How often have you gotten stuck driving behind a car with a busted up exhaust?  

It kicks back a disgusting black cloud of gross that you inevitably have to drive through.  If you don't already have your ventilation set to "circulate in-car," you're punished with breathing in the putrid fumes.  


Can you tell how much I hate this circumstance?

Well, color me incredulous today.

I was driving into work when I noticed a line of five cars driving placidly behind a large truck spewing VOLUMES of filth into the air.  

The fumes were black, but not one of these cars moved to get around the offending vehicle. 

INCREDULOUS!

I wasn't going to wait around for them to come to their senses.  I switched lanes and drove right past all six of them.  

The rest of the way to work, I kept wondering why the other five vehicles didn't follow suit. There was a completely open lane to their left.  They definitely weren't following the truck for directions.  Why, then, would all of them be content to remain behind a truck spewing poison into their cars?

It was then that I realized how often we each do this in our own lives.  

How often do we remain content to follow a leader that is so obviously spewing something dangerous?  

I'm a big culprit when it comes to bad language.  I slip into using terrible language when I'm surrounded by others who do the same.  Oh Lord, I'm terrible when it comes to this. 

There are clear paths that I could easily steer myself onto that would take me past the foul-language, but I remain.  Why?  Because sometimes it's easier to coast along and not demand better for oneself.  

And that's a terribly embarrassing thing to realize about yourself.  But realize it I did as I scoffed at the other "idiot drivers" who didn't see it.  *Cringe*

We do this so often in our lives.  Personal relationships, work relationships, even political ones.  Our leaders often try to shove unsavory fumes down our throats and we allow it. We can and must do better for ourselves.  We need to seek out the other paths that take us beyond the poisonous actions of those we are behind.  

One bad exhaust and here I go waxing political.  In truth, though, I think the analogy works.

Special thanks to Justin Bell (@ajustbell) for giving me permission to use the above photo for tonight's entry.  He was present for the Procession and took some really incredible photos. Looking through them, my eyes truly began to well up with gratitude for the outpouring of love for Christ within the Eucharist.  

Lord, You are loved. Forgive us for neglecting to show our love like this more often. 

By now, you've all heard of the repugnant event that was to be hosted on the Harvard campus.  I, like many of my Catholics, joined my brothers and sisters in Boston in a national show of solidarity through prayer, fasting and sacrifice. 

There is nothing more I can possibly say on this matter that hasn't already been outline hundreds of times by others who have written about this.  I will say, however, that I was incredibly hurt by such an event being promoted.  Physically, painfully hurt.  

So from 7pm until 8pm, I locked myself away and offered the hour in union with the entire Church.  I offered it in reparation for the mockery of Christ, I offered it for the conversion and repentance of those responsible, and I offered it for the strength and clarity of those with the power to stop it.  

There were no adoration hours available to me locally, so I chose to unite myself by reading about the Eucharist in a little booklet I picked up about a year ago.  It's been sitting in my drawer waiting for this day.  I pulled it out and spent the hour in prayerful reflection of the lessons contained within.

The booklet is titled The Most Blessed Sacrament and is written by Fr. Stephano Manelli, OFM.  I thought it fitting.  Fr. Manelli creates a quilt of reflections patched together by various saints who were entirely devoted to our Divine God hidden in the Eucharist.  

Folks just don't understand how Catholics can adore what - to them - amounts to be a cracker.  God would never, in their minds, appear as something so insignificant.  God is majestic - divine!  He would not stoop so low as to appear as bread and wine.  

And yet this is exactly who we know God to be.  This is precisely why we praise Him, honor Him and love Him.  The Divine and Unencompassable God consents to become the most base staple of nourishment so that He can mercifully feed us in an intimate and personal way.  That is how loving our God is.  He is not this mythical creature who is too self-important to care for His children.  Instead, He bends over backwards to be near to us.  He cares not for golden ciboriums or tabernacles encrusted with jewels; He years to take refuge within the depths of our soul.  He wishes to enjoin Himself to our deepest, truest essence so that He can fashion us to Him and make us more like Himself - divine.  

This is why Satan hates the Eucharist.  He can't stand that the Divine God humbles Himself so basely for the likes of humanity.  It is why he seeks to mock and sully the truest, most blessed gift ever given to humanity.

St. Augustine once exclaimed of the Eucharist, "Although God is all-powerful, He is unable to give more; though supremely wise, He knows not how to give more; though vastly rich, He has not more to give."

Why is this?  Because in the Eucharist, we are given God's Incarnate Son.  Jesus comes to us fully (Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity) to feed us and nourish our souls with effusions of Divine Grace.  God cannot give more than the gift of Himself in this humble form.  This blessed gift is the summation of His promise to be with us always.  

