Ready to evacuate

On April 13, the first reading at the Mass was from Acts 4:32-37. This is a familiar passage where we read how the growing community of Christians would sell their "lands and houses" and bring the proceeds to the Apostles. Money was distributed to each person in accordance with their needs.

"Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. There was a Levite, a native of Cyprus, Joseph, to whom the apostles gave the name Barnabas (which means ‘son of encouragement’). He sold a field that belonged to him, then brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet."

Such a system strikes us as strange today, given that the Catholic Church is not asking anyone to sell their possessions and give them all to the Church (unless you become a consecrated religious and take a vow of poverty). But this behavior was also strange by the standards of the new Church. Indeed, as we read the New Testament and hear about the spreading of the Gospel throughout Israel and the Mediterranean, we notice that this pattern of putting all possessions in common was not reproduced anywhere else. It only happened in Jerusalem.

Ready to eject

A number of scholars have put forth explanations, but I recently heard a very down to earth and pragmatic angle that makes a lot of sense. Prior to his Passion, Jesus warned the disciples that Jerusalem would eventually be destroyed. When that happened, the disciples were to drop everything and flee the city.

By selling all their "lands and houses" they had no attachments to the land and were therefore well prepared to evacuate the city in a moment's notice. That's part of the reason why this behavior was only observed in Jerusalem and nowhere else in the new Church. And indeed we know that Jerusalem was destroyed at around 70 A.D.

Now nobody is claiming that this is the only reason we observed this behaviour in Jerusalem.  For sure, the putting in common of possessions was also representative of the spiritual communion of the members of the new Church and of their preoccupation for the needs of the poor. 

Yet, God knows how attached we can be to material goods.  In order to preserve the new Church from destruction, His wisdom saw fit to ensure that the early Christians were "footloose".  He's such a great strategist. 

Are we ready to give up our possessions if need be?  It might come sooner than we think if the uprising of the Left against the Church continues at this pace.

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Happy Easter!

What's that you say?  I'm a week late?

Not at all!  In the Catholic Church, Easter lasts for eight days.  It's called the Octave of Easter.  It runs from Easter Sunday until the next Sunday.  And every day during the Octave is celebrated as if it were still Easter Day.

Easter is such a big deal that Catholics want to celebrate it for eight days.  And every one of those days is a solemnity, which is the highest type of feast in the Catholic Church.  Talk about a party time!

If you pay attention, you'll notice that during every Mass of the Octave, the preface to the Eucharistic Prayer says "We praise you with greater joy than ever on this Easter day, when Christ became our paschal sacrifice."

So while stores are busy placing all their Easter chocolate on sale, because they've put Easter behind them, Catholics are still celebrating Easter and taking advantage of all those discounted chocolates :-)

  

Enjoy the remainder of Easter Day!  

Christ is risen!  Truly he is risen, as he said he would!

 


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Why Jesus? Why Christianity? Part 1: His sincerity

A lot of people are searching for answers and purpose amid a world that is confused, harsh and unforgiving.  Over the centuries, so many people have come to Jesus for consolation and meaning.  Have you ever wondered why?  Perhaps you're also searching for answers because your life is unfulfilled?  This is the first in a series of articles on why Jesus is so special and what joys he can bring to your life.

Jesus was so sincere and authentic

Sacraments 101

This is a beautiful explanation of the sacraments from a Catholic perspective.

Are you ready for retirement?

There's an interesting parable that many people find difficult to understand.  I was fortunate to have a priest explain it to me.  It's often called the parable of the dishonest manager or crafty steward (Luke 16:1-8).  Let's read it:

Then Jesus said to the disciples, ‘There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, “What is this that I hear about you? Give me an account of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.”

Then the manager said to himself, “What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.” So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, “How much do you owe my master?” He answered, “A hundred jugs of olive oil.” He said to him, “Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.” Then he asked another, “And how much do you owe?” He replied, “A hundred containers of wheat.” He said to him, “Take your bill and make it eighty.”

