Pope Benedict XVI's Message to Young People and Seminarians Followed by My Summary and Thoughts

Subtitle: “What matters most is that you develop your personal relationship with God.”

It was almost a week ago when the Pope spoke to young people and seminarians in New York a day before he left the U.S. I have wanted to write about it since then, but I have only just now made the time. I will provide the full text of his address, and at the end I will summarize parts of it and include my thoughts. Following is the full text as found on the Vatican website:
Address to Seminarians and Young People, St. Joseph's Seminary (Dunwoodie), New York
On Saturday 19 April 2008, the Holy Father gave the following address to the seminarians and youth gathered at St. Joseph's Seminary (Dunwoodie), New York.
Your Eminence,
Dear Brother Bishops,
Dear Young Friends,
“Proclaim the Lord Christ … and always have your answer ready for people who ask the reason for the hope that is within you” (1 Pet 3:15). With these words from the First Letter of Peter I greet each of you with heartfelt affection. I thank Cardinal Egan for his kind words of welcome and I also thank the representatives chosen from among you for their gestures of welcome. To Bishop Walsh, Rector of Saint Joseph Seminary, staff and seminarians, I offer my special greetings and gratitude.
Young friends, I am very happy to have the opportunity to speak with you. Please pass on my warm greetings to your family members and relatives, and to the teachers and staff of the various schools, colleges and universities you attend. I know that many people have worked hard to ensure that our gathering could take place. I am most grateful to them all. Also, I wish to acknowledge your singing to me Happy Birthday! Thank you for this moving gesture; I give you all an “A plus” for your German pronunciation! This evening I wish to share with you some thoughts about being disciples of Jesus Christ ─ walking in the Lord’s footsteps, our own lives become a journey of hope.
In front of you are the images of six ordinary men and women who grew up to lead extraordinary lives. The Church honors them as Venerable, Blessed, or Saint: each responded to the Lord’s call to a life of charity and each served him here, in the alleys, streets and suburbs of New York. I am struck by what a remarkably diverse group they are: poor and rich, lay men and women - one a wealthy wife and mother - priests and sisters, immigrants from afar, the daughter of a Mohawk warrior father and Algonquin mother, another a Haitian slave, and a Cuban intellectual.
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, Saint John Neumann, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, Venerable Pierre Toussaint, and Padre Felix Varela: any one of us could be among them, for there is no stereotype to this group, no single mold. Yet a closer look reveals that there are common elements. Inflamed with the love of Jesus, their lives became remarkable journeys of hope. For some, that meant leaving home and embarking on a pilgrim journey of thousands of miles. For each there was an act of abandonment to God, in the confidence that he is the final destination of every pilgrim. And all offered an outstretched hand of hope to those they encountered along the way, often awakening in them a life of faith. Through orphanages, schools and hospitals, by befriending the poor, the sick and the marginalized, and through the compelling witness that comes from walking humbly in the footsteps of Jesus, these six people laid open the way of faith, hope and charity to countless individuals, including perhaps your own ancestors.
And what of today? Who bears witness to the Good News of Jesus on the streets of New York, in the troubled neighborhoods of large cities, in the places where the young gather, seeking someone in whom they can trust? God is our origin and our destination, and Jesus the way. The path of that journey twists and turns ─ just as it did for our saints ─ through the joys and the trials of ordinary, everyday life: within your families, at school or college, during your recreation activities, and in your parish communities. All these places are marked by the culture in which you are growing up. As young Americans you are offered many opportunities for personal development, and you are brought up with a sense of generosity, service and fairness. Yet you do not need me to tell you that there are also difficulties: activities and mindsets which stifle hope, pathways which seem to lead to happiness and fulfillment but in fact end only in confusion and fear.
My own years as a teenager were marred by a sinister regime that thought it had all the answers; its influence grew – infiltrating schools and civic bodies, as well as politics and even religion – before it was fully recognized for the monster it was. It banished God and thus became impervious to anything true and good. Many of your grandparents and great-grandparents will have recounted the horror of the destruction that ensued. Indeed, some of them came to America precisely to escape such terror.
