The Faithful Traveler

One of the most fun things about being a new Catholic is discovering all the treasures the Church has for us. Visiting shrines and Churches has been a great source of joy for Prodigal Daughter and I. Here's a site where you can learn the how to's and where to's of "shrine hopping." We live in eastern PA and there is an abundance of these sites that are fairly close. You could spend an entire day in Philadelphia and not even get to half of them! I was in Philadelphia for 4 years during my internal medicine residency in the late 80's and I had no idea. I honestly can't even remember seeing a Catholic Church in Philly during those years!?

St. Joseph and Real Estate

Many folks cringe when they hear about Catholics burying statues of St. Joseph in their backyard as a way of increasing the likelihood of a quick and profitable sale. When I first heard of the idea a few years ago and saw the St. Joseph Homeseller's Kits I was a bit skeptical myself thinking this borders on superstition. As I have learned and grown in the Catholic faith and embraced the Communion of Saints (as it was originally understood) I realize we have powerful prayer partners on the other side of this thin veil.
St. Joseph has been the patron saint of families and holds a special place in the heart of the Church as the protector and foster father of the Lord Jesus. (He was also the saint my parents chose for my middle name) When families need special intervention, they ask St. Joseph for his intercession before the throne of God. Somewhere, sometime in the past, the practice of burying St. Joseph statues in your yard before selling your house was recognized as an effective devotion. The key point is that it is not the placing of a statue in the yard that sells the house. That is superstition. It is the faith and prayers of the family through the intercession of St. Joseph. The Statue provides a "touch-point" or a material reminder of a spiritual process.
It goes back to my favorite aspect of Catholicism: It is a real, tangible, physical religion with the "stuff of earth" pointing to the things in heaven.
So last week we put our house on the market and went down to our favorite Catholic bookstore and purchased a St. Joseph Homeseller's Kit for only 5.95!

See, I told ya! Those catliks do worship statues! He's even kneeling down before one right there in that picture!

PD and I went out back and buried a little Statue of St. Joseph in our garden (at the feet of our statue of St. Frank of Wegman's) and quietly prayed for his intercession to sell our house in this particularly difficult market. When we woke up the next day, we realized it was the feast day of St. Joseph the Worker. Even better than that is the fact that the new parish where we are moving is 1/10th of a mile from St. Joseph the Worker Parish! (we actually found the house by doing a radius search of real estate for sale within the proximity to this Church)

Stephen Binz wrote a book called St Joseph, My Real Estate Agent. Here is a quote:

"The distinction between superstition and devotion is created by the person doing it," In other words, if you simply bury St. Joseph and count on that to sell the house, then it's superstition. If you do it as an act of faith, then it's devotion.

I will keep you apprised of the results and certainly feel free to participate in the Communion of Saints yourself and offer a prayer. Thanks!

The Honeymoon's Not Over

This is the now fourth year that I have been in full communion with the Catholic Church and been able to participate in the events of Holy Week leading to Easter. For some reason this season of Lent was more poignant to me than before.

In every marriage, the passion may cool for a time and a distance can grow between those who once were so inseparable. In my relationship with Jesus, I too have let things cool at times, through my sin and indifference. Thanks be to God for the gift of Lent and the celebration of Holy Week. The Church gives us the chance to renew our vows of marriage to Christ and “fire up” that romance again.

The Baptismal vows we renew at the Easter Mass are given by the Church to the faithful to re-ignite the hearts that may have cooled and call to mind the precious gift of new life given to us at our baptism. As we pray/say them again we ask God to give us the grace to live out those promises by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The priest celebrating the Easter Mass leads the faithful in the vows:

Dear friends,
through the paschal mystery
we have been buried with Christ in baptism,
so that we may rise with him to a new life.
Now that we have completed our Lenten observance,
let us renew the promises we made at baptism
when we rejected Satan and his works.
And so:

Do you reject sin, so as to live in the freedom of God's children?
I do.

Do you reject the glamor of evil, and refuse to be mastered by sin?
I do.

Do you reject Satan, father of sin and prince of darkness?
I do.

Do you believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth?
I do.

Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father?
I do.

Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?
I do.

God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has given us a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, and forgiven our sins. May God also keep us faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ for ever and ever.
Amen.