And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.

On the surface, the story isn't too hard to understand: The manager wants to make friends and build "connections" so that he can receive favours in return

Christmas terrorist attack: a real miracle

Disclaimer to protect myself from Human Rights Commissions (normal people need not read this paragraph):  I hereby solemnly declare that I do not harbour any hatred or anger towards any religion or religious group, especially not Islam or Muslims.  I do not advocate any form of violence, hatred or discrimination against Muslims.  I am simply concerned by the statements made by Muslims themselves to the effect that they support terrorist acts.  I am therefore exploring the implications of their position on the public good of Canadians and the world.

By now, most of you have heard about the despicable failed terrorist attack that a man tried to perpetrate against the American people on Christmas Day.  You won't find me running for cover behind politically correct platitudes.  I'll call a spade a spade:  he was a Muslim terrorist.  Period.

Here's a brief summary of the key facts:

• A man named Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab boards a plane in Nigeria en route for Detroit.  He's carrying explosives, but nobody seems to detect them.
• The plane makes a stop-over in Amsterdam.  Nobody notices the explosives.
• As the plane is approaching Detroit, the man tries to detonate his explosives, which were strapped to his body.
• The chemicals did not explode but rather caught fire, which severely burned the terrorist but didn't do much other damage­.
• The man is now under arrest and claims that he was sent by al-Qaida.

I think this is a real Christmas miracle.  The guy had succeeded in circumventing all the security checks and inspections.  Although his name had been put on an international watch list by his father one month earlier because his dad thought that his son had gotten to extreme in his religious views (kudos to the dad), somehow that didn't show up on the computer screen when he checked in.  He had flown on two planes for many hours without anybody noticing a thing. He was home free.  He even managed to pull the trigger, so to speak, to detonate the bomb.  Somewhere in his distorted extremist mind, he must have been filled with some whack-job glee, exhilaration and pride of a job well done.  Yet the bomb didn't blow because God didn't let it happen.  Praise God!

God doesn't prevent every evil, as we've witnessed so often in our lives, not the least of which was the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.  Why does God allow evil?  Because He intends on making an even greater good come from it.  Remember that God doesn't sit in an ivory tower watching us suffer.  The stepped up to the plate Himself and let us crucify Him.  He suffered evil too.  In fact, it was the greatest evil of all time:  deicide, the killing of God in His human nature.  Yet He brought the greatest good out of it: salvation for all humanity.  The pattern is repeated in our lives.

Somebody once wrote:  "All men are born to live; one man was born to die."  As we look at Christ in the creche during this Christmas time, it is worthwhile to remember that religious artists over the centuries have often painted the birth of our Lord with a crucifix hanging in the manger.  In other cases, the baby Jesus is wrapped in burial clothes (see right).  This is precisely to illustrate the key part of His mission on Earth.

Nothing has changed in 2,000 years.  God still allows suffering in some circumstances because He's capable of making a greater good come from it, as long as we cooperate with His plan.  We might never see that good.  In fact, most of the time we don't see it.  It can frequently take the form of grace brought down from Heaven thanks to someone patiently offering up their suffering.  This is extremely powerful.  Countless souls can be given the grace of repentance and conversion if you offer up your sufferings patiently in order to obtain grace.  Don't let your suffering go to waste. 

Follow St. Paul's example:  "I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church." (Col 1:24)  Many Protestants don't understand this verse.  What could possibly be lacking in Christ's suffering?  Catholics and Protestants agree that Christ's sufferings were more than sufficient and complete to expiate the sins of the whole world.  So what's missing?  Our sufferings are missing.  If you read the Bible, you'll realize that God doesn't want to carry out His will unilaterally.  He makes us partipants and cooperators in His plan of salvation.  Consider:

• Christ is the true King of kings.  Yet, Christians are called a "royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9) and are promised that they will reign with Christ (2 Tim 2:12).  So He lets us participate in His royalty and priesthood.
• Christ is the true Teacher.  Yet, through the Holy Spirit, many Christians are given the gift of teaching in order to build up the bretheren (Eph 4:11).
• Christ is the true mediator and advocate before the Father on behalf of humanity.  Yet, Christ mandates Christians to pray for one another and promises to hear our prayers (Matt 7:7-11; Matt 18:19; Matt 21:22).  We therefore participate in this role of mediator/advocate.  He goes as far as to make some grace conditonal on our efforts (Gal 6:9; James 4:3)
• Likewise, Christ is the Holy Redeemer of mankind through His Cross.  But he asks us to cooperate in the redemption by uniting our suffering to His in order to bring down grace. That's the meaning of Colossians 1:24.  So please play your part!

Also keep in mind that God is still busy preventing lots of evil from occurring.  You never hear about those instances because they never happened.  You might have died in a car crash a couple of years ago, but God prevented it from happening so you never noticed. 

This past Christmas Day, we learned of one such instance where God prevented it.  Let us give thanks to Him. 

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Father John Corapi's take on the Winnipeg Statement

In 2001, Father John Corapi, one of the best preachers of our time, gave a series of lectures in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  I really love Fr. Corapi.  He's right-on when it comes to Church teaching.  No wishy-washy-ness here. And he's so blunt.  He preaches the plain truth.  No sugar-coating.

During one of his lectures in Winnipeg, he spoke out boldly regarding the Winnipeg Statement, that infamous

Toronto Transit Commission rejects bus ads promoting adultery

The title of this post probably makes most readers say: "Duh!  Of course they should reject such ads!"  Sadly, in today's world, there's no guarantee that secular government organizations will display any amount of common sense.  Not so long ago, the TTC allowed ads on their buses that said:  "There's probably no God.  Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."  We had those same ads in Ottawa.


Fortunately the TTC trashed the adultery ads that would have show a huge message that says:  "Life is short.  Have an affair."

You may ask:  who on earth would want to advertise and promote adultery?  The answer is Ashley Madison, a company that specializes in... you'll never believe it... hooking up married people to have affairs.  They've been called "The kingpin of Internet infidelity."  They work like an online dating service for married people.

The founder is a Toronto native who is married and has children.  Here's a question for you women out there:  would you marry a guy who makes a living out of helping others have affairs and who thinks there's nothing immoral about it?

I suspect that business at Ashley Madison is going to take a hit after the Tiger Woods scandal.  Through Tiger's self-destruction, many would-be adulterers might come to understand the disaster that awaits them if their affair were ever to become know by their spouse or children.

While we're on this topic, let's remind ourselves that the surge in infidelity during the last half-century has been largely facilitated by the generalized use of contraception and abortion. Without these two "backup plans",

The moral problem with "early inductions" at St. Joseph's Catholic Hospital

Following an earlier post of mine on the scandalous "early inductions" at St. Joseph's Catholic Hospital, a very interesting discussion ensued in the comments section. This post is a synthesis of why I believe that the procedures at St. Joseph's are not morally acceptable.


What is happening at St. Joseph's

Before starting my explanation, I'll just repeat what exactly is happening at St. Joseph's: 

1. A prenatal diagnosis test reveals a baby has serious birth defects.
2. The doctors conclude that the mother is in some physical, psychological or psychiatric danger because of the baby's defect.
3. Doctors wait until the baby reaches 21 weeks of gestation, the point at which it is considered "viable", in other words that it could theoretically survive outside the womb if it were given highly specialized intensive care treatment.
4. The doctors then artificially induce labour so that the baby is born prematurely.
5. They intentionally let the baby die.  They only provide palliative care to the dying baby. 

Why this is morally unacceptable

In this section I'll explain why this practice is so horrible.  Not only are St. Joseph's official guidelines - as written on paper - morally unacceptable, but their application is even worse because they're terminating babies when the mother's health isn't even in danger.