Let us thank God that today many people of your generation are able to enjoy the liberties which have arisen through the extension of democracy and respect for human rights. Let us thank God for all those who strive to ensure that you can grow up in an environment that nurtures what is beautiful, good, and true: your parents and grandparents, your teachers and priests, those civic leaders who seek what is right and just.
The power to destroy does, however, remain. To pretend otherwise would be to fool ourselves. Yet, it never triumphs; it is defeated. This is the essence of the hope that defines us as Christians; and the Church recalls this most dramatically during the Easter Triduum and celebrates it with great joy in the season of Easter! The One who shows us the way beyond death is the One who shows us how to overcome destruction and fear: thus it is Jesus who is the true teacher of life (cf. Spe Salvi, 6). His death and resurrection mean that we can say to the Father “you have restored us to life!” (Prayer after Communion, Good Friday). And so, just a few weeks ago, during the beautiful Easter Vigil liturgy, it was not from despair or fear that we cried out to God for our world, but with hope-filled confidence: dispel the darkness of our heart! dispel the darkness of our minds! (cf. Prayer at the Lighting of the Easter Candle).
What might that darkness be? What happens when people, especially the most vulnerable, encounter a clenched fist of repression or manipulation rather than a hand of hope? A first group of examples pertains to the heart. Here, the dreams and longings that young people pursue can so easily be shattered or destroyed. I am thinking of those affected by drug and substance abuse, homelessness and poverty, racism, violence, and degradation – especially of girls and women. While the causes of these problems are complex, all have in common a poisoned attitude of mind which results in people being treated as mere objects ─ a callousness of heart takes hold which first ignores, then ridicules, the God-given dignity of every human being. Such tragedies also point to what might have been and what could be, were there other hands – your hands – reaching out. I encourage you to invite others, especially the vulnerable and the innocent, to join you along the way of goodness and hope.
The second area of darkness – that which affects the mind – often goes unnoticed, and for this reason is particularly sinister. The manipulation of truth distorts our perception of reality, and tarnishes our imagination and aspirations. I have already mentioned the many liberties which you are fortunate enough to enjoy. The fundamental importance of freedom must be rigorously safeguarded. It is no surprise then that numerous individuals and groups vociferously claim their freedom in the public forum. Yet freedom is a delicate value. It can be misunderstood or misused so as to lead not to the happiness which we all expect it to yield, but to a dark arena of manipulation in which our understanding of self and the world becomes confused, or even distorted by those who have an ulterior agenda.
Have you noticed how often the call for freedom is made without ever referring to the truth of the human person? Some today argue that respect for freedom of the individual makes it wrong to seek truth, including the truth about what is good. In some circles to speak of truth is seen as controversial or divisive, and consequently best kept in the private sphere. And in truth’s place – or better said its absence – an idea has spread which, in giving value to everything indiscriminately, claims to assure freedom and to liberate conscience. This we call relativism. But what purpose has a “freedom” which, in disregarding truth, pursues what is false or wrong? How many young people have been offered a hand which in the name of freedom or experience has led them to addiction, to moral or intellectual confusion, to hurt, to a loss of self-respect, even to despair and so tragically and sadly to the taking of their own life? Dear friends, truth is not an imposition. Nor is it simply a set of rules. It is a discovery of the One who never fails us; the One whom we can always trust. In seeking truth we come to live by belief because ultimately truth is a person: Jesus Christ. That is why authentic freedom is not an opting out. It is an opting in; nothing less than letting go of self and allowing oneself to be drawn into Christ’s very being for others (cf. Spe Salvi, 28).
