tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73536592354754257632024-02-18T22:36:55.675-05:00OLFF MaineThoughts from the staff of the Office of Lifelong Faith Formation - Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland in Maine.OLFFMainehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13382591227619726655noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353659235475425763.post-38032418477325959882012-05-17T16:24:00.003-04:002012-05-17T16:24:51.115-04:00Embrace the Mission<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">Today we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord
into heaven.<span> </span>We remember Christ being
raised up by His own powers as He completed the work of our redemption.<span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">But may I propose that it is, in a sense, the “feast of
evangelization” – of the mission <i>ad
gentes</i>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">In today’s Gospel we read:<br /><br /><span>Jesus said to his disciples:<br />
"Go into the whole world<br />
and proclaim the gospel to every creature.<br />
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;<br />
whoever does not believe will be condemned.<br />
These signs will accompany those who believe:<br />
in my name they will drive out demons,<br />
they will speak new languages.<br />
They will pick up serpents with their hands,<br />
and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.<br />
They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." (Mk 16: 15-18)</span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>And the disciples went out and did
exactly what Christ commissioned them to do. It was their mission.<span> </span><b><u>It is
our mission</u></b> – the mission of all who are baptized.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Dare to take up the mission that is
ours in Christ.<span> </span>Trust that the same
signs that accompanied the early evangelizers will accompany us.<span> </span>So many do not know friendship with Christ
and need our courageous and joy-filled witness as a starting point, through
grace, for a journey with and ultimately to Him.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Anything less than our willing
participation in this mission falls short of our baptismal call. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Embrace it.<span> </span>No matter the cost.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>“Go into the whole world and proclaim
the gospel to every creature.” </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>By Michael Lavigne</i></span> </span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353659235475425763.post-50265041160614569262012-05-11T10:12:00.002-04:002012-05-11T10:12:27.564-04:00Work and Motherhood<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">As Mother’s Day approaches I find myself, as a new mother, reflecting on work and motherhood. When I was pregnant, people frequently advised me on how difficult pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood would be. Occasionally people would end their ominous warnings of sleepless years, loss of personal identity, tantrums, and other trials with a penitent “But it’s all worth it in the end.” I was happily surprised, then, to discover how joyful the transition into parenthood was. I have never been happier or more grateful in my life. Some have said that my disposition is the product of mere luck- luck that my husband and I are blessed to have such an ‘easy’ baby. While there may be some truth to that, our faith and attitude play a role as well.<br /><br />I read various books on parenting, both old and new, and noticed an interesting shift in attitude. Many of the older books described activities involved in mothering in positive, fun terms. The books have games, songs, and delightful ways to involve children in daily activities. Activities like cooking, cleaning, and teaching children were described with affection. Meanwhile, modern parenting books are concerned with time management, discipline, and how to endure the never ending toil. Many of these books contain persuasive arguments for activities that were once considered <i>de rigueur</i>. Love is present, but almost as an afterthought; a reward you might reap when all the labor is finished. People insist that being a mother is “work.” This is understandable, as there is the continual danger of undervaluing raising a child. Consequently, there is a push to compare parenting to employment. I have seen calculations of the monetary value of a “stay at home” mother. Modern society encourages women to live for themselves, and not for others. Mothers are constantly told to indulge themselves and not to give up their identity as women. However, being a mother does fundamentally change who you are- and, in my opinion, hopefully for the better. As Christian mothers, we are called to care for our children’s minds, bodies, and souls. The problem with defining parenting as “work” is that there is such a negative emphasis now. I was constantly told that being a parent would be the hardest thing I would ever do, but I haven’t found that to be true. It is the most important and valuable thing I have ever done, but I am amazed by how much I enjoy raising my daughter- and that includes the diapers, laundry, teething, and tears that go along with it. I wonder why no one ever spoke to me about the intense joy that a mother can experience every day.<br /> <br />When it comes down to it, parenting cannot be compared with employment. People who compare the two seek to define the worth of something that exceeds measurable value. Motherhood can be a joy and a duty of the utmost importance. We should not have to compare it to employment to understand its value. When a child is baptized, the priest says: “God the Father, through his Son, the Virgin Mary’s child, has brought joy to all Christian mothers, as they see the hope of eternal life shine on their children. May he bless the mother of this child. She now thanks God for the gift of her child. May she be one with him in thanking him forever in heaven, in Christ Jesus our Lord.” I pray that this blessing will ring true for all mothers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">By Shannon Fossett</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i> </i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Shannon is a Canonist for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland</i></span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353659235475425763.post-77754939935334607242012-05-01T17:03:00.001-04:002012-05-01T17:03:15.241-04:00Rejoice Always<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEism_yqtYCo4TC1KxZGM_ZwEKEQj2UWoiCw0ZW2_KNVvAuLm8S4U61fmlZ69VmXk2reGRYV4GR45qVxcIIg5qnrfyRc8EEdpNsOCLMfM4gyhgrp7J88wTdc7PWawi8J-vQD9MPMoAedwk4/s1600/ConventionRejoice_websiteBanner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEism_yqtYCo4TC1KxZGM_ZwEKEQj2UWoiCw0ZW2_KNVvAuLm8S4U61fmlZ69VmXk2reGRYV4GR45qVxcIIg5qnrfyRc8EEdpNsOCLMfM4gyhgrp7J88wTdc7PWawi8J-vQD9MPMoAedwk4/s320/ConventionRejoice_websiteBanner.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /><br /> “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4). This Scripture passage, which inspired the theme “Rejoice in the Light of Christ” for the recent Diocesan Catholic Youth Convention, is perhaps one of the most challenging exhortations in Scripture. It certainly isn’t easy to rejoice always. It’s not easy to rejoice when a loved one is taken from you tragically and unexpectedly. It’s not easy to rejoice when times are tough and money is tight. It’s not easy to rejoice when you watch your son or daughter walk away from the Lord. It’s not easy to rejoice while burying your newborn child. It’s not easy to rejoice when depression sets in. It’s not easy to rejoice in suffering. Yet St. Paul exhorts us to “rejoice always”! <br /><br />I think the key here is that we are called to rejoice in the Lord. Only God Himself can be the true and lasting cause of our joy. Why? Because He never changes. He is the same today, yesterday, and forever. St. Alphonsus de Liguori speaks about this. He says,<br />
<br /><i>“The fool, that is, the sinner, is as changeable as the moon, which today waxes and tomorrow wanes; today he laughs, tomorrow he cries; today he is meek as a lamb, tomorrow cross as a bear. Why? Because his peace of mind depends on the prosperity or the adversity he meets; he changes with the changes in the things that happen to him. The just man is like the sun, constant in his serenity, no matter what betides him. His calmness of soul is founded on his union with the will of God; hence he enjoys unruffled peace.”</i><br />
<br />If our joy and our peace are dependent upon the things that happen to us, then of course it will be impossible to rejoice always. If, however, we allow the source of our joy to be God Himself – and the gift of relationship with Him that he offers us – then we can succeed in rejoicing always.<br /><br />Look at what St. Paul goes on to say: “The Lord is near.” (Philippians 4:5). We are able to rejoice always precisely because the Lord is near. We have a God who suffers with us, who makes himself present to us in the midst of the suffering. This is why we can rejoice at all times. When we seek God at our darkest time – in the pain of laying in the grave a life cut too short, in the hopelessness of a lost job and bills to pay, in the heartache that results from bad choices, in the dark tunnel of despair – he reveals His face to us. Our God is a God of life and light. The hope that we have in the light of the Resurrection is cause for rejoicing! So let us this Easter season, be reminded of the truth that the power of the Resurrection always wins out over the darkness of sin and death and suffering, and remembering that, let us be encouraged to rejoice always! “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).<br />
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<i>By Sarah Houde</i><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353659235475425763.post-55207771314036641842012-04-06T08:19:00.002-04:002012-05-17T21:02:53.892-04:00A Glimpse into the Humility of Christ<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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So when he had washed their feet<br />
and put his garments back on and reclined at table again,<br />
he said to them, "Do you realize what I have done for you?<br />
You call me 'teacher' and 'master,' and rightly so, for indeed I am.<br />
If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet,<br />
you ought to wash one another's feet.<br />
I have given you a model to follow,<br />
so that as I have done for you, you should also do."</div>
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(John 13:12-15) </div>
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I was reminded last night, at our parish's Mass of the Lord's Supper, of the reality that learning about our beautiful Catholic faith is a lifelong journey. And the opportunities to have our eyes opened and our hearts changed seem to come when we least expect them.</div>
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As I sat in my office yesterday morning I received an e-mail from my wife asking if I would be willing to have my foot washed during the Mass as they needed one more person and did not know who else to ask at such a late hour. To be honest my first reaction was one of inconvenience, "I don't want to have my feet washed. I'll have to show up early. Do I really have to get up in front of a full church and take my shoe and sock off? Ugh." Truth be told, as I reflect on my initial reaction, it was one of pride. </div>
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But my wife persisted and told the parish "yes" for me. I am thankful that she did.</div>
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After the homily, as it happens at all churches during this Mass, twelve of us approached the sanctuary to sit on stools to await the washing of our feet. As I removed my sock and shoe I became dismayed that "everybody is looking at me and my bare foot." That brief and little moment of insecurity faded away as I began to watch my pastor wash the feet of those before me. </div>
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I have been attending Mass on Holy Thursday for over thirty years, but I don't recall ever seeing a priest wash the feet as he did on this evening. His sincerity - his humility - his love of his people was so evident as he took each foot, poured water over it, dried it and kissed it. Yes, he kissed each of our feet. And after he kissed my foot he said, "Thank you." He said thank you to me after his beautiful and moving act of humility.</div>
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The truth is I owe my pastor, Msgr. Mathieu, gratitude for his act of humility because it truly offered me a glimpse into the humility of Christ. On this night the Lord, through his priest, allowed me to go a little deeper - to gain more insight into what Christ did for his disciples - did for us - on that first Holy Thursday.</div>
