The Master is in need of it!

Luke 19:28-40

Jesus proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem.  As he drew near to Bethphage and 

Bethany at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples.He said, 

“Go into the village opposite you, and as you enter it you will find a colt tethered 

on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here.  And if anyone should ask

 you,‘Why are you untying it?’ you will answer, ‘The Master has need of it.’

So those who had been sent went off and found everything  just as he had told 

them.  And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you 

untying this colt?” They answered, “The Master has need of it.” So they brought

 it to Jesus, threw their cloaks over the colt, and helped Jesus to mount.  As he

 rode along, the people were spreading their cloaks on the road; and now as he

 was approaching the slope of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of his 

disciples began to praise God aloud with joy for all the mighty deeds they had seen.

 They proclaimed: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.”  Some of the Pharisees in the crowd

 said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”  He said in reply, “I tell you, if they

 keep silent, the stones will cry out!”

 
What has you tethered to the world?  What keeps you from experiencing the joy that the disciples expressed, as Jesus rode on a colt, which had never been sat upon, much less ridden.  For those of you who have experience riding horses, you know it takes some time and an experienced rider to break in a horse before it could be ridden.  Yet, here we see Jesus riding this here before unridden, untethered colt on His journey toward Jerusalem.
 People were so excited to see Jesus that they spread their cloaks on the road as he approached.  They shouted praises to God with joy for all the miracles they had seen while following Jesus.  We know that this joy and praise would soon be followed by the cries of "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"  However, the sorrow and fear His faithful disciples experienced, would soon be followed by the everlasting joy that could not be extinguished, except by following Judas' example and believing The Lord could never forgive us. 
 As men, we sometimes find it difficult to untether ourselves from the trappings of the world, whether it may be money, power, fame, comfort or any other worldly, self centered desire.  When we hear the world shout praises to us, for what we believe are our own talents and accomplishments, we tighten the tether which holds us back from experiencing true joy and peace that could only be experienced by surrendering our will to the Father.  He wants so much more for us than we could ever imagine for ourselves.  So as we enter into Holy Week, let us finish this Lenten Season strong, strong in the Lord!  Allow the Master to untether you, turn the praises back to the Lord, be a colt.  The Master is in need of you!

Prayer for the Defense of Marriage

Prayer In Defense Of Marriage

God our Father, we give you thanks
for the gift of marriage: the bond of life and love, and the font of the family.
The love of husband and wife enriches your Church with children, fills the world with a multitude of spiritual fruitfulness and service, and is the sign of the love of your Son, Jesus Christ, for his Church.
The grace of Jesus flowed forth at Cana at the request of the Blessed Mother. May your Son, through the intercession of Mary, pour out upon us a new measure of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit as we join with all people of good will to promote and protect the unique beauty of marriage.
May your Holy Spirit enlighten our society
to treasure the heroic love of husband and wife, and guide our leaders to sustain and protect the singular place of mothers and fathers in the lives of their children.
Father, we ask that our prayers
be joined to those of the Virgin Mary,
that your Word may transform our service
so as to safeguard the incomparable splendor of marriage.
We ask all these things through Christ our Lord,
Amen.
Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us.

http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers/prayer-defense-of-marriage.cfm

