The Most Fully and Rightly Ordered though Time...

...is the Catholic Church.  According to me, among all of the man developed religious institutions.  (this is only a very high aerial view statement)

To say that the Catholic Church is the "entirety of Christ" is nowhere close to what we have here.  The Church (Roman Catholic traditional Rite) attempts (not perfectly) to hold itself as true to St. Peters original practice while progressing its doctrine in response to culture over time.

Thats what we have here.

What say your experience?

(btw....I'm back)

Have an original thought, then Blog it

Become authentic. Place yourself in the path of an idea. Dont just read something and adopt its position...explore it further. There is way to much rerunning of writings and knowledge in this subculture of blogging. Start with an authentic self attitude and Post your direct experience. This is the art of giving....your original experience. Example. I read an opinion of someone well known in the Church..."the Catholic Church holds itself to be (among all Churches) the most fully and rightly ordered by Christ, through time. I have experience of that, as truth. What makes that true for me? (I will post in the next entry) Now thats original and authentic. That communication has New Value to a reader or someone searching for a relation. Get it?

Open Letter to Mr. Corapi

Dear John - (I hate the way that sounds) Sorry to hear of all your troubles....really, its intensely shameful how more silly humans in their own self appointed positions of "Authority" over your daily work are treating you. Yes, you had to resign. Your written response seems humble and pragmatic about the reality of the presumed guilty perceptions by others.

Just to be clear, on public level, I am not a big fan of your work. Its good don't get me wrong, but I prefer Abp. Sheen frankly. Anyway....

Could you have waited and fought this out? Where would that go with your Daily work? Nowhere, like you knew that already. This is a "perception" issue and no one gets beyond that stigma, which I am confident your move out of Priesthood is based on.

Whether or not you committed the behavior in the accusation is really not mine or The Churches to determine. Your teaching on conscience knows the truth. What is revealing here is how the "Church" Bishophood has secularized its response (by restricting you initially) due to media trends and an attempt to control that environment in that the Church Public image is everything. Their response appears to be overkill compared to admitted child abusers. I guess we'll see how this escalates in their camp.

Back to you though John.

Should you publicly deny the accusations, ignore them or admit them in the future is without my interest. The thing of value here is your heart John. Please remember your own words as you were an effective tool for many years in many hearts. Your guilt or innocence has no public value John, its your heart, your truth, your conscience and its value to the good of others.

To anyone else reading this I would suggest considering the following perspective:

Lets wash Johns feet. He deserves it no less than you or I and its how his Master ministered.

God Bless you John.

Fixed Podcast Links

Appears Archive dot org changed the resident address of my Podcasts...they are now corrected here and on my RSS feed. I will ping itunes and verify those are active as well soon.

Real Struggle

Earlier this year, I moved away from my family to take a job in a better economy and gratefully fulfill my duty as a provider Husband and Father. That moved has absorbed my time to a large extent and is why writing here ceased for a time.

This is not the subject of this post, but is the backstory.

I have narrated and written about my personal entry into the Christian and Catholic Journey, which has focused (in the past) and still today targets my conscience and the internal truth revealed by conscience. There is a real struggle occurring which I fight that I am confident many Christians are facing and exposing it here I hope to draw out some of your insights, experience and truth.

I have observed in friends, family and myself a material penalty to following Christ. To reinforce that even more, I have, and continue to see that not following Christ apparently does not incur this penalty. My family began to have material and financial hardships after our commitment to Christ became evident and visible. That has been consistent for most of this decade, personally. I have a few other close friends with families who upon conversion and sincere effort to get closer to Christ are experiencing hardships which were not occurring in all the years where the Christian belief and following were non-existent. Beneficial employment, maintaining adequate house ownership, family relationship troubles are persisting or creating themselves day in and day out. I can say for myself those were not even a thought until the last 8 years.

I have conversed with my wife, and she with me that it is obvious that Christians who make real moves to walk in His follow are consistently plagued by hardships that do not occur outside of that intent. We have on our own observed those in our family and our friend circles which are self proclaimed non-believers prosper in their material efforts. These are people who display selfishness and disregard ( and sometimes disrespect) for those who should matter most, or those who are close to them and are in need.

At times it is mid-bending to see the clear divide and ironic backwards results in front of our eyes and hearts.

