And So the Easter Season Ends

The Easter season ended with the feast of Pentecost last Sunday. Looking back we see how the Passion began -- with the betrayal of Judas with a kiss. We have spent Lent and Eastertide thinking about Jesus, offering prayers and sacrifices and giving alms. Then we spent 50 days rejoicing at our salvation proved by Christ rising from the dead.

Will we now return to "ordinary time" by once again betraying Him? Have we changed at all in the 40 days of Lent and the 50 days of Easter?
The author of the excerpt below is Fr. Frederick William Faber, a convert from Anglicanism to Catholicism and a follower of John Henry Newman. What zeal he had for the "Faith of Our Fathers," which he articulated when he wrote the well-known hymn. Think of how many in the Church overlook and coddle heresy today. How many Judases betray Christ with a kiss. Read Fr. Faber's meditation and weep. Let us take it to heart and pray for a Catholic awakening, especially among the clergy!

Are You Listening?

Some days I feel like a bobble head doll just shaking my head over the insanity in the Church. What's the latest? Listening centers instead of confessionals for the pope's Corpus Christi trip to Spain. Truth these days is stranger than fiction.

Sunday Meditation: Roadmap for a Happy Life

It seems to me that we all make life too darn complicated. In many ways we get lost in the weeds. And yet, the prescription for a happy life is really very simple. The Baltimore Catechism set it down in question #6:

6. Q. Why did God make you?
A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven.

How Attached Am I to the World?

Life is filled with uncertainties. But we can all be certain of one thing. We will leave this world with no attachments. No one can take anything on the final journey. And yet, don't we all cling to earthly things with a death grip? Strange expression, eh, since death will tear everything from our hands? I often think of Gulliver tied down by the Lilliputians with a million little threads. Isn't that what we are like with all our petty desires and concerns that occupy our thoughts and attention.

Are You Steady?

This morning during my prayer time I noticed how steady the candle flame was, burning straight and quietly. Maybe I noticed because the other day I had a candle so flickering and fluttering I had to blow it out. I was beginning to feel dizzy and ill even if I didn't look at it directly.

I'm fascinated by words and as I thought about the steadiness of the candle flame I wondered where the word came from and about it's meaning. I got this from an etymology site:

steady(adj.)

1520s, "firmly fixed in place or station" (displacing earlier steadfast, which came to be used of persons and characters), from stead + adjectival suffix -y (2), perhaps on model of Middle Dutch, Middle Low German stadig.

Silence: wound or healing?

Often when I'm reading, I come across a sentence or phrase that stops me short. What does that mean? How can I process the idea? If it were a signpost on the road, how would it direct me on my journey?

To DYE for: Artificial dyes in the food are just part of the problem.

On Monday while Larry and I were celebrating his 81st birthday with a gone for the day outing, we visited Shendoah River State Park in Bentonville. We stopped at a scenic overlook near the park entrance. What a glorious view of the mountains!

We weren't alone. A young man motorcycling through Virginia on the way to visit his mom in Maryland was also enjoying the view. We had a lovely conversation and I've been praying for him. 

So...Is Catholic Doctrine Immutable or Relative?

Some questions require either a yes or a no answer. Like Scripture says, "Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one." [Matt 5:37] Jesus was no prevaricator. When he spoke, his message was clear. Even his parables, when explained, made perfect sense. If the seed of truth is strewn on soil filled with lies, excuses, rationalizations, etc. it will be choked and rootless, will not thrive, and will not produce a harvest.

I Owe My Parents Everything! Thanks, Mom and Dad.

I was recently reading Roberta Wasserman's article titled "I Don't Owe My Parents Anything." She's a therapist who is estranged from two of her four children. She works with many estranged parents cut off by one or more of their offspring. Interestingly some of those most critical of her work are fellow counselors. She has mentioned several times how shocking it was to be attacked by her colleagues for listening to suffering parents and advising them:

As a professional working with the increasing population of estranged parents, I had created a training to illuminate this popular movement and its emotional impact. The reality that many of the current estrangements were seeded and rooted in therapy rooms compelled me to create space for deeper understanding. Instead, I was met with vitriol and hostility on a professional platform—an intensity that stunned me. Only later did I realize that many of the keyboard screamers were themselves estranged. My words had tapped into their stories and threatened their perceived peace.

When People You Respect Disappoint You

There was a time when I totally trusted Phil Lawler's take on things. I read several of his books with pen in hand and made margin notes to return to later. A trusted source, he was my regular go-to source as I slogged along in the Church crisis. So I was truly disappointed in his recent articles on the SSPX situation and upcoming consecrations. I was staggered when he said there was no state of necessity since it's up to Rome to make that decision. Really? If I see a child about to run into the street and be hit by a car, I'm not waiting for a policeman to tell me I can jaywalk. I also disagree with Lawler's interpretation of Fr. Pagliarani's statement that “In an ordinary parish, the faithful no longer find the necessary means to ensure their eternal salvation.” Perhaps that statement was overbroad, but certainly not untrue.