Monthly Archives: September 2014

The Choice

29 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by in God's Will, Salvation, Theosis

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Today is the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael – the Holy Archangels. And as I was praying this morning in preparation for Mass I was reflecting on how these Holy Archangels help to protect us from the Evil One and the angels that followed him in revolt against God. But as I was thinking about this it occured to me that we can be susceptible to a false understanding of good vs. evil. In fact, to put it in such terms as ‘good vs. evil’ can lead to the danger of thinking that evil is merely the “opposite side of the coin” to that which is good.

To this someone might reply, “But is not evil the opposite of that which is good?” To that question I would have to answer yes and no for the following reasons. First of all I would say yes, evil is the opposite of good because as Christians we are to do good and avoid evil. But even though, philosophically speaking, everyone pursues that which is good (but to be more accurate we must say that they pursue that which they think is good and about which they could very easily be mistaken) evil deeds are still done by countless numbers of people everyday. And it is this tendency towards sin, which runs throughout the whole history of mankind, that can lead us into a wrong way of thinking about evil.

When we reflect on the prevalence of evil deeds done by mankind it may appear that evil is a power more intense or stronger than the power of good. And it is to this way of thinking that I would have to say that evil is not the opposite of good. What I mean is that to see the prevalence of evil deeds in the world and to think of the situation in terms of ‘good vs. evil’ is a dualistic and non-Christian way of understanding the world we live in. We must remember that good and evil are not equal but opposite forces. After all, if they were equal but opposite then there would be no objective standard by which to say which side was ‘good’ and which side was ‘bad’. To put this in the form of a question: if good and evil were both equal, and therefore presumably co-eternal, then how could we determine which was good and which was bad? Quite simply – we couldn’t.

As a result, the only thing that really makes any sense is the Christian understanding of good and evil. God is all good. It is He who created everything and He created it good, as we are told in the book of Genesis. It was the rebellion of Lucifer, and the angels that followed him (all of which had been created by God as good creatures) that led to the introduction of evil into God’s good creation. The question may then be asked: why did God create Lucifer if He already knew Lucifer would rebel? But if we ask this question then we might as well ask why did God create anything at all? Ultimately, we cannot really answer that question. There was no need for God to create anything – but, He did. Out of the superabundance of His love He created creatures with which to share His love. But love can only be given freely and that freedom, which in itself is a good thing, implies a choice that can, and does, lead to evil.* What is this choice? It is the choosing of what we want instead of what God wants for us: Lucifer and his angels chose evil, Adam and Eve chose evil and we too, everytime we succumb to temptation, choose evil instead of that which is good. And what is that good which we should choose? Ultimately, the true Good that we all desire (and we desire it because God created us for it) is God Himself. And we, if we want to reach that ultimate Good, must in the day to day choices that we are presented with choose to do God’s will instead of our own. The Holy Archangels we celebrate today, along with all the other good angels, are there to help us when we choose that which is good but they cannot make the choice for us. We must decide to choose the good.

But that brings up a serious question because I have already mentioned that we can be mistaken about that which is good. Therefore, how can we choose that which is good if we can be mistaken about it? To answer this we simply need to remember that God is good and therefore, would not leave us without guidance. And this guidance He has sent to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. Of course, we still make mistakes and that is why He left us the Sacrament of Penance. But the more and more we learn to follow Christ – to allow ourselves to be transformed into the image of Christ – the more we will not only know that which is good but also to choose it.

*This choice that can lead to evil is possible only for creatures but not the Creator. To go into the reasons why this is so would make this post too long. Perhaps a topic for another day.

 

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The Deafness of Indifference

22 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by in Catholic Obligations, Eternal Life, Sermons, Theosis

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Sermon for the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

September 21, 2014

There is one theme of today’s Gospel reading that is readily apparent: those who work in the Lord’s vineyard will all receive the same pay – that being eternal life. But it seems to me that there is a second, less obvious theme, which is what I want to discuss today.