How to Help Others Through Lent

by Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D. on March 11, 2013 ·

For many, Lent means spiritual self-improvement through sacrifice.  It’s often all about what to “give up” for Lent.
But Jesus’ 40 day fast in the wilderness was not for his own sake.  It was all to prepare for his ministry, a ministry that brought light to those in darkness and healing for the afflicted.
The early Christians followed Jesus in their approach to Lent.  They fasted and prayed for forty days before Easter to support two special groups of people who were pushing up against some serious obstacles.  First there were those preparing for baptism who were struggling to break the bonds of sin and paganism.  The second group were the penitents who had been away from the sacraments for many years.   They were preparing for reconciliation and a return to communion at Easter.  So Lent in the Early Church was not so much a time of personal growth as church growth.  Rather than a time to look inward it was about looking outward.
In this Year of Faith, we are being asked not just to deepen our faith, but to share it.  It is finally time to take seriously the call to the New Evangelization and make it a part of our Lenten journey.
There are many Church-going Catholics who experience the practice of their faith more as a chore than a joy.  There are an increasing number of Catholics who have been away for a long time.  And there are many from other religious traditions and of no religious background at all, who don’t know that they have a loving Father.
Evangelization is not about pushing our ideas on people.  It’s about letting them know the Good News that they are loved and forgiven, that their life has more meaning and promise than they ever suspected.
Several years ago, I called a cab to take me to the airport.  I decided to make conversation with the driver who was obviously from the middle east.  “Where are you from?”  “Iran,” he answered.  “Are there many Christians in Iran?”  “I never met one,” he replied.  “So why do you have a cross hanging from your mirror?”
Then he told his story.  “I was an army officer when the Shah was overthrown and the Ayatollahs came to power.  They preached a harsh religion of intolerance and hate, and it made me hate religion.  I left Iran and I vowed never to set foot in a mosque again.  After years in the states, a neighbor invited me to his Church.  I decided to go, to find out if what I learned about Christianity was true.  That Sunday, I heard about a God of love, a God of mercy, a God who tells us to call him “Father” and who sent his son to die for me.  This message moved me very deeply.  So I kept going back became a Christian.”
This Lent let’s pick up our heads and look around– around the family, the neighborhood, the workplace.  Who needs to experience the love of God?  Pray and fast for them.  Reach out to them.  Listen to their story.  Invite them to your home for a cup of coffee, a glass of wine, or a meal.  Invite them to your Church home for Mass or a Lenten mission.  If they are not Catholic, invite them just to see what a Catholic Church is like.  No pressure.  If they’ve been away, invite them to see what your Church is like.  Next time you are going to confession, invite someone to come with you.
The Iranian cabdriver could have said no.  But he had a right to know the truth about his heavenly Father.  And his neighbor had a duty to introduce him.  Thank God that his neighbor’s love was greater than his fear of getting a “no.”
Now there’s a good thing to give up for Lent – the fear of rejection!

Image credit: shutterstock.com 

By Marcellino D'Ambrosio

Dr. Marcellino D’Ambrosio writes from Texas. For info on his resources and pilgrimages to Rome and the Holy Land, visit www.crossroadsinitiative.com or call 800.803.0118.

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Tagged as: Lent, Sacrifice

Liturgy, sacraments should permeate whole of Christian life

Liturgy, sacraments should permeate whole of Christian life

By Brian Pizzalato

The whole of Christian life is meant to be permeated and marked by the liturgy and the sacraments.  The hallmark of the daily Catholic adult life should be that it is a liturgical life. 

The reception of these sacraments commits us to live a liturgical life, and this does not mean just going to Mass on Sunday and going to Confession once a year.  Each and every day is meant to be a living out of sacramental grace and actual grace.  Each and every day there is a wealth of grace available because of the sacraments, and we must respond to them every moment of each day.  The question is how this is to be done. 

Living the Life

The first thing to realize is that, “the Eucharist is the source and summit of Christian life.” (CCC 1324)  It is the source from which we get the power to live a daily sacramental life, and it is the summit toward which we move as Christians, namely to a more intimate union with Christ.  The graces of the sacraments are always available and can be called upon constantly.  We are all called to be saints, to be holy men and women.  Who are the saints? They are those who responded daily to the graces they received, to God’s life in them.

To live a sacramental life also means to be immersed in the life and prayer of the church.  The church’s liturgy is where this is most profoundly done. Full and active participation in the Mass is key.  This means being there both in body and in spirit. We must understand where we are, what we are doing and what is really going on in the Mass. 

The graces of the Mass are then supposed to be lived out throughout one’s life, as are the graces of all the other sacraments. We should even consider participating in daily Mass.

Liturgy of the Hours

Another way to continually live a sacramental life is to pray the Liturgy of the Hours.  This prayer is no longer for priests and religious alone.  The Second Vatican Council urged us all to pray this prayer of the church. These prayers connect us to the Mass and can help us to extend and respond to the graces received there.

Then there is an entering into liturgical year, which is meant to permeate every day of our lives.  The Liturgy of the Hours, which follows the liturgical year, can help us to this. 

Our prayer life should reflect our knowledge and participation in the liturgical year.  On saints’ memorials, feast days and solemnities, we should ask these saints to intercede for us to help us to respond more fully to the gift of God’s life, which we possess through the sacraments.  We need to reflect on the example they give us of responding to grace.

Sacramentals

A further way of living this daily sacramental life is using sacramentals. 

The church gives us holy water to remind of our baptism, holy candles to remind us that Christ is the light of the world, and the list could go on.