I have written about my studies in this subject, extensively about Thomas Merton and his ultimate question "will a God save us in spite of our flawed efforts?" The internal benefits to following Christ are clear, and as I have stated here, cannot be equaled materially or otherwise.

However....

Can we follow Him with zeal and passion when this struggle is imposed by that very following? This defies the same logic truth which the conscience reveals. Following the Law written in our own hearts by Him produces distraction and doubt that tomorrow will not leave our minds and spirits free from these stresses that cut into that beneficial bond. It is enough to consider a turn away for any mere Human.

Yet the question remains....why is this struggle imposed on us? It is not a question of reality, that is not disputed. Many of you know exactly what I am pointing to.

While I am far from turning back to secular values, I feel a toll occurring and exponentially building a wall of evidence against this journey. Is my Faith shaken? Not yet...but you can see from this post anything is possible with enough pressure. My internal life change is solid, but is it enough to overcome every new penalty? That I wonder. I find gratitude is at times my only relief albeit momentary, it is my bond and connection when I can produce no other.

....you?

Cardinal O'Malley at the National Basilica

Cardinal O'Malley (Boston) celebrated the Divine Mercy Sunday Mass at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C. this past Sunday. His lengthy homily included personal and devotional references to this special celebration. Incorporated in that liturgy was a communal recitation prayer of Gratitude to our Lord for granting us Mercy, which the Cardinal and several Deacons recited in front of the Immaculate Heart image. A few phone-cam shots of the Basilica and Mass:

The "Crypt Chapel below the main Church:

Why Go to Mass this Divine Mercy Sunday April 11

...and make Confession and receive the Eucharist. We cannot imagine the personal and individual impact that He said it shall have:

According to the notebooks of Saint Faustina, Jesus made the following statements about this day:

"On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity." (Diary of Saint Faustina, 699)

Have you ever tried Confession and doubted your ability to make any headway against sin? I know I have for many years in the past. My podcasts narrate that reality. St. Faustina was a dedicated vehicle to bring us deeper motivation to keep seeking His Mercy. Here is a suggested path to Celebrate this Sunday:

Observing the Feast of Mercy Sunday:

1. Celebrate the Feast on the Sunday after Easter.
2. Sincerely repent of all sins
3. Place complete trust in Jesus
4. Go to Confession, preferably before that Sunday due to big crowds
5. Receive Holy Communion on the day of the Feast if possible
6. Venerate the image of The Divine Mercy
7. Be merciful to others through actions, words, and prayers

Everything to gain and nothing to lose in this Sunday April 11, 2010.....do it with me.

Silly Humans Vol. 2 - The "Reformed" Catholic Clergy Scandal

Silly Humans are at it again. They (we) are treating the Catholic Church with the same media artillery fire which they tragically find so superficially effective on TMZ or in the Enquirer. I'm not just talking about the old and tired paintbrush of heresy on the Priests at fault themselves, those are predictable and correctly aimed at least. I am talking about the media taking aim at Pope B16 and calling him out to proclaim the buck stops with him, that B16 will let the hammer down, take personal responsibility, blah, blah blah, as if the Church were Enron.

In Faith, it doesn't work that way, sorry.

B16 did take the media's card deck with urgency and cut it, playing the current cultural card game of issuing a statement of visible Authority to the level it made sense to the Secular outcry, however, B16 cannot "fire" the perps in a retributive bloodletting that the Secular world thirsts for. The Secular Silly Humans cannot understand how accountability works between our Lord and Father and the sinner at fault. The Father (IE. God) calls for obedience, and when the Sinner turns to Him in sincere effort to obey, that's when our Faith in mercy matters. Can any Catholic minimize or tolerate Clergy sex abuse? No. I wrote extensively @ The Circle about this last month which covers how members of the Body should treat the issue amongst any Christian Faithful.

My point here is they (we) Silly Humans need to stop acting like rabid journalists viewing the Vatican as the source or prevention of this shameful abuse of Religious position. It is not effective to publish cultural sanctions on the Church. We Humans appointed ourselves as followers, flawed ones, and we will fail on our way to forming a worthy relationship with our Almighty Father. The Church is not a failing profit center falsifying its annual report, and the Pope is not Chairman of its Board.

The media needs to realize this actuality, and act accordingly.