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"I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do." It struck me later that night as I knelt in adoration of the Real Presence of Christ that the disciples must have been in awe of the sight of Christ washing their feet, as I was of my pastor. No wonder Peter's resolute stance against Jesus, the master, humbling himself in such an undignified way. </div>
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Of course, His act of humility on that night was only a precursor to the ultimate act of humility He was to offer the next day as He humbled Himself to death, death on a cross. </div>
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"I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do." These words have taken on more meaning for me this year in light of my blessed experience of having my foot washed, dried, and kissed. I pray, on this Good Friday, that I might learn to humble myself more and more - to give myself completely - to die to myself for the sake of those I love that I too might offer others a glimpse of the humility of Jesus Christ.</div>
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Amen.</div>
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<i>By Michael Lavigne</i></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353659235475425763.post-71413297475566999382012-04-05T16:26:00.000-04:002012-04-05T16:26:00.390-04:00Like the Apostles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<br />It’s Holy Week and I’ve been thinking about the Jesus and his Passion to some degree but I’ve also been thinking about the Apostles. These people, these men, were chosen by Jesus to be his followers. I’m sure they were good men who, like the rest of us, were imperfect. And I can’t help but see myself in them. <br />
<br />I believe I have been called by Christ to serve his people, to proclaim the Good News. And, like his Apostles, I am a very poor example of what it means to be a Christian. St. Peter was short tempered and rough around the edges. Judas was the money keeper and worried about having more money for the coffers. Two other disciples wanted a position of prestige in Jesus’ kingdom. Peter denied him. Judas betrayed him. And when Jesus was arrested, they stood by and watched. Another of the disciples ran away in fear he would also be arrested. I fit in very well with this motley group. <br />
<br />I keep trying to remember that the Lord filled his Apostles to overflowing with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and the apparent weaknesses of the “pre-Pentecost” apostles seemed to vanish. I like to believe that the Lord used their weaknesses to the benefit of the Kingdom. If the Lord can transform these men into powerful witnesses and proclaimers of the Gospel then there’s some hope for me in my little corner of the world.<br />
<br />May the Risen Christ fill our lives with hope.<br />
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<i>By Judy Michaud</i><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353659235475425763.post-27204566032890594182012-03-30T17:26:00.004-04:002012-03-30T17:26:49.606-04:00Witnesses to the Light<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">As we prepare ourselves to enter Holy Week I'd like to share these words of Pope Benedict XVI from the second volume of Jesus of Nazareth:<br /><br />“In living out the Gospel and in suffering for it, the Church, under the guidance of the apostolic preaching, has learned to understand the mystery of the Cross more and more, even though ultimately it is a mystery that defies analysis in terms of our rational formulae. The darkness and irrationality of sin and the holiness of God, too dazzling for our eyes, come together in the Cross, transcending our power of understanding. And yet in the message of the New Testament, and in the proof of that message in the lives of the saints, the great mystery has become radiant light. <br /><br />The mystery of atonement is not to be sacrificed on the altar of overweening rationalism. The Lord’s response to the request of the sons of Zebedee for seats at his right hand and at his left remains a key text for Christian faith in general: ‘The Son of man…came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many’ (Mk 10:45)” (p. 240)<br /><br />At the beginning of Lent I shared with you about my anticipation of witnessing the Lenten journey of the catechumens and candidates I have been blessed to teach this year at my parish. God has not disappointed. I was not surprised to see God's hand in their lives through a variety of situations as they allowed Him to prepare their hearts and minds to come into His Church. Their journeys have illuminated my own this Lent.<br /><br />Just this week I was moved by the clear anticipation that they have, especially the catechumens, to die with Christ in order to rise to new life as children of God in Baptism. Their sincerity and desire to confirm and strengthen baptismal grace through Confirmation. The patient, but passionate, anticipation of their first reception of the Eucharist - the source and summit of the Christian life.<br /><br />My prayer for this Holy Week, in light of their witness, is that I might approach this season of grace with their humility - their zeal - their childlike anticipation. I pray that I might better offer up any burdens I have to the One who came to "give his life as a ransom for many."<br /><br />God bless all of you. I pray that your and my Lenten journeys have prepared us well to celebrate these mysteries. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>By Michael Lavigne</i><br /></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353659235475425763.post-23434185951054638512012-03-14T12:04:00.001-04:002012-03-14T12:04:40.774-04:00Cohabitation: The Elephant in the Room<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />In my work as a canonist, I have encountered many engaged and divorced Catholics who cohabitate. I have heard plenty of conversations about cohabitation, and one theme I have noticed is that people want to focus on the practical issues. Church ministers talk about how cohabitation makes for poor preparation for marriage, and cite statistics such as the 85% divorce rate among couples who cohabitate. Finances are another favorite topic as many couples claim that the only reason they are living together is to save money. However, the giant elephant in the room is the one issue involved in cohabitation that few people want to talk about: sex. Among people who cohabitate, sex is commonly viewed as a non-issue, for many think that nearly every dating relationship necessarily involves sex. Church ministers avoid the discussion because they fear being viewed as intolerant and judgmental, and don’t want to scare couples away from the Church.<br /><br />The problem with this avoidance is that few people get around to talking about the Church’s actual teaching on sexuality. In my experience, the vast majority of couples who cohabitate have not had the opportunity to learn what the Church actually teaches. They may know that the Church prohibits all sexual activity outside of marriage, but they couldn’t tell you why. People view the Church teaching on sexuality as they view speed limit laws: a nice rule meant to keep you safe, but one that you can almost always break without penalty. Much ink has been spilled in the discussion of high divorce rates, but not as much on the correlation of cohabitation and divorce. <br /><br />This is so unfortunate because, let’s face it, the practical arguments against cohabitation are not all that persuasive. You could learn these arguments from a segment on the morning news. Few couples are going to stop living together because of statistics. What is persuasive is a true understanding of the Church’s beautiful teaching on sexuality, and that’s a segment The Today Show isn’t going to be running any time soon. This teaching is complex and holistic, and takes time to learn. I remember attending a marriage preparation class, where the priest presenter was giving the talk on Blessed John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. He only had about an hour, and was clearly struggling trying to figure out how to cram this exquisite teaching into an hour talk. And who can blame him? It is impossible to do this, as you cannot understand the teaching on sexuality without an understanding of the Church’s teaching on the dignity of the person, the Trinity, and many other concepts. <br /><br />When it comes to cohabitation, what is needed is honesty. Contrary to public opinion, cohabitation is not a personal choice. Couples who cohabitate are making a public statement that they reject the Church’s teaching on sexuality and marriage. Though practical issues may have been a part of the decision, when it comes down to it, cohabitation would not be an option if sexual activity wasn’t involved. Instead of blithely skimming over the issue of sex, couples should be confronted with the fact that their lifestyle is incompatible with their Catholic faith, and in fact bars them from the sacraments. This confrontation should not be angry and condemnatory. Many people have never learned what the Church actually teaches. As Fulton Sheen famously said, “There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate The Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be.” Luckily, our Church leaders are recognizing this fact. Our bishop has just written a wonderful pastoral on marriage. The media has mistakenly claimed that this was written only in response to the upcoming referendum issue of redefining marriage. The truth is that the bishop, in his wisdom, has recognized that the Church’s teaching on sexuality and marriage is often lost, dismantled, and confused. We should not simply criticize people who are cohabitating, but we should challenge them to learn why the Church does not accept cohabitation and reconsider their lifestyle. <br /><br />The pastoral letter can be read here: http://beautyofmarriage.org/</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">By Shannon Fossett</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Shannon is a Canonist for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland</i></span><br /></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353659235475425763.post-56896186382287813282012-03-05T13:53:00.003-05:002012-03-05T13:53:41.408-05:00The JPII Generation Comes of Age<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><em>Some recent thoughts I've been having about the Church about about
where we find ourselves and where I find myself as a young Catholic:</em><br /><br />
I am a JPII priest. Seeing Blessed Pope John Paul at World Youth Day in
2002 swept away the final reservations I had about entering the
seminary. “Do not be afraid,” he told us, “to set out into the deep for
a catch.” </span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />
By then we knew, I knew, that entering the seminary meant setting out
into the deep. New revelations in the priest abuse scandals were
breaking daily. Every year it seemed that another priest left ministry
with a lover, male or female. The Church had been declining in youth
and vigor in Maine for decades. It was not hard to conclude that my
ministry as a priest would be carried out during dark and difficult
years for the Church in the West.</span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />
The seas had not always seemed so ominous. I grew up in the Bernadine
years. The years of consensus leadership, of being welcoming and
tolerant. Dialogue was the way to address any disagreement, any
difficulty. </span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />
I don’t recall hearing anything about principles, about virtue, about
sacrifice, about the truth. It seems that a whole generation, the
generation before me, had been turned off by such things. They
distained talk of objective right and wrong. Of good and evil. Of
virtue and sin. And they pointed out continually that such dichotomies
were either the mark of simplistic and naïve thinking, or the propaganda
of those who seek to control others. </span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />
We were basically taught that the heart of the Gospel was to love
others, and that that meant we should always compromise conviction in
favor of the person. The only virtue I recall being drilled into my
head was that we seek to be on good terms with everyone, regardless of
their point of view. To be likable. It was the underlying subtext in
most moral narratives: the protagonist gives up his or her convictions
or preconceived notions in order to love the antagonist.</span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />
I think 9/11 was the first sign that the Bernadine years were over.