The devout use of sacramentals is meant to be signs of our worship, and they are meant to be indicative of our intention to receive actual graces and respond to sanctifying grace. So they must not be looked at as something magical, and we should not fall into superstitions with regard to them.  For example, if you forget to bless yourself with holy water when you walk into church, it does not mean you are going to go to hell. 

All of this means that there must be an intimate connection between our faith, our worship and our daily life.  Our faith, worship and daily life must be both public and private, and all of it is meant to be a sacramental living out of our faith.  We cannot allow a disconnect between these things.  We need to live everyday like we are living in God’s life and responding to God’s life.  To live any other way is to live a lie because once we have been baptized we have God’s life in us.  To live as if we do not is a lie and a sacrilege. 

God’s life in us

Once we have God’s life, it cannot even be taken back, even by God himself.  He would not want to take it away; his plan all along was for us to have his life, and to respond to this life on a daily basis, on a moment by moment basis. 

The hell of being in mortal sin is that we choose to reject God, yet God does not go anywhere.  We decide we do not want God’s life, yet it cannot be erased. 

“Where sin abounds grace abounds all the more.” (Romans 5:20) 

When we are sinning, God is continually calling us back to himself and giving us the grace we need to do so. Then when we receive the sacrament of reconciliation, our relationship with God is restored, and he increases the grace in us to not commit those very sins that were confessed.  

Those who have received the sacrament of matrimony also need to daily ask God to help them respond to the grace of this sacrament.  Things might not be made any easier, but there is the grace to persevere in times of difficulty. God has not left us orphans.

We need to learn to see life through the eyes of the church.  This will occur as we devote time to personal prayer and as we form our minds and hearts with the Scriptures, Catholic teaching and the liturgical life of the Church.

Central to Christian maturity and this “sacramental outlook” is the renewal of our thinking and attitudes (cf. Romans 12:2).  The more we see things as God sees them, the easier it is to recognize his will and follow it.  As we pray, read the Sacred Scriptures and seek to live a sacramental life, the Holy Spirit will renew our minds and help us to see everything through the eyes of Christ and his church.

Printed with permission from the Northern Cross, Diocese of Duluth, Minnesota.

Brian Pizzalato is the Director of Catechesis, R.C.I.A. & Lay Apostolate for the Diocese of Duluth. He is also a faculty member of the Theology and Philosophy departments of the Maryvale Institute, Birmingham, England. He writes a monthly catechetical article for The Northern Cross, of the Diocese of Duluth, and is a contributing author to the Association for Catechumenal Ministry's R.C.I.A. Participants Book. Brian is currently authoring the regular series, "Catechesis and Contemporary Culture," in The Sower, published by the Maryvale Institute and is also in the process of writing the Philosophy of Religion course book for the B.A. in Philosophy and the Catholic Tradition program at the Maryvale Institute.

Brian holds an M.A. in Theology and Christian Ministry with a Catechetics specialization and an M.A. in Philosophy from Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio.

The Call to be One in Christ

The Call to be One in Christ

January 30th, 2012 by Maurice Blumberg  Print This Article ·ShareThis

The battle is not yours but God’s. (2 Chronicle 20:15)

So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. (2 Corinthians 5:17-20)

I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. (John 17:20-24)

For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13).

Again, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:19-20)

I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)

As we come to the end of the end of the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity, it is easy to get discouraged about the divisions among Christians, since we have covered this ground so many times. It has been over 47 years since the Second Vatican Council produced the seminal document, “The Decree on Ecumenism.” However, much progress has been made in building bridges to other Christian denominations.  After all, it was not too long ago when Protestants thought Catholics were going to Hell, and Catholics thought Protestants were going to Hell–a time when many Protestants didn’t think Catholics were even Christians.

Fortunately, times have changed and relations between Catholics and Protestants have greatly improved, especially since Vatican II, when the fathers of the Church made a real effort to reach out to our “separated brethren” in a spirit of humility and reconciliation. Now there is a fairly broad recognition among Christian denominations that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.

In spite of the progress made, since Vatican II, the divi­sions among Christian denominations can still seem entrenched and formida­ble. Misunderstandings still abound as to what non-Catholics think Catholics believe. I have personally met non-Catholic Christians who believed Catholics worshipped Mary. I have also spoken with Protestants who believe Catholics think they are saved by works, that they worship statues, and that purgatory is a place where unsaved Catholics go to get saved. Many non-Catholics still don’t understand the Mass, the Eucharist and other Sacraments, communion of saints, and many other Catholic teachings.