Just sayin'

Exponential Catechesis

For over a year, I have been attending a weekly Apologetics study class by a group of Catholics who are blessed to have one of the finest and most articulate DRE's in the Country. Mind you, from the time I started, I could not participate as the class is in Virginia and I was in Florida, so I could only listen in on this group via podcast and wish I was there.

Last night, that changed.

I relocated to Maryland a week ago and last night set out to Stafford Va. to attend my weekly class this time in person. Dr. Jim Dobbins and his group felt like old friends and at the same time, I was excited to explore new territory with them. Dr. Jim and his class have been ongoing weekly for a few years now, while posting the audio of whatever happened, whatever was said, whatever was questioned during each outlined series of discussions on aspects of Catholicism. If you are interested in real dialogue by everyday Catholics who are authentic in discovering and practicing the most penetrating virtues of the Faith, listen and subscribe to Dr. James Dobbins Catholic Apologetics Podcast.

A series on Revelation is just beginning.

Anew

Ever have to step back and rethink your whole approach to a particular thing? Thats what I've been doing with the Catholic Journeyman podcast (since 08 apparently). I initially barreled into narrating the discovery of Conscience as the map to my heart (in a broad view), and what stopped production was studying and living this new perspective, new constant insight, new ongoing reality of the Conscience effect.

It became confusing at times tracking a coherent path that I could fit into a narrative, that is, my conscience became such an active driver of all the human levels of living. This way of thinking continued evolving. This led down several different, but individually critical means of living out the new internal reality of the rightly forming conscience.

Upon discernment of the aspect that the conscience, motives and behaviors were under a consistent right formation, my outlines for future podcast episodes had to be put aside. They went too quickly into the intellectual and theological areas of study, at the expense of that which is more personal, meaningful and revealing. There was an overwhelming amount of Grace evidence to be mined, organized into narratives and then shared.

It is here that I begin back to the Cast Anew. Retracing the meaningful changes and endless affects of rightly forming Conscience. Brushing against it without sufficient depth would diminish the intimate for the theological and intellectual.

The Altar Call fails

If all Christians, Protestant, Catholic or Orthodox believe that Salvation is purely due to Gods Grace alone, isnt the human act of "accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior" a work in itself...contradicting this core biblical understanding?

An Essay on a Path to Christian Unity

I have been blessed to participate in the vigorous work over at Called To Communion, where they have chosen my Essay as considerable. While the challenge to unite remains elusive, the steep climb is being made by both sides. This excerpt provides the size of the slope and why it is critical that real efforts like CTC are mandated:

"In an interview in 2003, Fr. Richard John Neuhaus said the following:
“The Catholic Church preserves itself as the most fully and rightly ordered through time and this in no way means that the Church is the totality of Jesus Christ. Vat II says everyone who is baptized and accepts Christ as their Savior is truly, but, imperfectly in union with the Catholic Church (sic). A lot of Conservative and Orthodox Catholics are nervous about Unity and Ecumenism and they view Ecumenism as a liberal project and a very suspect one riddled with people who want to water down the Catholic Faith in order to agree on doctrines. But In fact, JP II had one of the most striking and persistent and strongest efforts in Ut Unum Sint. The quest for Christian Unity is not a program of The Catholic Church, it is inherent in being the Catholic Church. If we have this deeply biblical Christ centered understanding of what “The Church” is, then we have the key to that door. (Neuhaus continues his take further): We should say to our Protestant friends ” Look, we’re not engaged in this quest for Christian unity because it is something we have to create, we have already a unity in Christ which is the gift of God. The reason ecumenism is necessary is not that we are not Brothers and Sisters in Christ, it is rather because we are Brothers and Sisters in Christ , but live as though we are not.”

We Interupt this Blogcast....

...to say Louie Giglio has a powerful message. We played this video during a recent RCIA session for the Catechumens. If you havent seen it, IMO you would benefit surely to do so.



Watch Part 2 on "laminin" as well for the complete message.

Richard Dawkins supports Religion

Its true. Just click on the title and see that Dawkins' recent talk @ TED, a CNN.com OP-Ed, marking the 150th anniversary of Darwins "Origin..." - spawns more published and credible counter points via believers, than atheists. Even Dr. Scott Hahn has a Dawkins counterpoint book published. Dawkins articulates "the elegance of atheism" as corroding religion as well as calmly stating that militant atheism should keep rocking the boat of religion.