People kept asking “Why do they hate us?” We looked at ourselves, we
all seemed likable enough to one another – so we were completely thrown
by the idea that someone could possibly not want to get along. Didn’t
they know the golden rule? What kind of rock were they living under?</span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />
Then, for Catholics, came the pedophilia scandals. And all of a sudden
many of us realized that many, many likable people, bishops, priests,
and laity alike, had been so concerned about being likable that they had
turned a blind eye to horrendous evil right in front of them. Being
likable, being kind, had aided and abetted some of the worst criminals
in society while they perpetrated unmentionable crimes right before our
noses.</span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />
It was all coming down around us in that summer of 2002, the summer of
World Youth Day. And I think it was then, as we looked upon the humble
yet strong frame of that man of God, John Paul II, that many of us
realized that the generation before us had sold us a useless bill of
goods, rather than the Gospel. We had not been taught the fullness of
the faith, we were not given adequate tools to handle real life – to
deal with evil, to seek what is good. We were not trained in the
virtues, we were not given a solid foundation in logic and critical
thinking, we were not exposed to the cultural and religious treasures of
our western heritage. Instead, we had been brought up by a generation
that was convinced that the way to show their love for us was by being
likable and entertaining us. The youth ministry mantra was, I’ll never
forget, the “4 F words”: food, fun, friends, and faith.</span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />
But in the face of terrorists trying to kill us, criminal priests,
divorce, substance abuse, psychological illnesses, violence, and
promiscuity, the 4 F words just didn’t cut it, being likable and
entertaining didn’t cut it either. Many of my pears left the faith,
tired of being around a bunch of people who seemed obsessed with being
likable, rather than being good. Who didn’t have any answers for the
larger questions of life. Who didn’t seem to want to talk about
suffering and death and desire and addiction.</span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />
But there were some of us who, through God’s providence and grace-filled
guidance, were able to hold on to our faith. And with much struggle
and prayer, we began an arduous transformation, a fundamental shift in
the understanding of what it means to love and be loved as Christ has
shown us. To this day we are trying to make that shift, even as we
remain a conflicted generation, this JPII generation.</span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />
The conflict within the JPIIs is caused by a dissonance between the
appetite and the intellect. Temperamentally, we are deeply
uncomfortable with conflict and want people to get along, even if that
means sacrificing what we know is right. Culturally, we were raised on
washed out themes – the words to “Hear I am, Lord” ring in our ears,
reminding us of the tear-filled retreats of youth even if we know that
half the time we were just being emotionally manipulated. Even though
we know we should, we don’t know how to live a life rooted in ritual
prayer because our parents didn’t even know what that looked like. And
so even basic spiritual discipline requires herculean effort for us.
Intellectually we lack rigor, we were told that every opinion was valid
for so long that we have a hard time being critical, even if we are
suspect of what we hear. We tend toward reactionary extremes, and
toward a certain nostalgia for times when there seemed to be greater
regard for human excellence and virtue. But we’re really not sure what
that looked like or how to achieve it, because we’ve never experienced
it in a living culture. Instead we grew up on the Nintendo and MTV, the
St. Louis Jesuits and cut out butterflies. A washed out culture, a
decadent culture, and a largely secular culture.</span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />
And yet even as conflicted as it is, I believe that gradual conversion
was begun and continues in the JPII generation, my generation. Slowly,
and with God’s grace, many are breaking free of the appetite for a
Church experience that is characterized by a warm and fuzzy group hug
among people who like each other, and instead developing the desire for a
new and more profound ecclesiology that is rooted in a common fidelity
to Christ and sacrifice for the sake of what is true and good and
beautiful. This conversion of appetite in my generation has been
largely due to the reforms undertaken during the last 25 years to some
of the fundamental structures of the Church. Doctrinal soundness and
rigor in formation has been restored in seminaries for the most part.
Core doctrines of the Church have been clearly expressed in the
Catechism and in many wonderful encyclicals and other papal teachings.
The liturgical excesses of the 70s and 80s have for the most part been
cleared up and the new translation has brought us into greater
continuity with our tradition. Bishops are for the most part speaking
with one voice and in union with the Holy Father. The basic structures
necessary for the continuation of Christianity in the West have been
buttressed in recent decades, and the JPII generation is the first to
really experience the fruit of these reforms. Thus we really bear the
name of the great reformer: John Paul II.</span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />
Yet as much as the JPII generation has been graced by the reforms of
these last years, I pray that the hell that is fermenting in the West
does not break lose until our children come of age. They will be much
more competent to handle the wiles of the evil one. They will have had
the advantage of clear Catholic teaching from their youth, of being
formed by a reasonably intact liturgy and reconstructed domestic ritual
of prayer. And they will not have to contend with an older, ideological
and jaded generation that second guesses every effort at holiness and
is threatened by any attempt at human excellence.</span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />
I am not sure how my generation would handle the full weight of what
this culture of death is capable of throwing at us. The reforms are so
new and have only had a decade or two to sink in. We are still very
weak and our training cursory at best. We are not well supported by
family and friends. Too often we foolishly resort to political power
plays, are distracted by worldly fears. We are easily side-tracked by
minor skirmishes, we underestimate the cunning and force of the enemy.
