I am confused. I was named after David in the Bible and was always proud of it. But now I discover that David was a murderer and an adulterer. I am thinking about going with my middle name no so that I won't be associated with that reputation. What do you think? - D

Dave,

You are right.  David from the Bible was a murderer and an adulterer.  But that's not all he was.  Let's look at the whole picture.  David was also chosen by God to lead His people.  He loved God and "the LORD" was "with him,"  (1 Sam 16:18).  David was a man who followed God. 

However, there came a time in his life when David became complacent.   It was during this time that he saw a woman and became lustful for her.  Instead of turning his head and heart from her, he took her, she became pregnant, and so he ended up having her husband murdered.  He then took her as his wife.  God knew of this and He had Samuel confront David about it.  David, being king could have had Samuel killed for confronting him, but David took the rebuke for what it was and he repented.  Still, he paid dearly for his actions.  The consequences of his sin rippled through the rest of his reigning years.  You can read about his sin in 2 Samuel 11 & 12. 

Even though David fell, should we condemn him?  Obviously the answer is a resounding, "NO!"  God didn't condemn him.  He forgave him when he repented.   God also forgives us when we repent.  But God doesn't take away the natural consequences of our sin.

That said, we need to remember that we humans don't see as God sees.  God looks at the heart.  David's heart was turned to God.  He strayed.  He returned.  We are the same.  We love God.  But we stray.  Hopefully we return. 

God's re-acceptance of David should reassure us - like the story of the prodigal son and the forgiving father in the New Testament.  We should be comforted that no matter how great our sin, we are embraced by God when we repent.  Most of us won't commit the sin of murder.  We won't commit adultery.  Those are some of the worst of the sins we could commit. They fall on the top ten list of BAD THINGS not to do.  But God sees all sin as repugnant.  We aren't to compare ourselves to others.  We are to use our perfect God as our measuring rod and understand that we never measure even close to His perfection. 

We can know through David's story that if God would accept someone who has committed the most heinous of actions back into His embrace, He will accept us, who also sin, back too.  Instead of looking at David as a let down, look at him as one who is like us, a sinner who loves God but strays.  Be encouraged because even though David failed miserably to the flesh, God used him to do great things.  Be happy that he found his way back to God and thus was deemed worthy to be listed as an ancestor of Jesus! 

As far as your name goes, try to emulate the good in this namesake of your and hope that you can love God so much that it can be said that 'the LORD is with you!'  Grasp the fact that David did great things for God and open yourself to Him, asking Him to use you to do great things too. 

Faith News: Pope Francis speaks about doubting one's faith.

In June of 2013 Pope Francis was visiting some Jesuit-run schools in Italy and Albania when one of the boys asked him about how he could overcome doubts he had regarding his faith.
Pope Francis responded by speaking about walking:  He said, "Walking is an art; if we are always in a hurry we tire and cannot reach our destination ... Yet if we stop and do not move, we also fail to reach [it] ...Walking is ... thinking about where I want to go, and also coping with the weariness that comes from walking.  ...The way is often hard-going; it is not easy. ... there are days of darkness, days of failure, and some days of falling ... In the art of walking it is not falling that matters, but not 'staying fallen.'  Get up quickly, immediately, and continue to go on.  And this is beautiful:  it is working every day, it is walking humanly.  But also:  it is terrible to walk alone, terrible and tedious.  Walking in community, with friends, with those who love us:  this helps us, it helps us to arrive precisely at the destination where we must arrive."  (Our Sunday Visitor, July 6, 2014 - p 11  "Pope Francis on Doubt.)

Looking at his reply to this young boy, the next question is:  How is our faith like walking? 
* We must not tire in our faith.
* We must not stop trying to believe.
* We must remember to think about our destination (heaven/relationship with Jesus/eternity  with God).
* We must remember that we will have days of darkness, doubts, failure, and falling.
* We must get up after we fall.
* We must get up quickly.
* We must get up immediately.
* We must work at it every day.
* We must join a community which helps us with our faith journey.

In these ways we can overcome our doubts and build our faith.

How should I respond to something someone else does that makes me look bad? For example, my boss is a lousy manager. When I ask her for help with something her answers make no sense. I'm sure that if I had a better boss I would perform better. Should I speak to the next manager up and complain? What would Jesus say about this? - Jeremy

Jeremy -

You're probably not going to like this response.  However, you need to remember that our real work in this world is to be an ambassador for Christ so that we can win souls for Him.  

That being said, all people should behave  remembering that Christ is the ultimate judge.  Because of his obedience on the cross, He has the "full right to pass definitive judgment on the works and hearts of men."  (CCC679)  All people must remember that they do their work not for a human boss, but ultimately for God.  

I know that sounds like I didn't answer your question. So, let me pick it apart some more:   All people must take responsibility for their part in what happens in their lives. The easiest way to shirk responsibility is to blame another, then they don't have to do anything about the problem.  

