tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16524495907105383812024-03-05T06:07:36.485-06:00The Musings of JebI think things. Occasionally I write them out, too!Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.comBlogger107125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1652449590710538381.post-16195901688097035122020-02-26T07:26:00.002-06:002020-02-26T07:27:20.420-06:00To Rise With Him<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjHG_DM5aUgHfUHfXP2r9HuAeGLUZOz3Q6Ng0LmD8Well9zVwSfyFOQKveWXLzem6QSnNtBhvBNNP9CKRBTPPrxYp7mMwU0DVjooBEQRMrqPWwR4NuVUTaqDDuEV-G8aPtLZhLeN-_9Rl2/s1600/1024px-Peter_Fendi_%2528Austrian_-_Fridolin_Assists_with_the_Holy_Mass_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="765" data-original-width="1024" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjHG_DM5aUgHfUHfXP2r9HuAeGLUZOz3Q6Ng0LmD8Well9zVwSfyFOQKveWXLzem6QSnNtBhvBNNP9CKRBTPPrxYp7mMwU0DVjooBEQRMrqPWwR4NuVUTaqDDuEV-G8aPtLZhLeN-_9Rl2/s320/1024px-Peter_Fendi_%2528Austrian_-_Fridolin_Assists_with_the_Holy_Mass_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
From Morning prayer today:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
For in sacrifice you take no delight,<br />
burnt offering from me you would refuse,<br />
my sacrifice, a contrite spirit.<br />
A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In your goodness, show favor to Zion:<br />
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.<br />
Then you will be pleased with lawful sacrifice,<br />
holocausts offered on your altar.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
- Psalm 51 </blockquote>
<br />
We are made to worship God. It seems that the rejection of burnt offerings here is that the sacred author would be lying, saying one thing with the sacrifice and saying another thing in their manor of life. But even though the author is the one at fault (and therefore we who pray the Psalms acknowledge our own faults and sins against God), we cannot rebuild Jerusalem.<br />
<br />
We cannot rebuild Jerusalem.<br />
<br />
No amount of self-help or self-improvement is enough to make God "pleased with lawful sacrifice." As important as they may be for other aspects of our life and our well-being, they are not the sacrifice of self that God asks of us.<br />
<br />
We are created in the Image and Likeness of God. We find our true selves only in Christ, particularly in the Cross, as many Saints have told us.<br />
<br />
He has given himself to us in humility, in a general and universal way, but He asks us to give ourselves to Him in a reciprocal humility, that He might give Himself to us in a particular and individual gift, one that is not forced upon us.<br />
<br />
Our gentle God calls us once again to take up our cross, not out of some desire to punish us, but in His desire for us to be united with Him.<br />
<br />
To die with Him that we may Rise with him, and offer perfect sacrifice in the New Jerusalem.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="PostBody">
</div>
Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1652449590710538381.post-14827935209111212272018-09-03T07:28:00.001-05:002018-09-03T07:28:40.806-05:00May I Understand<div class="PostBody">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU7NKMNIK3fE01EQGObcet8hEp2Cm8NZc7yRDAKdSuIAdj1FW5EVL9fU9vcJoXgrzBhCaHaCHh5VFBZv7Qjl9GLQrqEvYCJENLH9YDt7qclnBapvSRONfZHdYUckOhIMy9gZkftltwiEf_/s1600/san_damiano.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU7NKMNIK3fE01EQGObcet8hEp2Cm8NZc7yRDAKdSuIAdj1FW5EVL9fU9vcJoXgrzBhCaHaCHh5VFBZv7Qjl9GLQrqEvYCJENLH9YDt7qclnBapvSRONfZHdYUckOhIMy9gZkftltwiEf_/s320/san_damiano.jpg" width="223" height="320" data-original-width="249" data-original-height="357" /></a></div>
<p>
I've been thinking lately about the "Prayer for Peace" attributed to St. Francis, particularly the desire not to be understood, but to understand. Regardless of its true authorship, this bears at least some similarity to the <a href="https://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/prayers/humility.htm">Litany of Humility</a>, which I certainly don't pray often enough.
</p>
<p>
As an Elder Millennial, I hear all this talk about "reaching out to the youth," or "reaching millennials," which of course just means some "panel," or "initiative," that will ultimately do little. Rarely is it founded on the true and unchanging reality of what draws people to God - Truth, Beauty, and Goodness.
</p>
<p>
And it upsets me.
</p>
<p>
As the phrase goes, "To be loved is to be know, and to be known is to be loved," and here it feels like no one understands me (because I might not still live at home, but who doesn't like to replay the hits of their teenage years!).
</p>
<p>
All jest aside, it is upsetting when you long to hear truth proclaimed from the pulpit, to hear beautiful and sacred music resonating in our Churches, to see a Church bursting with good works, and instead you get programs and panels.
</p>
<p>
It is upsetting when you just want the truth, and your shepherds insist on misdirection. When those called to imitate the Good Shepherd malign anyone who dares to question their intentions and actions.
</p>
<p class="big_emphasis">
I say the following as someone who has not been a victim of abuse. I speak only for myself.
</p>
<p>
Maybe this is a chance to change the Church. To rebuild it as St. Francis was called to. Maybe the only way to do that for many of us is to pray, and to fast, accepting the calumny, and the inaction, and the lies, as realities that we have no power to change on our own.
</p>
<p>
I think about Our Lord's Mercy covering Justice in that He accepted in His Sacred Body every punishment which we deserve. Paul says, "<span class="scripture">Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church...</span>" (<a href="http://usccb.org/bible/colossians/1">Colossians 1.24</a>)
</p>
<p>
If to be a Christian means to daily take up our cross and follow Him, then maybe for some of us, especially those who are not in the center of the particular scandals that rock our Church, our Cross can be these feelings of confusion, doubt, anger. Even our sense that we are powerless in the face of it all.</p>
<p>
Because we are.
</p>
<p>
But He's not.
</p>
<p>
And He wants you to be a Saint.
</p>
</div>Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1652449590710538381.post-50432269521958983672018-02-14T03:34:00.000-06:002018-02-14T03:34:17.618-06:00God of the Gaps<div class="PostBody">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB1mlhr5i4wO9kOjTnNpUEMwyD1tLFBjxUwIHWTSgr0NAmOF5KydoHZn9TDSTSJZC8-QF7qzOt_nn1f2AeXyq0_1vBqUp6RhRdXMmUKwgHoB8LyMRxXwOhLHV0hKBz7mI4Vbtg3KbJ6lsc/s1600/Gap+Cross.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUF-UuxGEp8NHzX4mk-1sTJ0mpTsajY9ZbUjknP4Yxlns-98p5Y7Gju6gYBrgqBOYj03bwG4EgNkgXsxK11AhmAp1S0nSTEQPo-BMEv8-EpXC-SBtiklWzzreKmIS3Ogy3QWh3G1agiUIg/s320/Gap+Cross.png" width="320" height="315" data-original-width="533" data-original-height="524" /></a></div>
<p>
Christianity is often accused of believing in a "God of the Gaps." What her detractors often accuse the Church of is justifying belief in God by pointing to the "gaps" in human knowledge. Gaps which they - as good children of the enlightenment - know will inevitably be filled in by the March of Human Progress™.
</p>
<p>
Certainly we know this is a false accusation. Our belief does not rest in gaps, but rather in encounter. As to knowledge, in many ways the more profoundly we understand the natural world, the more profoundly we meet its maker. But I think they may be on to something with this "God in the Gaps" concept.
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p>
The image for this post is my attempt at recreating the cross on the tabernacle of my parish. I've grown rather fond of it over the past several years. But as I was looking at it the other day, I realized that it isn't a cross at all. Not really.
</p>
<p>
"But Jeremiah!" you exclaim, "Of course it is! Look at it! Besides, you could do worse. Stop complaining!"
</p>
<p>
Yes, of course it is. Sort of. And no, this is not an aesthetically critical post. That's not what I'm getting at. But In some sense, this isn't a cross, and I think there's something important there.
</p>
<p>
Look at this cross. Really look at it. The cross is not in the pattern, but in the spaces left in the pattern. Four angular constructs, demarcating the outline of a cross. A cross suggested, with arms unterminated, in the gaps, but nevertheless the Cross.
</p>
<p>
A Cross of the Gaps
</p>
<p>
But isn't that fitting?
</p>
<p>
Recall Elijah's encounter with God after fasting. Earth, wind, and fire roar and shake, but it is in the silence that God whispered. A few weeks ago we heard from God's cheeriest creation, Job. Despite every loss and pestilence, and the urging of friends and family to <span class="scripture">"curse God and die,"</span> he found God in his misery, close to him at every moment.
</p>
<p>
The Psalmist proclaims his trust in Psalm 23:
</p>
<blockquote class="scripture">
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me.
</blockquote>
<p>
As we enter this season of Lent, we will hear about many deserts, or rather the same desert in many ages. We will hear of the <span class="scripture">"people whose hearts go astray and who do not know God's ways,"</span>. We will hear of temptation in the desert, in the empty places.
</p>
<p>
And in every empty place? In every gap? God.
</p>
<p>
Everywhere in nature we see the impression of God, the implication of Him. The Psalmist says again in Psalm 139:
</p>
<blockquote class="scripture">
Where can I go from your spirit?<br/>
From your presence, where can I flee?<br/>
If I ascend to the heavens, you are there;<br/>
if I lie down in Sheol, there you are.<br/>
If I take the wings of dawn<br/>
and dwell beyond the sea,<br/>
Even there your hand guides me,<br/>
your right hand holds me fast.
</blockquote>
<p>
But it's not just nature, and it's not just silence. Consider the demoniacs who were freed, the lepers who were cleansed, the sick who were cured. Consider Matthew 9.36 which says, <span class="scripture">"At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd."</span>
</p>
Consider too the words of the Magnificat: <span class="scripture">"...he has filled the hungry with good things...he has lifted up the lowly..."</span>, or Psalms 34.19: <span class="scripture">"The LORD is close to the brokenhearted, saves those whose spirit is crushed."</span>
<p>
In the silence, in our brokenness, in our emptiness, in our insignificance, Jesus lowers His heart to us, dwells with us in the gaps.
</p>
<p class="prayer">
Deus misericors qui habitavit in nobis, miserere nobis.
</p>
</div>Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1652449590710538381.post-8229152785015450222017-12-31T15:39:00.000-06:002017-12-31T15:42:20.198-06:00A Humble New Year<div class="PostBody">
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<p>
This has been a tumultuous year, to say the least. More than that, it seems that 2017 has been an <span class="emphasis">arrogant</span> year.
</p>
<p>
As the meme says, "Every day we stray further from God's light."
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p>
The arrogance of our age is stunning. It is the arrogance that cannot consider the possibility it might be wrong, or not entirely right. The arrogance that saw Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump as the two candidates for President. The arrogance that ignores science in favor of personal opinion, such as denying that the child in the womb is a human person, or denying that the earth is a globe in orbit of Sol.
</p>
<p>
It is the arrogance each one of us is guilty of when we oppose God, making idols of ourselves.
</p>
<p>
It is arrogance entirely countered by the woman with whom we start our year, who we celebrate today as Matriarch of the Holy Family, and tomorrow as Queen of Heaven and Earth, the Mother of God.
</p>
<blockquote class="scripture">
He has scattered the proud in their conceit...<br/>
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones...<br/>
The rich he has sent away empty...
</blockquote>
<p>
This arrogance is the way of the world. To do for yourself, to take care of you and yours at the expense of the other.
</p>
<p>
As we prepare for this new year, let us recommit ourselves to be humble, biddable, meek, docile to the will of God. Recall that "meek" describes not the doormat, but the warhorse. Humble describes not the worthless, but the grounded.
</p>
<blockquote class="scripture">
He has looked with favor on his humble servant...<br/>
He has lifted up the humble...<br/>
He has filled the hungry with good things...<br/>
He has remembered his promise of mercy...
</blockquote>
<p>
This is the God of our Fathers and our Mothers. This is the God who seeks to love us and to be loved by us in return, who asks of us that we be humble enough to acknowledge that He is God, and we are not.
</p>
<p>
This is the God who exalted the humble virgin from a minuscule backwater province to be the Theotokos.
</p>
<p>
Let us commit ourselves to a year of humility, allowing God to take us and make what he will of us, and through us, the whole world.
</p>
<p>
I leave you with an excerpt from tomorrow's communion Antiphon, taken from Zechariah 9.9 and Psalm 34(33):
</p>
<blockquote class="scripture">
I sought the <span class="lord">Lord</span> and he answered me;<br/>
from all my terrors he set me free.<br/>
<br/>
This lowly one called; the <span class="lord">Lord</span> heard,<br/>
and rescued him from all his distress.<br/>
<br/>
The <span class="lord">Lord</span> is close to the brokenhearted;<br/>
those whose spirit is curshed he will save.<br/>
<br/>
The <span class="lord">Lord</span> ransoms the souls of his servants.<br/>
All who trust in him shall not be condemned.
</blockquote>
<p>
Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!
</p>
</div>Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1652449590710538381.post-77929323570074449442017-07-26T13:03:00.001-05:002017-07-26T13:05:22.232-05:00The Wrath of a Gentle Man<div class="PostBody">
<p>
When I was still a youth my father said<br/>
The hour draws near<br/>
to teach you, as my father did, those things <br/>
all wise men fear.<br/>
<br/>
The ocean vast, majestic, calm, the thoughtful <br/>
heart keeps warm,<br/>
But wisely clings to safety's shore in tempest<br/>
and in storm.<br/>
<br/>
The moonlit night restores the soul, whether<br/>
you wake or sleep,<br/>
But 'pon new moon what evil tracks its ways<br/>
in darkness deep?<br/>
<br/>
Still worse than these, the wise man knows, its pow'r<br/>
he can't withstand:<br/>
Do not awake, do not arouse<br/>
the wrath of a gentle man.<br/>
</p>
<br/>
<p>
The boundless depths, the vast expanse, the sailor<br/>
holds these dear.<br/>
With rope and sail and oar in hand, he conquers<br/>
every fear.<br/>
<br/>
But when the waves do toss and break and rake<br/>
him o'er the coals,<br/>
The wise man seeks the harbor's calm, avoids <br/>
the wrecking shoals.<br/>
<br/>
Still though how mount'nous are the crests, how low the<br/>
valleyed troughs,<br/>
There's something more than storm he fears, and leaves it<br/>
lie far off.<br/>
<br/>
Poseidon's rage may splinter ships, and hopeless<br/>
sailors strand,<br/>
But fearsome'r still than crashing waves<br/>
is the wrath of a gentle man.<br/>
</p>
<br/>
<p>
The hunter has no fear at nighttime when <br/>
the moon is raised.<br/>
No friend nor foe, no prey nor snare escapes<br/>
his piercing gaze.<br/>
<br/>
But when the moon hath hid its face, the dark path<br/>
he doth shun:<br/>
The wise man tarries not at night, while shadows<br/>
lengthening run.<br/>
<br/>
But still preferred is moonless night, all trackless,<br/>
wand'ring, lost,<br/>
The wise man knows that other fears may fetch<br/>
a dearer cost.<br/>
<br/>
The hounds of hell may howl and bay within that<br/>
trackless stand,<br/>
But fearsome'r still in the dead of night<br/>
is the wrath of a gentle man.<br/>
</p>
<br/>
<p>
The darkened night, the raging storm, strike fear<br/>
in wisest heart,<br/>
If length of days be yours, my son, avoid them<br/>
for your part.<br/>
<br/>
But peace, for only nature's whims are dangers<br/>
such as these;<br/>
Let not the troubles of this kind your heart<br/>
in terror seize.<br/>
<br/>
Betrayal by friend, thy foe's keen sword, o'er these<br/>
the wise prevails.<br/>
And nature's strength the wise man turns and of<br/>
its pow'r avails.<br/>
<br/>
But though he toil, though he prepare, no matter<br/>
what his plan,<br/>
Even the wise man can't survive<br/>
the wrath of a gentle man.<br/>
</p>
</div>Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1652449590710538381.post-57321947363444027012017-01-06T09:27:00.000-06:002017-12-31T15:42:00.381-06:00Myrrh Christmas?<div class="PostBody">
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<p>
Merry Christmas! Today is, of course, the 12th day, the Feast of the Three Kings, Epiphany - though it will be celebrated this Sunday by most of us (which, as it was <a href="http://musings-of-jeb.blogspot.com/2016/01/perceiving-essential.html">last year</a> is certainly commented on, but decidedly not the point of this post).
</p>
<p>
Instead, today I want to talk about one of my favorite Christmas Hymns, which - much like We Three Kings from <a href="http://musings-of-jeb.blogspot.com/2016/01/perceiving-essential.html">last year's post</a>, seems rarely sung in its entirety.
</p>
<p>
So here's your chance to correct that grave disservice done to you this season! Dive into a Christmas carol that one website warns has explicit lyrics, and which inspires me to wear the coolest Christmas tie ever!
</p>
<p>
Ask yourself this Christmastide: Who could this baby be?
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<blockquote class="reference">
What child is this, who, laid to rest,<br/>
On Mary's lap is sleeping?<br/>
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,<br/>
While shepherds watch are keeping?
</blockquote>
<p>
What child, indeed? During this Christmas Season, we should notice how commonplace the Nativity scene is. We're all familiar with the standard creche, first made by St. Francis of Assisi, with its comfortable and recognizable depictions of Mary, Joseph, and the Child Jesus.
</p>
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<p>
Sometimes there are animals, angels, shepherds, or magi. The scene may be large plastic light-up figures, carved wood or stone, glass, painted or plain, or even cut from sheet metal and resembling dinosaurs from a certain angle, but it is the Nativity scene we are all familiar with.
</p>
<p>
Now, I've been present for all four births of my children, and I admit that the strains of the Hallelujah Chorus ran through my head all four times, but how many children do you know of whose birth was actually announced by angels? To a bunch of people who were given the gift of seeing the normally invisible servants of God?
</p>
<p>
Who could this baby be?
</p>
<blockquote class="reference">
This, this is Christ the King,<br/>
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:<br/>
Haste, haste to bring Him laud,<br/>
The babe, the son of Mary.
</blockquote>
<p>
Oh, okay. That's who this is. Christ the King, we know Him. The Savior, the King of Israel, the King Triumphant, the King of Glory. Sure. Makes sense. Let's go praise him.
</p>
<blockquote class="reference">
Why lies He in such mean estate,<br/>
Where ox and ass are feeding?<br/>
Good Christians, fear, for sinners here<br/>
The silent Word is pleading.
</blockquote>
<p>
We see allusions to the manger, and that Jesus is the Bread from Heaven, the Bread of Angels. But more, notice this question. We get this strong reproach: "Why lies He in such mean estate?"
</p>
<p>It's certainly not the fault of Mary and Joseph - the bed of the manger is like the Widow's Mite: this is all they can give the Son of God. But that question should convict us, the sinners for whom the silent Word is pleading: why have we not prepared Him room?