The first thing to notice is that the owner of the vineyard goes out at the first part of the day to hire workers for his vineyard. Next, notice that he goes back at the third hour and sees others “standing idle in the market place” who he hires and sends into the vineyard. Then at the sixth and ninth hours the owner returns yet again and finds more workers who he hires and sends into his vineyard. Finally, at the eleventh hour, the last hour before the end of the day, the owner returns once again to the market place and finds others just standing around. He demands of them, “Why do you stand here idle all day?” And they respond, “Because no one has hired us.”

It is at this point in the story that you can feel the tension, which has been building throughout the parable, reach its culmination. Here it seems the owner could have said with a sense of exasperation, “What do you mean by saying that no one has hired you?! I have come to the market place four other times looking for workers but you were too lazy to take any notice.”

But, even though these words were not spoken by the owner, they do seem to be implied by what he does say next, “You go in the vineyard too.” In order to understand what he is really saying we must understand the grammar of this sentence. First notice that the owner does not say ‘please’. And there is a reason for this: in the Greek the word used for ‘you go’ is an imperative. In effect, he is telling all those who are still standing around at the eleventh hour to get out there and do something! I would say it is not unlike when a parent has told their children to clean their rooms multiple times and then finally has to command them to do it. But even then, as we all know, children can be disobedient.

And what is the meaning of this secondary theme of the parable? How are we to understand it? First of all, it is obvious that the owner of the vineyard is God. And the workers in the vineyard are those who have received God’s call and responded to it by doing the work they have been hired to do. As for those in the market place, they represent the rest of mankind that has not yet responded to the call of God: that being those who have never heard the Gospel, or those who have heard it and rejected it. And the day in which the work is to be done represents our lives. By breaking the day up into the various hours our Lord is showing us that God is continually calling us to go out and do the work that He has for us to do. He is constantly pleading with us to not be idle. It is this sense of urgency that is reinforced by our Lord’s use of the imperative “You go into the vineyard too.” But, we must ask this question: why is there such a sense of urgency?

To answer this question we must look to what happened “when evening came” in the parable. The evening represents the end of this life that will come to each and every one of us. In regards to the end of this life, the Catechism tells us that “death lends urgency to our lives” and that “remembering our mortality helps us realize that we have only a limited time in which to bring our lives to fulfillment.” It is this ‘bringing of our lives to fulfillment’ which is the reason that God is continually and tirelessly calling us into His vineyard to work. And this ‘work’ that He has given us to do is nothing less than preparing ourselves, and others through evangelization, for life everlasting. This work is accomplished through receiving the Sacraments, obeying the precepts and teachings of the Church, performing the spiritual and corporeal works of mercy, avoiding evil and doing good; in short, the work God has put before us is that of allowing ourselves to be transformed into the image of His Son. And this can only be accomplished if we heed God’s call, go out into the vineyard, and fulfill the purpose that He has for our lives.

But there is an alternative outcome which this parable does not address, but is addressed by many other parables. We are not told in this parable what happens to those who never responded to God’s call. What about those who just stood around the market place all day doing nothing? The owner of the vineyard will tell them, “Get out of my sight – you are not worthy of my generosity. All day I have called to you and you have not responded. But now, the day is over and there is no more work that can be done in order to receive what I was ready to give you. You have made your choice and it cannot be unmade.” If this sounds harsh then remember the parable of the sheep and the goats, or the parable of the wheat and the tares, or many other of our Lord’s parables. There will come a day for us when it is too late to accept what God is offering to us.

One of the main duties of the clergy is to share with God in this calling of people to go out into the vineyard and work. Therefore, I implore you to hear me: God has a unique calling for you, something that no one else can do in quite the same way. And that is why He is continually calling to us, shouting to us, and trying to break through the deafness of our indifference. This life does not last forever, but God does give each of us a lifetime to choose to follow Him. We cannot wait until the last hour is over because then it will be too late. Again hear the words of our Lord today, “You go into the vineyard.”

