Everything you always wanted to know about Lent
Lent is the 40-day season of preparation for the Paschal Triduum (pas-kul tree-du'-um), which is from sundown Holy Thursday until sundown on Easter Sunday. According to The Companion to the Calendar of the Catholic Church, the 40 days are counted "from the First Sunday of Lent until Holy Thursday." The three days between Ash Wednesday and the First Sunday are an introduction to the season and the readings at Mass on these days are chosen to teach about the three Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. These three disciplines function best when they are done together. They balance each other and bring us closer to Christ.
The word "Lent" comes from the same root as the Angelo-Saxon word "lengthen." In the old Angelo-Saxon tongue it was a word for springtime when the daytime lengthens rapidly. For us it reflects the "lengthening" of our "daylight" hours as we progress from the darkness of winter to the new light of the celebration of Christ's resurrection and the remembrance of the promise that Jesus, the "Light of the world," will come again. Lent is in essence the Church's springtime. We are encouraged to look at this period of Lent as a journey. Lent reminds us that this is the season to turn away from our worldly distractions and to journey home to God. This should be a time of inner reflection, and at the end of the Lenten journey we should expect to find ourselves at a different place spiritually than when we started.
In English we use the word "Lent" for this special season, but other languages, such as Spanish, have a name for this season that is derived from the word for forty. It is the season of the 40 days. This 40-day period of reflection and prayer has its roots in the Old Covenant practice of 40 days of repentance before the Feast of Atonement (Yom Kippur). Although we fast during this period, we do not fast on Sundays. The Lord's Day is a day of celebration when the Bride (the Church) is united with the Bridegroom (Christ). Therefore, some people count their 40 days of fasting from Ash Wednesday, subtracting the 3 Sundays of the Lenten period in which the fast is broken. We do penance for 40 days because Jesus fasted and was tempted 40 days in the wilderness (Matthew 4:2; Mark 1:13; Luke 4:2).
THE LENTEN JOURNEY:
THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT
In the 40-day period of Lent, each of the 7 Sundays of Lent has a special significance. It is during the first Sunday of the Lenten period that we celebrate the Rite of Election. In the early history of the Church, Lent was first set aside as a time when the whole Church fasted, prayed, and gave alms for the 40 days preceding Easter to break the power of darkness in the world as new Catholics were welcomed into the Covenant family and lapsed Catholics were to be readmitted into Communion. The 40 days were the time for the instruction of converts to the faith when the catechumens (Greek word that means "someone who is taught by word of mouth") began their "exodus" out of darkness and prepared to "cross the Jordan" into the Church, which climaxed with their baptism. In the early history of the Church, Lent was not just a time for inward focus and assessment of personal growth, but it was also a time for Catholics to focus outwardly on the fulfillment of the "great commission"'the spread of the Gospel and the growth of the Church. We keep that tradition in the Rite of Election when those who are prepared for baptism go the cathedral where they are presented to the Bishop. They will be baptized at the Easter Vigil.
The Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after the First Sunday of Lent are called the Spring Ember Days. The word "ember" means "season." There were originally four sets of Ember Days, one set for each season of the year. During these days, people fasted in thanksgiving for whatever was being harvested at that time of the year. In the old Roman Catholic calendar, the springtime Ember Days fell during the first full week of Lent. These days were a fast within a fast. But in 1969 the Church's calendar was reformed. Now the Ember Days are supposed to be scheduled by the bishops of each country to match the actual times of harvests and other occasions for prayer.
THE SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT
Lent is the season of repentance, confession, and penance. In Matthew 3:8 St. John the Baptist told the Pharisees and Sadducees who were coming to him for the baptism for the repentance of sins: Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance, and St. Paul said, I preached the need to repent and turn to God and to do works giving evidence of repentance.
During the 40 days of Lent we are called to deep soul-searching and to an examination of conscience to seek out the sin in our lives. We are called to confess our transgressions and to offer up our sincere desire to right the wrongs we have done. Through the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, we seek to obtain pardon through God's mercy for the sins committed against Him and against our brothers and sisters in the human family.
This sacred sacrament is also called:
1. The Sacrament of Conversion because it makes sacramentaly present Jesus' call to conversion, which is the first step in returning to fellowship with the Father from whom we have strayed in our sin.
2. The Sacrament of Penance because it consecrates the confessed sinner's personal and ecclesial steps of conversion, penance, and satisfaction made for the sins committed.
3. The Sacrament of Confession because the confession of sins to Christ through His priest is an essential element of this sacrament. It is also the acknowledgement of the sovereignty of God over our lives and of His holiness and His mercy toward sinful man.
4. The Sacrament of Forgiveness because by Christ's priest's sacramental absolution God grants the repentant sinner pardon and peace.
5. The Sacrament of Reconciliation because the sinner receives through his confession and act of contrition the love and mercy of God who reconciles us to Himself.
In Matthew 5:24 teaching the New Covenant Law of love, Jesus told those who desired to follow Him, before they offered praise and worship to God they must leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. And Paul admonished the Christians of the Church at Corinth to renounce sin, to confess personal sins, and to turn back to God'to live as a holy people because a Holy Father deserves holy children who serve the other children in the human family as elder brothers and sister and who are role models of holiness: So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him (2 Corinthians 5:20).
In this 40-day journey to holiness, we are called to recommit ourselves to live the Law of the New Covenant in loving God and our brothers, keeping in mind His warning: Therefore, we aspire to please him, whether we are at home or away. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil (Matthew 5:9-10), and we must remember Jesus' command in the Sermon on the Mount to show our love for God by showing His love for those in need through our almsgiving, and through exercising discipline over the material world in favor of spiritual gifts through the spiritual practice of fasting united to prayer (Matthew chapter 6).
THE THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT
On the Third, Fourth and Fifth Sundays of Lent the Scrutiny Rites are celebrated in many Catholic parishes. The word scrutiny means "search." The "lenten scrutinies" are rites of searching. They are meant to heal all that is sinful or weak in the hearts those who are chosen for baptism at Easter. These chosen ones are called "the elect." On these Sundays the Gospel readings come from the Gospel of St. John and include the story of the Samaritan woman who met Jesus at the well, Jesus' cure of the man who was born blind, and on the fifth Sunday, the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Each story is about a "passover":
a passing over from dishonesty to truth,
a passing from blindness to sight, and
a passing from death to life.
During a scrutiny rite, the "elect" step forward with their godparents, bow their heads or kneel, and everyone in church prays for them that they may experience this same "Passover." We pray that they experience "passing over" into the truth of the Gospel of salvation, into a spiritual vision to sustain them on their faith journey, and in the Sacrament of Baptism, a "passing over" by dying to sin and into re-birth in the new life in the risen Savior, Christ Jesus.
THE FORTH SUNDAY OF LENT
The Fourth Sunday of Lent is Laetare Sunday. Every Mass has an entrance antiphon which is a sentence or two (usually from the Scriptures) that can be sung at the beginning of Mass. In the old days each Mass had a title. The title came from the first word (in Latin) of the day's antiphon. The antiphon for the Fourth Sunday of Lent is from the 66th chapter of the Book of Isaiah and begins, Rejoice, Jerusalem! Come together, you who love her. In Latin, one of the words used for "rejoice" is laetare, which gives the title Laetare Sunday to this Lenten Mass. On this day, on the Fourth Sunday of Lent, we are halfway to Easter. We rejoice because we are halfway home.
