Category Archives: Salvation

Salvation

We are All Called

20 Sunday Mar 2016

Posted by in Salvation, Transformation in Christ, von Hildebrand

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Today is my sixth anniversary of ordination to the priesthood. Interestingly, I came across the following quote in Transformation in Christ:

The question of whether I feel worthy to be called is beside the point; that God has called me is the one thing that matters.

Transformation in Christ, p. 168

Am I good enough or qualified enough to be a Catholic priest – nope. But as von Hildebrand has pointed out that is not the right question. The question for each and every one of us is this: what has God called me to do? First of all, He has called each and every one of us to salvation. This begins in Baptism and continues in a life lived in accordance with the teachings of Christ, which comes to us through the Holy Scriptures and the teachings of the Church.

But also we each have something specific to do in this life. Has God called all men to be priests? No, but He has called all people to something. Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman explains it best:

God has called me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission – I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next.

I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for nothing. I shall do good, I shall do His work.

It seems to me that those who in this life do not know their mission simply haven't asked the question: what does God want me to do? They just go through life doing what they think 'has' to be done without thinking of the most important things – such as why are we here at all? God has called each of us to something, otherwise we wouldn't exist at all. I don't know what He has called you to do but I do know that He has called you. It is your job to find out.

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Time to Wake Up

16 Monday Nov 2015

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Sermon for the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity
November 15, 2015

The sun comes up in the east and it does so every day. Its rays wake up the sleepy world with every new morning and we go about the business of the day without a second thought. The sun comes up and goes down in an apparent never ending cycle. And the cyclical nature of this everyday occurrence makes us think it will go on this way forever.

And yet, science tells us that the sun is just a big ball of exploding gas, which will eventually run out of fuel. And even though this may not happen for another billion years we still know that it will happen. Perhaps we don’t worry about it because we know it will never affect us – that’s something for someone else to worry about.

Continuing on with this theme of the sun, listen again to the words of our Lord, “…in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.” These words of our Lord are confirmed by modern science ­– which shouldn’t be surprising – eventually this world, and in fact the entire universe, will come to an end. It is true that we may not see the end of the world in our lifetime but the only reason for that is because we would be dead. So either death or the end of the world will come to each of us, and yet we continue on with our lives like Nero fiddling amongst the fires of Rome – just going about our business like nothing is happening. Why is it that we are so complacent when we know the end will come? Are we all just crazy like that ancient Roman dictator?

In order to understand this complacency within us – and to wake up to the need to overcome it – let us look for its explanation in our lives. To do this let us ask the following question: why do we live our lives as if life will never end? To answer this question let us consider the alternative to a life lived as if it will never end – its opposite would be an oversensitivity to the approaching end demonstrated by the person who lives every day in constant fear that the next moment will be his last. Some people do in fact become trapped in this way of thinking and it can be crippling to the point that you don’t even want to venture outside, much less go to work and have a normal life. Most people, though, don’t succumb to this because deep down we all really want to be happy. After all, God made us to be with Him forever in eternal bliss and so we are naturally drawn to what will make us happy.

As a result of not knowing when the end of our life will come and instead of living our day-to-day life in constant fear of the end, most of us try to go about our day as happily as we can. But as time continues to go on day after day we get comfortable in our various routines and eventually push out of our minds that the end will one day come. We do this because to think of such things is too much of an interruption in the little realms of false happiness that we have created for ourselves. And so we become complacent and think, “Everything is ok – there’s nothing to worry about. The sun will continue to come up in the east.”

In order to overcome this disordered way of thinking we must learn to transcend this transitory life so that we may see that this life does not go on indefinitely. The routine of our daily life can make us think that it will, but we must remember what our Lord tells us plainly today – “heaven and earth will pass away.” But then what is left for us? Are we to continually worry and fret that the next moment might be our last? No, not at all.

Eventually, the sun will set on this temporary life and it will not return. And both the forgetfulness of the coming end and the perpetual fear of it come from an inordinate focus on this world, as if this world is all there is. That is why it is crucial for us to always remember that our true home is not here – it is in heaven. To be with God forever is the true end for all of mankind – it is the reason He created us. And our Lord tells us today that when He returns “He will send out the angels, and gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.” But to be part of that immortal elect we must choose to follow Him during this mortal life; in doing so we will be able to remain joyful in the day-to-day of our existence here on earth while also looking with anticipation towards the end when our Lord returns in glory.