Methinks I'll be doing a lot more meditating on the Eucharistic Lord in the coming months.  The media still isn't entirely sure if the mockery took place or not.  Some reports are saying it happened in a Chinese restaurant across from campus, others are reporting that it has been pushed off indefinitely.  Either way, evil is beginning to get increasingly brazen, and a more constant meditation and show of Christian love is necessary to combat this treachery. 

Did any of you participate in the 7-8pm vigil?

Does anyone else feel a bit like characters in a Chicken Little book?  Instead of the sky falling, I am constantly hearing "The Church is falling!  The Church is falling!" from a swelling underbelly of paranoid Catholics and a growing army of gleeful anarchists.  

If you take a look at the media, you'd think the Church was at death's door!

• Hispanics "Leaving the Church Behind"
• We're apparently a "Dying Church" (NCR, so hold your nose)
  
• Threads like this... so many flippin' threads like this.

Relax, folks.  I assure you, the Church isn't going anywhere.  Remember that whole business with Peter getting renamed in front of the giant cave that devoured infants?  

No?

Let me refresh your memory, then.  Since all four of the Gospels were pretty clear about this, it's obviously important enough for folks to understand.

Once upon a time, Simon (meaning "reed") was following a cool guy named Jesus.  Simon wasn't super smart, he certainly wasn't very rich, and he didn't hold major sway in the community.  That was okay.  He wasn't interested in being the smartest guy in the room. Money didn't hold any power over him, and he didn't aim to have folks do his bidding.  He was just a guy who loved Jesus and was willing to follow Him wherever He went - up to and including the Gates of Hell.

That's right, folks!  Simon followed Jesus to the Gates of Hell!  Believe it or not, this place actually existed in his time.  It was located in Caesarea Philippi, and today, it looks like this:

What you're looking at is a giant cave that was carved into a massive chunk of stone.  In fact, this giant stone mass housed several caves which, at the time of Jesus, would have been temples dedicated to various deities.  

This particular one, however, was dedicated to Pan, god of desolate places (being a lonely little farmer / herder dude isn't the best diety-gig to have).  Because his temple had a bit of water running through it, folks would come and sacrifice their infants over the cliff to him where they would either drown or die of blunt force trauma.  Thus, because of the grisly sacrificing of such innocence, it was likened to the gates of Hades (even by the Romans).  

*Yeesh*

So Simon followed Jesus all the way to Caesarea Philippi to stand before this giant stone structure that signified death and complete desolation.  It was here that Jesus asked a series of silly questions.  I'll let the Bible talk from here:

Good old Simon.  His birth name meant reed, something easily bent or even broken by the passing breeze.  

Now, however, Jesus blessed him with the name that translates to "large rock."  Jesus didn't change Simon's name because He was impressed with Simon's knowledge of Scripture.  He didn't change his name because He liked how sinless Simon was.  He didn't even change his name because of how faithfully Simon followed Jesus all around the known world.  

No.

Jesus changed Simon's name to Peter because name changes signify divine inspiration - a deep, spiritual change that dictates a person's destiny.  It's part of the reason we are given new names at Confirmation, too!

Jesus specifically changed Simon's name to Peter because He asked a question with an answer that only could've been arrived at through divine inspiration.  Simon was open to the movement of the Spirit, and this is why he was chosen as the cornerstone of the Church.  

On Peter's shoulders the Church would be built.  When Jesus goes on and explains that He will give him (after the Ascension) the "keys to the kingdom," He was referencing Isaiah 22:22-23.  

For those unfamiliar, the "key" wasn't just a symbol of power the king bestowed onto his most trusted servant.  The key was an actual key that could open or lock all the doors in the kingdom (grain storehouses, vaults for gold, even the very temple doors).  Whoever wielded the key was given the king's authority (with his approval, of course) while the king is absent.  The servant then went about doing the king's bidding by opening grain storehouses for the hungry, the vaults to pay for kingdom necessities, making pronouncements, etc.  

Jesus was telling Peter that his openness to divine inspiration announced him as this highly trusted servant.  And thus, on Peter's shoulders, the glory of his ancestors (the Jews) and his descendants / offspring (the Catholic Church / various sects of Christianity) will hang on his leadership.  PETER is the cornerstone on which Christ's Church is built.  

If you continue reading Isaiah (and I love this), the original servant spoken of is named Eliakim.  Verses 24-25 speak of Eliakim's eventual downfall and the institution of another servant.  This servant is Peter, and when the Lord speaks, it is Jesus who does the speaking.  How awesome is that?

Anywho, Peter is set as the everlasting servant.  The gates of the hell (Death) shall not prevail against the Church set forth under his guidance.  Jesus entrusts this destiny to Peter because he has proven his openness to divine inspiration.  Peter proves himself as the faithful, humble servant who does not put his own "wisdom" above that of God the Father.