The readings for the fourth Sunday focus on reconciliation in the story of the Prodigal Son, which can be seen as a story of Israel, the firstborn son and the Gentile nations as the younger sons who were called back into covenant with God. And yet, it is the story of every believer who squanders the Father's birthright of baptism. When becoming lost in sin, we cut ourselves off from our Father, but He is always ready to welcome us back, to forgive us as the father forgives the prodigal son, and to share His life with us'to tell us as the father told the prodigal son "Everything I have is yours."
THE FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT
The liturgy of Lent this month focuses on the God of the Exodus. The Psalm of the 5th Sunday tells us God is a mighty and gracious God, who in faithfulness to His covenant has done "great things" for His people. Both the Psalm and the first reading look back on Israel's Exodus experience, however, we can see in the Exodus of Israel out of slavery in Egypt a pattern of the events in which Jesus the Messiah will lead a new Exodus. Jesus is the new Moses, liberating His covenant people from slavery to sin and death and bringing them to the Promised Land of Heaven! This new Exodus was made possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Savior'the event we solemnly remember and then celebrate on the 7th Sunday of Lent.
THE SIXTH SUNDAY OF LENT
The Sixth Sunday of Lent is Palm Sunday or the Sunday of the Passion of the Lord. The vestments the priest wears today are red, just as they are on Good Friday. This Mass celebrates the day Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem on the 10th of Nisan. It was the day in the Old Covenant preparation for the Passover feast when the perfect male lambs or goats were chosen for the sacrifice of the Passover (Exodus 12:3). This was the day, Jesus, the true Lamb of God, was proclaimed Messiah by the people who place palm branches before Him as he rode into the Holy City, fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 and Jacob/Israel's prophecy for Judah's heir in Genesis 49:11-12.
We celebrate by carrying palms at Mass as signs of life and resurrection. This Sunday is the last Sunday before the Paschal Triduum, our Passover festival, as we enter our own Jerusalem and begin our final preparation for Holy Week. It was on a Thursday that the Jews celebrated the last legitimate Old Covenant Feast of the Passover. St. John, in the Gospel of John 12:1, established the Passover as six days from the dinner in Bethany which was a Sabbath meal. The date of the dinner in Bethany is established in St. John's Gospel as the day before Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem'a day we observe as Palm Sunday when the crowds of people laid palm branches in front of the donkey upon which Jesus was riding and shouted "Hosannah", the Messianic greeting "Save us we ask!" In ancient times there was no concept of 0 as a place holder; therefore, when the ancients counted in any series, of days for example, the first day was always counted as day #1. If there were six days from the Saturday dinner in John 12:1 to Passover, then Passover occurred on a Thursday, in complete agreement with the other Gospel accounts, and Jesus was crucified on a Friday'just as we keep the remembrance of those events in the Holy Triduum.
THE PASCHAL TRIDUUM
The Paschal Triduum (the three days of Passover) begins sundown on Holy Thursday and lasts until sundown on the seventh Sunday'Easter Sunday, which is the celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord. Holy Thursday until sundown is the final day of Lent: the 40th day of the 40 days. At sundown Lent ends and the Paschal Triduum begins. As you can see, during this period we follow the Jewish Old Covenant custom of counting the day from sunset to sunset.
The next day is Good Friday: Friday is the 6th day of the week when God made the animals and the first human beings in His image a likeness (Genesis 1:27). Friday is also the day of Jesus' death, when He died for the sins of the world. On this day and Holy Saturday, the Eucharistic Chapel will be closed.
The day following Good Friday is Holy Saturday. In Latin this was called Sabbatum Sanctum, the Holy Sabbath. The Pascal Sabbath lasts from Good Friday at sunset to Holy Saturday at sunset and is the middle day of the Triduum. Saturday was the 7th day of Creation and the Old Covenant Sabbath. It is the day God rested after Creation, the day man was commanded to keep holy under the Old Covenant and to enter into God's "rest", and it was on the Old Covenant Sabbath that Jesus "rested" in the tomb. The Church "rests" in Christ this day. On the Friday and Saturday before Easter Sunday we fast, rest, and keep watch. It is customary to keep Holy Saturday free from all kinds of work, even the preparation of meals. In the night between Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, our fasting ends and the feast begins. It is the night of the glorious Easter Vigil and at Mass on this night the catechumens will be baptized and begin their renewed lives as sons and daughters of the New Covenant in Christ.
THE SEVENTH SUNDAY'THE FEAST OF THE RESURRECTED LORD!
The seventh Sunday is here at last. Sunday is the first day of the week; it was the first day of Creation when God said "Let there be light!" It was on this day of the New Creation, Sunday, when God raised Jesus from the dead. That is why we call Sunday "the Lord's Day." This is Easter Sunday. The word "Easter" comes from the same Angelo-Saxon root as the words "star" and "east." It means "dawn light." This word has become a wonderful way to describe the Christian Passover. The Church's heart and soul is found in Easter. It is the time of the most beloved Scripture stories: Creation, Noah and the Flood, the Exodus, Jonah and the great Fish, and the Gospel of the Resurrection. It is the day we complete our journey from the altar of the Cross to the empty tomb, and it is the day we look forward in time to the promised Second Advent of Christ.
Easter Sunday begins the Easter Season'it is a 50-day celebration that lasts from Easter Sunday to the celebration of the second great Pentecost. For the Old Covenant people of God, the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot), was known by the Greek word "Pentecost," meaning 50th day during Jesus' time. It was a feast which came 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits, a feast which remembered the miracle of the crossing of the Red Sea and which signaled the beginning of the harvest season. The Feast of Firstfruits was a feast that was always intended to fall on the day after the Sabbath of the Holy Week of the Feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread, 8-day festival period. This means the feast of Firstfruits, from the time it was commanded to be celebrated at Mt. Sinai, always fell on a Sunday (Leviticus 23:9-14). The Jewish feast of Firstfruits was the day on which Jesus arose from the tomb'the "firstfruits" of the great "harvest" of redeemed souls into God's great "storehouse" of heaven (1Corinthians 15:20-23)!
For the Old Covenant people of God, the Feast of Shavuot/Pentecost, which came 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits, remembered the coming of Yahweh to Israel on Mt. Sinai to establish the Old Covenant Church. For Christians, however, it became the celebration of the birth of the universal Church when God the Holy Spirit came to fill and indwell the New Covenant people of God who were waiting and praying in the Upper Room [(Acts 1:4-12; 2:1-6). It was on the very day of the Old Covenant feast which celebrated the theophany of God coming down to Israel upon Mt. Sinai in fire that the Holy Spirit came in tongues of fire to the 120 faithful disciples of Jesus the Messiah praying in the Upper Room, establishing the New Israel, the Universal/Catholic Church of Jesus Christ.