In the 5-point description above of what happens at St. Joseph's, you'll notice that the baby does not die of its deformity.  It dies due to prematurity.  Heck, even a perfectly healthy baby delivered at 21 weeks would not survive

You are so precious

In today's Gospel, we hear a familiar story about the curing of a blind man (Luke 18:35-43)

As he approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard a crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, ‘Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.’ Then he shouted, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Those who were in front sternly ordered him to be quiet; but he shouted even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ 

Jesus stood still and ordered the man to be brought to him; and when he came near, he asked him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ He said, ‘Lord, let me see again.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it, praised God.

Rather than focus on the persevering faith of the blind man or on the power of Jesus in performing the cure, I would like to highlight another feature of this passage.  Notice how the people who were traveling with Jesus felt disturbed by the cries of the blind man. They essentially told him to shut up. They were annoyed and bothered by his presence. He was a nuisance to them. Yet Jesus doesn't consider him to be an annoyance. He's very precious in Jesus' eyes.  

The same is true for us. Too often, we experience rejection or a sense of inadequacy when dealing with other

Does this repulse you?

Let me show you a couple of recent headlines from the secular media. First, from the CBC: 

Life sentence in 30-year-old Longueuil murder

A 61-year-old Longeuil woman has been sentenced to life in prison for the first-degree murder of her sister and her sister's partner in August 1979... (Source)

Do you find that headline offensive?  Does it make you feel that the Quebec authorities are too strict and grumpy?  I didn't think so.  Grave crimes require grave punishment, right?  Let's try another headline from the UK:

Ben’s law: Knife murder minimum sentence raised to 25 yrs after Kinsella campaign

Knife killers will spend up to a decade longer in jail after a successful campaign by the family of victim Ben Kinsella. Justice Secretary Jack Straw announced the tougher new penalties yesterday. It means a minimum sentence in most cases increasing from 15 to 25 years – just five below the 30-year term for gun murder... (Source)

Does that headline scare you? Does it make you feel like the authorities in the U.K. are mean or negative people?  No?  Me neither. Murder is serious business and requires a serious penalty.

So what's my point?  You might be asking yourself what I've been smoking. Let me show you a third headline:

Spanish Bishop Says Catholic Politicians Who Vote for Abortion Excommunicate Themselves

The secretary general of the Spanish bishops' conference, Auxiliary Bishop Juan Antonio Martinez Camino of Madrid, warned that Spanish Catholic legislators who vote in favor

Ask yourself: are you doing enough for the Kingdom of God?

Yesterday was the feast of St. Leo the Great.  The Gospel reading was Luke 17:7-10.  It presents us with a very challenging message. At the end of this passage, Jesus says:

"So you also, when you have done all that you are ordered to do, say, 'We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'"

That's a pretty tough message. We all have a tendency to pat ourselves on the back when we've done good work. But Christ is reminding us that we are called to do more.  We're called to heroic virtue. 

Let's be frank. The vast majority of us are not doing enough for the Kingdom of God. Whether it be feeding the poor, proclaiming the Gospel, working on pro-life matters or helping the sick, we fall short. In fact, most of us are downright lazy and apathetic. I'm just as guilty as anybody on this.  

Through the prompting of the Holy Spirit, our conscience tells us that we need to get moving, but too often we settle for mediocrity. We'll cut a cheque to our local charity so that we can appease our conscience and pretend that we've done our share. Or perhaps we'll go to the March for Life once a year so that we can put a little check mark in our minds next to the requirement of doing some good pro-life work.  Sorry, but that's not good enough. 

Another frequent temptation is to persuade ourselves that we're powerless and that we can only pray. In some cases, this is true, but are we really praying as much as we could? Are we fasting and making sacrifices?  In most cases, however, we can do something, even if it's just a little. We can write a letter. We can make a phone call. We can visit somebody. It just takes a little will power.

Christ is asking us to look in the mirror and honestly ask ourselves what more we can do. It's useless to throw our arms up in the air and complain about the state of the world if we aren't doing anything to make a change. 