Early after my conversion I was told by a non-Catholic brother in Christ that “once the "honeymoon" stage ends, you will discover that all the pomp and circumstance is no replacement for truth.” I have to say that the honeymoon is still going on and I hope and pray that He is daily leading me into all the truth He has for me. I am thankful for the many tools Christ has given to His Church . Lent and the Easter Mass are part of this armentarium. Not pomp and circumstance, but a 2000 year old way that Jesus has given His Church to live out the Gospel and bring new sheep into the fold.

Ash Wednesday

God's blessings to all of you as you draw closer to Christ this Lenten season. Pray for me and mine and I will pray for you and yours. I will be going to Haiti again at the end of the month for a ten day medical mission and PD will be joining me with her newly minted LPN degree. Please keep us and our team in prayer. I really appreciated all the prayers last year from the blogosphere!
I will be cutting back on blogging through Lent as I did last year and will try to spend a little more time practicing what I preach. I refer you to my fellow blogger in Christ, Theo for his stimulating and uplifting blog.

Pre-Ash Thoughts

"We read in the books both in the Old Law and in the New that the
men who repented of their sins bestrewed themselves with ashes and clothed their bodies with sackcloth. Now let us do this little at the beginning of our Lent that we strew ashes upon our heads to signify that we ought to repent of our sins during the Lenten Fast." (cf NewAdvent)

As a young Catholic child before I left the Church, we always received ashes on Ash Wednesday. Unfortunately, the beautiful symbolism was lost on my young heart. When I received ashes again for the first time almost 4 years ago, I was ready to finally understand and receive the blessing that this sacramental practice can give.
There's nothing magical about having ashes placed on one's forehead in the sign of the cross. However, there is much grace in a heart that is open and docile to the work of God by humbly submitting to this. These ashes remind me that I am a sinner saved by Christ and symbolize my inward disposition to fast, pray and repent during this season of fasting as our forefathers in the Early Church did.
Who was I that I should have excluded myself from such a beautiful and ancient way of drawing closer to Jesus? Did I think I had arrived and no longer needed repentance? Was it "All under the Blood" and there was no need for me to fast and pray and contemplate how my sins caused his bruises? What was I thinking? I don't know, but now I am so thankful to be able to avail myself of these opportunities for growth in grace.

Interior Penance

"It is in discovering the greatness of God's love that our heart is shaken by the horror and weight of sin and begins to fear offending God by sin and being separated from him. The human heart is converted by looking upon him whom our sins have pierced."

1430 Jesus' call to conversion and penance, like that of the prophets before him, does not aim first at outward works, "sackcloth and ashes," fasting and mortification, but at the conversion of the heart, interior conversion. Without this, such penances remain sterile and false; however, interior conversion urges expression in visible signs, gestures and works of penance.²³

1431 Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil, with repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed. At the same time it entails the desire and resolution to change one's life, with hope in God's mercy and trust in the help of his grace. This conversion of heart is accompanied by a salutary pain and sadness which the Fathers called animi cruciatus (affliction of spirit) and compunctio cordis (repentance of heart).²⁴

1432 The human heart is heavy and hardened. God must give man a new heart.²⁵ Conversion is first of all a work of the grace of God who makes our hearts return to him: "Restore us to thyself, O LORD, that we may be restored!"²⁶ God gives us the strength to begin anew. It is in discovering the greatness of God's love that our heart is shaken by the horror and weight of sin and begins to fear offending God by sin and being separated from him. The human heart is converted by looking upon him whom our sins have pierced:²⁷

Let us fix our eyes on Christ's blood and understand how precious it is to his Father, for, poured out for our salvation it has brought to the whole world the grace of repentance.

1433 Since Easter, the Holy Spirit has proved "the world wrong about sin,"²⁹ i.e., proved that the world has not believed in him whom the Father has sent. But this same Spirit who brings sin to light is also the Consoler who gives the human heart grace for repentance and conversion.³⁰

^{The Catechism of the Catholic Church}

I don't often consider the weight and horror of my sin . I need to gaze upon the Crucifix and His wounds my sins have caused to rediscover the greatness of God's love.

Lord, with your grace, renew our hearts this season of Lent.

Why Almsgiving?

Why and how does giving of our finances to those less needy than us bring us closer to God? In my old evangelical church we had a saying that went like this: " Jesus needs to be Lord of All, including our wallets. " This saying has its roots in historical Church teaching and the Bible.
Scripture often speaks on how there was an inverse relationship between our growth in grace and our attraction to money. Does poverty equate with spirituality? No, but remember how easy it is for a rich man to get into heaven? (Think Eye of Needle) Perhaps, the reason the Church emphasizes this during Lent is to refocus our values which have a tendency, especially in my case, to get out of focus.