Salt and Society

17 Monday Aug 2015

Posted by in Morality, Salvation, What's Wrong with the World?

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You are the salt of the earth. What do these words imply? Did the disciples restore what had already turned rotten? Not at all. Salt cannot help what is already corrupted. That is not what they did. But what had first been renewed and freed from corruption and then turned over to them, they salted and preserved in the newness the Lord had bestowed. It took the power of Christ to free men from the corruption caused by sin; it was the task of the apostles through strenuous labour to keep that corruption from returning.

From a homily on Matthew by St. John Chrysostom

In this section from yesterday’s Office of Readings, St. Chrysostom is quoting our Lord from the Sermon on the Mount: “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored?” (Matthew 5:13, RSV-CE). One interpretation I have heard of this passage is that it means we, as Christians, are supposed to add ‘flavor’ to the society in which we live. While this seems like a questionable understanding to me, there may be some truth in it. But there is a problem – if we are flavoring a society that is already rotten then it is not going to taste any better. Therefore, it seems to me that St. Chrysostom’s interpretation – of salt as a preservative of that which is good – is a better understanding of what our Lord is trying to convey.

Before we continue we must deal with an obvious question: is our society rotten? There are many who would say that we, as a nation, are actually on the right path because now there is marriage ‘equality’, gender sensitiveness (evidenced by the acceptance of Bruce Jenner’s ‘new identity’), and other re-interpretations of moral norms. Those in favor of these things would tell us that truth is what we make it: the sky is blue only because I call it blue and I can just as easily call it orange. But just calling it by a different name does not make it so and common sense, which is not so common anymore, tells us that this is true. Maybe this is wishful thinking, but I think that a majority of people still have common sense. And if they were asked to take a critical look at the moral degradation of our society over the last 50 years or so, then they would have to agree that our society has indeed become rotten – in the least, parts of it have become so.

So, what do we do? Is there a way to fix our society as a whole? I suppose if we had an absolute monarchy with a moral and just leader then he could do away with all laws that are immoral and unjust. But we would still be faced with the problem of what to do with those people in our society who still believe in that which is immoral and unjust because they think it is a good thing: such as abortion or ‘marriage equality’. The number of people who truly believe in these things as good is considerable and just enacting proper laws is not going to change their mind. And so we would still be left with a cancer in our society – a cancer of a wrong understanding of mankind. And unless the cancer is cured our society will never be healthy. Instead, the cancer will continue to bring with it a certain amount rottenness to the whole of our society.

This brings us back to the quote from St. Chrysostom. Salt does not turn that which is rotten into something edible. And in a similar manner, just having Christians in a rotten society does not make that society healthy. But there is something, or rather Someone, who can bring healing to the individual members of our society: Jesus Christ. Notice that I say ‘individuals’. Even if we conformed all laws in this country to the teachings of the Church it would not be the same as bringing all the members of our society to Christ. Usually, when something is rotten there is nothing that can be done except to throw it away. But because of what Jesus Christ has done for us even the most rotten person can be renewed and made whole. And it is one of the duties of those who believe to tell the non-believer about Christ and to try to help them see the Truth.

The Church: Christ’s Voice of Authority

02 Monday Feb 2015

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Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
February 1, 2015

Moses was the one who delivered God’s word to the Israelites in the form of the Law. So when we hear him say today, “God will raise up for you a prophet like me” he must be referring to Someone that would do something similar. And that is exactly what we find in our Gospel today, “immediately on the Sabbath (Jesus) entered the synagogue and taught.” And not only that, but “he taught…as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.” And while there are similarities between the two, this is a more wonderful occurrence than Moses receiving the word of the Law from God because in Jesus we have God Himself delivering the message. An analogy might help to see the significance: Moses precedes Christ as your own shadow precedes you when walking with the sun at your back. Even though the path in front of you is visible, everything in the shadow is darkened to your sight. But, when you turn toward the Sun, everything can be clearly seen. In a similar manner, when the Son of God came and shed His light on the teachings of Moses, the people were astounded by the illumination He provided. Remember what happens when you step out of darkness and into the full light of day. At first, you are blinded and cannot clearly make out your surroundings and that is what happened here when Christ was teaching the people with authority. Therefore, in order to assure those present that what they were beginning to see was real and not an illusion; Jesus speaks again with authority and commands the unclean spirit to come out of the man who was possessed.

