Tag: technology

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!

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Science and God – do they go together?

There are so many new, technological, advances happening, almost every minute of every day, that most of us aren’t even aware of. There are ways an artist can utilize a computer to “paint” images, artificial intelligence is progressing rapidly, and the medical field is advancing in its use of robotics, research and stem cell therapies.

I could just imagine my grandfather shaking his head in disbelief, if he knew some of the ways our modern culture uses technology. The first thing we think of is how everyone has to stay “connected.” Everyone is so technologically connected; however, we couldn’t be more disconnected from each other. So many young people these days (and some adults) don’t even know how to have an intimate conversation with another human being. They are so used to abbreviating their thoughts to everyone and no one, they become uncomfortable if a conversation lasts more than 5 minutes and heaven forbid, has a little substance to it. It makes me wonder, how are people conversing with God?

We don’t have the ability to send little text messages to God when the feeling moves us; however, when Jesus advised his followers to “pray constantly,” it kind of reminds me that our recognition of God, in the little things of our day, can be “mental” text messages to Our Loving Father. Reminding our children, young adults and other relatives that sending these little messages is a fantastic way to stay “connected” to Our Loving Father, as well as, Jesus, Mary and the Saints.

One of the wonderful things about texting, computers, and social media, is the fact that people are doing a lot of reading. I overheard some people in the bookstore talking about how they love the new technology of being able to receive books electronically; yet, they were IN A BOOK STORE. Apparently, there was something about being able to hold and turn the pages of a book that still attracted them to purchasing a printed form of a story. For me, the Bible is one book I need to be able to hear, see and feel as I read the Word of God. I believe the Bible was made just for those senses of ours. We can feel the thinness of the paper but know what powerful words they contain. We hear the rustle of the pages and know God speaks to us softly through His words. We see the gold lined pages and know they hold within them, the treasure which we seek. The Bible is an experience and I hope technology lovers don’t abandon it.

I know I’ll have some tech-y folks tell me how much good our society is for having it and I’d have to agree and disagree. I watched 3 out of 5 grandchildren be born via caesarean section and am so thankful we’ve got the technology to have those mother’s lives ( and most likely baby’s) saved through this procedure. I’ve also witnessed my Aunt’s heart transplant and survival, my Father’s open heart surgery, as well as, my own surgeries which have saved or improved my own life. We have stem cell therapies which use your own blood, extract the stem cells from it, and re-inject those cells back into areas of the body which can be strengthened, repaired or improved in some way; however, nothing is every guaranteed. Science sometimes goes too far. They’ve used DNA to clone animals, used stem cells from aborted fetuses, and are working on a type of artificial intelligence that will mimic a human and learn from the interaction and cues we present to them. Scary stuff. Some would argue that God has allowed us to progress in our scientific minds so we can achieve these wonders; doesn’t that mean it’s alright?

One of the definitions of science is, “The systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation.” Those of us who believe in God, know that He created everything and has given us tools to discover his creations. Modern science is not only compatible with Christianity; it in fact, finds its origins in Christianity. Nothing that God has created is untrue. There is no square-circle, up-down, or male-female. Science helps us discover these truths in nature. When science starts to go down the slippery slope of twisting the truths of nature, that is where we start to have problems and begin to get out of control. I can’t even imagine how many failed clones were “created” before scientists “discovered” how to perfect it. What science cannot quantify, examine, or calculate is the conscience, the faith, and belief of said clone. So, then what? We have an animal who represents the one cloned; however, there is absolutely nothing that can analyze the interior of that being. Who knows if that particular animal has an interior torment.  So many failed scientific experiments have shown us that there is no such thing as an EXACT science. Even today, studies are being reproduced with more technologically advanced  techniques that disprove theories that were once considered error-proof.

God is error-proof. He doesn’t make mistakes. We, as Catholic Christians, have to remember this when discussing topics which the mainstream want to designate as humanistic or humanism in general. These terms refer to any system or mode of thought or action in which human interests, values, and dignity predominate. Those with the humanistic agenda believe what a person thinks or feels is most important and disregards religious beliefs or values that doesn’t allow a person to create their own set of values and ethics in which to live by. This is seen more and more in today’s culture and the underlying cause of this is relativism. If everyone can believe what they want, do what they want, and ignore the truth and values set for us by God, we will continue to spiral down that slippery slope of technology, until we don’t recognize that person next to us; because who knows….they might be a man-goat, just because that is what they identify as. Lord help us!

Thank goodness Jesus came to earth to save us from ourselves! This month of  July traditionally honors the Most Precious Blood of Jesus. It is the blood of Christ, the Lamb of God, which cleanses from sin, therefore the Church developed a devotion to Jesus’ physical blood and its mystical power, just as it did for his Sacred Heart from which his blood poured out on the Cross. The most brilliant mind cannot explain the saving power of this Most Precious Blood. We do know that this Precious Blood is the truth of the Father, come down to us, in human form. We are blessed, as Catholics, that the Precious Blood of Jesus courses through the Church spiritually, giving eternal life to the Body of Christ through the sacraments. For this, we need no scientific explanation, we have received Grace through these sacraments which help us to believe and accept all the truths of the Catholic Church, science or no science!