</p>
<p>
If offering him no place was bad, it's about to get worse.
</p>
<blockquote class="reference">
Nails, spears shall pierce him through,<br/>
the cross be borne for me, for you.<br/>
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,<br/>
the Babe, the Son of Mary.
</blockquote>
<p>
I expect this refrain is the reason why the first is repeated thrice, rather than maintaining the unique refrains proper to each verse. This is a very uncomfortable pronouncement, as we discussed <a href="http://musings-of-jeb.blogspot.com/2012/12/merry-christ-mass-or-scandal-of.html">several years ago</a>.
</p>
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<p>
I doubt my high school choir teacher will ever read this, but I am eternally grateful to Mr. Scott Growdon for his selection of Christmas Carols. This hymn is one that I learned in it's entirety not through regular attendance at Mass during the Christmas season, but through the caroling done by the high school choir.
</p>
<p>
Hail, the Word made flesh, for He has come and made His abode among us, and He has come to set us free from our sins by taking them upon Himself. Christmas always looks forward to Good Friday and Easter - the Death and Resurrection of Christ.
</p>
<p>
This is the answer to "What child is this?" that we have to sit with, that doesn't lend itself to easy answer, but rather to contemplation of the mystery.
</p>
<blockquote class="reference">
So bring him incense, gold, and myrrh,<br/>
Come, peasant, king, to own him.<br/>
The King of kings salvation brings,<br/>
Let loving hearts enthrone him.
</blockquote>
<p>
This, this is Christ the King. And now that you know what that means, what that entails? I must prepare Him room, I must - by His grace - replace the "mean estate" of my cold and selfish heart with a loving throne for the King of Kings.
</p>
<blockquote class="reference">
Raise, raise a song on high,<br/>
The virgin sings her lullaby<br/>
Joy, joy for Christ is born,<br/>
The babe, the Son of Mary.
</blockquote>
<p>
This refrain brings us into a stark contrast:the ecstatic joy of the angels with the contemplative joy of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Both are necessary, both are proper.
</p>
<p>
It's almost as if this carol is reminding us while we sing it that it is good to proclaim Glory to God in the Highest, and Peace on Earth to those of good will, that we should also take the time to think on the words we are singing, to contemplate the mystery of the Incarnation we are celebrating.
</p>
<p>
Christ enters into our poverty, our darkness, our weakness, and makes all things new. He replaces the "mean estate" of our hearts of stone, and makes those stones ring out "Hosanna to the Son of David!" as he replaces them with hearts of flesh, capable of receiving and returning His love, fitting thrones for the King of Kings.
</p>
</div>Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1652449590710538381.post-52140736601631057332016-11-07T01:02:00.000-06:002016-11-07T01:27:59.110-06:00Victory<div class="PostBody">
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<p>So I was talking with my buddies Paul and Matt the other day, and Paul was all,</p>
<blockquote class="scripture">
Where, O death, is your sting?
</blockquote>
<p>
Oh man. You have no idea how hard it was for me to not sarcastically retort, "It's in my heart, Paul, where do you think it is?"
</p>
<p>
Well, okay, so I was listening to Matt Maher's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IExdrZGQVeI">Christ is Risen</a>, which references Paul's 1 Corinthians 15.54-55 taunt at the wages of sin:
</p>
<blockquote class="scripture">
Death is swallowed up in victory.<br/>
Where, O death, is your victory?<br/>
Where, O death, is your sting?
</blockquote>
<a name='more'></a>
<p>
That's not always an easy verse to hear, especially this time of year. Today was hard, being of course the second feast of <a href="http://musings-of-jeb.blogspot.com/2014/11/this-day-i-am-thankful-for.html">St. Gabey Tables</a>. The anniversary of Gabriel's death is hard for the obvious reasons, as well as the hidden ones. I miss the 2 year old. I miss not being able to introduce my sons "Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael," without explanation that brings sorrow even when I speak from joy. I miss the struggle that Mass should have been today with a 6 year old, 4 year old, 2 year old, and 5 month old, and it was already a struggle.
</p>
<p>
I miss him. I miss the hole he has left in our lives, and in our hearts.
</p>
<p>
And so I say that I struggle, because I want to answer Paul by saying that the sting of death is in my heart, which is still broken.
</p>
<p>
And I struggle because in that brokenheartedness there is a temptation to despair, a temptation to dive into the abyss I talked about 2 years ago.
</p>
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<p>
I grow angry at myself, for in claiming that death's sting has pierced my heart, I am failing to live of Christian Hope.
</p>
<p>
Or am I?
</p>
<p>
Hope, real Hope, is a virtue. A theological one at that - both its source and its end are God, it is a life-preserver which God casts out to us to draw us to Himself. It is not simply "optimism" or "wishful thinking," as the dictionary claims. Rather, the catechism tells in paragraph <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c1a7.htm">1817</a> that:
</p>
<blockquote class="reference">
Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit.
</blockquote>
<p>
Yes, as the catechism goes on to explain, Hope works on natural happiness, but Hope also sees us through times of abandonment, times when we are discouraged. It opens us up to relationship with God, and to rely on Him and union with Him as our ultimate source of happiness.
</p>
<p>
Temptation to despair is not the same as despair. In fact this spiritual desert - which is fitting this time of year, and felt by so many people - is the fertile plain where Hope may blossom abundantly, as it did in the lives of Saint John of the Cross, and Saint Teresa of Calcutta.
</p>
<hr/>
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<p>
About a week ago, I was going through our family's now 7 year anthology of themed Halloween costumes, making a collage of them. It's a really awesome collection, I am continually amazed by Erin's creativity in coming up with these ideas (or working the ideas out with the kids), and figuring out how we can make significant components of them ourselves.
</p>
<p>Our familial cleverness has even been featured on Mommy Short's annual Halloween Costume awards, winning the "Parental Genius Award" in 2013 and "Most Likely To Sit Out Trick Or Treating To Play Minecraft In The Basement" in 2015. This year we reprised our first family them of Star Wars, which turned out awesomely.
</p>
<p>
And as happy as I was putting this together, I just couldn't get over that jump between years 5 and 6. 5 Martyrs. 4 Minecrafters.
</p>
<p>
There is a profound sense of being out of control found in staring at those two pictures.
</p>
<p>
Have I mentioned how much I hate this time of year?
</p>
<p>
I just needed to talk to someone about this, about this pain that tries to cut through this happiness. I reached out to my friend who is wise beyond words and years. I had already talked to Erin, and she gets it (duh, of course she does), but sometimes when you're processing grief, you just need to talk to someone who's not also processing that grief, someone who's not already bearing that load. What follows is an edit of what he wrote to me, which inspired this post as a vessel to share these words if nothing else.
</p>
<blockquote class="story">
I think all your little army of Saints above would want you to struggle, and to struggle so as to draw closer to them. They say, "mourn for us, yes; mourn for us because we passed so soon; but mourn for yourself, because you know not our victory, and you know only the Vale of Tears. So, yes; mourn."<br/><br/>
We remember that we are dust. We also remember -- and I think this is the harder thing to remember -- that everyone around us is dust.<br/><br/>
We are all dust, and to dust everyone will return. Erin; You; Me; everyone. And your Saints above cry out, proclaiming the fragility of our time here.<br/><br/>
Gabriel reminds you this world is futile, and that therein lies extreme pain.<br/><br/>
But amidst that pain you are still called to be a father; to beget Heaven for your son who is now being Purified.<br/><br/>
And so I think we cry from sorrow, we cry from rage, and we cry in battle during this time of year.<br/><br/>
And I think the only healthy way to go about doing that is to be transparent with it; to understand that this is the purpose of these last few weeks of the Liturgical Year; and that therefore God wants that rage from us; Purgatory needs that rage from us; and we must be willing to show that rage to each other here among the Church Militant.
<br/><br/>
The world was subjected to futility<br/><br/>
But, not without hope.
</blockquote>
<hr/>
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<p>
I may doubt my own personal goodness, I may fear that I may lose my heavenly reward, but man can I pick a great friend.
</p>
<p>
This anger, this pain, even this rage, may indeed be a temptation to despair. But that just means it is an opportunity to Hope.
</p>
<p>
That feeling of helplessness, or being out of control, is a reminder to rely on the providence of God, and the people He has put in my way.
</p>
<p>
That sting of death, buried in my heart, is the foolishness of the grave defeating itself, for "Our Broken Hearts are Full of Joy," and as the U2 song goes, "A heart that is broken is a heart that is open," and Matt Maher reminds us that "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling over death by death."
</p>
<p>
O death, where is thy sting?
</p>
<p>
It is here, in my heart, reminding me that this world is futile, but that the son whose death I mourn today waits for me beyond this veil and vale of tears.
</p>
<p>
It is here, in the space left by an absent two-year-old, reminding me of my little Saints who intercede for their mother and me, for their siblings, interceding our way into heaven.
</p>
<p>
It is here, futile, defeated, and overwhelmed by the Hope of the resurrection.
</p>
<blockquote class="prayer">
O what shall I, so guilty plead?<br/>
and who for me will intercede?<br/>
when even Saints shall comfort need?<br/>
<br/>
O King of dreadful majesty!<br/>
grace and mercy You grant free;<br/>
as Fount of Kindness, save me!<br/>
<br/>
Recall, dear Jesus, for my sake<br/>
you did our suffering nature take<br/>
then do not now my soul forsake!<br/>
<br/>
In weariness You sought for me,<br/>
and suffering upon the tree!<br/>
let not in vain such labor be.
</blockquote>
</div>Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1652449590710538381.post-17372393393373204092016-08-26T23:56:00.001-05:002016-08-26T23:56:37.540-05:00There is Hope, Even in Loss<div class="PostBody">
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<p>
This is a pretty brief note, I want to share a new ministry that I've had the honor of being a part of for the last year or so. We have finally launched our website, <a href="hopeinlossdsm.com">HopeInLossDSM.com</a>. Hope In Loss DSM is an independent ministry for those grieving the loss of a pregnancy, infant, or child in the womb, supported by the Diocese of Des Moines, Iowa.
</p>
<p>
While we do particularly minister to Southwestern Iowa, we hope that the resources we share are helpful to anyone who is experiencing a loss, or wondering how they can help their friend or family member who has miscarried, received a terminal diagnosis, had a child born still, or lost their newborn or infant. We are always expanding our resources section, and will gladly take suggestions.
</p>
<p>
Not in or near the Diocese of Des Moines, but still want to help out? Pray! When we lost Gabriel, we were sustained by the prayers of the community - your prayers are effective! Also, call your parish or diocesan office, and find out what sort of ministry they have to women and couples experiencing pregnancy loss, miscarriage, infant death, or any similar loss. If they don't have one, maybe God is calling you to help start it in your diocese?
</p>
<p>
Thank you for your prayers and support, for us as we support those grieving the loss of a pregnancy, infant, or child in the womb; and for the couples, for the mothers and fathers, the brothers and sisters whose lives will never be the same.
</p>
</div>Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1652449590710538381.post-68382573761390195422016-06-08T00:10:00.000-05:002016-06-08T00:10:58.254-05:00God Has Healed<div class="PostBody">
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<p>Who is like God?</p>
<p>God is my strength.</p>
<p>God has healed.</p>
<p>
Before we were even married, the Mrs. and I had chosen these three names for our first three boys. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the three Archangels named in the bible. On the first of the month, our third "angel boy" was born, a healthy and beautiful 7lbs 12.5oz, 20.5in. Mama and baby are doing great, and we couldn't be happier. But our little Raphael has a birth story he will never live down!
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p>
To start with, at first we thought he was Emma-Jean.
</p>
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<p>
We were open to but nervous about getting pregnant, given our recent losses of Gabriel and Perfectus. Not trying, but not not trying (and a word to the wise, don't assume either about a couple after a loss). That being said, we were excited. Nervouscited, as Pinkie Pie would say, but really doing our best to follow Eve's godmother's advice and just enjoy this little one as much as we could, knowing that there was no point in worrying - it would just make us sad now, and wouldn't stop any sadness that might come.
</p>
<p>
We had chosen the name Emma Jean for our next girl sometime after we had Eve (it doesn't hurt to be prepared!), and so when the 20 week ultrasound showed us a girl, we started getting more and more excited with Eve and Michael about their new little sister!
</p>
<p>"Emma Jean, Emma Jean!" they would chant, Michael often pronouncing, "No! MY Emma Jean!" They said her name so much that "Emma Jean" became "Emma-Jean," and it was clear we needed a new middle name. When we asked the kids what her middle name should be, Eve asked, "Who's the saint who loves all the babies?"
</p>
<p>"You mean Saint Gianna?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, her!"</p>
<p>
And so our little girl had a name. The wait for Emma-Jean Gianna continued.
</p>
<p>
Unfortunately, with "morning sickness" that neither limited itself to the morning, nor abated after 1st trimester, Erin was pretty much stuck at home. Going out into the cold air caused her to start gagging, and that was on top of the existing nausea. To pile on (because, why not? I guess?), Erin was facing pre-natal depression. Not her first run in, but also tougher given that she was unable to do the one thing that helps her depression the most - get out of the house.
</p>
<p>
This was shaping up to be a tough pregnancy to be happy in. Happy for, yes, but we could not wait for the end.
</p>
<p>
The weather began to change, going outside no longer triggered the gag response as it once had. After a round of work from home days, I got permission from my supervisors to just work from home until the baby got here (because I work for the best company ever!), which eased Erin's stress immeasurably.
</p>
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<p>
Finally, the end of May and the due date of May 28th approached. Eve and Michael had both come a day early, Gabriel 3 days. We were ready for Emma-Jean to arrive anytime after full term, though the expectation began in earnest on the 21st, a week before her due date.
</p>
<p>
Then Friday the 27th, the last day of school for Eve and Michael, the day before her due date, surely she'll come today?
</p>
<p>
Then Saturday the 28th. Great day. Start of the weekend. Where is that baby?! Erin is now officially more pregnant than she ever has been.
</p>
<p>
Then Sunday the 29th, hanging out with Emma-Jeans godparents-to-be. Where is she? Now would be perfect!
</p>
<p>
Then Monday, and Tuesday, and everything is fine, we're just... Child, get here already!
</p>
<p>
Finally contractions start in earnest on the morning of Wednesday, June 1st. Aha, Emma just had to have her own month. Fine. We call Doc, and he says that given Gabriel came in 4 hours, it wouldn't hurt for us to head to the hospital and labor there for a little while. So we get the kids to a friend's house, and then get ourselves to the hospital around 8:30. Let's have a baby!
</p>
<p>
Things are progressing, but not nearly as fast as we expected. We've walked and walked and walked, and the contractions still aren't regular. In the middle of the afternoon Doc breaks her water the first time. Erin can feel a change, but there's not much water, and contractions aren't becoming regular. We walk.
</p>
<p>
Around 3, she and Doc remember that the ultrasound showed 2 bags of water. Of course. So he breaks her water for the second time. Awesome, water well and truly broken, contractions are getting more intense, but they're still not becoming regular. She bounces. We walk.
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKL6ArvA22lfEaV7ed6nkM32Iijim0aV26yUEJGKDAvUAT3iDyUoyZTRqd1kBrBIeT1cUchc-W1StTGV7zEFaWc7yK2QC9SuQwZs9ftXWFQI_ZqvUPioG8YlW6qVMgQGozHMplLSKGxO7i/s1600/File_000.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKL6ArvA22lfEaV7ed6nkM32Iijim0aV26yUEJGKDAvUAT3iDyUoyZTRqd1kBrBIeT1cUchc-W1StTGV7zEFaWc7yK2QC9SuQwZs9ftXWFQI_ZqvUPioG8YlW6qVMgQGozHMplLSKGxO7i/s320/File_000.jpeg" /></a></div>
<p>
Around 5 the Doula looks at me and asks me when I'm going to go eat. "I... Uh... Wasn't?" We had just known this baby would be here "any minute," and I wasn't about to miss that! Neither Erin nor I had had anything to eat aside from a few snacks all day. The Doula assured us that nothing was happening for a while, and I went down to eat.
</p>
<p>
Because contractions aren't getting regular, Doc floats the "P" word - pitocin. Erin super doesn't want to, asks about eating. Doc is awesome and all about letting mamas labor how they want to, so food it is. Erin will eat and rest, Doc will go home to eat supper with his wife, and we'll reconvene later in the evening.
</p>
<p>
Of course as soon as doc left, contractions got more intense, and seemed to be setting up a little more regularly. Yes! Let's have a baby!
</p>
<p>
Around 9 o'clock, Erin starts feeling a lot of pressure, and has a contraction that won't let her move her left leg. The Doula and I help her back into the bed, and we get ready to start pushing. Doc checks her out, she's fully dilated, she feels like pushing, let's have a baby!
</p>
<p>
My poor wife. Half a dozen laboring positions and an hour later, and still no Emma-Jean! Every time she pushes, baby comes down, but every time she relaxes, baby goes back up. Doc brings up the possibility of a C-section. Emma-Jean isn't in distress, this is not an emergency, but mama and baby are tired, and if we have to go down that route, we want to make sure it's not an emergency. He suggests that we set a deadline, after which we'll prep for surgery if labor isn't working.
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2sr8ZMyxjzeqKpUSj_A9rI18AlqwLnP-P5xPbIjBTjE9fAK0gdwEnJCyBJs9QFMb9yBqBlxZoSclIgGs69qWfM0aeaOTdVVchmJ5frRt97oU4YuxAS2ysdBJ6QjDVz8CZF1FM0FQ-uqJi/s1600/17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2sr8ZMyxjzeqKpUSj_A9rI18AlqwLnP-P5xPbIjBTjE9fAK0gdwEnJCyBJs9QFMb9yBqBlxZoSclIgGs69qWfM0aeaOTdVVchmJ5frRt97oU4YuxAS2ysdBJ6QjDVz8CZF1FM0FQ-uqJi/s320/17.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>
Erin decides that she wants an epidural. If she has to have a C-section, she'll need one anyway, and right now she just wants the pain to stop. They call in the anesthesiologist, who has been at the downtown location and so is about half an hour away. We call our pastor, because if Erin is going into surgery she absolutely wants the sacrament of the sick.
</p>
<p>
Father gets there around 10:15, and anoints her. The anesthesiologist gets there shortly after and sets up her kit. Erin had an epidural with both Eve and Michael, so no sweat. Not the most comfortable of things, but not particularly painful, and relatively quick. Except for whatever reason, the anesthesiologist doesn't get it until the 4th attempt, having to use the local numbing agent multiple times, and making Erin breathe through not 1 but 8 separate contractions while attempting to hold a very uncomfortable position.
</p>
<p>
Sitting on the edge of the bed she is just crying. Even this won't go right! And at this point, Emma won't be born until the 2nd, which means we'll miss Eve's dance recital. Everything is going wrong!