I am thankful that the Church reminds us to reach into our wallets and out of ourselves for the poor and needy this season of Lent.

"Dear brothers and sisters, Lent invites us to “train ourselves” spiritually, also through the practice of almsgiving, in order to grow in charity and recognize in the poor Christ Himself. In the Acts of the Apostles, we read that the Apostle Peter said to the cripple who was begging alms at the Temple gate: “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk” (Acts 3,6). In giving alms, we offer something material, a sign of the greater gift that we can impart to others through the announcement and witness of Christ, in whose name is found true life. Let this time, then, be marked by a personal and community effort of attachment to Christ in order that we may be witnesses of His love. May Mary, Mother and faithful Servant of the Lord, help believers to enter the “spiritual battle” of Lent, armed with prayer, fasting and the practice of almsgiving, so as to arrive at the celebration of the Easter Feasts, renewed in spirit. With these wishes, I willingly impart to all my Apostolic Blessing." (cf Pope Benedict 16th's Lenten Reflection)

The Sign of the Cross

Earlier this year a soccer player in Scotland was given a cautionary warning by police for instigating strife during a soccer game. What was his offense? Did he flip the other team the bird? No, he made the Sign of the Cross to the opposing team, who happened to be non- Catholics! I suspect this was probably not done in a complete spirit of innocence given the previous crowd strife and riots that have occurred between these two rival soccer teams, the Rangers and the Celtics.

The Apostle Paul said the Cross of Christ was a stumbling block for many (1 Cor 1:23) and even just the sign of the cross continues to be almost 2000 years later. If you get on the internet and peruse anti-catholic websites, they often bring up the sign of the cross as an example of a "man-made" invention and a "tradition of Rome." This led me to look into the origin of the sign of the cross and why it engenders so much disdain among certain groups of our Protestant brethren.

Historically, the use of the sign of the cross can be traced to the second century and it's use in the early church has been documented by several of the early church Fathers.
"In all our travels and movements", says Tertullian (De cor. Mil., iii), "in all our coming in and going out, in putting of our shoes, at the bath, at the table, in lighting our candles, in lying down, in sitting down, whatever employment occupieth us, we mark our foreheads with the sign of the cross". On the other hand this must soon have passed into a gesture of benediction, as many quotations from the Fathers in the fourth century would show. Thus St. Cyril of Jerusalem in his "Catecheses" (xiii, 36) remarks: "let us then not be ashamed to confess the Crucified. Be the cross our seal, made with boldness by our fingers on our brow and in every thing; over the bread we eat and the cups we drink, in our comings and in goings; before our sleep, when we lie down and when we awake; when we are travelling, and when we are at rest".

It appears that Catholic Christians have been using the sign of the cross for at least 1800 years and is now shared by Anglicans, some Lutherans and the Orthodox faith.
What does the sign of the cross do when we make it with our hand? Is it a magic incantation, or superstitious spell casting? No, quite the contrary. When a Christian makes the sign of the cross, they are reminding themselves and others of the precious cross of Christ and His matchless sacrifice for them and the victory over sin and death. Before Catholics pray, we start our prayer by praying "in the name of the Father , the Son and the Holy Spirit" echoing the words of Christ in the gospel and simultaneously using our hands to trace the image of the Cross.
When I enter the Sanctuary at Mass, I dip my hands in the water reminding me of my baptismal vows and make the sign of the cross again reminding me of what Mass is all about and who and why I am there to worship. What a beautiful way to engage my heart towards Christ Jesus!
The Catholic faith is an incarnate faith. God came into the world in the flesh to redeem us and he continues to use the things of earth; water, incense, sign of the cross etc. as a means of bringing us close to Him. (Incense calls to mind the "prayers of the saints" from the writings of John the Revelator as well as Old Testament worship practices, all of which are used to draw our physical senses to worship) Nothing spooky or evil about this. Just another example of how God uses the "stuff of earth" to bring our hearts towards heaven.

When I was a Protestant, we often would be asked to bow our heads and close our eyes in prayer. This is not in the Bible but is a standard and well known way that Protestants draw their hearts to God. I venture to say that it is a "man-made invention" and not found in the Bible, but is a routine way for us to get ready to pray. In the same way, the sign of the cross is a physical gesture that is used to not only engage our hearts, but our bodies as well
reminding us of the one who died for us.