Why Do ‘They’ Hate Us?

17 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by in Love, Loving our Neighbor

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Although the ‘They’ listed in the title could refer to anyone that hates us, can also be seen as connected to my last two posts. As we start with this consideration of why people hate one another let us first consider what hatred really is. It seems to me that hatred is the effect of giving into the selfishness of being offended by the action of another. It is the desiring of evil to happen to the one who harmed us. (Whether or not the harm done was real or only perceived does not really matter. What matters is that someone feels slighted in some way and therefore hates the one who hurt them.) On the other hand, love is desiring the good of the ‘other’, even if they have harmed us.

The desire to hate and the lack of love, therefore, can be seen to be the cause of most (all?) conflict amongst mankind. So if we want to resolve conflict it seems that we must ask how do we avoid (or rid ourselves of) hatred? To this question someone might say, “Why should I want to get rid of hatred? The person that did _______ (here fill in your own offense) is bad and deserves to be hated.”

The reason we should rid ourselves of hatred is because we are not God. Hatred, it seems to me, comes from our desire to be the ‘God’ of our own lives, e.g., I don’t have things go the way I want them to and therefore I punish with my hatred the one who harmed me. (Not that I would or should do this – it is only an example.) It was the sin of Adam and Eve that introduced this disorder into the life of mankind. But the order that we were created for is that of love; a love based on God the Creator creating us out of love and for love: both love of God and love of those made in His Image: our fellow man. And this love, the love we were created for, is only possible if we live our lives in knowledge of the fact that we, the individual, are not God. We are creatures, who if we would act in love towards others as we were created to do, would see the true evil that lies within hatred. And as a result, we would no longer want to hate anyone. At least it seems to me this is the way that a Christian should see things.

So in answer to the question of why do ‘they’ hate us: in regards to those Muslims who do hate us, perhaps it is something within Islam that causes them to see things in a completely different light than a Christian would. Of course that would not make it right for them to hate us but it at least would help us understand why they hate us. But I am not a Muslim scholar and do not know what it is that might make them see things differently than us. If anyone has the answer please feel free to say so.

Hail Mary…

13 Saturday Sep 2014

Posted by in Eternal Life, Loving our Neighbor, Salvation

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Just a few moments ago, as I was preparing to write, the bells for the Angelus started to ring. The Angelus has been a part of my life going back to the Episcopal seminary I attended. It was there that three times a day the bell would ring and everyone, no matter what they were doing, would stop and remember the Incarnation of Jesus beginning with the words, “The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary; and she conceived by the Holy Ghost.” And that angel was, of course, the Archangel Gabriel. And so it seemed to me very Providential today that the Angelus would ring out just as I was preparing to write about the Archangel Gabriel.

Specifically, my purpose today is to make an important point in regards to my last post. That being said, we must ask how does the ‘religion of peace’ relate to the Archangel Gabriel? Well, I would say that he does not relate in the least to Islam, which I will explain below. But Islam, on the other hand, has something else to say in regards to Gabriel.

Before we get to the Muslim belief on Gabriel, let us recap the Christian understanding. Gabriel appeared to the Blessed Virgin Mary and announced to her the coming of the Son of God, and that she was to be His mother. Mary accepted this very special vocation from God by agreeing to God’s plan and she conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Old Testament prophesied about this event and the New Testament consistently expresses that Jesus, the Son of Mary, was and truly is the Son of God. Even Jesus Himself confirms this in the Gospels. And all of this was announced by the Archangel Gabriel.

Now to Islam: Muslims believe that it was the Archangel Gabriel that appeared Muhammad and revealed to him Islam. They believe that it was Gabriel that dictated the Koran for Muhammed to right down. But, the Koran says that even though Jesus was indeed born to the Virgin Mary, He was only a prophet and not God.