From this we are supposed to see clearly that Jesus is not like one of the scribes, who only reiterated the teachings of Moses. Instead, He is God – that is the only way He could speak and command with such Authority. And if this is the case – as we Catholics claim to believe – then shouldn’t we listen to and obey Him? After all, if a demon knows better than to ignore the command of Christ, then we who claim to follow Christ must do nothing less.

But, how do we hear Christ speaking to us so that we may follow Him? One answer to this question would be to follow our conscience. All people, whether they are Catholic or not, understand the obligation to follow their conscience. If we think something is wrong, we should avoid it and if we think something is right we should do it. And if we do the right and avoid the wrong are we not following Christ? This seems to be a simple answer of how we can truly hear Christ speaking to us. But there is a big pitfall in regards to conscience that people constantly overlook, which is this: while we do have an obligation to follow our conscience, we also have a duty to make sure that our conscience is properly formed. If our conscience has not been properly formed then it is possible to do the wrong thing while thinking that we are doing right. In regards to this we must understand that things are not right or wrong just because we happen to think they are. Instead, there is an objective reality that we must acknowledge in order to know what is right and what is wrong. Therefore, following Christ is not as simple as following our conscience. We first need a source of authority that can show us this objective reality about right and wrong.

But where can we find this authority? Certainly, as we learned today in the Gospel reading, Christ is that Authority that we need to guide our lives properly. But, He no longer walks physically among us in order to lead us down the path of salvation. One solution to this problem of a need for the Authority of Christ could be Sacred Scripture; because in it Christ still speaks to us. That is a reason that Scripture is read at every Mass – so that Christ can continue to speak to us. But yet another problem arises from this in that Scripture does not interpret itself. Instead, mankind interprets Scripture; and when we, as individuals, hear or read the words of Christ we can be mistaken about what they mean. Proof of this is easily seen when we look at the fractured state of those who believe in Christ. There are a multitude of so-called denominations, each of which is a result of the private interpretation of Scripture. And so even with Scripture we are left with a lack of Authority to lead us safely down the path of salvation. If only Christ were still here to speak to us so that we would not wander off the path.

And yet, He is here and he does speak to us still – people just don’t want to hear what He has to say. Let me explain how He is still with us and continues to speak to us. Our Lord spent three years teaching His Apostles the Truth about the Kingdom of God and told them, “He who hears you, hears me.”[1] And the Apostles then entrusted this “Sacred deposit of the faith” to the whole Church. And it is the teaching office of the Church, the living Magisterium, that continues to faithfully and fully hand on to succeeding generations what it has received, which is nothing less than the complete teaching of Jesus Christ. Therefore, when the Church speaks authoritatively it is in fact Jesus Himself that is speaking to us and guiding us along our way so that we may not stray from the path of salvation.

And yet many Catholics claim that they cannot accept the Authority that Christ has bestowed upon His Church because her teachings don’t make sense to them. Perhaps there is some truth to that. But we must ask: why is it the case that so many Catholics don’t accept the authoritative teachings of the Church? The answer is quite simple – it is due to the fact that their consciences have been formed and their understanding of Scripture conditioned by a source of authority other than Christ: for example the secular media, Hollywood, politicians, books, music, etc. The thinking is that if they see it on TV or read it on the internet then it must be true.

But I think there is a deeper reason why these people won’t accept the teaching authority of the Church and that reason is pride. They simply don’t want to see the Truth of the Church’s teaching because it doesn’t happen to coincide with their own limited opinion. They have heard what they want to hear from the world and have set that up as their standard of truth. And by so doing they claim to know more than Christ.

But salvation is not found in the world. If it were then the coming of the Son of God as Man would have been unnecessary. But we see in our Gospel today that He did in fact come and He spoke with Authority. And He still speaks to us with that same Authority which knows the way to life everlasting. And so the question that remains is this: will you listen?

