God Became Man

     The new translation of the Roman Missal has a few real gems in its text, particularly in the Collects.  During the Mass, and prayed as a collect during Advent, you hear the priest pray that we may come to share in the divinity of Christ.  This kind of echoes a quote from St. Athanasius and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which states that "God became man so that man might become God" (Catechism of the Catholic Church 460). 
     I want to think about this for a moment.  God became man so that we might become God.  This isn't a phrase that I've heard all too often in life.  My Dad used to say that it is up to us to become Christ to the world.  But don't you think that this sounds like we want to worship ourselves?  When mixing the water and the wine the priest speaks the phrase "May we come to share in His divinity who humbled Himself to share in our humanity."   So we pray during the Mass that we can be raised up to divinity with Christ.  Recall that the Eucharist is the wedding feast of the Lamb, and this is echoed by the priest when he states that those who are called to the Supper of the Lamb are blessed.  Christ unites His Body with His bride, the Church.  We become one Body.
     So let's take this down a notch.  We are becoming married to Christ!  That's really quite deep, and it adds a different dimension to what we do at Communion.  Keep in mind that we aren't simply married to Christ alone, but as members of the Church, we are in union with so many people in the past, present, and future.  And although they are not in full Communion with us, I would even suggest that we are linked, although imperfectly, to people of those Churches with valid sacraments (Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian Church of the East, etc.).  Although I don't always like to refer to the Book of Common Prayer, there exists in the Anglican service an exhortation not to partake of the Body of Christ if you're not well disposed, which simply paraphrases a similar exhortation by St. Paul in I Corinthians 11:29. 
   Now I know I usually like to be a little bit more light hearted, but please forgive me.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! 

The Joy of the Incarnation

     When I was a little boy, my parents would sit us down for family Rosary time.  Now there is nothing more agonizing for a child, to be told to sit still and repeat a mantra over and over again.  There were better things to do, such as zoning out in front of the television, reading comic books, or even trying to be the champion at Super Street Fighter II (I was always Ken).  But, regardless, my parents tried to do family Rosary time.  Of course we would alternate on the Mysteries and such, and of course as a child, I'd want to pray the Joyful Mysteries, particularly #3, being the Nativity, since I could then zone out and think about what I wanted for Christmas.  And as a child, I thought that the Sorrowful Mysteries were juts plain...downers.  As usual, I'm leading somewhere, I swear.
     The Mysteries of the Rosary recap the major events in the lives of Jesus and Mary.  Our general nature is to prefer the Joyful events, the Glorious events, and maybe even contemplate the Luminous events.  The Sorrowful ones however are the most human of them all:  1. Jesus begs God to get Him out of this situation; 2. Jesus is beaten bloody; 3. Jesus is ridiculed; 4. Jesus walks the plank; 5. Jesus is executed. 
     These would be considered the embarrassing moments in the life of Jesus.  They show Him at His most human, broken, weak, and scared.  Jesus, while hanging on the Cross recites Psalm 22, whose wording in the first few verses actually questions whether or not God cares.  But then we have to remember the words of St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:23, that we proclaim Christ crucified.  Are we then proclaiming that our God is human?  In fact, yes.  This was an argument in the early Church that lead to heresies such as Arianism, eventually rectified by declaring that Christ was both fully human and fully divine. 
     By being fully human, Jesus shares in our human nature, both the best and the worst of it, in all things except sin.  The worst of it is outlined in the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary.  The Incarnation is the fact that God became man.  The joy that we as Christians have is that not only did God become man, but that, as a man, God experienced all the troubles and failings that we experience (except sin).  By experiencing these things, God in the person of Jesus shows us how to achieve our own salvation, not through abstract commandments and weird decrees, but through example.  Otherwise, John the Baptist would have been enough for us.  But our God became one of us to live as one of us and die as one of us.  So then, maybe the Sorrowful Mysteries aren't so sorrowful after all.  Maybe, they're the red badge of courage that we can proudly profess.

Populus Sion, ecce Dominus veniet ad salvandas gentes

     The title of this post is the Introit or Introitus for the Second Sunday of Advent in the Roman Rite.  This is especially fitting in light of the new translation of the Missale Romanum, which took effect last Sunday.  The Introit roughly translates as "People of Zion, behold the Lord comes to save the peoples".