And we are too attached to the things of this world – to our stuff, our
esteem, our comfort. God’s will is often not the first thing on our
minds. We lack the spiritual imagination, depth, and discipline
required for the all-out pitched spiritual battle that approaches. </span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />
Thus I think that it is critically important that the JPII generation
realize in all humility its limitations, the limitations inherent in the
time and place that we were born. We came of age during a time that
was nothing short of spiritually catastrophic. The bastions had been
razed. Christian culture in the West had been devastated. Through no
fault of our own, we are building from scratch and our generation
therefore lacks the sophistication of many generations of Christians who
have gone before us. We are largely incapable of the aesthetic beauty
of gothic stained glass, of the heights of contemplative prayer, of the
theological prowess of the great doctors of the Church. Mounting such
heights required the dedicated work of successive generations of
Catholic men and women, not one generation alone. </span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />
And so such heights are probably not for most of us. Ours is instead
the work of John Paul: the work of the quarry. We have been called to
lay the foundation for such heights to be attained once more. To take
up the backbreaking toil that falls to a first generation: slogging into
the mud, into the trenches, working to gradually break up the rubble of
vice and error and to lay the foundation stones of virtue and human
excellence. In doing so, we can work to ensure that the Church that is
rebuilt upon our shoulders stands not upon the sand of likability and
false tolerance, but upon Christ, clearly present in lives rooted in the
sacrificial love and fidelity. And this work, far from being a
drudgery, can be a source of joy as we find comfort and consolation in
knowing that, as a first generation in the process of building an
authentic Christian culture, we stand shoulder to shoulder with the
first apostles and countless missionaries who have undertaken such work
over the course of the Church’s 2000 years.</span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />
In short, our holiness, the holiness of the JPIIs, is unlikely to lie in
heights of virtue and excellence – it is more likely to lie in blood,
sweat, and tears. In fidelity: in sacrifice and toil unconditionally
offered for the love of Christ and his Church. It will not be
particularly beautiful. But foundations do not need to be beautiful –
they just need to be solid. And, with the grace of God, we can do that. </span>
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<span style="font-size: small;">By Fr. Seamus Griesbach at <a href="http://sparksandstubble.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://sparksandstubble.blogspot.com/ </a></span></div>
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<dt class="profile-data">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Fr. Seamus is a parish priest sharing thoughts on
God, life, and culture with parishioners, family, friends and others at <a href="http://sparksandstubble.blogspot.com/">sparksandstubble.blogspot.com</a><span id="goog_618203194"></span><span id="goog_618203195"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a>.
Father Seamus was ordained for the Diocese of Portland, Maine on June
29th, 2007 and received his licentiate in Dogmatic theology from the
Pontifical Gregorian University in June of 2008. He now serves as
parochial vicar at Saint Paul the Apostle Parish in Bangor, Maine.</i></span></dt>
</dl>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353659235475425763.post-38984478238693277752012-02-20T07:49:00.001-05:002012-02-20T07:49:07.352-05:00Anticipating the Joy of Easter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>In less than a couple of weeks we will enter into the season of Lent. Pope Benedict XVI, in his <a href="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/rclick.php?d=I92ugKUDVk2qYwxZij52je7Rkl3MrMTa&w=3&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vatican.va%2Fholy_father%2Fbenedict_xvi%2Fmessages%2Flent%2Fdocuments%2Fhf_ben-xvi_mes_20111103_lent-2012_en.html" style="color: #333333;">Message for Lent 2012</a> writes, "</span><span>The
Lenten season offers us once again an opportunity to reflect upon the
very heart of Christian life: charity. This is a favourable time to
renew our journey of faith, both as individuals and as a community, with
the help of the word of God and the sacraments. This journey is one
marked by prayer and sharing, silence and fasting, in anticipation of
the joy of Easter.</span>"</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>I am personally looking forward to this
particular Lenten season for a couple of reasons. First, I am in need of a
renewal of my mind, heart and soul. In my recent prayer I have been
reminded of my fraility - of the reality that I am nothing without God.
This poignant reminder has fueled a desire in me to go deeper in my
relationship with Christ this Lent and to abandon myself, as thoroughly
as possible, to His amazing grace. In order to do this I need more of
Him, which can only be obtained through embracing the opportunity Pope
Benedict reminds us of above.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>The second reason for my anticipation is
due to the blessed journey I have had this year catechizing six
adults in my parish who are preparing to enter into the Catholic Church
this Easter. I have been humbled by their desire to learn and by their
authentic longing to receive the Sacraments, especially to receive the
Eucharist. Of course the Lenten season is such an important part of
their journey and I thank God for offering me the opportunity to have a
front row seat as He works so powerfully in their lives.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>And there is the catch. In order for me
to truly serve my brothers and sisters in guiding them to grow in their
knowledge of Christ - to abandon themselves to Him - I, too, must
surrender to Him more completely this Lent. I need to strip myself of
all that might prevent me from being an instrument of God's love so that
I may serve them as they deserve. It needs to be much less about me
and more about the One who is the Light of the World and source of the
great joy that we will celebrate this Easter.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>May all of us rededicate ourselves to
such an abandonment this Lent. May we remember to pray for each other
for the fortitude to enter into the season with great conviction. May
we offer ourselves as "a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God"
that we might serve our brothers and sisters with great charity. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Let this be our prayer for one another
as we prepare to enter into this beautiful season. And join me in
remembering in a special way all those who are drawing ever so closer to
entering into our beautiful Catholic Church - something that should
truly fill us with great joy!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span><i>By Michael Lavigne </i></span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353659235475425763.post-7849034946385691752012-02-14T12:54:00.003-05:002012-02-14T12:54:49.328-05:00Rejoice in the Lord Always!<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">I have had many blessings of
serving Christ and His Church for nine years as a priest in the Diocese of
Portland.<span> </span>Clearly in my mind are the wonderful,
grace-filled opportunities meeting and helping engaged couples who look forward
to celebrating the Sacrament of Marriage.<span>
</span>My experience has been with men and women who share similar faith
journeys, but in most instances, rather different life experiences as
well.<span> </span>I have journeyed with more than 70
couples having the honor of getting to know them better in the months
preceding, and in some cases, celebrating the joyful occasion of their wedding with
their family and friends.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">For the wedding celebration, the
Church affords engaged couples the opportunity to select Scripture passages for
their wedding that speak to them, their family and friends about their own
journey, about their experiences, their hopes and dreams, about their future
goals as a family.<span> </span>I usually veer them
away from 1 Corinthians 12:1-13.<span> </span>Though
a lovely and beautiful passage about selfless, unconditional love, I would advise
to them to carefully consider passages that they wish not only to share with
their family and friends, but also ones which provide inspiration and support
on their present and future journey as a couple and as they look forward to
raising a family.<span> </span>If they do select 1
Corinthians, that is great, but I would definitely encourage them to look
closely at another…</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">One such passage - clearly one of
my favorites - is this:<span> </span><b>Philippians 4:4-9.</b><span> </span>St. Paul presents these words for all those
who have a sincere desire to live their faith and strive to grow closer to the
Lord with each and every passing day. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span style="line-height: 150%;">Rejoice in the Lord always!<span> </span>I shall say it again, rejoice!<span> </span>Your kindness should be known to all.<span> </span>The Lord is near.<span> </span>Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by
prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.<span> </span>Then the peace of God that surpasses
understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span style="line-height: 150%;">Finally brothers, whatever is
true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is
lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything
worthy of praise, think about these things.<span>
</span>Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in
me.<span> </span>Then the God of peace will be with
you.</span></i></b><span style="line-height: 150%;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">What great advice and wisdom we
find in St. Paul!<span> </span>Imagine a world where
more people would take these words to heart and strive to live them every
day.<span> </span>This is not merely an ideal, but a
model offered with which we can choose to live our lives!<span> </span>For married couples, these words offer hope,
encouragement and life as they strive to deepen their love and commitment to
God, to one another, to their family and friends.<span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Rejoice in the Lord always!<span> </span>Be kind!<span>
</span>Pray! Trust in God!<span> </span>Seek the
peace that comes from knowing God and be open to discover the rich blessings
that come from seeking and trusting in Him!<span>
</span>Live the virtuous life!<span> </span>Live a
long and happy life with one another and with Him!<span> </span>When we open our hearts and minds to the
goodness of God, we are given opportunities to look beyond ourselves and see
His grace.<span> </span>The divine life which God
offers us penetrates the core of our very being, thus enabling us to love unconditionally
and find true joy and happiness by living, loving and growing into closer union
with Him!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">By Fr. Kevin Martin</span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoBodyText" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="line-height: 150%;">Fr. Kevin Martin is the Parochial Vicar, St. Michael's Parish, Augusta.</span></i></span></div>
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</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353659235475425763.post-52230088420320356782012-02-13T07:29:00.000-05:002012-02-13T08:59:56.702-05:00The Telos of Marriage<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP5u-uCZD5Pwj2nydMZU3pdugSg1zmr9UdXxAvDfvlCACTcQL4CDtJ2UE15_HXkUr4fvdJfYHOtTrJA5CqpvEXvrVH43GfcvSiX3g4fFwVQAyFwnxuXhuRVkKLOU_AHvyGv0bMTPnnxA8/s1600/marriageweek2012update+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP5u-uCZD5Pwj2nydMZU3pdugSg1zmr9UdXxAvDfvlCACTcQL4CDtJ2UE15_HXkUr4fvdJfYHOtTrJA5CqpvEXvrVH43GfcvSiX3g4fFwVQAyFwnxuXhuRVkKLOU_AHvyGv0bMTPnnxA8/s1600/marriageweek2012update+copy.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">There’s an old children’s taunt that some may recall which
speaks to a natural progression of love, marriage and baby carriage. While not designed to be a deep discourse on
marriage, it certainly brings us back to an age when conjugal love and
procreation where assumed to take place within the context of marriage, even in
the mind of a ten-year old. How times
have changed. We now live in a country where
the out-of-wedlock birthrate exceeds 40%.