As Catholic men, we may feel powerless against them, especially as it often seems that some of our divi­sions are becoming only deeper. But don’t forget: This battle is the Lord’s, not ours, to win (2 Chronicle 20:15). It is the power of the Holy Spirit, not our power that will make all Christians truly one in Christ and bring about a unified Church. We, as Catholic men, need to cast ourselves on the Lord’s mercy and allow him to use us as his ambassadors of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:17-20).

But first, let’s be clear about the enemy we face. That enemy is not other denominations but the way we have all turned from Jesus’ prayer that his church be one (John 17:20-21). Our objec­tive in ecumenism is not to demol­ish others’ positions and arguments but to bridge the gap of hostility and misunderstanding between us.

Perhaps, the time has come for a new type of apologetics – one that unites and not divides. Great progress will be made when Christians from different tradi­tions, including theologians, stop attacking each other and try to understand what each other believes and why. Great things will happen when this occurs. For example, Lutherans and Catholics have come to substantial agreement on the very issues that were so hotly contested during the Reformation, including the doctrine on “justification by faith”.

So how should we, as Catholic men, “do” ecumenism? If a non-Catholic Christian family invited us for dinner, we wouldn’t start our conversation by bringing up all our differences with the host. If we don’t know where someone is in his walk with the Lord, it’s probably a good idea to stay away initially from sensitive topics. Instead, we can focus on what we do have in common: As baptized Christians, we are already united in our faith in Christ, “given to drink of one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13). The person we are talking to is a brother in Christ, our “blood” relative, and that’s something we can both rejoice in!

Once we’ve gotten to know them better, we will naturally want to share something about our faith with our brothers (and sisters)—and what could be more natural than prayer? No matter what our denomination, we know that when two or more are praying in his name, Jesus is with us (Matthew 18:20). Praying alongside those of other traditions will open our hearts to be more loving toward them. It will help us to repent of any judgmental attitudes we may have picked up about them. And it will show us how much they have to offer—for if we really are one body, then we need each other.

A wise pastor once said regarding ecumenism, “None of us has it all together, but together we have it all.” Just as our “separated brethren” can learn from us, so we can learn from them. Let’s face it, none of us has all the answers. Because the unified church Jesus longs for has yet to come about, each denomination, each individual, may grasp an aspect of the truth that may have eluded others and can enrich us all.

When Jesus prayed that we become one, so that “the world may believe that you sent me” (John 17:21), he was asking for a kind of unity among Christians that is unfamiliar in the society we live in. He wanted the people to be able to look at us and say, “This unity is different than the world’s unity! They have something I’ve never seen before, but I want it.”

Jesus knew that others would be convinced not by what Christians look like, or even just the words we use, but by the love and compassion we are able to show to one another – the love that he has already shown to us (John 13:34-35). This love comes from Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for us, and it gives the power to all Christians in the Body of Christ to become living examples of unity and brotherhood.

“Lord Jesus, send out your Spirit, and give all Christians the strength and wisdom to reach out to one another. Heal the wounds and every division in your body, and make it whole! Father, make us one. Help us to repent of our own sins against unity.

Questions for Reflection/Discussion by Catholic Men

1. Take some time to meditate and reflect on the Scriptures at the beginning of the article. In light of the title of this article, what do you think God is trying to reveal to you through them?
2. The article lists several areas of Catholic doctrine that are often misunderstood my non- Catholics. As a Catholic man, what is your experience in discussing doctrinal differences with Christians of other denominations? Were these discussions fruitful? Why or why not?
3. In the article, we hear these words: “Perhaps, the time has come for a new type of apologetics – one that unites and not divides. Great progress will be made when Christians from different tradi­tions, including theologians, stop attacking each other and try to understand what each other believes and why.” What is your reaction to these words? Do you agree or disagree? Why?
4. How would you answer this question posed in the article? “So how should we, as Catholic men, “do” ecumenism?”
5. The article contends that “None of us has it all together, but together we have it all” and “Just as our ‘separated brethren’ can learn from us, so we can learn from them”? What have you learned from Christians from other denominations as you prayed with them and shared your faith with them?
6. Take some time now to pray for the grace, strength and wisdom to reach out to our “separated brethren” and be “ambassadors of reconciliation and unity,” Use the prayer at the end of the article as the starting point.