     The Gospel for the Second Sunday of Advent in the Ordinary Form talked of John the Baptist/Baptizer/Forerunner being in the desert calling for a conversion of hearts.  For books that don't generally go into too much detail or description, the Gospel reading from St. Mark spends a whole sentence describing what John's wearing, where he's living, and what he eats.  Now, where else do we really find any type of description regarding people's clothing and diet in the Bible?  Why wouldn't John eat anything other than bugs with honey?  Maybe it's because I love food...maybe because I'm Italian, but we couldn't find this man something more to eat?
     Now if you go into research mode, there are lots of discussions as to why we spend so much time thinking about John's clothing and culinary choices.  He's just a slight bit eccentric, you know, but he also is serving a purpose that some of us are missing, and by some I mean me too.  Now to all things, there's a purpose greater than what we can comprehend.  Otherwise God creating a tarantula makes really no sense. 
     No, John's not being a hippy, and no, he's not insane in the brain, as Cyprus Hill might say.  John is fulfilling a duty. Throughout his life and ministry, many, including Jesus (Mark 9:11-12) refer to John as fulfilling the promise of Elijah's return.  John's description is meant to cause the readers, who would be familiar with the prophet Isaiah, to take note.  He's a voice in the desert and he's calling for preparation for the Lord.  But, I'm going to offer another idea.  John's setting himself apart from the world, in a rather literal sense.  He's fasting from the eating of meat and wearing something made of camel hair, and while I can only guess at the reason, this really does call to mind the idea that he's doing penance, most likely not for himself, but for us.  Eventually, when he does meet up with Jesus, he shouts out a statement that all of us in the Roman Rite are familiar with "Ecce Agnus Dei!  Ecce qui tollit peccata mundi!" 
     So, why am I talking about John the Baptist?  No real reason, or maybe a major reason.  John calls to us to prepare a way for the Lord.  If you've noticed, we haven't been saying the Gloria the past two weekends, and that's on purpose.  We're preparing for the coming of the Lord.  How can we go about doing this type of preparation?  I can tell you what I'm doing.  Just a little bit more thought and meditation.  Is John the forerunner because he knew something we didn't know, or is he something of a model for us?  And if so, what is he modeling?  Perhaps it's something that should make us shout out "Ecce Agnus Dei!"  Or perhaps it's joy that the Lord is coming "to save the peoples".

How to Win Friends and Influence People

     Ok, before I begin here, I first want to say that I give the new translation of the Roman Missal two enthusiastic thumbs up!  I was at a Mass in the Extraordinary form this weekend, so I didn't get to hear it until Monday morning when I watched the Mass on EWTN.  Having said that, just the simple use of language returns a sense of the sacred to the Mass, and the Ordinary form's connection to the Extraordinary form, and to Eastern Liturgies, seems to be much clearer now.


     So, I have two younger brothers, one is a NYC lawyer, and the other is a US Marine who was recently honorably discharged, however you know the saying "once a Marine, always a Marine".  Occasionally, the Marine will like to discuss matters of faith.  Being a Marine and having a very pro-active attitude towards life, he feels that it is our responsibility to take a much more active role in evangelization, which is definitely in agreement with our Holy Father.  Over the course of my short 28 years on this Earth, I've learned a few lessons regarding attempted evangelization; the ups, the downs, what works and what doesn't work.  Therefore, the following is simply my thoughts on it rather than any official teaching.
     1.  Be zealous for your faith.  In the world, Catholicism in particular, and Christianity in general makes no sense.  It is easy to be convinced that it is false.  Specifically, we live in a weird time where it is more easy to believe in the existence of the devil, demons, and angels, than it is to believe in the existence of God.  But, if you've seen the movie, The Rite, then there is a line that specifically addresses this fact, that these things require the existence of God. 
     2.  Study your faith.  Oftentimes, people leave the Church due to poor education about the faith.  The past 40 years has resulted in such a confusion over what we actually believe that people turn to media such as CNN, the New York Times, NPR, etc. to tell them what we believe.  Contrary to popular belief, the Catholic Church is a religion of scholars, scientists, and philosophers.  Just think of Francis Bacon, Blaize Paschal, Gregor Mendell, and others.
     3.  "Live in the world, but do not be part of the world".  That is something my Dad taught me when I went off to college.  The Old Testament mentions that there is a time and season for everything under Heaven.  The world is meant for our enjoyment; it is not our salvation.  All things can be done in moderation.  Do not let the glamor of the world become what you worship, and always keep in mind The Last Things, that our life on Earth is finite.
     4.  "Teach others by the way you live".  Another quote from my Dad, this is a paraphrase of St. Paul where he states that they will know we are Christians by the way we love each other.  To evangelize, we must always practice charity.  People are not stupid.  Opposing points of view can and are formed from personal thought and reflection.  Now, there is only one Truth, but it's not all too often that you can win over crowds by insulting their intelligence.  Remember always that much is demanded of those to whom much has been given.
     5.  Now this last point that I actually have found effective is a tricky one that I don't recommend for everyone.  Simply put, if you are going to evangelize, then it is important to understand the opposing point of view.  Why?  The other point of view can oftentimes be very well thought out by the other side.  This one is dangerous, because it requires that you not be swayed yourself, which is why I so heavily discussed the need for study. 
     Again, these are my personal thoughts.  This has been my approach for years now, but it is itself a work in progress.  If this is truly an information age, then it is of the upmost importance that we inform ourselves on what we believe and why in order to best inform others.