</p>
<p>
Finally the epidural is in, at about 11 o'clock. She lies down on the bed, and prepares to labor. Our deadline is 1am, June 2nd - after that we're going to have this baby by C-section. Doc takes off his gown and mask, he's going to go catch a few hours of sleep; he's been hanging out with us all day.
</p>
<p>
Except the epidural isn't working. There's no warmth, no numbness, she can still feel her legs. This epidural isn't working! Nothing is going right!
</p>
<p>
As Doc starts to head out the door, something amazing happens. "Um... Doc...? My body's pushing, and I can't stop it... It's not me, my body's pushing!"
</p>
<p>
The Doula and I are ripping off her blankets as Doc comes back to the bed. "Yep, the baby's coming!"
</p>
<p>
One push later at 11:16 pm, the epidural still ineffective, our newest little baby lies on the bed, screaming while the nurses suction and clean and prepare to cut the umbilical cord. "What's the name?" asks one of the nurses.
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmhzvkDtg2UX5JaT_gTaCUFkgVrz1gP89p7HlANP6bzi1zhvzGc6z3HSTLfY5Wq1TaPa39i-40QHKyGqPhszpuKypD_AdpPV9Meo7F1OL3v6SdOe8JoaZcDyVVTEr-0NHeM0_5mRJLLisP/s1600/My+Baby+My+Baby+and+Me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmhzvkDtg2UX5JaT_gTaCUFkgVrz1gP89p7HlANP6bzi1zhvzGc6z3HSTLfY5Wq1TaPa39i-40QHKyGqPhszpuKypD_AdpPV9Meo7F1OL3v6SdOe8JoaZcDyVVTEr-0NHeM0_5mRJLLisP/s320/My+Baby+My+Baby+and+Me.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>
"Emma-Jean Gianna."
</p>
<p>
"Are you sure?" she asks.
</p>
<p>
Well... I hadn't looked, Doc hadn't looked. We knew it was a girl. Multiple ultrasounds. Both Doc and his resident in training. It's a girl.
</p>
<p>
Except... "Oh... Nope, his name is Raphael Martin."
</p>
<p>
That's right, a boy. By that point, we weren't even shocked. Surprised, yes, but everything else had gone sideways, of course he's a boy.
</p>
<p>
Doc calls his wife, because she is awesome, and we want Doc to keep her appraised! While he's on the phone, Mrs. Doc informs him that she had awoken from sleep at 11:00, lit a candle, knelt down, and prayed.
</p>
<blockquote class="prayer">
Jesus, Erin needs to have this baby now, and in one push.
</blockquote>
<p>
15 minutes before the push, 16 minutes before the birth.
</p>
<p>
On top of that, when we called the godparents to let them know they had a godson and not a goddaughter, we were telling a room of friends who had also been praying for us! They had been out with mutual friends of ours, and round about 11 one of them said, "Hey, we should pray for the Evanses!" Because of course that's who our friends are. The incredulous shouts of joy on the other end of the line were, in a word, awesome.
</p>
<p>
So here's what's really cool. We were super excited for Emma-Jean, and at the same time I had really been hoping for a boy to "complete the set," as it were. Raphael is our "rainbow baby," a child born after loss, in our case Gabriel and Perfectus. His name means "God has healed," and while it was chosen before we were even married, we had no idea just how meaningful that name would be. God has healed.
</p>
<p>
Just as we have been saved, we are being saved, and we hope to be saved, after the losses of Angelica, Jeremy, Gabriel, and Perfectus we have been healed, we are being healed, and we hope to be healed.
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcTBQKJIXU_H2HL8dhL5KiOsL_IIujj5Hhn1qHUjq5Wkw42fdtfxwi0_XoUaq-0YF8aIbKZuTRIsL0c4ge6AGjwknswgAwp9jdTijjXe8wjQjwUIqWw6yRG_AgG-eH28WNhkTxnIeHtptC/s1600/SheenUnexpected.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcTBQKJIXU_H2HL8dhL5KiOsL_IIujj5Hhn1qHUjq5Wkw42fdtfxwi0_XoUaq-0YF8aIbKZuTRIsL0c4ge6AGjwknswgAwp9jdTijjXe8wjQjwUIqWw6yRG_AgG-eH28WNhkTxnIeHtptC/s320/SheenUnexpected.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>
I saw a post a few days ago which really captures what Raphael's birth has felt like.
</p>
<blockquote class="prayer">
God walks into your soul with silent steps.
<br/><br/>
God comes to you more than you go to Him.
<br/><br/>
Never will His coming be what you expect, and yet never will it disappoint.
<br/><br/>
The more you respond to His gentle pressure, the greater will be your freedom.
</blockquote>
<p>
Raphael, you are not what I expected, but welcome to the family just the same.
</p>
</div>Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1652449590710538381.post-18516471517275727002016-05-21T23:08:00.000-05:002016-05-23T09:20:48.845-05:00On Mowing the Lawn<div class="PostBody">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJwngTHHKfkZmOXgjb1yD0wEQM0R3EV6tENgsC6VRr6kMqxRN1lQh3V7BaI8uu3WKkFwyGdRKcsPtDLvDA0UFNTvd8VDkrWlqCQx4BK9VXGmKXXWrTn7ImivcaOuj96lr_f9at9A9lfUpI/s1600/DPC-mowing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJwngTHHKfkZmOXgjb1yD0wEQM0R3EV6tENgsC6VRr6kMqxRN1lQh3V7BaI8uu3WKkFwyGdRKcsPtDLvDA0UFNTvd8VDkrWlqCQx4BK9VXGmKXXWrTn7ImivcaOuj96lr_f9at9A9lfUpI/s320/DPC-mowing.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>Who knew that mowing the lawn could be so inspirational?</p>
<p>
Our lawn desperately needed it. Heck, it desperately needed it 3 weeks ago. Through various scheduling issues with the guy who normally takes care of trimming my lawn, he hadn't been by to do it, and I hadn't had the time. Fast forward to probably a month since it should have been done, and it was not a pretty picture.
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p>
A forest, even, to use my Wife's term.
</p>
<p>
So there I was, sitting on the retaining wall around noon, saying the Angelus, when <i>he</i> drove up. Mind you, the house sits on the corner a good 4-5 feet above street level, the lawn sloping down precipitously into a retaining wall on one side and the sidewalk on the other. I'd already done the nasty hills, the front easement, and the back. All that was left was the long side easement. With grass easily 2+ feet high, causing the mower to stall out if I pushed to fast. Like more than a few inches at a time.
</p>
<p>
I could have finished. I didn't need him.
</p>
<p>
But there he was, an older gentleman driving an older truck, towing a trailer with some equipment. He pulled up to the curb across the street from where I sat on the retaining wall, praying the Angelus and taking a break.
</p>
<p>"So, I've got this John Deere in my trailer, kind of a commercial rig. I'm gonna run it over this patch, that'll knock it down for you."</p>
<p>I didn't need his help, but only a fool turns down an offer like that. As he got out his wide-deck commercial-grade walk-behind, all I had left was to grab the push broom and start clearing the sidewalk, as his lean green means of assistance tore through the mini-jungle which has sprung up in the easement.</p>
<p>
After he was done I thanked him, shook his hand. He said to think nothing of it, he just liked being able to help someone out, maybe make their day a little easier.
</p>
<p>And indeed he had.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhkcW6PtuY0C-BUnMfzeYiG5EPUg9ZDiaKep1VjeQD75GCSq9Q16kVcwwmT8KxReTdUxuv30HklwcKBevRtYQPif6JTlzARvPSlFJLXBfr6tby0O8W3HkZrS3sIHfg8eID22BdUh1tRGpb/s1600/quote-grace-does-not-destroy-nature-it-perfects-it-thomas-aquinas-60-60-63.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhkcW6PtuY0C-BUnMfzeYiG5EPUg9ZDiaKep1VjeQD75GCSq9Q16kVcwwmT8KxReTdUxuv30HklwcKBevRtYQPif6JTlzARvPSlFJLXBfr6tby0O8W3HkZrS3sIHfg8eID22BdUh1tRGpb/s400/quote-grace-does-not-destroy-nature-it-perfects-it-thomas-aquinas-60-60-63.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>
He also got me thinking. We've talked previously about how Grace perfects Nature, that is it doesn't obliterate us, but rather makes us more fully who we are.
</p>
<p>
This man didn't obliterate my work, he built upon in and helped me to complete my work faster than I could have on my own, and more than that probably wouldn't have helped if I hadn't been putting in initial effort. He didn't just see an unkempt lawn, he saw a man trying to improve an unkempt lawn, who was tired and in need of a rest.
</p>
<p>
Similarly, it seems that this is how the Lord often works. We focus often on the Mercy found in our eternal salvation - and rightly so, for this is the greatest gift we could hope to receive. However, at the same time we have a life to live here and now, and He has promised He would not leave us orphans.
</p>
<p>
The phrase "The Lord helps those who help themselves" is an invention, and not actually to be found in scripture. It is oftentimes flat out wrong - as shown by the healing of the paralytic whose friends had to lower him through the ceiling. He did not help himself in the slightest, and yet the Lord forgave his sins, and to prove His power healed the man's paralysis.
</p>
<p>
That being said, Grace perfects Nature, and I think often in our lives the Lord takes our attempt at a good work and magnifies it for His own purposes, whether that work is one of self-improvement, or service to another. We may think the little things we do are insignificant and don't matter, especially if they aren't explicitly religious. But then again, He has numbered the hairs on our head - can we say that anything we do is insignificant to Him?
</p>
<p>
Isn't it true that even on the most mundane of jobs, every so often he sends a commercial grade mower to clear through the thickest patch in our way?
</p>
</div>Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1652449590710538381.post-65136627879692550382016-04-28T16:10:00.000-05:002016-05-23T09:21:32.832-05:00A Familial Proposition<div class="PostBody">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFYOs5tc9lJAuRGd69HYhGy4F7mVXJNdT9wiCzsttKjno23NQartXRSSV_JwjkPSfmP5ar6zmpVNpKPIQaxjs2X4o3gBZ0tOymGIpPQnkiity3tWvJ0SmfiMeehoR8bd5eyoLct-ECnZhj/s1600/AmorisFrancis.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFYOs5tc9lJAuRGd69HYhGy4F7mVXJNdT9wiCzsttKjno23NQartXRSSV_JwjkPSfmP5ar6zmpVNpKPIQaxjs2X4o3gBZ0tOymGIpPQnkiity3tWvJ0SmfiMeehoR8bd5eyoLct-ECnZhj/s400/AmorisFrancis.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<p>
There is a shocking proposition in Amoris Laetitia which my friend brought to my attention in just about the most interesting way imaginable: a question.
</p>
<p>
Specifically, this question:
</p>
<blockquote>
Is he saying we basically turn ourselves into whores!!??
</blockquote>
<p>
And it's profoundly worse than that, which we will explore in a minute. First let's take a look at the question that spurred this reaction.
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p>
My friend was chewing on Chapter 2: The Experiences and Challenges of Families, specifically paragraphs 32-34. You should go and at least skim these paragraphs for better context. I'll wait.
</p>
<p>
Back already? Great. Let's go.
</p>
<p>
In this chapter the Holy Father addresses the good and the bad of modernizing our notions of relationships, especially those of the family. From a western perspective, that can be somewhat simplistically put as evolving out of our Victorian notions of marriage. This is not a bad thing in and of itself - for their were many faults with the Victorian interpretation of marriage - the concern is this: What is replacing that interpretation?
</p>
<p>
In the midst of paragraph 32 we find this, praising the rejection of the Victorian ethic:
</p>
<blockquote class="story">
Several decades ago, the Spanish bishops noted that families have come to enjoy greater freedom "through an equitable distribution of duties, responsibilities and tasks”; indeed, “a greater emphasis on personal communication between the spouses helps to make family life more humane", while "neither today’s society nor that to which we are progressing allow an uncritical survival of older forms and models".
</blockquote>
<p>And in 33:</p>
<blockquote class="story">
We can also point to a praiseworthy concern for justice...
</blockquote>
<p>
For example, we can see a proper concern for the rights of married women, especially in circumstances of domestic abuse, recognizing that marital rape is a thing, recognizing the independence of the wife to be a fully human person, and not merely property of the husband. This is a good thing: as Catholics, we must never accept society uncritically - that is without discernment. However, what happens if we do not properly discern what was good in the past, and uncritically accept the new?
</p>
<p>The Holy Father continues in paragraph 33:
</p>
<blockquote class="story">
Equal consideration needs to be given to the growing danger represented by an extreme individualism which weakens family bonds and ends up considering each member of the family as an isolated unit, leading in some cases to the idea that one’s personality is shaped by his or her desires, which are considered absolute.
</blockquote>
<p>
He continues:
</p>
<blockquote class="story">
Yet if this freedom lacks noble goals or personal discipline, it degenerates into an inability to give oneself generously to others. Indeed, in many countries where the number of marriages is decreasing, more and more people are choosing to live alone or simply to spend time together without cohabiting. <span class="emphasis">We can also point to a praiseworthy concern for justice; but if misunderstood, this can turn citizens into clients interested solely in the provision of services.</span> (Emphasis mine).
</blockquote>
<div class="image_left with_caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHAdDYg4mFXInleV0GPvv7VQlDh6ddKASzeCE6O3gm1ghlIVEZ6t9stbW4wElEghyphenhyphen1AX9BIUDg3Jpm11yeAWnmBALw8NiW8MpjQ6LymC-t1fU5Pom5F1s-O5GH7he4zRAH9kxMPzzjUrq1/s1600/popefrancisthumbsup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHAdDYg4mFXInleV0GPvv7VQlDh6ddKASzeCE6O3gm1ghlIVEZ6t9stbW4wElEghyphenhyphen1AX9BIUDg3Jpm11yeAWnmBALw8NiW8MpjQ6LymC-t1fU5Pom5F1s-O5GH7he4zRAH9kxMPzzjUrq1/s320/popefrancisthumbsup.jpg" /></a>
<p class="caption_text">
Clear, yes?
</p>
</div>
<p>
Let me reiterate.
</p>
<blockquote class="story">
<span class="inline_passionate">We can also point to a praiseworthy concern for justice; but if misunderstood, this can turn citizens into clients interested solely in the provision of services.</span>
</blockquote>
<p>
So I ask again: Is he saying we basically turn ourselves into whores!!??
</p>
<p>
And I say again, it's profoundly worse than that.
</p>
<p>
So, yes, I think the Holy Father is concerned that we are whoring ourselves out, but not just in matters of sex. I think there is an element from the more Marxist (maybe? let's go with that) and extreme feminist elements that equate work with sex. All sex is simply a transaction, all work done for another is the prostitution of your labor. This is their narrative, and while it doesn't have to be true, I think in an extreme case it can be true.
</p>
<p>
So, if we think of merely sexual sin, the happily married man may have his home and family life, be a devoted husband and father, and yet engage a prostitute, or consume pornography. I do not mean to say that these activities are not detrimental to the family life, or to diminish their seriousness, but simply to offer contrast. There is in some sense (at least in the mind and practice of many people) room for both the contractual and the familial.
</p>
<p>
What the Holy Father is pointing to is a situation where the intimacy of family becomes contractual, a hyper-"girlfriend experience," if you will. That is, in the older ways you would see someone contracting a prostitute, and it was "just sex" (not that that's ever true, but that is the perception/interpretation). What is coming to be is a certain all-encompassing prostitution, where the marriage is not one of mutual love and support, but mutual gain and tit-for-tat. That is, I serve my family not because I love them, but because that is the price for receiving the acceptance of society (which is not so different than the Victorian mores in some regards).
</p>
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<p>
As my friend surmises, "I want to live in the gated community: so I need a wife, a stable home, a BIG home, two kids who are quiet and congenial, a gigantic SUV, probably a dog, a vacation home, a 120" television screen, and a patio on which to grill while my wife serves everyone drinks and my kids look pretty as they sit 'pon yon granite staircase." We are after the form, and not the substance, and sometimes cannot see the substance of a solid and holy family, because it doesn't look the way we think it ought to look.
</p>
<p>
In the extreme case of those not even cohabitating, it would seem that not merely the intimacies of sex, but even the intimacies of family life, of shared experience, of shared lives, are up for sale. One could understand it when it comes to sex, because of the power of the drives and the passions, but we have become so wrapped up in our individualism that we cannot conceive of a true two-become-one wherein one person is not subsumed into the other (the fault of the past), and so we do not attempt it and rather become two-stay-two-and-act-like-one-in-certain-circumstances-as-long-as-is-mutually-beneficial.
</p>
<p>
The relationship now becomes an opposition of needs where sacrifice is not for the benefit of the beloved, but a down payment on future prizes on the auction block: "I'll trade you dinner with your parents for a night out with my friends" as opposed to, "Sure we can do dinner with your parents, also I'd like to go out with my friends." They have the same result - dinner with in laws and a night out with friends - but whereas the latter is focused on human flourishing (building family ties as well as the bonds of friendship, in harmony with the core relationship), the former cheapens both to a mere transaction.
</p>
<p>
Even the familial becomes contractual with no room for real intimacy - which is only possible with self sacrifice.
</p>
<p>
So yes, we are turning ourselves into whores, but not just in physical intimacy, but rather in all areas of intimacy.
</p>
<p>
The Holy Father is calling us to a renewal of our understanding of relationship according to the teachings of the Church, not the passing fads of Victorianism or the Sexual Revolution. To balance the necessary reforms against unnecessary and unhealthy radical individualism which prevents any true relationships.
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4lzwV88EvJk7Q0SlBwygmgXta7yjQBb9wzfQVM6liauId5YYhEHCWfJPtdU692hIOfcqTTnEzIjHEYE2NqOUOuQV9iccapFnBgY9vdzLDxpi9ahOKbu42k9xvef2V0ESfwzk38QKhSey1/s1600/protestant_marriage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4lzwV88EvJk7Q0SlBwygmgXta7yjQBb9wzfQVM6liauId5YYhEHCWfJPtdU692hIOfcqTTnEzIjHEYE2NqOUOuQV9iccapFnBgY9vdzLDxpi9ahOKbu42k9xvef2V0ESfwzk38QKhSey1/s320/protestant_marriage.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>
In the old way, the woman becomes a part of the man completely, merely an appendage with no agency, while the man retains full agency. She is subsumed, and this is not a true partnership.
</p>
<p>
In the new way, she retains complete autonomy and agency, which the man also retains, so the old ill of her sublimation is avoided, but has gone too far and turned an intimate and familial relationship into a business one.
</p>
<p>
In the really old way, from the beginning, it's somewhere in the middle, where the man and woman's agencies are directed toward each other freely, not in contest.
</p>
<p>
Is there not in this a parallel to the reality of Mary: Mediatrix of All Graces? She has full agency and identity, AND her will is fully conformed to that of her spouse the Holy Spirit, who out of love does not obliterate Mary's identity, but rather upholds it. So there's a sort of image there of what our earthly marriages ought to be like. The two retain their individuality and uniqueness while still being of one mind, out of mutual love and respect rather than the subsuming of one into the other.