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Sunday, March 28, 2010
The Four Dogmas of the Virgin Mary
In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death. Byzantine Liturgy, Troparion, Feast of the Dormition, August 15th
The Roman Catholic Church affirms four truths concerning the role of the Virgin Mary in God's plan of salvation:
1. The perpetual virginity of Mary: The perpetual virginity of Mary of Nazareth is expressed in 3 parts: in her virginal conception of Christ; in giving birth to Christ, and her continuing virginity after His birth:
* virginitas ante partum: virginity before birth [CCC#396; 510]
* virginitas in partu: virginity during birth [CCC#510]
* virtinitas post partum: virginity after birth [CCC# 510]
The usage of this triple formula to express the fullness of this mystery of faith became standard with St. Augustan [354-430AD], St. Peter Chrysologus [c. 400-450AD], and Pope St. Leo the Great [440-461AD]. See CCC # 496-507; 964.
CCC499: The deepening of faith in the virginal motherhood led the Church to confess Mary's real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to the Son of God made man. In fact, Christ's birth "did not diminish his mother's virginal integrity but sanctified it." And so the liturgy of the Church celebrates Mary as Aeiparthenos, the "Ever-virgin."
[Note: The so called "brothers" of Jesus mentioned in Scripture are His kinsmen. In Hebrew there was no designation for siblings, or half-brothers, or step-brothers. The Greek word used to designate Jesus' brothers adelphos is the same word used for kinsmen, brothers like St. James and John Zebedee, and all "brothers" in the faith].
2. Mary the Mother of God: That Mary was the mother of Jesus who is God was defined as dogma at the very city where Mary had lived for several years'at the Council of Ephesus in 431AD. CCC# 495: Called in the Gospels "the mother of Jesus," Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the mother of my Lord," In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity, Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God (Theotokos). Also #509.
3. Immaculate Conception of Mary: That Mary of Nazareth was conceived without original sin was defined as dogma by Pope Pius IX in 1854. See CCC# 491-492; 508. CCC# 508: From among the descendants of Eve, God chose the Virgin Mary to be the mother of his Son. "Full of grace," Mary is "the most excellent fruit of redemptions" (SC 103): from the first instant of her conception, she was totally preserved from the stain of original sin and she remained pure from all personal sin throughout her life.
4. Assumption of Mary into heaven: That Mary's body did not experience corruption but was assumed into heaven was defined as dogma by Pope Pius XII in 1950. See CCC# 966; 974. CCC# 974: The Most Blessed Virgin Mary, when the course of her earthly life was completed, was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven, where she already shares in the glory of her Son's Resurrection, anticipating the resurrection of all members of his Body.
Each of these truths concerning the role of Mary of Nazareth in salvation history were teachings within the Church from the very beginning of the Church's formation but became defined more fully as God the Holy Spirit expanded the Church's understanding of the revelation of Jesus Christ in Christian doctrine and theology through the centuries. For example the oldest canonical feast of Mary in the Church is the Feast of the Assumption which was already celebrated on its own feast day by the 5th century. The doctrine of the Assumption of the Virgin is also part of the Tradition reflected in the writings of the early Church fathers even though Pius XII defined it as dogma in 1950. The same is true of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, which was formally defined by Pope Pius XI in 1854.
While Scripture reveals nothing about Mary's death, St. John Damascene [died 749] recorded a story reportedly shared at the Council of Chalcedon in 451AD that Mary had died in the presence of the Apostles but when the tomb was opened they found it empty, "wherefrom the Apostles concluded that the body was taken up to heaven." From this testimony the Church has taught that Mary was assumed bodily and now tastes the Resurrection for which all Christians hope. Early Church hymns speak of "Mary conceived without sin" and the teaching is explicitly stated in the writings of Sts. Ambrose, Augustan, Andrew of Crete, Germain of Constantinople and other Fathers of the Church. This teaching was also celebrated in the early Church liturgy. A feast commemorating the Immaculate Conception of Mary was celebrated by the seventh century in the East and was formally approved and given a standardized liturgy in the West by Pope Sixtus IV in 1475. It was extended as a feast to the world Church by St. Pius V in the 1568. Each dogma is also consistent with Sacred Scripture. For example the Immaculate Conception is supported by Genesis 3:15 and Luke 1:26-31 which have always been interpreted by the Church as implying the Virgin Mary's exemption from original sin [i.e. the angel Gabriel's greeting to Mary using a perfect past participle concerning her condition of grace: "Hail has-been graced"]. The Virgin Mary's birthday'the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Mother'is celebrated on September the 8th, which is 9 months after the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
Michal Hunt
The Roman Catholic Church affirms four truths concerning the role of the Virgin Mary in God's plan of salvation:
1. The perpetual virginity of Mary: The perpetual virginity of Mary of Nazareth is expressed in 3 parts: in her virginal conception of Christ; in giving birth to Christ, and her continuing virginity after His birth:
* virginitas ante partum: virginity before birth [CCC#396; 510]
* virginitas in partu: virginity during birth [CCC#510]
* virtinitas post partum: virginity after birth [CCC# 510]
The usage of this triple formula to express the fullness of this mystery of faith became standard with St. Augustan [354-430AD], St. Peter Chrysologus [c. 400-450AD], and Pope St. Leo the Great [440-461AD]. See CCC # 496-507; 964.
CCC499: The deepening of faith in the virginal motherhood led the Church to confess Mary's real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to the Son of God made man. In fact, Christ's birth "did not diminish his mother's virginal integrity but sanctified it." And so the liturgy of the Church celebrates Mary as Aeiparthenos, the "Ever-virgin."
[Note: The so called "brothers" of Jesus mentioned in Scripture are His kinsmen. In Hebrew there was no designation for siblings, or half-brothers, or step-brothers. The Greek word used to designate Jesus' brothers adelphos is the same word used for kinsmen, brothers like St. James and John Zebedee, and all "brothers" in the faith].
2. Mary the Mother of God: That Mary was the mother of Jesus who is God was defined as dogma at the very city where Mary had lived for several years'at the Council of Ephesus in 431AD. CCC# 495: Called in the Gospels "the mother of Jesus," Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the mother of my Lord," In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity, Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God (Theotokos). Also #509.
3. Immaculate Conception of Mary: That Mary of Nazareth was conceived without original sin was defined as dogma by Pope Pius IX in 1854. See CCC# 491-492; 508. CCC# 508: From among the descendants of Eve, God chose the Virgin Mary to be the mother of his Son. "Full of grace," Mary is "the most excellent fruit of redemptions" (SC 103): from the first instant of her conception, she was totally preserved from the stain of original sin and she remained pure from all personal sin throughout her life.
4. Assumption of Mary into heaven: That Mary's body did not experience corruption but was assumed into heaven was defined as dogma by Pope Pius XII in 1950. See CCC# 966; 974. CCC# 974: The Most Blessed Virgin Mary, when the course of her earthly life was completed, was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven, where she already shares in the glory of her Son's Resurrection, anticipating the resurrection of all members of his Body.
Each of these truths concerning the role of Mary of Nazareth in salvation history were teachings within the Church from the very beginning of the Church's formation but became defined more fully as God the Holy Spirit expanded the Church's understanding of the revelation of Jesus Christ in Christian doctrine and theology through the centuries. For example the oldest canonical feast of Mary in the Church is the Feast of the Assumption which was already celebrated on its own feast day by the 5th century. The doctrine of the Assumption of the Virgin is also part of the Tradition reflected in the writings of the early Church fathers even though Pius XII defined it as dogma in 1950. The same is true of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, which was formally defined by Pope Pius XI in 1854.
