Faith News: Pope Francis’s thoughts on FREEDOM: It’s Demanding!

“Pope Francis is a Jesuit, formed in the spirituality of the Spiritual Exercises. So it’s not surprising that he zeroed in on one of the central ideas of Ignatian spirituality when he found himself in front of a group of students from Jesuit high schools last June.  That idea is freedom.

“Each of us has a part to play in the great drama of Christ’s work to save and heal the world, and our challenge is to learn what that work is and to choose to do it. This is what we most deeply desire, but there’s a problem. We desire many things—a rewarding career, friends and lovers, good health, security, comfort, a good reputation, peace of mind, and many more. In the midst of all these desires and options and goals, how do we focus on the most important thing—to love and serve God and other people?

“The answer, Pope Francis said, is freedom. We need to be free from what Ignatius called “disordered attachments”—those wants and yearnings, some good, some not so good, that can govern our decisions and ultimately control our lives. It’s no small task. Francis wasn’t kidding when he said that being free is demanding. It requires a great deal of discernment, prayer, reflection, and grace to sort through the confusion of desires and attachments and find what it is that we most deeply desire.

“Ignatius believed that our deepest, truest desires have been placed in our hearts by God. So when we finally find what we really want, we find what God wants too. That’s the promise of freedom.”  (dotMagis – Ignatian Spirituality, Being Free is Demanding, Posted 22 April 2014 )

If God is supposed to be this great being who loves us, why is He so mean in the Old Testament? - Jimmy

Jimmy:  Your question is one which many people before you have asked throughout history!   I have two thoughts on an answer for you.  I hope they help clear up your question:  
 

1.  Think of the best parent who could ever exist.  What would that parent look like?  Loving?  Just?  Slow to anger? Someone who teaches his/her child how to live a Blessed life?   ... Yes, all those things. ... but more.  If you misbehaved, a good parent would lovingly - note that word - LOVINGLY reprimand you.  

In the Old Testament, God - a truly loving Father demonstrated His great love to His children:
  * He gave Adam and Eve clothing when they chose to sin and thus banned from the Garden of Eden.  
   * When Israel was in bondage to Egypt, He rescued them.  He even gave Egypt - the bad guys - 10 opportunities to do the right thing.  Each time Pharaoh hardened his heart.  God tried to get Pharaoh's attention by making each plague a little worse than the last. God even showed Pharaoh that it was God's work by allowing the Israelites to be unaffected by the plagues.  Finally, God sent a plague which really caught Pharaoh's attention - and even with the death of the firstborn sons Pharaoh changed his mind about setting the people free.  - Sometimes people can be really hard-headed!  

* Again we see God the Father's mercy in the time of the Judges.  His children, the Israelites,  would forget God; they would sin.  They would then find themselves serving an oppressor because of that sin.  They would appeal to the Lord in supplication. God would send them a judge who would save them by leading them back onto the right path to God.  (Remember Sampson?  Gideon?  Jepthah?  Deborah? They were some of the Judges.) Then things would become good again and they would forget about their past trials and tribulations and go silent on God ie:  forget all about Him, stop praying, etc.   And so they would begin again to sin...and repeat the cycle.   But God was always waiting for them to return to Him. 

In each of these cases, the people CHOSE their actions.  Adam and Eve chose to disobey God's command not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Pharaoh chose not to let the people go, even after it was clear that God was the one speaking through Moses & Aaron.  And the Israelite people chose to fall into idol worship etc. during the times of the judges.

So, in essence, Adam & Eve chose the "mean" (to use your word) response from God.  Pharaoh chose the "mean" response from God.  And, the Israelites too chose  their lot.  The consequences were yucky. 
 

But isn't that the way life is?  Look at parents today; Don't they give many chances to their children to do the right thing?  But after maybe 3 warnings a good parent will then punish a child.  That's just a few wake-up calls or reminders to do what they've been instructed to do ... or else.  God is the same way, only He is/was more than patient!  God is righteous.  And righteousness demands that a punishment be given for disobedience.   The consequences and the ugly "mean" things that came out of the actions of the people in the Old Testament were the result of their own choices.   ... And that's a hard pill to swallow.

