spiritual trials and without the Holy Spirit to strengthen them, they might not have made sainthood. We are given the “Gifts of the Holy Spirit” to help us complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. Those “gifts” are: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord. “When we receive these gifts, we can achieve perfections which the Holy Spirit from in us through ‘fruits.’ These ‘fruits’ are charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control and chastity.” (CCC 1832)

As we practice the virtues of a moral life, we may begin to notice the “gifts and fruits” of the Holy Spirit and grow in holiness. For some of us, it may take longer than others; however, if we persevere, we shall surely be rewarded when we stand before our Loving Father and hear the words we long to hear, “Well done good and faithful servant.” (Matt 25:23)

This Bread is Our Life

I used to consider going to Mass an obligation that took an hour ( if I had a short-winded priest) of my Sunday or Saturday evening. I wouldn’t put it past me to miss Mass if something better came up or if I had stayed out too late the night before, and just couldn’t rouse myself in time for even the latest Mass of the morning. I know that sounds horrible and, at the time, I didn’t even know that knowingly missing Mass was a sin and yet, my life was a mess. I was stressed, anxious and depressed and looking back, it’s not hard to see why.

We have Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church and these Sacraments are seven special means, instituted by Jesus Christ by which God reaches down to us and shares His Divine Life with us through Baptism, Confirmation, The Eucharist, Penance, The Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders and Matrimony. They help us in our journey through life and give us special graces to handle the stressors, worries, and anxieties of living and the more we participate, the more graces we receive. Needless to say, I didn’t participate much and the graces were lacking.

The one Sacrament we have the ability to participate in almost daily is the Eucharist. It is the one Sacrament that all others are oriented. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, ” The Eucharist is the source and summit of Christian life by the invocation of the Holy Spirit and with bread and wine and the very words of Christ repeated by an ordained priest, become Christ’s own body, blood, soul and divinity.” CCC 1324 In other words, Christ is fully present through a process called Transubstantiation. If you break down that word, Trans means “to change,” and Substance means “the very essence of a thing.” Even though the outward appearances still resemble ordinary bread and wine, through the words given to the apostles by Jesus to ” Do this in memory of me,” transubstantiation changes the essence.

Both Scripture and Tradition tell us this is Christ fully present with us. God of the Universe can do what we can’t comprehend; yet, he doesn’t want to overwhelm our measly, little brains by coming to us in all his omnipotence and power. In the Bible, He appears to men in ways they could handle; like a burning bush, a cloud, or a still small voice. He was often called upon by the Israelites when they cried out to him when they feared they would starve. He sent Manna (which in Aramaic means, “what is it”) to them from Heaven to be gathered and eaten. The Jews ancestors were nourished by this “bread” while on their journey out of Egypt; however, they ultimately died. Jesus was sent by God to become the living bread, and whoever ate this bread would never die. But, why bread?

Bread is found throughout the Old Testament and, in many cultures today, it is a staple of one’s diet. We even have popularized terms like, “breaking bread,” for anything having to do with gathering to eat or, “gonna go make some bread,” for acquiring money to live. Isn’t it interesting that to live and eat are often associated with the word bread?

When poorly Catechized Catholics or non-Catholics attend Holy Mass and look at the bread and wine, I’m sure they ask themselves, “What is it?” and don’t fully understand their question should be “Who is it?” because the God of the Universe chose to appear to us in the form of bread and wine.

I’m sure you are still saying, “It still looks the same,” or, “I don’t see any changes in its appearance,” and that is because the outward appearance is still the same chemical make-up of bread and wine. What is really taking place during transubstantiation is underneath the outward appearances of the consecrated host; we believe Jesus is truly present by changing into the body, blood, soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord told us at the last supper when, “He took bread, said the blessing, broke it and gave it to his disciples saying, this is my body which will be given up for you, do this in memory of me.” Luke 22:19

Dr. Sean Innest says, ” All the Sacraments are all profound mysteries and their outward signs, their appearances, are usually very humble.” They are signs – visible realities which point to the invisible, to a divine grace. For instance, when water is poured over someone during Baptism, it represents cleansing of ones soul, and in Confirmation, when we profess our beliefs in the Catholic Churches teachings and promise to live them out, we are anointed with oil to make us witnesses for our beliefs. When we participate in the Mass and receive the Eucharist, we eat bread that is sustenance for us, both physically and spiritually. These are natural things pointing to the supernatural.