In the black community, that number jumps up to two-thirds. 92% of
Maine families on welfare (TANF) are single parent families, most headed up by
women. Of those, only 12% receive child
support payments from the absentee parents, mostly fathers. With a
divorce rate that hovers somewhere in the mid-fortieth percentile and an
increasing number of couples choosing to cohabitate as a prelude to a marriage
which may never occur, it is obvious that we live in a society that has lost
sight of the value of marriage.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">Which leads us to the question of what is the <i>telos</i>, or purpose, of marriage? In order to answer this question, we must
first re-acquaint ourselves with the true meaning of love and the connection
between marriage and the baby carriage. </span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">First comes love.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">It is all too common to look at love as an emotion, a
feeling that comes and goes. As Aquinas
reminds us, love is not a feeling but an act of the will. The mother who wakes up at 2:00 am to nurse a
sick child is performing an act of love.
The father who disciplines his son in order that the boy might know
right from wrong is performing an act of love.
The young man who clears snow from the front porch of an elderly
neighbor is performing an act of love.
To love is to will the good of another, quite often at the expense of
our own wants and needs. True,
self-sacrificing, die- to-self love does not simply fade away when our
emotional state changes.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">Then comes marriage.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">But before we can fully understand marriage, we must
actually jump ahead to the baby carriage.
Here’s a blinding flash of the obvious that we seem to have forgotten: pregnancy does not result from a contraception
failure. It results from a conjugal act
between a man and a woman. To be more
direct, sex makes babies. Contraception
may reduce the <i>possibility</i> of
conception, but it cannot eliminate it. A
sad statistic coming straight out of the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute is
that 40% of women seeking abortion were using some form of birth control when
they got pregnant. There is no magic
pill.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">If sex makes babies and if artificial contraception cannot,
in the aggregate, stop this process, then what are we to make of a society that
glorifies sex-without-consequences as a normative experience, so much so that
the virgin wedding is but a relic of the past?
The statistics stated earlier bear witness to the social ills that we
bring upon ourselves and our children when we treat our human sexuality as just
another bodily function, akin to blowing one’s nose or going to the restroom.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">Sex has a twofold purpose.
It is both unitive and procreative.
We can no more separate the two than we can remove the backside of a
sheet of paper from the front. Sure, we can
try, but the end result will always be the destruction of the thing
itself. Love precedes marriage because
it is love, properly understood, that allows us to make the commitment
necessary to live a life of total self-giving.
Marriage precedes the conjugal act because it guarantees that the
product of this conjugal love, not a thing but a person, has the opportunity to
know and be known both the two people who brought him or her into this world. While it is true that not every couple can
have a child, it is equally true that every child is born of both a mother and
father. By properly focusing on the
needs and rights of <i>children, </i>we can
gain a renewed appreciation for the ends and purposes of marriage. </span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">So, what is the purpose of marriage? Marriage unites a man and a woman with each
other and any children born from their union.
Its purpose is twofold: unitive and procreative. Say it over and over again, and pass this little
bit of lost wisdom on to your children.
The future well-being of our society really does depend on it. </span><br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">By Brian Souche<span style="font-size: x-small;">t</span></span></i><br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Brian currently serves as the director of the Office for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland</i></span>.</span></div>
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</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353659235475425763.post-87927266669395764582012-02-11T09:40:00.002-05:002012-02-11T09:41:09.992-05:00Why do Husbands "Only" Have to Love Their Wives?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />Recently a blogger wrote “It is just so unfair – a woman is called to respect and submit to her husband as to the Lord and all the husband has to do is love her!” Well, admittedly, at first glance through our contemporary cultural lenses, it would make sense that most women would tend to agree with this frustrated blogger. That word ‘submit’, for women, just has a way of eliciting the same type of visceral reaction as say, long fingernails scratching a chalkboard. Here is just another reason to thank God for Blessed John Paul II who really opened my eyes to the real intention of these words of St. Paul.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />First and foremost the distinction must be made that these words in no way give license to a husband to dominate his wife. That is not love. Nor does it mean that the man and woman are not equal to one another in their creation as human beings. That would not be biblical or true. The creation account in which Eve is formed out of Adam’s rib, or side, points toward woman’s equality with man – she did not come from his heel! Within this equality, however is a delightful (most of the time) complementarity which makes men and women clearly different from each other physically but also psychologically and emotionally. When the two come together as one in sacramental marriage there is an order proper to the man and the woman which, if lived out in the fullness of the grace of redemption, can order our marriages toward God and one another in precisely the way God intended. This is an amazing truth!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />What is meant by a “proper order”? Consider where you work or how we are governed. Someone needs to assume the responsibility for the headship of any successful enterprise. This is what St. Paul means when he points to husbands and says essentially: YOU have the responsibility to LOVE your bride as Christ does –Remember how Christ loved us? He gave us the ultimate gift of himself on the cross. Now that doesn’t mean that husbands should seek death. It does mean that they are called to die to self, to allow their selfishness, greed and lusts to be crucified in order to love their wives as Christ loves the Church. To ‘submit’ to this love is to receive and reciprocate love as a wife is able and to allow her husband to love, provide for and protect her to the extent that he is able. This is a recipe for authentic joy and peace within the home. It is also a lot of work.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /> All a man has to do is love his wife? If we truly understood and lived those words in the light of Christian revelation our witness would shine forth like nothing else in this world. Blessed John Paul II said in his teaching on the Transfiguration within the Luminous Mysteries of the rosary that Christ invites us to look to him and be transfigured through him in order to “Become who you truly are meant to be!” Through sacramental marriage a man and a woman receive the graces to potentially fulfill their highest calling as human beings. This task is essential at this moment in time. Let’s get to work! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">By Laura McCown </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Laura McCown has been married to Scott for 18 years. She has three children and when she is not driving them to their various activities she works as a campus minister at Colby College. Laura enjoys studying and discussing Blessed John Paul II’s Theology of the Body and encouraging Catholics to learn the truths of the Faith in order to prepare for the intensifying conflict within our culture which Pope Benedict XVI calls “the dictatorship of relativism”.</i></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353659235475425763.post-64641061794143693262012-02-09T13:47:00.001-05:002012-02-09T14:05:18.590-05:00Love and Children<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">In the 1984 Code of Canon Law,
canon 1055 §1 defines the ends of marriage as “the good of the spouses and the
procreation and education of offspring.” This was a shift from 1917 Code, which
considered the good of the spouses to be subordinate to the primary purpose of marriage
as the procreation and education of children; called by those of us who endured
Latin classes the <i>bonum prolis</i>. The
equality of these ends was a result of the reflection on marriage found in
Vatican II and enumerated in documents such as <i>Gaudium et Spes</i>. Instead of focusing solely on the <i>bonum prolis, </i>the concept of marriage as
a covenant of conjugal love was included to a greater degree than before. This
shift was an undoubtedly positive result of a more complete understanding of marriage
and the human person. However, the modern trend has been to distort the understanding of these two
ends, and to lessen or in some cases completely remove the <i>bonum prolis </i>from our understanding of marriage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Since
the elevation of conjugal love was new, it received a great deal of attention.
Indeed, many couples today enter marriage believing that conjugal love is the sole
substantive good of marriage, and believe that children are merely an
accidental good. This understanding has been bolstered by a modern culture
which views children as nice but unnecessary, and a matter of personal choice.
In effect, the understanding of children has become something separate from
marriage. This separation of the <i>bonum
prolis </i>from marriage has been distended by the prevalent contraceptive
mentality. Couples who employ contraception no longer make the essential and
natural connection between love, sex, and children. Instead of participating in
acts that are both unitive and open to the potential of new life, sex becomes
something that has nothing to do with children. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">In
my work as a canonist, I often see cases where couples enter marriage with
little or no thought about children. Instead they focus completely on love.