While Scripture reveals nothing about Mary's death, St. John Damascene [died 749] recorded a story reportedly shared at the Council of Chalcedon in 451AD that Mary had died in the presence of the Apostles but when the tomb was opened they found it empty, "wherefrom the Apostles concluded that the body was taken up to heaven." From this testimony the Church has taught that Mary was assumed bodily and now tastes the Resurrection for which all Christians hope. Early Church hymns speak of "Mary conceived without sin" and the teaching is explicitly stated in the writings of Sts. Ambrose, Augustan, Andrew of Crete, Germain of Constantinople and other Fathers of the Church. This teaching was also celebrated in the early Church liturgy. A feast commemorating the Immaculate Conception of Mary was celebrated by the seventh century in the East and was formally approved and given a standardized liturgy in the West by Pope Sixtus IV in 1475. It was extended as a feast to the world Church by St. Pius V in the 1568. Each dogma is also consistent with Sacred Scripture. For example the Immaculate Conception is supported by Genesis 3:15 and Luke 1:26-31 which have always been interpreted by the Church as implying the Virgin Mary's exemption from original sin [i.e. the angel Gabriel's greeting to Mary using a perfect past participle concerning her condition of grace: "Hail has-been graced"]. The Virgin Mary's birthday'the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Mother'is celebrated on September the 8th, which is 9 months after the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
Michal Hunt
A Prayer to St. Tarcisius
Prayer to St.Tarcisius:
God of power and mercy, through Your help, St. Tarcisius has overcome the tortures of his passion. Help us who celebrate his triumph to remain victorious over the wiles of our enemies..
ST. TARCISIUS ( Patron saint of first communicants )
Tarcisius was a twelve-year-old acolyte during one of the fierce Roman persecutions of the third century, probably during that of Valerian. Each day, from a secret meeting place in the catacombs where Christians gathered for Mass, a deacon would be sent to the prisons to carry the Eucharist to those Christians condemned to die. At one point, there was no deacon to send and so St. Tarcisius, an acolyte, was sent carrying the "Holy Mysteries" to those in prison.
On the way, he was stopped by boys his own age who were not Christians but knew him as a playmate and lover of games. He was asked to join their games, but this time he refused and the crowd of boys noticed that he was carrying something. Somehow, he was also recognized as a Christian, and the small gang of boys, anxious to view the Christian "Mysteries," became a mob and turned upon Tarcisius with fury. He went down under the blows, and it is believed that a fellow Christian drove off the mob and rescued the young acolyte.
The mangled body of Tarcisius was carried back to the catacombs, but the boy died on the way from his injuries. He was buried in the cemetery of St. Callistus, and his relics are claimed by the church of San Silvestro in Capite.
In the fourth century, Pope St. Damasus wrote a poem about this "boy-martyr of the Eucharist" and says that, like another St. Stephen, he suffered a violent death at the hands of a mob rather than give up the Sacred Body to "raging dogs." His story became well known when Cardinal Wiseman made it a part of his novel Fabiola, in which the story of the young acolyte is dramatized and a very moving account given of his martyrdom and death.
Tarcisius, one of the patron saints of altar boys, has always been an example of youthful courage and devotion, and his story was one that was told again and again to urge others to a like heroism in suffering for their faith. In the Passion of Pope Stephen, written in the sixth century, Tarcisius is said to be an acolyte of the pope himself and, if so, this explains the great veneration in which he was held and the reason why he was chosen for so difficult a mission.
Thought for the Day: Mere boys can become saints, and youth is no barrier to holiness. The call to holiness begins at baptism, and we do not have to wait for old age and gray hair to serve God. Youthful saints tell us something about sanctity, and their example is especially luminous as they dedicate their young lives to God.
Friday, March 26, 2010
The Holy Rosary: A Wonderful Gift to Mankind
"Say the Rosary every day...
Pray, pray a lot and offer sacrifices for sinners...
I'm Our Lady of the Rosary.
Only I will be able to help you.
...In the end My Immaculate Heart will triumph."
Our Lady at Fatima
T he word Rosary means "Crown of Roses". Our Lady has revealed to several people that each time they say a Hail Mary they are giving her a beautiful rose and that each complete Rosary makes her a crown of roses. The rose is the queen of flowers, and so the Rosary is the rose of all devotions and it is therefore the most important one. The Holy Rosary is considered a perfect prayer because within it lies the awesome story of our salvation. With the Rosary in fact we meditate the mysteries of joy, of sorrow and the glory of Jesus and Mary. It's a simple prayer, humble so much like Mary. It's a prayer we can all say together with Her, the Mother of God. With the Hail Mary we invite Her to pray for us. Our Lady always grants our request. She joins Her prayer to ours. Therefore it becomes ever more useful, because what Mary asks She always receives, Jesus can never say no to whatever His Mother asks for. In every apparition, the heavenly Mother has invited us to say the Rosary as a powerful weapon against evil, to bring us to true peace. With your prayer made together with Your heavenly Mother, you can obtain the great gift of bringing about a change of hearts and conversion. Each day, through prayer you can drive away from yourselves and from your homeland many dangers and many evils.
It can seem a repetitive prayer but instead it is like two sweethearts who many times say one another the words: "I love you"...
A devout exercise to perform praying the Rosary to obtain any request is the "54-day Rosary Novena" in honor of Our Lady of Pompeii.
You can find the History of the Rosary reading the Secret of the Rosary of Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort. The Holy Father John Paul II with the Apostolic Letter ROSARIUM VIRGINIS MARIAE of 10/16/2002 has added 5 new mysteries of the Rosary: The Mysteries of the Light.
Such wonderful words honoring our Holy Mother in a way we request her intercession to Her Son Jesus, Our Lord and Our God. In the Holy scripture we find :
John 2:1-11
Jesus Changes Water to Wine
1On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, 2and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."4"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come."
5His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."
6Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.a]">[a]
7Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim.
8Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet."
They did so, 9and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."
11This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.
This passage of the bible tells us how Jesus loves his mother, that He cannot deny his mothers request, Our Lord Jesus is obedient to Mama Mary. Our Mother becomes the Mediator or Mediatrix to Our Lord Jesus. Thus the 2nd Vatican council states: "Therefore, the Blessed Virgin is invoked by the Church under the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix and Mediatrix. This, however, is to be understood that it neither takes away from nor adds anything to the dignity and efficaciousness of Christ the one Mediator” (Lumen Gentium No. 62).
The mysteries of the Holy Rosary is the story of our salvation, it reminds us of Our Lord Jesus life and sufferings, His conquest of death and His resurrection. Its repetitiveness does not contradict Gods' Law, because it is a prayer that is biblical based.Yes God does not forbid praying repetitiously .
As angels in heaven prays continuously..... Rev 4: 8" Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."
In Matthew 26:42-44 "42He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."
43When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
Even Our Lord repeatedly prayed not only twice, but three times..
Please share more inputs to this blog about the Rosary, Our Mother, and Our Lord Jesus
God Bless you all!
The Truth will set you free
WHETHER or not you are Catholic, you may have questions about the Catholic faith. You may have heard challenges to the Catholic Church’s claim to be the interpreter and safeguard of the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Such challenges come from door-to-door missionaries who ask, "Are you saved?", from peer pressure that urges you to ignore the Church’s teachings, from a secular culture that whispers "There is no God."
You can’t deal with these challenges unless you understand the basics of the Catholic faith.
