As usual I am filled with many swirling emotions and thoughts... the feast day today along with some spiritual reading I did in The Catholic Servant newspaper that arrived in the mail yesterday, and then again in the book I am reading on the life of Mother Angelica... It all adds up to a huge and very complicated yet clear thought in my mind and heart... with no pictures of grandkids as they are still in Wisconsin with their other grandparents - sadly suffering from the flu- I am adrift in a world of old pictures with no real direction at this point... So here I go... diving in!
The feast day today is the conversion of St Paul... blinded by the light! He was not riding a horse in Acts 9:1-22, so it is not true to say that he was knocked off his horse... Yet, he saw the Light and the Truth in his being blinded! Jesus tells his followers -"This man is a chosen instument of mine to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and children of Israel, and I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name." Saul was prayed over - scales fell from his eyes, he could see, he was baptized in the Holy Spirit.... "He began at once to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. All who heard him were astounded and said, 'Is not this the man who in Jerusalem ravaged those who call upon his name, and came back here expressly to take them back in chains to the chief priests?' But Saul ( as a sign of his conversion he changed his name to Paul) grew all the stronger and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus, proving that this is the Christ." Acts 9: 1-22
I am thinking of a story here of two girls, each barely 20 years old. It was in the days of the flower children, peace signs, love ins... the early 1970s. They met in college and decided that the following summer they would "hitchhike out west." There was something about this journey that all the young people seemed to think it was the thing to do... The mothers of both of these girls begged them not to go, but surprisingly did not adsolutely forbid them, and when they found a ride, rather than truly hitchhike with a stranger, they relented with lots of prayers covering them with spiritual protection. The two girls excitedly left behind all and jumped into a car with a "friend- acquaintance" and started heading West. They had gotten matching large orange backpacks to hold all they needed if they truly needed to get out on the road and stick their thumbs out for a ride, but never had to. At night they would camp in a tent, and got soaked in rain a few times... after a few nights they arrived in Boulder, Colorado. The girls and their driver were directed to a group on the college campus there - telling them that they could find food,a place to sleep and fellowship there. Little did they know that this was the end of their trip. That they had arrived at their destination. They walked into a group of dynamic Christians, who with the tidal wave of youth going out West had set up a ministry to "help" these wandering and misled souls to find the Truth! The first night there one girl, who smoked a pack a day of cigarretts since starting college, was prayed over and never smoked again! The days turned into weeks and the girls settled into a life of living in a Christian commune... the girls were seperated from the men and had time for Bible study/prayer everyday,along with chores... One of the girls started to think of some Catholic Sisters that she had gotten to know and felt that this was a life much like theirs and how she would like that for herself.
Her friend seemed to be OK with staying, but did not seem to be having the same experience nor feeling that same conversion. In their lives before - much of the things they had been raised with as moral values had become very gray and therefore they became easy to overlook and to turn away from. One had thought that she was "saving her virginity for her future spouse" by allowing everything except the act of coming together... even oral sex! Her boyfriend had, who was quite a few years older and wiser(?) than she, had convinced her that they should move in together... everyone was doing it! Right? Once she got away from him and was able to see the blinding light of TRUTH... she quickly made a phone call and told him that this would NOT be happening! The insidious lies of Satan that had come into her life, and turned everything into a dull gray, and muddied up the waters.... so that she had lost sight of the clarity of the Truth... now Christ had called her away from this road to destruction! Looking back and realizing how she had been snatched from the road to Hell... yes, in many ways she felt this as the Lord's hand snatched her from the very wrong path... life would have been so different and her distance from the Truth and Life widened - maybe lost altogether! 
The two girls parted ways in a few weeks... it seemed and continues to be that people say - "How can two people share the same experience, and go in two such opposite directions?" One returned to the open arms of her family, and proceeded to become Catholic, and have what she called later her "nun years" as she considered being called to religious life. The other traveled to France, and learned to teach Transendental Meditation, and became deeply involved with the New Age movement to this day! They still live in close proximity to each other, and continue to consider themselves friends... yet there is a huge chasim between them.... 
For some reason I have started using some pictures of when we first bought our "farm"in Wisconsin, and were trying to make it habitable... Talk about back to nature! The reason for sharing this story is to show the differences in life - some come to a strong sense of Truth, and everything becomes very clear in black and white after being blinded by the Light! Much like St Paul on this feast day. But there is also so much that tries to sneak in under what makes it look like something good... when really it is a insidious lie... trying to bring those shades of gray into your world!