</p>
<p>
Is this not what is REALLY meant by the two shall become one?
</p>
<p>
Woman, submit to your husband; husband, lay down your life for your wife as Christ did the Church.
</p>
<p>
Mutual love and mutual self giving lead to strong families and human flourishing.
</p>
</div>Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1652449590710538381.post-32334527181576413222016-03-22T13:40:00.000-05:002016-05-23T09:21:59.664-05:00Expecting Easter<div class="PostBody">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6y9mfAth5OMwUwVOg6HB-ngezg9z6X3GfyfCTXn3Ll2dndpULeAgIJuxZ0UL56L3VWJ5798pNvI8ABxT3XTbYcA2nytmOdTx0BkwpB52MeQn8sGykShgJ-m55She7-k20pk_fQF7bHJwE/s1600/keep-calm-and-do-penance.jpg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6y9mfAth5OMwUwVOg6HB-ngezg9z6X3GfyfCTXn3Ll2dndpULeAgIJuxZ0UL56L3VWJ5798pNvI8ABxT3XTbYcA2nytmOdTx0BkwpB52MeQn8sGykShgJ-m55She7-k20pk_fQF7bHJwE/s320/keep-calm-and-do-penance.jpg.png" /></a></div>
<p>
It's hard to believe. Tuesday of Holy Week already. Where has all the time gone? Where has Lent gone?
</p>
<p>
This time of the year, I almost always feel like I've somehow "wasted" my Lent, not given it the attention it deserves. But perhaps that's not so bad - if I could fix my sinful nature in the span of 40 days, then I would be lying to myself. So perhaps Holy Week is a chance to acknowledge the good and the bad alike, to give thanks for the grace of conversion, and to beg for more grace as a sinner in need of Mercy.
</p>
<p>
But that's not the point of my thoughts today. One of the "Goods" this Lent was a thought I had a few weeks back regarding fasting, penances, and Sunday.
</p>
<p>
For those of you unaware, Sundays are not actually a part of Lent. They are Sundays <span class="inline_very_emphatic">in</span> Lent, not Sundays <span class="inline_very_emphatic">of</span> Lent. And I can prove it.
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p>
The Lenten season spans Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday, inclusive. So Ash Wednesday through the Saturday before the First Sunday in Lent is 4 days, and we get another 7 days each for the following 6 weeks (Sundays 1-5 plus Palm Sunday). That makes 46 days, but Lent is the "Quadragesima" - the 40 days. We can play around with starting a little later or ending a little earlier, but really all we need to do is remove the 6 Sundays from our count, and we get 40.
</p>
<p>
But why does this matter?
</p>
<p>
Here's the thing. Catholicism is very much a "fake it till you make it" religion. She is a Church filled with imperfectly practicing, imperfectly faithful, imperfect people who are constantly disposing themselves to Grace. She is a Church which acknowledges the "dry spots" and "dark nights" that every faith life undergoes, and even rejoices in these times as a sign of the Love of God, calling us into deeper relationship with him beyond the "Lollipops" we so often run after, a relationship found at the foot of the Cross.
</p>
<p>
The Christian life is one of continual conversion, continual growth, developing the habits, habituses, and virtues of the Life of Christ. Along the way, the Church offers many tangible aids to this growth, one of which is Feasting in the midst of Fasting.
</p>
<div class="image_left with_caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghVRJHKzVLMQdNOEtk623u9dmbv5QZpvmIInDpExgXlSg8qnugT0DMatX9Fjj8mOaBIFOOgGaWY50R4DpdLDROQHDRNpQzKFEdRA0NCYg2T0UrrG8HtSywI93XFVmYg6Ite0baJ3STLCZq/s1600/f07b_tea_earl_gray_hot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghVRJHKzVLMQdNOEtk623u9dmbv5QZpvmIInDpExgXlSg8qnugT0DMatX9Fjj8mOaBIFOOgGaWY50R4DpdLDROQHDRNpQzKFEdRA0NCYg2T0UrrG8HtSywI93XFVmYg6Ite0baJ3STLCZq/s320/f07b_tea_earl_gray_hot.jpg" /></a>
<p class="caption_text">
<u><a href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/f07b/" rel="nofollow">This is a thing.</a></u><br/>
A nerdy, delicious thing.
</p>
</div>
<p>
Let me put it this way. Suppose you really like waking up to a cup of Earl Grey Tea. This is a good thing, and would require ludicrous stretches to find a way to sin by waking up with a cup of Earl Grey Tea. Giving up your morning cuppa is a good penance, because sacrificing a good for the Glory of God is a way to unite yourself to the Cross.
</p>
<p>
Now here's the thing. Suppose that you know what I know, that Sunday is a Feast Day, and that it is worse to fast on a Feast than to feast on a Fast, and so - without breaking your communion fast - you wake up with your steaming cup of black tea suffused with bergamot oil. How much more will you look forward to Sunday because of this simple cup of tea? Upon reflection, will you not realize that as much as you long for this cup of tea, you should long for Our Lord, and that your desire for the tea can teach you how to desire Our Lord?
</p>
<p>
Suppose further you've maintained your penance throughout Lent, and you now are in Holy Week, staring down not merely the reprieve of one day, but indeed the relaxation of penance entirely, so that each day is begun with that cup of Earl Grey? Does this not train us to long for heaven, where "<span class="inline_scripture">He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away</span>"? Does not the removal of our Lenten Penances engender in us a desire for the resurrection?
</p>
<p>
So this Sunday, this First Day, this Easter Sunday which is our Highest and Holiest celebration day, Feast. Feast for the Joy that is in your heart, Feast for the Glory of the Lord. Within every ephemeral good, see the image of the Summum Bonum, God Himself, who gives us all good things.
</p>
<p>
This, I think, is one of the many ways Lent is a season of preparation - it prepares us to see in every good thing which is immediate to our senses the one who surpasses our senses. We are trained through desire for sensible goods to desire the insensible Good which is veiled in the form of bread and wine, whose resurrection we celebrate, preparing ourselves in Joyful Hope for our own resurrection.
</p>
<p>
Have a blessed Holy Week, and a Glorious Easter!
</p>
</div>Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1652449590710538381.post-88959863893175855952016-03-02T13:42:00.000-06:002016-05-23T09:22:27.720-05:00Yes, but what is Mercy?<div class="PostBody">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpRYeGeB7n1-dSWYGgOVYfy84P5gzu-HtoiXkfFVArlN41SDO0LrzdtsPqwzW1hcMG6LxsseooZbKgprHJDSUpXlNl8IQA4kdL-gr8bCiPp_-_FidI9Kj76kzmxpHIx1w-E4xIR_AXXGod/s1600/sj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpRYeGeB7n1-dSWYGgOVYfy84P5gzu-HtoiXkfFVArlN41SDO0LrzdtsPqwzW1hcMG6LxsseooZbKgprHJDSUpXlNl8IQA4kdL-gr8bCiPp_-_FidI9Kj76kzmxpHIx1w-E4xIR_AXXGod/s320/sj.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>
We make a mistake if we attempt to read Pope Francis as a philosopher in the manner of Pope Saint John Paul the Great, and likewise err if we attempt to read him as a theologian in the manner of Pope Benedict XVI. However, we similarly make a mistake if we consider our reigning Pontiff to be soft, weak, ignorant, or naive. He is, after all, a Jesuit.
</p>
<p>
Which is why I propose that we rename this year from the Jubilee Year of Mercy to the Jubilee Year of Jesuit Cunning.
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p>
The question was raised recently in discussion, "why not the year of Justice and Mercy?" Given the general assumption of a broad swath of both believers and non-believers that everyone goes to heaven and there is no need to be in union with the Church, does spending a year focusing on Mercy miss the point? Why are our hands being tied when we try to talk about right and wrong, and the consequences of persisting in sin? Is the Pope in fact doing further harm to the Body of Christ by watering down the Church's perennial message?
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnZw072-PeyePOgsRxg3xwRMb7a5CQtyB2PO3wUWo95MCDTEQCFiuISE26_rz4R-s8gn0yOSazNn3wIbjLGcl_XZ0Eg8ZHhgO30ZysDQUBGMcfULwieW5NBso9PcKzaiEiBtJAOA8VRG3f/s1600/PopeFrancisLamb.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnZw072-PeyePOgsRxg3xwRMb7a5CQtyB2PO3wUWo95MCDTEQCFiuISE26_rz4R-s8gn0yOSazNn3wIbjLGcl_XZ0Eg8ZHhgO30ZysDQUBGMcfULwieW5NBso9PcKzaiEiBtJAOA8VRG3f/s320/PopeFrancisLamb.jpeg" /></a></div>
<p>
First, no. We are now living in an age in which most non-Christians - and many Christians - do not actually grasp what the Church teaches. Whether it be Evangelical Protestantism which abandons the roots of the Deposit of Faith in favor of sermon-centric worship services, or the unchurched who have never been exposed to any sort of catechesis, the Catholic sensibilities which used to permeate society have faded into obscurity in the public conscience. Even the Protestant notions which undergird much of the United States' self identification as a Christian nation have largely faded in the public sphere.
</p>
<p>
In their place, we have this vague notion of Jesus as a nice guy who re-iterated the Golden Rule, an even vaguer notion of Christianity taken as nice altruism, and a world so lost that even the Atheists are establishing their own "churches."
</p>
<p>
We've got a world out there who knows something's not right, but years and decades and centuries of perversion of thought and language have prevented them from expressing their dissatisfaction in a meaningful way, and prevented them from understanding the words of hope they so desperately want to hear.
</p>
<p>
And so Papa says: Mercy.
</p>
<p>
But what does that mean? What is Mercy?
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMdfKUdTWSbPi_jY0G3PVb6uge-EXUDvt7Ll5gS8bq_zPjYZBrlGsdfIjGb79kOXb-gGq6SV2WKQxrjhch2Lsey-Q-RVahulxr5e2wJnKQBZ0e_pQM7ARMRP0TisfxhsU0qGWBJ1YhN6Jg/s1600/MercifulLikeTheFather.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMdfKUdTWSbPi_jY0G3PVb6uge-EXUDvt7Ll5gS8bq_zPjYZBrlGsdfIjGb79kOXb-gGq6SV2WKQxrjhch2Lsey-Q-RVahulxr5e2wJnKQBZ0e_pQM7ARMRP0TisfxhsU0qGWBJ1YhN6Jg/s320/MercifulLikeTheFather.jpeg" /></a></div>
<p>
Full disclaimer: I don't like this logo. I don't like the artistic style. Whatever. But no, it is not a three-eyed creature, but rather it seeks to combine imagery of the Good Shepherd, the parable of the Prodigal Son, and the parable of the Forgiven Debts. In one image, it expresses our reliance on God, how we are carried by Mercy, how we are the sheep cared for, the son forgiven, but also in the blending of the two persons we see the identity of the Son with the Father, and that if we would seek this Mercy we too must be merciful, lest we be condemned.
</p>
<p>
But what is Mercy?
</p>
<p>
Here is where the cunning of our Jesuit Pope is apparent. Our culture doesn't know what Mercy is, but wants it. Craves it. This creates an environment where these religiously-illiterate seekers are drawn in to dialogue, to encounter. Who doesn't like Mercy?
</p>
<p>
But what is Mercy?
</p>
<p>
There is commonly thought to be a tension between Justice and Mercy, as if you could not have one without the other. In fact in the second objection of Question 21: Article 3, Aquinas states the problem: Mercy is a relaxation of Justice, and so it is in mainstream perception.
</p>
<p>
"But no," Aquinas replies, "God acts mercifully, not indeed by going against His justice, but by doing something more than justice..." He goes on to elaborate that Mercy is a gift which respects the demands of Justice, but in which the one who is owed satisfaction instead accepts the penalty.
</p>
<p>
A phenomenal example of this can be found in Les Miserables, shortly after Jean Valjean is released on parole. He is found huddling on a doorstep in the cold, and is invited in by the Bishop, fed, and given a place to stay. In repayment, Valjean steals the Bishop's silver and runs, being apprehended quickly by the constabulary, all the way Valjean protesting that the silver was a gift, which brings us to this clip.
</p>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/elp47TSQZVc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p>
(If you don't want to watch the video, the transcription can be found <a href="http://www.metrolyrics.com/valjean-arrested-valjean-forgiven-lyrics-les-miserables.html">here</a>).
</p>
<p>
One might be tempted to see in the Bishop's actions here the relaxation of justice, but note that Justice demands there be consequences, the Bishop simply takes the consequences upon himself. Valjean claims the silver is a gift and so the Bishop agrees, giving "not only your cloak, but your tunic as well," per Christ's admonition. Justice simply means that the silver should be in the possession of its rightful owner - the Bishop in his mercy declares Valjean to be that owner, at his own expense.
</p>
<p>
But note that it is not simply silver which the Bishop gives, but an admonition:
</p>
<blockquote class="story">You must use this precious silver to become an honest man ... I have bought your soul for God.</blockquote>
<p>
Mercy respects justice, indeed fulfills and goes beyond, meaning that it presupposes justice. For his malice, Valjean owes some recompense, and the Bishop tells him what that must be - acknowledge your sins and reform your life.
</p>
<p>
To receive Mercy, you must ask for Mercy.
</p>
<p>
To ask for Mercy, you must acknowledge that you are in need of Mercy.
</p>
<p>
To acknowledge my need for Mercy, I must acknowledged that I have sinned against my Heavenly Father whom I should love above all things.
</p>
<p>
This, I think, is the Jesuit genius of Pope Francis. The word mercy is attractive to our brokenness and our broken culture, but it also forces us to contemplate our sinfulness. Mercy requires that
</p>
<blockquote class="prayer">
I confess to almighty God<br/>
and to you, my brothers and sisters,<br/>
that I have greatly sinned,<br/>
in my thoughts and in my words,<br/>
in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,<br/>
through my fault, through my fault,<br/>
through my most grievous fault;<br/>
therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,<br/>
all the Angels and Saints,<br/>
and you, my brothers and sisters,<br/>
to pray for me to the Lord our God.<br/>
</blockquote>
</div>Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1652449590710538381.post-57518836684833481482016-02-16T01:36:00.000-06:002016-05-23T09:24:44.615-05:00I Stand Alone?<div class="PostBody">
<p>"If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don't like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself."</p>
<p>
Recently I was a little more blunt than usual with a friend. We were discussing religion and attending different churches, and he said that for him he'll go so long as they're "Sola Scriptura." We were in a group, so he turned to me and said, "You know what that means, right?"
</p>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq8_tNEgszK1F3MHr_Y5g9Snz3Fb6awy03wAIUjN2gmvt2B7OVJiDA37C8OGjfk8daqL6Idn_V8hsET2xWiygCiVEFB2Vf8GpBJWlXL05tLk-52akW6T3vjNgeRp7m1scnhYCmi8l7ldvm/s1600/holy-bible-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq8_tNEgszK1F3MHr_Y5g9Snz3Fb6awy03wAIUjN2gmvt2B7OVJiDA37C8OGjfk8daqL6Idn_V8hsET2xWiygCiVEFB2Vf8GpBJWlXL05tLk-52akW6T3vjNgeRp7m1scnhYCmi8l7ldvm/s400/holy-bible-cover.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I stand alone on the Word of God...?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<p>
"Sure," I said. "It's wrong, but I know what it means."
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p>
Even more extreme is the position I encountered recently in a Facebook discussion on morality and law (will I never learn?). If you must know, the topic was homosexuality. He dismissed the Old Testament for the simple reason that we Christians seem to do that today, but He also dismissed Paul (neither the thieves, drunkards, fornicators, homosexuals...). Because contextually speaking, Paul never met Jesus, and so while he wasn't necessarily wrong about everything, that doesn't mean he was right about everything either.
</p>
<p>
Ummm...
</p>
<p>
Well... Okay then... So I asked him what he does believe. What is scripture? What counts?
</p>
<p>
Well, to my friend, the Word of God is just that: The Word of God. If Jesus didn't say it, it's not absolute. Specifically, Jesus said <span class="inline_scripture">love your neighbor</span> and said nothing about homosexuality, and if homosexuality were such a big deal he would have said something, but he didn't, so it's not, and even if it is a deal, it's less important than love your neighbor, and you can't be loving if you don't let them call their relationships marriage.
</p>
<p>
That's a bit of a simplification, but you get the gist.
</p>
<p>
So the Bible... How did we get here? Awash in a sea of translations, interpretations, understandings, where are we to find the truth?
</p>
<p>
Let's start with the extreme case - What Jesus Said.
</p>
<p>
Unfortunately for my friend's <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=define+hermeneutic&oq=define+hermeneutic&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j0l5.3760j0j9&client=ubuntu-browser&sourceid=chrome&espv=2&es_sm=121&ie=UTF-8">hermeneutic</a>, the limiting of the Word of God to things written down in the Gospels and Acts attributed to Jesus is problematic, and quickly fails when we try to use it to deny the validity of the morality given to the chosen people by God through Moses.
</p>
<p>
Let me put it this way. My parents used to have <u>The Great American Bathroom Book Volume III</u>, a bathroom reader filled with 2 page synopses of various literary and biographical works. <u>Welcome to the Monkey House</u>, <u>The Fall and Decline of the Roman Empire</u>, <u>Tess of the d'Urbervilles</u>. Now, suppose that after reading one of the synopses I went and read the full work. Would I expect the summary to contradict the full work, or to boil it down and try to hit on key points?
</p>
<p>
In fact, if the summary contradicted the full story (say if a synopsis of <u>MiG Pilot</u> claimed the book was about an American defecting to Russia, and not a Russian defecting to America), it would be a pretty poor summary, wouldn't it?
</p>
<p>
And yet we find this. Matthew 22.34-40:
<blockquote class="scripture">
When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them [a scholar of the law] tested him by asking, "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."
</blockquote>
Some translations use the term summary. In both senses, however, the Law and Prophets are not seen as opposed or overturned by, but rather found fully in these two commandments.
</p>
<p>
If that weren't enough, Jesus says explicitly in the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5.17-20:
<blockquote class="scripture">
Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
</blockquote>
</p>
<p>
As if that weren't enough, my scientifically minded friend knows as well as I that it is impossible to prove a negative, especially when you find passages like John 20.25, the last verse in the Gospel according to John:
<blockquote class="scripture">
There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.
</blockquote>
</p>
<p>
But Our Lord promised not to abandon us, leave us as orphans. The whole discourse on the Advocate in during the last supper, found in <a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/14/15">John 14.15-31</a> is worth reading, but I wish to reflect on verse 26 in particular:
<blockquote class="scripture">
The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that [I] told you.
