Lil' Wayne And Spineless Christians

Generation Benedict; Case Study.

It was last year as we approached Christmas that the first nugget of an idea was placed for Generation Benedict.  At the time we were more than a little disorganized, passionate group of younger Catholics united by Facebook and  intent on not just changing the world but changing our beloved Church.  Suffice to say, that I think for the most part we have all done some growing, both in Faith as well as in maturity.  As our group grew and started to post, several trends became noticable, the first is that not only were we Catholic but we were marked by a common thread uniting most if not I dare say, all of us!  Whistle blowers?  Yes, but much more!  We kept each other in prayer and sustained each other through common experiences.  Some of us have even met each other, fellowshipped and laughed.  We are also preparing for GBenedict's first ordination to the priesthood as we sustain Deacon Jason Piper in prayer.  We are the John Paul II generation and we grew up in many respects belonging to a liquid Church, always flowing,..and were subject to electric Masses, shocking us at every turn.   Then came a World Youth Day Experience.  I am reminded of a banner of JPII,..'catechizing our parents in the Faith.'

So why did we form you ask?  To create a fellowship of like minded individuals throwing up the middle finger to heterodoxy and all of its poison!  You see, we GBenedict are the 'been there done that' crowd, catechised out of the 'faith' throughout the 1980s and 1990s, then suddenly through a shot of Grace, brought back full force into the Church by an unprecedented zeal!  We struggle, eat. sleep and go to the bathroom like everyone else, some of us even still struggle with our past lifestyles.  We are North Americans, Europeans, Asians, Australians and Africans,..but above all else we are unashamebly Catholic first and foremost!  We are the generation either very young in our marriages, discerning marriage (or a vocation) and trying as best we can to undo the damage done to us by those in charge of our 'Confirmations' or according to some, our graduation from Church.  So,..that being said, as we watch our pastoral 'teams,' liturgy 'commitees,' social justice 'panels' all go the way of the dodobird, we rejoice and say thanks be to God!    Fr Fruitloop with his rainbow stole and 72 women Eucharistic 'ministers' will have to heed the call of the Holy Spirit and embrace once again the One True Faith, the Faith of the Martyrs and of the Saints!  A new breed of priest is on the horizon, inspired by JPII and formed by B16!!!  Our Lady's Blue Army,..together with GBenedict is about to reclaim the Faith for Christ! 

Today is the feast of all Saints,..We implore all Saints to intercede for our beloved Church!  Guide and protect Her! 

O Mary Conceived without sin,......Ora pro nobis!

Feasting with the dead--- who live!

Me with my grandpère, circa 1982

Today and tomorrow mark the two feasts of the year that deal with our dead... On November 1 the Saints recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as having abounded in holiness in this life through careful examination, and those who are unknown to us or known only to a few are celebrated on this day. Tomorrow we remember in our prayers all the souls who have been here below, praying especially for the mercy of God on those who may be going through purgative purification.

It's a time I always begin to reflect on the Communion of Saints. 

the Communion of Saints is the name we give to a doctrine we teach that makes most protestants shudder-- and yet it is the most glorious thing.... one of the key pieces in the puzzle of Christianity. As a protestant, I was always so frustrated when my friends died-- my choices were to believe that they had gone to hell because I hadn't seen them make visible efforts with their alleged faith in God, in which case, it was horrid, I was helpless, and God didn't care. Or to believe that they had gone to heaven and were now separate from me, GONE, away, and lost until some magical day in the far off future when we would be united in heaven. Catholicism, however, offers the simplest, and most beautiful doctrine to demonstrate both how GOOD God really is and how interconnected we are... how much relationships DO matter.

The entire Church, called the "Mystical Body of Christ," has one head: Christ. The Church here on earth is called: "The Church Militant." We are here below, waging war on sin and evil. The Church above is the Church Triumphant, having succeeded in the spiritual battle, and now interceding for us before the Throne.

The Church Suffering are the souls in purgatory (state of being, not physical place) who did not succeed in the Battle completely, who have not received the graces necessary (because they didn't ask!) to enter God's presence, but who died "doing what they thought was right." Great suffering is theirs. as the Refiner's Fire purifies them, and we pray for them anticipating their eventual glory, they helping us by their prayers and we helping them. All of us are interconnected. For those in Christ, there truly is no time and space, we are all one.

In the Holy Eucharist, In Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, I am united to all believers past, present and future, militant, suffering, and triumphant. We are all One. When I receive the eucharist I am mystically  present with all my loved ones.... family members across the globe whom I love and miss and who, also are fed by the Lamb. Friends and family members who have passed on in Christ. The Saints whose lives inspire me and mold me and help me to be the best Christian I can be. They are all there, in that little tiny host, often described as "dry tasting" by people who simply don't understand what they are seeing and tasting... the body and soul, mind and divinity of Our Lord, Jesus Christ.