In a Catholic Mass, before the Gospel is read, the entire congregation rises to their feet and each of us traces the sign of the cross with our thumb on our forehead our lips and our hearts. As we trace the sign , we say to ourselves, "May the Word of God be in my mind and on my lips and in my heart. " What a precious prayer to ask the Holy Spirit to touch us with His Word!
This brought home another truth to me early in my conversion and that was how much Catholics honor the Word of God.
So in conclusion, yes the sign of the cross is a man-made invention that draws our hearts and minds and bodies to the greatest event in human history, God coming to earth and suffering on the cross for me. No wonder St. Cyril, from the early fifth century, suggested that this be the seal "over all our comings and goings" and every aspect of our lives. And by the way, you don't need to be Catholic to use the sign of the cross, try it before you pray, or to start your day, it can bring you closer to Him! God bless you.

Rosary Beads : Vain Repetition or A Way to Holiness?

In my former life as a non-Catholic Christian, I had come to view rosary beads as the "quintessential" example of what Jesus meant when he said "And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words."
As a young Catholic (before I left the Church at 14) I said the rosary but didn't understand how to pray it. I didn't understand that as you pray the prayers on the rosary , you are to meditate on specific events in Jesus' and Mary's life. What can be better than that as a way of getting close to Jesus?
As a revert to Catholicism, I have now learned how to pray the rosary. Different days of the week are assigned to a different set of events that the Church calls mysteries. These "mysteries" are not real mysteries but events based in the Scripture. (As I have said before, Catholics tend to have a different vocabulary that causes confusion and fear among the un-initiated) My favorite is the Sorrowful Mysteries. As I pray each decade of Hail Mary prayers, I think on my Lord's agony in the garden, his scourging by the guards, the crowning with thorns, the carrying of the cross and finally the crucifixion. Praying the Hail Mary allows me to ask Mary's intercession for myself and others in light of the agony and suffering that Christ endured for me. My meditation of Him as the Psalmist says surely "is sweet." In between the decades are the Our Father Prayer which is the prayer that Jesus gave His church to pray. Praying the rosary is not worshipping Mary as noted in my last post. If you have any doubt, please go back and check!

So praying the rosary is not vain babbling, because we are not thinking that our prayers will be heard because of the quantity of them. In my former charismatic church, many folks would repetitiously pray, "thank you Jesus, praise you Jesus, thank you Jesus" over and over . We never felt this was vain or repetitious. In Revelations 4 it says the heavenly hosts proclaim "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty", day and night. So repetition is not wrong. The Jews prayed the Psalms over and over and Jesus being a good Jew participated in temple worship and certainly repeated prayers over and over again. The unjust judge and the widow make us understand that God expects us to intercede often and Paul exhorts us to pray without ceasing.

The rosary is not in the Bible,(Neither are Scripture flash cards or "praise and worship tapes") but it is a tool that us humans use to get us closer to our God. The concept of holding beads in your hand seems to disturb some non-Catholics because they think it is a pagan practice. Unfortunately, this attitude has its roots in the persistent unspoken paradigm of some forms of Protestantism as well as Christian Science: "spirit= good" but physical= bad ." Catholicism is incarnational , God has come to us in the flesh and He allows us to use the things of the material world to get closer to Him. The beads aren't magical and carry no power of themselves. Actually the word bead is from middle English meaning bede which translates to the word prayer. So the beads hold our place, keep our physical body engaged in an attitude of prayer, the Hail Mary prayers engage our lips in intercession and the mysteries engage our hearts and minds on Christ and the events in the Gospels. What's not to love here?

Some non-Catholic denominations have taken to praying a rosary as well and the Christian bookstores are starting to carry a "non-denominational" rosary using the Jesus prayer. So if you are a non-Catholic reading this, you can now tell your friends what you have learned: the Rosary is not Mariolatry nor vain repetition, not vain repetition, repeat not vain, not vain repetition, not vain repetition, etc. You get the point.

For more information on the rosary please check the links below.

http://www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/ROSARYDI.HTM

http://www.rosaryarmy.com/ (Get a free rosary here)

http://www.virtualrosary.org/ (On-line rosary) Look Ma no beads!

http://home.inreach.com/bstanley/repeat.htm

John Paul 2's Writings about the Rosary

If you are a Catholic who has been blessed by praying the Rosary, please feel free to comment here how God has used it in your life.