When we share in the Eucharist during the celebration of Holy Mass, we are in effect sharing a table. We can find the importance of sharing a table (meal) in Biblical times, as well as, our own special holiday celebrations where those closest to us, come to celebrate a meal and bond with one another. God wants an intimate, profound union with us and has since He originally created us. The Eucharist is the uniting of Our Lord’s body, blood, soul and divinity with us, and in us. How awesome is that?

The Father’s of the Church said that the Son of God became the Son of Man so that the sons of men become the sons of God. This is the ultimate goal of God; He loves us so much He wants to be with us in all aspects of our life. He is just waiting for us to come to Him through the Sacrament of the Holy Mass and the source and summit of our faith- The Holy Eucharist.

Why not make a visit to Our Lord, today?

Knowing What You’re Yearning For

Things of this world don’t seem to satisfy us for very long. Everyone is always looking for more, striving for something better, or having more meaning; yet, we never seem to satiate those deep hungers our hearts are yearning for. Many people have often sought out material dreams or passing relationships, when what they are really looking for is peace and contentment; which, only God can provide.

Often, people who are both religious and non-religious complain of not “feeling God” in their lives when they are living as “good people,” or attend church regularly. They often question their continuing practice of praise and worship or even believing in a god that doesn’t seem to “show Himself” or have influence in their life. They believe that their lives are what they make of it, their rules are determined by a moral relativism that is different for everyone and no one should be intolerant to another or another’s viewpoint. This relativistic theory and belief of those living this way, doesn’t allow for truth of the moral laws instituted by God.

Tolerance was a Christian invention. I bet that would surprise many people, but I digress. Christians taught that we needed to be tolerant of those who differ both legally and socially. Governments cannot legally force certain religious beliefs on their citizens and we as Catholic Christians must continue to defend the rights of people to practice their religious beliefs no matter if their beliefs are the truth or not. However, it is our duty to proclaim Christ’s truth, in love, to them. Social tolerance is an ancient practice that Jesus instituted by calling on us to love our neighbors as ourselves, and that includes our enemies and those who are of a different religion, ethnicity, race and moral beliefs. We are always called to pray for those who haven’t come to the fullness of truth into the Catholic Church and while we can be tolerant of others viewpoints and beliefs, we don’t have to agree with them. Also, we often hear the saying, “I don’t judge.” Judging the actions of others that go against the moral law is righteous; however, judging the state of one’s soul ( “he’s going to hell”) is unrighteous, as we never truly know the state of a person’s soul in the last minutes of their life.

God’s law is like an instruction manual for human beings. Knowing that our human nature would run amok without rules for living, we are given the moral laws and if we break God’s laws, we will experience brokenness and consequences for our actions. Just like a loving parent institutes rules for their children, God laws are meant to help his people avoid mistakes that lead to brokenness and sin, not just to restrict them and cause punishment. Unfortunately, many people see these laws as not pertaining to today’s culture and are too restrictive to apply to daily lives; so, those same people, when experiencing hardship or trauma, cry out and curse God because He doesn’t seem to be there for them, in their times of need. How can we push God and his moral laws out of our lives one minute and blame Him for not being there in the next?

When Adam and Eve said no to God’s laws, sin was introduced into the world; however, God didn’t give up on us. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him. John 3:17 God is love and he loves us unconditionally. We can only love if we are free and God gave us the ability to say yes or no to Him and His laws. The freedom of our wills to love is the essence of our purpose in life and eternity. God wants to have a relationship of love with us so we may have eternal life with Him, through our belief in His only Son, Jesus Christ.

Faith is a personal gift from God. Believing what He has revealed in our hearts through the Holy Spirit and to love, trust and have confidence in Him during all the times in our life, whether we can “feel” His presence or not. “Faith seeks understanding: It is intrinsic to faith that a believer desires to know better the One in whom he has put his faith and to understand better what He has ‘revealed’, a more penetrating knowledge will in turn call forth a greater faith, increasingly set afire by love” CCC no.158

So, let us yearn for God’s love and unending mercy for us sinners. We can never be perfect; however, we can continue to grow in holiness by following the moral laws, learning more about our faith, and continuing to build a relationship with Our Lord through the Church that Jesus Christ founded.