Maurice Blumberg is the Director of Partner Relations for The Word Among Us Partners, a ministry of The Word Among Us to the military, prisoners, and women with crisis pregnancies or who have had abortions. Maurice was also the founding Executive Director of the National Fellowship of Catholic Men, for which he is currently a Trustee. He can be contacted at mblumberg@wau.org or mblumberg@aol.com.

This article is part of NFCM's sponsorship of the Catholic Man channel. Contact NFCM at PO Box 8540, Waco, TX 76714 or e-mail them at info@nfcmusa.org. If you would like to make a contribution to the NFCM, click here.

Why do I have to confess to a priest?

Are You Leading Like Jesus?

February 1st, 2012 by Dr. Tracy C. Miller  Print This Article ·ShareThis

“Go and preach the Gospel. And if you must, use words.” – St. Francis of Assisi to his followers

One of the foundational principles of the Catholic Vision for Leading Like Jesus is that “our actions speak louder than words.” In my book by the same name, we take up this issue almost immediately, noting that anyone who is known to be Christian participates in building the “Christian brand.” That may sound like modern business-speak, but actually it comes from the Third Century priest and theologian Tertullian, who noted that the behavior of other Christians in his time had prompted a pagan “to put a brand on us.” And that brand was very positive: “See how they love one another.”

How much that must have pleased the risen Jesus, who told his disciples at the Last Supper: “Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another” (Jn. 13:34).

In our society we tend to think of religion as a private matter, so we’re inclined to forget that it also has a public dimension. Christians and non-Christians alike are inclined to judge a person by reference to their known affiliations and creeds. Moreover, they are also inclined to judge the affiliations and creeds themselves. So when our behavior is not consistent what our religion professes, it not only reflects poorly on us, it reflects on our religion as well.

When Jesus was asked which commandment was most important, he said we should love God above all else and love our neighbor as ourself (Mt 22:37-39, Mk 12:30-31, Lk 10:27). So when we act in ways that are perceived as unloving for any reason, we are subject to judgment — and so is our church and all of Christianity, and sometimes even Jesus’ own teaching and life.

When I used the example of how Mohandas Gandhi’s appraised Christians in my book, it raised the ire of at least one reviewer on Amazon.com’s website. Gandhi once said, “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike Christ. If Christians really lived according to the Bible, all of India would be Christian today.” The reviewer objected that Gandhi was ungrateful, given all that Christians had done for the people of India. That may be true. But it nonetheless speaks to the power of personal example in shaping people’s perceptions of Christians and Christianity — including, of course, Catholicism.

On the other hand, when individual Catholics or Catholic agencies act in ways that are perceived as consistent with Jesus’ teaching and example, people are attracted to Jesus, his teaching and the church. For example, with the case of the tens of thousands of people who have joined the church through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), it seems that nearly all of them began their journey because of the everyday kindness and example of Catholic family members, friends and neighbors.

For another example, many times non-Catholics have told me how grateful they are to Catholic Charities for providing them with assistance for a variety of things, including marital counseling and adoption services. They make it clear that the experience has made them favorably disposed to Christian principles in general and Catholicism in particular — and some of them confess that before they were assisted, they held very negative opinions of Catholicism and Catholics.

What they are describing is an evangelizing conversion experience even if it doesn’t prompt them to become a member of the church. We distinguish between proselytizing, which is seeking to convert people to particular church membership, and evangelizing, which is preaching the Gospel in word and deed so as to open people’s hearts to the Lord’s saving grace.

Leadership happens every time someone tries to influence someone else, so leadership is everyone’s work. So it is with evangelization. As Pope John Paul II said in 2004: “Now is above all the hour of the lay faithful, who, by their specific vocation to shape the secular world in accordance with the Gospel, are called to carry forward the church’s prophetic mission by evangelizing the various spheres of family, social, professional and cultural life.”

When we strive to lead like Jesus, we are more closely living and loving like Jesus too. And when we’re doing that, our behaviors are evangelizing others — whether it’s a matter of encouraging them to be more favorably disposed to Gospel values or it’s inspiring them to become even more committed and hopeful disciples of Christ.

As a practical matter, once people know we are in any way affiliated with Jesus’ teaching, our deeds and words will influence how they think of us, of our affiliation and of Jesus himself. Either we are affirming ourselves, our faith and our Lord to them or we are disparaging all three in their eyes.

Which do you want to be known for — by your neighbor and by your God? And what are you going to do about it?

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