So what are you going to change in your life?


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Why are the feminists silent on polygamy?

You may have heard in the news that the B.C. government is struggling with the polygamy issue. Years ago, when same-sex marriage was being debated, pro-life leaders warned that polygamy would be the next can of worms to be opened. Liberal-leaning Canadians scoffed.  But it turns out we were right.

But the liberal-leaning Canadians don't seem to care.  They should, especially the feminists.  Polygamy is based on the idea that a man cannot be satisfied by just one woman.  That's very demeaning to the dignity of women.  In fact, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says it quite plainly

2387  The predicament of a man who, desiring to convert to the Gospel, is obliged to repudiate one or more wives with whom he has shared years of conjugal life, is understandable. However polygamy is not in accord with the moral law." [Conjugal] communion is radically contradicted by polygamy; this, in fact, directly negates the plan of God which was revealed from the beginning, because it is contrary to the equal personal dignity of men and women who in matrimony give themselves with a love that is total and therefore unique and exclusive." The Christian who has previously lived in polygamy has a grave duty in justice to honor the obligations contracted in regard to his former wives and his children.

Like so many teachings of the Church, they are logical.  An atheist should be able to see this logic.  Why is it, then, that we don't hear feminists being outraged by polygamy?  Doesn't polygamy seem like a direct attack to the gains that feminists have made over the years?

I think part of the answer is that lefties don't tend to fight each other.  They have a code of silence whereby they overlook each others' sins.  But I wonder how much longer that can last on polygamy.

It's quite ironic that the Church, which some people consider to be discriminatory towards women, is more vocal in opposing polygamy that feminists!  

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This priest gets it

Buy this priest some plane tickets and have him criss-cross North America with this message. May God bless you, Fr. Bill Casey!

God asked the priests to repent first

You can learn so much from a good homily. But it requires that you pay attention. It also requires that Father makes an effort to open up the Scriptures to the faithful.

On Friday, the first reading at the Mass was from Joel 1:13-15; 2:1-2. It goes like this:

Put on sackcloth and lament, you priests; wail, you ministers of the altar.  Come, pass the night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God!  Grain-offering and drink-offering are withheld from the house of your God. Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly.  Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord. Alas for the day!  For the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain!  Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near— a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness!  Like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from of old, or will be again after them in ages to come. 

Not exactly a very cheery passage, but the Church put it in the readings for a reason.

As it happened so many times in the Old Testament, the people had strayed far away from God and had to repent.  In the homily, the priest pointed out that God asks the priests to repent first.  This is interesting.  Why the priests first?  Because as leaders of the people, the priests have a huge influence on the morals of the people.  As go the priests, so goes the people.

I thought this was very relevant to our current situation, where the clergy needs to get their act together.  It shows that our calls for the repentance of the bishops are very biblical and very well founded.  This growing movement is not rooted in some fanaticism.  It is firmly grounded in Holy Scripture. 


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The Catholic Church's Salvation: Tell it Like it Is

A great article by Suzanne Fortin highlighting the core of the problem with the Catholic Church in Canada and our bishops. Here is a key excerpt:

But the modernistic dissent doesn’t end at abortion. The weak response on the pro-life issue is symptomatic of the widespread reluctance to abide by and preach rudimentary Catholic philosophical beliefs, such as:

  • The ends do not justify the means.
  • The order of creation (e.g. men and women are complementary).
  • The hierarchy of truths.
  • The principal of non-contradiction.
  • Natural Truth can be known by reason alone.
  • The intrinsic evil of certain acts, and how they must always be rejected.

This has resulted in church elites distorting Catholic moral doctrine and sanctioning things like:

  • Inductions for post-viability fetuses who are terminally ill.
  • Legal recognition for same-sex unions.
  • Leaving the issue of contraception up to “one’s own conscience.”
  • Treating issues like the environment and poverty as equally important
    to fetal rights.

Read the whole article here.

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