This wanting to get out of trouble by blaming someone else can be seen from the very beginning of humanity. Remember in Genesis 3 after Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil; Adam blamed Eve for eating it.  Eve blamed the serpent.  The serpent was Satan who should not have been in the garden in the first place as Adam's job was to guard/care for the garden.  (Gen 2:15)   Four thousand plus years later we humans still play that blame game.  It is the bane of our fallen-ness.  

St. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Colossians (Col 3:17) that whatever we "do, in word or in deed," we are to "do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. (Col 3:17a)  That is a great reminder that our real job in this life - ie: our real responsibility - is to make God be seen in all that we do.   If we have a lousy boss, we need to continue to do our work the best we can in spite of that lousiness.  

Getting specific then, how can you find a solution to your work problems when the boss's answer doesn't seem like it's helpful?  Perhaps you need to be creative.  Is there someone else at the job who knows the answer?  Why not ask that person?  You might have to swallow some pride, and you might have to ask someone you don't particularly like for help, but others will see you overcoming the "incompetence" of the boss and you will be seen as a part of the solution to what's not right in the workplace rather as a hindrance to getting the job done.  

Remember, attitudes can be caught. Make yours one that others will benefit from catching.  You may well be the impetus which creates a whole new way of being in your workplace.  It is not your boss's responsibility to make you look good. What is your responsibility as an employee where you work?  Is it to snitch on your boss?  If you look realistically at the answer you will probably admit that it is to do your job to the best of your abilities.  The way you overcome your boss's imperfections will demonstrate the strength of your character.  ...

... And, your attitude towards your boss and your attitude towards becoming a better employee is one way you can live out the duty of all Christians: that of drawing others to Christ.   In the meantime, suffering any wrongs you feel have been committed against you can be offered up as prayer and sacrifice towards your Christian calling in the fundamental work of saving souls.  

Hope this helped.

How did a few atheists and secular humanists stop prayer in the public schools despite the fact that the great majority of Americans wanted prayer in the schools? How did a few anti-life people get control of the Supreme Court, mass media, Congress, presidency, and business community when twenty-five years ago they were a very small minority? How can a few homosexual activists change our government's definition of the family and make sodomy a civil right despite the fact that a little over a decade ago these things were unthinkable for a vast majority of Americans?

"A large force is defeated by a few people when the 'moral majority' is not very moral, when many of them have abandoned the Lord (see 2 Chr 24:24; see also Josh 7:3ff). When we transgress the Lord's commands, we cannot prosper (2 Chr 24:20).  Because we "have abandoned the Lord, He has abandoned" us (2 Chr 24:20). Only when we are under the Lord's authority are we in authority over Satan and the forces of evil. Only the totally committed win. Only the obedient conquer (see 2 Cor 10:6)."  email@presentationministries.com,  Saturday, June 21, 2014, Link to Readings --> http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/062114.cfm WHEN THE MAJORITY DOESN'T, OneBreadOneBody-AMER@presentationministries.com, Jun 21, 2014

So what should we do about the state of affairs? We must return to God.  We must repent.  It can all begin with us!

Was Jesus’ last name Christ? - Josh

Josh,

It does seem logical to us in 2014 that Christ should be Jesus’ last name, however, it was not!  In the days of Jesus, the Jewish custom was to call a man the son of his father.  Like the apostles James and John were called the sons of Zebedee.  And, Sometimes people were identified by the name of the town from which they came.  For example; the man who helped Jesus carry the cross was named Simon of Cyrene.  He was from that area in northern Africa.    

‘Christ’ is actually a Greek translation of the Hebrew word meaning  ‘anointed.’  The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains how those meanings are actually an excellent description of who Jesus is:  Christ “became the name proper to Jesus only because he accomplished perfectly the divine mission that ‘Christ’ signifies.  … In Israel those consecrated to God for a mission” given to them by God “were anointed in His name.  This was the case for kings, for priests and, in rare instances, for prophets.  This had to be the case all the more so for the Messiah whom God would send to inaugurate His kingdom  … It was necessary that the Messiah be anointed by the Spirit of the Lord at once as king and priest, and also as prophet.  Jesus fulfilled the messianic hope of Israel in his threefold office of priest, prophet, and king.”  (CCC436)

I’ve heard that Jesus is the New Adam. I’ve also heard that Mary is the New Eve. What does that mean? Mary is Jesus’ mother, not his wife. - Mel

I just love what good questions come to this blog!  Thanks for asking it. :)

Let’s start at the beginning:  God created perfect man and a perfect woman.  Their names were Adam and Eve.  They lived in perfect union with God until they came to a moment in a garden by a tree with a snake – who was Satan.  They had a choice:  They could continue to follow God’s commands or they could choose not to.  By choosing to say, “No,” to God and to eat of the tree, they were banished from the Garden and we – humanity- became in need of salvation.