Looking at what our due punishment actually is, we discover that the penalty for sin is DEATH.  Eternal death.  Spiritual death.  Not being allowed to enter into the presence of our Almighty Father.  Because that's what righteousness requires.  God knew we couldn't meet the price of that penalty.  We could never offer enough rams, or doves, or oxen to make atonement for our wrongs.  No amount of  human or animal lifeblood would  even come close to being perfect.  There was nothing we could do that is good enough to make things even enough to enter into the presence of HIs perfection. 

So, our loving Father made that atonement for us.  God sent part of Himself - the Son part - who is the SON - who is Perfection Incarnate (ie: in the flesh) to put things back into balance and give us the ability to enter the Throne Room of our Creator.  Jesus offered himself, the PERFECT and unblemished Lamb of God, as the only offering worthy and acceptable to a Perfect God.  That's not mean.  That's the ultimate example of LOVE! 

That brings me to the 2nd part of my thoughts: 
 

2.  I hear you saying that God is supposed to be a LOVING God.  What does that mean?  If you mean that He shouldn't punish us, that's makes our relationship with God incomplete.  Should I be allowed to do whatever I want - even if it hurts someone?  what if that behavior hurts my Creator? - Consequences, good or bad ones, are a natural result of the choices we make.  

If I answer yes, that I should be allowed to do whatever I want to do no matter what, then I'm being selfish and unrealistic.  In our completely human relationships we don't tolerate that kind of behavior.  We live in America, a free country.  But if I were to travel at 60 miles an hour down main hill in Chicora, wouldn't I get a ticket from a cop who saw me?  And, I might also crash into one of the buildings at the bottom of the hill.  There would be a consequence (running into the building) and a penalty (a ticket from the police). 
     
When I make bad choices, I am not the only one affected.  And the consequences of those choices can ripple far beyond what I can see.  Looking at it from an extreme case, those ripples may continue for years and years and affect others over those later years.  Those affected may in turn respond to some of those affects by choosing to sin and so on and so on.  One person's behavior could actually perpetuate the culture of sin.  And so sin grows and mutates into worse and worse behaviors ...  

So, if I want a perfect God, I should want a completely perfect God.  A completely perfect God would demonstrate all the descriptors of a perfect parent in a flawless way - including the descriptor of 'providing correction to a wayward child in a loving way.'  God is able to see the far reaching effects of our sin.  Because He doesn't make us change our behaviors and stop them from happening is another demonstration of His love for us.  He doesn't want robots or little dolls which he manipulates into doing what He desires for us.  He wants us to come freely and completely openly to Him.  That He doesn't stop the bad ripples from affecting us - sometimes many years after the sin - is a demonstration of His great love, not a demonstration of meanness. 

Sometimes when God lovingly corrects us it hurts - sometimes really badly.  And we don't like it.  But we should remember that God has always proven that He is the God of 2nd, and 3rd, and 4th ... chances.   And guess what?  Just as He showed the Israelites in the time of the Judges that he doesn't turn away from them when they turn from Him, we can know that He doesn't turn away from us when we stray.  He's there waiting for us, wishing for us to return, and holding out open arms towards us.   He doesn't like it when we turn away from Him.  It hurts Him.  But He waits for us  - always - and forever - hoping for us to get tired of living in our sin, to get tired of the consequences of it, and waiting for us to return to Him with the confidence of children who trust their parent. 

What's really great about our God is that WHO HE IS is always more than we humans can comprehend.  Even when we move in the direction of understanding, more questions pop to the forefront.  I hope that my thoughts at least help you move forward on your thinking about this concern.   And I assume you will have more questions.  In the meantime, I hope it does serve to  clear the issue up a little.   Thanks. 