How then can we as believers help others to walk the path of freedom which brings fulfillment and lasting happiness? Let us again turn to the saints. How did their witness truly free others from the darkness of heart and mind? The answer is found in the kernel of their faith; the kernel of our faith. The Incarnation, the birth of Jesus, tells us that God does indeed find a place among us. Though the inn is full, he enters through the stable, and there are people who see his light. They recognize Herod’s dark closed world for what it is, and instead follow the bright guiding star of the night sky. And what shines forth? Here you might recall the prayer uttered on the most holy night of Easter: “Father we share in the light of your glory through your Son the light of the world … inflame us with your hope!” (Blessing of the Fire). And so, in solemn procession with our lighted candles we pass the light of Christ among us. It is “the light which dispels all evil, washes guilt away, restores lost innocence, brings mourners joy, casts out hatred, brings us peace, and humbles earthly pride” (Exsultet). This is Christ’s light at work. This is the way of the saints. It is a magnificent vision of hope – Christ’s light beckons you to be guiding stars for others, walking Christ’s way of forgiveness, reconciliation, humility, joy and peace.
At times, however, we are tempted to close in on ourselves, to doubt the strength of Christ’s radiance, to limit the horizon of hope. Take courage! Fix your gaze on our saints. The diversity of their experience of God’s presence prompts us to discover anew the breadth and depth of Christianity. Let your imaginations soar freely along the limitless expanse of the horizons of Christian discipleship. Sometimes we are looked upon as people who speak only of prohibitions. Nothing could be further from the truth! Authentic Christian discipleship is marked by a sense of wonder. We stand before the God we know and love as a friend, the vastness of his creation, and the beauty of our Christian faith.
Dear friends, the example of the saints invites us, then, to consider four essential aspects of the treasure of our faith: personal prayer and silence, liturgical prayer, charity in action, and vocations.
What matters most is that you develop your personal relationship with God. That relationship is expressed in prayer. God by his very nature speaks, hears, and replies. Indeed, Saint Paul reminds us: we can and should “pray constantly” (1 Thess 5:17). Far from turning in on ourselves or withdrawing from the ups and downs of life, by praying we turn towards God and through him to each other, including the marginalized and those following ways other than God’s path (cf. Spe Salvi, 33). As the saints teach us so vividly, prayer becomes hope in action. Christ was their constant companion, with whom they conversed at every step of their journey for others.
There is another aspect of prayer which we need to remember: silent contemplation. Saint John, for example, tells us that to embrace God’s revelation we must first listen, then respond by proclaiming what we have heard and seen (cf. 1 Jn 1:2-3; Dei Verbum, 1). Have we perhaps lost something of the art of listening? Do you leave space to hear God’s whisper, calling you forth into goodness? Friends, do not be afraid of silence or stillness, listen to God, adore him in the Eucharist. Let his word shape your journey as an unfolding of holiness.
In the liturgy we find the whole Church at prayer. The word liturgy means the participation of God’s people in “the work of Christ the Priest and of His Body which is the Church” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 7). What is that work? First of all it refers to Christ’s Passion, his Death and Resurrection, and his Ascension – what we call the Paschal Mystery. It also refers to the celebration of the liturgy itself. The two meanings are in fact inseparably linked because this “work of Jesus” is the real content of the liturgy. Through the liturgy, the “work of Jesus” is continually brought into contact with history; with our lives in order to shape them. Here we catch another glimpse of the grandeur of our Christian faith. Whenever you gather for Mass, when you go to Confession, whenever you celebrate any of the sacraments, Jesus is at work. Through the Holy Spirit, he draws you to himself, into his sacrificial love of the Father which becomes love for all. We see then that the Church’s liturgy is a ministry of hope for humanity. Your faithful participation, is an active hope which helps to keep the world – saints and sinners alike – open to God; this is the truly human hope we offer everyone (cf. Spe Salvi, 34).