Sometimes they assume that somewhere along the line they may have a child or
two, but no more thought is given. The woman blithely uses contraceptives, and
the couple never quite gets around to discussing children. This is another
problem with contraceptives; since the possibility of children has been
eradicated, the couple has no need to discuss children in relation to their
sexuality. Instead of something natural and intimate, sex becomes something
sterile and individualistic. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The
Church teaches that marriage involves both spouses giving a total gift of self.
This gift is not limited to the spouses only. As John Paul II writes in <i>Familiaris consortio:</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Conjugal love, while leading the spouses to the
reciprocal “knowledge” which makes them “one </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> flesh,” does not end with the
couple, because it makes them capable of the greatest possible gift,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> the gift
by which they become cooperators with God for giving life to a new human
person. Thus</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> the couple, while giving themselves to one another, give not just
themselves but also the reality of </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> children.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Of
course, there are times when a couple is unable to have children, and this does
not affect the validity or good of that marriage. The attainment of the ends of
marriage is not what makes a marriage valid or “successful.” Instead it is the
intention to cooperate with God and the purposes of marriage that is important.
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<span style="font-size: small;">When
the shift was made to include the good of the spouse as equal to the <i>bonum prolis, </i>it was with the
understanding that these two ends are inseparable. Marriage is a natural
institution, and as such, conjugal love does not exist without the <i>bonum prolis. </i>True marital love
necessarily involves the love of children. When the idea of children is removed
from the understanding of marriage, what is left is a not a marriage at all. It
is a mere relationship between two people, and not a relationship between two
people, God, and the reality of children. Christ elevated marriage to a
sacrament for precisely this reason, and it is the duty of spouses, with the
aid of the Church, to live their marriage with the intention of fulfilling the
true purpose of marriage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">By Shannon Fossett</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Shannon is a Canonist for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, Maine.</span></i></span></div>
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</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353659235475425763.post-42080537792636745272012-02-02T14:12:00.002-05:002012-02-02T14:12:25.856-05:00Winter is a Blessing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<br />
I don’t know what the original thinking was when Easter was “scheduled” in the spring, but I think it was a stroke of divine inspiration. It’s probably no mistake either that Advent and Lent (both seasons of preparation) occur in the winter season. At least to my thinking. “What is her point?” you ask.<br /><br />
All week I’ve been reflecting on the changes that winter brings. Patios and picnic tables covered in snow. Cumbersome coats, boots, gloves, hats are pulled out of mothballs as are winter tires, snow shovels and sanding salt. Trees and bushes stand like so many stick figures waiting in the wings for their dress rehearsal.<br />
<br />Isn’t it the same with us? We are forced to slow down because of the season and occasionally we come to a standstill because of the weather. <br />
<br />If it weren’t for the winter season, I would continue to be busy doing this, that and the other. Busy running errands, spending time with friends, going shopping and whatever else I get caught up in when the temperature is fine and I can go about unencumbered by the weather.<br />
<br />I guess what I’m trying to say is that, for me, winter is an extended examination of conscience. In the winter I become more reflective, more introspective. I find areas in my life where I should be doing better, behaviors and attitudes that need changing. I don’t always succeed in making those changes but at least now I recognize what I need to work on. So in my life winter is indeed . . . a blessing.<br />
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<i>By Judy Michaud</i><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353659235475425763.post-5832260846508083632012-01-03T10:08:00.002-05:002012-01-03T10:08:57.796-05:00Closer to Christ<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">I’ve always wanted to do good work for God. To labor in His vineyard, busy with the task of evangelization, helping others know the Lord. It is a great blessing that I have employment in the field of evangelization, a job in the Office of Lifelong Faith Formation, where I can daily put my hands to tasks that advance the Kingdom and provide opportunities for God to move in peoples’ hearts and minds. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />On the occasion of the new year I’ve had some time to reflect on what work the Lord truly asks me to do. Above all else I hear Him asking me to be closer to Him, to spend time and energy working on my relationship with God, helping myself know the Lord more. This is fitting because God loves me for me, not for what I do for Him. My own holiness, my own relationship with Christ, is a top priority for God. All the “work” I do for the Lord flows from and is made efficacious by my closeness with Christ. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>By Joseph Mailhot</i></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353659235475425763.post-77116747879179439392011-12-21T18:26:00.001-05:002011-12-21T18:26:32.489-05:00Joy to the World!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">As we draw closer to the celebration
of Christ's birth I have witnessed my children grow more excited each day - full
of joy-filled anticipation for all that will happen and certainly for
what they will receive under the tree on Christmas morning! My
reflection, as I watched my children, led me to this question: Are we
filled with this same child-like anticipation as we approach Christmas
this year? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />Pope
Benedict XVI reminds us that, "In the birth of Jesus, God comes to us
and asks us to receive Him, so that He can be born in our lives and
transform them, and our world, by the power of His love." (<a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2011/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20111221_en.html">General Audience, December 21, 2012</a>) This is the
Good News the angels proclaimed to the shepherds. This is the Good News
that should permeate our entire beings as Baptized children of God. This
is the Good News that so many around us desperately need to hear and
see witnessed by those of us who call ourselves disciples of Christ!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This
Christmas offers us another opportunity to receive anew Jesus Christ,
the Light of the world, that we might be His instruments of light to our
families, friends, neighbors, co-workers and the strangers in our
midst. The joy of the season reminds us of our true identity as
followers of the Risen Christ, who defeated sin and death that we might
have life and have it abundantly. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As
we gather with our loved ones, especially at the Eucharistic table, let
us ask the Lord of all life, to enkindle in the mangers of our hearts, a
profound joy - that most beautiful fruit of the Holy Spirit. And may
that joy, seen so beautifully in the eyes of the little ones during
these graced days, move us throughout the New Year as instruments of the
New Evangelization.<br /><br /> Merry Christmas!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>By Michael Lavigne </i></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353659235475425763.post-7249928731516318702011-12-21T18:25:00.006-05:002011-12-21T18:28:10.292-05:00A Child is Born<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<br />
Great news! We have a brand new granddaughter. Maryn was born November 27 and weighed in at 7 lbs. 6.7oz. I know that her parents are so proud they could bust. I know, too, that they are filled with hopes and dreams for Maryn and her future. And this brings me to my point.<br />
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We are very soon going to celebrate the day of Jesus’ birth. Although a birth of humble beginnings, I have no doubt that Mary and Joseph were filled with hopes and dreams for Jesus’ future, not unlike new parents of today. We bring our babies to the church for baptism and have done so for hundreds of years. Mary and Joseph “brought the child Jesus into the Temple to do for him what the Law required. . . “(Luke 2:27). Both rituals are cause for celebration. <br />
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Yet how much celebrating would we do if we heard the words that Simeon said to Mary: “This child is chosen by God for the destruction and the salvation of many in Israel. He will be a sign from God which many people will speak against and so reveal their secret thoughts. And sorrow, like a sharp sword will break your own heart.” (Luke 2: 34, 35)<br />
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We celebrate Christmas with food and gifts. We spend time with friends and loved ones and rightly so. We celebrate the birth of the One who would later sacrifice his life. Let us keep is mind that this Child became the hope for our future and the future of many generations. A Child is born. Jesus, the greatest gift of all, is with us! <br />
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<i>By Judy Michaud</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353659235475425763.post-44623356331733282142011-12-13T10:14:00.002-05:002011-12-13T10:14:29.274-05:00A Hidden Gift<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">This
season of Advent is really so epic. All the readings lately (mostly
from the prophet Isaiah) speak of this great thing that God is about to
do. It’s like all of creation lies in wait. The nation has been
waiting and longing and you can almost <i>feel</i> the anticipation.
Something huge is about to happen! And we know that something huge
indeed does happen. But it is hidden – a tiny baby, born in a lowly
stable, to two young and inexperienced parents. Many people missed it.