</blockquote>
</p>
<p>
If we have accepted that <span class="scripture">Jesus is <span style="font-variant:small-caps">Lord</span> to the glory of God the Father</span>, then we should trust Him when He promises us to be with us always, to send us shepherds, and an Advocate to guide His Church, founded on the Rock of Peter, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail. The same Church which composed the New Testament and ratified the Old. The same Church which exercised authority over the disciplines inherited from Judaism (such as circumcision and dietary laws), but upheld the moral laws.
</p>
<p>
The same Church which today upholds a moral standard against which every nation, every political party, every individual falls short. A moral standard that challenges each and every one of us to dive deeper into a life of justice and mercy for our neighbors, and perhaps more difficultly for ourselves. And not just in regard to the "conservative" ones like opposing same-sex marriage and abortion, and not just the "liberal" ones like improving social services for the poor and ending the death penalty, all four of which are but the most obvious examples of efforts which fall under Catholic social teaching.
</p>
<p>
As St. Thomas wrote in Adoro Te Devote, "<span class="scripture">Credo quidquid dixit Dei Filius, nil hoc verbo veritatis verius</span>" - I believe all the Son of God has spoken; there is nothing truer than this word of truth. Sometimes put another way, "Truth Itself speaks truly, or there's nothing true." If Jesus is the Word of God, the Son of God, God Incarnate, then that needs to change our lives.
</p>
<p>
As St. Augustine said, "If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don't like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself."
</p>
<p>
Do we believe the Gospel?
</p>
<p>
Or do we believe ourselves?
</p>
</div>Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1652449590710538381.post-13533217757467375532016-01-06T06:00:00.000-06:002016-05-23T09:26:00.448-05:00Perceiving the Essential<div class="PostBody">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitoQ4cMSUhm308lk2PEte646ucXHLGMu2XMD8i4bsh9nPjFT_dEZc74JyFTh0PGaYi2pTIV3XlYZl5UK9jVPlJuGjiLsDGB8sNgelxCj6OuOzGHurxle81sb7kij-vdC1FHh0QCoBAUvg7/s1600/happyholidaysbanner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitoQ4cMSUhm308lk2PEte646ucXHLGMu2XMD8i4bsh9nPjFT_dEZc74JyFTh0PGaYi2pTIV3XlYZl5UK9jVPlJuGjiLsDGB8sNgelxCj6OuOzGHurxle81sb7kij-vdC1FHh0QCoBAUvg7/s600/happyholidaysbanner.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>
It seems that many people take umbrage with the phrase, "Happy Holidays." (You may take umbrage with me posting about Christmas after Christmas, but 'Tis the Season until the 12<sup><u>th</u></sup> day, so deal with it.) I don't know if that many people are really offended, or if a handful of offendees are magnified for the sake of The Narrative, but in any case it strikes me as silly.
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDAl4BodaRCGZkjFXIQLvCZpWg5e4hUWvt1I1hklsHlbEoL5fQHKjRcTsNaEZMrnpyFju07WJgWFlx5socYyvx9ycxI7ZWbMTy5PCDsDK9_9HuQmHxVXNCrcsSPvZ2BWNmgkIxiRrrJ3h5/s1600/epiphany.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDAl4BodaRCGZkjFXIQLvCZpWg5e4hUWvt1I1hklsHlbEoL5fQHKjRcTsNaEZMrnpyFju07WJgWFlx5socYyvx9ycxI7ZWbMTy5PCDsDK9_9HuQmHxVXNCrcsSPvZ2BWNmgkIxiRrrJ3h5/s320/epiphany.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>
Protestantism isolates Christmas, and the secular world expands it into a month-long avarice and gluttony fueled spendfest, but in reality there are many Holidays (Holy Days) celebrated in this season alongside Christmas. With Saint Nicholas, the Immaculate Conception (Patroness of the U.S.A.), Our Lady of Guadalupe (Patroness of the Americas), Gaudete Sunday, the Holy Innocents, the Holy Family, Mary Mother of God (Patroness of the Universal Church), we really should not take offense at the phrase "Happy Holidays," but rather be reminded of the vast array of Holidays and Holy Days to celebrate.
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p>
Which brings me to one of my favorite Holy Days: Epiphany. It's not just that I get to pedantically remind you that it is actually on January 6<sup><u>th</u></sup> and not the closest Sunday (though that is in fact true, and irksome). It's not just that I get to complain that the U.S. Bishops by and large seem to think that American Catholics are wimps who can't handle another Holy Day of Obligation (which I do). While I am in fact pointing these things out by virtue of posting on the 6<sup><u>th</u></sup> and not the 3<sup><u>rd</u></sup>, neither are anywhere near the point.
</p>
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<p>
Epiphany. A "piphy"-what? A sublime vision. All the jagged parts of my life have come together to form a complete and mystical... whole. (I could give you the dictionary definition, but quotes from 25 year old movies are much more entertaining!)
</p>
<p>
The Feast of Epiphany is one that is often sublimated into Christmas, which for popular celebration is just fine and dandy, but Holy Mother Church in her wisdom has decreed that the contemplation of these travelers and their gifts deserve their own particular recollection. Why is that?
</p>
<p>
Let us take a moment to just look at the Wise Men, or Magi. Much is supposed about them, but little is known. It is clear that they are learned, probably astrologers, but it is less clear where they are from, and why they should care about a Jewish King. Perhaps they are Persians, schooled in the tradition of the Prophet Daniel? Perhaps from some other near-eastern kingdom, who came across the Torah from Jews in the diaspora? I would presume as Father did on Sunday that they were pagans, seeing in the stars the hands of the gods, not necessarily the One True God.
</p>
<p>
This is the first insight I take from this feast - God is immanent. He "presses" on His creation, never more-so than in the Incarnation. The wise men experience not simply "epiphany" - a perception of the essential reality of something. They are experiencing "theophany," the revelation of God Himself. These magi, these wise men, these foreign (pagan?) travelers, through their study of the natural world - that is of God's creation - come to an encounter with the God of the Universe.
</p>
<p>
In the perversion of Christmas that is our aforementioned avarice and gluttony fueled bank holiday, does it not behoove us to stop a minute to actually look at the real world? See the stars, and know that they were formed by His hand. Stand a minute as the snow falls and the whole world seems to sleep, yet to be poised in anticipation of the coming Spring?
</p>
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<p>
But what else can we learn from these men? We already know that the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in the manger is the King of the Universe. Can we still learn something from them? And what's with the gifts?
</p>
<p>
The hymn We Three Kings has become one of my favorite, but only when sung in completion. A great failing of many musical presentations is their lack of completeness. Caroling or on the radio, we may only hear one or two verses, at Mass we might be lucky to hear a third. The prolific publishing company OCP - who is responsible for the majority of missalettes and music books such as the Breaking Bread yearly hymnal - only prints 3 of the 4 verses to Joy to the World, omitting the third verse, "Far as the curse is found..."
</p>
<p>
Now, there may be very good reasons to omit or update verses, but at least once every season I encourage you to listen or read through all the verses of the classic hymns: they are classics for a reason. We Three Kings is a great gem because it unpacks the seemingly incoherent (and wildly inappropriate for a small child) gifts of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh.
</p>
<p>
In case you're not intimately familiar with the whole song, you can find the lyrics <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Three_Kings">here</a>. Each of the gifts mentioned in chapter 2 verse 11 of Matthew's narrative has a deeper meaning. The 5<sup><u>th</u></sup> verse sums up with "King, and God, and Sacrifice," and indeed Gold announces Christ's Sovereignty, Frankincense His Divinity, and Myrrh foretells His death ("Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying, sealed in the stone cold tomb.")
</p>
<p>
That is, I was nowhere near originality in my post on <a href="http://musings-of-jeb.blogspot.com/2012/12/merry-christ-mass-or-scandal-of.html">The Scandal of Christmas</a>. Some of the best Advent and Christmas hymns point us directly to the Cross. It is an unavoidable truth that Jesus came to die. Knowing that the World would not receive Him, knowing that His beloved children would turn on him, deny His sovereignty, call His claim to divinity blasphemous, and ultimately scourge Him, crown Him with thorns, and crucify Him.
</p>
<p>
Knowing all this, The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and reveled Himself not just to Mary, and to Joseph, not just to the outcast of Israel in the persons of the shepherds, but even to pagans and intellectuals such as the wise men, who could see what the chief priests and Pharisees could not - the King of the Universe, God Himself, the Lamb Who was Slain.
</p>
<p>
The Feast of Epiphany forces us to ask ourselves what we're not seeing. Where are we missing the signs of God's presence in our lives? In who are we failing to see the Imago Dei?
</p>
<p>
To what Epiphany is the Holy Spirit calling me this year?
</p>
<blockquote class="prayer">
May the splendor of your majesty, <br/>
O Lord, we pray, <br/>
shed its light upon our hearts, <br/>
that we may pass through the shadows of this world <br/>
and reach the brightness of our eternal home. <br/>
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, <br/>
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, <br/>
one God, for ever and ever.<br/>
Amen.
</blockquote>
</div>Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1652449590710538381.post-51742589559697858172015-08-08T11:56:00.000-05:002015-08-19T10:16:07.354-05:00In hoc signo...<div class="PostBody">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpRfC9QZbtMa-AgV7ZHyGxaVKyGUJ5JHoN1le8kedPbJSi_y1AA0FfhLNm64D8PTl025YLtchDq4U92iGDaXZEdcg6m-BK7olm4dcdcnonWcdKPZtsg-PT4U0-wmzGyxxC71HYaRNp5wgG/s1600/ppvskkk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpRfC9QZbtMa-AgV7ZHyGxaVKyGUJ5JHoN1le8kedPbJSi_y1AA0FfhLNm64D8PTl025YLtchDq4U92iGDaXZEdcg6m-BK7olm4dcdcnonWcdKPZtsg-PT4U0-wmzGyxxC71HYaRNp5wgG/s320/ppvskkk.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>
Today's episode brought to you by Racism, and the letters "P" & "K".
</p>
<p>
I've seen this image come up several times on Facebook, but when I saw it today on /r/CatholicMemes, I just couldn't get past it. I despise Planned Parenthood as much as the next guy, but this is just... wrong.
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p>
This post comes about because I've had to address this particular issue in too many forums, and so I need to just put down what I have to say on the topic so that I can stop repeating myself.</p>
<p>
I don't mean to rag on the CatholicMemes subreddit, usually there is some pretty good stuff on there using humor to share the faith.
For instance, this morning someone shared <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/McLeanBen/status/629819993740304385/photo/1">this tweet</a>, which is hillarious:
</p>
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<p>
This is what humorous education is supposed to look like: funny, and right. But saying that because Planned Parenthood aborts 90,000 black babies a year the Confederate flag isn't that bad? Come on.
</p>
<p>
Because the thing is, two wrongs don't make a right.
</p>
<p>
"This sin is the worst sin, so ignore all other sins," is not Catholic. We are Catholics, not Republicans. We don't have to toe the party line when the party is wrong.
</p>
<p>
What we currently call the Confederate Flag was only made popular post-reconstruction, by the Dixiecrats and KKK who were formed to take away the rights of recently freed blacks. There was a brief moment after slavery ended when blacks were actually free people, before the political powers in the south enacted the Jim Crow laws, took away voting rights, &c.
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ8cqxhtdj3R509wn5BG-tHjT6rRgmhMfLQ1BAkdc1dc52_BdaA0t74PljniVB2RuuRxCKvB38fiwf2gvEY87Oi_BNY_bVWaoPwIgVAqu09iIb4FreESKB3QgLYJs7pQDGOX01Euzr_67t/s1600/Confederate_Rebel_Flag.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ8cqxhtdj3R509wn5BG-tHjT6rRgmhMfLQ1BAkdc1dc52_BdaA0t74PljniVB2RuuRxCKvB38fiwf2gvEY87Oi_BNY_bVWaoPwIgVAqu09iIb4FreESKB3QgLYJs7pQDGOX01Euzr_67t/s320/Confederate_Rebel_Flag.svg.png" /></a></div>
<p>
They did this under this flag, this symbol that the South was still right, but right about what? State's rights? The State's right to determine who is and isn't a person? The "inherent supremacy of the White Race," which the fathers of the CSA WOULD NOT SHUT UP ABOUT (just search the Cornerstone Speech, or the description of the "Unstained Banner" by its designer. Tl;dr: "Whites rule, blacks drool.")
They did this under the flag that symbolized the same sentiments that led Margaret Sanger - noted fan of the KKK - to found Planned Parenthood, which still systematically targets non-white and poor neighborhoods.
</p>
<p>
Maybe those symbols are more alike than they are different.
</p>
<p>
A Catholic should have a broader view of history than the last 20 years of American Politics.
</p>
<p>
The point of places like /r/CatholicMemes and other social media humor sites in the context of a broader evangelical reality is to tell the truth with humor (much like the Freddy Krueger/Planned Parenthood 3% tweet). This meme fails both conditions, and makes us sound like Planned Parenthood's apologists do: "Lynching is only 3% of the KKK's activities, what about their bonfire hotdog roasts?"
</p>
<p>
<span class="dialogue_them">"But,"</span> I hear so many people say, <span class="dialogue_them">"That's not what it stands for now! It's just states' rights and Southern Pride! It's foolish to hang on to old outdated meanings that nobody believes in anymore!"</span>
</p>
<p>
And again I say, southern pride in what?
</p>
<p>
And again I say, states' rights to do what?
</p>
<p>
Yes, symbols change, but for the love of Truth look at Donald Trump appealing to the worst elements of racism in our country and tell me there aren't people for whom this is still the meaning of the flag. We are not so far from the civil rights movement that we can so callously dismiss the "former meaning," when there are still people alive who witnessed the inhumanity of that "former meaning," whose parents and grandparents told them of the injustices accomplished under that "former meaning." <span class="inline_very_emphatic">THAT</span> is foolishness.
</p>
<p>
<span class="dialogue_them">"But,"</span> I hear till more people say, <span class="dialogue_them">"What about the Stars and Stripes! The KKK claims that they are American and fly the Star Spangled Banner in their marches too! And what about all the bad things Americans have done?!"</span>
</p>
<p>
America is not perfect, granted. Two wrongs still don't make a right. More than that, and something which you should understand if you're Catholic, acts are important but so is founding. As G. K. Chesterton said, "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried." The same could be said of the American Ideal (whilst being cautious not to fall into the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americanism_(heresy)">heresy of Americanism</a>.
</p>
<p>
The Star Spangled Banner has waved over many atrocities, it's true. Every single one has been contrary to the founding principle that "We hold these truths to be self evident: that All Men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that among them are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness."
</p>
<p>
Every atrocity committed under the Star Spangled Banner is not just a violation of the natural law, God's law, but also of her very ideals.
</p>
<p>
Every racially motivated atrocity committed under the "Unstained Banner," or under the modern "Rebel Flag," is a violation of the natural law, of God's law, and yet is in keeping with the principles and ideals of the Confederate States of America that the White Man was created superior, and that servitude and slavery are the natural state of all other races.
</p>
<p>
Because here's the thing. You wouldn't buy it if I started using Nazi symbols and claiming it was just part of being proud of my German heritage. I am proud of that heritage, but I'm also proud that as far as I know most if not all of my ancestors came to the United States <span class="emphasis">before</span> the Nazi rise to power.
</p>
<p>
Planned Parenthood is evil, founded by a very racist woman who inspired Hitler to kill millions of "inhumans" even as her own organization continues to kill millions of "inhumans." But those same sentiments are found in the "Cornerstone" Speech, given by the Vice President of the CSA, Alexander H. Stevens:
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihE19K_2nnq-H8UWF3T_8U_d1otB-syGzSR2XJa7R-v3m42LcWKFFQP1G1gEARFsWNzMNFuiEVDiK7nKhpJfuAH0yIFWcic4sYpwNg7qd7EFSOXOEyfGnWW_KcudYcEodN1IHcwuJ2pE5S/s1600/heritage-not-hate-m92tcx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihE19K_2nnq-H8UWF3T_8U_d1otB-syGzSR2XJa7R-v3m42LcWKFFQP1G1gEARFsWNzMNFuiEVDiK7nKhpJfuAH0yIFWcic4sYpwNg7qd7EFSOXOEyfGnWW_KcudYcEodN1IHcwuJ2pE5S/s320/heritage-not-hate-m92tcx.jpg" /></a></div>
<blockquote class="story">
<p>
The constitution, it is true, secured every essential guarantee to the institution while it should last, and hence no argument can be justly urged against the constitutional guarantees thus secured, because of the common sentiment of the day. Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong. They rested upon the assumption of the equality of races. This was an error. It was a sandy foundation, and the government built upon it fell when the “storm came and the wind blew.”
</p>
<p>
Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner- stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>
It is the same sentiment that leads Planned Parenthood to follow in its founder's footsteps in targeting poor and minority communities that lead the designer of the "Unstained Flag", William T. Thompson to say this:
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidvL92xyR9hCJE-nfauMiMGUfKv3gDpLFNLK7d6P0QnKtPOItSjdjnYSYCg562O0MoYtpTcAq4BqIXgqQ2i90NlIbGkAlD1Y9-hrxvc5jrTSW8a9Wpy-4NuNoufLzpCPJLFG5czYrGqJTH/s1600/unstained_flag.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidvL92xyR9hCJE-nfauMiMGUfKv3gDpLFNLK7d6P0QnKtPOItSjdjnYSYCg562O0MoYtpTcAq4BqIXgqQ2i90NlIbGkAlD1Y9-hrxvc5jrTSW8a9Wpy-4NuNoufLzpCPJLFG5czYrGqJTH/s320/unstained_flag.png" /></a></div>
<blockquote class="story">
<p>
As a people we are fighting to maintain the Heaven-ordained supremacy of the white man over the inferior or colored race; a white flag would thus be emblematical of our cause.
</p>
<p>
As a national emblem, it is significant of our higher cause, the cause of a superior race, and a higher civilization contending against ignorance, infidelity, and barbarism. Another merit in the new flag is, that it bears no resemblance to the now infamous banner of the Yankee vandals.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>
We are <span class="inline_very_emphatic">CATHOLIC</span>. If we want to defend decentralized government and political subsidiarity, then why not pick Chesterton, or a Saint? Or for that matter the founding fathers, who understood just war theory and put so much thought into their efforts? Why are we shackling ourselves to a symbol which has literally no inherent value or benefit to us, and yet is such a source of pain for so many people?
</p>
</div>Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1652449590710538381.post-46090765545395771972015-06-10T15:36:00.000-05:002018-09-01T16:09:31.412-05:00This is a dog...<div class="PostBody">
<p>
I have a guest post for you today, penned by my beloved. Enjoy!
</p>
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<p>
This is our dog Katie. This morning like most mornings I woke up with her cuddled at my feet. We got Katie shortly after our son Gabriel died to keep the mice away from me so I could actually sleep a little bit. It turns out that not only was she fantastic at keeping the mice away she has also been an amazing emotional support; I have cried into her fur more often than I can count. Katie is a great cuddler and would love to spend all day on my lap. This is a GREAT dog!! She is patient with my kids, she protects me in my scary basement, and she literally helped me up when I tripped over my own feet while walking her.