I am thinking of our confirmation class proudly announcing that they disagreed with the Church, and thought that gay marriage was a good thing, or the conversation I had yesterday with my husband about putting advertising on my blog, and how I allowed it for 10 minutes and there was an add for surrogate mothers on it! Both of these ideas are presented to us as being a good thing... for those that have found their true love and want the benefit of marriage - so what if they happen to be the same sex! Or for those poor couples that cannot have children - it is an answer of prayer for them to have a child that another woman will carry for them! Yes, I can see how this becomes a gray haze of confusion for people, but it will lead to demoralizing of the values of our Faith! "There is something amiss about viewing children as commodities - to be created , manipulated, purchased- or rejected at will or whim. Even for the most noble and beneficial of reasons, there is a cheapening of the very thing once universally regarded as sacred and deserving of protection - human life." Mary Ann Kuharski addressing "surrogate parenting industry."
Another article grabbed my attention on this very important matter today... it was kind of strange because the author was also mentioned in the book I was reading last night about Mother Angelica's life... Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver! This is a speech that he gave, and it is addressing exactly what I am talking about today... about how "our culture is doing catechesis every day. It works like water dripping on a stone, eroding people's moral and religious sensibilities, and leaving a hole where their convictions used to be..... It's not easy to de-moralize and strip a society of its religious sense. Accomplishing the task requires two key factors: First, it takes the aggressive, organized efforts of individuals and groups committed to undermining faith and historic Christian values. Second, it takes the indifference of persons like you and me, Christian believers."
He continues to address how the passing on of our faith in our homes has stopped! "Instead of changing the culture around us, we Christians have allowed ourselves to be changed by the culture. We've compromised too cheaply. We've hungered after assimilating and fitting in. And in the process, we've been bleached out, and absorbed by the culture we were sent to make holy... For too many of us, Christianity is not a filial relationship with the living God, but a habit and an inheritance. We've become tepid in our beliefs, and naive about the world. We've lost our evangelical zeal. And we've failed in passing on our faith to the next generation." 
Pat and I see this when we teach the dozen kids in our confirmation classes - "The central issue in renewing Catholic catechesis - teaching has little to do with techniques, or theories, or programs, or resouces... the central issue is whether we ourselves really do believe." In other words as John put it when we came home after a very dissappointing class -" You have to get it at home!" In that hour that we have with them each week, and facing the lies that they have accepted as truth - we feel helpless and defeated as we try to show them the Truth and Beauty of our very Black and White Church! There are no gray areas! The Church is ever wise and vigilant to show us the path to true happiness, and all the new ways that are constantly being found to trun off of the True path - our Church with all its tradition and sacraments looks at the new issues constantly presented to us in our ever changing society... inside and out and shines the Light of Truth on each and every one - showing us the lies and the truths... we can and should trust! Without question, and carry that forth to our families! "We need to really believe what we claim to believe. WE need to stop calling ourselves "Catholic" if we don't stand with the Church in her teachings- all of them. But if we really are Catholic, or at least if we want to be, then we need to act like it with obedience and zeal and a fire for Jesus Christ in our hearts." Much like St Paul today... as he totally blew the minds of those that heard him, after his conversion with his newfound personal knowledge and Love of Christ! 
Jesus, may I be blinded by the radiant light of Truth...so that all becomes clear in very vivid and distict reality of all that you "show" us, who have been blessed with the grace of eyes of faith! "God gave us the Faith in order to share it. This takes courage. It takes a deliberate dismantaling of our own vanity. When we do that, the Church is strong. When we don't, she grows weak." Allow us to be humble servants of you and show us how to share that Truth with all those that we come in contact with... especially those the closest to us in our families! May they become the Domestic Churches that we are called to become, for within the circle of our family we are each called to put You and Your Truth first in our lives! Jesus, Mary, all the angels and saints come and dwell in our hearts, minds and souls - may the scales of falsehood fall away, and give us true eyes to see YOU... Jesus, Jesus, Jesus...Jesus, we trust in you! Amen and Halleluia!
Bless-bless, Barb"In a culture of confusion, the Church is our only reliable guide. So let's preach and teach our Catholic beliefs with passion. And let's ask God to make us brave enough and humble enough to follow our faith to its radical conclusions." Archbishop Charles Chaput... St Paul pray for us, and may we follow your example of Faith and Zeal!
Please do not take lightly the teachings of the Church and allow yourselves to be lulled into being shopping cart Catholics! Picking and choosing what you believe... will not allow you to find the Truth and Happiness that our Cahtolic Church can offer us and our families! If you have questions about any of the Church's teachings email me about it or google it... put Catholic Church teaching- gay marriage or whatever you question... Catholic Church teaching- contraception or invitro fertilization or surrogate mothers... then read the wisdom of the Church with an open heart to the Truth! You can contact me at barbverly@yahoo.com I pray that you all can say with me that our amazing Church is the True Church!
No comments:
Post a Comment