Pentecost

When Pentecost day came round, they had all met together, when suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of a violent wind which filled the entire house in which they were sitting; and there appeared to them tongues as of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak different languages as the Spirit gave them power to express themselves. Now there were devout men living in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven, and at this sound they all assembled, and each one was bewildered to hear these men speaking his own language. They were amazed and astonished. 'Surely,' they said, 'all these men speaking are Galileans? How does it happen that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; people from Mesopotamia, Judaea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya round Cyrene; residents of Rome- Jews and proselytes alike -- Cretans and Arabs, we hear them preaching in our own language about the marvels of God.'

Acts 2:1-11

image from http://www.franciscan-sfo.org/FP/Godslove4.html

A Not so Popular Topic: Sin

We live in a fallen world. While that reality isn't pleasant it is very much a part of life (one that is completely impossible to ignore in this day and age). Yet that reality is pushed aside again and again and not just by new age spiritualists who would deny the existence of evil all together and claim that anything that comes from the spiritual realms must be good (just as many seem to delude themselves these days by saying that anything who comes from the natural world must be good, an argument I hear often in the legalization of marijuana debate).

A large number of Christians have even embraced this form of "spirituality" and constantly attempt to water down Christ's teachings so that all that remains is "judge not." Even Catholics spout this nonsense, ignoring completely the spiritual work of mercy to Admonish the Sinner (and how anyone could do this when nothing is a sin is beyond me).

Yes we've all sinned and could all probably use a good admonishing now and again (I know that when I need it the most I'm the most embarrassed to hear that I'm wrong!). But it also helps because that embarrassed reaction usually helps me come to terms with what I've done and send me quickly to a priest for the sacrament of reconciliation (I've even instant messaged our priest on facebook to set up a confession).

We also live in an age of moral relativism where some would even call the existence of sin into question (much less seriously discuss something like the Devil... the subject of my next post). Many who say they believe in Christ believe only his warm and fuzzy words and ignore anything harsher (or reserve those judgements for the more traditional Christians that actually try to follow His teachings... because they're so "judgmental" about actions being "sinful..."). They'd like to forget the Jesus that overturned the money changers tables and edit out any part of scripture that doesn't fit the teddy bear image of a saviour.

And perhaps that's why the first part of this morning's reading at Mass stuck with me. It read:

1 My little children, these things I write to you, that you may not sin. But if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the just: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have known him, if we keep his commandments. 4 He who saith that he knoweth him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But he that keepeth his word, in him in very deed the charity of God is perfected; and by this we know that we are in him.

1 John 2: 1-5 (1 John 2:3-11 was the actual reading today)

Christ's teachings are about more than just happy feelings. We're also to follow His commandments. And while this does most certainly involve loving one another it also clearly involves doing the right thing (which is also pretty clearly laid out in the Bible although it's not exactly trendy these days).

God does offer forgiveness. But we must accept that forgiveness. In order to accept that forgiveness, we must first admit that we've sinned. Which is why it's so important to recognize that sin exists. Without that realization (which is oh, so unpopular in the days of anything goes) we close the door on Christ's sacrifice and God's forgiveness. And that is a waste that we could spend eternity paying for...

Thoughts Before Sleep

The verse below was part of Mass earlier in the month and it really struck a chord with me. It's so relevant to the present age, which is why it jumped out at me.

Romans 1:23-25 (Douay-Rheims)

23 And they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of the image of a corruptible man, and of birds, and of fourfooted beasts, and of creeping things. 24 Wherefore God gave them up to the desires of their heart, unto uncleanness, to dishonour their own bodies among themselves. 25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie; and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

It's common today for people to expect personal achievements and possessions to make them happy. It's easy to become obsessed with what we have and what we want in our consumer driven society. We ignore God or try to put him in a box that we only open on Sunday mornings and live the rest of our lives grasping after things that we think will make us happy. And then we wonder why we aren't happy.

Our souls long for God. While buying shoes or handbags or cars or houses might temporarily fill a small part of the void, the emptiness returns, a yawning hole. God gives us the freedom to choose, but He doesn't guarantee that our choice will make us happy or fulfilled.

Sometimes we even decide to set that freedom up on a pedestal and worship it in God's place, refusing to recognize that while we are free to choose to strive for Heaven or give ourselves up to Hell, there can be no true freedom except through Christ.

Making the right choice doesn't automatically mean that we won't suffer. Suffering is a part of this world and if we put our trust in God our trials can bring us closer to Him, acting as a purifying fire. The alternative, a life ruled by concupiscence and materialism, is a self chosen sentence that rarely leads to anything that even resembles happiness, much less the joy that comes when one realizes that Christ is risen!

Wives Should Be...

Here's what I saw when I opened my missal today...

Second Reading

Ephesians 5:21-32 or 5.2a, 25-32

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians

(included bracketed text for Long Form and text in parentheses for Short Form only)

Brothers and sisters: [Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of his wife just as Christ is head of the church, he himself the savior of the body. As the church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.] (Live in love, as Christ loved us.) Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, ht he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. So also husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.

Obviously this is a controversial reading. These days the idea of submitting to anyone (even God's will) is not popular. Many women would rather be "empowered" and make every decision, neutering their husbands and ignoring God's plan for marriage.

I was thankful when the entire reading was read in our parish this morning. I would have been upset if they'd hacked it in two to appease a loud contingent that want to pick and choose the verses that fit their views, ignoring or labeling irrelevant the parts that they don't agree with. There's beauty in this verse if we can put aside our rebellious wishes and embrace God's will for our lives!

Did they read the entire reading at your parish? I'm curious as to how many churches decided to avoid the topic by rending the verse in two.

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses....

Earlier this month Sadie was "looking" at Nani's marigolds. If she was able to talk she very well may have told us that while she was looking at them a bunch of them just fell clear off the stems! Before Sadie was looking at them they were alive and well. After a few minutes of looking quite a few had lost their heads!

That's the kind of explanation I've heard toddlers come up with (my mom was a preschool teacher) and I was reminded of these excuses during the first reading this morning at Mass.

Moses comes down the mountain with the tablets and he hears a party. He gets closer and he sees the golden calf. He throws the tablets down and asks Aaron how he could have let this happen. And what is Aaron's response?

The people wanted a God when Moses disappeared up the mountain, so he told them to throw their gold jewelry into the fire. They threw their gold into the fire and out came the calf.

Everyone at Mass chuckled at the words because it's hard to imagine an adult coming up with that sort of an excuse... Aaron is telling Moses that they aren't really responsible for the calf, they just put the gold in (although he does admit that it was evil of them to want to create an idol in the first place) and it popped out.

Yet we live in a world where excuses that are just as ridiculous have become the norm. We hear excuses every day for every sort of behavior. While responsibility, and being responsible for our actions, are still looked on as positive virtues in theory, it often doesn't transfer over into reality.

A woman can make a very grown up choice that results in a pregnancy. And then she can say, quite simply, "I don't want it," and a doctor will murder her own child, tearing it from her womb. She may tell herself that she's not responsible for the life that she's killed, simply because it was her "choice" to have, or not have, a baby. That excuse sounds just as hollow as the "we threw it into the fire and this is what we got out" excuse.

These days our culture makes excuses for nearly every action. Pleasure and instant gratification seem to trump responsibility and obedience to God's will. And in a country where a great many things that are evil are "legal," irresponsible behavior is seen as a God-given right in the land of the free and the home of the brave. In their own way the excuses of our age are just as ridiculous as those that people were making thousand of years ago.