[1] CCC §87

Excuses, excuses, excuses

20 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by in Salvation

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There are many things I could list as valid reasons of why I have not been posting on a regular basis recently: a hectic schedule leading up to Christmas, various sermons to write, trip out of town with my family, and sickness for 5 out of 6 members of my family. But to be honest I must admit that I sometimes used those reasons merely as an excuse not to write on my blog. It was simply easier not to write anything. And yet I know that writing helps me to understand things better and, therefore, to be more effective at communicating with others. Perhaps those who read this blog don't care whether or not I write, but that does not matter. What matters is that I know what is good for me (to write) and yet I neglected to do it.

But because mankind is fallen we all have a tendency to do the same thing. For instance you've probably heard people say, “I just don't have time to pray.” Or, “I'm too tired to go to Sunday Mass.” Or, “I'm just to busy to learn more about the Faith.” And perhaps we are too busy. After all our society teaches us that we must always be 'doing' something in order to be successful. As proof of what I am saying look at how our society forms children: school for 8 hours a day, a couple of hours of homework every night and an endless procession of extra-curricular activities that is basically non-stop, which are all billed as necessary things so you can get into a good college and 'succeed'. (Yes, a good education is an excellent thing to have; but only if it helps to form us into the persons God wants us to be.) But exactly what is it that we are trying to succeed in doing?

Our ultimate goal in this life is come to know and love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Anything that keeps us from this ultimate goal is not helping us to be successful. Instead, it is at best a waste of our time and at worst leading us away from God for all eternity. In the end it is not really about what we do with our time but why we are doing it. If what we are doing in our lives leaves us too busy for God then why are we doing it? Why do we keep making excuses to do things that don't really matter? If we are too busy, and it seems to me that many (most? all?) of us are, then let us get rid of those things that don't matter and let us stop making excuses.

…and the Word became Flesh

25 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by in Eternal Life, Salvation, Sermons

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Sermon for the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ

December 25, 2014

What is a word? This is not a question we would normally ask ourselves because we take words for granted. When we use words to communicate with someone we assume that they will understand what we mean. But with today’s Gospel reading we must come to an understanding of what a word really is if we are to understand what St. John means when he tells us, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

So, what is a word? To answer this question let us begin by saying what it is not. A word is not just letters on a page. And it is not merely a sound coming from someone’s mouth. The written and spoken words that we use can only be understood if the person we are trying to communicate with speaks the same language. For instance, if English is your language then you know what I mean when I say the word ‘dog’. But if your language is Chinese, then the same word would be only a meaningless sound. The word ‘dog’ still means the same thing but without knowledge of the language it is unintelligible. From this we can see that a word is a sign that means something specific. Or as St. John of Damascus describes it: a word is “the messenger of intelligence.” Therefore we can say that words are interior concepts which come from our mind to convey knowledge to another person.

But what does this tell us about the Word of God? First of all, take notice of what we heard from the letter to the Hebrews, “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets.” After sin entered the world and man lost his original connection to God, which was really his ability to communicate directly with God, God did not leave mankind without hope. The letter to the Hebrews tells us that God was always trying to communicate to us through various prophets in order to bring mankind back to a correct knowledge of Himself. He did this because He originally created us to know and love Him. And out of God’s infinite love for us, He desired to bring us back to a proper knowledge and love of Him. But there was a problem because the messages of the prophets He sent could only bring us so far in our understanding of God; and why, because there was an infinite gap between the language of man and a complete knowledge of God. There is, however, one Word that can close that gap: the Infinite Word of God.

But there is a language barrier between God and ourselves. How could we, who are finite, possibly understand a direct message from the One who is Infinite? Because of the infinite gap between man’s word and the knowledge of God only the Infinite Word could bring God’s message to us. But, in order for the message to be intelligible, He first had to become Man. And that is the very reason that the Word became Flesh and dwelt amongst us. And if, as I said earlier, words are concepts which come from our mind to convey knowledge to another, then the Word that comes to us from God brings us true knowledge of God and bridges that infinite gap that came about through the sin of Adam.

But even when the Infinite Word became Flesh, He had to speak to us through our own limited and finite language. And that was simply insufficient for us to truly understand the message of salvation that He came to deliver. Therefore, He spoke to us not only in word, but in deed. And the culmination of all that He said and did among us is found in His ultimate action, which speaks louder than any human word: His Eternal Word spoken to us from the Cross.