They didn’t see. They failed to recognize. They expected something
different. And yet, this hidden, humble child is God. He comes down to
the earth he created and is the answer that all of creation was waiting
for, longing for!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">On
my recent trip to the Holy Lands, I found myself reflecting on this
great mystery of the Incarnation. Of course, in preparing for the trip,
I expected I would ponder such things in Bethlehem – the site of the
manger and the shepherd’s fields, the place where God became man. But I
was surprised to find myself awestruck a bit earlier in the trip during
our visit to Nazareth. While celebrating Mass at the site of Mary’s
home in Nazareth in the crypt of the huge Basilica of the Annunciation, I
was struck by the profound reality that it is not in fact at Bethlehem
where God touches down to earth. It is in Nazareth. We think of the
circumstances of the birth of the Christ-child and we are struck by the
humility, by the poverty, by the hidden way in which he chooses to
come. But the Incarnation actually happened in Nazareth – in an even
more hidden, more humble way. God touched down to earth in the womb of
the Virgin Mary and no one else even knew! God became man and there was
no visible change. No one could see the tiny baby growing in Mary’s
womb. No one – not even a shepherd or a magi – bowed down to give him
the homage he was due.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">God
could have chosen to come to earth in power and might, displaying his
majesty for all the world to see. And yet he didn’t. He chose to come
as a baby, first veiled in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and then born in
the little town of Bethlehem. He comes in weakness, in vulnerability.
And this same God who came hidden in the womb of Mary comes to us each
and every day in the hidden, humble gift of the Eucharist. In the
Eucharist we have truly present the Body, Blood, Soul, & Divinity of
our God! He humbles himself that we might physically hold him within
us! The humility and vulnerability of our God is astounding! And yet,
so often we go before him clothed with whatever it is we feel we must
cover ourselves with – our pride, acts of piety, sense of
self-sufficiency. Our God comes to us in the most vulnerable of ways
and yet we refuse to be vulnerable before him. Let us in these final
weeks of Advent allow ourselves to be stripped of the clothing we hold
so dear and appear before our God in humility, in poverty, in complete
vulnerability that He might love us as we are!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>By Sarah Houde </i></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353659235475425763.post-42594315074071487322011-11-17T14:10:00.001-05:002011-11-17T14:21:42.293-05:0018 Days and Counting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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As I write this, my son and daughter-in-law are anticipating the birth of their first child, a girl. Naturally they’re excited, as am I. I’ve crocheted 2 blankets for the baby and I’ve done plenty of shopping. We touch base regularly after she visits the doctor. “How’s the baby? How much does the doctor think she weighs? How are you feeling?” The baby is due November 26 but the doctor said the baby will probably come sooner. I keep checking the calendar: 18 days and counting. . . I’ve reminded my son at least twice in the past week or so: Make sure you call me when you leave for the hospital. Don’t forget. </div>
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<br />The first Sunday of Advent is right around the corner. We are all aware that it is a time of waiting and preparation for the birth of Jesus. But how many of us get really excited about this brief season of the liturgical calendar? How many of us feel the excitement that I’m feeling over the impending birth of my first granddaughter? Granted, the birth of a baby generates excitement for most people. Shouldn’t the birth of our Lord and Savior also generate excitement and anticipation? I know we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of shopping, decorating, baking and the busy-ness of the season. Yet in the midst of our preparations are we feeling an element of joy and excitement as we think about the coming birth of Jesus or are we simply going through the paces so we can get it over and done with? </div>
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<br />This Advent, let’s take a deep breath and relax. Christmas will come and go whether we bake 10 kinds of cookies or 2 kinds. Christ’s birth will be celebrated regardless of how many gifts we can afford. Take the time to gather with family and friends and celebrate the real reason for the season. The King is coming! </div>
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<i>By Judy Michaud<br /></i></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353659235475425763.post-88517857948709548812011-11-15T11:33:00.001-05:002011-11-15T11:36:07.075-05:00Breaking into the Ordinary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<br />I just returned from ten amazing days in the Holy Land. What an incredible blessing to walk in the places where Jesus Himself walked and pray in the places where He and his apostles prayed and kneel at the site where Redemption was won for the entire world. It certainly makes the mysteries of our faith such as the Incarnation, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection come to life in a whole new way! I’m overwhelmed with gratitude when I reflect upon all that I was blessed to experience. A verse from the Gospel of Matthew has continued to resonate in the few weeks I’ve been back. “Many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it and hear what you hear but did not hear it” (Matthew 13:17). My life will never be the same because of all that I was blessed to see, hear, and experience in those ten days.<br /><br />I was struck by so many things during my time in Israel that I think it’s going to take my whole life to contemplate and process all that I saw and experienced, but one of the very first things that struck me most was the ordinary-ness of the region of Galilee. During the first half of our trip we stayed in Tiberias, literally right on western shore of the Sea of Galilee. As I gazed across the sea in the days we were there, I was so struck by the fact that God entered human time and history in a very real, very tangible, very ordinary place. There’s really nothing too astounding about the region of Galilee in Israel. The Sea is certainly beautiful and surrounded by very unique desert-like mountains, but it is a very real place. Standing there, I could just see Peter and the other apostles going about their daily work. Seeing the physical places where Jesus worked miracles and called his disciples to follow him caused me to imagine what that would have been like for them. What was it about Jesus that drew them to him? What caused them to abandon all else to follow him? How was it that he rocked their world? Did they recognize that something was different about him? Did they know that God was walking in their midst? <br /><br />There’s something so beautiful about this reality that God chose to enter time and history in a very simple, ordinary place. It certainly shows the humility of our God and the simplicity with which he comes. But it doesn’t stop there. It points to the intimacy of the relationship he desires to have with each one of us. Just as God touched down to human history in the womb of a virgin in a little place called Nazareth in the region of Galilee, so too does he desire to touch down into our lives in the ordinary circumstances we find ourselves in day after day. He wants to break into human history each and every day by breaking into our hearts, by breaking into our lives. And He often does so in very real, very ordinary ways. I’m sure that there were many people living in Galilee at the time who did not let Jesus affect their lives, many who were either too busy to notice, or too cautious to care. And some who simply did not recognize that God was walking in their midst. How often do we fail to recognize the very simple, very ordinary ways that God comes to us, that he touches down to earth, hoping to break into our lives and into our hearts? Let us not be like those who failed to notice, but rather let us be like the apostles whose lives became radically different when God broke into their lives, who in the midst of their ordinary lives were so drawn to him and to his presence in their midst that they abandoned all to follow him!<br />
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<i>By Sarah Houde</i><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353659235475425763.post-46833183398145469472011-11-10T15:01:00.001-05:002011-11-15T11:36:26.255-05:00Fraught with Danger?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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In a couple of weeks, on the First Sunday of Advent, Catholic Churches in English-speaking countries will begin to use the New Roman Missal. This impending change in the translation of the prayers at Mass has received much attention and the efforts to prepare the faithful have been fairly comprehensive. Websites, articles, books and trainings have been numerous and easily available to priests, lay leaders and the laity alike.<br />
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Last spring I attended one such training outside of my diocese. It was, overall, fairly informative and hope-filled....until one speaker offered some concern about the new words that would be recited by the faithful. The presenter opined that phrases like “through my fault, through my fault, through my own grievous fault” and the words “incarnation” and “consubstantial” were, and I quote, “fraught with danger.”<br />
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I am certain that this individual was well-intentioned and concerned that all those who are responsible for teaching the faith consider the importance of catechizing our children properly about the changes, but I still found the choice of words to be inconsistent with what should be seen as a blessed opportunity to teach or re-teach about the Mass and the Eucharist. In fact this is a hope-filled opportunity to move into a new chapter of teaching about the beauty of the Mass and the Eucharist - “the source and summit of the Christian life.” <br />
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In many ways our children and youth will be models of embracing these changes and appreciating the beauty of the words that will be heard, recited and sung. At a recent retreat my office facilitated the nearly 300 youth and young adults who were gathered gave a standing ovation after two of our diocesan priests chanted the new “Gloria.” Rather than be worried about the “danger” that is supposedly lurking behind the “new” words we should focus on simply getting our children and young people to Mass so that they can experience the richness of our faith and be nourished by the Word of God and Jesus’ Body and Blood.<br />
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It is my hope that parishes (and parents) will embrace this opportunity with passion and conviction. It is my hope that they offer ample opportunities in the months and years ahead, for all age groups, to help them grow in their knowledge and experience of the Mass. It is my hope that through these efforts a new generation of saints will fall in love with the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.<br />
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Because in the end <u><i><b>not</b></i></u> teaching about the Mass and Eucharist is what is truly “fraught with danger.”<br />
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<i>By Michael Lavigne</i><br />