Your personal prayer, your times of silent contemplation, and your participation in the Church’s liturgy, bring you closer to God and also prepare you to serve others. The saints accompanying us this evening show us that the life of faith and hope is also a life of charity. Contemplating Jesus on the Cross we see love in its most radical form. We can begin to imagine the path of love along which we must move (cf. Deus Caritas Est, 12). The opportunities to make this journey are abundant. Look about you with Christ’s eyes, listen with his ears, feel and think with his heart and mind. Are you ready to give all as he did for truth and justice? Many of the examples of the suffering which our saints responded to with compassion are still found here in this city and beyond. And new injustices have arisen: some are complex and stem from the exploitation of the heart and manipulation of the mind; even our common habitat, the earth itself, groans under the weight of consumerist greed and irresponsible exploitation. We must listen deeply. We must respond with a renewed social action that stems from the universal love that knows no bounds. In this way, we ensure that our works of mercy and justice become hope in action for others.
Dear young people, finally I wish to share a word about vocations. First of all my thoughts go to your parents, grandparents and godparents. They have been your primary educators in the faith. By presenting you for baptism, they made it possible for you to receive the greatest gift of your life. On that day you entered into the holiness of God himself. You became adoptive sons and daughters of the Father. You were incorporated into Christ. You were made a dwelling place of his Spirit. Let us pray for mothers and fathers throughout the world, particularly those who may be struggling in any way – socially, materially, spiritually. Let us honor the vocation of matrimony and the dignity of family life. Let us always appreciate that it is in families that vocations are given life.
Gathered here at Saint Joseph Seminary, I greet the seminarians present and indeed encourage all seminarians throughout America. I am glad to know that your numbers are increasing! The People of God look to you to be holy priests, on a daily journey of conversion, inspiring in others the desire to enter more deeply into the ecclesial life of believers. I urge you to deepen your friendship with Jesus the Good Shepherd. Talk heart to heart with him. Reject any temptation to ostentation, careerism, or conceit. Strive for a pattern of life truly marked by charity, chastity and humility, in imitation of Christ, the Eternal High Priest, of whom you are to become living icons (cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis, 33). Dear seminarians, I pray for you daily. Remember that what counts before the Lord is to dwell in his love and to make his love shine forth for others.
Religious Sisters, Brothers and Priests contribute greatly to the mission of the Church. Their prophetic witness is marked by a profound conviction of the primacy with which the Gospel shapes Christian life and transforms society. Today, I wish to draw your attention to the positive spiritual renewal which Congregations are undertaking in relation to their charism. The word charism means a gift freely and graciously given. Charisms are bestowed by the Holy Spirit, who inspires founders and foundresses, and shapes Congregations with a subsequent spiritual heritage. The wondrous array of charisms proper to each Religious Institute is an extraordinary spiritual treasury. Indeed, the history of the Church is perhaps most beautifully portrayed through the history of her schools of spirituality, most of which stem from the saintly lives of founders and foundresses. Through the discovery of charisms, which yield such a breadth of spiritual wisdom, I am sure that some of you young people will be drawn to a life of apostolic or contemplative service. Do not be shy to speak with Religious Brothers, Sisters or Priests about the charism and spirituality of their Congregation. No perfect community exists, but it is fidelity to a founding charism, not to particular individuals, that the Lord calls you to discern. Have courage! You too can make your life a gift of self for the love of the Lord Jesus and, in him, of every member of the human family (cf. Vita Consecrata, 3).
Friends, again I ask you, what about today? What are you seeking? What is God whispering to you? The hope which never disappoints is Jesus Christ. The saints show us the selfless love of his way. As disciples of Christ, their extraordinary journeys unfolded within the community of hope, which is the Church. It is from within the Church that you too will find the courage and support to walk the way of the Lord. Nourished by personal prayer, prompted in silence, shaped by the Church’s liturgy you will discover the particular vocation God has for you. Embrace it with joy. You are Christ’s disciples today. Shine his light upon this great city and beyond. Show the world the reason for the hope that resonates within you. Tell others about the truth that sets you free. With these sentiments of great hope in you I bid you farewell, until we meet again in Sydney this July for World Youth Day! And as a pledge of my love for you and your families, I gladly impart my Apostolic Blessing.