The interesting observation of his efforts is...where are the Dawkins Enthusiasts? I can't hear them and none of their writings are linked or displayed whenever Dawkins comes out with another crafted performance. (Thats a compliment...he really performs well publically) It becomes even more interesting when out of convenience, one reads a linked counterpoint by a Creationist or Intelligent Design proponent and the sad state of Dawkins framework is amplified.

How I feel empathy for Dawkins while reading or listening to him, that his entirety of life satisfaction comes from what he "intellectually understands". He talks directly about feeling that he lived "triumphal by having understood why he was here in the first place."

Thats it. Mere understanding.

What about Dawkins heart, spirit and will...you know...what the Bible describes as our "Soul". Where is Dawkins on a scale of spirit and soul? Sadly those aspects are veiled well out of our (and apparently his) view. When the whole of your life is valued at a measurement of intellectual comprehension, and not much more, it is then that a heart needs touching.

The problem with Prayer

Those hands at the top of this site, bear evidence to the definition..."to pray". The problem with prayer is that its definition according to Webster, (as an intransitive verb), means " to address God or a god with adoration, confession, supplication, or thanksgiving." The problem with this definition is it incorrectly assumes a specific target (God or a god) of the act of praying in order to elaborate its incorrect definition.

The Latin origin...precari, prec- and prex means to ask, entreat, implore...humbly. To elaborate correctly would be to say it is a form of communication without implying a target. By implying a single target such as God or a god defines prayer in the eyes of the student as worship.

Praying is not worship.

As is Mark Shea...I am up to my eye teeth with Protestants who, believe it or not, rely on Websters 20th century definition of Praying as Worship as an attempt to educate me that praying to Mary and the Saints is idolatry.

and now...back to our regularly scheduled life....

Upcoming Changes to the Mass

The USCCB has confirmed changes to the GIRM, again, and they are anticipated to approve them for use this November. The link in this post title leads you to the USCCB page where all Assembly and Priest Mass Parts Revisions (current and proposed) are shown word for word.

I submit for your consideration that some of the professions we make as revised appear rather serious, if you are one who A) attends an Orthodox Parish and B) have grown fond of every syllable of the current Mass profession and response parts.

I am both.

Take the Assembly Revision to the "Nicene Creed" for example. The current profession begins with "We believe in one God,..." while the revised Roman Missal proposes "I believe in one God,...".

It would appear by simple logic that the latter is now not the Nicene Creed but something other than the Nicene Creed. Think I'm splitting hairs? Check it:

As an RCIA Catechist, I have taught adults from the Catechism that traditionally, historically, and scripturally the Nicene Creed was written starting with the word "We" to amplify, confirm and profess in Liturgical Plurality (IE The Church, The Body) and that is consistent with Christs teaching on Unity. Changing this first word to "I", even when spoken audibly with other fellow Catholics/Christians, is now a singular statement. No Unity, no Community, no Church profession by more than one or two gathered in His name. This is only one example of the possible mental conflicts which may occur to some of us by these changes.

Don't get me wrong, I can adapt and will...the Bishops are our guide (ahem) in Liturgy, however, one hopes they have considered that we who teach or share the Faith might rightly request the intellectual back story to these changes, so we can convince ourselves that they in fact deepen the Mass experience. We will then be better equipped to teach those confused Faithful that don't see this coming at Christmas.

We Interupt this Blogcast #8 - Jazz Mass

You gotta love this:

On Seeking God's Will

I'm really absorbed in Merton's "No Man is an Island"(NMIAI), that's why the superficial and thin posting here lately. The study of one's own conscience and developing an intensely personal prayer life contained in this work, while some of it is well beyond my absolute comprehension, (Merton's language and writing style, not his vocabulary, goes to the heavy side of philosophy and introspection with frequent breaks using normal conversation) there is self-revelation on the first pass through. I have posted in similar ways that doing God's will, obedience, commandment keeping... leads to inner peace and why. From NMIAI Ch. 4 "Pure Intention":

"Our happiness consists of doing the will of God. But the essence of this happiness does not lie merely in an agreement of wills. It consists in a union with God. And the union of wills which makes us happy in God must be ultimately something deeper than an agreement.