However, God in His perfect knowledge of who we are knew that this was going to happen, so He had a plan already in place to send Himself – in the form of His Son – who is the 2^nd person of the Trinity – to Redeem us.

To bring this about, God sent the 3^rd person of the Trinity – the Holy Spirit – to a young girl named Mary – whom he blessed by allowing her to be formed in a perfect state (The Immaculate Conception).  When she was a young teen, God sent a messenger to present her with a choice.  She said, “Yes,” and through this, that Daughter of God became the Spouse of the Holy Spirit and the Mother of the Son.

This Son – Jesus – was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit into the womb of Mary.  He was without Sin because He is God the Son. … Now, fast-forward 33 years from that conception:   We have this perfectly formed woman, this perfectly formed man, and Satan (this time in the people who taunted Jesus and told him to call upon his angels to get him down from the cross etc.) gathered at a tree… This time, the Man and the Woman said, “Yes” to God an followed His will for them.   Jesus in dying, Mary at watching her beautiful and perfect grown child be tortured and killed.   It caused great sorrow for both of them.

See the parallel to the Garden:  the perfectly formed man and woman, the tree, Satan, the temptation to turn away from God’s plan?  … So, this story from Adam and Eve is played out again in Jesus and Mary.  Where the 1^st Adam and Eve failed and lost their intimacy with God and hence made a need for a Savior, the 2^nd Adam and Eve did not fail and they gave us back the ability to be in intimacy with God.  Hence, they are called the New Adam and the New Eve.

Hope this helps clear that up for you!

Faith News: How one woman is coping with adult bullying!

Sadly, the problem of bullying doesn’t stop when we leave grade school – or even when we graduate from high school.  There are some adults in their middle ages, and even some in the over-the-hill-ages, who get their way by being aggressive and mean.  They went from being little kids who bullied others to being little kids in grownup bodies who still bully others.   And that stinks because being bullied hurts no matter what age we (or the bully) are.  A recent article In the Our Sunday Visitor (OSV) made me stop and ponder this issue a little more:  

The June 15th edition of the OSV told the story of an engaging woman who has figured out a way to combat the bullying she still experiences as an adult.  Lizzy Velasquez of Austin, Texas suffers from an unidentified syndrome that only two other people in the world are known to have.  She can’t gain weight. - I know, it sounds like a dream to us who have tried every way we can think of to lose some body fat.  However, she has never weighed over 62 pounds in her life. And she’s 25!  

When she was 17 she discovered that someone had made an eight-second video about her that went viral.  Over 4,000,000 people viewed it and thousands of them made mean and hateful comments.   They said things like she was the “ugliest woman in the world.”  She was a “monster.”  She “should do the world a favor and kill” herself.  It broke her heart and her spirit.  

However, this wasn’t new to her.  It's been happening since she was a little kid. She tells of her experience on the first day of kindergarten:  She smiled at another little girl and that little girl was terrified.  She reacted in a way that totally confounded Lizzie.  Throughout her entire life tons of kids have bullied her and many strangers have stared at her. 

How did all that make her feel?  She wanted to fight back.  She wanted to make those people hurt like she did.  But, she realized that she had a choice to make.  She says,  “I started realizing that my life was in my hands, … I could either choose to make this really good, or I could choose to make this really bad.   I could be grateful and open my eyes and realize the good things that I do have and make that what defines me.”  (OSV June 15, 2014 p 15)

  

Lizzie found support through her strong Catholic roots which include her parents and extended family.  And she realized that she could use 

use the pain she felt from the bullying to triumph over it.  She decided she would do something big for herself.  She made it her goal to graduate from college and write books.  

And guess what?  At the age of 25 she's already surpassed those dreams. Her third book is to be released late this summer!  Her topics?  Her inspirational journey, finding the beauty within, and choosing to be happy.  She has been such an encouragement to others that she has been invited to speak out against bullying and share her story by many groups.  She’s also been interviewed for the news, talk shows, and print media.  She has her own website (aboutlizzie.com), and is in the process of making a documentary about her life. 

At the apex of her message is faith.  Lizzie realizes that God is with her through all her pain and through all her successes.  She says, “God knew what He was doing when He made every one of us very different and unique.  … If we were all the same it wouldn’t be exciting.  We have something to look forward to in bringing our different personalities to the table.”

Lizzie's current goals, and perhaps her life's purpose, is to use her experiences to let people know how hurtful bullying is and to make social media a safer place to be.  She doesn’t want to lower herself to the mindset of all those people who have bullied and hurt her; she chooses to take the higher road of being kind.  She lives what she preaches by acting in ways that show others how to make a difference by being a positive and Christ-like example to the world.  (Our Sunday Visitor, Volume 103, No 7,  June 15, 201,   “Incredible strength at only 58 pounds”  by Maryann Gogniat Eidemiller, p 14-15)