</p><p>
<a name='more'></a>Katie is much loved, and very well cared for/spoiled by every member of this family. But...Katie is NOT my child, she is NOT my “furbaby”. Katie fills the role of loved dog in the Evans family.
</p><p>
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This is our Son Gabriel. He died when he was 7 weeks old. For 40 weeks he caused my body to grow and change. I had morning sickness almost constantly with this little guy, I got stretch marks in places I didn’t know it was possible to get stretch marks in, and my feet, legs, hips, and back hurt almost constantly as his birthday approached. Gabriel was also the first child I had without an epidural (NOT by choice). After he was born I lost a pretty huge part of my bodily autonomy because wierldly newborns like to eat a lot. While he was with us I was exhausted almost constantly and my world revolved around feeding and changing and cuddling my son while trying to make sure his siblings got mommy time too. It was hard, but I loved it. Gabriel is AWESOME (literally his life filled me full of awe and wonder)!! He could cry specifically for me, look around the room for his brother and sister, and melt his daddy’s heart.
</p><p>
Gabriel is much loved, and was cared for by every member of this family. We miss him everyday, we see him in rainbows, and there is a hole in our family that nobody can fill. Our life ended the day that Gabriel’s did. We are still trying to figure out what life without him is supposed to be like (Our children bring gifts to the cemetery like its normal).
</p><p>
So maybe it’s kind of understandable that when our vet sends us mail about our “fur baby”, or I see people on facebook comparing the loss of their pets to the loss of a child, or I read stories about support groups for grieving for your furry child, I want to scream. Of course people love their pets, and of course they mourn their passing (I saw my dog run over as a child and it was awful).
</p><p>
But. Pets. ARE. NOT. PEOPLE. Full stop. They just aren’t. There is no comparison, and moreover it is exceedingly offensive when you try to humanize them. Its not great for your pets either; pretty much every “problem pet” show on TV starts with the humans learning to treat their pets like animals.
</p><p>
Let me say it again: Pets ARE NOT PEOPLE. I love Katie, but she would not be in our home if Gabriel still was. Katie can never replace my SON, and in all honesty I would go Michael Vick on her in a second if it meant I could have one more cuddle with my baby.
</p><p>
Pets ARE NOT PEOPLE… we expect that our pets will die and that we may even have several over a lifetime. The sadness of losing a pet is real, but it is not the deep ache of losing a person.
</p><p>
Pope Francis expressed concern recently that after food, clothing, and shelter, the fourth and fifth largest expenses in the developed world are cosmetics and pets. This bespeaks seriously disordered priorities, elevating pets to the status of children, or worse demoting children to the status of pets. Imagine if instead of the vanity of cosmetics, and the vanity that is much pet ownership (I’m looking at you, purse pups), we were actually funding children and family resource centers, or welcoming these least among us into our homes?
</p><p>
Pets ARE NOT PEOPLE, and treating them as such demeans both them and the people around us. Pets are awesome, and can be beloved members of a family - pet members. But referring to them as our “fur babies” or our “furry children” tells of a radical ignorance of the unique dignity of animals, and the unique dignity of people, and should be concerning to those who care both for the people God has made, and the creation with which he has entrusted us.
</p>
</div>
Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1652449590710538381.post-17648513880791770072015-04-20T11:32:00.001-05:002015-04-26T17:02:05.764-05:00That You Might Be Perfect<div class="PostBody">
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<p class="scripture">
My brethren, count it all joy, when you shall fall into various trials: knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience, and patience hath a perfect work: that you may be perfect and entire, failing in nothing.
</p>
<p>
This has not been our year.
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p>
I'm sitting in the hospital, writing this with the woman I promised to be with for better or for worse.
</p>
<p>
You should be able to guess what part this is.
</p>
<p>
I'm a Master Instructor at Aspen Martial Arts, working with an old friend of mine with whom I earned my black belt over a decade ago. Erin started working out again this January, and just tested for her green belt in Taekwondo. Saturday morning, we were supposed to go to a Taekwondo tournament, an intermural contest between our school and my old school (where Jack and I earned those black belts).
</p>
<p>
But no, I was sick.
</p>
<p>
Erin was feeling like she had a huge gas bubble, but nothing she couldn't push through. I on the other hand felt like I was going to throw up, and Erin didn't want to go if I wasn't going to go.
</p>
<p>
So we let everyone know we wouldn't make it, and settled in to relax.
</p>
<p>
And I started to feel better.
</p>
<p>
And Erin didn't.
</p>
<p>
So we called our family doctor who had me check for appendicitis (nope), give her some gas tabs and pain relievers, and call him back in the afternoon to see if she was feeling better.
</p>
<p>
Nope.
</p>
<p>
On top of abdominal pain, she couldn't breathe when she laid down, felt like she was going to break a rib. To the emergency room for us, just as a precaution, Doc wanted a belly CT. Y'know, kidney stones or something.
</p>
<p>
So a flurry of phone calls later the kids are with a friend, and we're settling in at the ER, informed that this might take a while. Grandparents are called to watch the kids in case things go late, fluids are collected for testing, pretty routine for us at this point to be honest.
</p>
<p>
At 6:30 the first shoe dropped. "Did you know you're pregnant?" Well, no. Erin had started bleeding on Tuesday, so we thought she was on her period. The ER staff didn't get why we weren't excited, but how could they know that every time Erin has bled while pregnant, she miscarried?
</p>
<p>
So yeah, kind of a sucky way to spend a Saturday night, finding out that you're pregnant again, and that you've already lost this little person you never even knew was there.
</p>
<p>
Our doctor is awesome though. Even though he wasn't there with us, he called to check in on us, and we called him with updates. Ever since Gabriel died his whole practice has carried the prayer cards from his funeral and prayed the Angelus. Over the phone, he led us in prayer. We love our doctor.
</p>
<p>
And then at 8:30, the other shoe dropped. The ultrasound showed a mass. The pregnancy was ectopic.
</p>
<p>
For those of you lucky enough to not know what an ectopic pregnancy is, its when the fertilized egg implants outside the uterus. Our baby got stuck in the fallopian tube, which is good for neither mother nor child. Saturday at 9:30, Erin was being prepped for emergency surgery.
</p>
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<p>
For the record, facing general anesthesia while you feel like you can't breathe is terrifying. Our Pastor had gotten there quickly and anointed her with the Oil of the Sick, so she was spiritually ready to die. If she were to pass during the surgery she would go to heaven, to be with <span class="inline_very_emphatic">the majority of our children</span>. But she was terrified for our two living children, that she would leave them without a mother; for me, her husband, that she would leave me without a wife after having buried our son only 6 months ago.
</p>
<p>
To me, she could say "I love you" one more time, give me one more kiss. Thanks to modern technology we were able to FaceTime my dad, so she could see our very sleepy children one more time, tell them she loved them.
</p>
<p>
Surgery went well. The surgeon tried to save her fallopian tube, but it kept bleeding and he had to remove it. She has both ovaries so there shouldn't be any hormonal impact, but she still has a long road to recovery: 6 weeks without lifting anything over 10 lbs.
</p>
<p>
And this of course roughly 6 months after we buried Gabriel.
</p>
<p>
We've been studying suffering in our couple's group the last several months, which gives the opportunity to share our experience of suffering with our friends, and for them to share their experiences with us. Last month's hosts lost their little saint a little over an hour after he was born, and attending were friends who had miscarried, had ectopic pregnancies, everything. If there's one truth about suffering, it is that we are never alone.
</p>
<p>
I can't imagine being anything but Catholic when suffering. No other religion (and certainly no irreligion) seems to understand suffering quite so well as the Church. In a world where we are told to avoid suffering at all costs, we stare at the image of our God come down from heaven to hang on a tree. We have a God who shares our suffering.
</p>
<p>
We have a God who share His suffering with us.
</p>
<p>
It is said that in a particular time of trial, St. Theresa of Avila complained to Jesus of her treatment. Jesus said to her: "Teresa, whom the Lord loves, he chastises. This is how I treat all my friends." She replied tartly, "No wonder you have so few!"
</p>
<p>
Here's the thing. Even Jesus asked that the cup of suffering from which He was to drink would pass Him by. It's okay to tell God that you're not a fan, He gets it!
</p>
<p>
What is important, we have found, is to offer Him our sufferings, because He will unite them with His own, and make them effective. On our own, our sufferings are useless, pointless, worthless, but when we give them to Jesus, He takes them and makes them His own just as He makes us His own.
</p>
<p>
Never have we felt more our dependence on God, our reliance on Him, our belonging to Him, than in the midst of our suffering.
</p>
<p>
So again we find ourselves praying all too familiar prayers:
</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"Take this suffering, unite it to yours, and free souls from purgatory..."</p>
<p>"Use this suffering as a prayer for mothers and their unborn children..."</p>
<p>"Why is this happening to us, haven't we had enough? But not my will, but thy will be done..."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>
And once again, He hears our prayers, accepts our broken hearts as a fragrant offering, and returns them to us overflowing with joy.
</p>
<p>
And once again, He teaches us.
</p>
<p>
Suffering is a painful teacher, but you will not receive a more worthwhile lesson.
</p>
<p>
Suffering puts everything in perspective, especially when united with Christ. There's always someone who has it worse. There's always someone in more pain, more grief, more anguish. There are Christians right now living in daily fear that their confession of Jesus as Lord is going to lead them and their families to being butchered. We at least know that our children are in heaven, we have friends whose children have left the Church, and do not know if their children will die in friendship with God.
</p>
<p>
Someone always has it worse. So don't worry about it, just suffer. It doesn't make your burden any less significant, though hopefully it can make it lighter in a "join the club" kind of way.
</p>
<p>
Suffering is always going to happen, and it doesn't pass any faster by smiling the whole time. It just doesn't. Do you think Jesus was grinning up on the Cross? Because last time I read the Passion, He cried out, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"
</p>
<p>
"Suffering well" is great for sufferings you take on yourself. If you are fasting, don't talk about how hungry you are. If you are giving alms, don't talk about how you're not able to buy something. Nobody needs to know about the penances you impose upon yourself.
</p>
<p>
The suffering that comes into your life though? Well, consider the parable of the two sons whom the father asked to work. One son said yes and didn't do anything, the other said no and went and did the work. Which one was faithful?
</p>
<p>
Faith works patience, and patience has a perfect work: your perfection. It's work. It's a job. It is the sandpaper smoothing the wood, the chisel shaping the marble, the hammer forging the blade. It hurts. It sucks. Saying so is not sin.
</p>
<p>
So speaking of suffering, blades, and persecution, let me introduce you to my son.
</p>
<p>
We discovered his life and his death on the feast of Saint Perfectus whose entry in the Roman Martyrology reads:
</p>
<blockquote>
At Cordova, St. Perfectus, priest and martyr, who was slain with the sword by the Moors, because he argued against the sect of Mohammed and firmly insisted on the Catholic faith.
</blockquote>
<p>
Everyone suffers. To suffer well is to unite your suffering to the Passion of Our Lord, who makes all things new, and promises Erin and I that we will meet His Saint, our son Perfectus, if we but unite ourselves to Him.
</p>
<p>
Saints Angelica, Jeremy, Gabriel, and Perfectus: pray for us!
</p>
</div>Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1652449590710538381.post-23759172561611471462015-04-04T21:13:00.000-05:002015-04-05T20:39:00.454-05:00The Feast of Love<div class="PostBody">
<p>
Love. Luv. Like. Αγάπε (agape). Έροσ (eros). Φιλία (philia). Στοργή (storge).
</p>
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<p>
What's love got to do (got to do) with it?
</p>
<p>
Everything.
</p>
<p>
I was thinking (dangerous, I know) about love, and I've finally come up with a good thing about the English language's lack of differentiation in the word "love." I didn't think it was possible! I mean "love" is my favorite English whipping boy, my go to example of why the language is terribly deficient (which it is).
</p>
<p>
But there I was, thinking about Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in <u>Deus Caritas Est</u> raising the question about eros, and if eros can be purified, and is it really different from agape, and...
</p>
<p>
<a name='more'></a>Right, quick review:
</p>
<p>
<dl>
<dt>Στοργή (storge)</dt>
<dd>Affection</dd>
<dt>Φιλία (philia)</dt>
<dd>Mental love, "brotherly" love</dd>
<dt>Έροσ (eros)</dt>
<dd>Romantic love, passionate love, erotic love, love of beauty</dd>
<dt>Αγάπε (agape)</dt>
<dd>Sacrificial love, self-giving love, "true" love</dd>
</dl>
That's a bit of a simplification, but it gives us decent tools to work with.
</p>
<p>
So the question Pope Benedict raised was more or less, are these four loves different, or just different expressions of the same reality?
</p>
<p>
The thing is, it's really easy to let them get separated. And worse, we not only categorize them, we brand them. Agape is pure, and true. Philia is good, neutral, storge is okay. But eros? That's diiirrrttyyy... I mean, it's okay if you're <i>married</i> I guess, but... Ewww... We don't talk about eros.
</p>
<p>
Thank you Puritans. That's part of the baggage that even Catholics have to deal with, given that we live in a Protestant culture, heavily influenced by the Puritans. Yay.
</p>
<p>
So the good thing about "Love" in English - it reminds us that love is love. There are different modalities, ways of expression, but ultimately, all love flows from the same source, right?
</p>
<p>
But does that mean eros too?
</p>
<p>
Is romantic love, and not just in the sense of a love of beauty or some sanitized Disney romance, but is full on <span class="inline_scripture">The two shall become one flesh</span> love actually a part of the same love as agape?
</p>
<p>
This is where things may get a little uncomfortable for some people. Because the answer is yes.
</p>
<p>
Which means I have to explain why this:
</p>
<p>
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...has anything to do with the word from whence we get the word "erotic." What am I, sick?
</p>
<p>
Well, I am in need of the <i>medicus</i>, but that's a post for another time.
</p>
<p>
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Right now, it's mystical theology time!
</p>
<p>
So let's start from the end.
</p>
<p>
John 19.30:
</p>
<p>
<blockquote class="scripture">
When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, "It is finished." And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.
</blockquote>
</p>
<p>
I really don't like that translation. Finished, but not in the sense of ending. More like accomplished, the way that the composer finishes a piece of music, than the performers get to the <i>fine</i>.
</p>
<p>
In the Vulgate, the phrase is "consummatum est." There's that sense of approaching the peak, the summit of what is possible. This is consummation.
</p>
<p>
That's right.</p>
<p>
Consummation.</p>
<p>
Mark 2.19-20:
</p>
<p>
<blockquote class="scripture">
Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day."
</blockquote>
</p>
<p>
Ephesians 5.31-32:
</p>
<p>
<blockquote class="scripture">
"For this reason a man shall leave [his] father and [his] mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the church.
</blockquote>
</p>
<p>
Jesus is frequently identified as the Bridegroom, with the Church, the Body of Christ as His bride.
</p>
<p>
Throughout the Old Testament, the sacred authors use this metaphor of marriage, how God will come to "marry" His people. We find this especially in the love poetry that is the Song of Songs. And is it ever erotic! Every inch and curve of the beloved, head to toe, is described in loving and awestruck detail.
</p>
<p>
<strong>That's right people, the bible talks about SEX!</strong>
</p>
<p>
So let's look at the cross in a new light. If God is coming to marry His people, then what does He mean when on the cross He says "It is consummated?"
</p>
<p>
He means exactly what he said. <strong>It. Is. CONSUMMATED.</strong>
</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
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Remember my post on <a href="http://musings-of-jeb.blogspot.com/2014/02/sexy-sex.html">Sexy Sex</a> a while back? Remember how I talked about how in the marital embrace, husband and wife get to touch heaven? Yeah. They're participating in the sacrifice of calvary too.
</p>
<p>
Just as marriage reaches it's finality in the act of consummation (so much so that every time a married couple has intercourse, they are renewing their wedding vows!), the Cross is the consummation of the earthly life of Our Lord, of His coming to wed His people. As everything is pledged at the altar, and at the Last Supper, everything is given in the marital bed, and upon the Cross. This must then give us an entirely new perspective on salvation history.
</p>
<p>
The Old Testament is education. It is the first meeting, and the time of schooling, "wherein one learns and develops the virtues necessary for courtship" as my friend Mitchel put it so eloquently.
</p>
<p>
The earthly life of Jesus is then Courtship. It is the time when the Bride and Bridegroom get to know each other face to face, to fall in love with each other. It is good, it is important, but it points to something more. It is not the end in itself.
</p>
<p>
And then, we have the wedding feast. The Last Supper. He washes the feet of His Bride, the Church. He feeds Her, promises to give everything that He <strong>IS</strong> to Her. But promises, promises... Promises are not enough. He is called Faithful and True because He delivers that which He promises.
</p>
<p>
So if the Last Supper is the wedding feast, and the Crucifixion and Death is the consummation, the Passion becomes foreplay. Just as in the marriage bed husband and wife prepare each other, and prepare each other's bodies for the complete vulnerability and intimacy they are about to engage in, Christ's body (that is the Church) is prepared for the ultimate sacrifice of self.
</p>
<p>
Every torture, every revilement, these are how Christ prepares Himself in His Sacred humanity for His death. For consummation.
</p>
<p>
The declaration in Genesis 3.16 to Eve "<span class="inline_scripture">To the woman he said: (...) Yet your urge shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.</span>" is overturned when Christ says in John 15.15 "<span class="inline_scripture">I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.</span>" The Church, the Bride of Christ, is invited to submit to - that is to place herself under the mission of - Her Bridegroom, not in bondage to urges and ruled over, but as the beloved, with whom the mission is shared.
</p>
<p>
With whom a life is shared.
</p>
<p>
On the Feast of the Holy innocents, two of our best friends got married. As the best man, I started my toast in a way that made everyone but the bride and groom uncomfortable. I quoted from the collect for the feast day.
</p>
<p>
<blockquote class="scripture">
O God, whom the Holy Innocents confessed and proclaimed on this day, not by speaking but by dying...
</blockquote>
</p>
<p>
Who says that at a wedding? As a best man? As the first one to address the reception?
</p>
<p>
Me apparently.
</p>
<p>
But look at this - not by speaking, but by dying. Christ didn't save us by speaking, but by dying. The husband and wife don't become one by speaking, but by dying. In French, do you know what they call an orgasm? "La petite mort" - the little death.
</p>
<p>
Speaking is great, but it is the sacrifice of self which makes the promises spoken a reality.
</p>
<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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But wait a second...
</p>
<p>
If the sacrifice of the Mass is really a participation in the Last Supper and the Sacrifice of the Cross...
</p>
<p>
The Mass is always a wedding feast. It is always the consummation of Christ and His Church, insomuch as the Eucharist is the Source and Summit of the Christian Life.