In Catholicism you will find answers to life’s most troubling questions: Why am I here? Who made me? What must I believe? How must I act? All these can be answered to your satisfaction, if only you will open yourself to God’s grace, turn to the Church he established, and follow his plan for you (John 7:17).
AN UNBROKEN HISTORY
Jesus said his Church would be "the light of the world." He then noted that "a city set on a hill cannot be hid" (Matt. 5:14). This means his Church is a visible organization. It must have characteristics that clearly identify it and that distinguish it from other churches. Jesus promised, "I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18). This means that his Church will never be destroyed and will never fall away from him. His Church will survive until his return.
Among the Christian churches, only the Catholic Church has existed since the time of Jesus. Every other Christian church is an offshoot of the Catholic Church. The Eastern Orthodox churches broke away from unity with the pope in 1054. The Protestant churches were established during the Reformation, which began in 1517. (Most of today’s Protestant churches are actually offshoots of the original Protestant offshoots.)
Only the Catholic Church existed in the tenth century, in the fifth century, and in the first century, faithfully teaching the doctrines given by Christ to the apostles, omitting nothing. The line of popes can be traced back, in unbroken succession, to Peter himself. This is unequaled by any institution in history.
Even the oldest government is new compared to the papacy, and the churches that send out door-to-door missionaries are young compared to the Catholic Church. Many of these churches began as recently as the nineteenth or twentieth centuries. Some even began during your own lifetime. None of them can claim to be the Church Jesus established.
The Catholic Church has existed for nearly 2,000 years, despite constant opposition from the world. This is testimony to the Church’s divine origin. It must be more than a merely human organization, especially considering that its human members— even some of its leaders—have been unwise, corrupt, or prone to heresy.
Any merely human organization with such members would have collapsed early on. The Catholic Church is today the most vigorous church in the world (and the largest, with a billion members: one sixth of the human race), and that is testimony not to the cleverness of the Church’s leaders, but to the protection of the Holy Spirit.
FOUR MARKS OF THE TRUE CHURCH
If we wish to locate the Church founded by Jesus, we need to locate the one that has the four chief marks or qualities of his Church. The Church we seek must be one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.
The Church Is One (Rom. 12:5, 1 Cor. 10:17, 12:13, CCC 813–822)
Jesus established only one Church, not a collection of differing churches (Lutheran, Baptist, Anglican, and so on). The Bible says the Church is the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:23–32). Jesus can have but one spouse, and his spouse is the Catholic Church.
His Church also teaches just one set of doctrines, which must be the same as those taught by the apostles (Jude 3). This is the unity of belief to which Scripture calls us (Phil. 1:27, 2:2).
Although some Catholics dissent from officially-taught doctrines, the Church’s official teachers—the pope and the bishops united with him—have never changed any doctrine. Over the centuries, as doctrines are examined more fully, the Church comes to understand them more deeply (John 16:12–13), but it never understands them to mean the opposite of what they once meant.
The Church Is Holy (Eph. 5:25–27, Rev. 19:7–8, CCC 823–829)
By his grace Jesus makes the Church holy, just as he is holy. This doesn’t mean that each member is always holy. Jesus said there would be both good and bad members in the Church (John 6:70), and not all the members would go to heaven (Matt. 7:21–23).
But the Church itself is holy because it is the source of holiness and is the guardian of the special means of grace Jesus established, the sacraments (cf. Eph. 5:26).
The Church Is Catholic (Matt. 28:19–20, Rev. 5:9–10, CCC 830–856)
Jesus’ Church is called catholic ("universal" in Greek) because it is his gift to all people. He told his apostles to go throughout the world and make disciples of "all nations" (Matt. 28:19–20).
For 2,000 years the Catholic Church has carried out this mission, preaching the good news that Christ died for all men and that he wants all of us to be members of his universal family (Gal. 3:28).
Nowadays the Catholic Church is found in every country of the world and is still sending out missionaries to "make disciples of all nations" (Matt. 28:19).
The Church Jesus established was known by its most common title, "the Catholic Church," at least as early as the year 107, when Ignatius of Antioch used that title to describe the one Church Jesus founded. The title apparently was old in Ignatius’s time, which means it probably went all the way back to the time of the apostles.
The Church Is Apostolic (Eph. 2:19–20, CCC 857–865)
The Church Jesus founded is apostolic because he appointed the apostles to be the first leaders of the Church, and their successors were to be its future leaders. The apostles were the first bishops, and, since the first century, there has been an unbroken line of Catholic bishops faithfully handing on what the apostles taught the first Christians in Scripture and oral Tradition (2 Tim. 2:2).
These beliefs include the bodily Resurrection of Jesus, the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, the sacrificial nature of the Mass, the forgiveness of sins through a priest, baptismal regeneration, the existence of purgatory, Mary’s special role, and much more —even the doctrine of apostolic succession itself.
Early Christian writings prove the first Christians were thoroughly Catholic in belief and practice and looked to the successors of the apostles as their leaders. What these first Christians believed is still believed by the Catholic Church. No other Church can make that claim.
Pillar of Fire, Pillar of Truth
Man’s ingenuity cannot account for this. The Church has remained one, holy, catholic, and apostolic—not through man’s effort, but because God preserves the Church he established (Matt. 16:18, 28:20).
He guided the Israelites on their escape from Egypt by giving them a pillar of fire to light their way across the dark wilderness (Exod. 13:21). Today he guides us through his Catholic Church.
The Bible, sacred Tradition, and the writings of the earliest Christians testify that the Church teaches with Jesus’ authority. In this age of countless competing religions, each clamoring for attention, one voice rises above the din: the Catholic Church, which the Bible calls "the pillar and foundation of truth" (1 Tim. 3:15).
Jesus assured the apostles and their successors, the popes and the bishops, "He who listens to you listens to me, and he who rejects you rejects me" (Luke 10:16). Jesus promised to guide his Church into all truth (John 16:12–13). We can have confidence that his Church teaches only the truth.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE CHURCH
Jesus chose the apostles to be the earthly leaders of the Church. He gave them his own authority to teach and to govern—not as dictators, but as loving pastors and fathers. That is why Catholics call their spiritual leaders "father." In doing so we follow Paul’s example: "I became your father in Jesus Christ through the gospel" (1 Cor. 4:15).
The apostles, fulfilling Jesus’ will, ordained bishops, priests, and deacons and thus handed on their apostolic ministry to them—the fullest degree of ordination to the bishops, lesser degrees to the priests and deacons.
The Pope and Bishops (CCC 880–883)
Jesus gave Peter special authority among the apostles (John 21:15–17) and signified this by changing his name from Simon to Peter, which means "rock" (John 1:42). He said Peter was to be the rock on which he would build his Church (Matt. 16:18).
In Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, Simon’s new name was Kepha (which means a massive rock). Later this name was translated into Greek as Petros (John 1:42) and into English as Peter. Christ gave Peter alone the "keys of the kingdom" (Matt. 16:19) and promised that Peter’s decisions would be binding in heaven. He also gave similar power to the other apostles (Matt. 18:18), but only Peter was given the keys, symbols of his authority to rule the Church on earth in Jesus’ absence.