Following is my summary and my thoughts:

The Holy Father’s main theme is being disciples of Jesus Christ and that when we walk in the Lord’s footsteps our own lives become a journey of hope. He then tells of the “six ordinary men and women who grew up to lead extraordinary lives.” These six were very different, and yet they did have something in common: “Inflamed with the love of Jesus, their lives became remarkable journeys of hope….For each there was an act of abandonment to God….”

People today are looking for someone they can trust. How do we bear witness to the One to be trusted? “God is our origin and our destination, and Jesus the way. The path of that journey twists and turns ─ just as it did for our saints ─ through the joys and the trials of ordinary, everyday life: within your families, at school or college, during your recreation activities, and in your parish communities.” That is the second time the word “ordinary” was used by the Pope in this document; only one paragraph separated the two usages. We bear witness to Jesus in faithfully living our ordinary life.

Our country has wonderful opportunities, and we tend to have a strong sense of generosity, service and justice. Yet there is a common mindset among many that promises to lead to happiness but only results “in confusion and fear.” This darkness overtakes both our hearts and minds. Our hearts are darkened by such things as “drug and substance abuse, homelessness and poverty, racism, violence, and degradation – especially of girls and women.” These, too, are different realities, and yet they “all have in common a poisoned attitude of mind which results in people being treated as mere objects ─ a callousness of heart takes hold which first ignores, then ridicules, the God-given dignity of every human being.” Our hearts are darkened when we treat ourselves or others as an object for our use or pleasure.

Darkness also burdens our minds; this entire paragraph is worth repeating: “The second area of darkness – that which affects the mind – often goes unnoticed, and for this reason is particularly sinister. The manipulation of truth distorts our perception of reality, and tarnishes our imagination and aspirations. I have already mentioned the many liberties which you are fortunate enough to enjoy. The fundamental importance of freedom must be rigorously safeguarded. It is no surprise then that numerous individuals and groups vociferously claim their freedom in the public forum. Yet freedom is a delicate value. It can be misunderstood or misused so as to lead not to the happiness which we all expect it to yield, but to a dark arena of manipulation in which our understanding of self and the world becomes confused, or even distorted by those who have an ulterior agenda.”

Freedom is a delicate reality, very easily misunderstood and misused. We over-exalt freedom and worship it above all other realities, even that of the truth. “Some today argue that respect for freedom of the individual makes it wrong to seek truth, including the truth about what is good. In some circles to speak of truth is seen as controversial or divisive, and consequently best kept in the private sphere.” Truth causes divisions and makes judgments, and what is seen as most important is freedom and not infringing on anyone else’s ideas. This steroid-laden freedom exalts the individual and each individual’s beliefs, making everyone’s views equally valid and important. We are not allowed to judge ideas or beliefs; there is no absolute truth; each of us has to create our own truth for ourselves: “This we call relativism.” Truth is the enemy. Freedom is the liberator.

That sort of freedom is a deep darkness leading to a lifeless despair. “Dear friends, truth is not an imposition. Nor is it simply a set of rules. It is a discovery of the One who never fails us; the One whom we can always trust. In seeking truth we come to live by belief because ultimately truth is a person: Jesus Christ. That is why authentic freedom is not an opting out. It is an opting in; nothing less than letting go of self and allowing oneself to be drawn into Christ’s very being for others (cf. Spe Salvi, 28).” Jesus is the Truth, and we are truly free when we abandon ourselves into His hands and follow His footsteps. With a paragraph in between, the Holy Father restates this point: “Sometimes we are looked upon as people who speak only of prohibitions. Nothing could be further from the truth! Authentic Christian discipleship is marked by a sense of wonder. We stand before the God we know and love as a friend, the vastness of his creation, and the beauty of our Christian faith.” True Christians are truly free and freely seek the truth because they are in love with the Truth. We are in love with Jesus.