I heard Fr. Joe talking about the blessing of the oils by the Bishop on Holy Thursday. What happens at that blessing? - Amanda

Amanda:  

Your question is so timely.   And it just so happens that this was the first time I ever attended the Holy Thursday Mass at the Cathedral in Pittsburgh, so I got to actually see the blessing as it happened!  I also, "just happened" to have a camera with me and it took great pictures.  (I call it synchronicity when things 'click' in life looking like a coincidence, but is really the hand of God at work.) 
 

The blessing part itself started with the offertory.  A number of lay, priests, and religious presented huge glass urns full of the various oils and perfume to the Bishop. 

 

 

After that, the Bishop blessed them with incense.

Later he mixed the perfume with the appropriate oil - and stirred them together.  Then he breathed over all the urns.   Yes, he 'breathed' on them:  like God sent His breath on creation to separate the waters (Gen 1:2) - and how God breathed the breath of life into humankind (Gen 2:7)- and how Jesus breathed on the disciples in the upper room after his resurrection (John 20:22).  He leaned over the oils and breathed over the tops of the urns.

He also spoke a special blessing.   When he was finished we took our oil vials and got them filled by appointed seminarians who were tasked with the job, brought them home & presented them to the parishes at the Holy Thursday Mass.

 

It was a beautiful, beautiful ceremony.  

In the readings for Tues. April 8th.......How is this different from the people worshiping idols? would this not encourage them to turn to "man made" items to expect good things to happen?

in the readings for Tues. April 8th.......
 
        "We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you.
         Pray the LORD to take the serpents away from us."
         So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to
         Moses,"Make a seraph and mount it on a pole, 
         and whoever looks at it after being bitten will live." 
         Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted
         it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been
         bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent,
         he lived.........
              
How is this different from the people worshiping idols?  Would this not  encourage them to turn to "man made" items to expect good things to happen?
 
Good question! 
 
First, when reading a story from the Bible we have to remember the context.  In this story - you can find it in Numbers 21:4-9.  The Israelites had begun to grumble and complain against God.  They had begun wagging their tongues in an evil way - so to speak. 
So, God sent them a horrible punishment which reminded them of what they were doing.  He sent a creature which wagged its tongue and bit the people.  And they died. 
 
Another thing we have to remember when reading from the Bible is "what message are we to get from this story?"   Looking at this we have people dying spiritually because they are grumbling against God by the use of their tongues.  So God sends them what they are and they physically die. 
 
 
So, the people realized that they had sinned.  God's message was received loudly and clearly!  They went to Moses and told him of their sin.  They then asked Moses to pray to the LORD to take the serpents away.  Moses did.  God instructed him to do something which was totally inadequate - humanly speaking - to heal people of a deadly bite.  This was to demonstrate His power.  God alone could heal the bite.  
 
Again, the people would have realized the message God sent in this manner. 
 
So, just to reiterate what I said, hopefully a little more clearly, The 2nd commandment forbidding the worship of idols, and false gods is not the issue here.  God had the people make images before:  We saw that in the directions for making the Ark of the Covenant - Angels were to be imaged on it.  We see it in the veil/material walls of the tent/Tabernacle - images of creatures. 

The images made in the ancient times which were honored as gods were thought to be an actual revelation of the god.  That's why people took their offerings to the image.  

In those situations which God asked for images to be made - including this one, this is not the case.  The people did not think the serpent on the stick was God or even God-like.  And they didn't make offerings to it.  They were showing that they were turning back TO God by obediently following His instructions.

A couple of notes of interest:  This story has been seen as a foreshadowing of Jesus.  Look at the image upon that pole (tree) and you will live. ... Look upon the Cross and you will live ... Look being used as 'point your life in the direction of the Cross.'

And:  Even today we have a serpent on a pole (or two serpents) as the symbol of medicine.  We call it a Cadeceus (pronounced Ka-doo-suss).


