Sunday Meditation: Are Catholics Masochists?

Are Catholics masochists who turn every landscape into a dystopian city of suffering? What do you think?

In his homily this morning, Father mentioned reading an article by a psychologist who stated that Catholics worship pain and suffering. His evidence? Our churches have a bloodied crucified man at the center, many of our saints suffered gruesome martyrdoms, we offer a Mass with the unbloody sacrifice of the slain Lamb of God, etc. And, of course, there's the guilt factor. Father didn't mention that, but it's part of the picture painted by disbelieving psychologists. The Church lays a guilt trip on their followers who need to spend significant time (and money) de-compressing with a professional who will relieve them of their guilt. All those poor Catholics who wear a metaphorical hair shirt, if not a real one, are paralyzed by unending guilt that needs to be eliminated by drugs or talk therapy. Hmmm.

We All Know the Solution to These Murders: Knife Control Laws!

Virginia woman accused of ramming into another car, stabbing driver in road rage incident

‘Terrified': Mother, daughter say man sideswiped them before 495 stabbing rampage

The world has gone crazy. Iryna Karutska is stabbed to death on a Charlotte, North Carolina subway (ironically it was a "blue" line train). Her murder shocked the whole country. This kind of thing is getting to be a daily headline. But usually it's far away from me.

A Prescription for Peace of Soul from Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

I sometimes think the Valley of Tears into which we are born is like the Valley of Death described by Tennyson in The Charge of the Light Brigade. The devil surrounds us and we are "stormed at with shot and shell" at every moment of our lives. Often we suffer wounds that can fester. We need the great physician to bind them up and set us on a journey of healing which is manifested by our success at achieving peace of soul. And, believe it or not, that journey to good health requires a prescription of suffering. If we want to be well, if we want to achieve true internal peace, we need to accept and even rejoice at the suffering we receive. It's unavoidable and inevitable, so let us make the most of it!

On the Feast of St. Ignatius, Reflecting on the Writing of two Wise Jesuits

I've shared one of my favorite books before, Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence. It's a 
very short work composed of excerpts from the writings of two 17th century Jesuits, Fr. Jean Baptiste Saint Jure and St. Claude de La Colombiere, spiritual director of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. This little gem has become a regular companion for morning prayer. I finish it; and I begin again. And every reading is fresh and new. Maybe that just testifies to my aging brain, but, whatever the reason, I love these two great men and glorify God for their tremendous wisdom.

On this feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, I offer this meditation from Fr. Saint Jure: 

Nothing happens in the universe without God willing and allowing it. This statement must be taken absolutely of everything with the exception of sin. "Nothing occurs by chance in the whole course of our lives" is the unanimous teaching of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, "and God intervenes everywhere."....

Sometimes the Best Spiritual Director is Charlie Brown

This meme came up on my Facebook page this morning. I had to laugh because it's the same message I've been reading in the surrender novena and in one of my favorite books, Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence. Charlie Brown must have been reading it!

Condemning the Generous

I'm not into reality shows, but I recently read about a couple who's in one, Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar. They live debt free in a house they built, but that's not enough for the "tolerant" of the world because this couple has committed the unforgivable crime: they have "too many" children. Michelle Duggar gave birth to their 19th child last winter when little Josie was born prematurely by C-section. Read more about this amazing couple and their attitude toward life by clicking on the hotlink. You can also read the vitriolic comments from "liberals" whose liberality does not extend to being open to life and welcoming children with open arms. They call the Duggars "selfish." These are the same folks who celebrate the murder of little "unwanted" babes in the womb. They remind me of the mother in the Solomon story who wants the living baby killed. Their name is Legion.

The Bible and the tradition of the Church teaches us differently. A child, the Bible says, is like an arrow in the quiver. Blest is the man who has a quiverful. Many saints learned the gospel in the school of the large family. St. Catherine of Siena, I believe, was the 21st.  God bless the Duggars! May their positive attitude toward children spread. And may we all be open to God's will: the parents of many children, the parents of few, the parents who  mourn like Hannah because they have none. Conforming our hearts and minds to the Lord is the key to happiness. My prayer for the Duggars is that they find the fullness of the faith in the Catholic Church. Imagine all these young ones spreading the Eucharist far and wide.

For more on this Christian family visit their website.