The life issues

This Blog was bugun yesterday. The purpose of it is to cover all aspects of the life issues such as, abortion, the sacrament of matrimony and contaception. Matrimony has been affected negatively by the culture that has grown up around us without being challenged by our legislatures or by the Church. Chastity which is the core of married life has been discarded as old fashioned. Charles E. Rice, a retired law professor of Notre Dame university has published a book titled, "What happened to Notre Dame?" It is prompted by the invitation extended to President Barack Obama to address the graduation class of 2009 and to receive an honorary doctor of law degree. By doing this knowing that our President is in favor of abortion and contraception the President of the university commited a serious afront to the faithful Catholic student body, the alumni and the Bishop of that Diocese. It seems to be an act of schism.

In his book professor Rice lays out the history that has brought all this division about. The thing that is troubling is that Catholics by the millions have bought into these errors while the Church Heirarchy remains silent. Not all but the majority.

Respect Life, Abortion, Contraception, and Mass attendance

The month of October begins on Thursday of this week. Our bishops in conjunction with the secretariat for Pro-life activities of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have designated October as Respect Life month, throughout the Dallas Diocese and the nation. This coming January 22nd marks the 37st anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court Decision named Roe vs. Wade which declared it constitutionally lawful for a woman to obtain an abortion of the child, her child, conceived in her womb. This is against God’s law and is morally evil.

The New Adam, The Economy of Salvation is different from the worlds Magnanimity – Generosity of Spirit

This is the seventh Sunday of ordinary time. The penitential season of Lent begins on this coming Wednesday with the distribution of ashes when we start our forty day journey through the desert with Christ, leading up to Holy week and Easter.

God came from heaven and became man to show us the Father’s love and to instruct us in the ways of holiness of life which are essential to our salvation.

The Scriptures today are about magnanimity – generosity of Spirit, the opposite of the spirit of unredeemed mankind and of the world, the spirit of God in which we grow to maturity. “the kingdom of heaven is here within you.” LK 17:21 The inner man, the immortal soul, must therefore, be disciplined by faith in the Son of God and led by sanctifying grace which is a sharing in God’s life.

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. I go to prepare a place for you so that where I am you also may be.” In this we have the struggle between the demands of the world and of the kingdom of God.

The doctrine of original sin tells us that because of our first parents fall from grace we are unable to do the least thing meriting eternal life without grace being restored and given to us by some source. That source, that fountain of life is Christ the Lord.

There are two central themes for us to think about in the scriptures which are the word of God for us today. The first is that Christ is the new Adam. St. Paul tells us that “the first man, Adam became a living being and the last Adam a life giving spirit.” The second point is that the economy of salvation is opposite of and contradictory to that of the world. “It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh profits nothing.” Jn 6:63 “for what does it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, but suffer the loss of his own soul.” Mt 16:26.

In the first reading from the first book of Samuel, we see an interaction of Saul and David, David being the prefiguring of Christ as King. David latter on a king of the world and Christ the king of the world to come - The heavenly kingdom. King Saul was jealous of David and wanted to kill him. In the reading David and Abishal have come into Saul’s camp at night when all were asleep including the king. Abishal wanted to kill Saul and could have done so easily, but David said “No!” They took a water jar and the king’s spear as evidence of their presence and left. Magnanimity and generosity of spirit and also fear of the Lord.

“The Lord will reward each man for his justice and faithfulness” a prefiguring of the Economy of salvation.

The Gospel message in short is, “Love your enemies. Do good to those who hates you. Pray for those who curse you and mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on the one cheek turn to him the other. For the person who takes you cloak, give him also your tunic. Give and expect nothing back.”“For the measure with which you measure will in turn be measured out to you. Love your Enemies. Do good to those who hates you for your reward will be great in heaven.”

The two passages quoted earlier from John and Matthew were from Jesus teaching about the Holy Eucharist and the doctrine of the Cross. The heavenly kingdom and the
Way to it.

“The spirit gives life but the flesh profits nothing.” Christ is the New Adam, the life giving spirit.” For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul.” The holy sacrifice of the mass brings forth the holy Eucharist the kingdom of heaven with Jesus on the cross as its centerpiece.

Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. The kingdom of heaven is here within you. If one measures with the measure of Christ that measure will be measured out to him.” Behold I come quickly! And my reward is with me, to render to each one according to his works.” Rev 22:12

Jesus is speaking directly to each one of us who hears Him today. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.” But we are inclined to not pay attention to these words just like we often dismiss the Sermon on the Mount and the Ten Commandments. We don’t want to accept that God is serious. “To the person who strikes you on one cheek turn to him the other” is a saying that was obeyed by Christ many times. When Peter denied his Lord three times Jesus never the less looked on him with love. To address the hard things and the contradictions that cross our path in life give us the opportunity to be Christ like and to grow in grace. Christ on the cross is an example of sacrificial love. The world is not our standard, but Christ is.

It will be helpful to think on Jesus words as we prepare for the start of the penitential season of Lent this week. Jesus went to the Jordan River to be baptized by John and to begin his public life. It did not seem like an auspices start because, he was driven out into the desert by the Holy Spirit where he was alone and had nothing to eat or drink and was sorely tempted by the devil three times. Over forty days, Jesus had said to Satan who tempted him to turn the stones into bread, “If you are the Son of God”. But Jesus replied, “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” Christ instructs us in the ways of holiness in the weeks ahead.

We are given a reminder by St. Paul, “Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.” The transition from earth to heaven is by way of the cross. In these days of Lent Christ begins his journey to Calvary. And we begin again with Him. Satan will appear to us as he did to Christ, to deflect us if he can. But if we stay stride for stride with Jesus he will no more be successful with us than he was the Lord.

“Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” Jesus in the Gospel tells us what to do and how to do it to be like Him. As the kingdom of heaven is within so are the trials of the cross within. We don’t make our journey alone for Jesus is with each of us as the life giving spirit.

“For the measure with which you measure will in turn be measured out to you.”

my opinion for december 9, 2009

all things are vanity

Two Comings – The kingdom of heaven is in Christ

Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent. I The scriptures speak of Jesus the Son of God as yet to come. That He is still in His mother Mary’s womb.

The supernatural has penetrated the natural. The work of the Holy Trinity on man’s behalf is still hidden. The natural is the forceful ambition of man where as the supernatural is the humble submission of God.

In the first three readings we are told of the promise and in the Gospel the promise is realized, but not yet with us.

The prophet Micah speaks of Bethlehem as too small to be among the clans of Judah. Bethlehem is the city of David. Where from came His Father Jesse. The prophets and St. Paul spoke of the messiah as coming from the root and stock of Jesse. “In keeping with the humble submission of God, the Son would be born in a small out of the way place whose name Bethlehem means house of bread.” Jesus, savior came to be bread, spiritual food for men. For the word, “His greatness shall reach to the ends of the earth; He shall be peace.” Jesus would later say that He had not come to bring peace to the world and it is in this that we, with our natural eyes see a contradiction. But the supernatural vision is in John 14:27 where Jesus says “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.”

Christmas peace, the peace beyond all understanding that he gives to us, is found in the will of God who is justice and love. Not as the world gives do I give to you.

And so we see that the place that God chose to come into the world is too small to be among the clams of Judah. That He will come as a weak and helpless babe and that our salvation came to us because His mother who was a young Jewish maiden who said yes to the fulfillment of the Holy and perfect will of God in her body, God was to bring forth in Mary the kingdom of heaven.

In Mt. 13:31 Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. This indeed is the smallest of all the seeds; but when it grows up it is larger than any herb and becomes a tree” and in the context of Christmas, the tree of life so that the birds of the air come and dwell in it’s branches.

In Lk17:6 we read, “and the apostles said to the lord, ‘increase our faith’ and the lord answered, if you have faith even like a mustard seed, you will say to this mulberry tree, be uprooted and be planted in the sea, and it will obey you.” And in 12:32, “Do not be afraid little flock, for it has pleased your father to give you the kingdom, sell what you have and give alms, make for yourselves purses that do not grow old, a treasure unfailing in heaven where neither thief draws near nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is there will your heart be.”

Faith in God is a theological virtue. It is a gift and that gift can be lost. We must continually exercise our gift of faith for it is the beginning of eternal life here on earth.
In Mk 16:16 Jesus said to the eleven, “go into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be condemned.” This is repeated in the Catholic Catechism paragraph # 161.

An example of an act of faith is this “My God, I believe in you and all that your church teaches because you have said it, and your word is true, Amen.”

We have been reflecting on the humble submission of God in his first coming, in the insignificance of the place of His birth, of the youth of God’s mother and the greatness of her faith and finally of the necessity of active faith in us if we are to enter Christ who is the kingdom.

It is now the second of the two comings of Christ that draws our attention.

In the Gospel Mary’s visit to Elizabeth is written of, “Mary made haste to the hill country after receiving the news from the angel Gabriel and receiving the incarnation. Upon entering the home of Zachariah she spoke to Elizabeth who said, “As soon as your greeting reached my ears the babe in my womb leaped for joy.” She said, “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled. Mary’s faith was absolute and unconditional.

Mary and Elizabeth both believed for nothing is impossible with God.

Elizabeth was to be the mother of John the Baptist who was to be the Herald of Jesus when once he came.

The first coming of Christ has taken place and we celebrate it annually. God’s gift to man of Himself as man. The purpose of His coming is to draw mankind to Himself and to make him holy. The Psalm response today is, “Lord, make us turn to you. Let us see your face and we shall be saved.” The second verse is this, “once again, O Lord of hosts, look down from heaven and see; take care of this vine, and protect what your right hand has planted, the Son of man whom you yourself made strong.”

The 15th chapter of St. John’s Gospel is titled, “Union with Christ”, Jesus says, “I am the true vine, and my father is the vine-dresser. Every branch in me that bears no fruit he will take away and every branch that bears fruit he will cleanse, that it may bear more fruit. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it remain on the vine, so neither can you abide in me.” “I am the vine you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit. For without me you can do nothing.” This is the promise of Christmas. The word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Jesus, Son of god and Son of Mary is eternal life, is the fullness of God the Father, is the kingdom of Heaven. As a hand fits into a glove or a foot into a shoe so must we abide in Christ. And so allow Him to abide in us, by way of sanctifying grace.

To bear fruit we must have the simple faith of Mary, “That what was spoken to her by the Lord would be fulfilled”. We see that in Bethlehem, the house of bread, our bread, our Eucharist has come to us in littleness and simplicity.

The Lamb of God, pointed to by John the Baptist, in his manhood will ascend the cross in obedience to the will of His Father, and thereby become and restore the tree of life.

The last word of the last book of the Bible is Maranatha, “Come Lord Jesus”.

This is the last day of Advent, Jesus, has sent His angel to testify to you these things concerning the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star and the spirit and the bride say come. And let Him who hears say come, and let him who thirsts come and He who wishes, let him receive the water of life freely.

It is true, I come quickly- Amen, come lord Jesus.

Marantha!