Therefore we are left with two religions claiming contradictory things about the same angelic being. Common sense dictates that it is not possible that Gabriel came to Mary announcing the birth of God's Son and also came to Muhammad saying that Jesus was not God's Son. There is only one option: one of the religions is true and the other is a lie. As a Catholic priest I am sure you know with which religion I side.

Now this isn’t to say I don’t believe an angel appeared to Muhammad. It is entirely possible that an angel did appear to him. But, we must remember that there are two camps of angels: those who chose to do God’s will and those who did not. The angels that serve God would not say anything contradictory to the Truth; in other words, they would never lie. And so Gabriel could not have appeared to both Mary and Muhammad. But, there are a group of angels which would have no qualms whatsoever about lying. In regards to the leader of these angels Jesus said, “he is a liar and the father of lies.” This would be none other than Satan.

This is the reason that I called Islam an evil religion in my last post. It is a religion that is based on a lie that says that Jesus is not the Son of God. But, and this is very important, notice that I said it is the religion that is evil – not the people within the religion, at least not all of them. Yes, there are many within Islam that have done terrible, awful, and evil things, but that doesn’t change the fact that all Muslims, Christians, Jews, and everyone else on this planet were made in the image of God and Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for all of them on the Cross. He desires that all be saved. Therefore, let us remember that Muslims live within a lie and then do what we can to show them the Truth. And let us not hate them like so many of them hate us. Instead, let us pray for their eternal souls remembering that we too need prayers for our own.

 

The ‘Religion of Peace’

11 Thursday Sep 2014

Posted by in Forgiveness, Salvation

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For a few weeks now I have been planning to do a piece on Islam. And today, the anniversary of the Islamic terrorist attacks on this country, seems to be a good day to reflect on the so-called ‘religion of peace’ and what was done to the people of this country 13 years ago. (And which continues to be done today in other parts of the world.)

Let us first get one thing straight: I am not saying that there are no peaceful Muslims. I am sure some of them are. But I believe it to be a lie to call Islam a religion of peace. Now I would imagine, in our politically correct society, that there are many people who would take offense at my calling the 9/11 attacks an ‘Islamic terriost attack’. They would say that it was only the ‘extremists’ that performed the attacks. But, let us be real, it was an Islamic attack. To deny this would be to say that the people who perpetrated the attacks were not Muslim, which would be untrue. To this someone might respond, “Yes, but many members of the Mafia are Roman Catholic, and they are responsible for many horrible crimes as well.” That is true, but it is not their Catholic faith that motivates their evil deeds. In fact, the Church denounces any such evil deeds done by one of its members or any evil done by anyone else for that matter. On the other hand, the same cannot be said of the 9/11 attacks or any of the things going on in the Middle East at this time. The actions 13 years ago and the atrocities being committed right now are very much an outgrowth of the religion of Islam, which is evidenced by the fact that the terrorists are directly motivated by the teachings of Muhammad.

But most people don’t want to think critically about such things. They just want to believe what the media tells them over and over and over again – Islam is a religion of peace. It is not hard to discover how big a lie this is. Here are some examples of what I am talking about. (There is much more that can be found at the website located here.)

Quran (5:33) – “The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement.”

Quran (8:12) – “I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them.”

And that is not all. In total there are “at least 109 verses that call Muslims to war with nonbelievers for the sake of Islamic rule.” (From the above mentioned website.) To this some might say, “Yes, but jihad is supposed to be understood as a spiritual struggle.” Good luck convincing the family of James Foley and countless others throughout Islam’s history of that particular bit of nonsense.

 

Now that is enough about the whole religion of peace nonsense. If you still believe in that then go and see what the teachings of Islam really say instead taking your opinion from the talking heads on TV.

My main purpose is not to show how bad Islam really is. Instead, my main purpose today is to call for forgiveness toward those Muslims who have done such evil things against others. This is a case of hate the sin but love the sinner. On days like today when we remember such senseless evil done to us we can very easily become upset and angry, even to the point of hatred for those who do such evil deeds. When this kind of evil is done against a person or group of people there are sometimes those who will say, “I can never forgive them for that.” But as Christians we cannot allow ourselves to fall into such a trap. Yes, what was done was very evil, but look at the evil that was done to Christ and what did He say from the Cross? “Father forgive them.”