If you're like me and have a lot of friends and family who have passed away, and a lot who live far away and who you simply can't be with physically, this doctrine is of so much comfort and such a source for rejoicing.

Like a great Tree of Life the branches, representing the Church Triumphant,  spread throughout the heavens, praising God and shaking things up for us here below in our necessity, uniting heaven and earth. The trunk (Church Militant), stable and sturdy, healthy, ever growing and building, depends on the connection of the roots (Church Suffering-- buried but ever active!)  with the rich earth (God) from whom all nourishment comes. The trunk is tall and straight because of the wind in it's branches, the hope in it's brightly colored leaves, each different from the next but all similar in their shape, function, and beauty and because of the depth of the roots and their constant presence. We all matter. We all have a place, and a part. We all came from somewhere, and are going somewhere. We're all connected. We all matter, and no one is simply "gone." God made the tree, nourishes us in the earth, the air, the wind, the water..... He is in the heavens, and with us in the roots and soil.

Today, Catholics will sing  Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones..... reminded of the Communion of Saints. Tomorrow, Catholics will hear mass in a cemetery, reminded of their duty towards the Holy Souls in Purgatory, as much a part of the mystical body as any living person.

The reflections which naturally arise from the observation of these days are dark and triumphant, difficult and beautiful, mysterious and wonderful.....amazing.

As someone involved with  the paranormal community, these two days are the most important ways to communicate to non-catholics, and especially people who have been affected by supernatural experiences with the dead ("last phone calls," "last visits," "sightings" etc) that these things have a very real purpose, that there are people who need us still and that we can not forget them, that for the dead in Christ, death is only the beginning!

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
- 1 Corinthians 15:55

Today, I thank God for the Saints in heaven, especially my close friends Mary, Joseph, Elijah, Mary Magdalen, St Josemaria, and Blessed Mariam, the Little Arab.

Tomorrow, I remember especially in my prayers all my relatives who have died, especially my Grandpère, who died in the month of  November and who I miss very much. I remember also all of my friends who died back home, at least one a year since the year I turned twelve, of various tragedies ranging from car accidents to drug overdoses to suicides and freak illnesses. Death is no stranger to me-- but it has lost it's sting. Alleluia!

I remember also all of your friends and family, and most especially those sweet babies so many of my friends have lost in childbirth or through miscarriage. They are with us! Alleluia!

Eternal rest grant them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. Amen!

*note to non-Catholic readers: the Roman Catholic Church teaches the existence of hell. The fact that I didn't discuss hell in this blog is NOT indicative of the doctrine of universal salvation within Catholic teaching. I wanted here to focus on the things we celebrate and observe these two days... our cause for rejoicing. There is, of course, a time to weep. We'll talk about that another day. ;)

Series on the Sacraments

Dear friends:

I wanted to encourage you to check out a series of blog postings that i am writing about the Sacraments.

This series of posts is on a website called VirtuousPla.net . To view the latest posting in the series, please click here.

Pax,
Joe

Sins Of The Tongue: How To Detect And Avoid Them

From The Integrated Catholic Life:

Sins and Faults of the Tongue: To Speak or not to Speak – That is the Question

Dear Sister,

There is a lot of noise around me – constantly. So much chatter. It seems to me that conversations in general are getting more superficial. I’m reminded of the title of one Shakespeare’s plays. It seems to fit what I am trying to say – Much Ado about Nothing.What are your thoughts?

Dear Friend,

Ah! Much Ado About Nothing. Well said!

I hear a longing in your question – a longing for something deeper, restorative and spiritual.  To fulfill this longing, we must all try, even though it is not so easy in today’s culture, to re-discover the healing power of silence. As Ecclesiastes says, “There is a time a time to be silent, and a time to speak.”

Each one of my Carmelite Sisters, including myself, is required to make an eight-day silent retreat yearly. When we first entered Carmel, silence was difficult for us. It was new. Many of us spend our first eight-day retreat simply meditating with growing astonishment that anyone could even keep quiet for eight full days, and how were we ever going to get through it?  Of course, throughout the years, we have all come to love it.

There are two kinds of silence – exterior and interior silence. Each complements the other. Each makes the other possible. Both bring you closer to God. We learn to keep still and quiet so that we may pray. It doesn’t take long to realize that the external silence, once achieved, reveals all those interior noises that converge within our minds.  The Carmelite way is a way of profound prayer and we all find out soon enough that our interior thoughts can be very noisy. I’ve heard from people who had tried the hermit way of life, and left it because the silence uncovered so much of their interior noise. As they put it, it uncovered too much.