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faith news: It's a wonderful life

Remember the Christmas classic, "It's a Wonderful Life"?  Jimmy Stewart played George Bailey who hit bottom and wished he'd never existed.  An angel - named Clarence - trying to earn his wings is tasked with the job of "saving" George.  Clarence grant's George's wish and shows him how life would have been if George had never been born.  It's a poignant story which gets me thinking about the impact I may be making in someone's life and don't even know it. 

Recently a story was released about a New York City fire-fighter who saved an infant from a burning building in 1967.  He received many accolades for his rescue, but as the years slipped by, the incident gradually faded from people's memories.  The firefighter, however, never forgot.  He actually kept a framed copy of the front page of that days' newspaper - which contained a photo of him and the infant.  

He retired after 30 years of fireman's duty, often wondering whatever happened to that little boy.  In January of this year, that fireman died at the age of 85.   Interested journalists pieced together a trail and found that "baby" still living, now 50 years old.  He was living in Virginia Beach, Va, married, the father of seven, and a minister.  He too had wondered over the years about the fireman who had saved his life.    

Although unable to attend the funeral himself, he sent his 28 year old daughter to stand as the family representative to honor the fireman.  She said that over the years her father times told the kids  'He risked his life to save my life ... and that's why I was able to give you life."  She was grateful and honored to finally know about the man who made a big difference that day when he was 'only doing his job.'  That's a great ending and certainly an great example of a WONDERFUL LIFE.  (The Pittsburgh Catholic- Senior Living insert - Friday, April 11 2014,  pp 2 & 6)

Pentecost is both Jewish & Christian!

"The Jewish Harvest Festival, or Festival of Weeks, is also called Pentecost, a Greek word that means 'fifty' ... [It] shares the name Pentecost with the Christian commemoration of the coming of the Holy Spirit.  The Acts of the Apostles describes this event:  'When the day of Pentecost came, all the believers were gathered together in one place. ... They were all filled with the Holy Spirit' (2:1,4). 

"Acts is referring to the Harvest Festival, which takes place fifty days after Passover in the Jewish calendar.   Jesus was crucified near the end of Passover.  Fifty days after the Resurrection, Jews gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Harvest Festival - and then the Holy Spirit descended on Christ's followers. 

"That is why the Church commemorates Pentecost seven Sundays (or fifty days) after Easter Sunday."  

(Saint Mary's Press Parish Catalog Spring 2014 edition, p 44)

Faith News: This is gross about aborted babies

Did you see that journalists in the United Kingdom discovered 27 hospitals and medical facilities which were burning miscarried and aborted babies to help heat their buildings?  !!  They figure that at least 15, 500 babies had been burned over the last two years.  They were called "clinical waste" and went to heat the hospitals.  Once the government was made aware of this, the parliamentary undersecretary of state for health called the practice "totally unacceptable" and the government imposed an immediate ban on the practice. The ban was put into place on March 24th of this year.    (OSV, April 6, 2014, p 3)

Coincidences in the Bible?

As I ponder some of the stories in the Bible, I think God speaks to us through situations  which some people would label as “luck,” “a fluke,” or “happenstance.”  For example, look at the book of Esther.   It seems like coincidence that she, a Jewess, is selected as the replacement Queen and that Haman – the bad guy – has chosen to kill all the Jews.  And is it a coincidence that nobody knew she was Jewish?  That she had kept the fact of her Jewish roots quiet ?  It certainly seemed to be a coincidence that the King had insomnia and discovered that he owed a favor to Mordecai just before Esther sups with the king and Haman and discloses the evil plot.  However, none of those happenings were by accident.  God placed each person exactly where that person needed to be so that the Jews would be saved from Haman’s execution.  It just took a look from the end of the story to see it all.