The majority of the remainder of this address is focused on “four essential aspects of the treasure of our faith: personal prayer and silence, liturgical prayer, charity in action, and vocations.” The very next sentence is: “What matters most is that you develop your personal relationship with God.” What a great sentence. Silent contemplation is essential to develop this relationship with God and gives us space to hear His whisper. Liturgical, sacramental prayer, especially the Mass and Confession, are the sources of abundant grace wherein the Holy Spirit “draws you to himself, into his sacrificial love of the Father which becomes love for all.”

Flowing out of our deep love of Christ deepened and nourished by our personal prayer, silent contemplation, and liturgical and sacramental life, we are prepared and moved to serve others and live a life of charity. This practical laying down of our lives for others in service and sacrifice, leads to vocations. Each person’s vocation is the particular way God has called an individual to lay down his life, to love, trust and obey God, and to be a person for others. “Let us honor the vocation of matrimony and the dignity of family life. Let us always appreciate that it is in families that vocations are given life….I urge you to deepen your friendship with Jesus the Good Shepherd. Talk heart to heart with him….Remember that what counts before the Lord is to dwell in his love and to make his love shine forth for others.”

Skipping a paragraph on religious life, I move on, finally, to the Holy Father’s concluding paragraph. This paragraph is worth repeating as well and marks a fine end to this rather long summary of his address: “Friends, again I ask you, what about today? What are you seeking? What is God whispering to you? The hope which never disappoints is Jesus Christ. The saints show us the selfless love of his way. As disciples of Christ, their extraordinary journeys unfolded within the community of hope, which is the Church. It is from within the Church that you too will find the courage and support to walk the way of the Lord. Nourished by personal prayer, prompted in silence, shaped by the Church’s liturgy you will discover the particular vocation God has for you. Embrace it with joy. You are Christ’s disciples today. Shine his light upon this great city and beyond. Show the world the reason for the hope that resonates within you. Tell others about the truth that sets you free. With these sentiments of great hope in you I bid you farewell, until we meet again in Sydney this July for World Youth Day! And as a pledge of my love for you and your families, I gladly impart my Apostolic Blessing.”


Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.

Abortion: The Glory of Satan

Thirty-five years ago began the reign of terror of abortion on demand in this country resulting in the murder of tens of millions of innocent babies; on top of that, it has left a moral and spiritual wasteland for all of us, particularly those who have sold their soul to promote, encourage, defend, and commit the great sin of the slaughter of the in-utero innocents.

The glory of God is man fully alive. We glorify God when we bear good fruit; ultimately, we glorify God when we lay down our life for another and when we witness to His truth at the cost of our own blood in martyrdom. We glorify Him in becoming a self-sacrificing lover; parents glorify Him as they make the daily multitude of sacrifices required to raise a family well; we glorify Him at Mass as we receive Him in the Holy Eucharist with pure and loving hearts so that we can have the grace to do what He did.

On this day of infamy, it is worth asking this question to better understand the battle we are in: What is the glory of Satan? He hates mankind with a passion beyond understanding, and he loves to see our destruction. God loves us, and Satan hates us. At a most basic level, Satan loves to mock the things God holds most dear. Satan’s glory is in the mockery of God.

We are made to be God’s children, God’s temple, and God’s spouse. Satan wants to reduce us down to mere animals, even less than animals. He seeks to depersonalize us, making us objects for use. He mocks our exalted dignity trying whatever he can to drag us into the mud. The main tool at his disposal is to desecrate sex, making it all about self-gratification and turning it into nothing other than another one of our bodily needs just like eating, drinking and sleeping. He wants us to think it is a basic need that we should meet with whomever or whatever, whenever and however we want; there is no morality associated with sex. That is the lie he has been promoting, especially the past two generations.