</p>
<p>
He's not just promising salvation, and He's not just feeding the 12. He is come to wed His people, to feed them of His own sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. The Cross makes real the promises made at the Last Supper. As my eloquent friend says, "...actualizes what was done intentionally at a human level, and potentially at a mystical level."
</p>
<p>
But what's more, just as every act of intercourse between husband and wife is a renewal of their wedding vows, a participation in the pledge of their wedding, so the Eucharist is a renewal of the vows of Christ to His Bride, He Who is called "Faithful and True," and we who gain the title of "Faithful," sharing in the title of God by trusting Him, receiving Him, depending upon Him. (Evangelii Gaudium)
</p>
<p>
Luke 22.15:
</p>
<p>
<blockquote class="scripture">
He said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer..."
</blockquote>
</p>
<p>
Our Lord, as any Faithful Bridegroom, longs to share Himself with His bride, such that he pledges everything that He is, everything that He has.
</p>
<p>
Salvation, the Eucharist, the Mass, it cost Him His life.
</p>
<p>
Romans 5.7-8:
</p>
<p>
<blockquote class="scripture">
Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
</blockquote>
</p>
<p>
Everything. Jesus. Has. Is. Pledged. He can give no more to us. He thirsts for us, for union with us. And then still, we turn away. We don't see Him there, present under the accidents of Bread and Wine, the Veiled Divinity in our very midst. We ignore His pledge to us. How this must wound Christ again, rejecting Him in this way!
</p>
<p>
We must be careful in our consideration here, because we can only understand this dimly, through the mirror of analogy. As the Doctor is fond of saying, "It's like this. Well, no it isn't, but if that helps."
</p>
<p>
In the marital embrace the wife accepts her husband's body inside of her, the two become one as two people attempt to break the laws of physics and occupy the same space at the same time, and from this intense and ecstatic union flows life, both for the marriage and for the next generation.
</p>
<p>
In the Eucharist we the Bride of Christ accept Our Lord's body inside of us. <span class="inline_scripture">Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.</span> We literally, as our body digests the Sacred Presence of Our Lord, become one with God, occupying the same space as He steps out of the eternal and into our time, in an experience which for some of the Saints is even more intense and ecstatic than can be imagined in an earthly marriage. And from this mystical union with Christ, our Bridegroom, life flows, both for the marriage (which is our Life of Faith), and for the next generation, in how we - transformed by His love - transform the world.
</p>
<p>
"<span class="inline_scripture">Consummatum est</span>" he says to you as you receive His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. "<span class="inline_scripture">I love you, my beautiful, my beloved. I have greatly desired to share my life with you! I love you, with all that I AM. I love you, more than you can possibly know. Will you let me show you?</span>"
</p>
</div>
Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1652449590710538381.post-27314922840108094752015-04-02T00:46:00.000-05:002015-04-02T00:46:18.996-05:00Ecce Homo<div class="PostBody">
How far from the Animal is Man,
<ul style="list-style:none;">
<li>and how close?</li>
</ul>
He walks, he talks, he sits on command.<br/>
A thin veneer of civility...
<ul style="list-style:none;">
<li>scratch the surface and see him implode.</li>
</ul>
Yet how noble?
<ul style="list-style:none;">
<li>A hair's breadth from exalted orations.</li>
<li>A hair's breadth from depraved ravings.</li>
</ul>
Wrestling with God while angels and demons whisper at his shoulders.<br/>
Running before he can walk,
<ul style="list-style:none;">
<li>it is a wonder he stands at all.</li>
</ul>
How sad is a life wasted?<br/>
How beautiful is a life well spent?<br/><br/>
See him chip and shatter.<br/>
See him weather storms.<br/><br/>
Behold the Man.
</div>Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1652449590710538381.post-25182673011635734342015-02-10T15:06:00.000-06:002015-02-10T15:09:31.806-06:00The Gifts of the Holy Spirit<div class="PostBody">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfRA0wvT78rNOdaTcxLBZNNQ8zFYVTiwroaQcOuEI-iPt_DLLSusuRxnmEx-5nKON70Zw4zFrAfRkZRlvhDBcjbyb94ZPmZkrFNoUpdlX4QqK2D8-bMRlrHY5w3O5qtqIDrWbdkbmXIH_6/s1600/holy_spirit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfRA0wvT78rNOdaTcxLBZNNQ8zFYVTiwroaQcOuEI-iPt_DLLSusuRxnmEx-5nKON70Zw4zFrAfRkZRlvhDBcjbyb94ZPmZkrFNoUpdlX4QqK2D8-bMRlrHY5w3O5qtqIDrWbdkbmXIH_6/s320/holy_spirit.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>
It's that time again, when young men and women prepare to have their baptisms confirmed, when the Holy Spirit is asked to descend upon them as He did the Apostles at the first Pentecost.
</p>
<p>
This year I was asked to give a talk to some of our confirmation students about how the Holy Spirit has acted in my life. What follows is what I prepared for them. When I speak, I do not follow my text exactly, I give room for the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and so this is different from the talks I gave, just as each of the talks were different from each other. Hopefully this will still speak to you in some way.
</p>
<p>
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit are these:
</p>
<ul>
<li>Wisdom</li>
<li>Understanding</li>
<li>Knowledge</li>
<li>Counsel</li>
<li>Fortitude</li>
<li>Reverence (Piety)</li>
<li>Fear of the Lord</li>
</ul>
<p>
We are asked time and again if we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, usually by a Protestant who is attempting to evangelize. It is an important question! But have you ever been asked if you have a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit?
</p>
<p>
Consider yourself asked. Do you have a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit? If not, why not?
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p>
It's easy sometimes to imagine the Trinity like a bad Charlie Sheen sitcom: instead of 2 1/2 men, it's 2 men and a bird. We have a very clear notion of God the Father from the Old Testament, and of God the Son, our Savior, from the Gospels. But God the Holy Spirit appears as a tongue of flame, a dove, a wind, a voice. Powerful, to be sure, but... Sometimes a little hard to get to know.
</p>
<p>
I want to tell you a little bit about how I've gotten to know Him, to see His gifts in my life, but before I do that I want to tell you a little about who He is, and what His gifts are. I want to challenge you, as I speak, to see Him as a person, intentional, loving, gift-giving.
</p>
<p>
Our Cliff's Notes for the Holy Spirit come straight from the Creed. We say this every Sunday: I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son, Who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, Who has spoken through the prophets.
</p>
<p>
The Lord, adored and glorified. He is God, co-equal, co-eternal. His own person, not some jumped up angel. Proceeds from the Father and the Son. The Trinity is all about relationship, the Son eternally begotten of the Father, the Holy Spirit eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son. Much more can be said here, another time.
</p>
<p>
The Giver of Life, Who has spoken through the prophets. Spirit has the same root word as respiration, and the Latin - Spiritus - has a strong connection with breathing. Just as breath gives life to the body, so does the Holy Spirit give us spiritual life, inspiring us - breathing within us.
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisOgY0R_K08SuIbMbPKv5K9Od4yv9S2M5H9OA07R1b22cfENRpFHSL0G38yuAsuy8Zu58dSH8GBzHMDxMeJS6sbUI1nZ77Mk5ldwJiNVV7n7Sbaf-bHTMihcdLOgSsF7YijHBZTq1l3QUO/s1600/St_Thomas_Aquinas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisOgY0R_K08SuIbMbPKv5K9Od4yv9S2M5H9OA07R1b22cfENRpFHSL0G38yuAsuy8Zu58dSH8GBzHMDxMeJS6sbUI1nZ77Mk5ldwJiNVV7n7Sbaf-bHTMihcdLOgSsF7YijHBZTq1l3QUO/s320/St_Thomas_Aquinas.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>
And His gifts? As Thomas Aquinas said, Grace perfects Nature, and so these Gifts perfect Virtues of the intellect and will. These gifts perfect and ennoble the four cardinal virtues - temperance, justice, prudence, and fortitude - as well as the three Theological virtues - faith, hope, and charity. They are not an example to follow so that I can better myself, nor are they the strength to try harder to better myself. They are a pure gift, perfecting my nature, perfecting your nature.
</p>
<p>
Don't get me wrong, it is important to acquire virtue, a life lived virtuously is a life lived fully human, fully alive, knowing and loving God. But the Holy Spirit gives His gifts where He wills.
</p>
<p>
So, with that in mind, let's start on a journey, and talk about the gifts I have received.
</p>
<p>
About 9 years ago, I met a woman after TNL, a Mass at 10pm on Thursday night at Saint Thomas Aquinas, the campus parish at Iowa State (Go Cyclones). I had made an announcement she was interested in, but she couldn't hear all the details, so she came up after Mass to ask me about it.
</p>
<p>
Now, I had just met her, I didn't know her, know anything about her, and yet as she turned and walked away I knew - <b><i>KNEW</i></b> - that she was someone I needed to know. Not in a, "hey babe can I get your number," kind of way, it wasn't about any romantic interest or attraction, I just new that she would be a good person to know, to have on my team.
</p>
<p>
I am sure that if I had gotten to know her in the regular way, I would have come to the same conclusion, but that's the thing - I didn't come to this certainty through reason, or experience. It was the Gift of Knowledge, perfecting my intellect. It was the Holy Spirit telling me something. He was right, but we'll get to that in a minute.
</p>
<p>
Two weeks after I met this woman, I had gotten to know her pretty well. We felt safe around each other, we were able to share our life stories, our hopes and our dreams. Turns out we were very different, but wanted a lot of the same things. A good Catholic spouse, lots of kids. Things like that.
</p>
<p>
The Holy Spirit, not content with the common pace of events these days, gave me a few more gifts, this time Counsel and Fortitude, that is the perfection of prudence to make decisions, and fortitude to act on them even when you're terrified out of your mind.
</p>
<p>
Which is a pretty common state when you ask a woman you met two weeks ago to marry you.
</p>
<p>
I was 19, and I had asked a woman to marry me. And she had said yes. 2 years later she changed her last name. When you listen to the Holy Spirit, when you let Him give you His gifts, your life goes where you would never expect, but when it's done following the Will of God, He will use you to work amazing things. A priest friend of ours, the priest who baptized Michael, told us that our marriage was a sign and an example to others.
</p>
<p>
We had no idea what he meant then. I wish I didn't know now.
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPOgT4Uvu76XCEWGNTwMoMNBZSfXv0HSFY_96FtWoJKkjGelRFoRYcYRxY1oO5XsATGaYWfVzjGz-3fKyJ7SpRw5Bj_PbfKdFc-ExIAkehkhMMJzmJi9ST6fw5nGas49fp6W7xOI05nEtH/s1600/IMG_1462-SMILE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPOgT4Uvu76XCEWGNTwMoMNBZSfXv0HSFY_96FtWoJKkjGelRFoRYcYRxY1oO5XsATGaYWfVzjGz-3fKyJ7SpRw5Bj_PbfKdFc-ExIAkehkhMMJzmJi9ST6fw5nGas49fp6W7xOI05nEtH/s320/IMG_1462-SMILE.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>
Fast forward about 8 years. We've been married for 6 years, and have 5 children:
</p>
<ul>
<li>Angelica, whom Erin miscarried before meeting me. Erin had been raped, and conceived Angelica, who I claimed as my own the same night I proposed. The little girl had never had a father, so even though I never got to meet her, she is mine.</li>
<li>Jeremy, whom we miscarried shortly after getting married.</li>
<li>Eve, our first-born, who was born while we were still in college.</li>
<li>Michael, who we were pregnant with my senior year - when we had a 1 year old, I had a job, and I was also team lead for a 2-semester senior design project for Google. He was born 9 days after I graduated.</li>
<li>Gabriel Robert, "Little Gaby Tables," our first child in the real world, whom we were just getting to know.</li>
</ul>
<p>
And then our world ended.
</p>
<p>
Three months ago, November 6th, 2014. We woke up, and Gabriel didn't.
</p>
<p>
That day was literally the worst day of my life. I hope that is the worst day I ever have to live through.
</p>
<p>
Remember what Thomas Aquinas says: Grace Perfects Nature. That means it can sometimes be hard to tell where the natural virtues end and the graces begin, at least from the outside.
</p>
<p>
I cannot tell you how many times over the last three months Erin or I have been told how strong we are, what a great example we are (of faith, of marriage, as Christians, in mourning, take your pick). "You are so strong!" "You are handling this with such grace!" "I could never be as strong as you are!"
</p>
<p>
It looks like natural virtue from the outside. It looks like the fruit of forming ourselves, developing a habitus - a virtuous habit - of prayer, of faith, of trust.
</p>
<p>
It's not.
</p>
<p>
Erin and I died on that day too. I do not have the words to described how crushed we were, how decimated. Torn apart. Destroyed.
</p>
<p>
But I can tell you where virtue ended and grace began.
</p>
<p>
In our darkest moment, He was there. He was there for me.
</p>
<p>
Remember I mentioned Faith and Hope. We use those words incorrectly most of the time. When we talk about faith, it's a sort of natural confidence, hope is a desire. I have faith in you, I have no faith in the system, I hope the Seahawks won't make an abysmal call on the 1, losing the Superbowl.
</p>
<p>
The virtues of Faith and Hope are quite a bit different from that.
</p>
<p>
Faith pertains to the intellect, allowing us to know God beyond our reasoning. I can know certain things about God without faith, such as His perfection, His Eternity, things like that. But I can't know HIM without Faith, without revelation, both through the Church and through growing close to Him in prayer. I can defend any article of the faith with reason, but I can't get there with it.
</p>
<p>
In the minutes and hours and days after Gabriel's death, there wasn't much I knew for certain. I knew about 2 things that I could verbalize: My son is in Heaven, and we will make it through this. I didn't know how we were going to get from point A to point B, I still don't, but I knew. I knew God would work in us, I knew Erin and I would be okay, and I knew my son was in Heaven.
</p>
<p>
Hope, on the other hand, pertains to the will, allowing us to choose God, and to trust in Him. When the Psalmist says (many times), "My hope is in the Lord," what he means is that I may fail, but God never will. Hope is what tells us that if we Love the Lord and keep His commands, He has promised to prepare a place for us in His mansion. Hope is what tells us that even when we fall, even when we turn from God, we can still make the plea of the Good Thief, who with his dying breath begged, <span class="scripture">"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."</span> Do you remember what Jesus said in reply? <span class="scripture">"Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." (Luke 23 39:43)</span>
</p>
<p>
Hope is our longing for God.
</p>
<p>
Hope is perfected by the Fear of the Lord.
</p>
<p>
The Fear of the Lord - what does that really mean? Is not fear the anticipation of future evil? If God is Goodness itself, how can we fear Him? Aquinas tells us that kind of fear is the fear of the slave, that we will be punished. The Gift of the Fear of the Lord is the fear of the son, that we will be separated from our father.
</p>
<p>
Think of it this way. Studies have shown that children whose fathers wrestle with them have better self esteem, both boys and girls. I was messing around with my kids the other day, "fighting" with them. They'd rush at me, put up their hands like I did, and then I'd just crush them! A push here, a tap there, and bam! They're on the floor! And they LOVE IT! As children, we need to know that daddy can crush us. Not for fear of his punishment, but to know that he can keep me safe! If I am stronger than my father, then I am responsible for my own safety. Fear of the Lord is the gift that lets me rest secure in the POWER of God.
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipZzm4H7yeNpXuu398G0Eohl-NcyO86FYrn8A6RAsslDaAKpzFO-dZ_mxFnuMV870TnjriKk8MyE4Byl98P8uYd-lBBrhF9nnhs7kNzQstrMQZn-LRi4j-eiocuBqBcs4fJv7VgbySn3-n/s1600/the-pieta1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipZzm4H7yeNpXuu398G0Eohl-NcyO86FYrn8A6RAsslDaAKpzFO-dZ_mxFnuMV870TnjriKk8MyE4Byl98P8uYd-lBBrhF9nnhs7kNzQstrMQZn-LRi4j-eiocuBqBcs4fJv7VgbySn3-n/s320/the-pieta1.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>
In that moment, when death had stolen from me my son, the Holy Spirit gave me the gift of Fear of the Lord, so that when I was too broken to do anything, I could still call out, "Abba! Father! Daddy!"
</p>
<p>
I called out to my Heavenly Father with a broken heart, realizing I was experiencing now a taste of the Cross. Is this what Mary felt like while she watched her son die? No, that would have been even worse, this just a taste of that agony and I can barely move, and yet she stood!
</p>
<p>
It is not with strength that I have made it three months, that we as a family have survived for three months. It is with weakness. It is not through virtue, but through grace, for we are crushed, <span class="scripture">"But they that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. " (Isaiah 40:31)</span>
</p>
<p>
It is amazing to me how many people have been moved by our loss, and also by our lives after Gabriel died. So many people have been given hope by our witness, and by our witness I mean the Holy Spirit's grace active in us.
</p>
<p>
I have learned a little better what is meant by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. I know a little better what Paul means when he says it is no longer I, but Christ living in me. I know a little better what it is to be lead by the Spirit.
</p>
<p>
With a broken heart full of joy, I have Faith, and I Hope. I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sin, and I look forward to the resurrection of the body, and the life of the world to come.
</p>
<p>
So be active in striving for the virtues, they will help you to live your life to the fullest, but do not think that simple virtue will be enough. Learn to know the Father, to whom you can cry "Abba!". Learn to know the Son, who stands knocking at the door of your heart, asking to be let in. Learn to know the Holy Spirit, your paraclete, your counselor, your advocate, who wants nothing more than to be your breath, to give you the Spiritual Life which will see you safe to our Heavenly Home.
</p>
<blockquote class="prayer">
Come, Holy Ghost,<br/>
Fill the hearts of Thy faithful;<br/>
Enkindle in them the fires of Thy Love.<br/>
Send forth Thy spirit and they shall be created,<br/>
and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.<br/><br/>
Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom,<br/>
Pray for us.
</blockquote>
</div>Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1652449590710538381.post-13995387854031059332015-01-25T14:20:00.000-06:002015-02-10T15:09:58.020-06:00Musings on Life<div class="PostBody">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8OwFU0zVZQUQybyGMxSkDLoa5uj2lN6ooFDvki0c4B98wjSVaubHsQoek3dPFeYgKWuDNVvoxrZsXjKITrwfpO3O14w_seykxA82T3K3T9EH18qjTr7uSNRg8Hplq4Zn2e5sBzcV0LdEq/s1600/Michael+Pro+Life.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8OwFU0zVZQUQybyGMxSkDLoa5uj2lN6ooFDvki0c4B98wjSVaubHsQoek3dPFeYgKWuDNVvoxrZsXjKITrwfpO3O14w_seykxA82T3K3T9EH18qjTr7uSNRg8Hplq4Zn2e5sBzcV0LdEq/s320/Michael+Pro+Life.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>
At the end of this week in which we commemorate the 42<sup>nd</sup> anniversary of the dubious Roe v. Wade decision, I have had some musings about abortion and the efforts we undertake to eradicate it. This is a little like a quick takes, but I'm too much of a non-conformist to do it on the right day, in the right number, or in some clever deviation from the norms. Sorry.