Shall I be content to do God's will for my own advantage? It is better to do His will with a weak, but deliberate co-operation than to do His will unconsciously, unwillingly, and in spite of myself. But let me not confine my idea of perfection to the selfish obedience that does God's will merely for the sake of my own profit. True happiness is not found in any other reward than that of being united with God. If I seek some other reward besides God Himself, I may get my reward but I cannot be happy.


The secret of pure intention is not to be sought in the renunciation of all advantage to ourselves. Our intentions are pure when we identify our advantage with God's glory, and see that our happiness consists of doing His will because His will is right and good. In order to make our intentions pure, we do not give up all idea of seeking our own good, we simply seek it where it can really be found, in a good that is above and beyond ourselves...


...When we speak of God's will, we are usually speaking only of some recognizable sign of His will...it is one thing to see a sign and another thing to interpret that sign correctly...Nevertheless there are some signs that everyone must know. They must be easily read and seen and are indeed very simple...

For in the course of each day the duties of our state, the claims made on us by those around us, the demands on our energy, our patience, and our time all make known to us the will of God and show us the way to realize ourselves in Him by losing ourselves in charity. But the pharisee who splits hairs and rationalizes his way out of these chances for self-dedication, although he may theorize and dogmatize about the will of God, never fully does that will for he never really abandons himself to the influence of divine charity."

Sounds like the 2nd Commandment to me. As I have explained here and here, its tough territory for this journeyman. Yet, its yields are infinitely larger than me.

The Year for Priests to begin June 19, 2009

From The Vatican : "Pope Benedict XVI has declared a “Year for Priests” beginning with the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 19, 2009. The year will conclude in Rome with an international gathering of priests with the Holy Father on June 19, 2010....Precisely to encourage priests in this striving for spiritual perfection on which, above all, the effectiveness of their ministry depends, I have decided to establish a special "Year for Priests" that will begin on 19 June and last until 19 June 2010. In fact, it is the 150th anniversary of the death of the Holy Curé d'Ars, John Mary Vianney, a true example of a pastor at the service of Christ's flock."

The Pope explains the intent behind this emphasis as safeguarding the "legitimate expectations of the faithful" These Men are really and truly living to serve our spiritual hunger. Called by God, discerned by Conscience and delivered by His Church, I am grateful for their service.

Book Review - The Shack

You will find this novel in the Fiction category, which is an ironic indication of how backwards we all have organised "our" world. The Shack succeeds in presenting truth; biblical, relational and theological, wrapped in a fictional delivery that bypasses our "religion" filters and presents a tale that is stunning and deep. Without a spoiler, here is a truth excerpt conveyed during a dialogue, by someone not of this world:

"People are tenacious when it comes to the treasure of their imaginary Independence. They hoard and hold their sickness with a firm grip. They find their identity and worth in their brokenness and guard it with every ounce of strength they have. No wonder grace has such little attraction. In that sense [people] have tried to lock the door of [their] hearts from the inside."

I couldn't agree more.

The story succeeds in compressing a wide spectrum of potentially human manufactured Christian misunderstanding of Scripture, through a lens of no religious predisposition. Instead, Paul Young places the reader in a purely human experience using Mack's personal and family relationships, including tragedy and dynamics as the truth communicating vehicle. If I go beyond that, it would be a spoiler.

*Spoiler Alert*

My exposure to it began with Paul Youngs collaborators and his interview with Sr. Ann Shields on Ave Maria Radio. To see into what we may assume are heretic, anti-institutionalism motives in the author(s), before I got the book, I listened to the God Journey podcast and many interviews with Paul Young.

Fearing its "churchless" undertone and exegeting this book like scripture is pointless. It is an attempt at exposing the centrality of Jesus' new covenant, and exploring how our our feeble human fears, secrets, lies and obstacles can be overcome by relational theology.

There are many highly visible Protestants (Chuck Colson, John MacArthur, Driscoll, etc,) denouncing this book for the obvious motives, it appears to take their well tithing members out of keeping them in the black.

Just like taking a single Bible quote from Romans out of context may lead to Calvinism, my advice is listen and read about the Author and collaborators, their personal religious backstories and one to one, in a human and personal way, read this book in the context of its sources. There is Catholic Truth in it, while it is fictional. One example: Numerous references by Papa to working in and not violating our free-will reinforce the Catholic belief of a "both-and" salvation relationship with The Father, while Protestants reel at this shot at double predestination theory.

Highly recommended.