During one eight-day silent retreat, the retreat master, who happened to be Father Thomas Dubay, SM, spoke about the opposite of silence. He concentrated on speech, on WHAT we CHOOSE to say and WHEN we choose to say it.

I still have my notes from that memorable eight-day retreat. Each point was an eye-opener for me.  You may find this helpful in your quest. So, here are my notes from conferences given by Father Dubay, who divided the topic into two sections:

1. Obvious Sins of the Tongue
2. Unrealized Faults of Speech

Obvious Sins of the Tongue – “In a multitude of words, sin is not lacking” (Proverbs 10:19).

• Detraction - speaking about another persons’ faults (faults that are true) without a good reason (Sirach 21).
• Calumny - which is speaking about a persons’ faults (faults that are not true).
• Bickering - speaking nasty or biting remarks
• Nagging - the constant complaining, scolding or urging about a fault even if it is true; to find fault constantly (Proverbs 21:9).
• Ego-centrism - constantly referring to what I did, what I said, etc. Constantly talking about ME
• Breaking confidences - for there are natural secrets that should not be spread; people have a right to their reputation (Proverbs 11:13)
• Dominating a conversation to prove a point - and most of the time we are unaware we are doing this.
• Salacious talks/jokes - which has to do with speaking impurely (Ephesians 5:3-4).

Unrealized Faults of Speech

• Talking can be a big waste of time - when the talking is empty and gossipy (Matt. 12:36)
• Neglecting the spiritual in our speaking with others - which is the main business of our lives (Ps. 25:15; Eph. 1: Col. 3:12; Eph. 5:18-20)
• Dissipation and draining of our psychic energies - leaving us fatigued, distracted, and unable to do our tasks at hand
• Bad example - to our family, friends, co-workers, but especially to our children
• Excessive comfort-seeking through words - which includes talking over and over again about one’s hurts
• Excusing ourselves - when we should not
• Vain discussions - when our time could be better spent (2 Tim. 2:16-17)
• Meddling in others’ affairs (2 Thess. 3:11-12)

How to Overcome Sins of the Tongue

1. Daily prayer.
2. Frequent Confession and Holy Communion.
3. Pray for the grace to recognize all of the sins of the tongue -- some are obvious, some are subtle.
4. Pray for the grace to keep silent during discussion of a bad situation.
5. Pray for the grace to keep silent during discussion of another person.
6. Just keep silent.

RULE: NEVER pass on derogatory or uncomplimentary information about anyone, unless the Word of God has given you the specific authority and responsibility to do so, and the person you are informing likewise has responsibility in the situation and a need to know the information.

Of course, the reason we have times of silence is so that we may turn our conversation toward God. The silence we are speaking of is a prayerful, expectant waiting silence.  Our world has too much noise in it today, and if we are really honest, each one of us could probably say that our hearts do also. When we do speak, let us be more attentive to what we say, why we are saying it, and how it affects others.

Thank you for your question and until next time,

Sister Laus Gloriae, O.C.D.

---

Send your questions for Sister to asksister@integratedcatholiclife.org.

A proper understanding of the sacfice of the Mass

I saw this on a message board today and simply HAD to put it somewhere so others could see. Let me know what you think, GB'ers.
-TWS


"God became incarnate through Jesus. While Jesus was on Earth he was physically with us. People could have communion with Him because He was, well present.

At the assumption Jesus returned to his Father. Now, spiritually Jesus is still with us. He is not disconnected from us. But the church holds that Jesus still wants PHYSICAL communion with us.

So God becomes incarnate once again through the Mass. The elements become the flesh of Jesus and His blood in a similar way to how Jesus was made God incarnate as man. If God could become man, could not also God become bread and wine? The bread and the wine are replaced by the flesh and blood of Jesus quite literally but in an incarnate form.

That’s why we talk about Communion. The receiving of the Sacrament is PHYSICAL *communion* with our savior.

The changing of the elements then allows the pries to make an offering unto God - NOT re-sacrificing Jesus but presenting the one time sacrifice to the Father saying, “Look, here, physically is the flesh and blood of your son (in incarnate form as bread and wine) shed for us. Remember the covenant that was made as we remember her today.” The flesh and blood are literally RE-PRESENTED to the Father for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus is not re-crucified (a common error in understanding of Catholic teaching) but the results of that one time sacrifice - flesh and blood - are shown to the father. No more sheep or goats but a one time offering that has been made allowing us to RE-PRESENT Jesus to the Father.

It’s quite deep actually. We give our sins over to God at the start of the Mass, God gives us His own son’s flesh and blood which we offer up to God as a kind of reminder, and He then gives us communion with His Son so He is still physically present on Earth even after ascending to Heaven. He hands over our sins, the priest offers up the one time sacrifice to God and He then give us His son in physical form.