Christ, the Good Shepherd, called Peter to be the chief shepherd of his Church (John 21:15–17). He gave Peter the task of strengthening the other apostles in their faith, ensuring that they taught only what was true (Luke 22:31–32). Peter led the Church in proclaiming the gospel and making decisions (Acts 2:1– 41, 15:7–12).
Early Christian writings tell us that Peter’s successors, the bishops of Rome (who from the earliest times have been called by the affectionate title of "pope," which means "papa"), continued to exercise Peter’s ministry in the Church.
The pope is the successor to Peter as bishop of Rome. The world’s other bishops are successors to the apostles in general.
HOW GOD SPEAKS TO US
As from the first, God speaks to his Church through the Bible and through sacred Tradition. To make sure we understand him, he guides the Church’s teaching authority—the magisterium—so it always interprets the Bible and Tradition accurately. This is the gift of infallibility.
Like the three legs on a stool, the Bible, Tradition, and the magisterium are all necessary for the stability of the Church and to guarantee sound doctrine.
Sacred Tradition (CCC 75–83)
Sacred Tradition should not be confused with mere traditions of men, which are more commonly called customs or disciplines. Jesus sometimes condemned customs or disciplines, but only if they were contrary to God’s commands (Mark 7:8). He never condemned sacred Tradition, and he didn’t even condemn all human tradition.
Sacred Tradition and the Bible are not different or competing revelations. They are two ways that the Church hands on the gospel. Apostolic teachings such as the Trinity, infant baptism, the inerrancy of the Bible, purgatory, and Mary’s perpetual virginity have been most clearly taught through Tradition, although they are also implicitly present in (and not contrary to) the Bible. The Bible itself tells us to hold fast to Tradition, whether it comes to us in written or oral form (2 Thess. 2:15, 1 Cor. 11:2).
Sacred Tradition should not be confused with customs and disciplines, such as the rosary, priestly celibacy, and not eating meat on Fridays in Lent. These are good and helpful things, but they are not doctrines. Sacred Tradition preserves doctrines first taught by Jesus to the apostles and later passed down to us through the apostles’ successors, the bishops.
Scripture (CCC 101–141)
Scripture, by which we mean the Old and New Testaments, was inspired by God (2 Tim. 3:16). The Holy Spirit guided the biblical authors to write what he wanted them to write. Since God is the principal author of the Bible, and since God is truth itself (John 14:6) and cannot teach anything untrue, the Bible is free from all error in everything it asserts to be true.
Some Christians claim, "The Bible is all I need," but this notion is not taught in the Bible itself. In fact, the Bible teaches the contrary idea (2 Pet. 1:20–21, 3:15–16). The "Bible alone" theory was not believed by anyone in the early Church.
It is new, having arisen only in the 1500s during the Protestant Reformation. The theory is a "tradition of men" that nullifies the Word of God, distorts the true role of the Bible, and undermines the authority of the Church Jesus established (Mark 7:1–8).
Although popular with many "Bible Christian" churches, the "Bible alone" theory simply does not work in practice. Historical experience disproves it. Each year we see additional splintering among "Bible-believing" religions.
Today there are tens of thousands of competing denominations, each insisting its interpretation of the Bible is the correct one. The resulting divisions have caused untold confusion among millions of sincere but misled Christians.
Just open up the Yellow Pages of your telephone book and see how many different denominations are listed, each claiming to go by the "Bible alone," but no two of them agreeing on exactly what the Bible means.
We know this for sure: The Holy Spirit cannot be the author of this confusion (1 Cor. 14:33). God cannot lead people to contradictory beliefs because his truth is one. The conclusion? The "Bible alone" theory must be false.
The Magisterium (CCC 85–87, 888–892)
Together the pope and the bishops form the teaching authority of the Church, which is called the magisterium (from the Latin for "teacher"). The magisterium, guided and protected from error by the Holy Spirit, gives us certainty in matters of doctrine. The Church is the custodian of the Bible and faithfully and accurately proclaims its message, a task which God has empowered it to do.
Keep in mind that the Church came before the New Testament, not the New Testament before the Church. Divinely-inspired members of the Church wrote the books of the New Testament, just as divinely-inspired writers had written the Old Testament, and the Church is guided by the Holy Spirit to guard and interpret the entire Bible, both Old and New Testaments.
Such an official interpreter is absolutely necessary if we are to understand the Bible properly. (We all know what the Constitution says, but we still need a Supreme Court to interpret what it means.)
The magisterium is infallible when it teaches officially because Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to guide the apostles and their successors "into all truth" (John 16:12–13).
HOW GOD DISTRIBUTES HIS GIFTS
Jesus promised he would not leave us orphans (John 14:18) but would send the Holy Spirit to guide and protect us (John 15:26). He gave the sacraments to heal, feed, and strengthen us. The seven sacraments —baptism, the Eucharist, penance (also called reconciliation or confession), confirmation, holy orders, matrimony, and the anointing of the sick—are not just symbols. They are signs that actually convey God’s grace and love.
The sacraments were foreshadowed in the Old Testament by things that did not actually convey grace but merely symbolized it (circumcision, for example, prefigured baptism, and the Passover meal prefigured the Eucharist. When Christ came, he did not do away with symbols of God’s grace. He supernaturalized them, energizing them with grace. He made them more than symbols.
God constantly uses material things to show his love and power. After all, matter is not evil. When he created the physical universe, everything God created was "very good" (Gen. 1:31). He takes such delight in matter that he even dignified it through his own Incarnation (John 1:14).
During his earthly ministry Jesus healed, fed, and strengthened people through humble elements such as mud, water, bread, oil, and wine. He could have performed his miracles directly, but he preferred to use material things to bestow his grace.
In his first public miracle Jesus turned water into wine, at the request of his mother, Mary (John 2:1–11). He healed a blind man by rubbing mud on his eyes (John 9:1–7). He multiplied a few loaves and fish into a meal for thousands (John 6:5–13). He changed bread and wine into his own body and blood (Matt. 26:26– 28). Through the sacraments he continues to heal, feed, and strengthen us.
Baptism (CCC 1213–1284)
Because of original sin, we are born without grace in our souls, so there is no way for us to have fellowship with God. Jesus became man to bring us into union with his Father. He said no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is first born of "water and the Spirit" (John 3:5)—this refers to baptism.
Through baptism we are born again, but this time on a spiritual level instead of a physical level. We are washed in the bath of rebirth (Titus 3:5). We are baptized into Christ’s death and therefore share in his Resurrection (Rom. 6:3–7).
Baptism cleanses us of sins and brings the Holy Spirit and his grace into our souls (Acts 2:38, 22:16). And the apostle Peter is perhaps the most blunt of all: "Baptism now saves you" (1 Pet. 3:21). Baptism is the gateway into the Church.
Penance (CCC 1422–1498)
Sometimes on our journey toward the heavenly promised land we stumble and fall into sin. God is always ready to lift us up and to restore us to grace-filled fellowship with him. He does this through the sacrament of penance (which is also known as confession or reconciliation).
Jesus gave his apostles power and authority to reconcile us to the Father. They received Jesus’ own power to forgive sins when he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained" (John 20:22–23).
Paul notes that "all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation. . . . So, we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us" (2 Cor. 5:18–20). Through confession to a priest, God’s minister, we have our sins forgiven, and we receive grace to help us resist future temptations.