Praying for the Dead

On November 2^nd of 2011, All Souls Day, I served as an acolyte for my first Solemn High Requiem Mass according to the Extraordinary form of the Roman Rite.  This was a particularly important occasion for me since it allowed me to pray for the repose of my recently deceased family members, most particularly my Dad, who was a devout Catholic and ordained deacon.  Sadly, my Dad was not the only member of my family to recently pass away, and my reflections on this and the meaning of life have led me in the past few months to post blog entries about justification and my relationship with the deaconate. 

The main purpose for the time being is my reflection on the Mass of the dead in the Extraordinary form.  While I always knew that it was the appropriate color for Requiems, I had never experienced black vestments before, other than in videos and pictures.  Likewise, the use of the catafalque as something of a stand-in for an actual body was quite the experience.  The most interesting aspect, which I wasn’t prepared for, was the focus of the Mass.

Most of us are familiar with the Ordinary form requiem, where especially in the United States, the vestments tend to be white, reflecting joy and hope in the resurrection.  While the official color for these Masses is in fact black, most people feel that black is too negative a color and there exists an indult in the United States for alternatives such as white or purple.  This highlights a major distinction between the two forms of the Roman Rite.  In the older form, the use of black vestments and the singing of the Dies Irae call to mind the fact that death is a terrifying event due to the imminent judgment of our souls.  We therefore pray that God be merciful on our souls and we provide the souls of our dead with the graces needed for their salvation.  Hence we pray for the dead.  In the newer form, the Dies Irae is no longer used, and the focus tends to be hope in the promised resurrection of Christ’s faithful departed.  This brings to mind the image of the great multitude mentioned in Revelation 7:9.

Is there essentially any problem with either view of death?  I venture to say no.    Unfortunately, the laxity of many priests and the poor catechesis of the laity lead many to wrongly believe that our salvation and justification is an assured thing.  We oftentimes tend to canonize our deceased right away, without any thought of the possibility of damnation.  Now this isn’t to say that we should focus on damnation and assume that anybody we know is in hell.  My Dad always used to say that he needed to prepare himself for the chance that if he made it to heaven that he could very well have to share it with people that the world assumes would go to hell.  This is because God’s wisdom and mercy are not our wisdom and mercy.  Only God can judge.  Along these same lines, we can’t simply assume that anyone is in heaven.

To bring this to a close, essentially the worst thing you can do for your loved ones is to stop praying for their souls.  I oftentimes say to myself, what if the thing that decides in favor of someone going to heaven is that one last Hail Mary that I say for them?  Now some people may ask what happens if the person we’re praying for is already in paradise?  Are our prayers therefore wasted?  I find it hard to believe that a prayer, when prayed for the right reasons, is ever wasted.  If our loved ones are in heaven, then I hope that they are praying for us who are still alive.  And that’s the comfort we hope for.

If I'm a Christian, Am I Saved?

If you are a true fan of rap music, then you should know the name Joseph Simmons. No?  Well maybe you know him by the name of the Reverend Run of Run-D.M.C.  In my mind, one of the greatest songs of the 1980's, other than many items off of Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet is Run-D.M.C. doing Aerosmith's "Walk This Way," of course with Steve Tyler singing the refrain.  I still play that in my iPod when I'm trying to focus on analyzing data.  I promise, I am going to make a point here soon.

Years ago, when I was an undergrad engineering major, I was watching something on TV with my roommate, regarding Run-D.M.C., quite possibly Behind the Music.  My roommate then stated that he admired Reverend Run because he had a hugely successful career and then got saved.  Now this struck me as a weird thing to say, and it's somewhat haunted me since.  What does it mean "to get saved"?