Of course, that kind of “thinking” about sex leads to many other problems. Normally, sex has very serious consequences, consequences which should not accompany the simple satisfaction of a bodily necessity. Those consequences have to be eliminated. The first line of defense against these unsightly results is usually the grave evil of contraception. When that doesn’t work, the logical step to deal with the problem is abortion.

Abortion is the great mockery of fatherhood and motherhood. Children learn about who God is and how He acts by knowing who their parents are and how they act, especially who and how the father acts. In certain respects, parents are God to their children. In abortion, parents willingly murder their own children; this is not an image of who God is but of who Satan is. Satan, from the beginning, is a murderous father; those who commit abortion of their own children imitate the evil one. Abortion is one of the highest forms of satanic worship; herein we find his glory.

The evil one is glorified when parents take the life of their children, and this is an act of worship of him and of uniting oneself to him. I assume most people do not realize that, but that is what is happening. He is mocking fathers and mothers, and ultimately, he is mocking God the Father. God the Father gives life, and the evil one destroys it; he even entices the very ones who should be the ones to cherish and protect life, the life which springs from their very own flesh, he entices these very ones to mercilessly destroy that life. It is hard to think of a higher victory for Satan than when parents murder their unborn children.

The other primary way that Satan mocks God is the black mass. My understanding of the black mass is that the words of the Mass are said backward and it ends with the desecration of the Holy Eucharist. Jesus is the Divine Spouse who gives us His Body in the Mass; Satan is mocking God’s Fatherhood and God as mankind’s Spouse. He is mocking the self-sacrificing and life-giving act of Jesus offering Himself up as our Passover Lamb. It is the formal rejection of God and His gift of Himself to us.

There are a number of parallels between the black mass and abortion, as there are a number of parallels between the Mass and having children. My goal tonight is to shed some light on the dark deed of abortion. There is much more that could be said. As with any sin, the important thing is to see and understand the true nature of the act so as to be better equipped to enlighten others and guide them away from sin. It is God’s work to judge the hearts of those who commit the sin; God has given us the intellect and the grace to judge the actions to empower us to prevent their happening.

The battle to end abortion is, from beginning to end, a spiritual battle, a battle attempting to put an end to a “high” form of satanic worship. It will only be won on our knees and at the cost of great sacrifice by those who love God. I believe it could be more easily won with a small army of victim souls who will offer themselves up for its cessation. If you are not willing to be a victim soul in totality, are you willing to offer up all the many trials and difficulties of your days as sacrifices to God for the end of this scourge? Each of us plays a part in either its continuation or its end; none of us are innocent bystanders.

Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.

Merry Christmas

As the last hour of Christmas Eve passes away, I wish everyone a blessed and joyous Christmas. In certain respects, this is the most important event in human history; in other respects, Jesus' passion, death and resurrection are much more important. These two events open the doors for our salvation if only we accept the graces offered by God and respond with the obedience of faith. Let's open wide our hearts today and make it an inviting home for our most-humble and little God, the All-Powerful Creator of all things.

Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.

Rivers of Living Water

In the prophet Isaiah there is a passage which talks about seeking water and God giving it. This is a metaphor for having God’s life in our hearts. Here is the passage: “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the LORD will answer them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive; I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane and the pine together; that men may see and know, may consider and understand together, that the hand of the LORD has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it” (Isaiah 41:17-20).

This seeking and granting of water is fulfilled in Jesus. “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, ‘If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’ ’ Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:37-39). After Jesus has been crucified/glorified, blood and water flow out of His heart; we receive the same heart at baptism and Eucharist so that out of our heart flows rivers of living waters. God makes the desert a pool of water with trees; God makes our dead heart a heart that loves, trusts and obeys Him.

Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.

Children of God

Yesterday I discussed how we need to be born again since our first birth didn't work, so to speak. This point is a major theme in the Gospel of John where he introduces it in the middle of the prologue or introduction to his gospel: "He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:11-13).