We need to understand that by giving forgiveness we are not condoning the evil that is done agaist us. Instead, when we forgive others we are saying in effect, “What you did to me was wrong, but, I do not hold it against you.” And why should we do this? Well, for one, Jesus told us, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” (Luke 6:27b-28, RSV-CE) And in addition He said “if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Those are very strong words which show us the importance of forgiving others. We must remember that we are all sinners in need of forgiveness, but if we do not give forgiveness to others, even to our worst enemies, then God will not forgive us either.

And why is this? Why does God require us to forgive and why did Jesus forgive His tormentors from the Cross? In fact, why did Jesus, the Son of God, die for us in the first place? Because each and every one of us, whether we be Muslim, Jew, Christian, atheist, or whatever, are made in the image and likeness of God and He desires all those who He has created to be with Him in Heaven.

And all of this brings up a final point. We should be concerned with those who are trapped within the religion of Islam. In our egalitarian “any religion is good as any other” mentality we do not understand what it means to be a Muslim. The people within it, especially the women, cannot just leave and join themselves to another religion if they feel so called. Muslims who dare to convert to Christianity are quite literally risking their lives because other Muslims, even their own family members, will kill them rather than let them leave Islam. Yes, the religion of Islam is a hateful, despotic, and even evil religion that has led to much suffering for centuries throughout the world. But those who are within it are still people in need of salvation and to carry around hatred in our hearts for them is equivalent to wishing them to hell. What we must do instead is forgive, pray for, and if possible, evangelize Muslims for the sake of their souls and our own.

St. Cuthbert

04 Thursday Sep 2014

Posted by in Saints

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Today is St. Cuthbert's feast day, at least in the calendar we use at Our Lady of the Atonement. We use the same calendar that the Ordinariates use and this day marks the day that his incorrupt body was finally laid to rest in Durham, England. His feast day is important to me because I count him as the patron saint of my priesthood. The reason for this is because in the calendar used by all other Latin Rite Catholics he has another feast day, March 20, and that happens to be the day on which I was ordained to the priesthood. (Also of importance is the fact that I had the opportunity when I was in seminary to go to both Lindisfarne, where he was bishop, and Durham Cathedral, where he was finally laid to rest. That particular trip had a big impact on my life and looking back I also count it as the beginning of the end of my time as an Anglican.) Unfortunately, I have not had enough time today to dedicate a post in regards to St. Cuthbert, but nevertheless I felt the need to say something. Therefore, I encourage you to read about this wonderful saint. There is a great hagiography written by St. Bede found here.

 

St. Gregory the Great

03 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by in Catholic Church, Christian Unity, Eternal Life, Loving our Neighbor, Pope Benedict XVI, Saints, Salvation

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St. Gregory the Great and St. Augustine of Canterbury

Perhaps you have heard this story before but not perhaps from St. Bede the Venerable. This passage starts on page 86 of the pdf, which is numbered 74 in the text of the book. The whole book can be found here for free.

Nor must we pass by in silence the story of the blessed Gregory, handed down to us by the tradition of our ancestors, which explains his earnest care for the salvation of our nation. It is said that one day, when some merchants had lately arrived at Rome, many things were exposed for sale in the market place, and much people resorted thither to buy: Gregory himself went with the rest, and saw among other wares some boys put up for sale, of fair complexion, with pleasing countenances, and very beautiful hair. When he beheld them, he asked, it is said, from what region or country they were brought? and was told, from the island of Britain, and that the inhabitants were like that in appearance. He again inquired whether those islanders were Christians, or still involved in the errors of paganism, and was informed that they were pagans. Then fetching a deep sigh from the bottom of his heart, “Alas! what pity,” said he, “that the author of darkness should own men of such fair countenances; and that with such grace of outward form, their minds should be void of inward grace. He therefore again asked, what was the name of that nation? and was answered, that they were called Angles. “Right,” said he, “for they have an angelic face, and it is meet that such should be co-heirs with the Angels in heaven. What is the name of the province from which they are brought?” It was replied, that the natives of that province were called Deiri. (Note: Southern Northumbria) “Truly are they Deira,” said he, “saved from wrath, and called to the mercy of Christ. How is the king of that called?” They told him his name was Aelli;’ and he, playing upon the name, said, “Allelujah, the praise of God the Creator must be sung in those parts.”