THAT is the sign of a great servant.  

So why do I bring this up at all?  

Because for all the bellyaching folks are making about Pope Francis, they need to keep in mind that he is a servant.  He is a servant hand-selected by divine inspiration to "keep the keys" until Christ comes back for the 2nd Coming.  

You trust Jesus, right?  You trust that what he said 2 millenia ago still rings true today, yes? Then quit your bellyaching and trust that when He said He wouldn't let His Church crumble, He's not gonna let His Church crumble.

The Church is His eternal bride.  He's not going to forsake us.  We'll be persecuted and crucified, this is true.  We must, after all, follow faithfully in His Footsteps.  But we must remember that with a death fashioned after Christ's comes a resurrection as well.  

We have been told that the time is coming for this great persecution and crucifixion, but we're not there yet.  Even if we were, your job isn't to head for the hills or apostatize.  Your job is to keep your oil lamps filled and burning brightly.  Your job is to be a beacon of Christ to others.  Your job is to continue praying for and supporting the Church.  

I am deeply saddened for and shamed by those Catholics who are renouncing the faith simply because this pope doesn't do things the way they expect.  Our faith goes beyond a man in a white cassock.  Our faith is the Resurrected God-Man who consents to give Himself to us as food in the Eucharist... as mercy in the Confessional... as divine royalty in Heaven.

I'm also saddened for and shamed by those who are gleefully dancing over the tears of those Catholics who mourn the loss of faith in their communities and families.  Things may look bleak from where you're standing.  You might delight in the passing of laws that deride the Church and force Her members to face fierce punishment and humiliation, but we know better.

We've witnessed Our Lord upon the Cross.  We've seen His Divine Face, even as blood and spittle made Him almost unrecognizable.  We've recognized that through this torturous sacrifice, evil was conquered and hope for our eternal inheritance was restored.  Laugh now, but we are no strangers to persecution.

Know this.  We are the Church that Christ founded.  We are His Body, we are His Bride.  He will not allow us to be destroyed.

So to you Catholic Chicken Littles running around freaking out about the state of the Church, relax. Do your part by praying, sacrificing and being the person God meant for you to be.  Do not worry about the pope shirking his mantum or the local priest singing One Bread, One Body.  Unless you witness an actual sacrilege or liturgical abuse happening, try not to freak out and just turn to Christ in prayer.  Don't spread paranoia and upset by lamenting the terrible state the Church is in because Father So-and-So allows women to distribute Communion.  

You folks know I hate that.  It's one of my biggest pet peeves.  But ya know what?  I don't deny myself participation in the one, true and Catholic liturgy because of bone-headed mistakes.  Also, even if the priest in question did it PURPOSEFULLY KNOWING he was in the wrong, I'm not going to let his sin cut off my avenue to Christ, because even if he was stained with a thousand mortal sins, Father Pro-Women Eucharistic Ministers is still Christ's representative on Earth and is able to consecrate whereas I am not.

To you Christian Chicken Littles hoping beyond hope that the evil Catholic Church is finally crumbling, sorry.  You guys are our brothers and sisters in Christ.  We still pray for you at every.single.Mass.  You are our offspring.  Do not neglect your Mother.  

To those of you who are foaming at the mouth waiting to ravage the remnants of a Church on fire, don't hold your breath.  Seriously.  

I guess the topic of failure is not done with me yet.  Given how great I am at failing, it's nice to know I'm in good company every once in a while.

After writing The Importance of Sharing Failure, and posting the status update to Facebook, I've gotten some really great feedback.  As such, I've been thinking more about it and wanted to again point out that the mirage of perfection that we see online, in magazines, and on television is just that - a mirage.  

The only perfection we can hope to attain is that eternal reward of union with Christ in Heaven.  That is the perfection we should be running towards.  What does a thigh gap have on eternal life?  Do the numbers 36-24-36 mean anything in the light of Divinity?  Or is it the bulging biceps that will somehow overshadow the merits of the Sacrifice of the Cross?

Methinks not.

We all fail.  It's part of our frail human natures.  Even the greatest saints among us have fallen.

St. Paul spoke of the thorn in his side.  He never named the sin that caused him to falter, but he understood the importance of sharing his faults so that others may benefit.

St. Augustine.  Oh bless him... St. Augustine is proof that there's a chance for me yet.

Even St. Peter, himself, failed his best friend, Jesus - THREE TIMES.  

We all will fail.  The difference between St. Peter and Judas is that St. Peter sought forgiveness.  He recognized his failing, and he sought forgiveness.  

We are not perfect, folks.  How lucky we are that God forgives!  And yes, this ties in nicely with all the Pope Francis talk about Confession.  