         What about Joseph?  Was it a coincidence that he was sold as a slave to the 2^nd in command of Egypt?  Was it a coincidence that he was in Egypt when his family was dying of famine in Palestine?  Was it a coincidence that his brothers had to come to him to get food?   No. God turned Joseph's  seemingly bad 'luck' into something bigger than the ugliness he had to endure.  God put Joseph right where he needed to be in order to save his people.  Again, it is only in hind sight  that God’s plan is clearly seen.

         Examples of “coincidences” abound in the Bible.  Certainly they abound in our lives today.  What do they all show us?  That God is always in control, even when we don’t understand our situation.  To trust God.  To remember that being in the right (or wrong) place at the right (or wrong) time is not enough; that the outcome often hinges on our response.  Anything else?  Oh, yeah ...that God’s “coincidences” always have a greater purpose than we might ever realize.

Check out the the story of Esther in the book of Esther.  It's short and a pretty easy read. And you can find Joseph's plight in Gen 37, & 39-46   You’ll never look at those little chance encounters of life in the same way again. 

Do you have a thought on "coincidences" you like to share?

Faith News: President Obama's gift to Pope Francis

Did you see that President Obama gave a "seed chest"  made out of wood from mahogany pews salvaged from Baltimore's basilica?    Inside was a selection of fruit and vegetable seeds from the White House's Garden.  Along with that, was a promise from Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's Virginia estate, to donate seeds which will yield several tons of produce to a charity of Pope Francis' choice.  

The gift was inspired by the pope's announcement that he would open the gardens of Castel Gandolfo to the public. Castel Gandolfo is the papal summer residence - and where Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI lived until his apartments in the Vatican were ready for him .  

In turn, Pope Francis gave the president a bound edition of his apostolic exhortation "Evangelii Gaudium" - The Joy of the Gospel.  (from Pittsburgh Catholic, Friday, Arpil 4, 2014 edition;  Gift Obama gave pope points to history of U.S. Catholicism  pp1 & 9

Faith News: Birthday Wish

A fourth grade girl in Clarion PA wanted something really different for her birthday this year.  For her 10th birthday, Gabrielle Miller, a student at Immaculate Conception School, told her parents she wanted just one thing:  to make a difference in someone's life.   With their help, she planned a birthday party.  Instead of gifts for herself she asked all the invitees to make a donation to a group called Camo Cares, an event which sends terminally ill children and wounded veterans on a hunt of a lifetime.   She received, and donated, $700.   (from the Progress News, Tuesday, March 25, 2014)

What do you think about that?!

What are the statues on the altar at St. Joesph's? I know that the one on the left (hanging on the wall) is Mary, and the one the middle is obviously Jesus, but who on the right, and who is the statue on the "shelf" on the right??

I got over to St Joe's today.  The statue on the wall to the right of the Crucifix is St. Joseph. The lilies sprouting from the rod honor his virginity and purity. Legend has it that when Mary was 14 and living in the Temple, the high priest gathered together all the male descendants of David of marriageable age and ordered them to bring a rod.  Whoever's rod blossomed into flower would become her spouse.  The Holy Spirit descended as a dove and caused Joseph's rod to blossom.  




I had to do some research to discover who the statue is on the shelf.  It is St. Francis of Assisi!
Note that he has the stigmata of Jesus - ie:  his wounds. I found an almost exact copy of the statue online.  I've added it here.  The reason for the skull is that it represents the brevity of life and the necessity to meditate on death. St. Francis constantly contemplated death.  I was flabbergasted to discover that answer, but I am 100% sure it's him.

Faith News: Friday abstinence

Australian Bishops are pushing to re-establish the year-round Friday abstinence of meat!  They have been 30 years without this obligation and are thinking that it was a big pastoral as well as spiritual mistake.  We here in the US have not had mandatory Friday abstinence since 1966 - that's 48 years.    (Our Sunday Visitor   3/30/2014  p3)

Wonder if returning to abstaining from meat every Friday of the year would make a difference in the faith lives of Catholics? Would it help us become more self-controlled?  Would it open our eyes better to the hungry of the world?  
Thoughts?