The Eucharist (CCC 1322–1419)
Once we become members of Christ’s family, he does not let us go hungry, but feeds us with his own body and blood through the Eucharist. In the Old Testament, as they prepared for their journey in the wilderness, God commanded his people to sacrifice a lamb and sprinkle its blood on their doorposts, so the Angel of Death would pass by their homes. Then they ate the lamb to seal their covenant with God.
This lamb prefigured Jesus. He is the real "Lamb of God," who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). Through Jesus we enter into a New Covenant with God (Luke 22:20), who protects us from eternal death. God’s Old Testament people ate the Passover lamb. Now we must eat the Lamb that is the Eucharist. Jesus said, "Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you have no life within you" (John 6:53).
At the Last Supper he took bread and wine and said, "Take and eat. This is my body . . . This is my blood which will be shed for you" (Mark 14:22–24). In this way Jesus instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist, the sacrificial meal Catholics consume at each Mass.
The Catholic Church teaches that the sacrifice of Christ on the cross occurred "once for all"; it cannot be repeated (Heb. 9:28). Christ does not "die again" during Mass, but the very same sacrifice that occurred on Calvary is made present on the altar. That’s why the Mass is not "another" sacrifice, but a participation in the same, once-for-all sacrifice of Christ on the cross.
Paul reminds us that the bread and the wine really become, by a miracle of God’s grace, the actual body and blood of Jesus: "Anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself" (1 Cor. 11:27–29).
After the consecration of the bread and wine, no bread or wine remains on the altar. Only Jesus himself, under the appearance of bread and wine, remains.
Confirmation (CCC 1285–1321)
God strengthens our souls in another way, through the sacrament of confirmation. Even though Jesus’ disciples received grace before his Resurrection, on Pentecost the Holy Spirit came to strengthen them with new graces for the difficult work ahead.
They went out and preached the gospel fearlessly and carried out the mission Christ had given them. Later, they laid hands on others to strengthen them as well (Acts 8:14–17). Through confirmation you too are strengthened to meet the spiritual challenges in your life.
Matrimony (CCC 1601–1666)
Most people are called to the married life. Through the sacrament of matrimony God gives special graces to help married couples with life’s difficulties, especially to help them raise their children as loving followers of Christ.
Marriage involves three parties: the bride, the groom, and God. When two Christians receive the sacrament of matrimony, God is with them, witnessing and blessing their marriage covenant. A sacramental marriage is permanent; only death can break it (Mark 10:1–12, Rom. 7:2–3, 1 Cor. 7:10–11). This holy union is a living symbol of the unbreakable relationship between Christ and his Church (Eph. 5:21–33).
Holy Orders (CCC 1536–1600)
Others are called to share specially in Christ’s priesthood. In the Old Covenant, even though Israel was a kingdom of priests (Exod. 19:6), the Lord called certain men to a special priestly ministry (Exod. 19: 22). In the New Covenant, even though Christians are a kingdom of priests (1 Pet. 2:9), Jesus calls certain men to a special priestly ministry (Rom. 15:15–16).
This sacrament is called holy orders. Through it priests are ordained and thus empowered to serve the Church (2 Tim. 1:6–7) as pastors, teachers, and spiritual fathers who heal, feed, and strengthen God’s people—most importantly through preaching and the administration of the sacraments.
Anointing of the Sick (CCC 1499–1532)
Priests care for us when we are physically ill. They do this through the sacrament known as the anointing of the sick. The Bible instructs us, "Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. . . . Is any one among you sick? He should summon the presbyters [priests] of the Church, and they should pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven" (Jas. 5:14–15). Anointing of the sick not only helps us endure illness, but it cleanses our souls and helps us prepare to meet God.
TALKING WITH GOD AND HIS SAINTS
One of the most important activities for a Catholic is prayer. Without it there can be no true spiritual life. Through personal prayer and the communal prayer of the Church, especially the Mass, we worship and praise God, we express sorrow for our sins, and we intercede on behalf of others (1 Tim. 2:1–4). Through prayer we grow in our relationship with Christ and with members of God’s family (CCC 2663–2696).
This family includes all members of the Church, whether on earth, in heaven, or in purgatory. Since Jesus has only one body, and since death has no power to separate us from Christ (Rom. 8:3–8), Christians who are in heaven or who, before entering heaven, are being purified in purgatory by God’s love (1 Cor. 3:12–15) are still part of the Body of Christ (CCC 962).
Jesus said the second greatest commandment is to "love your neighbor as yourself" (Matt. 22:39). Those in heaven love us more intensely than they ever could have loved us while on earth. They pray for us constantly (Rev. 5:8), and their prayers are powerful (Jas. 5:16, CCC 956, 2683, 2692).
Our prayers to the saints in heaven, asking for their prayers for us, and their intercession with the Father do not undermine Christ’s role as sole Mediator (1 Tim. 2:5). In asking saints in heaven to pray for us we follow Paul’s instructions: "I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone," for "this is good and pleasing to God our Savior" (1 Tim. 2:1–4).
All members of the Body of Christ are called to help one another through prayer (CCC 2647). Mary’s prayers are especially effective on our behalf because of her relationship with her Son (John 2:1–11).
God gave Mary a special role (CCC 490–511, 963– 975). He saved her from all sin (Luke 1:28, 47), made her uniquely blessed among all women (Luke 1:42), and made her a model for all Christians (Luke 1:48). At the end of her life he took her, body and soul, into heaven—an image of our own resurrection at the end of the world (Rev. 12:1–2).
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE?
Old catechisms asked, "Why did God make you?" The answer: "God made me to know him, to love him, and to serve him in this world and to be happy with him forever in the next." Here, in just 26 words, is the whole reason for our existence. Jesus answered the question even more briefly: "I came so that [you] might have life and have it more abundantly" (John 10:10).
God’s plan for you is simple. Your loving Father wants to give you all good things—especially eternal life. Jesus died on the cross to save us all from sin and the eternal separation from God that sin causes (CCC 599–623). When he saves us, he makes us part of his Body, which is the Church (1 Cor. 12:27–30). We thus become united with him and with Christians everywhere (on earth, in heaven, in purgatory).
What You Must Do to Be Saved
Best of all, the promise of eternal life is a gift, freely offered to us by God (CCC 1727). Our initial forgiveness and justification are not things we "earn" (CCC 2010). Jesus is the mediator who bridged the gap of sin that separates us from God (1 Tim. 2:5); he bridged it by dying for us. He has chosen to make us partners in the plan of salvation (1 Cor. 3:9).
The Catholic Church teaches what the apostles taught and what the Bible teaches: We are saved by grace alone, but not by faith alone (which is what "Bible Christians" teach; see Jas. 2:24).
When we come to God and are justified (that is, enter a right relationship with God), nothing preceding justification, whether faith or good works, earns grace. But then God plants his love in our hearts, and we should live out our faith by doing acts of love (Gal. 6:2).
Even though only God’s grace enables us to love others, these acts of love please him, and he promises to reward them with eternal life (Rom. 2:6–7, Gal. 6:6–10). Thus good works are meritorious. When we first come to God in faith, we have nothing in our hands to offer him. Then he gives us grace to obey his commandments in love, and he rewards us with salvation when we offer these acts of love back to him (Rom. 2:6–11, Gal. 6:6–10, Matt. 25:34–40).