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p class="sectionHeader">Musing the First</p>
<p>
I admit that there is a time and place to use graphic images and descriptions of abortion. Many people are truly ignorant of the reality that is the murder of a living person in the womb which should be the safest place of all, and seeing the aftermath, hearing the grisly narration, sometimes this is necessary to break through the shell of that ignorance. Maybe.
</p>
<p>
However, in our gore-soaked culture, how often does another graphic image simply shut us down? How often does a gruesome description make us simply stop listening?
</p>
<p>
Let me put it this way. Do you think that showing images - or even videos - of the execution of convicts would convert an ardent supporter of current law concerning the death penalty? Or that the same from the aftermath of a drone strike would convince a supporter of our current military engagements contrary to just war doctrine?
</p>
<p>
The evil is important to remember, but better still to focus on the beauty to be preserved.
</p>
<p class="sectionHeader">Musing the Second</p>
<p>
Regarding the gore, it gets us focused on a particular set of circumstances. Yes, later term abortions are more gruesome, but our indignation, our outrage at the loss of life cannot be tied to the gruesomeness. Being pro-life in the context of conception to birth means that we will not stand for the violation of human dignity, whether it is a child with a heartbeat, or minutes after conception, or discarded in the process of IVF, no matter how gruesome the procedure.
</p>
<p>
It is easier to handle the murder of life that doesn't even look like life yet than it is when there are toes and a heartbeat. I know, losing Gabriel was harder than losing Angelica or Jeremy to miscarriage. But all three are my children. Every last child thrown away in "fertility therapy," or who cannot find safe refuge in the womb due to an abortifacient contraceptive or morning after pill, should grieve us.
</p>
<p>
A person's a person, no matter how small, and the death of an innocent is tragic, no matter how "clean".
</p>
<p class="sectionHeader">Musing the Third</p>
<p>
Pope Francis has spoken of our "throwaway" culture. Over 50 Million abortions in the U.S. since Roe v. Wade. Over 3,000 today. So many lives just thrown away, and here I sit. I would give anything to hold Gabriel for one more minute. So many children discarded and here I sit wishing I could hold him again. I just... I cannot wrap my head around that reality.
</p>
<p>
I'll leave that as an exercise to the reader.
</p>
<p>
Or maybe this is an opportunity to contemplate that-which-is vs. that-which-should-be.
</p>
<p class="sectionHeader">Musing the Fourth</p>
<p>
I was trying to contemplate that dichotomy and got a 503: Literally Can't Even error. I don't get abortion. It is unthinkable to me.
</p>
<p>
Hey, that sounds like a segue!
</p>
<p>
No, it didn't. I'm tired. So sue me.
</p>
<p>
My friend Destiny from <a href="http://newwavefeminists.blogspot.com/">New Wave Feminists</a> (go, now, check them out, they're awesome) was quoted in a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/22/march-for-life-abortion-_n_6525868.html">HuffPo <span class="strike">hack piece</span>article</a> about the March for Life in Washington D.C.
</p>
<blockquote>
Even if abortion is made illegal tomorrow, they’re still going to be happening, so we really have to make abortion unthinkable.
</blockquote>
<p>
Thank you. Couldn't have said it better. You are awesome. Erin agrees.
</p>
<p class="sectionHeader">Musing the Fifth</p>
From the... article...
<blockquote>
Much media attention focused on the annual March for Life, when tens of thousands of anti-abortion protesters converged Thursday on the National Mall.
</blockquote>
<p>
The Guardian is even more adorable with the headline "Thousands gather in 'March for Life'."
</p>
<p>
Yes, technically this is true. There were thousands. Tens of thousands, even. About 50 tens of thousands. For those of you playing the home game, we typically refer to numbers of that magnitude as "hundreds of thousands," but who's counting? I mean, surely no journalist with integrity would intentionally misrepresent the size of an event because of their politics, right?
</p>
<p>
Must be that new math.
</p>
<p class="sectionHeader">Musing the Sixth</p>
<p>
Our president commemorated the anniversary by making this statement:
</p>
<blockquote>
<p>
Forty-two years ago today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Roe v. Wade, a decision that protects a woman’s freedom to make her own choices about her body and her health, and reaffirms a fundamental American value: that government should not intrude in our most private and personal family matters.
</p>
<p>
I am deeply committed to protecting this core constitutional right, and I believe that efforts like H.R. 7, the bill the House considered today, would intrude on women's reproductive freedom and access to health care and unnecessarily restrict the private insurance choices that consumers have today. The federal government should not be injecting itself into decisions best made between women, their families, and their doctors. I am also deeply committed to continuing our work to reduce unintended pregnancies, support maternal and child health, promote adoptions, and minimize the need for abortion.
</p>
<p>
Today, as we reflect on this critical moment in our history, may we all rededicate ourselves to ensuring that our daughters have the same rights, freedoms, and opportunities as our sons.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>
Except the over 50 Million citizens - the missing 1/3 - that aren't here because of this "freedom." The 25 Million (statistically speaking) girls and women who don't have any rights because they were denied the first and most fundamental right - to life.
</p>
<p>
Must be more of that new math. Forgot to carry the 1 or something.
</p>
<p class="sectionHeader">Musing the Seventh</p>
<p>
Huh, I made this a list of seven after all, in a self referential way, but I'll mark it in the win column anyway. My blog, my rules.
</p>
<p>
Also, life is pretty grand, when you give it a chance. Let's try a little harder on that "making abortion unthinkable" bit this year, shall we? Support a pregnant single mother, love some people and show how awesome the joy is that comes from loving people, be excellent to each other, you know, all that jazz.
</p>
<p>
Because I don't want us to need a 43<sup>rd</sup> March for Life.
</p>
</div>Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1652449590710538381.post-959167947348199932014-12-31T01:08:00.000-06:002014-12-31T01:08:28.029-06:00Awaiting<div class="PostBody">
Come, save us in the <br/>
Valley of the Shadow of Death,<br/>
For though I fear no evil,<br/>
it hurts.<br/>
<br/>
Come, to save my heart from the shadow;<br/>
Dispel the dark clouds of night.<br/>
Be my morning star,<br/>
My rising Son,<br/>
My Prince of Peace.<br/>
<br/>
Be my comfort
<ul style="list-style:none;"><li>my refuge,</li>
<li><ul style="list-style:none;"><li>my solace.</li></ul></li></ul>
Be my savior, my deliverer.<br/>
<br/>
Love me, teach me to love you,<br/>
and turn even this to the good,<br/>
For Your Name's sake.<br/>
<br/>
Be Thou God With Me.
</div>Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1652449590710538381.post-65147860203924295482014-12-15T00:20:00.001-06:002014-12-15T00:20:14.891-06:00Accepting the Kingdom<div class="PostBody">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK5cwS5TZgrek52rReb4JsXj8rD9Lm9w5ummKNPCU-jxHlc4Jq0ZMiG_HcydvOJxeESCiTm41qGXN8eLrX6UswNANf5QT7DZuPdJos9crYlQaADkAoGJiTw38zqI2l65o0e24FYcwOyeUs/s1600/Michael+Grinning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK5cwS5TZgrek52rReb4JsXj8rD9Lm9w5ummKNPCU-jxHlc4Jq0ZMiG_HcydvOJxeESCiTm41qGXN8eLrX6UswNANf5QT7DZuPdJos9crYlQaADkAoGJiTw38zqI2l65o0e24FYcwOyeUs/s320/Michael+Grinning.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>
"That Jesus blood?"
</p>
<p>
"Yes honey."
</p>
<p>
"You drink him blood?"
</p>
<p>
"Yes honey."
</p>
<p>
"That 'sgusting! Ew!!"
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p>
...
</p>
<p>
...
</p>
<p>
When's the last time that was your reaction to the Eucharist?
</p>
<p>
When is the last time you were disgusted by the Eucharist? Let's take away the liturgical and theological terminology.
</p>
<p>
Cannibalism.
</p>
<p>
When is the last time you were disgusted by the thought of eating the flesh and drinking the blood of another human person? When is the last time you were disgusted by the thought of eating the flesh and drinking the blood of God?
</p>
<p>
This is, I think, a large part of why multiple Gospel writers record the disciples shooing children away, and Our Lord reprimanding them. As adults, we like to sanitize uncomfortable things (like "Eat my body, drink my blood").
</p>
<p>
I believe. I mean it when the Priest proclaims, "Body of Christ," "Blood of Christ," and I reply, "Amen."
</p>
<p>
And yet the Eucharist does not shock me.
</p>
<p>
No part of me is disgusted.
</p>
<p>
Both Eve and Michael have had this reaction. Other friends with children have experienced the same. Our children accept that with which we struggle.
</p>
<p class="scripture">
Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it. (Luke 18:17)
</p>
<p class="scripture">
For Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles... (1 Corinthians 1:22-23)
</p>
<p>
Of course, disgust is not, ultimately, the proper reaction to receiving our Lord. Our Church was founded upon the man who said, <span class="inline_scripture">"Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." (John 6:68)</span> when others left Him over this very revelation. We must come to accept both the very messy reality of the real presence in the Eucharist, and the spiritual, theological beauty of it all.
</p>
<p>
Let us learn to see the signs of the times and to seek the patronage of Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, but even more so let us learn the simple faith of children, to be shocked by the "God of Surprises."
</p>
</div>Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1652449590710538381.post-44940755733498497902014-11-30T23:07:00.000-06:002014-12-03T11:01:18.229-06:00This day I am thankful for...<div class="PostBody">
<p>
This Thanksgiving, my son Gabriel should have been 10 weeks old.
</p>
<p>
Instead, this Thanksgiving was the 3 week anniversary of his death.
</p>
<p>
November 6<sup>th</sup>, 2014, we woke up to get ready for our day, and Gabriel didn't. There is an abyss waiting for me in that moment, waiting to swallow me.
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF4UeeGOqDrXEi7reakUX4mRrvwis_t2AYaBYfV5kzH6_4RIUns3gPzx2znSZuvP3FitHsDUXdUL82ycuCe1BZnsCPHxob3wOBUP27SJBZEmghvR3MdkYhp61w9m6WuxQGZdtZ88uvjdqZ/s1600/10339556_10102065121811300_8332094312992405515_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF4UeeGOqDrXEi7reakUX4mRrvwis_t2AYaBYfV5kzH6_4RIUns3gPzx2znSZuvP3FitHsDUXdUL82ycuCe1BZnsCPHxob3wOBUP27SJBZEmghvR3MdkYhp61w9m6WuxQGZdtZ88uvjdqZ/s320/10339556_10102065121811300_8332094312992405515_n.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>
Fortunately, this guy's watching over his daddy. Maybe it's just me, but that looks like a guy who gets his way. "Really, dad? Despair? You know where I am!"
</p>
<p>
I know son. Doesn't make me miss you less.
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoDWrepRuloM4d1QOM7USqEMTHhz5Vd78ZSXee9te6DsUyfgwGNSRhpzFcN2VEC80bhQrFUDBKmotvhyphenhyphenS0aDghtDajY3EiJ4-vNCtB3yLoLJMW3cfaBsVWBw8hTIvUg0xiBB9P_ZuhuRiK/s1600/footprints-dana-edmunds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoDWrepRuloM4d1QOM7USqEMTHhz5Vd78ZSXee9te6DsUyfgwGNSRhpzFcN2VEC80bhQrFUDBKmotvhyphenhyphenS0aDghtDajY3EiJ4-vNCtB3yLoLJMW3cfaBsVWBw8hTIvUg0xiBB9P_ZuhuRiK/s200/footprints-dana-edmunds.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>
You know that footprints poem? Where the man has a dream and is talking with Jesus, and only sees one set of footprints during the lowest parts of his life?
</p>
<p>
Yeah, I hate that poem.
</p>
<p>
I mean, if you like it, I'm not judging you, I just don't think it's quite right. It seems to say that somehow we're just carried through adversity, like we weren't really suffering.
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3wJrmGckTOmV3bAoJkcTwTo53JFeIGBXFmvwTUkXx2-UcoUYtlZE8KGS7eKoLaS27QxPDiCHUmTgv0T2yX-svq_XIL_uBpPIUcT68hkww0uPRlMuWiG0gR31fzvsMpBl7pzE1m7CDQ4cN/s1600/footprints+bear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3wJrmGckTOmV3bAoJkcTwTo53JFeIGBXFmvwTUkXx2-UcoUYtlZE8KGS7eKoLaS27QxPDiCHUmTgv0T2yX-svq_XIL_uBpPIUcT68hkww0uPRlMuWiG0gR31fzvsMpBl7pzE1m7CDQ4cN/s400/footprints+bear.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>
Much better is this one:
</p>
<p>
That day, the bear ate us.
</p>
<p>
And yet, somehow, we're still here. The bear has eaten us, and the miracle is not that our suffering has been lessened, but that it has been given purpose.
</p>
<p>
So, now, you very may well ask if I indeed have anything for which to be thankful. How can I, with my broken heart, be thankful for anything?
</p>
<p>
Well, the first thing I am thankful for is my son. We only got to hold him for 7 weeks, but what a 7 weeks! Such a reminder of his big sister and brother, and yet completely his own person. The awful responsibility of caring for 3 children - at the same time! The joy that is a snuggly little baby, watching as he started to be able to pick his head up, seeing him track mama while he's getting his diaper changed.
</p>
<p>
The second thing I am thankful for is my son. Cheating, I know. The thing is, I absolutely hate the fact that I can't hold him, and at the same time I know that right now he is in eternal bliss, praising the same trinity in which he was baptized. My son is a saint, interceding for his mother and me, for his big brother and sister. Our family has its own patron saint! I would give anything to change that fact, yet a fact it remains.
</p>
<p>
I am also thankful for our two oldest children, Angelica and Jeremy. I never got to hold either of them. Angelica was conceived when my wife was assaulted before we met (miscarried within the first trimester), and played a major part in her mother an I discerning marriage (long story, I'll tell it some time, I promise). Jeremy was conceived shortly after we were married, and also was miscarried. We remember them in our family prayers after every Mass, but somehow this tragedy has made them more real to me. I no longer consider myself a father of 3, and am not a father of 2, but a father of 5, with 3 already in heaven. We have three family patrons, and now my two surviving children understand that in a way that they didn't before their little brother died.
</p>
<p>
I am thankful for our family and friends, my coworkers, and complete strangers, who have reached out to us in our time of tragedy. Nothing makes this better, nothing fills the hole in my heart, but the prayers being offered, the food and other assistance, all have made it more possible to continue putting one foot in front of the other. We have been taken care of in ways we could not have imagined. We are surrounded by those who mourn with us, and sadly those who have experienced this or similar tragedies. Every word or act of kindness makes it easier to bear, to go on, to stay out of that waiting abyss.
</p>
<p>
I am thankful for the prayers, and the companionship. More than anything, the shoulders to cry on (or scream into), and the prayers which have been the spiritual equivalent of those shoulders. Erin and I have taken to saying that, "If we're standing, we're leaning." It can be easy to doubt the efficacy of prayer. We certainly tell people that we will pray for them, and we do, yet it feels like the smallest thing possible.
</p>
<p>
How far from the truth that is!
</p>
<p>
Those prayers are why we are still breathing. Still moving. Still living.
</p>
<p>
I am thankful for my faith. I cannot imagine going through this without a supporting community, but even less can I imagine enduring this without my faith. If I did not know where my son is right now, how could I survive? I am so shattered, I don't know how I could go on if it weren't for the promises of our God - promises which I am holding Him to.
</p>
<p>
I am thankful for the gift of laughter, especially when I can't tell the difference between laughing and crying (which frequently happens when I miss Gabriel, and then he points out something humorous).
</p>
<p>
I am thankful for my surviving children, for their hearts so full of childlike love. I am thankful that they miss their brother, and that at the same time they are not weighed down in mourning - they are still children. As soon as she knew what colors were, Eve informed us that her favorite color is blue. By the time Michael was about a year old, she informed us that his favorite color is white (I think it might actually be red, but... Whatever). We had not yet asked Eve what Gabriel's favorite color is.
</p>
<p>
When we were at the cemetery selecting Gabriel's plot, it dawned on me to ask. "Eve, what's Gabriel's favorite color?"
</p>
<p>
"Umm... Blue!"
</p>
<p>
"Oh, like you!"
</p>
<p>
"Yep, and... Pink!"
</p>
<p>
"Oh, like mommy!"
</p>
<p>
"Uh huh, and... Purple!"
</p>
<p>
"Oh, Grandma Donna will like that!"
</p>
<p>
"Yeah, and... he likes Black and... Well, he likes all the colors!"
</p>
<p>
(This is where inspiration hit, thank you Gabriel): "Oh, so he's our rainbow baby!" (At this point I recalled a rainbow pinwheel I had seen at another grave in the infants section.) "Hey Eve, I'm going to make you a promise, and I want you to make me a promise, and as a family we're going to promise that every time we see a rainbow, we'll remember it's Gabriel smiling at us, right?"
</p>
<p>
The beautiful thing is that both Eve and Michael have taken to finding rainbows (or even just a few colors from the rainbow) and excitedly proclaiming, "That's Gabriel smiling at us!" So add rainbows to the list of things for which I am thankful.
</p>
<p>
I am thankful for my wonderful wife, who is right there with me, mice notwithstanding (another long story, freaking mice...). She is very good at drawing me back from the edge when it looks like the abyss is ready to swallow me. I hope I do half so good for her.
</p>
<p>
I am thankful for many things this (belated) Thanksgiving, even as I feel the emptiness. So many "should have beens," and more to come.
</p>
<p>
But for now, we hold onto that thanksgiving, that Eucharist. I am thankful that when the world ends, He is still there. When the bear eats us, He waits for us, holding out His hand to draw us down the path as we start anew.
</p>
<p>
With a broken heart full of joy, I am thankful.
</p>
<p>
God love you.
</p>
<p class="prayer">
Heavenly Father, author of life,<br/>
Our hearts are heavy from the loss of our son Gabriel.<br/>
Unite our suffering to the cross of Your Son, Jesus Christ,<br/>
and use this suffering as a prayer of intercession.<br/>
We pray for the safety of all children in their mothers’ wombs.<br/>
We pray for men & women considering abortion,<br/>
that the light of truth be shown in their hearts,<br/>
and that they see the true hope of a better way.<br/>
We pray for clinic workers,<br/>
that they see the lie of abortion for what it is,<br/>
and be given the strength and courage to leave for a better life.<br/>
We pray for the hearts of all this nation,<br/>
that they see the value of life,<br/>
and that they treasure all life as much as we do right now.<br/>
Father of all mercies,<br/>
enfold our son in your loving embrace,<br/>
pour your love into our broken hearts.<br/>
Our Lady, Mother of Perpetual Help,<br/>
Pray For Us
</p>
</div>Jeremiahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17009592695869119717noreply@blogger.com