Many words and catch phrases of the Protestant Reformation and theology originated among us Catholics, however since the connotation has been somewhat altered, you generally do not hear Catholics use them any more.  The words/phrases that I am talking about are 1. Predestined, 2. Elect, and 3. Justified.  What do they mean?  According to many Protestant denominations (but not all), they mean 1. God selected me personally to go to heaven; 2. I am one of the group of people God predestined to go to heaven, and nothing can change that; and 3. My salvation.

These words do have a place within the context of Catholic theology.  God is aware fully of what will happen.  He knows who will be damned and who will be saved.  In that sense, we can say that we are predestined.  However, the mystery lies in our ultimate end relying heavily (but not solely) on our good works.  The Church Militant can be referred to as the Elect, in that we are God's chosen people.  We are elected for salvation as members of His Church.  Finally, our justification as Christians.  Many Protestant theologies, particularly Lutheran, refer to our justification reliant on profession of Jesus Christ as our Lord, i.e. faith.  Now, faith is always required for our salvation, but it is not the only component.  Drinking water is required for my health, but if I did nothing else, I won't live too long.  St. James (James 2:26) explicitly states that faith without works is dead.  This is echoed by Christ's own list of Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy (Matthew 25:31-46), and in the Lord's Prayer, where we even pray to forgive those who have wronged us.

So what's the bottom line here? I have to go back to my initial question, or title of the post.  Am I saved?  I hope I will be, but my salvation is a constant battle and struggle.  God gives me the grace to persevere through the Sacraments, particularly Confession where He takes me back after I falter. But I can choose freely to reject the grace that God gives me, and therefore choose not to participate in my own salvation.  Now, this choice might not appear to be explicit, but maybe as simple as failing my brothers and sisters, erring in my thoughts, in my words, in what I have done and what I have failed to do.

Scriptural Accounts of Catholicism

A novel idea emerged out of the 16th century.  Under the guise of reforming the Church, Martin Luther established the concept of Sola Scriptura, the idea that the Bible alone is the authority.  Under Sola Scriptura, only rites, rituals, practices, and beliefs that were explicitly stated in the Bible, particularly in the New Testament, could be accepted as authentic expressions of Christianity.  Anything else was considered to be pagan accretions.  Such a concept eventually led to the idea of the great apostasy in some particular Protestant sects, where it is believed that the Catholic Church lost the true faith over a millennium ago, and that one or more Protestant sects represent a return to true Christianity.  Practices that generally get condemned are the use of images/statues, praying for the dead, veneration of saints, and Sacramental theology, particularly worship of the Eucharist as the Body and Blood of Christ.  Unfortunately, the justification of reforms hinges heavily on the personal interpretation of a particular reformer.  While the Catholic Church believes that the Scriptures are interpreted through Sacred Tradition, Protestantism, in eliminating Sacred Tradition, relies on the interpretation of Scripture through the eyes of a single individual, whether Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Wesley, or any other individual.

In order to always be prepared to defend their beliefs, Protestant theology focus tremendously on knowledge of the Scriptures.  Catholics, Orthodox, and other ancient Churches, we sometimes lack in the in depth knowledge that our Protestant brothers and sisters have, and can easily be won over by their arguments, particularly when our education is lacking.  As such, it is important that we always take the time to re-educate ourselves on the Sacred Scriptures in order to equip ourselves with the necessary knowledge.  The following are a few examples.

Eucharistic theology is presented in a rather straight forward manner in John 6, where Jesus, without any ambiguity states in verses 54 and 55 that unless you eat His Body and drink His Blood, you shall die.  Now, this, combined with 1 Corinthians 11:23-32 agrees very well with Catholic/Orthodox theology regarding the Eucharist.  Taken individually, it might be easier to pass each of these off as figurative language, but always remember that Paul wrote prior to the Gospels being written and therefore implies knowledge of the theology of John 6.  Luke 24:13-32 could also be taken to correspond with this same idea, as the disciples on the road to Emmaus only recognized Jesus after a series of actions that the ancient Churches would refer to as a Liturgical offering. 


In the above example, what is apparent is not particularly the single reference to the Eucharist.  We could always say that Jesus was speaking figuratively in John 6.  The important aspect is that, if Jesus were speaking figuratively, then the other verses shown above are seemingly out of place.  Throughout all of them, there is the implication that the reader understands the ritual or theology that is taking place.  We could do this with many pieces of Catholic theology, particularly justification, where Lutherans diverge significantly.  Without knowledge of the historical importance of these passages, then personal interpretation can lead to a wide range of practices and beliefs.  It is within this lens only that we are able to draw logical conclusions that unite seemingly dissident sections of Scripture.