By receiving Jesus into our hearts and making it a fit home for Him, we become children of God. This process of receiving Jesus is formally begun when we enter into His death and then rise with Him in our baptism, and we deepen that union with Him at every worthy reception of Him in the eucharist. Each reception of Jesus in holy communion is made more fruitful the more we open our hearts to Him through a life of daily, continual prayer and deeds of charity to our neighbor. And the more we receive Him well in that most powerful event of this life, the better we pray and life out our faith. True children of God live the life of God, live a life in union with and imitation of our crucified Savior.

Before being reborn as God's children, we were originally born as children of men. John says we were born by the bloods of man, the will of the flesh of man, and the will of man; what do each of these mean? Our translations say "blood," but the Greek is the plural "bloods" which refers to the bodily fluids that result in conception. Jesus the Son of God was not born by any sexual union and exchange of bodily fluids, nor are we born again by any sexual union or by bloods. The will of the flesh refers to the sexual desire for union; again, being born of God involves no such sexual union. The will of man refers to the desire to have a baby, and so the couple comes together to accomplish that goal; when we are born from above, however, it is God who wills that we are made a new creation, and He is the one who gives us new life.

We are born, the first time, because of the abilities and desires of a man and woman. This birth makes us a "son of man" (to use the biblical phrase). A son of man has lost his inheritance as Esau sold and despised his inheritance to his younger brother, Jacob. Our ultimate inheritance is heaven; thus, the gates of heaven are closed until Jesus opens them through his death and resurrection. As a son of man, we have no hope for full union with God.

God's solution for his wayward, adulterous bride is to send His Son, who called Himself the Son of Man, to save us sons of men. As Saint Athanasius said, "The Son of God became the Son of Man so that the sons of men might become the sons of God."

The next question I would like to venture into is to discuss exactly how Jesus makes us God's children; it is related to why Jesus dies as He does and what baptism actually does for us; it is also related to what exactly our problem was to begin with and how Jesus' acts and works are the precise antidote to our ailments. Tomorrow I will venture further down this path.

Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.

More thoughts on the Tree of Life

Yesterday I talked about how chapter two is a close-up view of mankind, particularly as a home for God. There are two important trees in the midst or middle of the garden of man. The first one, which they should eat from, is the tree of life. This is a symbol of the heart of man, the place where he loves, trusts and obeys God. The heart is then symbolically physically represented by the four rivers of water in Eden.

There is a very interesting passage about the heart in the Gospel of John 7:38, "He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water'." No where does scripture mention this. It could be an indirect reference to Ezekiel 47; I am inclined to think that Jesus is referring back to Genesis 2. He who believes in God has a heart out of which flows living water, i.e. his faith gives life to those around him, and he bears the fruit of good works. Those who eat of the tree of life believe in God and so have the obedience of faith (see Romans) that trusts God especially when life is hard and does not seem to make sense.

A living faith is a believing heart that endures in time of trouble. The presentation of the tree of life implicitly signifies that a time of trial is at hand. The tree of life is needed when a battle with death is about to ensue. Immediately after the tree of life is presented in Gen. 2: 10-15, flowing with a perfect logic, God announces His singular command: "Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die." God has arranged a test to see and know if the man will eat of the tree of life, if he will believe with his heart even when it does not seem to make sense.

Why does God test us? He has a problem. To put it mildly, He is so awesome and perfect and beautiful and powerful and alive and wise. Even among mortals, the extremely beautiful, wealthy and powerful have a similar problem: they do not always knows who is their true friend and who just wants what they have. God has this problem infinitely more. He also wants to preserve our freedom so that we are not just a bunch of robots who have to love Him. He wants us to freely choose to give Him our love. So He hides, and He gives those who want to draw near to Him tests to strengthen our trust in Him. Sometimes He gives incredibly difficult tests that supersede our intellect so that all we can use to pass the test is our loving trust of His command. He wants us to eat of the tree of life.

The question remains: so then what is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil...? Stay tuned.

Thanks for reading.
Copyright 2007.