Dedication of The Basilica of Saint John Lateran

This Sunday, we celebrate the dedication of the Cathedral of Rome, St. John Lateran. It is the Pope's cathedral as Bishop of Rome. That this dedication is celebrated even on Sundays reminds us of the universality of the Church.

In our Gospel for this weekend, we hear of Jesus cleansing the Temple, which is early in Jesus' ministry recorded in John's Gospel. He tells them to destroy the temple and He will raise it up again. They hear it as the Temple - the center of the religious activity of the Jewish people. That temple was in the process of restoration of 46 years, and they cried foul. John redacts it for us: He was speaking of His Body. Temples are the places of encounter with God. Jesus is that place of encounter with God the Father, in the person of God the Son. Destroy that Temple, and it will be raised.

In the Second Reading form 1 Corinthians, Paul tells us that we are the Temple of God, too. We are the Body of Christ. We can hear echoes from Paul's conversion from being a persecutor of the Church to hearing Christ asking why he [Paul] is persecuting Him. We are built to the building of God. Some of us are called to build, too, on that same foundation of Jesus Christ. We build, so that we can be for others a place where they can encounter God because we strive to live with Christ.

Thoughts of the Election

I am writing the following as an individual, and is not an endorsement or rejection of any party or politician.

I am truly disappointed with many in the main stream media. So many are suggesting that those who voted against President-elect Obama are either racist or uninformed. He could not (or would not because it was not politically expedient) say when life began and was afforded rights. He refused to vote for a law that would have required medical care to those born alive in the process of abortion - the difference is that the woman wanted an abortion, not a baby. He supports of abortion on demand and the Freedom of Choice Act enshrining it as a right. He promised to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. He supports federal funding for fetal stem cell research. Because I am an informed Catholic, he removed himself from my support and vote for him as a candidate. It was not the color of his skin that I considered - it was the content of his character. I imagine that there was a fraction of those who did not vote for him primarily because of his ancestry, the same as I would be safe to assume some voted for him simply because of it - both are equally wrong! Dr. Martin Luther King said it best - when it is what is within that matters, not what is only skin deep.

This election was disappointing on the part of the pro-life cause. Measures aimed at limiting abortions, defining the start of human life (and rights) failed, while measures to allow embryonic research and assisted suicide passed. We by-and-large elected a pro-abortion slate into federal offices. The pro-abortion battle will not and cannot win based on logic and civil discourse, so now the politicians will force it upon us.

I 'predict' that under the new administration, access to abortion will be enshrined as a 'right', the limitations of abortion (conscience clauses, limiting federal funding, waiting periods, parental notifications, and partial birth abortion bans; so many gained only in these last years) will be removed. Abortionists and abortion mills will be allowed to relax safety and reporting regulations. Overall, we will see a declining number of reported abortions; it will be seen as a drop in abortions though they will be woefully underreported. The drop will be credited to some expensive and ultimately ineffective program, just as the 'rise' of abortion rates these last 8 years were blamed on the pro-life policies being failures, but not because of the mandatory reporting laws!

We must not be deceived - even if something is legal, it is not automatically moral. Abortion, and support of abortion, is always wrong. Life does begin at conception - it is a scientific fact in addition to being affirmed by the long teaching of the Catholic Church. The pro-life movement will have an uphill battle again, because we grew complacent.

These next years, we have a task to remind our politicians in all parties of the dignity of human life. We need not resign to the fact that abortion is here to stay, anymore than those before us gave up the cause of civil rights, the recognition of women's rights to vote, and the end of slavery. May God bless us with strength to defend the defenseless, and that He would bless our politicians and fellow citizens with the truth that life begins at conception, and that every life is precious in God's eyes.

That being written, we pray for President-Elect Obama. May he see the dignity of life from conception to natural death, and unite the nation for the good of all, not just the born (and wanted).

Prayer for Election Day

Rocco Palmo at Whispers in the Loggia links to a great prayer for this election day from the Concord Pastor. Hopefully, you will go to vote. Hopefully, this prayer will inspire you to vote, and to vote for life, and challenge our leaders to work for the poor and needy!