Jesus said it is not enough to have faith in him; we also must obey his commandments. "Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but do not do the things I command?" (Luke 6:46, Matt. 7:21–23, 19:16–21).
We do not "earn" our salvation through good works (Eph. 2:8–9, Rom. 9:16), but our faith in Christ puts us in a special grace-filled relationship with God so that our obedience and love, combined with our faith, will be rewarded with eternal life (Rom. 2:7, Gal. 6:8–9).
Paul said, "God is the one who, for his good purpose, works in you both to desire and to work" (Phil. 2:13). John explained that "the way we may be sure that we know him is to keep his commandments. Whoever says, ‘I know him,’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (1 John 2:3–4, 3:19–24, 5:3–4).
Since no gift can be forced on the recipient—gifts always can be rejected—even after we become justified, we can throw away the gift of salvation. We throw it away through grave (mortal) sin (John 15:5–6, Rom. 11:22–23, 1 Cor. 15:1–2; CCC 1854–1863). Paul tells us, "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23).
Read his letters and see how often Paul warned Christians against sin! He would not have felt compelled to do so if their sins could not exclude them from heaven (see, for example, 1 Cor. 6:9–10, Gal. 5:19–21).
Paul reminded the Christians in Rome that God "will repay everyone according to his works: eternal life for those who seek glory, honor, and immortality through perseverance in good works, but wrath and fury to those who selfishly disobey the truth and obey wickedness" (Rom. 2:6–8).
Sins are nothing but evil works (CCC 1849–1850). We can avoid sins by habitually performing good works. Every saint has known that the best way to keep free from sins is to embrace regular prayer, the sacraments (the Eucharist first of all), and charitable acts.
Are You Guaranteed Heaven?
Some people promote an especially attractive idea: All true Christians, regardless of how they live, have an absolute assurance of salvation, once they accept Jesus into their hearts as "their personal Lord and Savior." The problem is that this belief is contrary to the Bible and constant Christian teaching.
Keep in mind what Paul told the Christians of his day: "If we have died with him [in baptism; see Rom. 6:3–4] we shall also live with him; if we persevere we shall also reign with him" (2 Tim. 2:11–12).
If we do not persevere, we shall not reign with him. In other words, Christians can forfeit heaven (CCC 1861).
The Bible makes it clear that Christians have a moral assurance of salvation (God will be true to his word and will grant salvation to those who have faith in Christ and are obedient to him [1 John 3:19–24]), but the Bible does not teach that Christians have a guarantee of heaven. There can be no absolute assurance of salvation. Writing to Christians, Paul said, "See, then, the kindness and severity of God: severity toward those who fell, but God’s kindness to you, provided you remain in his kindness, otherwise you too will be cut off" (Rom. 11:22–23; Matt. 18:21–35, 1 Cor. 15:1–2, 2 Pet. 2:20–21).
Note that Paul includes an important condition: "provided you remain in his kindness." He is saying that Christians can lose their salvation by throwing it away. He warns, "Whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall" (1 Cor. 10:11–12).
If you are Catholic and someone asks you if you have been "saved," you should say, "I am redeemed by the blood of Christ, I trust in him alone for my salvation, and, as the Bible teaches, I am ‘working out my salvation in fear and trembling’ (Phil. 2:12), knowing that it is God’s gift of grace that is working in me."
THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE
All the alternatives to Catholicism are showing themselves to be inadequate: the worn-out secularism that is everywhere around us and that no one any longer finds satisfying, the odd cults and movements that offer temporary community but no permanent home, even the other, incomplete brands of Christianity. As our tired world becomes ever more desperate, people are turning to the one alternative they never really had considered: the Catholic Church. They are coming upon truth in the last place they expected to find it.
Always Attractive
How can this be? Why are so many people seriously looking at the Catholic Church for the first time? Something is pulling them toward it. That something is truth.
This much we know: They are not considering the claims of the Church out of a desire to win public favor. Catholicism, at least nowadays, is never popular. You cannot win a popularity contest by being a faithful Catholic. Our fallen world rewards the clever, not the good. If a Catholic is praised, it is for the worldly skills he demonstrates, not for his Christian virtues.
Although people try to avoid the hard doctrinal and moral truths the Catholic Church offers them (because hard truths demand that lives be changed), they nevertheless are attracted to the Church. When they listen to the pope and the bishops in union with him, they hear words with the ring of truth—even if they find that truth hard to live by.
When they contemplate the history of the Catholic Church and the lives of its saints, they realize there must be something special, maybe something supernatural, about an institution that can produce holy people such as St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Mother Teresa.
When they step off a busy street and into the aisles of an apparently empty Catholic church, they sense not a complete emptiness, but a presence. They sense that Someone resides inside, waiting to comfort them.
They realize that the persistent opposition that confronts the Catholic Church—whether from non-believers or "Bible Christians" or even from people who insist on calling themselves Catholics—is a sign of the Church’s divine origin (John 15:18–21). And they come to suspect that the Catholic Church, of all things, is the wave of the future.
Incomplete Christianity Is Not Enough
Over the last few decades many Catholics have left the Church, many dropping out of religion entirely, many joining other churches. But the traffic has not been in only one direction.
The traffic toward Rome has increased rapidly. Today we are seeing more than a hundred and fifty thousand converts enter the Catholic Church each year in the United States, and in some other places, like the continent of Africa, there are more than a million converts to the Catholic faith each year. People of no religion, lapsed or inactive Catholics, and members of other Christian churches are "coming home to Rome."
They are attracted to the Church for a variety of reasons, but the chief reason they convert is the chief reason you should be Catholic: The solid truth of the Catholic faith.
Our separated brethren hold much Christian truth, but not all of it. We might compare their religion to a stained glass window in which some of the original panes were lost and have been replaced by opaque glass: Something that was present at the beginning is now gone, and something that does not fit has been inserted to fill up the empty space. The unity of the original window has been marred.
When, centuries ago, they split away from the Catholic Church, the theological ancestors of these Christians eliminated some authentic beliefs and added new ones of their own making. The forms of Christianity they established are really incomplete Christianity.
Only the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus, and only it has been able to preserve all Christian truth without any error—and great numbers of people are coming to see this.
YOUR TASKS AS A CATHOLIC
Your tasks as a Catholic, no matter what your age, are three:
Know your Catholic faith.
You cannot live your faith if you do not know it, and you cannot share with others what you do not first make your own (CCC 429). Learning your Catholic faith takes some effort, but it is effort well spent because the study is, quite literally, infinitely rewarding.
Live your Catholic faith.
Your Catholic faith is a public thing. It is not meant to be left behind when you leave home (CCC 2472). But be forewarned: Being a public Catholic involves risk and loss. You will find some doors closed to you. You will lose some friends. You will be considered an outsider. But, as a consolation, remember our Lord’s words to the persecuted: "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven" (Matt. 5:12).
Spread your Catholic faith.
Jesus Christ wants us to bring the whole world into captivity to the truth, and the truth is Jesus himself, who is "the way, and the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). Spreading the faith is a task not only for bishops, priests, and religious—it is a task for all Catholics (CCC 905).
Just before his Ascension, our Lord told his apostles, "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Matt. 28:19–20).
If we want to observe all that Jesus commanded, if we want to believe all he taught, we must follow him through his Church. This is our great challenge—and our great privilege.
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