Then he went to the bishop of the Roman Apostolic see (for he was not himself then made pope), and entreated him to send some ministers of the Word into Britain to the nation of the English, that it might be converted to Christ by them; declaring himself ready to carry out that work with the help of God, if the Apostolic Pope should think fit to have it done. But not being then able to perform this task, because, though the Pope was willing to grant his request, yet the citizens of Rome could not be brought to consent that he should depart so far from the city, as soon as he was himself made Pope, he carried out the long-desired work, sending, indeed, other preachers, but himself by his exhortations and prayers helping the preaching to bear fruit. This account, which we have received from a past generation, we have thought fit to insert in our Ecclesiastical History.

The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, St. Bede

I have always thought this to be a wonderful story. I suppose the main reason I find this story so intriguing and inspiring is because it led to the salvation of the English people, which is very important for me as an Anglican convert to the Catholic Faith. But of course there would be no ‘Anglican’ if St. Gregory had not first sent St. Augustine, which eventually led to Anglicanism after Henry VIII. So it is very appropriate that as Gregory sent Augustine to preach the Catholic Faith to the people and bring them into the one Fold of Christ, so also Benedict XVI published Anglicanorum coetibus to bring the lost sheep of Anglicanism back into the one Fold originally proclaimed by Augustine.

But there is another reason I am bringing up this story today. Notice what happens when Gregory sees the Angles being sold in the marketplace. His immediate and primary concern is not to see the slaves freed from their physical chains that hold them down. Instead, he is focused on another slavery that is far worse – that of being pagans, of being completely and hopelessly lost without a knowledge of Christ. It was the chains that enslaved their souls that he sought to free them from because it is those which have eternal consequences.

Many people today though have it completely backwards. They might see physical chains of some sort, some form of ‘social justice’ that needs to be performed, and through mere sentiment they seek to put right the perceived wrong. But of the spiritual situation of those in need they could not care less. This mindset is at least understandable in relief work done for the needy through various non-sectarian agencies. But when this is the attitude of those within the Church it makes no sense whatsoever!

Our Lord died to bring eternal, not temporal, salvation to mankind. This isn’t to say that we should not be concerned with the physical needs of our suffering brothers and sisters. We should – in fact our Lord demands it of us. But, we must have our priorities straight and remember that the help that others need most desparately, more than anything else, is not ‘justice’, whether it be social or otherwise. Instead what they need is mercy – the mercy that we can only receive through Christ’s redemption that He won for us on the Cross. St. Gregory understood this and we, as a Church that can see pagans of all kinds surrounding us, need to understand it.

What We All Desire

02 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by in C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, Thought for the Day

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The Christian doctrine of suffering explains, I believe, a very curious fact about the world we live in. The settled happiness and security which we all desire, God withholds from us by the very nature of the world: but joy, pleasure, and merriment, He has scattered broadcast. We are never safe, but we have plenty of fun, and some ecstasy. It is not hard to see why. The security we crave would teach us to rest our hearts in this world and oppose* an obstacle to our return to God: a few moments of happy love, a landscape, a symphony, a merry meeting with our friends, a bathe or a football match, have no such tendency. Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home.

The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis

*Note: It seems to me that “oppose” should instead be “pose as”, but I haven't been able to confirm this.