God has spoken His saving Word to us and if we want to understand the message it contains then we must learn the language of the Cross. Because if we don’t learn this language, then this day, the day of the birth of our Lord, and every other festival of the Church becomes just meaningless noise. On this day, and every day, God is trying to communicate salvation to us through His eternal Word. But if we do not understand what it is that He is saying then the message will not be effective. If you want to receive this message and come to fully know and love God and receive that salvation He is offering then learn the language that He is speaking.

How, then, do we learn this language of the Cross? There are only three simple things we need to know to learn this language, although it does take a lifetime to master it: they are dying to self, loving God above all things, and loving our neighbor as ourselves. This is the language of the Cross; this is the language of the Word made Flesh who was born for us on Christmas Day.

The Four Last Things – Heaven

16 Tuesday Dec 2014

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Sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent

December 14, 2014

In continuing our Advent reflections on the Four Last Things our topic today is Heaven. And here is the summary of what I have to say about Heaven: unless there is a God, and a Heaven in which to dwell with Him, our lives are absolutely meaningless.

This is a bold claim to make:
-many would scoff at such an idea, saying that it is childish to believe in such things;
-some would call it wishful thinking;
-others, an archaic idea that is only believed by superstitious societies;

-while many others would say they believe in God and Heaven and yet live like this life is all there is.

And yet all of these people, and in fact all of mankind, have something in common which shows the truth of what I have said – unless there is a God and a Heaven, our lives are meaningless. This thing that is common to us all is that we all want to be happy.

Mankind’s desire for happiness is evidenced by the fact that we are always looking for the thing that will make us happy – the thing that will give our lives meaning. We constantly search amongst the finite things of creation to no avail. When we obtain some thing that we desire we eventually come to realize it does not fulfill us. This is because once we have obtained it we see that it is lacking in some way, and then we notice something better that we do not have. And so we pursue it, whatever it is, over and over in a never-ending cycle. But, if every finite thing keeps pointing us to something better, then we must finally come to realize that our need to be happy can be fulfilled by nothing, at least no thing in this world. In this world of finite things you can always go beyond to something better.

Before we go on let me explain what I mean by ‘finite thing’. To all you children, and even the adults, everything that you are hoping to receive for Christmas is a finite thing that cannot bring you the ultimate happiness you truly desire. It is true that the things we receive at Christmas can bring us momentary pleasure but it never lasts, does it? Therefore, we can see that this desire we have within us for happiness cannot be fulfilled through any finite thing, but only through that which is infinite.

This leaves us with two options. The first option is that there is something, or rather some One, that can fulfill this insatiable desire we find within ourselves. If this is true and this desire can be fulfilled, then our lives and the world around us begin to make sense.

The second option is that there is nothing in the universe but finite matter and therefore, nothing that can ever fulfill the infinite desire that we have within us. But if that is the case, then from where does this desire come? If it can never be fulfilled, then this desire within us has no meaning. Our lives would be reduced to a cruel cosmic joke because the universe holds out to us the promise of happiness and yet never fulfills it. The whole universe would then become absurd and unintelligible.

Of these two options the one I choose to believe is the first, obviously. It would be nonsensical to have a Catholic priest – or even a Catholic layman – that did not believe in a God that can fulfill this infinite longing that we find within ourselves. After all, the first option makes the most sense, doesn’t it? And this is where faith comes in – we cannot prove scientifically that God exists, but we can see that without Him nothing makes sense. And it is with God in our lives that we can finally find the fulfillment of the happiness that we desire.

But, there is a problem with our use of the word ‘happy’. Because, when we use this word, it immediately conjures up the idea of something that is only temporary. That is because this word does not define that which we are truly searching for; instead, we are looking for beatitude, or perfect happiness. This is the blessed state for which God created us. That is why we say that the Saints in Heaven have received the Beatific Vision. In seeing God face to face they have received that perfect happiness that mankind constantly tries to find on this earth.

This leads us to our celebration today. Gaudete! Rejoice! This is the first word uttered at the beginning of Mass today. It is joy that we truly desire and not mere happiness. Today’s topic is Heaven and some tend to think of Heaven as the fulfillment of all our desires. But this is not accurate. Instead, Heaven is the fulfillment of the God-given desire that is within you because all of our various ‘desires’ are summed up in that one desire to be with God. But, if we want to receive that beatitude, that perfect happiness that we all desire, then we cannot pursue it as our ultimate goal, because it is not. Our ultimate goal, the reason that we have been created, is to know and love God.