Feast of All Souls

The feast of All Souls gives us the opportunity to stop and remember those who have died who have not yet been entered into their heavenly rest, but in the fullness of time will - those in purgatory. Purgatory is a state of purification where the soul of those who have died without coming to the full love of Christ are purged from their earthly attachments. Prayers will not help those who, in their sins, rejected God and chose an eternity separated from Him (in Hell), and the prayers are not needed for those who, because of their faith and fullness of Love, have already been admitted to heaven as Saints. But the souls in purgatory are the ones for whom we can, and must, pray. It is a penitent prayer, a prayer of repentance on behalf of those who are there. Even the color specified for use at Mass (violet or black, if available) is one of prayer and penance. While there is a sense of joy, it is assumed, because they know that they are bound for heaven, there is the pain of letting go of their disordered attachments. We pray for them, that they may enter that purification and that we can help express the love of God with our prayers.

For us who are alive, we need to remember that Purgatory is not a goal - only heaven ought to be. We can be come to holiness here in this life, to become living saints. We pray for the grace of conversion in our lives, that we may find freedom from all that is not of God. May we be the saints that God not only has created us to be, but given us the grace to be!

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Of all the commandments of the Old Testament, the commandment to love God and our neighbor is the greatest, and also the most difficult. Love is a decision, a choice to put someone else's needs first. Love, mercy, and justice are all on the spectrum of right actions, with love being the highest. With the love of God, we respond to His love which moves us first. That love calls us to act in love with His other creatures.

Love is a choice, and it is a part of our vocation. All of us are commanded to love, but how? Is it as a spouse, meeting the needs of the other and a family? Is it as a priest who loves his parishioners and leads them in love? Is it as a religious man or woman who spends his or her life in prayer out of love for the world? We are all called to love, and in Love, let us serve Him and each other!

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, but to God what is God's? With these words, Jesus evades the trap that the Herodians and Pharisees try to lay for him. In doing so, Jesus calls them on their hypocrisy. They are opposite sides of the political spectrum, the first sign of trap, and the unsolicited compliments are another sign. They ask about the legality (not the politics but the morality) of paying taxes. The Roman empire required this tax of all subjects. The Pharisees saw that the Roman taxes were not legally obligated, though they most likely paid them, and the Herodians of course supported the taxes. If Jesus said no, the Herodians could have reported Him as a revolutionary. If Jesus said yes, He could have been accused of supporting the Roman regime inciting the people who hated the Roman rule. There is another level, here, too. Jesus invites them to show the coin that is used. The fact that they were able to produce the coin is a sign that they were asking a mute question. "Whose image is that..." The image of Tiberius Caesar was against Jewish sensibilities - it was a graven image of a human being, and as such would have been unlawful. Jesus continues "... and whose inscription?" The inscription would have read translated of course, "Tiberius Caesar, Son of Divine Augustus, Son of Augustus", and the back would have read "Pontificus maximus" - The High Priest. This would have been utter heresy - Tiberius' father Augustus proclaimed himself a god, and Tiberius called himself the son of a god, whose high priest he was. The onlookers answer that it is Caesar, and Jesus gives them the answer. In doing so, he is telling them to give to Caesar only what is duly his - the tax. But the glory, praise, honor, and worship belongs to God alone. Whose image, after all, is Tiberius himself in - it is the Image of God. He is not divine or the son of God. But Jesus Christ is, and He deserves the praise and honor due to such an truly August One (the quality, not the month).

Following our vocations, we give to God what is His. When we find the true balance in our vocation we find the balance of living our life for God, while living in the world (in, not of). We also take a more proper role in civic activities as God has called us as individuals.

Twenty-Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time

In the Gospel this weekend, we hear of the King who throws a wedding feast for his son, but those invited will not come. The reasons: Fields and business. Not a very good excuse, ultimately, and that is exactly the point. They simply reject the invitation. Some went so far as to kill the messengers. Yet the cattle are slaughtered and the feast must go on.

We are called to the feast that the Lamb of God has prepared for us. All we have to do is accept. But if we are honest, we reject the invitation, and sometimes 'kill the messenger' ourselves. The Father calls those who will respond, the good and the bad alike.

Matthew's parable adds a curious detail, though, about these who do accept. There is one man who is not dressed in a wedding garment. Perhaps he was dressed in his work clothes, still with evidence of his occupation. He was not prepared, but simply showed up. This is the key, I believe. It is not enough to hear and respond to the invitation, but to prepare our hearts for the feast.

So what is a prepared heart? It is a heart that knows God's love, and in turn beats with love with Christ as our Lord and Savior. It is a heart that knows the truth, and rejoices in it. It is a heart that has been transformed by the Sacraments, especially of Baptism, Reconciliation, and Eucharist. It is a heart not moved with the whims of the world or the emotion, but by the movement of the Holy Spirit. May we all be dressed with the proper heart, converted to Christ, celebrating the wedding of the King's Son with His bride, the Church!