Run to Him.  Recognize your failing as a stepping stone towards sainthood. We will all falter at some point.  However, it only becomes failure if you give up and do not seek forgiveness. So long as you're still alive, you know God hasn't given up on you.  Why should you give up on yourself if He hasn't?

Recognize your failings and rectify them so they become beacons of Christ's mercy.  What better place to do that than in the Confessional wherein Christ wraps His arms around you and pulls you to His Sacred Heart.  The absolution you hear is simply the vocalization of His beating Heart serenading you with unconditional love and boundless mercy.

So that's where the prohibition against tattoos originally came from.  HOWEVER, there's an interesting line in Ezekiel that clouds the issue a bit.

"And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof."  (Ez. 9:4)

Hey now wait a minute!  I thought God doesn't want us tattooing ourselves!

Well, before you bust out your needles, again, let's pull away from the microscope and view the panoramic shot in full.

God was commanding the prophet to go through the Holy Land and mark those who are innocent of sin against the Lord.  Those without this special marking upon their forehead were punished by Divine Justice.  Those marked with the sign of "taw" (a letter of the Hebrew alphabet meaning "truth") escaped the wrath of God. 

***Interestingly, this letter is translated to "T" using our alphabet... a symbol of the Cross of Christ.  Another interesting thing that makes me giddy is that the Arabic version of the Hebrew taw is what looks to be a smilie face.  Ha ha!***

Anyway, God's not talking about marking folks with tattoos.  He just wanted to make sure His harbinger of justice could easily discern who needed to be slain and who didn't.  So it's not like this was a permanent mark.  Not to make light of a truly horrible situation, but my guess is the man with the linen cloth had something akin to a Sharpie.  The mark definitely stood out, but it could be scrubbed away after a period of time (that period lasting through the close of slaughter).

So a friend of mine brought up a good question while we were discussing theology yesterday.  Mind you, this friend is an atheist (I wonder, sometimes, if I have any other variety), so the typical atheist "But What Abouts" came up.

But What Abouts (BWA) is my shorthand for any of the typical "But what about God telling you it's OK to kill a slave" or "But what about God allowing for rape so long as you pay the virgin's father a few shekels" arguments that arise when folks try to change a faithful person's belief in the truth of the Bible.

Anyway, the BWA that came up yesterday revolved around good old Samson.  Many non-Christians are familiar with his story because he's typically portrayed as a Conan-like warrior with long, flowing locks that magically give him power to topple entire buildings with the flex of his biceps.  The implication was that Christians believe in magic hair.

Unfortunately, what's typically left out of these childhood stories of Samson is anything of substance. 

Samson wasn't just some Hulk-figure who had "magic hair."  He was one of the Judges of the Old Testament.

Judges were God's answer to the constant failings of the Israelites during their 40 year punishment outside of the Promised Land.  In the 40 year time span between Israel coming upon the Promised Land and finally inhabiting it, the Israelites went through a well documented cycle of:

I'm successfully irritated.  My charity level is low to non-existent right now, so I apologize in advance.

There has been yet another striking blow to religious freedoms today... this time in Denmark. All over the world, governments are attempting to put religious freedom to death, and no one is any the wiser.  Why?  Because it's all being done under the guise of social justice.

Danish parliament has just passed a law making it MANDATORY for all churches in Denmark to provide homosexual marriage ceremonies.

Take a second and let that process (if you're not too busy hurling).

A government is attempting to FORCE entire religious communities to utilize their sacred houses of worship for a ceremony that goes directly against their religious beliefs as a people.

I'm beyond disgusted. 

Once again the issue of religious freedoms is ignored because folks are too busy crying foul over the issue of homosexuality.

I don't care if two men want to get hitched through civil unions.  Be my guest.  I draw the line, however, when those two men attempt making a mockery of our Sacrament by committing such a sacrilege in front of the Blessed Sacrament in a Catholic Church. 

As I said on Facebook, welcome to the reason I refuse to vote in favor of anyone trying to push this through our court system.

As I said in a previous entry, Australia is quickly following suit. The US won't be far behind.

I'm all for homosexuals getting hitched in churches that condone it. I am NOT okay with a government stepping in to force ANYONE to accept a union that cannot be recognized by aforementioned religion.

Catholic priests cannot "consecrate" a union that is considered abhorrent and inherently sinful. No matter how much a government wants to kick, scream and cry, a faithful Catholic priest cannot (and will not) call a blessing down upon that which is mortally sinful.

Even if one tried to, do you think God would say, "Ya know what?  Alright... since you asked so nicely, I'll be sure to go against that which I've stated - repeatedly - and reward you for your impressively arrogant disobedience."

Again, Lord, mercy.