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P.S. Our office has created a page at our website to highlight programs, videos, and other resources which can be used to supplement a parish’s catechetical efforts in teaching about the Mass and the Eucharist. You can access this page at <a href="http://www.olffmaine.com/newromanmissalcatechesis">www.olffmaine.com/newromanmissalcatechesis</a><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353659235475425763.post-55723102316508135312011-11-10T14:57:00.001-05:002011-11-10T15:01:24.495-05:00UPDATE: Another Miracle of Life<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Back in September I wrote a post about my soon to be born daughter and the world in which she would grow up. I am happy announce that our latest miracle of life, Julia Rose, was born on October 27. Both mother and daughter are doing well and being enjoyed by the rest of the family!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Welcome to our world Julia. </span></span><br />
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<i>By Michael Lavigne </i></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353659235475425763.post-79412206061354192532011-10-25T16:16:00.001-04:002011-10-25T16:16:53.585-04:00On Being Judgemental<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">Recently I was having a conversation with a friend who was questioning my belief in moral absolutes. I quickly realized that he was confusing the judgment of a person with the judgment of an action. Upon further reaction, I thought of the many times I’ve been accused of being judgmental for my moral beliefs. However, people often fail to realize that a person can view certain actions to be wrong while still having compassion for people who choose these actions. As a canon lawyer, I frequently take calls from people angry about the Church because they feel the Church has no right to make moral judgments. <br /><br />For example, the Church’s position against abortion is well known. What is unknown is the Church’s compassion and care for women who have undergone abortion. Think about it: Abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood do not offer support services for women who are struggling with the often devastating after effects of an abortion, which are extremely common (see this recent study: <a href="http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/199/3/180.abstract">http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/199/3/180.abstract</a>). Yet the Catholic Church offers caring and compassionate services to women who have had abortions such as counseling, retreats, and the Project Rachel program, not to mention the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Why? Because the Church recognizes the difference between the objective wrong that is abortion and the women who undergo abortions, and realizes the need to help women who have been through such an ordeal. Instead of punishing people who have taken an action we judge as wrong, the Church strives to help these women heal.<br /><br />The same is true for another controversial issue: same-sex marriage. Recently Governor Cuomo of New York said that the only argument opponents of same-sex marriage have is “I want to discriminate against gay people,” and called opponents “anti-American.” This represents the same line of thinking: people who are opposed to same-sex marriage must judge and hate people who are gay. It completely overlooks the repeated message of the Catholic Church (along with many other faiths) that all people are made in the image of God, and as such, have an inestimable worth and dignity. <br /><br />We live in a society where no one wants to be labeled “judgmental” and people are afraid of pushing their morality on another. I believe the only way to proceed in this culture is to hold fast to our beliefs, and let our actions toward people speak the truth of our deep respect for all people. For all the angry calls I receive in my work for the Tribunal, I occasionally am blessed to receive one from someone crying with gratitude at the healing, reconciliation, and grace they have received as a result of our work. These people were able to realize that the Church was not looking to place judgment or blame on them, but rather seeking to heal them of past wounds and move forward secure in the knowledge that the Church is merciful. <br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>By Shannon Fossett, J.C.L.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br />Shannon is a Canonist for the Diocese of Portland.</i></span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353659235475425763.post-72564962097655416682011-10-20T10:53:00.001-04:002011-10-20T10:53:08.121-04:00It's the Little Things<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">We can easily say “I am a Christian” and sometimes it’s even easy to behave as a Christian: when we team or attend a retreat when we attend Mass, when we volunteer in the parish, etc. These are times and places when it is easy to put on the mind of Christ. But this is not the where we live and where we live is where the challenge is. We live in and are exposed to places and situations that constantly bombard us with messages and behaviors that are contrary to Christ’s teachings. Without pausing to think about it, I’m sure we can all name a couple of people who claim to be Christians but whose lives do not reflect that. However, I want to challenge you to think about YOU and the areas in your life that may not exemplify Christ. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Immediately our minds turn to the BIG things: I’m faithful to my spouse; I go to Church once a week, sometimes more; I don’t swear; I volunteer; I haven’t committed murder; I’m not a thief, etc. Great! That’s all great, no doubt about it. But let’s look at the details, the little things of our lives that may speak loudest. After all that is what St. Therese of the Child Jesus did. She worked on the details of the picture more than the big picture itself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />Do we give our spouse and children the same courtesy and respect that we would give others such as please/thank-you or excuse me? We would do that much for strangers, why not our family? What about our language? Do we clean up our language when we’re in public but resort to more colorful words with close friends/family? As Christians, we should not have one behavior at home and one out in the world. We need to do our best to be Christian in our thoughts/words/actions all the time, everywhere.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Are we good stewards of what God has given us? Do we waste food? Do we recycle? Do we hoard the clothes that we no longer wear or worse yet, do we throw them out? Are we respectful of our property and the property of others? You’re getting a new set of dishes. What do you do with the old one? Do you throw it away, store it, or do you donate it to the battered women’s shelter, the food kitchen, Good Will? Do we spend our money wisely? Are we honest in our treatment of others, even when no one else would know? You have a second job (or your wife or teenager) but are paid under the table so it doesn’t have to be reported on your income tax. The clerk at the store gave you change for a twenty but you gave her a ten. We would be quick to point it out if she gave you too little change, but too much change? Would you even have to think about it before saying anything?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />Do we place conditions on our commitment to Christ? I’ll work at the food kitchen/pantry if it rains; I’ll visit the sick if I can’t find a partner for golf; I clothe the naked if . . . I’ll be kind to my enemy if . . . I’ll pray more after I retire; after the garden is in; after the kids are older. First, I have to remodel this room; first I have to roof the garage . . . the kids are too young . . . after that I’ll get involved. We are not all called to become Mother Theresa. We can’t all be great evangelists. As St. Paul said in his first letter to the Corinthians, we are all parts of the same body and each part has its own function. Not every part is meant to be flamboyant. Not every part is going to be recognized for the work that it does but each part is required to do the best they can, right where they are, just as they are. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">As with St. Therese, it’s the little things that made a difference and it’s the little things that will help to keep us on the path and allow us to follow Jesus as we should.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">By Judy Michaud<br /></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7353659235475425763.post-5501208392546839792011-10-11T12:50:00.003-04:002011-10-11T12:50:35.096-04:00Slow Down!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">The past several months I’ve found myself in a crazy
whirlwind of activity.<span> </span>A summer of
transition, a big move for my family, a very blessed trip to World Youth Day, a
great evening of worship with Jackie Francois and Patrick Coffin, and now I
find myself busily preparing for more wonderful upcoming retreats including <a href="http://www.olffmaine.com/index.cfm?load=page&page=293">Journey 2011</a>,
the first ever <a href="http://www.olffmaine.com/index.cfm?load=page&page=351">Catholic
Women’s Conference</a>, and the annual <a href="http://www.olffmaine.com/index.cfm?load=page&page=296">March for Life
Trip</a> as well as a personal pilgrimage to the Holy Lands and my college
roommate’s wedding.<span> </span>It seems like
there’s just been so much going on in all dimensions of my life that I’ve
barely had time to breathe, sleep, or even think!<span> </span>Don’t get me wrong…they’re all very good
things – just a lot all at once.<span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I was recently sharing with a friend all the great things
I’ve been up to lately and made a comment that I just need to slow down so I
can enjoy it!<span> </span>His response: “No, you
need to slow down so you can pray.”<span>
</span>Touch<span>é</span>.<span> </span>Without realizing it, in the midst of life’s
busyness, my life and mentality shifted to the very thing that Jesus rebukes
Martha for in the passage we recently heard in the Gospel at Mass.<span> </span>“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried
about many things.<span> </span>Only one thing is
needed.<span> </span>Mary has chosen the better
part.”<span> </span>Everything going on in my life
had begun to become a burden and cause for anxiousness and worry rather than a
cause for rejoicing and celebration of the good things that God is doing in my
life and through my work.<span> </span>I had become
so busy doing the works of the Lord that I forgot about the Lord of the works!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">These words that Jesus speaks to Mary penetrated straight
to my heart.<span> </span>“Mary has chosen the better
part.”<span> </span>What is it that we find Mary
doing?<span> </span>Sitting at the feet of
Jesus.<span> </span>If we are to be effective
evangelizers in and through the work that we do, whether we work directly in
ministry or answer the call to evangelize in the midst of our secular jobs and
temporal affairs, we absolutely must spend time sitting at the feet of
Jesus!<span> </span>Soaking in His love, letting His
gaze penetrate ours, and listening to His promptings so that the many things we
find ourselves anxious and worried about can become instead causes for joy and
opportunities for love.<span> </span>Sitting at the
feet of Jesus reminds us what is truly important and gives us strength to continue
doing the work of bringing others to Him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">And so, if you find yourself like me, caught up in the
craziness of the fall and a new school year, I challenge you to take some time
to slow down…and pray.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>By Sarah Houde </i></span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1