If we would receive the beatitude that He is offering to us, which is nothing less than the fullness of His love, then we must first learn how to fully love Him. How do we do this? The answer is right there: Jesus on the Cross. Our Lord has shown us how to fully love God and others – it is by giving of ourselves completely. This is the path to Heaven and if we walk this path with Christ then our lives will truly have meaning – only then will we have that perfect beatitude that we all desire.

The Difference between Need and Want

05 Friday Dec 2014

Posted by in Eternal Life, Free Will, God's Will, Pope Francis, Salvation, Submission to God, Thought for the Day

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People…have become used to an image of God handed down to them as very conerned, even jealous, about receiving the honor and glory due him, as though he somehow needed this for his own sake. But this is a serious misunderstanding, both philosophically and religiously. God does not need anything from us to maintain his own happiness. His only wish is to share his own happiness with us as richly as possible. But on our part, for our own sake, we must honor and glorify him as the best way to turn ourselves toward him and render us open and attentive to receive his gifts.

The One and the Many, W. Norris Clarke, S.J. (p.238)

I will write only briefly in order to explain my title. As Fr. Clarke expresses so well above, God does not need us for His own happiness. But, out of His infinite love, He sincerely wants us to be with Him. And of course to be with God is what we were created for – it is our end, our goal. But in order to reach that goal we must turn away from our selves and turn towards Him. “We must honor and glorify him” and the only way to do that is by willingly doing as He has asked us to do. And what is that ultimately? We see the answer in the words spoken by God’s own Son, “not my will, but thine, be done.” (Luke 22:42)

Christ the King

25 Tuesday Nov 2014

Posted by in Loving our Neighbor, Salvation, Sermons, Submission to God, Update

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(Editorial note: the comment below by Dr. Delaney is worth noting and, as he suggests, would have fit into my sermon very well. In addition, it was pointed out by one of the deacons at the parish that we in America do not actually have a true democracy but instead a democratic republic. Both of these mistakes find their origin in my own ignorance, which can be attributed to my always taking the easy way out in my studies earlier in my life. I am now trying to remedy that problem. I have left the sermon as is, though, because this is how I delivered it.)

Sermon for Christ the King Sunday

November 23, 2014

What is a king? This is the question posed to us by our celebration today. But secondly, and more importantly, what does it mean for Christ to be our King? Regarding the first question, in an absolute monarchy, the king is one who exercises complete political power over a specific group of people. And if these people are good subjects then they will obey the king’s decisions and follow where he leads. But, of course, this kind of monarchy only works if the king is good and has the good of his subjects always in mind. And this is why earthly kingdoms which have absolute monarchies do not work – because the concerns of an earthly king often devolves into either a concern for what is good for himself or other petty concerns that hurt his subjects. Because of this, when this country was founded, we chose not to have a king, but instead established a democratic system with elected officials. And even though at this time many of our elected officials act more like dictators rather than ordinary citizens who have been elected to represent the people, nevertheless, our choice of government seems to be the best model for a planet of fallen and sinful people. We are all sinful and selfish and therefore, no single one of us should have absolute power over the rest.

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A Man Unafraid to Tell the Truth

22 Saturday Nov 2014

Posted by in C.S. Lewis, Free Will, God's Will, Salvation, The Great Divorce

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On this day 51 years ago C.S. Lewis died. I have had the pleasure of meeting a few men that actually met and talked with Lewis (one of them being my friend Thomas Howard) but I never had the pleasure of meeting the man himself. In fact, I was not even alive when he died. But even though I never met him he has greatly impacted my life. He was the first one that helped me to truly see what Christianity really is through his book Mere Christianity. Even though he never converted to the Catholic Faith, I count him as one of the influences that led me necessarily into the Catholic Church. I owe him a great deal. So much do I owe him that I even nicknamed my first son Jack (my wife wouldn’t let me name him Clive Staples, or so I jokingly tell people). Lewis is on my top 10 list of people I most want to meet when I get to Heaven (assuming that in the end I choose that instead of my own miserable desires.)

There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened.

The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis

Thank you St. Jack for everything you did in serving Christ and His Church.