So you won’t find meat under the microscope of a consecrated host or hemoglobin in the wine. Jesus is INCARNATE in another form."

My first ever blog, and it's a rant!!!

Just felt the need to rant about the current situation in the Church. It's about priorities and a clear failure on the part of our leadership. Right now, in our midst, hundreds of innocent children are being slaughtered in their own Mother's wombs on a daily basis. And that's in Canada alone! In this same country, a woman who strangled her newborn child was set free by a judge who said she did no wrong seeing as how abortion is legal through all nine months of pregnancy. http://www.lifesitenews.com/judge-rules-no-jail-time-for-infanticide-because-canada-accepts-abortion.html.

Although I can congratulate this judge for being logically consistent, a am abhorred over the subject matter he is being logically consistent about. We as a society teach the horrors of past genocides in our schools and erect memorials for the victims who died in these genocides. We are quick to judge the perpetrators of these genocides, such as the Nazi's for example, with an err of moral superiority. Yet we turn a blind eye to the much more horrific genocide in our midst. Now this doesn't surprise me coming from the secular world, who subscribe to a relativistic view of morality anyway. The Catholic Church on the other hand, has always been the voice of true objective morality for society. So when the Church does not use that voice something is very wrong. I'm not saying that everyone in the Church does not speak out, but the level of outspokenness compared to the gravity of the crime are way out of proportion.

What most recently has highlighted this fact for me is the recalling of Fr. Frank Pavone to his diocese. Fr. Frank has been given permission to work outside his diocese full time as national director of Priests for Life. Recently however, he was recalled by his Bishop. One of the reasons given was that he has become too involved in his pro-life work. Uhm, excuse me? Too involved? That's akin to saying that Martin Luther King Jr was too involved in the civil rights movement. Not to mention that Fr. Pavone is national director of priests for LIFE! Pro-life work is their mandate. Then, on top of that, when I picked up the mail after work (the same day I heard about Fr. Pavone), I had the "Privilege" of reading in the Western Catholic Reporter (a free Catholic newspaper in western Canada) about how religious leaders were among hundreds arrested in the states for protesting a proposed oil pipeline running from the Alberta tar sands to the states. http://www.wcr.ab.ca/WCRThisWeek/Stories/tabid/61/entryid/1367/Default.aspx

This especially gets my blood boiling. Religious leaders are willing to get arrested over "climate change" but last year the bishops here in Alberta wouldn't even participate in the Alberta march for life due to the presence of graphic images. Not to mention that when I participated in the last couple 40 days for life campaigns I noticed the dismal participation throughout the diocese. One of the reasons for this was that, at my old parish at least, there was no mention that this was even taking place. When I met with the priest requesting more of a pro-life presence in the parish, I was met with defensiveness and weak kneed excuses. When I emailed them seeking to correct erroneous information in their bulletin I was ignored. What was the info they had posted? A little "fact" that more people die every year from unsafe drinking water than all forms of violence combined. It took me about 2 sec to do a google search and find actual numbers behind this claim. Unsafe drinking water caused somewhere between 3-5 million deaths a year worldwide while abortion caused over 40 million a year worldwide. I was charitable in my communication with them, but was ignored. The erroneous info remained, but I decided I needed to leave and found a new parish. Only time will tell if this one is better. At least their liturgy is slightly more reverent and homilies aren't way out in left field.

That was as of yesterday. Today I was greeted with even more "great" news. While checking my wall on FB, another headline leapt out at me. It read " Confusion as Spokane bishop asks priests not to join 40 days for life vigils" http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/confusion-as-spokane-bishop-asks-priests-not-to-join-40-days-for-life-vigil What is wrong with these people, seriously! To petition this, by the way, go here: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/ask-bishop-cupich-to-let-priests-pray-at-planned-parent.html%20against%20the%20mandate

Political correctness and the heresy of modernism has run amok for far too long in the Church, and change can't come fast enough. On a good note, the vatican and the SSPX are in talks again. http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=42829 I for one am praying for the SSPX to come back into full communion and help balance things out.

The pro-life issue is the most important battle of our time. I personally believe we will all have to answer to God one day for our action (or inaction) in the face of one of the greatest evils the world has ever known. I wish I had time to do more, but there are those who do nothing. If you are a leader in the Church who is afraid of this issue, you will be judged even more harshly by both God and history. Don't get me wrong. We do have strong pro-life leaders in the Church. However, like I said at the beginning of this post. The proportion is way out of whack....

Pray for the Church my brothers and sisters.....

Lord Jesus

Have Mercy on Us